The Benders In Iowa

What did you say?

2012-01-27T18:29:00.000-06:00

It is so fun to watch Elizabeth grow and learn to say new things. I remember the first time that she started to say mmmmm Mmmmooommmaa last spring. She would practice the "mmmm" sound along with making other fun noises for hours. That was soon followed by a pronounced Dada. Later in the summer she learned to say ball (one of her favorite toys), hum clean up, me and baby. Over the last month Elizabeth has added even more words to her repertoire.

For Christmas Elizabeth received her very first doll baby from Adam and me. She was so excited when she opened it she said baby over and over again. The doll's name is Abbey which she learned to say very quickly as well. Now she walks around the house saying Abbey, Abbey, Abbey (probably more because it is fun than looking for her doll). She has also learned to say banana (or nana), more, school, purple, turtle, please, thank you, yeah, up, night night, amen, and is continuing to surprise us each day with new words. Of course she has her own twist to the word as she is only 16 months old. Adam and I always say the proper word to encourage her to practice saying the correct word even though we know what she means.

Tonight when I got home from work Elizabeth asked for a snack and when I asked her what she wanted she said banana. So of course since she did such a great job with her words she got a banana. When she finished with the banana on her plate she said "more banana" I couldn't believe it. What a big girl!

Final Preparations

2012-01-23T17:53:00.002-06:00

Second nursery is near complete, clothes are ready, car seats are installed (though we aren't sure if they are in their final spot in our van) but we don't have diapers yet! About 2 weeks from now we will be welcoming the twins into the family. Anyone have any suggestions for names? Adam was thinking Hans and Franz...we will be sure to update all with the particulars as soon as we have the energy!

Liz is Walking

2011-11-05T06:46:00.001-05:00

This is better...

http://youtu.be/tnSJFLi7r5Y?hd=1

Elizabeth is One!

2011-11-05T06:23:00.000-05:00

Elizabeth recently turned one, we can't believe she it. We celebrated in grand fashion by gathering family and friends and cake not once but twice!

The first party was at the Rathskellar in downtown Indianapolis where we celebrated with family from all over Indiana and a few friends who made the drive to see Liz. We all gathered and watch Liz open presents and eat some petits fours and cookies from the Bake Shoppe in Windsor Heights, IA.

The next party we had in the North Point room at Valley Church with Liz's friend Aiden. Their birthdays are only 4 days apart and they love playing together.

Elizabeth and Easter

2011-05-02T07:01:00.005-05:00

Liz started eating pureed food in the past couple of months. Here she is enjoying turkey and apples. She has eaten everything we have given her. Apples, pears, bananas, avocados, pumpkin, green beans, peas, carrots, asparagus, zucchini among other things.

Elizabeth is really growing and learning how to do different things (including make lot's of noise)! Here are some nice pictures from Easter (and shortly afterwards). Her mother picked out an Easter basket and other items. Liz was so excited!

Elizabeth also enjoyed seeing her Grandparents, Linda and Mike.

Joe and Melissa's Wedding

2010-11-21T19:06:00.010-06:00

We were all excited about being a part of Joe and Melissa's Big Day! The Lord knew what he was doing when he brought Melissa and Joe to Cincinnati. They are definitely meant for each other. You can tell that the best of both Melissa and Joe come out when they are together. Adam was an usher and read a verse from the Song of Songs. (the same verse that we had read at our wedding) and I was the Matron of Honor. Melissa was a beautiful bride.

Wedding weekend was full of helping Melissa and Joe and getting to see a lot of family. We are also very thankful for Dad and Cathy for coming down to help us with Liz for the day of the wedding. We couldn't have done it without them. This also allowed us to spend some extra time visiting with family we don't get to see very often. If you took pictures of Elizabeth could you please email them to me? I would love to add them to her baby book.

Elizabeth's first trip

2010-11-21T18:30:00.009-06:00

We took Elizabeth on her first plane flight when we went back for Melissa's wedding. Since the wedding was in Cincinnati about an hour from my hometown we were able to spend a day in Liberty and visit family before heading down to Cincinnati for all of the festivities. Liz was a trooper on the plan she ate before we left the house and slept on the flight and then ate again when we connected and then slept when we got to the airport. All went well until we got to Cincinnati and we had issues installing the carseat which was advertised to have the ability to be installed without the base though this was not the case so we had to make a trip to Babies R' Us to buy a new carseat base. We were greeted at the airport by my Dad (John), sister (Teffiny) and nephew (John). After our quick stop we were off and going.

We stayed at my Dad's house on Thursday and had a lot of fun visiting with everyone who stopped by. Uncle Steve and Aunt Michelle, Aunt Rita, Teffiny, John, Joseph, Karlee, and Melissa and of course Dad and Cathy. Here are some pictures of our time.

Joseph and Batman (or little John)

Aunt Rita

Melissa

Cathy

Before we left town we met up with mom for breakfast at good ol' Liberty Bell Restaurant. It was great to see mom and watch her eyes light up when she was holding Liz. Everyone in Liberty thought that Liz looked a lot like me but, definitely Adam's eyes. We'll have to see as she gets older however, so far that is what I think.

Mom

We were also able to meet up with Carole Baumbauer before she, Bill and Chris headed to Texas. We are so thankful for their friendship.

Here are a few highlights from the first 6 weeks

2010-10-31T19:00:00.002-05:00

Grandma Karen Runs the Des Moines Half Marathon

2010-10-31T18:07:00.004-05:00

Grandma came out to visit a few days before the Des Moines Half Marathon to see Elizabeth and parents (Karen and Adam both set personal records for that distance). After watching Purdue play football we used the opportunity to get this picture of Baby Bender in preparation for future tailgates, how does a Tailgate/1st Birthday Party combo sound?

Hugs from Grandma

2010-10-10T08:47:00.006-05:00

Grandma Linda flew into Iowa on Tuesday, Oct 5th. She was so excited to come and spend time holding Elizabeth and Elizabeth was ready for Grandma's hugs.

On Wed Liz had her 2 week doctor visit where she weighed in at 7 pounds 1 ounce. She has been gaining weight and doing very well. We had a lot of fun with Grandma and Mike and Geoffery came into town on Friday night. We spent the day downtown Des Moines and wrapped up the visit with a fun family dinner at home.

Visit from Grandpa Bender

2010-10-01T09:28:00.007-05:00

Elizabeth had a big week this week, starting with a quick visit to the doctor to get weighed. She is up to 7lbs 1oz. We also had several visitors this week. We are blessed to be a part of a great church and have wonderful friends who have volunteered to bring us dinner every other day for nearly 2 weeks. We have had several fabulous dishes for dinner which has truly helped as we are adjusting to life as a family of 3! Here are some pictures of Elizabeth's friends in Des Moines.

Jane is practicing being a big sister (her mommy is due in April)

Ally giving hugs

In addition to our visitors from Des Moines Liz got to spend some quality time with her Grandpa Bender this week. It was beautiful to see her his in arms. As soon as she is in Grandpa's lap she immediately calms down and dozes off into a slumber. Those two are going to be best buds! I was glad to have Greg in town to help me run errands and get out of the house.

Grandpa's arms

Liz and Grandpa time

Daddy Time!

Baby Pictures

2010-09-21T10:03:00.006-05:00

Here are some more baby pictures from the photographer at the hospital!

Going Home!

2010-09-20T08:13:00.004-05:00

We were blessed on Saturday when we welcomed into the world Elizabeth Ruth Bender! She arrived 9 days early weighing in at a perfect 6lbs 13oz and 18inches long and has quickly stolen our hearts. Over the past few days she has become a very good eater and sleeper and we hope that continues. While at the hospital Crystal and Adam have been catching up on sleep as much as possible and entertaining visitors. We had our first visitors Saturday evening with the Davis family who brought Elizabeth's two friends who are 4 months old and on Sunday the Randell family stopped by with their two boys and their 5 month old daughter, another friend of Elizabeth's. It sounds like Elizabeth won't be short of friends for play dates!

Today we are going home from the hospital and will have to learn how to adjust to life without 40 nurses and doctors to help you out at anytime. Speaking of the hospital we have been very impressed with the quality of the nurses and doctors. We are looking forward to going home and Elizabeth is looking forward to meeting more of her friends and family.

Almost There!

2010-09-15T06:39:00.009-05:00

We are very close to our due date, Baby Bender will arrive shortly! We have attended all of our required baby and birth classes but I have a feeling that they don't adequately prepare you for being a parent.

Saturday was a beautiful day so we went for a walk around the Western Gateway park in downtown Des Moines and saw the sculptures that they claim are worth over $30M. Here are some pictures. Plus it gave us an opportunity to use our new camera before Baby Bender's arrival so we don't mess up taking pictures of her.

Pink It Is

2010-05-06T19:13:00.004-05:00

This week we had our 20 week doctors visit and are happy to report that we are having a baby girl. Due date is September 27th, so that leaves us with a little less than 5 months to pick out nursery items and get the house ready. We are now taking recommendations on baby names and nursery designs. Hope to post more later!

Busy at the Start of the Year

2010-03-04T11:08:00.004-06:00

We have been busy at the start of the year. It was great to make it back to see family over Christmas and then friends in Chicago over New Years.

Since then Crystal has spent time for work training throughout Iowa and most recently in Walla Walla, WA a quirky agricultural region.

Adam visited his brother in Seattle to go skiing (2 days at Mount Baker) and then spend a day in Vancouver hanging out with Olympic revelers.

Adam on the mountain

Christian on the mountain

Adam - A Few Weeks Without Crystal

2009-11-09T19:54:00.003-06:00

Crystal is in North Carolina so I am now living like a bachelor (only if eating Totino's Pizza Rolls qualifies me). I have been trying to fill my time by keeping the house clean (I give myself a B-), working out (C-), studying for my last MBA class of the year (probably a B). This past Saturday a group of us guys from Valley Church built a couple of retaining walls as part of our Tool Time ministry. It was great to work outside in some great weather, here are the walls we put together.

Our big project at home involves painting our basement and staining the basement floor. Crystal and I put the primer on the cement walls and called in Ron Dickens, our favorite painter, to paint the walls and ceiling. I am then going to stain the basement floor. We want a livable basement and don't want to spend much money and I think we are well on our way.

Quote of the Day: "Now when I want more ketchup on my dog, I just call my dog. Thanks Dog." In reference to Bud Lights new Tailgate Companion.

New Job, John's Birthday Dr. Gebisa Ejeta and Boiler Victory

2009-10-18T09:05:00.006-05:00

After two weeks in a new job Adam is starting to get the hang of it. Crystal is really enjoying having him home and they have had a great time together over the past few weeks. The job is definitely a learning experience but Pioneer is a great company and it is a good group of people to work with.

We also visited family back in Richmond and Liberty Indiana for John's 4th birthday. He looks ready to blow out his candles doesn't he?

Last week we both attended a breakfast for Dr. Gebisa Ejeta, who is the 2009 Laureate for the World Food Prize at Pioneer's Carver Conference Center and listened to a presentation on his life and research. He is the tallest guy in the picture in the back row. A humble man who helped further agriculture in Africa by not only developing better sorghum hybrids but also by working with local organizations in Africa to create production and distribution of the seeds. The Purdue Club of Central Iowa gathered donations worth $800 going towards his primary school in Ethiopia and submitted a check to Gebisa. Crystal volunteered at the awards ceremony and Adam volunteered to drive people after the weeks even to the airport.

And finally, why did we decide NOT attend the Purdue versus Ohio State game?

Northwest Trip

2009-09-11T22:22:00.007-05:00

We had a great time on our trip out to Washington and Oregon. In Seattle, while visiting Christian, we did the typical stuff like visiting the Space Needle, checking out the very cool Experience Music Project and just bouncing around the neighborhoods. We took the ferry from downtown Seattle to Bainbridge Island to visit some of the shops, eat some very good pizza and did some kayaking in the harbor. Check it out, from here we could see downtown Seattle across the Sound.

With Christian we visited Portland to check out some of the local brews and cuisine, kind of an odd town and probably worth an overnight stay but would recommend visiting areas outside of Portland like the beach, wine region or the Columbia River Gorge (which is where we went for day). Based on seeing a sign for a restaurant we pulled off for lunch at the very good

Viewpoint Inn overlooking the Gorge (apparently they filmed the prom scene from the movie Twilight there but none of us had seen it so we couldn't verify it). This is the place here.

And the view that Christian and Adam are admiring.

We also went hiking along the Multnomah Falls where a quick visit ended up being a 6.8 mile, 1300' hike which took several hours. We passed several waterfalls, viewpoints of the Columbia River, trees and beautiful nature on the hike.

Before heading to Eugene, we took a tour of the Portland Farmer's market which is right on Portland State's campus Friday morning. It had an incredible variety with all kinds of fruits and vegetables, seafood and exotic meats.

And finally we went to see Purdue battle University of Oregon. It was a back and forth game and unfortunately Purdue came out on the losing end. The Ducks' fans were very welcoming and were fun to hang out with which made visiting Eugene fun despite the game's outcome.

50th Wedding Anniversary Fun

2009-08-14T23:25:00.008-05:00

We had a blast at my grandparents 50th wedding anniversary party. We all enjoyed reminiscing, telling stories, and looking at old photos. Crystal went tubing with Danielle and I went tubing with Jeffrey.

First Crystal and Danielle

Then Jeffrey and I, looks like Jeffrey is getting braver!

It was really neat to see our grandparents celebrating 50 years of marriage. That is such a great milestone and to have family and friends celebrating alongside was especially neat. We had people travelling from Seattle, Sacramento, Dallas, New York City and of course Des Moines, IA! Check out this photo of my grandparents, pretty big smiles on their faces.

Raccoon River Trail Ride

2009-07-25T20:12:00.003-05:00

We bested Crystal's longest ride (52 miles last weekend) with a 60 mile ride from Waukee to Panora/Lake Panorama and back on the Raccoon River Trail. We took the photo above from the Lakeside Inn on Lake Panorama where we stopped to check out the boating and watched a bit of a wedding rehearsal (Crystal's idea). Here is Crystal at the depot stop in Redfield.

The weather was absolutely beautiful, mostly sunny with just a slight breeze. The only problem we ran into was that Crystal's brake pad on her rear wheel might've been rubbing for most of the way, which means she was probably working much harder to keep up with me! The trail becomes very scenic as it winds past Adel deep into farm country crossing creeks and running alongside one of the forks of the Raccoon River. We have been talking about making the ride, all 56 miles from Waukee to Jefferson and finding a place to spend the night and then riding back. There is a Bed and Breakfast there that is pretty nice called the Limburg House. If they are booked there is always a Super 8 or a campground!

Crystal is in Mississippi and Adam completed 2 more Triathlons

2009-07-12T16:33:00.000-05:00

Crystal is currently in Southaven, Mississippi, she flew into Memphis yesterday morning. This past week we picked up a new bike for her, a pretty sweet Trek Madone 4.5 wsd (full carbon frame with a mix of Shimano 105 and Ultegra components). She picked it up Thursday night and Friday rode it in to work and back. I got home Friday towards the end of the day and we went for a quick spin and she was tearing it up on the bike!

This past week I was in Gillette, Wyoming Wednesday through Friday and got in 2 good runs (both 10Ks with some rolling hills and at 4500 ft in elevation). Last Sunday I finished the Cornman Triathlon (500 yard swim, 14 mile bike ride and a 5K run) 10th of 13 in my age group with a time of 1:28:04 and this Sunday finished the Iowa Games Triathlon (400 yard swim, 13 mile bike ride and a 5K run) 13th out of 25 in my age group witha time of 1:16:11. Here are my splits.

Cornman Triathlon: Swim: 9:45 (1:47/100 yds), T1: 3:05, Bike: 48:22 (17.4 mph), T2: 1:32, Run: 25:23 (8:10 min/mile)

Iowa Games Triathlon: Swim: 8:35 (2:09/100 yds), T1: 1:16, Bike: 41:13 (18.9 mph), T2: 1:09, Run: 24:01 (7:44 min/mile)

I have one more week of hopefully hard workouts before an easy week leading up to the Big Creek Tri a longer Olympic distance event. My goal is to do better than the Hy-Vee Triathlon, also Olympic distance, where I finished in 3:00:42 (Swim: 38:00 (2:32/100 yds), T1: 2:30, Bike: 1:20:38 (18.5 mph), T2: 3:13, Run: 56:23 (9:06 min/mile).

Hy-Vee Triathlon on June 28th

2009-06-30T12:07:00.000-05:00

I did the Hy-Vee Triathlon on June 28th. My times were a bit slower than last year (pretty good considering I have been trying to keep up with two MBA classes). My swim time was about 7 minutes slower than last year and one of my transitions was about 1 minutes slower. Both made up 8 of the 9 minutes that I was slower by. In my opinion the bike and run course were more difficult with more hills and I held my own on those so I am fairly pleased. Crystal, my loving and understanding wife, got up at 3:30AM with me to help get everything set up. We also picked up Jered, a friend from church who also raced, and his friend Hank. She managed only to snap one good picture of me, giving the peace sign while running. If you want to see more, Brightroom was the official event photographer and they snapped some, follow this link http://www.brightroom.com/go.asp?55891051.

Fathers Day Weekend

2009-06-22T22:11:00.000-05:00

Well, we had an awesome Father's Day Weekend. Crystal was home for my parent's arrival on Thursday night and unfortunately I was at a St. Louis Cardinal's game. I arrived the next day, did some work then started the entertainment.

Friday started at Ban Thai in the East Village. Then we saw a show at the Simon Estes Riverfront Amphitheater, Alex Dezen who fronts The Damnwells opened for The Nadas. It was a pretty good show that 'featured' fireworks following the completion of the nearby Iowa Cubs game (if you think you might like The Damnwells check out their website where you can download their latest album for free!).

On Saturday we visited the always fun Farmers Market in downtown Des Moines where we picked up some asparagus for grilling out later (and ate some breakfast burritos). We ran home to drop off the stuff and hung out for a bit. I headed out to the Johnston Green Days festival with my Dad to check out the car show. They had some pretty neat old cars ranging from a Nash Metropolitan with a small block Chevy stuffed under the hood to a nicely restored Cadillac. We then all headed back into town to eat great sandwiches at the Manhattan Deli and then get a beer at The High Life Lounge. We then hurried back to Johnston to see some criterium bicycle racing and had grilled steak and asparagus along with garlic mashed potatoes to round out the evening followed by homemade ice cream that Crystal and my Dad made (I think my Dad only poured the milk though).

Crystal and I both drove Karen's new TT, check out Crystal.

Sunday started at Iowa Machine Shed, where a Sunday breakfast brunch is always a good idea. Dad and Karen had to start back so we went to church while they hit the road. At church I had the great opportunity to help out in the nursery where thankfully the kids were wonderful, check out my boardroom meeting during goldfish time.

The start

2009-06-10T22:21:00.000-05:00

This is the start of the blog, Benders In Iowa. The answer to everyone's question, Yes we are in direct competition with those Benders In Texas. Crystal and I will be posting pictures and updates on our lives to keep our family and friends updated.