1st Oreo

The Bendon side of the family has a long sweet-tooth history. Among our favorite cookies is the Oreo. And Nora has had her first one when Gam Gam and Aunt Mary Anne were in town. Of course, she loved it.

Family Visit!

6-9-2013

Great Gam Gam and Aunt Mary Anne drove all the way to Illinois to visit little Nora. It was really a wonderful few days together.

In addition to lots of fun around the house, like reading books, playing with weeble wobbles, and chalking outside, we took a few trips out and about.

One day we ventured to the Bloomington-Normal area to visit their Children's Discovery Museum. Nora had a fantastic time, as is evidenced by this picture:

So happy!

The museum had so many things for Nora to experience. Her favorite part was the water table. She also enjoyed the train table, pizza kitchen and delivery truck, the paint room, the music room, and the cows in the agriculture area. She even gave one of the faux-cows a kiss on the nose. Aunt Mary Anne and Gam Gam got in on the fun, too.

Pizza Delivery with Gam Gam 

On another day we headed to the Children's Prairie Farms, a little park in town where you can visit a variety of farm animals. There are sheep, goats, pigs, horses, ducks, and bunnies. The bunnies were Nora's favorites and she even tried to get them out of their cages. "Bunny out!" she kept proclaiming. Once we were in the area with the bunnies, it was pretty difficult to get her to look at any of the other animals.

There was one particularly special (and huge) bunny for us to visit. Nora couldn't believe how big this bunny was. It was really fun and sweet to see Nora get so excited over all the animals that she got to see. She was calling out to them and was just so genuinely amazed to see them. It was so darn sweet (did I say that already?)!

The Finnish Giant

Bunny out!

After our trip to see the animals, we all went out for some Italian food to celebrate Jeff's and my wedding anniversary. It was a delicious meal with wonderful company. None of us can believe that our exciting trip to Las Vegas was 12 years ago. It was nice to share our memories of that trip.

Anniversary Dinner 6-9-13 

One of Nora's favorite, favorite, favorite things to do is to swing so one night we walked down to our neighborhood park for a little bit of playground fun. Nora enjoyed having each of taking turns pushing her and got a big kick out of Gam Gam and Daddy swinging next to her. What a bunch of kids! :)

Nora says, "Higher swing!"

We were all so happy that Great Gam Gam and Aunt Mary Anne made the trip out. We really do enjoy living in IL, but it is difficult to be far from family. I'm so appreciative of this time that Nora got with Gam Gam and Aunt Mary Anne! And I know she loved it, too. 

Weekend with Gammy (last month)

Every April(-ish), I have a four day work retreat in the Chicago that coincides with one of Jeff's work trips. For the past couple of years, Gammy (or Gam) Wells has come for the weekend to be with Nora.

 

Kitty cat pictures on the iPad

It was a great weekend! Nora and Gam played, read books, and were out-and-about town going to the grocery store and running errands. They also took a trip to Toys R Us and Nora picked out her very first baby doll. Her favorite thing to do with her baby doll is to have "Mommy rock" her (I'm Mommy, ha ha). 

Minnie ears and books

Nora didn't get to have all the fun though. I was able to enjoy the family time when I got back from the retreat, which I really appreciated.

April 2013

First Snow

Snow! Or as Nora says, "Noooooo!" The day after Christmas, while we were still in New York, we got a few inches of snow. After bundling Nora up the best we could (leg-warmers as snow pants!) and went outside to play in the winter wonderland. 

It was Nora's first time actually playing in the snow. At first, she was a little tentative but soon yelled "Nooooo!" with a big grin on her face. After a little coaxing, Nora enjoyed touching the snow and climbing on the pile left by the snow plow. Aunt Mary Anne added some fun to the experience, as she did when I was a kid playing in the snow, too! 

December 26, 2012
Stillwater, NY

Christmas - with the Wells'

2nd Christmas - at Mom's house with Aunt Marge and Fred. Opening presents for the second time in one day was just as fun for Nora. I think it is pretty clear by the smile on her face that she enjoyed it all. She especially loved her new helicopter and spent a lot of time playing with it while the rest of us opened our gifts. 

 Like I have said already, we are so lucky to be able to get to New York to celebrate the holidays with our family. And Nora is so lucky to have so many people who want to be with her for these special events!

Nora with Gramma and Aunt Marge

Christmas - with the Bendons

Christmas! We love Christmas. Last year we stayed in Illinois because Nora was just a few months old. It was very cozy and relaxing and sweet. Since Nora is older and has flown a few times already, we decided we would spend the holiday in Upstate New York. 

On Christmas Eve we had dinner with my Dad, Aunt Mary Anne, Great Gam Gam, and Grandpa. Then we enjoyed our annual viewing of Christmas Vacation. It just isn't Christmas without watching Clark Griswold!

Christmas Morning
Waiting to open presents

Nora had fun opening up her gifts and playing with each one for a little bit before opening the next. Of course she loved the "dog dog" that Gam Gam and Grandpa gave her. She also got some Little People, Weeble Wobbles, and a fun "learn to dress" kitty.

Presents!

We are so lucky that we were able to travel for the holidays so Nora can build memories with our family. And so that our family can see how much Nora is growing and changing.

Merry Merry!

Fun with Gam Gam!

Visit with Grandma & Pop Pop

Grandma Linda & Pop Pop Saul came to visit for a couple of days before heading South for Christmas and the winter. There was a LOT of playing during the visit. Play, play, play was the theme! And it was a lot of fun for everyone. Nora even had her first trip to a local indoor playground. 

Since we were heading to Upstate NY to see my family for Christmas, we had our own celebration a little early in Illinois. This is the face that Linda and Saul got to see as Nora spied her gifts:

The bubble gum pink piano from Aunt Cheryl, Uncle Bill, Jake, and Mckenna was an immediate hit. Nora also enjoyed sitting in her very own chair playing with her Leap Frog Move and Groove toy. Another big hit of the day was the peanuts that were used to pack some of the gifts. :)

We can't wait to head to NY for the rest of our Christmas celebration!

Gazebo Playtime

While in NY, we spent one afternoon with Gramma Wells, Happy, and Aunt Marge. We spent our time playing in the gazebo and enjoying lunch. Nora also spent much of her time flirting, giving away smiles and giggles, and showing off her self-feeding skills. Cheerios and fruit were the favorites of the day, along with crawling all over the place. And I mean all over the place! Nora was so active that I only got these two pictures!

Front Yard Campsite

While in NY, Aunt Mary Anne set up a little campsite for us to enjoy and to provide a couple of extra beds in the camper since there was such a big gang around!

The Bendons

Although the camper was only used for one night, we took full advantage of the campsite and had some fun family time out there. There was a campfire, storytelling, s'mores, and general fun-making.

Madeline's super-sized s'more

Matt, Nora, Kristen, Madeline

with Pop Pop Tom

Love and a campfire

Cousins

We took a trip to NY to visit family and to (pre-) celebrate Nora's 1st birthday. This will be the first of a couple of posts about the trip. While we were up north, Nora met her cousin Madeline. They were fast friends! They played and giggled together. One of the funniest and cutest thing about their time together was how Madeline wanted to pose Nora's face for pictures. See Exhibit A:

Face Pose

It was fun to see Nora with a new friend and playmate for a few days. She loves other kids so much and Madeline was no exception. They spent a lot of time together. There was...

Playing in the tupperware cabinet...

Sharing chairs...

Goofing around...

Sharing chairs and goofing around!

Family Time

We recently had the opportunity for Nora to spend time with family.

At the end of March, Jeff and I both had work trips at the same time. I've been dreading this happening since we got pregnant. Mom came out and spent the weekend with Nora while we were away. Although she did wake up really early one day, Nora was pretty good for Mom (phew!).

In April, we headed to Baltimore for Passover. We did not do the best job taking pictures - it was a busy weekend with a lot of visitors. We dig get a couple pictures of Nora with her cousins though. They were both so sweet with Nora! A couple of my favorite memories are when Nora gave Jake the "side eye" when we were driving home after the second night of Passover. We were cracking up over it. Another one was Mckenna reading Nora a story when she woke up on Saturday morning. It's very sweet to see kids together.

Nora & Jake

Reading with Mckenna

We also spent time with Nora's Grandpa Sheldon, Pop-pop Saul, Grandma Linda, Aunt Cheryl, Uncle Bill, and the Dalnekoff clan (20+ of them!).  Linda's friends Arlene, Suzanne and Carol, Paul (Suzanne's husband), and my friend Hope also come over to see our little sweet cheeks. I told you it was busy! 

Thanks to everyone for spending time with our little one!

New York: The Family

Nora made her first appearance in Upstate New York and had the opportunity to meet so many of our family members. Aunts, cousins, grandparents, great grandparents, family friends, more cousins, and a childhood friend of mine. It was so nice for everyone to get to be with the sweet, snuggly, cheerfulness that is Nora. I was especially excited for my Grandmother to meet her since she is who Nora is named for.

Plus there was triple chocolate cake. :)

Here are a few snap shots of our time together:

Nora & Pop Pop enjoying Saturday morning cartoons.

4 Generations (Wells)

Nora, Aunt Marge, Me, Grandma Wells

4 Generations (Bendon)

Aunt Mary Anne, Great Gam Gam, Nora, Me

Aunt Agnes, Great Gam Gam, and Nora

Curtis Orchards

Aunt Mary Anne came for a visit in September. It was great fun to have her here. Although it was a mostly rainy and laid back weekend, we did venture out on one nice day to visit Curtis Orchards. We walked the apple orchard and pumpkin patch then enjoyed some tasty treats from the cafe. They were so tasty, in fact, that we brought some home to continue to enjoy throughout the weekend. Mmm, cider donuts. :)

Here are some pics from our adventure:

Nora as a friendly cow

Nora headed to Emerald City

With Aunt Mary Anne

Family Photo Op