Just catching up

It has been quite awhile since I posted, so this is a nice long collection of pics and videos from the last month or so (yikes!).  I may not get any more regular, as much as I would like to be, because we are 3 weeks away from being a family of 4!  We had an ultrasound today and Megan is healthy and fiesty, kicking away and she definitely has her own opinion on how she wants things because she is what they call "footling breech"....meaning she has one foot on the exit and is hanging out with her head up towards the top of my uterus.  So good thing we planned for a c-section!  We will post pics of her once she arrives, but for now, enjoy our precious Ben and all his shenanigans over the last month....

We went with the Potters to Remlinger Farms and the boys had so much fun...so did the adults!

Every year we get to spend some time at one of our most favorite places with some of our most favorite people - Ruth and Dave Bare in Spokane.  They have a new puppy, an English Mastiff, so somewhat like a small horse.  She is a precious dog and huge and the boys loved her.  Ben also loved getting to spend time with "Papa Dave" and "Nana Ruth".

boys in jammies are pretty cute, but boys in jammies playing golf are even cuter!

 

Ben and Ellie taking a walk

Ben and Ellie and Nana Ruth

Wes and Uncle John have this special relationship--it is so cute to see him love his uncle!

"Hey there, how's it goin'?"

Ben has become quite the talker so we captured this video of him saying a few different things....including him showing off one of his first attempts at counting.

 I have been dreaming of this day for a long time - the day when my son would want to cook with me in the kitchen.  He may have only made a flour "cake" and made a royal mess of himself and my kitchen, but it thrilled my heart to share my love of baking with my sweet boy!

 

  Ben is absolutely in LOVE with tools.  We have to have tools close by, if not in hand, at all times.  He loves to talk about tools ("Gampa too(ls)", "Daddy too(ls)", Momma too(ls)"), use his tools, look at tools in catalogs (which ends with him saying "buy too(ls)?  buy too(ls)".....seriously, commercialism has hit already?!) and figure out new things that can be tools.  We read books about tools all day long, and one of them had counting in it as well, so because we read it several times a day, he has actually learned how to count!  Our big boy can count to 10 all by himself and recognize the numbers when he sees them too!  We are amazed and are having so much fun watching him learn and soak up new things like a sponge. 
He is definitely all boy, with his tools and his love of wrestling and snorting like a pig and making things into "swords" (as he calls them) and the most recent thing was last night when he said "Daddy, Gampa, arrrgh!".  Yes, he man-grunted when talking about his favorite guys.  Wow, it has begun already.

Ben and I at a pumpkin carving party with friends...we didn't carve a pumpkin but he sure loved looking at....you guessed it, the carving TOOLS!

Another awesome moment: Ben's first project with Grandpa in the garage workshop!  He was over at their house one day and Grandpa helped him make a boat out of scraps.  He got to use real tools and real screws and I am pretty sure it was the highlight of his whole little life.  The video at the bottom also shows how he has progressed with his counting when my dad pulls out the measuring tape.