Pictures

Pictures!! Here's a look back over the past several weeks...

Toys all over the house and where does Ben want to play? In his carseat, which happened to be in the bedroom one afternoon.


Ben and Koko the dog became fast friends because Koko was so entertaining and Ben was so generous with his crackers. I had to cut him off when he kept asking for more food just to feed the dog. (but Ben has learned that if Mama says no, ask someone else! It starts so early!!)


We flew to Alabama last week to see more of Matt's family and Ben was excited to have his silver elite frequent flier card. Since the company is generous enough to buy him his own seat on all those long flights he's already racking up a lot of miles in his name.


At bedtime Ben has learned to pick up his socks and shoes from the living room. Maybe he can teach his daddy this trick? :)


We went driving out in the pasture to show Ben some cows, which he really enjoyed and kept calling "dog". Ben has learned several words now and still babbles a lot. Some things have taken me a while to figure out, like "deeka". I thought it was just something he liked to say but I realized after hearing it about 1,000 times that he was saying "tickle". He knows a lot more than I'm giving him credit for!


For the pickiest eater in the world, he sure liked some fried oysters! Ben grabbed several off my plate and popped them right in his mouth without a second thought. I think he would have eaten a lot more if I hadn't stopped him. This is the same kid that won't eat macaroni, mashed potatoes, chicken nuggets, fries, or nearly any other tried and true kid food.


Back in Texas and all excited on Christmas eve.



When he woke up Christmas morning Santa had come! Ben really hit the jackpot this year but still needed some help opening gifts because he'd run off with one piece of tissue paper and be happy. We had to ask everyone to be creative in their Christmas shopping so we could make sure everything was small enough to carry back on the plane.


Ben is a big fan of the swing now and enjoyed a beautiful Christmas afternoon at the park.


On a different note, people are always telling me Ben takes after me (poor kid!) but after looking back at my own baby book I'd have to agree! Here is Ben at 19 months:

and me around the same age:

Ben has even begun to sit in my favorite position as a kid:


He has definitely inherited my hair (or lack therof) because I didn't get much for several years and Ben's is slowly growing in. We're still not sure what he's inherited from Matt but it will be interesting to see as he grows.

Merry Christmas to All!

Merry Christmas!!
We hope you and your loved ones are sharing a wonderful day together in celebration of Jesus' birth, enjoying spending time together, and eating way too much.

Sorry I've been so behind on the blog but it's been a busy few weeks. Matt arrived in Houston on the 14th and we've been going nonstop since then, spending time with Grandma and Grandpa Kirkham in Tomball and in Alabama, where we also got to visit Great-Grandpa Kirkham. Ben has loved all the attention and has been quite a trooper with us changing houses every few days.

I can't find my camera cord to upload pictures at the moment but I'll get some good Christmas photos up soon.

We wish everyone the very best on this special day!
Love,
Matt, Laura, and Ben

First Boo Boo

Ben can finally wake up in a happy mood now that he's back on a normal schedule. I love seeing my happy boy in the mornings!


This was after a nap when he apparently discovered how to remove his pants and leave them on the floor.


Ben got his first big boo-boo :(
It was a skinned knee on the driveway but the little guy is so tough he never even flinched. I'm not even sure when he did it because it didn't slow him down for a second, however the process of cleaning it up sure brought out the tears. (Ironically, his shirt says "I do all my own stunts")


Cute little guy in his church clothes on Sunday afternoon.


We went out for MORE mexican food tonight and Ben was really in the spirit when we got home!

New Interests

Ben has found several new hobbies in his home away from home...

He keeps every door in the house closed if we forget to do it. He hasn't figured out how to open them yet so I get an urgent page if he finds himself on the wrong side of the door...

He pushes Grandpa's gardening stool up and down the driveway, over and over...

He checks the hardware on the furniture to make sure it's all functioning properly...

...and he's very prompt about throwing things in the trashcan, whether they need to be thrown away or not!


Ben got to visit Santa today and he wasn't as excited to meet him as last time, but at least he didn't cry so I was happy. I'm not sure what he asked for but I'm pretty sure Santa will bring plenty of exciting things for Christmas!

Who Loves Blue Bell?

Santa came a little early this year...Ben already got his gift from us so he can enjoy it for a few weeks before we have to pack it up to take to Singapore. He's so excited to have a chair just his size.


This kid knows how to relax!


He has also discovered that there is no ice cream on earth like Blue Bell! I don't think he could open that mouth any wider. We're going to eat all we can while we're in Texas.


Ben has really enjoyed playing outside in the cold weather. I think his favorite part is walking in and out (and in and out...and in and out) of the front door right into the sunshine, instead of having to go down stairs and around the corner to see a little bit of nature.


On a very happy note, we had a full night's sleep last night! It's safe to say Ben has finally gotten over his jetlag, which means I can finally adjust to the schedule here as well and we can both really enjoy ourselves and visiting our friends. Thank goodness we're staying until early January so we didn't mind as much letting a week pass in a sleepy blur. It is so much fun to be back in Texas and see everyone and eat some real tex-mex. There are a few Mexican restaurants in Singapore but nothing comes close to what we get here...I wonder how much I can eat in the next month?

We Did It!

Ben and I have made it to Houston! And we're EXHAUSTED. It's such a long trip and the jetlag is really hurting us both, but I'm finally awake enough to share some overdue pictures.

Packing for a 7-week trip was a lot harder than I expected, especially since we need clothes for almost every climate for 3 people. It was even harder with a certain someone "helping" me by unpacking everything before we even left!


Sunday was the big travel day and we woke up at 3am for our 6am flight. Poor little Ben had no idea what he was in for! He said goodbye to Daddy outside the airport in Singapore at 4am. To give you an idea of how long the day was - we saw 2 sunrises and 2 sunsets, all on the same calendar day.


By 5am he was voicing his displeasure to anyone who would listen.


A few hours later we were well on our way to Toyko and someone had perked up a bit.


After a couple more hours we had rearranged the carseat so we could both stretch out a bit and get a nap.


Altogether, the first flight was as painless as an 8-hour flight with a toddler can be. Ben was happy to go through all of his toys and was very well-behaved.


We had a 4-hour layover in Tokyo, which wasn't exactly fun, but Ben got to run out a lot of energy and make a playground out of empty chairs. I was happy to follow him anywhere but hauling around a stroller, two bags, and a heavy carseat made me look forward to the next flight so I could put everything down!


Ben discovered his belly button :)


The flight from Houston to Tokyo was not quite as easy. In fact, it was about 12 hours of sheer torture, but not because of Ben's doing. A few hours into the flight, actually about 30 seconds after they served dinner to me and the girl next to me, Ben threw up all over himself and his carseat. I cleaned him up as well as I could without ever getting up since the girl seated next to me (and blocking the aisle) proceeded to eat her dinner without so much as a glance our direction! Once he had fresh clothes on he was doing much better but we had to live with a stinky carseat for the rest of the trip. We both got a little sleep but 4 hours before we landed, the sun came up over the west coast and the light and activity kept Ben awake for hours. He finally crashed again just before we landed in Houston.


FINALLY in Houston!! Ben had reached his limit! He was such a trooper to make it through the long trip. Grammy and Grandpa Shepherd picked us up at the airport and thank goodness brought us jackets because the weather was much colder than Singapore.


Once we got home and settled, Ben found the most interesting playmate of all. He has followed Abby around since the minute he rediscovered her and she's been surprisingly tolerant of his attention.


He also loves my old rocking chair from when I was a kid.


We've gone to the park each day so Ben can enjoy the cool weather and the slide.



This is how we can tell that the jetlag hasn't let up yet (apart from the playtime with Mommy from 11pm to about 3am) because as soon as we start pushing Ben in the swing he nods off. I hate to see him so tired but we both have to adjust our sleeping habits.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!

We wish all of our family and friends a wonderful day of celebrating God's gifts. While it's different for us to be spending our Thanksgiving away from our families, it really makes us appreciate our time with them and look forward to spending Christmas together. Ben and I make the long journey (about 26 hours door to door) on Sunday so we're busy packing our bags and saying goodbye to our friends here before we disappear for 7 weeks. It seems so odd to be leaving our new friends already but I think we picked the right time for a trip back to Texas because we've become settled enough here to look forward to returning.

Exactly 6 months ago Ben and I made our trip over here on his birthday and he was still a little guy that was just sitting up on his own. Now at 18 months, he's running, talking a little, and into everything...I don't think anyone will recognize him! I do know that he's going to love all the attention he gets from his grandparents who have been missing him so much. We are so excited about our trip and looking forward to catching up with our family and friends and celebrating Christmas together.

AWA Thanksgiving

Even though we're on the other side of the world from the US, we still got to celebrate Thanksgiving yesterday. The American Women's club put on a wonderful potluck picnic in a national park here so we got to enjoy some turkey and great home cooking with our friends. It didn't exactly feel like Thanksgiving because we were all sweating and wearing shorts (which has happened in Houston, but usually not quite this hot) and there was no football, but the sentiment was there just the same.

Ben took a little while to get into the spirit because he wasn't happy about the heat! It threatened to rain nearly the entire time so it was really humid.


Daddy and Ben took a walk through the historic Fort Canning wall, one of the original pieces still standing from 1860.


Ben met a new friend, Jackson, and the two of them had a great time running around together.


Happy guy!


We sat with three other couples with toddlers, but can you guess why we didn't get to spend a lot of time at the table? These kids kept taking off in different directions so we kept chasing them back to our table.


The highlight for Ben's day was the inflatable jumper for the kids. The older kids left for a few minutes so the little guys could have a go at it. Ben didn't quite catch on to the jumping but sure had a great time getting bounced and rolling around.

Christmas Is On Its Way

Ben is getting so big! When I see pictures like this and then look back a few months I realize that somehow all the baby in him has disappeared. It's inevitable but we're just amazed at how quickly he changes.


There is one tiny patch of dirt and rocks at our complex...guess where Ben wants to play?


Singapore is already completely decorated for Christmas. I was pretty amazed because I had no idea it would be such a big holiday here considering the number of Hindus and Muslims, but it seems like the nation celebrates each holiday from different religions with plenty of enthusiasm. What I really like is that they still call it "Christmas" here...not "happy holidays"!


We had our last class today for the year and we celebrated with a little Christmas party. These are most of the other moms and kiddos playing together. It can get pretty loud when all the kids are riled up!


Ben met Santa for the first time and he was just thrilled! No running or crying for this guy, except for running straight up to Santa.


He parked it right in front of all the action while Santa was handing out gifts.


Our first picture with Santa. He wasn't scared but he wouldn't quit looking at Santa long enough to look at the camera!


One more dancing video...this is how I stay entertained all day!