Our birdie is 11 months old! Not only will he celebrate his first Christmas in a few weeks but our next Happy Birthday wish will be for the grand 12 months - 1 YEAR OLD!We'd like you to note that the monthly sign is no longer safe sitting peacefully next to our little guy - now Dadda has to hold it up only milliseconds before the camera clicks otherwise the paper is a goner! :) HAPPY ELEVEN MONTHS to our beautiful boy! Mama and Dadda love you more than anything!
Benjamin's first Thanksgiving was fabulous! In true Messmer tradition, Benjamin was welcomed in to the Thanksgiving chaos we have all come to know and love - 19 people (that's not a typo!) and two dogs all staying in the Messmer house - eating, laughing, passing gas, watching football, and enjoying the glorious madness that is a Messmer Thanksgiving!Mama couldn't resist using his first turkey day as yet another excuse to dress him up...and although the canoe was cute, how could we not put him in the roasting pan for more photos?! He was more edible and delicious than any turkey! :)
Benjamin was also welcomed in to the "turkey bowl" tradition and bundled up to cheer on his Dadda, Uncle Marky, and cousin Tommy (ok and maybe Uncle Marky's friend Mark :)) while they tried to burn off all the yummy Thanksgiving pies!
Ok, so maybe the leaves were more interesting than the game! :)How crazy will it be when someday he is out there playing and his Uncles are watching?! :) Happy FIRST Thanksgiving Benjamin!
Although Benjamin stood on the Notre Dame field while in utero this was his first "real" visit to his beloved Notre Dame and his proud Papa was nearly busting at the seams! Benjamin got to see Dadda's dorm all decked out for the big game! And he even had lunch with the marching band - getting a lucky irish head rub from one of the drum line who thought he was the best looking little guy in an ND jersey who he had ever seen!
Someday we'll share with Benjamin that we prayed for him at the grotto when he was still only a twinkle in our eyes, that we brought him (before we ever knew him) to hear the live version of the fight song (versus the version through headphones wrapped around my belly that he listened to each night while he was comfortably nestled in Mama's belly), and how on this trip, his first to ND, we were so excited to introduce him to such an important place in our lives. He sure did make his ND Daddy proud!!GO IRISH!!!
There's no place like home for the holidays so the Leonardos took their merry clan on the road back to their midwest roots stopping first for a WONDERFUL weekend in South Bend, IN to introduce Benjamin to his loving and ENORMOUS Irish family! He loved staying with Great-Grandma "Gigi" Sharon and Randy and we can't thank them enough for their perfect hospitality (and free baby-sitting too! :)). And it was so much fun to introduce Benjamin to the whole Donlon clan - he is the luckiest little guy to be a part of such a great family!
Our beautiful birdie has reached the double digits in months! And his Mama can't believe it! Is it really possible that in 8 short weeks he will be one year old? We love you SO much Benjamin!!
Benjamin LOVED his first Halloween festivities as did his Mama and Dadda (and Gwamma and Gwampa too who celebrated with us because they couldn't resist their first grandchild in his little orange pumpkin costume...who could!?!?! :))Although he wasn't so sure about all the crazy kids running circles around him as we walked through the neighborhood he certainly enjoyed saying hello to his friends when they opened the door to find his big smile. By this time next year he may actually know what they're putting in his pumpkin too! :) HAPPY FIRST HALLOWEEN BENJAMIN!
In true Benjamin fashion, our little beauty decided to take his first crawl on October 28, a warm, wonderful fall evening as Daddy was sweeping the patio and Mommy and Benjamin were enjoying a quiet picnic on the back porch. Benjamin saw his dinosaur just out of reach and decided it would be a good time to get his little legs moving! :) Luckily Mommy was constantly on the look-out for this special moment and carried her camera with her everywhere so it was all caught on video. We thought we would share yet another video taken just a few hours later as Benjamin was getting ready for his bath and had already become comfortable moving about his nursery with his new found freedom! We are so proud of our amazing Benjamin!
Our sweet pea arrived on January 7, 2009. Surprise!!...a full 5 days before Mommy's scheduled c-section! Welcome to the newest Leonardo - our son, Benjamin Elis. Mommy and Daddy (and brother Stanford too!) are head-over-heels in love and can't imagine life without our beautiful baby boy. In keeping with the tradition of our Belly Blog we've created the Baby Benjamin blog to share with our loved ones all of Benjamin's special moments as he discovers the world around him. Enjoy!!
New parents of the amazing, incredible, Benjamin Elis, our birdie, baba ganoush, Benjamin button! The very light and love of our lives! (Previously known while in Mommy's belly as dancing baby leonardo or our little sweet-pea). Welcome Benjamin!!!
We'd like you to note that the monthly sign is no longer safe sitting peacefully next to our little guy - now Dadda has to hold it up only milliseconds before the camera clicks otherwise the paper is a goner! :)
Mama couldn't resist using his first turkey day as yet another excuse to dress him up...and although the canoe was cute, how could we not put him in the roasting pan for more photos?! He was more edible and delicious than any turkey! :)
Benjamin was also welcomed in to the "turkey bowl" tradition and bundled up to cheer on his Dadda, Uncle Marky, and cousin Tommy (ok and maybe Uncle Marky's friend Mark :)) while they tried to burn off all the yummy Thanksgiving pies!
Ok, so maybe the leaves were more interesting than the game! :)
How crazy will it be when someday he is out there playing and his Uncles are watching?! :)
Although Benjamin stood on the Notre Dame field while in utero this was his first "real" visit to his beloved Notre Dame and his proud Papa was nearly busting at the seams! Benjamin got to see Dadda's dorm all decked out for the big game!
GO IRISH!!!
And it was so much fun to introduce Benjamin to the whole Donlon clan - he is the luckiest little guy to be a part of such a great family!
Our beautiful birdie has reached the double digits in months! And his Mama can't believe it! Is it really possible that in 8 short weeks he will be one year old?
Although he wasn't so sure about all the crazy kids running circles around him as we walked through the neighborhood he certainly enjoyed saying hello to his friends when they opened the door to find his big smile. By this time next year he may actually know what they're putting in his pumpkin too! :)
