In case you had any doubts about Benjamin's walking ability, we have provided a montage of video...

It finally came time to bring Benjamin in for his first haircut last Friday. We were hesitant to do it because we didn't want to lose all of his cute curls. At first he was scared and very unsure of the whole situation. He cried when the hairdresser sprayed him with water and started to cut his hair, but she acted quickly and gave him a sucker, which calmed him down. He soaked the gown with his sucker drool though, which you can see in the last picture on our flickr site. It is amazing how much the haircut turned him into a little boy, he looks so grown up now! We're not sure if his curls will come back, but now he's ready to take on the world with his new 'do!

We've finally recovered from our exciting travels which started (for Benjamin and I) two Thursdays ago. Benjamin had a great time with Grandma and Grandpa Andrews Thursday and Friday nights and I enjoyed my alone time in my hotel as well. We had dinner with Aunt Arlene at Texas Roadhouse (yum!) on Saturday and spent Sunday with the WHOLE Schmitt clan! It was great to see all of Mike's aunts, uncles, and cousins! We visited downtown Elmhurst where they have painted trains all over that the kids all really enjoyed (pictures are on flickr). We then travelled up to East Troy, Wisconsin where we stayed at Pine Ridge cottage, which was a very beautiful cabin in the woods on a private lake. We didn't do a whole lot while there except swim and eat, which allowed us to really relax. AJ and Benjamin played and played and played! I didn't take any still pictures while we were there, but we did take some video of us swimming and also the boys playing, which I hope to have on flickr soon.

We've had quite the baby boom amongst our friends lately! Four babies in two weeks!! Our neighbors and very good friends, Katie and Jason had their son, Ethan Walter (8 lbs, 1 oz) who is SO adorable! Kristen and Jamie had their son, Gavin Presley (8 lbs, 11 oz) early Sunday morning. Stacey and Joe Brus had their daughter, Katelyn Adeline (6 lbs, 1 oz) on the 9th and Samantha and Jacob had their daugter, Nora June (5 lbs, 6 oz) yesterday afternoon. All of the babies actually came before their due dates...these lucky moms didn't have to wait a week beyond their date like we did! Haha. Congrats to everyone!!!!

Okay...so maybe you can't officially call it walking yet, but Benjamin has taken his first steps! It is truly amazing how much babies can change in a day! One day he was crawling and hanging onto everything and the next he is standing on his own and trying to take his first steps. He's growing so fast!

We're off to Chicago today by plane...I'm going to try to go it alone. I have a conference near O'Hare for a couple of days so Benjamin gets to spend some quality time with Grandma and Grandpa Andrews. Then we will be going to Mike's Uncle Francis and Aunt Agnes's 40th Wedding Anniversary party and then up to Wisconsin to a lovely cottage with the Schmitt-side. Hopefully there will be no throwing up on this vacation and temperatures should be below 95 degrees!!