we've been busy so here's a picture update

just like my daddy
helping mix the burn album



my teething baby
any and everything into his mouth



brotherly love!
don't worry bear was only in the pack-n-play for the picture :)


little drummer boy
boy o boy does he love banging on those pots!


wearing his horse hat
i couldn't resist!

happy harvest festival day!

hope everyone had fun gathering candy or hiding from the trick-or-treaters or whatever you did last night. we went to the western themed church halloween alternative party. we had a blast! the weather was nice and fall-like cool. matt & i went as "cowboys" and ben went as a cow. there were kids swarming everywhere!

ear infection

well folks it's our first run of a sick kid and boy is it not fun! lol ben has an ear infection from all the drainage of teething. and yes he now has 2 new teeth & i think a couple more coming soon (the snot-nose hasn't stopped running)! so 6 teeth-and yes he has bit me- and an ear infection. he's quite the trooper. he is still getting used to taking the antibiotics by syringe, but he's getting better. he'll go back to the doctor in a couple weeks for a follow up and his flu booster shot. in the meantime pray he gets over this quickly.

oh his 6 month check up was oct. 12 and he weighed 18lbs. 4 oz. and when they weighed him yesterday he was 19lbs. 12oz. guess he's had a growth spurt! i'll post pictures of his first halloween later this week.

officially crawling & climbing

well ben's crawling has progressed from inch-worming to full fledged crawling. he'd done it a couple of times randomly before but last night he decided would be the night for his debut. he's quite the muscle man. and he also loves to climb on whatever he can. now there's no stopping him.

look at me now!

this is ben this time last year...14 weeks pregnant


and this is ben yesterday when he was suppose to be napping. (6 months)


last year we were enjoying vacation and this year we're chasing our little inch worm! my my my how our lives change in a year.

a day in the life of me!

this is what i do in the morning. i smile at my mom & dad. we laugh & play til it's time for breakfast. mmm! carrots!



then i go exer-sauce for a while. i try to wrestle everything into my mouth. it's so much fun!



then it's lunch time!! i love to eat.



then i have some good tummy time. i move around the living like a pro. and now i'm learning how to hold myself up on all 4's. i'm getting the hang of it. watch out mom!



then i fall asleep after playing hard and snuggling with dad. i love to play with his hair.

laughter is the best medicine

ben is almost 6 months & is getting to be tons of fun. he's really got a sense of humor developing. it loves to try to make me laugh at nap time when i put him down. it's like he thinks that if i laugh he won't have to take a nap. this kid is smart. he is so observant and just takes everything in. so he's starting to respond to little games i play with him. i try to "bite" his neck and now he's doing the same. we just have so much fun together.

this is a video from some family hangout time last week. matt & i watched a movie and ben came in and played in his high chair after a late night carrot snack. he gets giggly at night when he starts getting tired.

Ben & Matt playing peek-a-boo

he's a mover & a shaker

he's getting so big! he's got 3 teeth, yes 3! that have cut through. he eats like a champ at every meal. he loves him some sweet potatoes. he gets himself around pretty good these days and i know it won't be long before he's chasing after bear (our dog).

here's a short video of ben's first "crawl" attempt.

big boy food

well after a couple weeks of ben watching us intently while we eat, snatching at our food or whining while we eat...we decided to give him some "solid" food of his own. he had 2 feedings today of rice cereal. he chowed down! in fact i wasn't quite fast enough at feeding him by spoon, so we went to the bottle. he's a big growing boy. for now we'll stick to rice cereal and try out the "orange/ yellow" veggies as suggested by the doc. my meal times will never be the same. but i will say the cereal does tide him over for a little bit longer, so that gives me some "extra" time.

can't believe it! he turned 5 months on saturday...he's got his 2 bottom teeth and now he's eating big boy food. and yes he's trying to crawl but at the moment it just looks like a face planted booty lift! pretty cute. and he can sit up pretty well by himself, but has yet to sit himself up without help.



pictures of our d.c. getaway coming soon...

the "big sunday"

here are some pictures from the "big sunday" a couple weeks ago. ben did awesome :) of course when we took him out of his car seat to go up to be prayed over, we discovered that he had a poopy diaper. and all i could think of was a story of another new mom...her baby had a poopy diaper that leaked everywhere during dedication! i was praying that God would give us help in raising this child to know his word and that he wouldn't get poop all over us :) thankfully we made it through clean.


pastor eric & family praying over ben



baby & his momma


not only was it ben's dedication, but it was also the day that matt was being ordained! i would say our family made a huge commitment to God that day ;) it was an amazing sermon that pastor eric gave directed to matt (of course while speaking to the rest the congregation as well) during which we both had to sit on stage for. yes awkwardly sit there the entire time in front of everyone. but i'm so glad to see others acknowledge my husband's true heart and desires. after eric got done speaking, the elders came and prayed over the both of us. pastor eric invited matt's dad to pray over us too. that was really special. it was an emotional time to say the least.

being prayed over by the elders


the ruckel clan (minus oakley)


thanks to all who came out to the party or attended church just to be a part of it all. it was all a great blessing. and those of you who couldn't make it...thanks for the prayers and blessings.