Cincinnati

Matt goes to Cincinnati every few months and the kids and I tag along. Normally we go to the childrens museum, but I wanted to do something that wouldn't cost much. We found a park that ended up being 20 minutes away. Ally had fun and was super tired. After the park I thought we'd just pick up McDonalds, well I couldn't find one. The GPS kept leading me to the wrong place....anyways..I was tired and hungry as was Ally. Ben was starting to wake up so he was going to be hungry. We ended up back at the hotel and ate lunch at the food court at the mall. That evening we ate dinner with 2 of Matt's coworkers. We ate at Cadillac Ranch. We had a good time eating with his coworkers. The food was okay. It's always good to try new things. On Thursday the kids and I found a park that was right on the river and was really cool. First we walked across the purple bridge and ate pizza at Newport. Then we walked back over the bridge and played at the 2 playgrounds. I didn't get a picture of the other playground, it was cool, but not as cool as the one in the pictures below. Matt ended up leaving his conference early, so he enjoyed a 20 minute walk to the park. He played with Ally for a little bit, then we left. We went to IKEA. We got a plastic floor mat, to protect our new wood floor from our desk chair. We also got Ally an easel. It has a chalk board on one side, dry erase on the other and you can put paper on it as well. So fun! So we had a good trip and are looking forward to going back.

This is what Ben did for the whole 3 hours we were out and about.

What a beast! Matt had fun playing at the playground.

Way to go babe!

Weee

playing music

the whole playround was suppose to be like a boat/castle

Ally was trying to get some kids attention and was trying to whistle at them

action shot

she loved that they had things for her size

on the purple people bridge

Benson loves his sister so much

they took a nap together one day, Ally had fallen asleep holding his hand, but I didn't get that

A few more blessing pictures

Emerson, Ally and Jakob.

Benson after his blessing

Benson's Blessing

We had such the crowd for Benson's blessing. Here is who all came (that not normally would have been there) Great Grandma Horn, Great Grandma Lich, Great Aunt Kate, Uncle Phil, Aunt Kim, Grandma Horn, Grandpa Horn, Mike & Lindsay Nehring and their kids Emerson, Jakob, and Hailey, and mom and dad Berlin (Lindsays parents).

Thank you all for coming and being with Ben on his special day.

So we attempted a family picture and this is what we got. She was either not looking at the camera or being incredibly silly.

Benson

Daddy & Ben

loves his paci and his hands

i think they should use him in carpet commercials

he fell asleep looking at Ally's fort(which by the way, we could build in any room in our house and still be able to live around it). Can you tell I love my house?

Matt's birthday

Grandma Horn came and stayed with us for a week and helped us out. She stripped wall paper, primed, painted, painted, and painted some more. She did a fabulous job. Thank you so much Jackie. She also got to get in some cuddles from Ben and some play time with Ally.

Ben still sleeps all day. I am so grateful for this right now.

Travis and Grandma Julie (I guess mom wasn't quite ready for the picture)

Matt and Kim opening presents

Happy Birthday Kim

Matt blowing out candles

Jackie, Matt, and Kim

I tried getting a picture of the grandmas getting food ready

it took 2 pictures to get them to look!

Happy Birthday Kim!

Matt got a grill for his birthday from his parents!

So excited to have a new grill!

Silly Ally

stick fight with daddy

trying to get grandpa in on the stick fight

gotcha dad!

Sorry for my hiatus

The reason being we bought a house last Monday and have been busy, busy. Matt's mom came to help last Monday. She did ALL the painting pretty much. Thank you SO much Jackie. We just have to finish painting the basement, then we might take a break from painting for a bit. We have wood laminate going in on Friday, carpet should be going in about a week after that. I can't wait to get these rooms re-floored. Matt saved us some money and tore out the carpet we were replacing. Last night Matt mowed our new lawn for the first time, while Ally and I pulled weeds that were growing up through the sidewalk and driveway. We also had to rake the grass because it was so long. So as you can see we've been busy, but we've also not had internet. Yeah, the phone company somehow hooked our phone up at the right location and our internet at the wrong location. How does that happen? So we won't have internet until next Tuesday. I promise pictures will get posted, people will get invited to come over, just be patient and let me try to make my house more of a home.

Ally and I have things to buy today and lots to do. We'll see how much really ends up getting done. Ben usually is the deciding factor in how productive I am. Oh and on the subject of Ben, he had his 2 month appt the other day. He was weighing in at 13.08 and is 24 1/2 in long. Ally was 11.10 and 23 3/4 in long. Cosette was 13.13 and 23 3/4 in long. So Ben is taller than the girls were at his age, but weighs less than Cosette did (not by much though). He is such a fun boy. He loves to laugh, smile, and watch us. Last night I needed to get dinner made and Ben was wanting attention. So I layed him on the floor next to Ally, while she watched t.v. Ally was such a nice big sister. She sat there and stuck her finger in his pacifier and held it in his mouth for him. He was totally cool with that. Sometimes he really wants the pacifier, but just can't seem to keep it in his mouth. Ally is so great with him. Ben is really patient with her. I am so lucky to have 3 wonderful children and such a great husband. Matt's birthday is on Saturday, by the way.

Ally's 3 year pictures

Some days she is an angel and other days she's a turkey!

Today she was an angel, Friday for family pictures she was a turkey.

I think the pictures turned out great. Some of them really show her orneriness.