Ben's Baby Dedication

We had Benjamin's baby dedication on April 29th.  Benjamin was one of 19 babies being dedicated during the morning service!  (Our church only does baby dedications twice per year)  Andy and I are thankful for Benjamin and are committed to raising him in the church and teaching him about Christ's love.  We have been blessed with 2 wonderful boys and thank God daily for choosing us to be their parents. 

Benjamin,

It is our prayer that you will come to know God's love and understand that He loves you more than you could ever imagine.  He has a plan for you and we know you will do great things with your life.

Proverbs 3:5-6
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight. 

We love you to the moon and back,
Mommy and Daddy

20 Weeks Old

Once upon a time Benjamin was 20 weeks old and here are the pictures to prove it!

Easter 2012

I had to work this year for Easter (boo) so Andy was on his own.  He took the boys to Nana's house for lunch, but they weren't able to hunt eggs due to the rain.  Judging by these pictures I don't think Luke would have made it through an Easter egg hunt -- he definitely had the tired eyes.

We are thankful for Jesus and his sacrifice for us - not just on Easter, but on every day of the year.

17 Weeks Old

We spent the evening outside last night while Andy repaired our busted pipe.  Benji spent time in his Bumbo chair watching Luke's bubble machine and the rest of the time on his blanket in the front yard.  Luke was a big help to daddy.  He wasn't really into me taking his picture, but I managed to get a few.

This is what Luke did when I asked if I could take his picture.

 This was the best smile he would give me after I made a deal to go in the backyard with him if he would smile for the camera.

Outside in the Evenings

We have been spending a lot of time outside this past week.  Benjamin (16 weeks) loves to be outside and see the world around him.  He is content just laying on a blanket in the yard.  Luke has been exploring the place and helping Daddy with chores.  I love the spring time!

Cousins

Sarah bought the boys matching outfits so that we could take some pictures while they were in town last weekend.  Luke was interested in taking pictures for about 2 minutes and then it was just the little ones.  They are so cute.  I cannot wait for them to get bigger and be the best of friends!  In these pictures Ben is 15 weeks and Jack is almost 6 weeks.

14 Weeks

1/4 of a Year!

Benjamin is now 3 months old!!  It is hard to believe that it has ONLY been 3 months because it feels like he has been a part of our family forever, but at the same time I cannot believe it has ALREADY been 3 months.  He has changed so much and is doing so many things.  First off, he now weighs 14lbs, 3ounces (75th percentile) and is wearing his 3-6 month clothes.  Ben goes to sleep each night between 8-9pm and I wake him up in the morning (6am) to give him a bottle before I go to work.  He eats 5 times each day and eats ~5-6 ounces at each feeding.  He is a happy, growing little boy.

Benjamin loves to see the world.  He wants to be sitting up (either propped up or me holding him) so that he can take in the room.  He likes to look at new things and he loves to go outside.  He is a little chatter box and tries so hard to talk back.  He loves bath time and I love it when he splashes the water with his feet.  He likes to swing in his swing (Luke is a good helper with turning it on and keeping the stars on), watch his mobile, and lay on his mat.  He has a big smile and I get warm fuzzies when he laughs :)

I remember always looking forward to and almost rushing Luke to the next step -- boy was I naive.  With Benjamin, I am trying to treasure every moment because I know it is all going to go so fast.

Stop growing so fast Ben -- you are only 3 months!  We love you!

12 Weeks and Back to Work

I went back to work full time last Monday.  It was sad to see my time home with the boys come to an end.  I will really miss the cuddly days at home watching them grow and learn new things.  We are thankful that Grandma has agreed to watch both of the boys for me and that Christina is still willing to help out, too.  Knowing that the boys are in the care of people that love them makes the transition back to work a little bit easier. 

11 Weeks Old

Benjamin has started laughing, almost a belly laugh, when we tickle him!  He is especially ticklish on the bottom of his feet and on his ribs.  I love it!

9 Weeks Old

I am happy to report that Benjamin rolled over from tummy to back today, twice!  I am not 100% convinced that he knew what he was doing though.... :)

8 Weeks Old, Oh My!

Benjamin is now 8 weeks old.....that's right, I said 8 weeks old.  I am proud to announce that he slept for a total of 7 hours (in a row) last night (11pm to 6:15am)!  I think that by definition he slept through the night!!  I am such a proud Mama.  I am by no means naive enough to believe that he will do this from hear on out, but I do believe he is on the right track.  I think that one of the biggest reasons he made such progress is because we started putting him in his crib at night (in his room upstairs).  He seems to be a very light sleeper so I think that having us in the room may have cramped his style!!  The other thing that is new this week is that he started eating like a pig.  He went from eating ~3.5-4 ounces at each feed to wanting 5 ounces (and sometimes even 6 ounces) with each feed.  His little cheeks are getting chubby and I love it!

I know that these first few pics look the same to most of you, but to me his expressions are so different.  I just couldn't pick my favorite one so I posted them all.  As you can tell from the pictures his head control has improved drastically from just last week.  What a rock star!

 This picture cracks me up.  I asked Luke to lay on the pillow like his brother so I could take their picture.  He is such a literal little boy!

 We have been working on smiling with our eyes open.  He is making some progress.