Happy Birthday!

Not the blog post you expected today, was it! We have of course been taking a ton of video and pictures over the past week. As you can imagine, I can not immediately locate the camera in the mess that is our home! We had an amazing trip to Virginia and saw EVERYONE there! We've been resting at home, and opening more Christmas presents than you can imagine for three people! Off to Kalamazoo tomorrow for one more round, then back to work on Monday (boooo).

I will locate the camera and put pics and videos up as soon as I can! But, back to business, on this December 25, 2010.....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY! To: my Grandmother, Brian's Grandma Betty, and our dear niece Meghan ALL of which have birthdays today! We love you all!

Line to get into the parking lot...sigh

Ben is 2!!!

On Tuesday, December 14th, Benjamin Bishop (aka: Major League Bishop) turned 2 years old! Unbelievable! He had an amazing birthday! He did have to go to the babysitter for a little bit while Mom went to work. While he was there, he got cupcakes and all his friends sang to him! When we got home, we made dinner and waited for Daddy to get home. As soon as Daddy got home, Grandma and Grandpa Bishop called to sing to Ben! He loved it! Of course I was a little late with the video camera but was able to catch the very end. He still only talks to phones that don't talk back.

Today we had Ben's 2 year check up. He is healthy as can be! Weight: 32lbs 5oz. Length: 37.5inches. "Well above the 95%" according to his doctor. He was a good boy until they had to take some blood. That took Mommy and 2 nurses to hold him down during that.

On the way to the doctor, we decided to stop by the Jiffy Lube to get a couple things taken care of for the car prior to our big drive south. While we there, an old man walked in with a cane. As he got closer, even my heart skipped a beat. It was Santa! I swear it! He wasn't wearing his red suit, but it was him! Ben even called him Santa! This man was so nice! He talked to Ben, got his list, told him he'd been nice and was going to get all he wanted! Then Santa looked at me and said "Benjamin's getting a little sister, too, huh?!" I am only 14 weeks pregnant and was wearing a coat! It was magic! I told him, I was expecting but there was no way of knowing if it were a boy or a girl yet. He smiled and said "it's a girl!" We shall see! He was so nice and Ben was just drawn to him. I wish I had gotten a picture!

We're off tomorrow for Virginia! Can't wait to see the family in the south! We plan on getting them all in there in the next week. Should be crazy fun. Time to go pack more!

Blizzard 2010

We had a fun weekend in Madison, WI. We thought it would be nice to go see some old friends up there. We knew it was going to snow. "They" were predicting 6-8 inches Saturday night into Sunday morning. We weren't worried. We thought it would clear by the time we wanted to leave. Once we arrived in Madison, our dear friends, Andy and Corrie Dufresne informed us that a blizzard was coming! What could we do? We were already there! So, we settled in. Ben had a ball with their two boys. Zach will be 3 in a couple weeks, and Adam is 14months. SO CUTE!

Saturday they played inside. As we awoke on Sunday, the winds were howling, the snow was blowing! It was pretty crazy outside! I've heard differing reports as to how much snow we got. Some say 13inches. It's hard to tell with all the drifting! The guys across the street had a drift that was chest high on the man who lived there!

So, you wake up in Madison, WI to a blizzard, what do you do next? You make sleds out of cardboard boxes, and as Andy's snow-blowing the driveway you sled down it! Ben, of course, LOVED it! Adam was all about it! Zach was with me in the garage. He loved the sledding, but continued to say "it's cold!" Smart kid! It was so much fun! I did manage to go down once and that was enough for me as I only had my sneakers on!

After warming up a bit we headed home. They actually had the highways pretty clear. It was windy, it took us a little longer, but overall not terrible.

Now we're resting and getting ready for our week which includes Ben's 2nd birthday!!!! And driving to Richmond, VA!!!

First Big Snowfall!

Ben and Daddy built a snowman!














He LOVED the snow!






















You can see the snowball Daddy was throwing at Ben in midair. It was funny until Dad hit him smack in the face with one. Ben handled Daddy's lack of precision (or so he says) very well!




Yes, we got our first significant snow fall yesterday! About 5 inches by the time it was all done. Very pretty to watch and fun to play in! Good packing snow! Ben got his new snow suit on and dug right in, of course! We expected no different from him!

Thanksgiving in Michigan

We had a busy Thanksgiving weekend in Michigan. To summarize:


Thursday: see previous post.





Friday: got up, drove to the cottage, approximately 3.5hours. Started cooking. Sisters arrived with nieces and nephews! Ben gets to have a little birthday party (a little early) with his cousins present. He got lots of presents! Blew out the candles on his Cars birthday cake! A dug in!











Saturday: more family come for the Huling Thanksgiving! Lots of craziness! Lots of food! A good time!







Sunday: the wind calmed down enough (until then, too windy to leave to the house, let alone go to the beach) for us to go for a little walk on the beach. Ben was a trooper and had to walk the whole time!



We left early afternoon and found a Christmas tree farm in Montague, Michigan where Brian sawed our Christmas tree from the ground himself!! Ben loved it! He was tired by then but got right in there and tried to help. We strapped it to the top of the SUV and headed back to IL. Ben has been enthralled by the tree in the living room and continually tries to decorate it with various things he finds from around the house!

Happy Thanksgiving!

All I have to say is, Ben, I am so sorry. Someday you are going to be so mad at me for putting these videos online. But, you have been so funny all day today. We've had a good Thanksgiving at home! Lots of cooking, relaxing, football, and playing! Ben loved the Macy's Parade and even joined in with the Rockettes! Of course, he was very animated and then less so once we got the camcorder out!

Dinner was great! We made the whole thing and sat down with music and candles, and all that. It ends up Ben loves turkey and cranberries! I made the cranberries (no cans here!), and they were tasty!

We're cleaning up now. Going to RELAX tonight, watch a movie. Looking forward for more eating with the Hulings this weekend!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Our trip to the Shed with Grandma and Grandpa Bishop

We had Grandma and Grandpa Bishop up again last weekend and what a time! Ben just loved all the attention and cookies! We spent a couple "quiet" days at home just playing and watching movies. And then on Saturday we went downtown to the Shed Aquarium! Ben was on fire! He was running like a crazy person through that place and just enthralled with all the fish!

The rest of the week was spent working for us. I worked all week which was quite exhausting after so much fun last weekend! Enjoy some pictures and videos of our visit!

Ben and his Grandpa were BUDDIES!













A beautiful day in downtown Chicago. We spent the day at the aquarium!













Ben LOVED the submarine at the Shed!
























We went to the 4D movie. Ben wasn't too interested and the 4 in 4D sort of freaked him out! Basically it was splashing water at us, blowing wind, things like that.











Ben was intrigued with all the fish!

Happy Halloween!

It was Ben's first real attempt at trick or treating this year! Obviously, he was Mickey Mouse, and he kept his ears and mittens on longer than I thought he would! Overall, it went well. The weather was very nice! We only went to a few houses. For the most part Ben was perplexed as to why people were just putting candy in his bag! He enjoyed sitting on our front steps handing out candy far more! He was a good helper! He was good with and without the Mickey hands at getting the candy into the kids bags, sometimes handfuls at a time!

We're exhausted. Enjoy the videos and pictures from our day! Notice the video of Ben following digging into his candy! He literally ran around the driveway full steam for a solid 15minutes. We'll see how tonight goes!

Trices and Pumpkins

(I know, this picture is ridiculous! But, I couldn't help it!)



Oh boy, did Ben have fun last weekend with his buddy Jackson here for a visit! He really took on the role of host. He showed Jackson all his toys, showed him where we eat, where to go for something to drink, everything! Me, Brian, Jen and Scott also got to just sit and watch them play! It was sort of nice! Ben is definitely a little more of a daredevil and may have been a bad influence on Jackson! Jackson would just watch as Ben climbed the walls, twirled, threw himself on the floor as though tackling (from his football watching), all sorts of stunts!

Activities we tried:

Trick-or-treating at Lincoln Park Zoo on Saturday. Not many photos from that due to the high speed winds and rain we were trying to shield out child from! We thought we'd try, but no go. Then we thought even if we can't trick or treat, we can at least go see some of the indoor animals. Well, we were there too early and they had all the buildings closed to get ready for the trick or treating. So, we packed up and came home. Watched some football and just visited.

(We did manage to get VERY near the Lion! He was enjoying his pumpkin treat!)


Sunday we did make it to Bengston's Pumpkin Farm! This is the same place we went last year and just had the best time! The boys just loved all the activities. They both REALLY got into the petting zoo this time! Ben was fearless in sticking the carrots directly INTO the animals mouths! Jackson had a little more restraint and gently handed out the carrots for the animals to grab.

The boys also enjoyed picking out their own pumpkins! Of course, Ben already had one from Grandma and Grandpa Huling's pumpkin patch, we just couldn't leave there empty handed! It was a much nicer day, weather wise and we had a great time!

Grandpa Huling just left a little while ago after a short over night visit to help us with some house projects and now we're settling in for a nice weekend at home getting ready for Halloween and hopefully Ben's first true time trick or treating in our neighborhood!




Ben feeding the cows! NO FEAR!










Ben picking out his pumpkin and the best shot we got of Ben and Jackson sitting with their pumpkins!










Ben and Jackson both loved sitting on all the big pumpkins!









The best family photo we got! We'll work on it...

Fall, 2010

We're having almost as pretty of a fall as we had a summer! We spent last weekend in Kalamazoo visiting Grandma and Grandpa Huling. Ben had a ball! The weather was beautiful! In all my travels, there is no other place that has fall colors like Michigan! We went for several walks in the fields around my parents house. Ben actually found a pile of leaves my Dad had already cleared and instinctively jumped in it! We didn't have to say a thing!

As we headed further back into the fields, Brian, Ben, Lianna, and Devin decided to play some football while Dad, Stephanie and I (with all four dogs pulling us forward) walked on! Devin and Lianna did such a nice job throwing the ball to Ben! It was pretty cute. I tried to get a picture from afar. We then tried to get a Bishop family photo but the top photo was the best we got. Abby was too distracted by the other dogs and ALL the space she had to roam!

We did get to pick a pumpkin for Ben from Grandma and Grandpa's Pumpkin Patch. They had a good yield this year! It was hard to pick. Ben got the perfect pumpkin that we may carve this weekend!

My Grandpa came down for breakfast on Sunday and it was nice to visit. Devin had been practicing piano for him. He knows how to play "The Entertainer" and "Chopsticks." He practiced and practiced! Grandpa was very impressed and even accompanied him which I caught some of on video! They did such a nice job!

In other news, Ben got his Halloween costume! He will be Mickey Mouse! He tried the majority of it on for me and seems to really love it! All except the ears. We couldn't seem to keep those on so we'll practice that before Halloween. He LOVES his Mickey Mouse hands, though! We just have a few odds and ends to take care of and he's ready for some trick-or-treating. We're also working on him actually saying "trick-or-treat."

We're getting ready for the Trice's to visit this weekend! It will be nice to see Ben and Jackson together again! We're hoping for some cute Halloween activities!

Hope you enjoy the videos. They were of our weekend in Kalamazoo including a concert by my nephew Devin and my Grandfather! I also thought I'd add the one of Ben in his costume riding his "car." He just loves that car! We've gotten in the habit of riding it up the sidewalk to go see the Halloween decorations in our neighborhood. And our neighborhood goes crazy so there's plenty to look at. I occasionally end up carrying his car back, but it's worth it to see him tooling around on it!

"Night Night Shadow"

We've been enjoying some nice weather here in the mid-west. We've been trying to soak it all in because we know that it's just a ticking time bomb here. Colder weather is coming, I know. So, the Bishops have been playing outside a lot! Also, I've been enjoying my runs when I can. When I get back, Ben generally likes to take my things and dress like Mommy. He'll walk around saying "Runnin! Runnin!" Pretty cute!

He's also been playing a lot of soccer. He's doing alright with it. He's getting the sports a little confused you can see as he tackles his father. Soon he'll know the difference between soccer and football!

The only problem with this weather, I know we always find something to complain about. We (both me and Brian) are suffering from summer and fall allergies! We haven't had a hard frost to kill off the pollens, and what not, yet the fall junk is already out! Lots of sneezes!

I also wanted to add some cute video I got of him mimicking absolutely EVERYTHING I do! Including putting on deodorant! He walked around like that much of the morning after watching me get ready!

Updates: We noticed today Ben has gone through another growth spurt! As you can see in the video taken today (and the above picture), he's t-shirt is having a hard time staying down and covering that adorable little belly. This shirt was too big for him just a couple months ago. And, it's a 2T!!!! He's lengthening again! Boy, that boy is going to be tall.

Cute things Ben has said this week: "Is Hunter home?" As I'm getting him dressed in the morning. Hunter is his buddy at the baby sitter. He just said it out of no where!

"Hello Shadow!" Ben and I have gotten into the habit of greeting our shadows every morning as I change him. He has also started saying "night night shadow." Brian has stated this makes his heart melt when he hears it.

Everything else is going well. We've been sticking to a nice routine here. Nothing outrageous to report! We're gearing up for some more weekend fun coming up. Next weekend we're visiting Grandma and Grandpa Huling for an over nighter. Then Jen, Scott, and Jackson Trice come for a visit the following weekend. Then we're already at Halloween! Can't believe it.

Hope everyone is well!

October is here!

Things have been very calm and "normal" around here. I've been working my normal days, weekends have been spent at home watching football. And this video is case and point. In an effort to get Ben to watch ANYTHING other than Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, we're getting really overly excited about football. So, Ben has made the observation that they "throw, run run run, fall down." You have to admit, that about sums it up! So, last night, while playing "soccer" with his father, Ben started throwing himself on the ground. He is not actually falling, he's doing it on purpose like the football players he's been watching! Pretty cute.

We're also getting excited about Halloween already. Ben LOVES his skeleton pajamas! We also went out and got gel clings for the windows that he is very in to! He loves decorating the front windows, then moving them to the back slider, and back and forth, back and forth. Yes, he's ripped a couple which really gets Brian fired up, then I remind him they cost 99cents at the Jewel. Enjoy some cute pictures.

Updates: Ben has had NO interest in the potty chair since his successful voiding in it last week. Not worried, we're still not going to push it.

He's still talking up a storm and learning more and more everyday. I'm always amazed. The other day, I lit a candle in the kitchen while he was eating a snack at the table and all the sudden he started singing the Happy Birthday song! Of course as soon as I pulled out the video camera he stopped. It was pretty cute. I know they sing that a lot at his babysitters and glad he's practicing at home.






Ben continues to work on his T-ball in the yard. Yes, we still use a log as the T. We do have a bat and a ball, but he insisted on using a stick and a Bocci ball. Aside from only using one hand, his follow through is still looking good! And this is an actual before and after! He's got a good eye!


























Ben also likes to dress like Daddy. Those boots are still a bit big for him.