Catching up with Friends & Family

This last weekend Ben and I went to Bakersfield to visit friends and family, while daddy stayed home and cleaned out the garage. Ben played with his Denapole cousins (Vinny, Jacob & Sammy): We visited my good friend Amy, her husband Roddy and their beautiful 4-month old daughter Abigail. We also got to meet Cade, my college friend Jenny's son who is 2 days older than Ben. Cade's vocabulary is advanced for his age - I think they look so much alike! (Forgive the shaky video...just learning to use my new mini camcorder)

And most importantly, Ben spent some quality time with Grandma Cindy:

Our Little Drummer Boy

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Ben Loves Doing Shots.......

This is the 4th installment of the "Ben Loves" series and I just have to preface this by saying that no children were harmed during the process of taking pictures. Me and Ana and Ben spent Christmas Eve last night at Grandma Sharon and Papa Joe's house. We love going over there because their house is always warm and inviting and they consider Ben their grandson. Our friends Renate and Josef and their son Tristan, who is the same age as Ben (they are like brothers) were there also. We had an awesome dinner of filet mignon, pasta, wedding soup just to name a few of the tasty foods that were there. Well, the men every so often toasted Christmas and downed shots of Aftershock, the very tasty cinnamon liquer. Unbeknownst to me, Ben had been observing us. Well, after about the 3rd time Ben said the word "shots" and pointed to the extra shot glass on the counter. I gave it to him and filled it up with his cranberry juice. We did a toast to Christmas and downed them. Ben thought it was so fun and he had a blast. Grandma Sharon and Papa Joe went way overboard with the gifts. Ben and Tristan had so much fun opening and playing with their presents. Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Happy New Year to everyone.

Ben Loves Christmas Lights

When I was a boy growing up, my Mom used to decorate the whole house at Christmas time and my dad used to hang the lights on the house outside. From what I hear, when I was really young I used to sit and stare at the Christmas tree for hours. I remember when I got older I used to love when my parents used to pile me and my brother and sisters in the car and go look at christmas lights. When we lived in Omaha there were some freezing cold nights that they used to take us out in just so we could see lights so now I appreciate it even more. I always told myself that when I got a house of my own I was gonna hang lights and decorate our house just like my parent's did. I am determined to also pass down to my kids my love for Christmas and all that the season is about. Well, it seems that Ben is off to a good start. He loves seeing Christmas lights. His favorite thing is seeing snowmen. Grandma Sharon collects snowmen and has literally hundreds of snowman related decorations in her house and Ben has picked up on that. Every night the past week me and Ana would pack Ben into the truck and we would go to a different section of town and look at Christmas lights. There would be moments of silence interupted from the backseat with shouts of "Wowwwwww"! from Ben. Then it would be quiet and all of a sudden we would hear this little voice say, "Snowman"......but he would say "No man" instead. He would see all of the snowmen and point them out before we would see them. Now if we could just get him to not be afraid of Santa........

Need we say more?

Ben LOVES Trains

Ben just loves trains. I guess most boys probably do but Ben REALLY loves them. It doesn't matter if they are big trains or small trains. Real trains or toy trains, Ben loves them all. I bought a Lionel electric train a couple weeks ago and we set it up under the Christmas tree and the first thing Ben says when we walk in the door is "Choo choo". We have to sit down and watch the train go around the track. He also loves Thomas the Train, the children's tv show. He watches that every day and hopefully Santa will be bringing him some stuff. Ben also likes to go to the Simi Town Center and ride the little train that they have there. I had a couple days off after Thanksgiving and I took him there and we must have ridden that train about 5 times in a row. Yep, Ben loves trains.

What a Difference a Year Makes!

Last weekend Ben went to Ana's 2nd birthday party. This was the two of them in 2007...as innocent as can be in their walkers.


This is the two of them last weekend. We asked Ana to kiss Ben and this is what we got. Kathie and Chad, where on earth did little Ana learn to kiss like this? :)

What we are most thankful for...

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Taking Papa to the Park

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDMA CINDY!!!

Ben's 2008 Halloween!

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Ben's 1st Trip to Paradise Cove in Malibu

Me and My Woman

Me and my woman will be celebrating our 4th wedding anniversary tomorrow. We were married on the beach at Makena Cove in Maui on October 24th, 2004. We have been together since April 21st, 2002. I thought that this post might be a good chance to give some information about the both of us that maybe you did'nt know about....

What is her name?......Her name is Ana. Sometimes it is Pooks. More and more lately her name is Mama from the little guy who sleeps in the room at the end of the hallway.

How did I meet her?....My friend Tim and his wife Renee thought that we might be a good match so they told each of us about the other. I emailed her and the rest is history.

Who said I love you first?....I did. She says she felt it the first time we spoke.

Who kissed who first?.....It was mutual.

Who proposed?...I did...at sunset on the beach by the big rock in Morro Bay.

What are her best qualities and features?....Her best features are her eys and her smile. Her best quality is her ability to dream. While sometimes I may "ground" her, I never stifle her. Actually her best quality is her being Ben's mama.

Guilty pleasures....for Ana, cheap reality tv and Tivo. Me....anything with "Pumpkin Spice: flavor in it...like coffee.

Who eats more?....Actually probably the same relative to our size but Ana eats healthier.

Who cooks more? Is microwaving considered cooking? :) We both equally do the cooking actually?

Who's the most sensitive?.....Ana is. Not even close.

Who is the first to admit they are wrong?....We are both equal at this.

Who does the laundry?...I do mine and she does hers and Ben's.

Who does the dishes?....We both do. If they need to be done and one of us is there, it gets done.

Who is more stubborn?...I don't know. All I know is Ben gets his stubbornness from her. That's what I tell her anyways. :)

Who pays the bills?...I do. I figured out really fast early on that this was not one of Ana's strengths.

Who drives the most when we are together?....I drive 100% of the time. I'm sorry but I feel it is what the man is supposed to do. Besides, have you seen Ana drive?

What side of the bed do we sleep on? I sleep on the right side of the bed, Ana on the left.

Who wears the pants in the family?...Me.

Who has more siblings?...I do, 1 brother and 2 sisters. Ana has 1 brother and 1 sister.

Who makes more money at their job? Ana does and I have absolutely no problem with that. She has worked hard to get where she is at and where she is going.

Who holds a grudge?...Neither of us. We always fix things within a half hour. Ana has this annoying quality of not being able to stay mad at her. She says the same about me. Life is too short to be angry. It takes too much energy.

Who is smarter?....I'm smart enough not to answer this question.

Is our marriage perfect?....I don't know what perfect is but our marriage is perfect for us and that is all that matters.

Ana, it has been 6 and a half years since we met and 4 years since we got married. What a wild and wonderful ride it has been. Thank you for coming into my life. Thank you for giving me the life I have today. Thank you for giving us Ben. We make a great team together and the future holds for us many wonderful things. I'm sure of that. I loved you from day one and I will love you until the end. Happy Anniversary!

Ben Loves Trucks!

To say that Ben loves trucks would be an understatement. He ADORES trucks and if one is in the vicinity forget about getting his attention on anything else. He can be just about asleep in the car but if we pass a truck going by he wakes up, yells "Truck" and points and turns his head to see it pass. And you better acknowledge it when you are with him. It's just not any truck either,oh no no no... it has to be a big moving truck, dump truck, semi-truck, cement truck or UPS truck...the big trucks. Pickup trucks don't do it for him. I made the mistake of buying him a dvd that just has trucks on it and Grandma Sharon our babysitter says he wants to watch it all day long. So I took that away from him, at least on a daily basis. He also loves big toy trucks like Tonka trucks. Can you guess what he may be getting for Xmas? When Ben reads one of his numbers and colors books, he only cares about the pages with the trucks on it. Maybe he is gonna be a truck driver??? Or maybe own the trucking company? :) We were at the park a couple Saturdays ago and a moving truck drove by. The attached photos tell the story. He ran towards it pointing and yelling "Truck"!" Then he followed it all the way down the street and stood there for a couple minutes as the truck was stopped at the stop light. A few days later the same truck was parked against the curb at the park and I got the truck driver to blow his horn for Ben using the "arm pumping motion". Ben was thrilled with that and made the guy do it a couple more times. I hope you enjoy the pictures.

Ben's Autumn Weekend

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Special Guest Blog Entry From Ana

It is time for a special little treat. It is time for the first "Guest Blog" entry. This week it is from Ana. She wants to bore you all with Ben's 18-month stats....what is it with women wanting to make sure their own kid's stats measure up to another's? :) Take it away Ana!.......

Nice John...Anyways, Ben had his 18-month checkup on Tuesday. We were surprised at how little weight he's gained! He weighs 27.6 lbs. (73%) and he is 34" long (90%). He takes after his mama - tall and thin. :) When I took his diaper off in the doctors office before he was weighed, he peed in the middle of the floor.

He's saying a few words now - truck, wow, cool, mama, he yells for John "DAAAAA". He's said yogurt, pretzel and he's even called his two friends at the park by name, Sean and Titus. He's quite intellectual.

I had to leave him for school for about 8 days this month. We learned that Ben is a perfect angel for daddy. When I came home he definitely made me pay for going away - I guess I deserved it - he's over it now. John did an AMAZING job being a single daddy while I was away. I'm very very lucky to be married to a man that supports me 120% and takes such amazing care of his son. I know there are many moms that wouldn't think about leaving their babies alone with their husbands for 8-days - and many more dads that wouldn't be willing to do it.

Thanks honey - love you.
Ana

Lions and Tigers and Ben, Oh My!

Ok, Here it is...another post about nothing really.....except of course Ben and his pets. The grass in the backyard this summer has not been as green as it could be so I have been watering it more and I let it grow out a little more. Now we basically have a mini-jungle growing in our backyard. Well, we decided to let our cats, Husker and Lola go outside in the backyard while we are out there with Ben so they could get a little taste of freedom and see what it feels like to be like a cat in the wild. They are in-door cats normally. They love grazing on the grass and walking amongst the bushes. Another one of thier favorite things to do is dodge Ben's advances. Ben loves chasing them around and giving them hugs. Husker doesn't mind so much but Lola, the black cat is a little more shy about it. It's taken her a long time to figure out that Ben is not gonna hurt her.

Trip to Newport Beach

Last week we took a little trip to Newport Beach to visit our friends Cori, Brian and their son Ryan. We stayed in a condo overlooking the ocean that is a time share owned by Brian and Cori. We felt very lucky that they invited us and we had a great time even though Ana was sick and Ben was getting over his cold. On Sunday we went to the Tall Ships Festival in Dana Point. The weather was really nice and Ben got to ride a bus and go on the ships with me. Monday we went to the South Coast Plaza to go shopping. Ben and Ryan got to go on a Merry Go Round. It was Ben's first time and he had fun. Then we went to the Rainforest Cafe for a late lunch/early dinner and Ben absolutely loved the place. They had lots of animatronic animals that would come to life and Ben especially liked the gorillas and leopard that were sitting right by our table. On Tuesday we went to Sea World. The weather could not have been better and we all had a good time. The highlight for Ben was the Arctic Exhibit where he got to see Polar Bears, walrus and Balooga Whales. Ben couldn't take his eyes off the walrus and Whales as they swam by the window. Ben actually went up to strangers and said, "See", and then he would point to the animals. He must have done this about 100 times. Brian and Cori, thank you for a inviting us, we had a great time.

Grandma Cindy Visits Ben

Over the Labor Day weekend Ben's Grandma Cindy came to visit from Friday until Monday. A good time was had by all. We enjoyed the visit with her and Ben always likes it when Grandma Cindy is here. She always makes him laugh and Ben thinks she is silly. On Saturday Grandma, Ana and Ben went to Gymboree in the morning. Ben is not really into the whole "sitting around and everyone singing" thing but he got to climb around on everything with Mom and Grandma. Ben helped Dad wash the cars on Sunday. He got more water on the ground than on the cars but oh well. On Sunday afternoon we went to the neighbor's house to go swimming and visit with them. They moved into the house right behind us about 2 months ago and we are really lucky to have them as neighbors. They are really nice people.