HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my precious Bennett!!!

Wow, the time has come and gone.  His first birthday is now part of the past.  I spent so long looking forward to that day and it came and went so fast!!!  As I look back on the pictures that were taken Saturday during his party, Bennett looked more like a little boy than a baby.  I can't believe it.  While I enjoy him now more than ever, I sure do miss that sweet little baby. 

Bennett's 1 year check up went really well, minus the 4 shots he had to get at the end.  He did great when they had to prick his finger to check his lead level.  He weighed in at 24 pounds 12 ounces and measured 29 3/4 inches long.  In translation, we have a little chunk on our hands!!  :)  Dr. Delaney said he looked really good and was growing well.  As far as food goes, he's free to eat just about anything.  He did say he'd still stay away from peanut butter, but any thing else is a go!  Bennett is a good eater and will eat just about anything still.  He's gotten to be a pro at feeding himself and even using the spoon to feed himself.  Mommy doesn't let him do that much because it makes a complete mess (I know, bad Mommy for not letting him do that, but I'm too much of a neat freak!).

Bennett is not quite walking on his own yet.  He loves to explore, which we let him do.  We close off our bedroom and kitchen and just let him crawl around.  He'll go and check out the window and see what's happening outside.  :)  He loves dogs.  Every time he sees one he starts laughing and smiling.  It's really cute!  :)

Friday, April 22, was Bennett's 1stbirthday.  We started out by taking him to IHOP for his birthday breakfast.  He loved his pancake- just plain though.  He wasn't too crazy about the syrup.  Then later that night we went to Chili's for dinner and there he had a small cup of icecream with chocolate syrup after dinner.  :)  Saturday was his big day.  We had a cookout at my mom's house and invited some friends and family.  We thought the party turned out well and we couldn't have asked for better weather!  Our guests were able to enjoy the backyard and deck.  Thanks to my brother, Russell, we ate delicious hamburgers and hotdogs for dinner, then chose to open presents before cake time!  Bennett was lucky and got a lot of cute things for his birthday.  He LOVES the Cozy Couple Grammy gave him.  Jason took him around the entire block with him in that thing and he just sat in it and enjoyed the ride!  He also loves the dino tent Noah gave him.  :)  He just kept squealing and laughing in that thing.  It was so cute!  After presents we let him dig into his cake!  Surprisingly he liked it.  In the end he had icing everywhere!  :) 

Enjoy some pictures from the past couple of days:

His birthday pancake!

He LOVED the Dino tent he got for his birthday!

Even Daddy got in there with him!

What a HAMM!!

Love this one!

I crack up every time I see this picture!

Bennett's new beanbag!

His beautiful blues!

As I wipe tears from my eyes

Lately, every day I think back on what I was doing an ENTIRE year ago and I think about how much has changed in that short amount of time.  An entire year ago I did not think I would be meeting my son in one short week (since he came 3 weeks early).  I still thought I had plenty of time to finish the final touches on the nursery or plenty of time to pack my bag for the hospital or plenty of time to finish our birthing classes at the hospital.  Yeah, life sure does have a way of being full of surprises!  :)  I do remember being completely miserable at this point in my pregnancy- the swelling I had was crazy and it was a miracle that I made it to work and was able to work every day because I was so tired and huge and just plain miserable!!  I also remember how nervous I was about the whole birthing process.  Little did I know I would have the perfect birth which would end in the most perfect son!!  :)  Really, Bennett's birth was picture book perfect- I worried about it for nothing.  I'm sure all those moms who stayed in labor for 16, 24 or even longer would agree that having an 8 hour birth is a breeze.  :)  I progressed so fast I surprised not only myself but my sweet nurse who took care of me throughout the whole process.  I can remember that night like it was just yesterday.  Little did I know I would have to spend 4 days going back and forth to the NICU to see my son in the hospital.  I had this idea in my head of how my hospital stay was going to be.  I was going to have my son and be able to show him off to all the visitors that were going to come by.  Again, life has a way of not working out exactly how you have it planned.  I also had no idea what I would be getting myself into with breastfeeding- I had no idea that the most natural thing about having a child would be the hardest thing I would have ever done in my life, up to that point.  Seriously, and not to scare those soon to be mothers, but breastfeeding was by no means natural- it took A LOT of work and 6 weeks to master!!  But it was the BEST decision I ever made- the best decision to try breastfeeding and the best decision to stick with it, even when I wanted to give up!  I even had Jason go buy me some cabbage- that's how bad I wanted to quit.  But I breastfed Bennett for 9 whole months and loved every minute of it- after I mastered it!!  :)

Since Bennett has been born I find myself loving him more and more each day.  Before he was born, I had no idea how much love I would have for that little baby growing inside of me.  I knew I would love him because he was my son and I was his mother, and that's what mothers are supposed to do.  But the amount of love that I have for him is indescribable.  Even through the sleepless nights and fussy times, I loved him soooo much. 

In one year, Bennett has learned to: (in no particular order)
- sit up
- crawl
- chew food and swallow it
- put his paci in his mouth all by himself
- walk assisted
- say words in his own language  :)
- sit himself up
- pull himself up onto his feet
- hold his bottle
- play peek a boo
- pull his socks off the minute we put them on
- clap
- roll over- first from stomach to back and then back to stomach
- feed himself
- smile - and what a beautiful smile he has
- make all kinds of sounds with his mouth
- drink from a sippy cup
- close and open doors (not by the door knob quite yet, thankfully!)
- go all night without needing milk- this is probably Mommy's favorite accomplishment  :)

I'm probably forgetting some stuff but I would say that's a lot to accomplish for such a small little fella.  It's amazing how fast babies grow and learn when they are so small.  It's also kinda sad how fast we want them to grow and do things.  We want them to be eating food, sitting and rolling over and walking and talking but my thought is he's got the rest of his life to do that.  I want to enjoy him being a baby as long as possible.  Before I know it he's not going to need me to put him to sleep or feed him so I'm gonna enjoy doing that every day now. 

The next 2 weeks we have a lot planned.  First, Bennett's birthday is in ONE week so we will be celebrating our big boy's FIRST birthday next Friday.  Then his birthday party is next Saturday so we will be having fun preparing for that and then enjoying Bennett's first year with our family and friends.  And then we have his 1 year pictures planned for the following week.  I'm really excited about that!!!  Amanda Joy Photography will be doing them and our plan is to start at the Govenor's Mansion and then move to her inside studio to get some inside pictures and cupcake smashing pictures.  Can't wait, can't wait, can't wait!!!!

So in the next few weeks I will have a lot of pictures to share with you!!  Next week my baby will officially be a toddler!!!!  Sniff, sniff.......

Playing with leaves

At first Bennett did not like the feel of grass on his bare skin.  Now, after several attempts to get him to sit on the grass, he doesn't mind it and likes to pick up the leaves on the ground.  :)  Today Jason took him outside while I cooked dinner and let him play with some little leaves.  I thought the pictures turned out so cute- but it's very easy to have cute pictures when what you are photographing is so darn cute!!  He's getting sooo big and is more and more handsome every day!  I look forward to his birthday party and his 1 year pictures!!