Happy 2nd Birthday Ellie!

I think the sandals have too much grip for the slide!

Up and down the stairs, over and over

Morning at the playground

Swings

Ice cream for lunch

Present from Mommy and Daddy! She just kept piling more and more on her table. More fun to follow next weekend at her party!
I am two years old and am learning new things every day. I know my shapes, some colors, some numbers and lots of animals and objects. I shout out objects I see when shopping and am starting to put 2 word phrases together. I refer to myself as "A" but have been able to say "Benson" clearly since he was 3 days old. I have 13 teeth and am a picky eater. I love most fruit, any kind of rice, cheese and tomatoes. I wear size 3 diapers and 24 mo. and 2T clothes. My nicknames are Love Bug and B Bear.

Boys

I had my first fountain of pee experience you hear about from parents of boys this morning. It was amazingly similar to how it is portrayed in movies. It really is a fountain of pee. It is definitely a new experience having a boy. We love our little Benson.

Matching Kitties

 

"More, More, More!"

She only has so much hair for pigtails.

Regressing?

She may excede the weight limit.

Bright Eyes

Growing Boy

July 16- Born at 6 lbs 13 oz

July 18- Home at 2 days old- 6 lbs 8 oz

July 21- First Dr appt at 5 days old- 6 lbs  13 oz

Rain Clouds

What kid doesn't like to play in rain puddles? It's even more fun to ride your bike through them! Needless to say we had to put on a new pair of jammies for bed. 

Coming Around

Ellie has started saying Benson and finds things of his and brings them to him.

Rocking Benson in his car seat.

For the first few days she was either confused or indifferent to her brother Benson, but she's starting to take an interest in the little guy.

Labor Story

On Tuesday, I was seen in the office and Dr. Dyer stripped my membranes. I was 2 cm and not effaced at all. Wednesday around 1 pm, I started noticing contractions and they were pretty steady right off the bat, 4 minutes apart, but weren't even uncomfortable.

Around 4:15, the contractions were 2 to 3 minutes apart and getting a little uncomfortable. I started feeling a little panicky being home alone with Ellie, having contractions that were so close together. I called Stacy to come over and wait for Danny with me. 

5 pm- Danny got home and didn't seem to be in much of a hurry! I told him I wasn't sure I was actually in labor, but thought we should go to the hospital.

5:30- We got to the hospital and I was 3 cm and 80%. Still not sure if I was in labor.

5:50- Dr. Dyer came in to see me. He wasn't on that night but was making rounds bfore heading home and saw I was there. The nurse was still trying to decide if they were going to keep me. I was checked again and was 4 cm. and 80%. They both agreed I should stay and Dr. Dyer said that if it was a decent hour, he would come back in and deliver me on his night off. I was relieved that he would be there and not the doctor on call.

6:30- My water broke after I sent Danny to the cafeteria to get some dinner.

6:45- I was already asking for the epidural!

7:15- The epidural was in and running. While getting the epidural, I was feeling like I needed to push but the doctor wasn't in the hospital yet. The CRNA said that he'd never delivered a baby and he wasn't about to do it tonight! I was told not to push for at least 10 minutes until Dr. Dyer walked in the room. It was pretty tough not to push, one of the worst feelings ever.

7:25- Dr. Dyer arrived and I pushed through 2 contractions and he was here!

7:30- Baby Boy, 6 pounds 13 ounces, 21 inches long. After he was born, the epidural kicked in and I was numb for the next two hours! He was born with heavy meconium and had a hard time breathing at first. The NICU nurses had him on CPAP in our room for a little while trying to help him. As soon as they said they were going to take him to the NICU for a while, he screamed real loud and perked right up. He was fine and got to stay in the room with us.



Pool Party

So sad the pool had a hole in it!

Looks like Carter is in charge! Look how much he is enjoying it too! 

Loving the popsicle, but did it have to be red, Camille?! By the time she was done, it looked like she was bleeding profusely!

Thanks for a great BBQ, Camille and Jason!

First Pigtail

She would NOT let me put in a second pigtail! The first was hard enough. 

Day two: they are a little crazy but she let me put them in while she sat in front of a mirror, Daddy's suggestion. I'll get better at this.

Not very impressed by Fireworks

Checking out the selection for the evening's entertainment. 

 Sad Mommy took her away from the fireworks.

 Not too impressed by the sparklers.

 Confused, mostly.

 Bright lights.

She liked watching the fireworks with Uncle Rob the best.