An update

Already 2 weeks old!
our first official outing, just the three of us

some pictures from Ashlyn's daily "I wanna hold 'em" time

I learned when Ashlyn was a newborn that if something was going well for us and I shared this with anyone else, then that thing would no longer be going well for us. Does that make sense? So I am not going to be writing much about how Benjamin is doing except to say that things are going well. We feel so richly blessed and we are enjoying this new phase of our lives. However, Ashlyn, although a loving and affectionate (overly affectionate at times)big sister, has been requiring much more attention than she did before Benjamin arrived. We were warned. That being said, she has been a tremendous help to Mommy too. Ashlyn helps change diapers and takes dirty diapers to the trash. She is the first to report if Benjamin starts crying- Sometimes she says, "Mommy he wants you," but recently she has also been saying "I think he wants me!" Ashlyn calls him "boo-baloo" or "buddy"and gives him Eskimo kisses. When she is right in his face and he tries to eat her nose, she laughs and tells me that he tried to bite her. There are so many things about him that intrigue her. Although it has been a HUGE change going from one baby to two, I can't think of when I have had more fun (and more challenges- guess they go hand in hand!)


Many of you have been asking about my tailbone; it is still sore. For awhile, I thought that it was doing much better, but it has been bothering me again lately. It mostly is painful when I first sit down before I can get into a comfortable position and it especially hurts when I have to stand up after sitting for any amount of time. Other than that and getting a little less sleep, I am also doing well. Okay, now I am going to have to stand up again- ouch!

More pictures-

Ashlyn just ADORES her little brother Ben and always wants to have her turn to hold him

In case you are wondering, yes Benjamin is yellow... he has jaundice but not serious enough to require phototherapy. He actually is less yellow today than he has been. Paul and Ashlyn went to church today while Ben and I stayed home. It was lovely to be able to sleep while the baby was sleeping.

Benjamin is here!!

Okay, so he has been here since Monday... I am not nearly as quick at getting around to writing this exciting of a blog as many of you are!

If you don't want to hear about labor, then skip this paragraph. So we showed up to the hospital at 5:3o after getting a very poor night's sleep the night before. Within the hour they had ruptured my membranes (broke my water) and had started the pitocin. Before 10:00 I had my epidural (LOVE IT!) and I got to doze off a little even though we had tons of family coming and going. I progressed fairly quickly and soon it was time to push. I ended up pushing for over an hour (I only pushed for 20-30 minutes with Ashlyn) and then... SNAP!!!... I broke my tailbone. No seriously, I did but since I had the epidural it didn't hurt. We didn't even know what the "pop" was until that night when the epidural wore off. Who knew that you could break a bone while pushing? After that Benjamin came flying out and officially joined us at 2:41 weighing in at 8lbs even and measuring 20 1/4 inches long. My first thought was that he looked so much like Ashlyn did, but really he looks EXACTLY like Paul did when he was a newborn. Good thing I married someone so handsome!

Ashlyn has done well, I don't know what we would have done without my parents staying at our house with her and Paul's parents helping with her a tremendous amount as well. She is so proud to be a big sister and all she wants to do is hold him.

I am sure that I could write plenty more, but I will just get right to the pictures instead. Thanks to all of you who have been thinking of us and praying for us! Love you!

Benjamin Paul

Looks like it will be June 4th!

I really am starting to feel sorry for myself. I know that I am blessed and have much to be thankful for, but I am beginning to feel like if I wasn't going in to be induced tomorrow that I might just be pregnant FOREVER!!

I can't wait to see what Benjamin looks like and to see Ashlyn's face when she gets to meet him...

Here are some more pool photos- sometimes this girl scares me with how brave she is in the water. It has been nice going to the pool since we have been at the point of not being able to plan anything just in case I go into labor, so we have been staying close to the house and trying to pass the time. It is also really nice for me to be in the water to relieve my body from the extra weight and since it has turned scorchingly hot all of the sudden!