Sneak peak Spring

Today is beautiful. Windy with a little chill , but beautiful. It feels as though spring is right around the corner. Rich has been working on our laundry/mud room on his day off today. He took a break to do some spring cleanup with Ally under the pine trees. Ally said they were doing "hawd wook."

Oh Jane, she is such a good little helper. I love her stunning blue eyes. She loves to draw and asks Ally if her pictures look "beeufidull."

Mom and baby Ben. 

Yesterday we headed up to liberty to have Sunday dinner with Rich's siblings. Everyone was able to be there, it was so nice to visit. 

The real deal

 Yesterday was the official day of valentines. Rich had to work all day unfortunately and then he went to the viewing of a coworkers mother who recently passed away. He didn't get home till about 8 o'clock at night. Earlier that day the girls made him some valentines, we picked up a special drink and some treats and took them to him at work. He was really busy at work so we didn't get to visit which was too bad. so we went and ran some errands, I took the girls to lunch at their favorite place (chick filet) and then we headed up to Grandma Arnell's house. I needed to do some etsy stuff and still so some grocery shopping while the girls played at grandmas but Etsy got waylayed and only the shopping got done. I had exhausted myself. We had dinner with my parents and then riches home just in time to set up a special v-day dinner for daddy. 

Rich always gets the girls special valentine treats, and me too :) and check out that awesome Jerky Bouquet! Best man bouquet ever. Rich's fav on the menu (pizza) and I was asleep on the couch by 9:30. 

An early valentine surprise

Rich has to work open to close at the bank on Friday and Saturday this week so he was able to take Wednesday off.  Since Friday is Valentine's Day we decided to celebrate a few days early. Rich had a great idea to surprise the girls by going swimming at lava Hot Springs. He made us all pancakes and eggs for breakfast and then we packed up and we're on our way. To say the girls were excited would be an understatement as they danced around the house squealing with delight. 

We spent a few hours of the pools, Jane liking the hottest water the best - crazy girl. Baby Benjamin stayed in his car seat, poolside. After swimming we went for lunch a local diner and then on the way home Rich surprised the girls with some ice cream cones from a local gas station. 

The day took longer than expected and we didn't get home until about 6 o'clock. Rich had arranged to have Maddi Larson come babysit so he could take me out to dinner at my favorite place-Olive Garden. We scampered to get ready to go and had a lovely time. I sure love my valentine. 

Be brave!

The other day I encouraged the girls to go outside and play in the freshly fallen snow. After getting the baby settled and sleeping soundly I went out to check on the girls. This is how I found them. Ally's snow overalls had gotten caught on one of the trampoline springs. Ally was in distress and Jane kept telling her to "be brave Ally, be brave!" 

This is my life

These girls love their " baby brudder" or as Ally calls him,  "Benjawin".  When we found out the gender of baby Ben we asked Jane what we should name him. 

She told us "Jackson". I don't know where she got the name from. Maybe a boy in primary? When prompted she would tell us that she came up with the name herself. She stuck with that name for the rest of the pregnancy until the last month when she hopped on board Ally's name train, "Tarzan the Savior Jesus white."

Wow. Strong name, yes.... Much to live up to!

Besides from the name of Mack, which I favorited for several months, we seriously considered Jackson. But when it came right down to it, the name Benjamin blind sighted us and it just felt right. It suits him. Strong name :) Benjamin Don, middle name after his grandpa Don White. 

His sisters take good care of him and make sure he gets plenty of snuggle time, although they are not mauling him, surprisingly, so that's been nice.

Jane is quite helpful actually. She will get him his binky if he starts fussing, fetch me more diapers or outfits if needed. She has taken on the role of big sister with pride and loves to show off her "baby brudder who has beeufidal eyes." I will miss her when she goes to kindergarten this fall :(

These three are my life, particularly during the hours between 9 am-6 pm. And every other hour of the day I get to throw a handsome man into the mix. 

2 week appointment

This little man had his two week appointment today. He was a champ getting his PKU shots, but did need a little comforting from his big sister jane.  Since his appointment last week when he was four days old he has gained over 1 pound!! When he was born he weighed 7 lbs. 13 oz., he left the hospital weighing 7 lbs. 9 oz. Today he weighed 8 lbs. 15 oz. the nurse and doctor were very impressed with his weight gain especially as that was all from nursing. He has also already grown half an inch! My little man is growing up too fast. 

Hairy face

Ally: "why does he have hair on his face like daddy?"

Benjamin: <grin>

And then there were 3

It was a long pregnancy. Two weeks before I was due I had a night of emotional break down, then after that I was fine. Mentally. Physically I was done. My body hurt. And I was ready to meet my little mister. Ready to sleep on my stomach. Ready to sleep comfortably, even if that meant in two hour increments. Ready to use the potty once every few hours instead of once every 15 minutes. Ready for the crazy life of three children. My due date was January 20th. At my last appointment, which was a Friday, I was dialated to a "tight three" and had my membranes stripped hoping that would jump start things. 

Rich and I enjoyed our weekend, then Sunday night, much like all other nights the past 2 weeks, I started having regular contractions in the evening. At 7:00 rich took over kid duty so I could lay down. The contractions, although not "regular" didn't stop and progressed until they were all under ten minutes sometimes less then 5 minutes by the time 1:00 AM rolled around. I hadn't slept. Rich got a little bit of sleep but not much. Being Strep B positive we wanted to be sure  we got to the hospital in time to have antibiotics in me for four hours before  giving birth. We were able to wake up mom and dad arnell, drop the girls off an be checked in to the hospital by 1:45 AM. I wasn't sure if it was the real thing or not and was afraid of being sent home       The contractions, although frequent, were not painful. After getting hooked up to machines, medication in, paperwork filled, Rich and I were both able to get some sleep. I woke up at 6 (I have no idea what time I fell asleep) and the contractions had completely stopped. I felt frustrated and foolish. Since we were at little misters due date we decided to go ahead and get started. I was joked up to pitocin with immediately got my contractions going at 3-4 minutes. They weren't terribly painful yet. Doctor Ann Blackett came in at 10:30 and broke my water. That's when things got intense. I labored in the tub for about 30 minutes until that was no longer comfortable. then tried different positions with Rich there being a great emotional support. To make a long story short I ended up laborinf on the bed on my knees with my body facing the back of the bed. No epidural. It was ... Painful. Due to some scar tissue the baby got stuck, crowned for several minutes. His heart rate plummeted and I was told I needed to turn around onto my back so Blackett could give me an appesiotomy and get the baby out. It turned into a stressful situation, the shoulders got stuck and the cord was wrapped around little misters neck. He finally came out officially bring born at 12:30 but wasn't breathing on is own. 

They got him hooked up to machines immediately. It was such a dramatic relief to have him born. If I can help it, I will never go "natural" again. Twice was enough. This birth was my deciding factor and the decision was easily made that I never want to go through that again. 

Little mister got all the junk cleaned out of his nose and lungs and finally started breathing on his own.  Although, his lungs were "sticky" and he was quite irritable for the 30-45 minutes we got to hold him. Then they took him away for some testing and to be hooked up to an "early lung" machine which would help with the stickiness. My parents came to meet him and we has to go down to the NICU where he was being watched and waiting for test results before coming back to our room. 

He was a different baby. Sleeping and breathing peacefully. I took him back to the room. Rich had gone to mom and dads to take the girls while they came to meet the baby. The girls were so excited I meet "baby brudder" but no one under 14 years old was allowed to visit. :( 

Because of being stuck, little mistrr has a nasty swelled bump on his head. After two weeks it still hasn't gone down. He sure is a cutie and so sweet. He tolerates his sisters well who are actually quite good and helpful with him. 

My latest love.

I have a new crush. He's sweet, innocent, forgiving, full of love and totally adorable. His smile makes melts my heart and I know it may sound creepy but... I love to watch him sleep. In fact, as long as we're being creepy I'll admit that I stare at him quite a bit throughout the day. My whole world and every hour of my day is wrapped around his finger and dependent on his mood, good or bad. Sweet little Benjamin. I love you. 

First bath

Today was Benjamin's first official bath. He enjoys getting his hair washed and overall enjoys his bath but that lame umbilical cord is still sensitive and caused  some mild discomfort. Such a sweet sweet baby boy.