Grandmas & Grandpas Galore

In the past month, Ben has gotten to see all of his grandmas and grandpas. It has been great. Ben and I went to Boise for a mini-reunion. We stayed with my sister Laura and her husband Justin and got to know their 2 month-old baby Zach; my sister Bonnie and her youngest son Mark flew in from Connecticut; my brother Doug & his wife Nayomee came up from Utah; my mom came from McCall; and my dad now lives in the Boise area. So, it was a great time! Ben had so much fun with his aunts, uncles, grandma, grandpa, and cousins. Oh, and of course the family dogs! One night we left Laura's house and I realized that Ben's face smelled like dog breath. Gross. Ben didn't care--he was more than happy to have Maggie & Phoenix licking his face all weekend. Like I've said before, the boy is obsessed with dogs.

Ben and Grandpa in Boise

Ben, Bonnie, and Mark enjoying story time

Zach, the chubbiest, cutest baby! He was nearly 16 lbs at his 2-month check-up!

Ben & Phoenix. Can you see how happy his face is? Just imagine the squeal that goes along with that expression.

We came home from Boise and then my mom came to visit. I worked a few half-days at the office, so she came to watch Ben for us. I was nervous because I had never been away from Ben for that long, but they had such a great time together. I rushed home the first day, feeling a bit frantic. When I got home, I took Ben from my mom and he was happy to see me, but then he reached back for Grandma. I realized that he was just fine! While she was here she made Ben's Halloween costume--the cutest skunk costume in the world! Thank you, Mom!

Ben & Grandma at the park in Seattle

My mom is amazing. I'm so excited for Ben's first Halloween!

Skunks like to play the banjo, too.

This past weekend James' parents came to visit and it was great. We went to the aquarium for the first time and Ben loved looking at the fish (although it was a bit frustrating not being able to touch them). Each day I got to feed Ben in the morning and hand him off to Grandma and Grandpa and go back to bed. It was heavenly. Ben loved showing them all of his new tricks, and learned a couple new ones while they were here. He would sit on the floor with Grandma, Grandpa would roll a ball to him ,and he'd snap his legs shut around it. He actually got pretty good at catching it. Ben also loved to "sing" to Grandma. Whenever we'd ride anywhere in the car, he'd look into her face and start singing his own little songs.

Grandma & Grandpa brought Ben's birthday present

Grandpa & Ben enjoying "Pajama Time" (part of his present)

Ben liked showing off his costume for Grandma

Now all our company is gone and we're back to normal life. We're really enjoying James' clinic rotations right now--very few weekend days and he gets home at a reasonable time most evenings. It gives us a glimpse of what non-resident life might be like. I've been doing more work lately, but it should calm down here in the next week or so.

Ben loves having James home each night to give him his bath