Keeping Warm in His Bathrobe

Here are some cute pics of Ben in his bathrobe. He just thought that this was so funny and was making some weird faces. What a character! (you can click on the pic to make it larger)









Also, here is a pic of Ben with his Aunt Staci while she was in town this weekend!

Jaws

I just love to hear Ben giggle when the shark squirts him with water in the tub.

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Half a Year!!!

I am sitting here, not believing what I am writing . . . Ben is 6 months old!!! We can not believe it was half a year ago that we were meeting him, holding him in our arms and kissing him for the first time. It was 6 months ago that our dreams came true. We can not believe what an awesome little kid he is! He makes us, and all those that meet him, laugh and he has the best personality.

So what is Ben doing at 6 months old? He is eating pureed fruits (that his mommy makes him) and oatmeal every morning and pureed veggies (that his mommy makes him) and cereal every night. He takes baths every night now, and can sit up and play with his bath toys. He is learning to jump in his jumping toy, he can sit up and play with his toys by himself, he can hold his own bottle, he is chatting up a storm, he is still breastfeeding, he laughs with this great little chuckle, and he is sleeping through the night(awesome!!!). Finally, he is not interested in doing this trick at all, but when forced, he is starting to scoot to get toys that are out of his reach. Overall, he is the most patient, quiet, laid back baby that we have ever met . . . he is the best gift ever!

We are the luckiest parents ever and we thank the Lord each day that He has entrusted Ben to us. Here are some pics of our handsome little guy at 6 MONTHS OLD!

WHO SAYS I AM GETTING OLD?









Ben's First Garage Sale

I Just Needed to Make Dinner

We've lost Ben . . . to cartoons! The other night, he just wanted to be held, but I was trying to make dinner at the same time, so I thought, "oh I wonder if he would like to watch a cartoon?" (thinking to myself that he totally would not get them) but oops . . . he loves them!!! As you can tell in the picture, we have lost Ben to cartoons! (in my defense, it was a learning cartoon, LOL)

A CA Winter

Well today, we were not able to go to church (or anywhere else for that matter) because the pedi said that he wanted us to keep Ben away from other kids until at least Monday (not because he is contagious but because if they had something, it would be really bad for Ben. So since we couldn't go to church this morning, we stayed home and had our own family quiet time this morning, which was awesome, and then Bryan went out and began working on a project in the garage.

So, I bundled Ben up and took him for a little jog to get some fresh air and exercise. Here are some cute pics of him bundled up and ready to "work out"!




When we came back, we both got cleaned up and then all the sudden, the weather got REALLY warm so Ben decided to dress for the CA winter weather; pretty handsome huh?!

Heartbreaking Struggles

As you all know, Bryan and I struggled with infertility for about 3 years before we were blessed with Ben. We are so thrilled to have him in our lives but we still can remember the way our hearts ached for a child of our own. It was a pain that nobody can image except those who have gone through it. When we look at Ben we feel so blessed that the Lord got us through those tough times and we praise him for the way he helped us grow closer through all that.

Lately, I have had some friends (whose names I will not mention for their privacy) who are finding themselves facing infertility and it breaks my heart to hear their stories, hurts, heartaches, and frustrations because I was just there and I know how much it hurts. I want so badly to fix it for them, but I can't. So I just wanted to put this post up and let them know that I love you all; you are in my thoughts and prayers daily and I am always here for you! Remember: cling close the Lord, never let go of his hand, listen for His voice in every decision that you make; He will be true to His word, He will never leave you!

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Cutest Little Guy

Here are some more cute pics!

Ben loves his bath time!




It is so great to see him smiling again. (when he was sick, he didnt smile for a few days and it just broke our heart!)

More Ben Updates

Lately Ben has decided that he wants to hold his own bottles so today we let him try his luck at a "big boy sippy cup". It was really funny to watch. First he just stared at it, but then he got the hang of it really fast. Now he loves it! I do not know if he is really ready to use it all the time, but it is fun to watch him learn and get excited about things :)

Ben's Update

Well the update on Ben is that he is feeling a little bit better each day. We went back to the pedi on Friday and he said that he still has his ear infections but they are not as bad as they were on Tuesday. He also said that he still has RSV but it seems to be drying up. He wants to see him back right away if the fever returns or it seems to get worse, but so far so good. Ben also started smiling and laughing again which is a blessed sound.

Thank you for all of you that we were praying for our family this week. It has been really hard not sleeping and trying to comfort our little guy who just felt miserable. It was also hard not being able to get out of the house except to go to work; no church, no friends (they all have kids), etc. So thank you for your kind thoughts and prayers, they really helped us get through the week.

A Mother's Instinct

I now know what people mean when they talk about a "mother's instinct".

We took Ben to the ER at the request of our pedi. on Friday night and have been doing the things that they told us to do but it just doesn't seem to be helping much. I was telling Bryan last night that I just miss seeing Ben smile and hearing his laugh. He hadn't smiled in almost a week and it is really sad. He just whimpers and wants to be held (by me). Last night, I fell asleep at 10:30 but was woken up at midnight, hearing Ben crying. So I went in and he just couldn't breathe. So I took him to bed with me and sat up the whole night in bed with him on my chest so that he could breathe and sleep. I finally got to sleep at 5am when Bryan woke up to get ready for work and took him for me so I could sleep for an hour before he left for work.

So I decided this morning that I was going to call the pedi again this morning when they opened and get Ben checked again. Something just didn't seem right to me, he just wasn't being himself and this is the 5th day he has had a fever. So we called and went first thing this morning. It turns out, he has 2 ear infections, a throat infection and RSV (which is a respiratory virus that infects the lungs and breathing passages. It is the most common cause of bronchiolitis and pneumonia in children under 1 year of age). He also lost a pound in the last 5 days (which is a lot for a baby). I was a really confused as to why the ER didn't tell us all this and give us meds earlier, but the pedi said that we probably went just one day too early. That RSV presents itself as a cold but take a turn for the worse a few days into it's course.

The pedi said that if Ben still has a fever tomorrow he wants to see him Thursday. If the fever goes away, he wants to see him Friday. He also gave him a bunch of meds to help with the wheezing, and the infections. We will also continue the vicks, humidifier, and Tylenol. When we go back, if his lungs still sound wet then the pedi will admit Ben to the hospital so that he doesn't get pneumonia.

I feel so bad for the little guy. I knew something just wasn't right and I just feel so bad that he was feeling so miserable. Please pray that this all clears up, that his lungs dry out and that he gets back to his happy self soon.

First ER Visit

Well Ben is REALLY sick and had his first ER visit late last night. He was choking and couldn't breathe because he was so congested. So we called his ped. and they listened to him over the phone and told us to take him to Los Robles Hopsital because he is so young and having such a hard time breathing. Thankfully though they got us in and out in about 2 hours. They said that he has an upper respiratory infection. It is so sad, it just breaks my heart. I wish I could fix it for him but for now I will just give him tons of snuggles

Here is pic of Ben in the infant hospital gown. A hospital gown for a baby . . .who knew???



PS. he now weighs 17lbs. 4oz.

Snuggle Time with Mommy

The other night, Ben had a runny nose and was just feeling tired and snugly, so I wrapped him up in a blanket with me and softly tickled his face and he feel asleep snuggled next to me. He hasn't done this in a long time because usually when he starts getting tired we put him in his crib to put himself to sleep, but he was just so cute, that I couldn't let go of him. I just love our snuggle times!!!

Mr. Handsome

Before Ben was born there were some shirts that he my mom and I bought for him and he is finally big enough to wear some of them. I know I am biased, but I must say, this is one handsome little man! Gosh, I am just so in love with this little guy!

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First Hooded Sweatshirt!

For Christmas, my sister's friend Matt, got Ben this awesome sweatshirt. It is a hoodie sweatshirt and I just think that it is the coolest thing! Who knew they made hooded sweatshirts this small! Thanks Matt!!!



Here is my litte cousin Zeke and Ben playing. . . the cutest! I love these boys!