Benham is 3 weeks old!

Big Ben is 3 weeks old and was supposed to be born 3 days ago. He grows an inch every night and I can't possibly imagine him being born the monster he is today. His newborn clothes became capri lenth pants over night and he has successfully blown crap out of his newborn size diapers three times in the last two days. Mimi was in newborn diapers until she was 7 weeks old! God is so good to us and blesses us with children who like to sleep. Like I mentioned, he has been sleeping 4-5 hr stretches at night since he escaped from the womb and the other night he got all night owl on our butts and woke every 3 hrs. I have this overwhelming respect for those parents whose newborns wake every 2-3hr! I was a zombie the next day. He redeemed himself and pulled out a 6 hr snooze fest last night. Makes you jump out of bed when you roll over and look at the clock and need two hands to start counting the hours on your fingers. Had to make sure he was breathing. He is such a gent and goes along for the ride...where ever Mimi decides we should go.

His new bestie, Charlie, hooked him up with some fancy pants. And just in case we acquire new parent amnesia...his rear end is appropriately labeled to help us decipher between back and front.

Eggcellent Easter

Mimi's holiday weekend started off with an Easter themed birthday party for her bud Rowan. The girls had a blast hunting and decorating eggs.

We headed to church on Sunday morning and Maryn chose the most silent 2 minutes of the entire mass to yell "all aboard the choo choo train!!" We already had all eyes on us because of the wee tiny person that was perched in our arms and then the obvious chaos of our family unit was confirmed by the cute two year old.

Easter brunch...tell me what's better than a Peep on a stick??

Uncle Tim would never miss a holiday with his Godbaby

"the bunny came, the bunny came!"

And you better believe he left PlayDoh in her basket

Nanny and Poppop are smitten

He left this kid in her basket too:)

Mikaela aka Miss Mac...organized another Easter egg hunt...complete with the special *golden* egg!

We don't dote on her or anything

Miss Mac made the most delicious Easter dinner! She's an amazing cook and we all left stuffed to our gills! I've already requested a copy of every recipe.

Benham is 2 weeks old!

B-Ham is starting to give us a little bit more alert time. But, the kid is still sleeping 4-5 hr stretches at night. I'm not bragging or trying to rub it in the face of other new parents, just stating fact and knocking on wood. In two months, I want to remember how much I liked him.

Because of his breech position, his little feet turn outward. He'll get an ultrasound of his hips in about a month to see whether or not he has to sport one of those fancy braces on his legs. Wouldn't that be special?!

First nap in his big boy crib.

She's so gentle with him. Carefully places her arms around him and supports his head. She's not pushy and doesn't ask to hold him every 3 minutes. She peeks on him when he's napping and whispers so he doesn't wake up. I had always thought that I wanted a boy first. But after witnessing the 2 year old boys at Gymboree, I think God knew what He was doing by gifting me my sweet baby girl;)

In the last two weeks...we've been doing a lot of this...

...and this.

Easter egg hunt!

She keeps telling perfect strangers that the Easter Bunny is coming and is bringing her Play Doh! I need to run to Walmart...I can't disappoint.

Must have for your second child...a sling!

My friend Kristen had gotten this for me after Maryn was born and we used it often. It's a necessity now! We literally use it every day. I'm a mom on the go and I need both hands to wrangle my two year old. This particular sling is so soft and isn't bulky, the Market Sling from Serena and Lily

Finally figured out how to transfer videos from my phone to the computer...they were too large to download directly so I had to download them to YouTube first.

Benham's first Dr. appointment

How we measure up

This beautiful peaceful child had his first doctors appointment at five days old and weighed 7 lbs. 1 oz., which isn't much of a weight loss from birth...this kid seriously would have been like 9lbs! He shrunk a half inch and measured 20.5 in., head circumference 34.5 cm.

Ben is the sleepiest newborn I have ever known...it is very rare to capture a picture with his eyes open.

It's true what they say about subsequent children...not only do you become more forgetful but the little things that you made into big things with your first child return to their former state of being little things. I forgot to bring my camera to Benham's first appointment...what kind of mother am I? So, we brought in the stand by, the phone's camera. I took a cute video but it won't transfer to my computer...I'm working on it.

Ben's nightly lounge during story time.

We returned to the doctors yesterday for his weight recheck and fat boy weighed 8 lb. 3 oz.! He's a weed! And Lady M had her 2 year old well child check up and it appears that she is average across the board.

27 lb. 50th percentile

33.5 in. 50th percentile

head circumference 47 cm 50th percentile

But come on, look at this child...she is anything but average.

I've tried really hard to keep her life as routine as possible. Nanny helped me take Mimi to Gymboree last week and today, I packed the kids up myself and we ventured there again. Ben hangs in his sling and M dances and runs and plays. Seeing her so happy is worth all the effort!

Boys, boys, boys...

My best friend from high school and college and Maryn's godmother, Kristen and her husband Patrick, welcomed their first baby into this world on April 11, 2011...3 weeks and 2 days early. We were due one week apart from each other and both boys decided that they would rather not wait any longer. I think Charlie was just trying to keep up with Benham...he couldn't let him reach the finish line too far ahead of him:) My love for this child makes my heart swell and it's killing me not to be with him, smothering his precious face with kisses!

Charles Gordon

April 11, 2011

6 lb. 5 oz.

And another very dear friend of mine from grade school and high school, Meghan and her husband Ryan, welcomed their twin boys Peter and Tommy on March 21, 2011...4 weeks early! I'm telling you...these four boys are already competitive! They join their big sister Maisie who is 19 months old...I channel a lot of my prayers toward Meghan:) Although, I really don't think she needs them...she can juggle these kids with her eyes closed.

Thomas Edward 5 lb. 2 oz.

Peter Ryan 5 lb. 10 oz.

March 21, 2011

And since Benham's birth was a little bit of a surprise and unexpected, I totally forgot to get one last belly pic! By the time I remembered that I wanted one, I was hooked up to monitors and they were prepping me for surgery. So, I looked back to see what was the last shot we took. It was the evening before his birthday and I had gone to Target to look for some shirts to get me through the next three weeks. It was there, in the florescent lit dressing room, that they sneered their ugly face at me...STRETCH MARKS!! I stood there in disbelief, I went numb and then I started crying. I had three more weeks of this growing belly to endure and these ugly scars were only going to get worse. I dropped the shirts, dressed myself and cried the entire drive home. That evening, I lathered my gut with Palmer's cocoa butter and wrapped it in Saran Wrap. I took this picture and sent it to Meghan since she could sympathize with me...but come on, she was pregnant with twins. I avoided stretch marks with my first pregnancy and never thought I would fall victim. I'm in the market for some really good and effective stretch mark cream...do share your secret beauty tips with me. Another reason why my children are so good to me...they come early! And, another lesson learned...never get naked in a Target dressing room!

Maryn is TWO!

"Can you tell me how to get, how to get to Maryn's 2nd birthday party?"

Brought to you by the letter M and the number 2.

I was almost 37 weeks pregnant, 5 days before baby boy arrived, and I was running around like there wasn't another human being growing inside of me...that's probably what put me into labor. We planned the party two weeks prior to her actual day of birth because I had a sneaky suspicion that this kid would follow his sisters footsteps.

I can see it in her eyes...she is genuinely grateful for this special day. God she is so sweet.

She practiced the two finger symbol for a couple weeks

Attempted to be neat and tidy...

...but realized this was much easier

Uncle Tim and his friend Mikaela SPOIL Miss M rotten!!! Not just with toys and clothes, but with pure L.O.V.E.!

Muwah!

Celebrating with friends...Rowan & Naomi

Ashton is gonna play softball just like her momma

Pressley

Baxton

Lily

We decorated Big Birds birdhouse...it was a mess!

Two year old snapshots

Me, Maryn and Mac

Lauren playing Oscar's trash toss

Maryn Amelia is a smart little thing. She knows all her colors, can pretty much count to ten (often skipping six) and is getting so close to knowing her alphabet (often skipping the letter E). She can sing 'twinkle twinkle little star' and her vocabulary is crazy. Sometimes she says the sweetest things..."I wanna reach the moon-a, mama". Benham's arrival put a little expected dent in her potty training but we'll get back on track soon. She loves all things Mickey Mouse. She would probably sit for hours to listen to us read her books. She still takes 3 hour naps...bless you child, and sleeps 12 hours at night without ever making a peep. That reminds me...I need to dust off my copy of Babywise...baby boot camp starts in a couple weeks.

Two fingers again.

The birds are fighting over this house

We couldn't have planned Benham's early arrival any better...Poppop and Grandma were still in town from their visit for Maryn's birthday party. They were able to be here for his birth!

And Poppop and Nanny had just left to go home...they had to turn around and come back:)

A very loved child with generous friends and family

And since we celebrated two weeks early, I couldn't let the 15th pass us by with my butt still laying on the couch. So, Poppop and Nanny helped me make Mimi feel special again. A day all about Maryn.

A morning at the park...

a picnic outside...

books and trains at Barnes and Noble...and her free KidsClub cupcake...

After all the attention has been on the new man of the house...it was nice to spoil blondie for a day...despite the swelling I experienced after being on my feet for five hours.

Poppop was in charge of Benham

I put my feet up for three hours and then we were off again...to dinner with her godfather, Uncle Tim.

He spent $3 to win her this stuffed animal from one of those arcade games with the metal claw.

More gifts

I look a little worn and torn but I made it through the day and we documented Benham's first dining out experience.

Happy 2nd Birthday Maryn Amelia. May you always 'wanna reach the moon-a' baby! Your sweet nature and gentle heart will attract many friends. Be kind to your enemies and love like you want to be loved. Your daddy and I peek on you every night before we go to sleep...we stand over your bed in awe of how gorgeous you are and most recently, we look at you and can't believe how big you've grown! Just the other night, daddy leaned over and kissed your forehead and said "I love you"....you rolled over and with your eyes still closed, said "I love you too, daddy". Now that is what parenting is all about! We love you baby girl!