Ben's dedication

Before I forget here are the pics from Benjamin's dedicationThe Allen Family 6

The Allen's with Mom-Mom and Papa Steve

The Allen's with Papa and Nonni

In honor of this little guys new teeth I decided it was probably about time to start some baby food. Here is his first taste of corn and butternut squash :)

Yummy!

The weather has been so nice (aside from the pollen everywhere) so we've been enjoying the great outdoors. Benjamin loves being able to be in the mix with his brothers and sisters.

Teeth and Hair

Last Thursday when I got Benjamin up I noticed his bottom 2 teeth had broken through! I had noticed he was more drooly than normal but the others didn't break thier first tooth until they were 7 months so I wasn't expecting to see teeth anytime soon. Did I tell you this is the best baby ever! Other than some extra drool we never even had a clue little man was cutting two teeth! He will be 6 months this Friday and he is starting to rock on his knees so I know crawling is coming soon. Gotta start mopping the floors more! :)

So, how is it possible that my three oldest children have polar opposite hair types! Most people usually comment about James' hair since it is sooo thick and curly but John-Mark has some good hair too! His is more wavy but way more manageable than James. We have to keep James' cut pretty short or it just gets bigger and bigger :) Then there is Gracie with her poor mommy's hair - straight as can be! Although she doesn't favor me very much she has the EXACT same hair style I did when I was her age - straight and the front pulled back away from her face.

His has gotten pretty long but we love it - I need to trim it up though :)

This past weekend it was John-Mark's turn to spend the weekend with Mom-Mom and Papa Steve - which they all LOVE getting to be the only and center of attention for a bit :) One funny story from the weekend - they were talking to him about being good and no whining and complaning while he was there and he replied, "yea, we've got a little one at our house that whines, Gracie!" that stinker!!

Since he was away it was just the three of us. I've said it before but so crazy what perspective does. I used to think 3 was challenging until I had 4. Not that 3 isn't challenging but it's amazing what I'm able to get accomplished with "only 3" - ha! I've gotten to where I don't really like to go grocery shopping with all 4 of them - it's just too much to juggle and I can't fully concentrate on the job at hand :) But when I was down one I found myself thinking, "hmm, I only have 3 so I can totally run to the Western Meat Sale and check that off my list today" - and we did it without a hitch. We also hit the zoo and a friends birthday party. Then these two came home and went to exploring - have I said lately how much I LOVE watching them play all play together! Being an only child it just makes my heart smile to know they will always have each other :)

And lastly we finally moved Benjamin out of the pack n play in our closet and in to his crib. He's done great and continues to be a great sleeper. We decided to go ahead and move Gracie's toddler bed in with the boys for now since when she gets up she heads in there anyway to play. Here's the new bed setup

Oh, and here is one of James' latest masterpeices - None of my kids are really in to coloring for more than 3 minutes but lately James has really gotten in to coloring for long periods of time! Praying they all catch on to this :)

Can't. Keep. Up.

I just can't seem to keep up on the blogging! I almost feel like reading through the Bible in a year - once I fall behind I'm so determined to "catch up" that I end up never getting back to it! So, I'm just going to do it whenever, about whatever I can. So long are the days of weekly blogging and keeping everyone up to date with everything all the kids are doing - but something's better than nothing, right? :)
On February 24th this little chunk turned 5 months! How is that possible!!!He is the most laid back baby I have ever had!! So far he continues to look most like John-Mark and has some of his characteristics but the easy baby part is most like his oldest brother James. I wonder what he's going to be like!

He is such a happy baby!! He loves his older brothers and sisters and will sit in his exersaucer and watch them run around him all day. Whenever they all leave the room he lets me know it! Except for when he's left alone he rarely ever cries unless he's really tired. He continues to be an amazing sleeper - taking 3 naps a day and sleeping from 8 to 7 every night. He still sleeps in the pack n play in our closet. Jeremy is ready to transition him to his crib but I'm worried about how he and Gracie will do. I think he'll do fine but I'm afraid she'll wake him up too early. Who knows what time she wakes up and starts playing in there! We may move her bed in to the boys room since that is where they end up in the morning playing anyway - that way Ben can have a little more quiet time.

Sleepy boy with Daddy

This past Sunday we had him dedicated to the Lord. I took not one picture! But our church now takes pics for us so I'll post when I get them back. Such a sweet time with family to pray over our precious boy and confess he is His. So thankful for our church family and the amazing ministry my kids get to be a part of as they grow up!

Baby girl got her first pair of squeak shoes this week! I am really spoiled and have an amazing friend that passes on all her girls clothes and shoes so I think these are honestly the first pair of shoes we've every bought her! There was a great sale on them so I splurged! Aren't they the cutest! She LOVES them! As soon as she put them on and realized they squeeked she started running all over the house! Jeremy think they are ridiculous and likes to "silence" them but when he's not home we squeak away. They really are too cute - and she is too cute running around saying "i love my squeak shoes!"

Funny James story -ever since I had Benjamin and several of my friends are pregnant or have recently had babies he has been very interested in learning how the Dr's get babies out of tummies. Not being ready to get in to this yet, without thinking I once told him it was a secret - wrong answer mommy! That makes it all them more intriguing. The other day he said this to me-"mom, I don't like that you have two secrets you won't tell me - how the Dr's get the baby out of your tummy and where you hide when we play hide and seek!" Bahahaha!!! I'm such a sneaky mommy :)