Supper Club

Once a month we get together with 2 friends of mine, Kathy and Kristy.  I have known them for a very long time and all 3 of us have little boys.  Kathy and Steven have Noah- he's 1 year and 3 months.  Kristy and Jay have Parker- he's 8 and half months.  And then we have Bennett who is 5 months.  It's crazy to think we are all 3 in this stage of life, but here we are!!  We started supper club about 3 months ago and it's a really good time to get our kids together and let them play.  Bennett and Parker aren't mobile yet but they love watching Noah run the show!  :)  Pretty soon they will be giving him a run for his money!!  :)  We take turns hosting each time.  Tonight we met at Kristy's house and I took the opportunity to snap some pictures.  We all have a great time and I hope to keep this up!!

Kathy and Bennett

Jay and Parker

Noah showing Bennett what to do with the toys

Little Parker!

Noah showing Jason what to do with the toys  :)

Having fun on the mat!

Parker loved the camera!!  He posed for it every time I went to take his picture  :)

Noah didn't like it when Mommy had another baby

Parker and Bennett

The best picture of me and Noah

Bennett blowing bubbles

Noah says "Weeeee"

Noah is so funny!!

So cute!  Noah wearing 3D glasses

Bennett and Daddy

Steven holding Bennett- I'm surprised he didn't have Bennett's ear in his hand :)

We host supper club next month- can't wait!!!

More of Bennett

Just a picture post, because I think he's so darn cute!!

 

Mmmm, mmmmm Good!!

So here is the video of him from the other night.  He wasn't too sure what to think about it.  We tried again tonight and he seemed a little more open to it.  After a few bites, it almost seemed like he opened his mouth in anticipation of food going in it.  It's really fun to feed him!!  I can't wait to see his reactions to each food and see what his favorites and not so favorites are! 

5 months ago today!

So Bennett is 5 months old today, which is so hard to believe.  He's almost half a year old.  To me, that just doesn't seem possible.  This coming month we have a lot to look forward to- his first trip to the zoo, the SC State Fair, and Halloween.  I've been putting off taking him to the zoo just because the weather has been so hot here, we'd all be miserable walking around.  The weather is finally starting to cool down some and I think next month we'll be able to go and enjoy ourselves.  I can't wait to take him and let him explore all the animals!!  The fair ought to be very interesting.  There won't be much he can do there, but at least Mommy and Daddy can walk around and eat some fair food.  He'll probably have fun people watching though.  And boy will there be tons of people to watch- tons of very different people to watch.  :)  And then there's Halloween.  We got his cow outfit in the mail yesterday and it's even cuter in person!  The hat is so adorable!  I can't wait to show off my cute cow! We'll probably just go visit some neighbors and maybe drive to Mrs. Bertha's house and spend the rest of the night handing out candy.  I can't wait for his first Halloween!!

In celebration of Bennett's 5 month birthday, we took his chair pictures.  It's really fun and I'm sure when he's older it will be so neat to look back and see how he has grown each month.  Here are some of Bennett's 5 month pictures (some were taken with his cute cow hat!):

Does he look any bigger since 3 month pictures?

Bennett ate cereal last night.  And when I say eat, I mean he actually ate it off a spoon and it went in his tummy rather than coming right back out!  He only took a few bites of it before he was done with it but it was a HUGE improvement from last time, when we tried at 4 months.  Just another sign that he's growing up.  We'll keep practicing with it and in another month we'll try fruit, which I'm sure he'll love.  I've held off giving him any type of food so far and, as you can see, he's not missing any milk meals.  :)  At his 4 month check up he was 15 pounds 7 ounces.  He started at 3rd percentile and at 4 months he was already up in the 60th percentile!  I would say I have a boy that loves to eat.  In his 6th month, I look forward to feeding him food and letting him explore that. 

He is now rolling over really well- from tummy to back AND back to tummy!  He does it every time we put him down now.  He's also started getting his little knees under his belly- I think it's the beginning of learning how to crawl!!  And we can tell he's trying to support himself more when we sit him up.  It won't be much longer before he's sitting up all by himself!!  He still loves to talk and we love to listen to him! He'll just go on and on like he's really talking about something serious.  :)  It's the sweetest sound!!  Maybe he'll be like his Daddy and be a talker.  :) 

So, he's doing really well.  Another month down and many, many more to go!! 

Halloween is next month

So I've been debating on what to dress Bennett up for Halloween.  I knew I didn't want any kind of themed character- since he's not into any special person yet.  And since Jason grew up on a dairy farm, he really wanted to dress him up as a cow.  (I won't tell you what his first suggestion was though).  So after searching on the internet for a couple of days, I found the perfect cow costume.  Here's the outfit and little hat to match.  I'm really excited about his first Halloween.  I can't wait to see him in his first Halloween costume!!  Expect lots of pictures once it gets here!!

I'm one lucky girl!

I often look at my son in disbelief.  Sometimes it's just hard to believe that I carried him for 9 months and now he's here.  It's amazing and probably something only mothers would understand.  Throughout those 9 months I wondered what he would look like and who he would take after- now I don't have to wonder anymore.  He's, without a doubt, the most beautiful baby I have ever seen and he just keeps getting cuter and cuter.  I also look at him and know that one day he will be an adult, able to support himself and make his own decisions.  That also amazes me.  At his 8 week ultrasound, he looked like a lima bean and now he has 10 fingers and toes, 2 beautiful blue eyes, 2 cute little chubby legs and arm rolls to die for.  And in no time I'm sure, he'll be writing, reading, driving, working- I'm amazed.  Bennett, I want nothing more for you to have pure joy for life, unendless happiness with yourself and complete love for God.  Just know your parents love you more than words could express.  I look forward to watching you grow and learn.  I can only hope that you have fun along the way!

It's been 4 months!!

So a lot has happened in the last 4 months. I left with the story of Bennett's birth- which was the most amazing thing I have ever done in my life. Honestly, labor was a breeze (mind you, I had the epidural). Had I not had that, I probably wouldn't be saying it was easy. Bennett was born early Thursday morning and later that night they sent him over to the NICU, called Special Care Nursery at the hospital. He was having issues with his blood sugar and temperatures. I thought he'd be there for maybe a day but it turns out they kept him for 4. Those 4 days were the hardest days of my life, both physically and emotionally. I was still hooked up to my IV of magnesium sulfate (which was to prevent me from having seizures due to the preeclampsia) and hooked up to my catheter. Not only was he in the NICU, I was trying to breastfeed him, which turned out to be the most challenging thing I've ever done! So, every 3 hours we had to drag myself, with my IV and catheter (which wasn't the easiest thing to do) down to the NICU to feed him. He was being fed through an IV there so he wasn't really interested about drinking Mommy's milk, which hadn't come in yet. So there we were, in the NICU trying to get him to catch on with the whole breastfeeding thing and we would see the other parents come and feed their baby and leave. It took us at least an hour to feed him. It really didn't help my confidnece watching those parents come and leave- making breastfeeding look like a breeze. Anyway, we'd get back to our room and get me back in the bed to rest or eat and usually by that time it was time to pack all our stuff up again and head back to the NICU to see our son. I would have set up camp in there with him and slept in my wheelchair if they would have let me. I was exhausted and emotional to say the least (heck, I'm getting emotional now just thinking about it). I missed him so much while he was in there. It was the hardest thing I had to do- to leave my son in there all alone (even though I knew the nurses were taking care of him). I wanted him in our room so badly but for some reason God had a different plan for us. We did that all day (minus the 2:00 feeding in the morning- we needed our sleep) for 3 days- not exactly how I had pictured our hospital stay. He was born at 6 pounds 1 ounce and dropped down to 5 pounds 9 ounces- he was so tiny!!! I don't think I had ever held a baby THAT small. I was discharged Saturday night and Bennett was discharged Sunday around lunch. I could not have been happier to get him home!! Those trips down to the NICU were so draining. If it hadn't been for Jason helping me each trip and being there with me, I would not have been able to do it. He was my support and I made it through because of him. I know we had it easy compared to some parents, whose children are in the NICU for months, so I count my blessings- and boy do we have a lot of blessings. God is so good and he has blessed us with the most precious child!! We both finally made it home and I honestly would do it all over again in a heartbeat- if it meant having Bennett as my son!!

Here are some pictures from his hospital stay in the NICU:

So, now that we are home, life has been completely different- a good different though. The first 8 weeks were the toughest, I think because of just adjusting to our new life and still trying to master breastfeeding. No one told me breastfeeding was so hard- but it was, at first!! We both caught on around 6 weeks and it's been so rewarding. If anyone were to ask me what was the one thing I was the most proud of, it would be sticking with breastfeeding and succeeding!! I am so proud of myself for that. I almost quit twice- I came so close to giving up. But something inside me, probably my stubbornness, told me to keep trying. So after conquering that battle, things have just been getting easier and easier each day. He has grown tremendously in the past 4 months. He started at 5th percentile in weight and now he's up to 65th percentile!! Right now he is 15 pounds 7 ounces and still growing fast! Here are some pictures, month to month:

April 2010

May 2010

June 2010 

July 2010

August 2010

September 2010

We have come a long way from where we started! Bennett is now 4 months and 2 weeks old!  Wow, time has been flying!!  He is now sitting up with assistance, smiling and laughing all the time, talking up a storm and rolling over! Bennett enjoys bath time and splashes all around! He's so sweet and such a good baby!! Often times I look at him in amazement- he's actually mine! He still amazes me every day!! I love him so much and would not trade him for anything!