4 months!

Happy four months, Ben! You're 1/3 of the way through your first year -- where is the time going?
Here are your stats:
weight: 13lbs, 9oz  -- 25th percentile
height: 24.5 inches -- 25th percentile
head: 35th percentile (can't remember measurement!)

More importantly than the the numbers, on your 18 week birthday (July 27!), you ROLLED OVER from BACK TO FRONT (the hard way!) first! I've been watching you curl up on your side for a week or so, but, then you went all the way over. And, while you were on your belly, you proudly lifted your head and smiled!
You still continue to be the happiest baby and are content 99% of the time! Sadly, you had your first ear infection (diagnosed on 7/20) and a fever that lasted 9 days to go with it. Not fun, but, in your contented way, you handled it with very little (if any) fussing or complaining. Fortunately, at last check you're all cleared up. We're hoping and praying that you won't follow down your big sister's path in regards to ears!

We love you, Ben!

My fairy tale...

As I was up giving Ben his 4am bottle, I was passing the time by indulging myself in a little 'trash TV' - "The Bachelorette". In this particular episode, the star and her suitors are in Fiji. They're sharing exciting adventures -- diving off a cliff by a waterfall, riding in a helicopter, sailing in a yacht and snorkeling along the Great Barrier Reef. They're also sharing romantic dinners and the more romantic 'fantasy suite'. I'm watching all of this unfold in front of me and as I prop a sleeping Ben on my shoulder and rub his back, I realize this: I'm living my own fairy tale.
No, it doesn't include waterfalls (unless you mean spilled milk or spit up).
It doesn't include snorkeling (unless you mean squirty toys in the bath tub).
It doesn't include sailing in a yacht (unless you count the plastic boat in the baby pool).
And the only version of a helicopter you'll find at our house is the "super baby flying Ben" game that Daddy does with a smiley Ben.
It doesn't include romantic dinners prepared without sleeping children upstairs
And, fantasy suites are a memory of our honeymoon in Cabo!

My fairy tale is much better than that! It includes:

• two precious babies who can light up my darkest moment with a smile or a hug and for whom I would do anything
• a partner/love/friend/husband and father of my children who will do anything for us and gives us all of him at every turn.
• family who know us and love us anyway! (And let us bring our stomach bug and pink eye to their home.)
• friends who care for us in so many ways and add such fun to our lives on a daily basis
• for me, the opportunity to touch the lives of college students every day. for Mike, the chance to use his knowledge and skills to serve his clients to the fullest extent.
• a beautiful home with projects just waiting for willing hands and an expanded wallet!
• a church community that helps us to sustain our faith, even when life gets in the way.

This is the stuff fairy tales are made of. I am working on keeping this idea and the list of things to be thankful for in the front of my mind more often, so, I don't get buried by the clutter of daily living. 

I hope and pray that you are living your fairy tale...no matter how seemingly 'normal'. :)

18 months!

18 months ago today, I was laying in bed at Duke Univ Hospital denying that my regular contractions were going to bring the delivery of our precious baby girl! Boy, how wrong I was! As the doctors watched my contractions get closer together and Rachael's heart rate dip along with those contractions, they decided it was go-time.

At 3:40pm Rachael came in to the world and I cried with thanksgiving for a baby who beat the odds and for the end of a terrifying pregnancy. I can't tell you how much "easier" these 18 months have been in comparison to the 4 months of bedrest. While, yes, there are some days that I wish someone would make me stay in bed, I spend many more days laughing with, singing to, talking to and cheering on and being amazed (and, ok, sometimes frustrated by) our little girl.

She is: independent, determined, funny, dramatic, sweet, and oh-so-devilish as she runs away when you're trying to retrieve the TV remote that she 'stole' from it's right place. She's really beginning to use many two or three word phrases and is starting to understand the relationship/concept of please and thank you; hello and goodbye. She's had the words for a while, but, now she recognizes when they should be used.
She loves to help you put your shoes on, wash her own hands at the sink, play outside (with or without water), have tea parties, play in the gym at school and hug her baby brother, much to mama's panic.

We'll get her stats recorded on Friday at the doctor, I'll be back to update for our 'records'.