Seeing Calves

We are trying to gently nudge Benjamin into making his afternoon nap THE nap for the day... this photo is on day 1 of the experiment of keeping him awake and active in the morning. Good job, Momma (NOT)... 2 minutes in the car on the way out to the Creamery, he is fast asleep - in his new carseat!


Benjamin woke up as soon as we stopped - it was only about a ten minute drive, so maybe we'll be back on track... Anywho, we walked up to the calf barn and saw some sweet babies. Benjamin LOVED the calves and hens and roosters ...

I wonder why Mommy and baby Benjamin already have such different points of view!

Big Papi and Benjamin are exhausted after the creamery visit and a trip to the Common Market!

An early evening playdate at Mrs. Clark's house :) Benjamin and little Maggie are one month apart (Maggie is older - but teeny tiny!). I love the way Dave (Cadia Rose's Daddy) is looking up with so much love at his wife, Natalie... She was in the photo, pre-crop, but the angle was unfortunate, so I opted for the crop :)


At the Catoctin Mountain Orchard with Uncle Corey, Aunt Sydney and Prima Tana...

Uncle Corey plays "let's scare Big Papi"
with Benjamin, on top of a rotten pile of hay
- seriously, it is stinky slimey sinky gooey rotten!

Benjamin has a proud Prima showing him how to play on the train

SUPER WONDER GIRL of the UNIVERSE!

Tana brought her fancy Nancy purse and sunglasses,
along with her sparkly Boston Red Sox logo hat!
Perfect accessories for teaching Benjamin how to play on the tractor - dontcha think? :)

Unpleasant News..

Nothing about the sweet puffins (thank goodness!)...

However, this is a very strange coincidence:
In the past two months, both sets of our parents have had their homes burglarized.

One set live in Puerto Rico, and lost many precious items and all electronics.

One set live in Cincinnati, and lost only their giant television, but probably "only" because the neighbor saw the selfish nasties (who then saw her seeing them and sped away) and called 911.

Makes me want to build a little safety nest for them close by so that we can help keep watch - with Forest's assistance, of course... and maybe a few of his friends too.

Dear Burglars,
Stop bothering people with your lack of self confidence or respect for yourself and others. You only have one life to live - make it worthy and full of positive energy for yourself and others.

Thank you,

bwyl *SherryQ* xo

Photos and moving bits...

Sport Boy!

Benjamin and Big Papi play a game of "chase me" before bedtime :) June '09

Sleepy bear in the car sportin' his awesome stretchy strap sunglasses! June '09

***I removed two photos of Benjamin and his cousins in the bathtub, and one little movie clip of Benjamin in the bathtub. These were precious and sweet moments with our precious and sweet baby puffins... but, it was brought to my attention that not everyone views children in the same way. I know that, but I forgot for a moment... stupid reality, stupid nasty people.***

Giving Forest a dental exam

Teasing Mommy with his standing/walking potential!

Rockin' out!

Just before Benjamin became very ill... super sick stander!

Sweet baby bear was SO sick over his birthday celebration weekend - we were exhausted! July '09
Showing Big Papi how to eat sweet corn :) July '09
Something is finger lickin' good... more CORN! :) July '09
Tio Hiram sent Benjamin this cool green puppy - a perfect pet! (Sorry, Forest!) July '09

WineBerries from our yard - we made an awesome gluten-free crumble!!! yummmm

He is a super duper dancer - but wimped out in front of the camera... so mostly just a diaper and mommy encouragement video :)

bwyl *SherryQ* xo

My Goodness!

at the Festival of the Arts the first weekend in June!
What happened to June?with Prima Tana, learning about digging in the dirt with Flat Sneaks!

Just after Benjamin gave Forest a dental exam - surprisingly, all went well :)

I can take things out of the laundry basket!

I try to go down the stairs with all of my toys, all by myself!

What happened to my sweet baby? He is SO big and starting to stumble walk!!!!

June slipped away very quickly with playgroups, Father's Day, Tana here for a week, and poor little Benjamin getting ill :(

Benjamin had back-to-back viral infections, followed by an ear infection. This all started the weekend before his Abuela, Abuelo and Tio Tony came into town - and continued right through Granny, GDad, Prima Zoe, Aunt Kerry, Uncle Jim, Titi Evelyn, Uncle Qefli, Primo Aidan, and Prima Nadia's visit... We ended up taking him to the ER on July 4th, the day of his celebration :(

Uncle Qefli helps Aidan cut his Happy Birthday Cake! Benjamin and his Happy Birthday cupcakes! Ttit Evelyn comforts a sick Benjamin...

All was well, though - the family pulled it all through and enjoyed themselves all together for the weekend! They played Wii, went through downtown Frederick, checked out some of the Smithsonians and memorials, played in the sprinkler, and with the sparklers :) Benjamin did enjoy having everyone around, and wishes so much that he had felt better so that he could've played and giggled too!

Benjamin has recovered very well from the illness, and is busy, busy, busy, growing, growing, growing and being a one-year-old!!! He likes to look at books, dance, throw balls, make music with instruments, be chased and startled, put doggie food in his mouth and then crawl away quickly while giggling, and push furniture about. He is a truly wild and wooly sweet baby bear!

I can hardly believe it has been a year since his birth - it all seems so surreal... what a blessing we have received in having Benjamin in our lives :)

We'll see what we can do about getting a sibling for our sweet baby bear. Our insurance plan changed this past year, and we are not sure what it will cover in regards to the two frozen embryos. Poor frozen puffins! We'll keep you posted ;)

We hope that all of you are doing well, and we hope to post more frequently (yeah, right!).

bwyl :) *SherryQ* xo