Merry Christmas!

Benjamin was added to our family ornament tree on my Grandmother's banister.

Family picture at Memmaw's house.

Riding on the Jimmie Johnson Sit and Ride that Grandma and Granddad Schubert gave him. I LOVE this present and I can't wait to decorate it!

Checking out the presents for the first time.

Meeting Santa Clause for the first time! We went to Yankee Candle and Benjamin saw him before I did and started kicking and screeching. He was so excited to see him.

Merry Christmas everyone! We had such a wonderful day with family. We spent the night at my parents house for Christmas Eve. As a tradition everyone got new pajamas and we wrapped presents. Benjamin loved taking the ornaments off the tree and ringing the bell.

On Christmas day Benjamin loved playing with his toys. After we opened presents we had Oyster Stew and visited Benjamin's Great-Grandmothers (Mammaw and Memmaw) and finally made it home in the evening. Of course with all of the festivities Benjamin didn't get a nap so he went to bed early.

Also, as of today, Benjamin is 9 months old! It is going by so fast! He is all over the place... crawling and cruising everywhere. He can stand by himself for a few seconds now so it's scary to think that he might be walking soon. Benjamin still doesn't have any teeth so he is drooling everywhere and occasionally gets fussy. He LOVES to eat and usually eats what I make for dinner... therefore he visits me in the kitchen quite a bit. Recently he has been playing with magnets on the refrigerator so now he takes them off and tries to put them on all kinds of different surfaces to see if they "stick". Grandma Schubert got him the Leap Frog Farm where you match the animals for Christmas so tonight he was busy taking the animals in and out of the farm. It was fun watching him explore with them.

We are SO blessed this Christmas and grateful for what the Lord has provided for us! We can't wait to see what He has in store for us in 2010! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

8 Months Old

Family picture....

Owenby family picture in front of the Scott's house....

Another Owenby picture... THANK YOU SHELBY SCOTT!!! The pictures look awesome! Let me tell you... it is not a small task to get all 10 grandkids AND adults to cooperate!

Baby dedication at Liberty Baptist... thank you Grandparents and Oostras for coming to church to watch Benjamin get dedicated! When we were at the front of the church while Pastor Grant was praying, Benjamin was trying to get the Bible out of my hands!

First football game... ODU vs. VMI. We had a great weekend in Lexington and the weather was perfect. Benjamin loved watching the football game.

Benjamin has reached the 8th month milestone... it has been a blast the past couple of weeks. He is into EVERYTHING. Benjamin is crawling all over the place and has figured out our house is in a circular pattern. He does his laps everyday and comes into the kitchen to see what I'm cooking occasionally! He loves to go to the book display in the office and pull down some of the books. Benjamin will pick some out and we read them together. Benjamin is also pulling himself up on everything... chairs, small tables, our legs, and the sofas. We got him a mega block fire truck and he will pull himself up and then push the truck while walking. It is so cute.

During Thanksgiving week we had a full house. Susan, Chris' sister and her family (husband Glenn and their 4 kids) stayed with us while Sherry, Chris' youngest sister, came down and stayed in Williamsburg at a time share with her family (husband Hank and their 5 kids). Benjamin met his cousins for the first time and watching his face as they all came in was PRICELESS! He had an awesome time playing with them everyday and couldn't wait to get downstairs every morning to see them. I would carry him down the stairs and Benjamin would kick his legs and look around the corner to see if they were up.

We are enjoying the beginning of the holiday season and love to watch him discover the lights and the spirit of the season. We pray for everyone to have a wonderful and safe Christmas and we will post Christmas pictures as we get them. Merry Christmas!

We are SO Blessed!

Well, today Benjamin and I went to the New Hope Center with a friend of mine for moral support. We sat in the waiting room while my friend went to her appointment. Benjamin did a great job playing and stayed quiet through our stay. However, I couldn't help but look at the patients around the room and feel so small and uncomfortable. Here I was... a mom with my son with other women who are trying to get pregnant. I wish there was something I could have done or said to the women.

After the appointment we took off to a quick visit to Kid to Kid to look for Christmas presents for family members. We had to go back to New Hope for another appointment on how to administer shots. I was going to stay in the waiting room like before, but my friend and the nurse said I could go back for the class. There are no words to explain or comprehend what these couples will have to go through in order to conceive a child! The amount of medicine, time, energy, shots, and money these couples will go through is incredible.

God is truly amazing... I look at Benjamin in a whole new way now. Until recently I have been focusing on the milestones he hasn't conquered yet, but today I celebrated all of the milestones he has accomplished. God has made Benjamin in His perfect image and I couldn't ask for anything more.

Loving Our Little Man!

Family picture at Pumpkinville.

Benjamin having fun with his daddy!

Benjamin Oostra and our Benjamin trying to figure out these things called pumpkins!

October has been filled with many fun filled activities- going to the Newport News Fall Festival, going to Pumpkinville with the Oostras, watching the ups and downs of the Tennessee football team, attending the Poquoson Seafood Festival, making new friends as well as fall time crafts (Benjamin made his first craft) and attending the MOPS (Mother of Preschoolers) Fall Harvest. As you can see, we have been very busy as a family as well as just Benjamin and I during the day while Daddy is at work.

Benjamin has also been very busy growing. He has accomplished some milestones over the past month and we have enjoyed watching him grow. Benjamin has started pulling himself up in his crib, in the bath tub, on a play time block, and has tried to pull himself out of an exersaucer at the YMCA! He prefers to be standing for some reason and has started to cruise around. I am sure Chris and I will be chasing him around pretty soon; however, we are enjoying him staying put for now. Benjamin is not crawling right now, but is able to roll all over the place and rock in a crawling position for several minutes. He loves to play while sitting on his knees which we think would hurt him, but it doesn't seem to bother him!

As far as eating goes, we believe that this is his new hobby! Benjamin LOVES to eat. When he sees me turn the high chair around he starts kicking his feet and shrieking! He enjoys green beans, peas, broccoli, cauliflower, squash (winter and summer) pears, plums, peaches, and applesauce. This past weekend I started making recipes that incorporated mixtures of both veggies and fruits so he will get a variety with each meal. The only food he does not like so far are bananas!

On the 10th of October we took a day trip up to Williamsburg to visit the Oostras and Pumpkinville. We got to watch the first half the Tennessee/Georgia game together where Tennessee ended up winning big! The Oostras and Owenbys enjoyed our time together and loved watching the boys discover the pumpkins and gourds for the first time. Benjamin Oostra enjoyed trying the eat the pumpkins while our Benjamin sat there and tried to figure what the orange things were. He was so interested by them that he sat there staring at them for several minutes, ignoring everyone around him. I do have to mention that Benjamin recognizes and LOVES playing with Benjamin Oostra. When Benjamin Owenby first saw Benjamin Oostra that day he kept trying to hug him over and over again. I guess showing him pictures of little Oostra when they are apart as helped.

During this past month Benjamin as also come out of his shell a little bit. When we are at church he notices the women who take care of him each time we go and has a...."girlfriend." I work with a woman named Sarah and she has a daughter named Elle who is three years old. When Benjamin saw Elle for the first time, he shrieked, grabbed her arm and "kissed" her sleeve! Now, whenever I pick up Benjamin Elle goes with me. He has the same reaction every time he sees her and they get to spend some time together after we work.

In closing this month has also been a huge blessing for Chris and I in realizing how much God loves each and every one of us! For Him to sacrifice His one and only Son for the people of this world to spend eternal life with Him... it's indescribable! Chris and I were just discussing how we can NOT imagine what God went through when He saw Jesus die on the cross. We are SO blessed to have Benjamin and we are looking forward to dedicating Benjamin to the Lord on the 15th of November at Liberty. We can't wait to see what God has in store for us next month with family coming into town, Thanksgiving, taking Benjamin to his first football game at VMI, but most importantly dedicating him to the Lord!

6 Months!

Benjamin is a half a year old! He is getting bigger and bigger everyday. We had a great appointment with Dr. Baust and Benjamin continues to do well. Benjamin has grown quite a bit in length going from 25-50th percentile to the 75th! Dr Baust stated that Benjamin is projected to be 6 feet 2 inches tall when he gets older.... yikes! He can wait to grow that tall! Benjamin will definitely get his height from the Owenby side of the family.

We are enjoying all of the new milestones Benjamin is accomplishing. He has been sitting up for a while now but wasn't able to get in the sit up position from laying down. However, he just started sitting from a laying position all by himself in past few days. It seems like he doesn't have any fear... he will sit in your lap one second and trying to dive off your lap the next. He gets into everything and is becoming more and more mobile... oh boy! He is trying to crawl but gets frustrated. His most favorite thing to do is eat! He loves his food and can feed himself Puffs and hold his bottle.

Over the past month I have gotten Benjamin involved in a play group that meets every Monday morning at First Baptist called First Friends. He loves to play with the other kids. We do circle time together, sing songs, complete a craft and enjoy a snack. During circle time a couple of weeks ago we sang "Rise and Shine" and as we sang we lift our children up in the air. Every time I lifted Benjamin he would laugh SO loud. I really enjoy these times together with Benjamin and I am so thankful I get to stay at home with him. We are still trying to get into a routine as far as the week goes since I am now working part time at gymnastics and at Liberty Baptist teaching 3 year olds. Sometimes I work three days a week and other weeks I work one day, but the great thing is I get to bring Benjamin with me to church when I work.

We are looking forward to the next month since Fall is here! Football time, leaves changing color, pumpkins and the holidays are right around the corner. We can't wait for Benjamin to experience the upcoming season and spend time with friends and family.

Virginia Living Museum

On Friday Chris' mom and I took Benjamin to the Virginia Living Museum. We had so much fun looking at all of the animals. Benjamin took an interest in the turtles! He is getting so big and likes to do things independently now.

Benjamin was trying to touch the turtles that were swimming in the tank. He was trying to keep up with them. This was probably his favorite spot at the museum.

HUG!!!

We had a yard sale last week.  I picked Benjamin up and he put his arms around my neck and squeezed.  He hugged me! It was such an awesome feeling.  Looking forward to more hugs!