Time flies when you're having babies

I can't believe it has been over a month since I last posted. The month of June flew right on by and now we are in the middle of July! Chris has been incredibly busy. He travels about once a month with work and although he usually has his schedule a few months in advance, dates and destinations change about 50% of the time. He has also been taking online classes since January and has Reserve drills once a month. Needless to say he keeps pretty busy but he always makes time for me and Benjamin. He is a wonderful husband and father!

Baby girl and I are doing really well. She is growing more every day and every day I remind myself that it's not really me who is getting wider, it's the baby. We are already in the third trimester! I'll be 29 weeks tomorrow (I think) which means only 10 or 11 weeks left!! Augh! Who gave time permission to fly by? Not me! I need to sit down and write out a list of things we are going to need for her but I have yet to do it. Hopefully it won't be much since I tried to pick things that could be boy or girl when I was pregnant with Bear. I also have a few big organizational projects that I want to get done. I'm hoping and praying that I can start and finish before her arrival. It would be so nice to come home and know that all I need to think about is taking care of her and Benjamin (and Chris). We haven't settled on any names yet. She will be named before we leave the hospital, though. :)

Benjamin is continuing to grow by leaps and bounds. He has 4 top teeth coming in. One has already come through, another one is breaking through today (I think), and the other two are just under the gum and will break through anytime! They sure are taking their time. We've been waiting for them to show themselves for a few weeks already. Benjamin is so close to walking, too. He stands and walks holding onto furniture, no problem. He'll even take a couple steps on his own if the furniture is close together and sometimes he'll walk holding on to just one of our hands. He really enjoys climbing on things: couch cushions, chairs, end tables. I also have the benefit of a "little helper" now. He will empty the kitchen towels out of the drawers for me (I guess I don't fold them correctly), stay right under my feet while I'm vacuuming (to make sure I don't miss a spot), and if I'm getting something out of the fridge he will make sure nothing has expired. He has also become very energy conscience. If he finds something plugged in he will try to unplug it for me. We are officially down to one nap a day. There are pros and cons. Pros: his nap is a little longer, he goes down a little easier, sleeps a little longer at night, and it's easier to run errands because we have the whole morning. Cons: Mama doesn't have a break until noon. We have been trying to teach him a few signs for awhile now and it is working half-way. He knows exactly what we are saying but has yet to do the signs himself. Oh well. :)

We haven't done a good job of keeping up with pictures and videos, but here are some of the more recent ones:






Hope everyone is staying cool and enjoying their summer. God bless you!