Ben & Cormick

You MUST go to our friends' the Keilmans' blog here:

http://keilman.blogspot.com/2008/08/august-16-2008-night-of-adventure.html

Great pictures of Ben and his best friend Cormick.

The Fam

Just got this picture of the whole family... it was taken back in June. I think it's the first one of all three of us.

Ellen/Ben pics

I realized yesterday that we didn't have any pictures of Ben and me... so we took a few today, and here they are.

2 months old

Ben's doing great. He has become a much happier baby, which makes us happier. He is smiling and laughing a lot now. He loves to go on walks in the stroller or baby bjorn, and I've started taking him running with me in the jogging stroller. He likes to play on his back... but is NOT a fan of being on his stomach. At all. His favorite thing ever is the new bouncer chair we have (see pictures). It occupies him for long amounts of time. In the past month we've mostly just been hanging out in Missoula, but we've also made a couple of trips to Great Falls to see grandparents Duane and Mary.

He got his first shots at the beginning of August. He did not enjoy them. His weight on that date (August 4) was 12 lbs, 13 oz.

Peter and I ran in the Missoula Marathon in July. We formed a relay team with our friends Brittnie and Dan (who also have a new baby, Cormick... see picture of the two boys above!). Since Brittnie and I had just started running again, we thought it would be fun. The husbands had fun too, even though we did have to drag them into it. Our team took last out of all the relay teams, but we had a good time anyway, and we were impressed that we were able to finish. :)

In two weeks school will start, which means day care will start! Should be interesting...

One month old!

Ben turned one month old on July 3. He is getting so big! We weighed him (very unofficially) last weekend and he is already up to ten pounds. He's been sleeping really well at night- he usually gets up twice to feed, but goes right back to sleep. He's been more awake and alert during the day - and grouchy. We've discovered that he has quite the set of lungs, and is not afraid to use them. He is one loud kid! I can't believe how fast the days are going, and how big he is.

Ben

We decided to start this blog so we can share pictures and stories about the newest member of the family... Benjamin Scott McKenzie. Benjamin showed up on Tuesday, June 3, at 5:49 p.m. He weighed 7 pounds 8 oz, and was 19 inches long.

After the long and super-fun labor process (sarcasm), we were very excited to meet him! Of course, at that point we were expecting a girl named Katie. However, when he arrived, we immediately noticed two things: 1. a crazy head of hair-he looks like a rock star! Woo! 2. She was definitely a he. This is something I had been worrying about all along... we were just pushing our luck with all the dresses and pink stuff. :) I couldn't care less, though. I was just so glad to have him there! And the immediate thrill of not being pregnant anymore didn't hurt.

We just got home from the hospital today. We are now just trying to figure out how life works with a baby. I have discovered that I am NOT good at changing diapers. You think it would be so simple. Not true... at least, not right now. Peter is good at it. Maybe you have to have a masters degree.

For the next week, the plan is to hang out, get to know Ben, convince the beagles that we still love them, and figure out how to be parents. He's a great kid so far, and super good-looking, of course. We're pretty excited!

Here is the link to his "e-cradle" post on Community Medical Center's web site.
http://www.newbabynews.net/hospitals/com28/public/showBaby.pl?babyID=h28-59311747