Already 2 Months!

I can't believe that Ben is already two months old!
He has such a good temperament. When he wakes up he eats, plays for a while and after he is done playing he cries out, then I wrap him up tight and he goes to sleep. Scott took this picture of Ben. I love the expression he captured on his face.

Ben doesn't like to be left alone in the room but when the kids are around he is all smiles.

2 Month stats:
13 lbs. 3 oz.
24 inches long

Ben is so alert and happy that the kids love to play with him. The fights at our house are usually about who gets to hold Ben next. We are so happy to have him in our family!

Happy Birthday Bethany!

Bethany turned 4 years old on March 23rd. Bethany told all of her friends that this year she was taking them to Chuck-E-Cheese. When we sat down to write out the list I could see that Chuck-E-Cheese was not going to be in the budget. So I decided that with that many kids the only safe place to have it indoors would be at our church.

We started off with balloon popping, then we had a silly string war.

After that we made candy necklaces.

Then we had cake and ice cream.Bethany was so cute when she opened presents. They were all the best gifts ever and she definitely loved all the attention.

After the party at the church we came home and had our family party. Bethany opened presents from Mom and Dad and Grandpa and Grandma. She was just as thrilled with those as she was with the ones from her friends.

I think her very favorite was her barbie scooter.

I can't believe how much Bethany has grown. She is so outgoing and at her request has friends over often. She is a good little helper and especially loves to help me with baby Ben. It still amazes me that she is such a girly-girl with so many brothers!
Happy Birthday Bethany!

Matthew and Timmy's Baseball

Baseball has begun! This year both Timmy and Matthew wanted to play.
Timmy started in T-ball and is on the Yankees.

Run Timmy!

He loves to slide into home! Anything to get the pants dirty and have more time in the cool sand they have on the field!

Timmy played catcher his very first game.

Then he played pitcher and had a great time! I love watching this age group play because sometimes they are really into the game and other times they are picking dandelions in the field and making sand piles by the bases! Go Timmy!

Matthew's team is the Dodgers and is playing player/coach pitch this year.

During one game Matthew was the only player to make it home! His run won the game! Way to go Matthew!

The boys get a chance to throw pitches first and when they get to four balls then the coach comes out and pitches until the player has either hit the ball or has three strikes including the strikes they get from when the player was pitching. Matthew was thrilled to be able to pitch his very first game.

He was equally happy to be the catcher on the next inning.

The boys are getting better and better with each game they play. I've really enjoyed watching them play this season!

To Trap a Leprechaun

It's that time of year again for the kindergartners to try to catch a Leprechaun! Timmy was so excited he thought for sure he was going to catch one. He made a rainbow out of skittles and painted nerds to look like gold and put them inside of a cage. Then he hid the cage with branches. After he showed his class he brought it home and wanted to wait up all night to see if he could catch a Leprechaun!

The next morning Timmy's pot of gold was missing and there was a piece of chocolate in its place! Timmy's trap was so good I thought for sure he would get him. Sneaky Leprechauns!!

My Little Science Guy!

Scott loves science and technology and was really looking forward to the science fair. And with good reason...he did an awesome job! Scott's question was "what stain remover gets the stain out the best?". In his hypothesis he said it would be Shout. During the 3 trials he had to do Shout was only the best on some stains and Fels Naptha worked better on others. In the end Fels Naptha got out more stains than Shout!

Needless to say he got an A+. Ms. Carlson, told him it was a blue ribbon project!
Way to go Scott!!

Ready, Set, Go!!!

Matthew had his first pinewood derby in cub scouts this year! He got second place in his pack and his car was able to go on to district. Way to go Matthew!!

Anywhere Will Do

I was so busy cleaning up packing peanuts that I lost track of time. Sam needed a nap and by the time I got done cleaning I couldn't find him anywhere. I kept calling his name and he wouldn't answer. I was getting a little panicked so I checked all the doors going outside and they were locked so I knew he had to be in the house somewhere. And then....I finally found him.

Packages!

We love to get packages at our house! But you know the gifts inside are not even the best part....it's the packing peanuts!!

Andy's Uncle Terry and Aunt Tina were kind enough to send us some darling clothes for Ben and a huge box full of packing peanuts.

Bethany thought it was awesome that they would stick to her! Sam and Ian just liked throwing them in the air!

The simple things in life are always the most fun!

That is until mom had to try to clean them all up! Yikes!! What a nightmare...they really do stick to everything!

Ben's Baby Blessing

I'm always amazed at how much love a baby brings into the home and if there were ever a moment that I would love to freeze in my mind it would be this. A newborn looking up at me with that sweet baby face. I am so lucky that my friend was able to capture that moment right here.

Ben's blessing was so special. I'm always curious how the day will turn out. Will the baby be wide awake...or totally asleep during the blessing?

Or will he just be as cute as can be?

With five other kids you would think I'd have this day down to an art. But every time we bless a baby the day has been very different from all the others. Being the last baby I wanted it to be the best day ever.

We thankfully had 11:00 church instead of 9:00 so we all got up early and got ready. I had a friend come over and take pictures of the family before church so everyone could still be clean.
And the pictures she took captured the moments better than I could ever have put into words.

I waited until the last second to get Ben dressed so he wouldn't spit up or explode in his white outfit. Andy did a great job keeping the kids busy while I got Ben ready for pictures.
Timmy is entertaining Ben while I get him dressed.

Bethany loves her daddy.

Matthew always loves to be where the camera is.

I must have been taking too long because about this time the kids started to fall apart. Matthew and Bethany were teasing Scott who did not like it one bit and Timmy was mad that he couldn't hold the baby.

Sam was ready for a nap and church hadn't even started yet.
I was almost done when Andy started to get things under control again.
Bethany was ready for pictures.

And now Ben was finally ready too.
Andy was able to get Sam some goldfish that made him feel a little bit better about life.
And now Sam was ready for pictures.

Almost...he forgot his lion.

There perfect! Oops! except now Ben is ready for a nap! My kids are so awesome! To me this is picture perfect!
Grandma Jeppsen with the kids.

and Grandpa and Grandma LayOur Family on this special day!
Matthew, Timmy, Mom, Ben, Bethany, Andy, Sam and Scott
Now after church and a little nap, Ben is happier then ever,

and ready for more pictures!

Luckily a friend that knows how to do short hand was there and was able to write down the blessing that Andy gave Ben. I thought that was so nice of her to do that for us.

Brent and Amy, My mom and dad, and Andy's mother were the only family able to attend the blessing. So I decided that after church we would have some of our friends over with the family to celebrate. We had such a good time and were so happy that they could come over and share this special day with us.
When I tell people Ben is a good baby I really mean it. It's hard for me to put into words just how good he really is. I think Andy put it nicely when he described Ben as a peaceful baby. Ben loves to be around all the other kids and is so patient and very happy! We are so blessed to have him be a part of our family!!