adventures on christmas eve

we had a great time at our christmas eve service. ben did great. he lasted almost the entire time int he service before needing to run around. he looked so handsome :) we had dinner at our friends' house afterwards & then to spend the night at matt's parents.

my jumping 'bean'

making faces with dad

checking out the stage

adventures in air hockey

back in the day we used to go to Showbiz Pizza, which turned into Chuck E. Cheese with my best friend's family for birthdays. we played all the games, but the one we loved most was air hockey! and my son is following after my own heart :) so proud!

camden & ben are 2 wild peas-in-a-pod!

adventures escaping from bed

ben has started to climb out of his crib when he isn't quite ready to take a nap. oh the joys of little boys! the pictures of his room are what he did before i realized he had climbed out. it hasn't been a continuing problem, so we're still deciding on whether or not to make his crib into a toddler bed.

pulled all the blankets & bibs out of the closet...

pulled shoes out, a lamp out & books off the shelf...

he's mastered it already!

adventures....

here are some random photos to catch you up...


at the hospital waiting for sawyer bush to arrive. he finally did dec 5 @ 2:24 am!! yes, we waited the whole night & don't worry ben did sleep.

trying out a bike at target...
apprenticing in the studio...

adventures of being thankful

we had a grand ole time for thanksgiving this year. aunt kristin & uncle oakley and family came to visit & auntie kate got lots of days off to play! we pretty much lived at nana roo & papa's house while the cousins were in town. ben picked up on all sorts of new things...both good & bad. :) he definitely talks a lot more, but he's also testing the limits too. he's growing up so much lately i can hardly stand it & yet at the same time be so amazed at what he does next. here are a few pictures of the weekend.

this is what auntie kate's are made for...playing with rowday kiddos!

ben was all smiles & couldn't sit still all weekend he was so excited to play with cousins.
at mac arthur playplace...the older 2 were in time-out & ben thought he'd join them. lol
this is what happened at my house...while the kids were being corralled at nana & papa's, the guys built a wall so the master bedroom can go upstairs. thanks uncle oakley for all your help!

adventures discovering Christmas decorations

we decorated our whole house for christmas this year! it's really the first year we've gotten to do the whole house since we've been married-sad. we're so glad we got to do it since ben really noticed things this year. we put up our tree, hung our stockings & garland, put up lights outside, and hung ornaments from the beams in our kitchen. we loves every part of it and loves even more to re-inspect it every morning.

we all love having the house decorated! it just gives you the warm fuzzies. we don't get to have many decorations up during the year because of our nosey toddler, but we can handle the busy hands for just a few weeks.

merry christmas!

welcome to our winter wonderland aka our kitchen


our wonderful christmas tree...with no topper & a gate around it. :) and so far only 2 broken ornaments.


our cute little house with it's white icicle lights.


ben the inspector

adventures taking pictures

ben loves the camera these days. if he finds it laying on a table, he'll pick it up, shove it to his nose & say cheese, then look for the picture. so then i usually get the hint & take an actual picture of him. these are what we've got in the "cheese" category for now.

i love this one!

adventures as a dinosaur

we went to a 5 year old's "Royal Princess" costume ball the weekend after halloween. mercy, the birthday girl was a princess, and everyone else wore their halloween costumes or a princess outfit. ben played his part by being the dinosaur. :) he was too cute for words & he didn't mind wearing the outfit at all. i think i may put him in it at home & let him run around, yes purely for my own entertainment, but it's too cute not to.

he discovered how cool bikes are. he wouldn't get off the pink princess bike. time for one without all the sparkles.

daddy & dinosaur ben-who was being uncooperative for picture taking

dinosaur ben & mommy

it's a bird! it's a plane! no, it's a paci monster! oh wait, it's just the dinosaur who stole some poor kids paci.

ben "roaring" as dinosaurs should.

after the costume came off, ben tried out his new trick...somersaults!

adventures as a Redskin

every sunday we have been going over to nana roo & papa's house to watch some football. since matt has decided he's a redskins fan & ben got a jersey for his birthday, he likes to wear it on sundays. (thanks grant!)

cheering on the skins! "go! go! goooo!"

proud of his Chris Cooley jersey.

riding Harry the dinosaur at the grocery store. he got lots of compliments on his jersey while sitting here.

adventures of the Ruckel Boys begins...

well folks, we found out this morning that Ben is getting a BROTHER!! yep, that's me & a house full of boys! we are definitely excited...still letting it sink in that my house is about to get crazier! now that we know, the imaginations are rolling! we still don't have a name, but we're working on that. thanks for all your votes...guess most of us were wrong :) love you all! we'll post some new pictures soon!

adventures on a "boys only" weekend

ben spent the weekend with dad a couple of weeks ago. mom was in KC for a wedding & the boys stayed home to play. i am happy to report that everyone did awesome! but there was one small occurrence...dad couldn't find a paci one night! it was almost a drop everything & go to the store for more, but matt was resourceful. he found the pacifier thermometer that we have tried to use for ben before. i say 'tried' because he never would keep that dang thing in his mouth. i guess when all you want is a paci, then ya take what you can get.

mission accomplished! pacified & watching cartoons!

!

adventures of wondering...boy or girl?

ben will find out if he'll be a big brother to a little brother or a little sister on Nov. 10! we're excited at the chance of being able to know. so be sure to vote on our poll...check the right handside...before that date. 

let us know what you think or hope the baby is!

adventures with the ruckels over the last few months

here are some pictures from the last couple of months...sorry for the delay! all of our pictures are now on one computer, which is great, but the catch is it's matt's work computer. i don't always have the unlimited access that i would like :) so here is my make up...sorry grammie!


jumping in leaves at the park! welcome fall!


ben loves to watch & imitate daddy...so he found dad's shoes to wear around the house. he did this himself folks, on the correct feet & everything!


ben's second home is the drumset! when he starts to get antsy in the house, we go out to the studio to play the drums! dad put headphones on him so he looks the part!


daddy snuck in some snuggle while ben was watching cartoons. got get 'em while you can!



he was singing while playing the drums. i think he's got a future behind those drums.


he loves to brush his teeth so much...he climbed on top of the toilet to get to our toothbrushes. he was not happy when took them away.


we had suckers in the backseat and ben decided to help himself. we turned around to discover this in his mouth and ALL OVER his face.


he's an inventive one...strong, curious & bold are a troublesome combination! he climbed in & out of the basket on top of the couch for about an hour!


picture perfect moment! i found him like this right before naptime one day. i guess if the drums don't work out, then maybe he'll move onto guitar.



it this would be the biggest reason the page hasn't been updated...i've been trying to just feel normal and not be sick. the sickness is finally subsiding & that's why i'm updating now. i'm almost 16 weeks and i'm due the last week of march! 



i knew that matt wouldn't believe me off of a faint line, so i took a digital one this time. i learned my lesson with ben.

adventures in a van

last week...very last minute...i decided to join my sister-in-law and cousin-in-law on a road trip to florida. first ben & i drove to columbia, sc and met up with everyone. then we drove to florida from there. it was 3 adults & 7 kids in a 15 passenger van-with no dvd player might i add. we thought we had borrowed one, but all we got were the screens, no dvd player. so an adventure it was! we made it with sanity in tact and enjoyed our long weekend there. we got to visit with both sides of matt's family and loved being able to stay at nanny's with all the other cousins. ben definitely thought he was one of the big kids.

all the cousins except for maddie


noah showing ben how to blow bubbles


cheese!


this is how you occupy a toddler in the car

the last of our california adventure

well we've been mighty busy the last few days. we helped my poppo pack up and move out of his house. my aunts were going thru, sorting, and packing everything. mucho kuddos to them! ben ran around the farm and got himself so dirty! he was a black footed baby for 2 days in a row. he helped grandad clean out the shop, so you can imagine what kind of dirt he found. the really sticky grungy dirty kind! :) he loved it!

we also ran around alot once kelli got here. it was great to have another person to play with!

these are dirty toes after being wiped down. they were just stained black, it only came off after a good long soak!


sleepy boys. he's learning the art of "the recliner".


horsey ridin' aunt kelli & watching cartoons! life couldn't be any better than this!


the sisters 3.

the adventure continues...day 5

we had a fun play day today complete with horsey rides, bubbles & backyard runs. my aunt judy & poppo came over for dinner and then we all sat outside and enjoyed dessert in the perfect evening weather. aunt kelli gets in tomorrow and we're excited to see her!

ben's new favorite game-granddaddy horsey rides


after the horsey ride was over & grandad was exhausted, ben decided he was gonna try.


he was being wild and climbing all over me. we'd both just gotten up from a nap so i suppose he was extra excited to see me and he chose to show that by kicking my face.


climbed up onto poppo's lap just so he could get the cane.
ahhh...the mind of a one-year old boy!


strawberries & ice cream for dessert on the patio MMM! MMM! MMM!
he asked for seconds on this course of dinner.