White Christmas

Merry Christmas from our house to yours!

First of all, yes I am backdating blogs... I am so far behind and to keep it all straight, I'll backdate. Next on to Christmas... the picture above... funny story.

Dec 23...
David and I didn't intend to be in the picture. We waited for Santa for 2 hours. We were first in line...only because we thought he arrived an hour earlier than he did and you can't leave a line in which you're first... So all was well with the kids while we were waiting in line. Jackson was happy. Samuel was happy. Then Santa comes. And Santa pretends to sleep because, he says, toddlers do better with that. And it's cute. And Jackson is supposed to sit on this little stool in front of Santa. Ready Set Drop...and Jackson is terrified of this strange white bearded man we call Ho Ho (Jackson really does love Ho Ho... as long as he is in a picture or made of wood, cotton or plastic). He wouldn't sit for the picture unless BOTH David and I were there. Thus the family Christmas picture with Santa. And then in true toddler fashion, as soon as we have to leave, Jackson doesn't want to and here comes the tantrum. And then Samuel gets hungry and we are darting out of the mall in our fabulous double stroller with two crying children in tow. David isn't too impressed. I am happy I got the picture. We'll see you next year, Santa!

Onto Christmas Eve...
We spent Christmas Eve with my mother's side of the family. It was great seeing relatives that I only really get to see once or twice a year. Then we headed off to Community Baptist Church in Henderson so I could sing, play the organ and conduct my fabulous choir. We were meant to head straight to Mt Carmel to celebrate with my Dad's side of the family right after, but when we left the church it had snowed so much that the roads were covered and slick and it was still going strong. So David, totally amazed by the falling snow, safety got us home.

Jackson and Samuel looked so handsome.

The hit of the night was Talking Percy. Good job Grandmommy!

I felt so fortunate to have my husband with us on Christmas Eve and Christmas to experience Christmas as I know it. And to have a White Christmas on top of it... way to go Mother Nature for helping complete the experience!

Holly, Noel and Myles spent the night and we were all up really early (thanks, Dad...he woke everyone up...too excited) to see if Santa came. And of course, he did!

Jackson and Myles raked in the goodies. Jackson LOVED all his toy Thomas Trains and Elmo Remote. He wanted to carry them all at once.

Luckily, Santa also brought a toy shopping cart to carry around all his treasures.

Another bit hit from Santa was the Little People Farm Set.

Jackson likes to make animal sounds and if you show him the farmer, which we call Old MacDonald, Jackson says "EIEIO".

I don't think Jackson quite understood why he was getting a bunch of presents and it took him FOREVER to open them all because he wanted to play with each one. But he was enthusiastic about opening them asking to "open, open".

Samuel pretty much slept through his first Christmas. Little did he know, he was our best Christmas gift!

All in all we had a wonderful and relaxing white Christmas spent in our PJs. And what made it more special? We had two wonderful Outside Babies with whom to share it!

Just The Way You Are (Amazing)

Dear Samuel,

On December 15, 2010, your Dad and I were blessed to have you enter our lives. I want to share with you our experience in hopes that you will know the love that surrounded you when you entered this world.

Our day started early...4:00am to be exact. I was scheduled for a repeat Cesarean and we had to be at the hospital by 5:00am. We arrived at the hospital, checked in, and the wonderful nurses quickly and relatively painlessly got me ready for surgery. I was hooked up to an IV, a monitor for your heart, and a monitor for contractions. Ironically enough, I began to have contractions. They seemed different than the Braxton Hicks contractions I had been experiencing and sure enough, I was in active labor! How exciting! You were going to come that day scheduled or not!

Your Dad and I waited in Triage for Dr Howell to arrive. I was very nervous, but more so excited to see your sweet little face. We were both curious as to what you'd look like. Would you look like your brother?

Dr Howell was running a bit late, but once he arrived, the nurses walked me down to the Operating Room to start the procedure. Your Daddy wasn't allowed to come in with me at first, but the nurses were very comforting while the anaesthesiologist was giving me medicine so I could enjoy meeting you. There was a bit of trouble getting the spinal in. It took about 3 numbing needles and 4 attempts before it was successful. I tried to be brave, but I'll admit that a few tears were shed. I was happy to see Dr Howell walk in - a friendly, familiar face! Dr Howell was a fantastic Doctor - I couldn't speak more highly of him if I tried.

When I was all ready for the surgery - legs and torso numb, catheter in, curtain up - they brought your Daddy in to be with us. It wasn't long at all before we heard "look over the curtain" and your Daddy got to see you for the first time! We heard your sweet cry and Dr Howell brought you around so I could see you, too!


You were absolutely perfect. Lots of blond hair and the sweetest blue eyes! You were born at 7:52am, weighed 17 lbs 15 ozs and were 19.5 in long. It was love at first sight.


You were checked all over and Daddy cut your umbilical chord.


Then they wrapped you up, gave you to your Daddy and he brought you over to me (I tear up just thinking of it now).


I got to stroke your little cheeks while Dr Howell finished stitching me up and then the three of us went into the Recovery Room. There I was able to kiss you and nurse you and hold you tight. About an hour later, we were moved into room 1311...what would be our home for the next 4 days and 3 nights.

A little while later, you got to meet your Bapa, Nana, Aunt Holly and Uncle Noel, as well as Dr Tim Hobbs and my friend Kristi Miller. Your cousin Myles came to see you when he got out of school, too. But the most precious introduction took place later that evening. You got to meet your brother, Jackson.


He loved you immediately. He gave you kisses and was all smiles. What a proud big brother!

And I was a proud Mommy!



Our first night alone wasn't full of much alone-ness. The nurses kept coming in for one thing or another. But no one could wipe that smile off my face!



We found out that your blood type was A+ (just like your Daddy's) and mine was O+. Apparently, my body had made antibodies against your blood so they had to keep a close watch on your bilirubin levels. Luckily, everything checked out okay and on Saturday, Dec 18 we were able to go home.


Unfortunately, your Daddy caught the stomach flu that had been going around so he wasn't able to bring us home. But your Nana came to the rescue! (Never fear - your Daddy was all better the next day and was so excited to see you at home!)

And from here, our real journey begins...your journey begins...

Thank you, Samuel Wrye, for coming into my life. You are such a special little boy and I look forward to seeing what life holds for you. The number one single on the day you were born was "Just The Way You Are (Amazing)" by Bruno Mars. It couldn't be more appropriate. You are amazing. I love you now and forever!

Love,
Mommy

Baby Of Mine

Welcome to the world!

Samuel Wrye Bennett
Dec 15, 2010
7:52am
7 lbs, 15 oz (3.24 kg)
19.5 in

The Three Of Us

As I type this, we are in our final 15 hours of being a family of three. I am so excited to meet Inside Baby. But I am also nervous at the same time. I am nervous about the repeat Cesarean, but mostly I am nervous about leaving Jackson for three days and how he will react to another new baby around taking my attention. I am sure he will be fine, but I can't help worry about my precious little boy!

I am feeling pretty good. We are all over our sicknesses (yes, the Penicillin was causing Jackson's diarrhea and red butt - so we'll add that to the no-give list along with the eggs and milk). I was able to fulfill ALL of my work commitments; my weight gain has really slowed down and I don't feel as "big" as I did - I carried Jackson back further than Inside Baby...he is all out front; and despite a Urinary Tract Infection and several painful episodes of Braxton Hicks contractions, the last few weeks have been pretty uneventful!

Here is my final belly pic at 39 weeks:





Some things that have happened since my last post:

We celebrated Thanksgiving. Jackson looked so handsome in his cords and sweater.


We deep fried a turkey which turned out absolutely delicious!!





It went so well that we decided to try our hand at deep fried Twinkies. They were equally as delicious!






We also celebrated Myles's 7th birthday at GattiTown.








I am so glad David is here. He has been here for nearly 2 weeks now! Jackson was so excited to see him and loves being able to see Dada and play with him every day!


I put in a special order of snow just so David could see it fall and it did! Nearly 3 inches, too! And cold cold cold complete with ice and loveliness. David is in ice heaven - he thinks this is all fantastic! Jackson got to wear his new winter gear.



I am still nesting, but have nearly gotten everything set up. Jackson's new room has a coloring station:


And a train set (the child LOVES choo-choo trains. LOVES them):



Jackson's vocabulary has grown leaps and bounds. He speaks so clearly and for the most part is able to get what he needs to say across fairly accurately and easily.
New words include:
Toles (Thomas)
Sponge Bob
Choo-Choo Train
Open
Close
Don't Touch
Christmas Tree
Ho Ho (Santa)
Grandmommy
Mioioioio
Brandy
JuJu (Judy)
Snow
Pee-shoo (stinky diaper)
Ready
Scratch scratch (bunny rabbit - one of his books associates the bunny with the sound scratch scratch)

He has begun saying two word phrases like "more cheese" and "bye Bapa".

Can sing ABC's... well, the melody... still working on the letters bit
Can count...kind of...the numbers aren't in order, but you can make out three, six, one, etc...

And if you say "big and strong" to Jackson he shows you his muscles. Hilarious!


But mostly, we've spent our last weeks as a family of three being silly!






(New favorite bathtime game - squirt the adult outside the bath)


(Typical Jackson - juice cup in one hand, train/truck/car in the other)





So I am going to quit blogging and spend time with my family for our final night together. We have to be at the hospital at 5am tomorrow morning and surgery is scheduled for 7am. We look forward to welcoming Inside Baby to the Outside World. And we can't wait to introduce him to you.