The past week

Benjamin is 4 weeks old as of today. I won't say that he is a month old until the 4th though, if that makes any sense to anyone but me.

Looks like he might end up being a thumb-sucker! Later that same car trip, I thought the "kissy face" was funny
His hair looks kinda nasty because I haven't been washing it as much-
I think it is starting to fall out!!!

Since my last post, Paul left town to go to a huge meeting in Florida leaving me at home with 2 young children. I enlisted the help of my lifelong friend Allison who came and stayed a grueling 5 days with us. If she no longer wants to have any children, it is entirely due to this visit. It actually wasn't too bad although it was obvious that Ashlyn missed her Daddy very much. On the first night when we talked on the phone with Paul right before I put her to bed, she started sobbing and saying "I want you Daddy, I miss you!" She made me cry it was just so sad. Thankfully we made it through and now Daddy is home again.

On Sunday, to make up for being away all week, Paul took Ashlyn out on lake Medina for some fishing with his friends Glenn and Brett. Glenn brought his camera and got some pictures to chronicle their fishing trip.

Here is Ashlyn, Brett, and a fish. They were so sweet

and let Ashlyn think that she caught all the fish herself. Glenn helped Ashlyn catch this whopper... and he let her drive the boat.

Right now I have both children asleep in their own rooms upstairs! I have never managed to pull this off by myself. I am sure there are a thousand other things I should be doing right now instead of blogging, I guess I better try to do a few of them while I still can!

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!

We've made it to my due date!

...and yet I am still with child! I went to the Dr today (I had to see her associate since my Dr is out of town on vacation) and I am still carrying him VERY high although I am 1-2 cm dilated. Supposedly he could be too big to drop further down into my pelvis, or he just isn't ready to yet. I have been told that a c-section may be my best option, but we will have to wait and see. Poor Ashlyn must think we are nuts since all we ever talk about is this baby Benjamin whom she is not even sure exsists. She has started saying "Benjamin's my friend!" I am hoping that she is not referring to an imaginary friend that she has developed since everyone else seems to talk about this Benjamin fellow all the time. One more funny thing: yesterday she said "my tummy is so big, just like your's Mommy!" ...that can be funny for just a little while longer, hopefully not too much longer!!!

No news

Went to the Dr on Wednesday... nothing has changed. I am a little bummed, but I am trying to keep in mind that Benjamin will be ready to join us when the time is right. Until then, I am praying that he will drop, that labor and the delivery will go smoothly, and that he will be calm and laid back like his Daddy.
Did I already mention before that my induction date is set for June 4th if I haven't already had him by then? I am starting to suspect that we may make it to June 4th!

A not too eventful week, kind of

Well we have had the kind of week that is probably boring to read about in a blog... my apologies.

• Saturday, we visited the zoo

• I had a great Mother's Day- Paul and Ashlyn got me a beautiful charm bracelet that I have had my eye on ever since we got the last James Avery catalog (I am a great target audience for advertising apparently) and Sunday afternoon I got to take a great nap while Paul played with Ashlyn and put her down for her nap. This was an even bigger treat than it used to be b/c recently Ashlyn is having a hard time be put in bed without making the biggest fuss!


• Monday night I went out for the evening and spent some time with the ladies from my Tuesday morning bible study group, which was a lot of fun. I did however stay out much later than I meant to.


• Tuesday evening I went to a Home Interiors party at a friend's home, so Paul and Ashlyn had yet another night together... lots of bonding time! I did thankfully make it home in time for the bedtime rituals, including the meltdown.


• Wednesday, I had the weekly Dr appt. It appears the baby is still really high and at the moment I would be a prime candidate for a c-section. Now with my first pregnancy, I was prepared for ANYTHING, this time around I have much less time for reading and mental preparation, I have not even thought about the possibility of a c-section. I would like to hope that I won't need one when we get down to crunch time... She also set an induction date for June 4th- yikes that is whole 6 days after my due date! I surely do pray that I deliver before then! Wed night, Paul took Ashlyn with him to church and I had the house to myself. So what did I do with this precious time- I cleaned! (without having a toddler hanging on my leg or wanting to "help")


• Thursday, we went to gymnastics in the morning- always fun. After naptime Ashlyn and I met up with my friends Angie and her son Cager and went to the park where we went on a nature walk and played on the playground. It was so cute to see these cute little 2 yr-olds racing each other and singing bible class songs together. I wish I had my video camera with me.


• That brings us to today, which I am excited about b/c we don't have a single thing written on the calendar for today! Don't worry about us, I am sure we can find plenty of things to fill the day. I'll leave you with one last picture-

Here is a Daddy-daughter picture in honor of all the quality time they had together this past week.

Here are some things that Ashlyn says that I need to write down before I forget them:

- calls Rollie Pollies "Holy Molies"

- "I'm just kiddin'!"

- calls balloons "Balloomas"

- says "sumpin" instead of something

- "I skrong (strong), right? See my muscles?"

- "I not little, I biiiig!"

- after her nap or first thing in the a.m. ... "I woked up!"

-"so Daddy how was ye day? Duud (translation- good)"

- the most frequent phrases she uses besides "NO!!" are "I do it myself!" and "I help!"

- I may have shared this one before, but she has done it more than once, or should I say that I have fallen for it more than once (it is an actual conversation)...
Ashlyn: "Mommy, my tummy hurts!"
Mommy: "Oh no, what kind of hurt?"
Ashlyn: "It hurts, feel it"
Mommy: "I can't right now honey, I am driving"
Ashlyn: "oh, the baby is kickin' in my tummy!"

Here she is telling me that she just saw 2 cats. But I thought this pose was funny for another reason- for those of you who have seen Superstar starring Molly Shannon, this reminded me of when she stands on the side of the pool and yells "LIFEGUARD!" I know at least one or two people who can appreciate this as much as I did.

Well, we sold our trusty Escape yesterday. We took it to Carmax last week and were not tremendously pleased with the offer they made us. However, after an extremely poor attempt at trying to sell it ourselves, we just cut our loses and took it back to Carmax. I am now driving the minivan that was Paul's company car. It is official- I am now a true mom who doesn't care what kind of car is cool to drive. I am all about comfort and convenience- I love the minivan because of the automatic doors and all the room inside!

Goodbye Escape, it's been fun! Well, not too much else to report. I am going to go lay down until Ashlyn wakes up from her nap.

Last week was exciting...but I am glad that it is over and that things have started to slow down. My college roommates came to visit and I just had so much fun spending time with them- reminiscing, laughing and talking. Ashlyn was thrilled to have them all come to see her (and only her in her mind), she REALLY loved having Mommy's friends here. If ever we had to leave her behind, like when we went to get pedicures, she was nearly devastated to be left out! When it was time for everyone to go home, she also had a hard time dealing with this. She'd tell them "no, you stay here!" Ashlyn went down for a nap before Jamie left- the first thing Ashlyn said to me when she woke up was "Mommy, where's yo friends?" Even though it was such a joy to have Allison, Jamie, and Katie here... Ashlyn really made it hard to deal with her by pulling out all her worst behavior- tantrums, crying, disobeying, the word "NO!!!" She did however counter all of that by being fun and cute at times too. Hopefully we didn't scare anybody into never wanting to have children.

Benjamin's baby shower was this past Saturday, and it was great! I am so blessed to be surrounded by so many amazing people who care about our family. I was truly overwhelmed by all the people who took time out of their busy lives to help us celebrate the upcoming arrival of our son. The fact that my college roommates could make it to the shower was very special to me too. Ashlyn is crying in the picture here, most likely b/c the shower was from 2-4 aka her naptime! I plan to add another photo or two once I get them from people who took pictures for me during the shower.

I am officially in my 9th month of pregnancy as of Wednesday- I am a little surprised by this, it kind of snuck up on me. However, I do feel huge enough to believe that I am 9 mos pregnant! I had great difficulty today at the grocery store getting my groceries from the cart to the conveyer belt and again while trying to load them into the car- I don't easily fit between the cart and the check-out or between the cart and the car anymore.

We went to the specialist again, for the last time, and they did all their detailed measurements and even took a couple of 3-D pics for me! Sorry about the quality of the ultrasound- it didn't scan that well. Check out those lips! He really looked like he was smooshed in there, it took a little while for him to give us a good face shot. I was just so thrilled to watch him in "real time" and to see his face; it was AWESOME! Sometimes I love technology. Supposedly the baby is measuring about 6lbs 4oz... how much weight can a baby gain in the last month? I am trying to get everything in order, get the newborn clothes, blankets, burpcloths, etc... washed and in the drawers. It is time-consuming but it sure is fun too! Every once in awhile I feel like a little girl who is playing house. Once the baby comes and the reality of having 2 children hits me, I doubt I will feel much like I am "playing." I am getting more and more excited the closer I get to my due date. My bet is that I make it pretty close to May 30th, but we'll just have to see.