Bennett--Week 4 (Aug 28-Sept 4)

Wow! Saturday night you slept for 7.5 hours!!! I actually woke up when you'd slept for 5 hours and freaked out making sure you were okay b/c you'd never gone that long before! Your daddy assured me you were fine, but I still had to double check myself, and sure enough...you were fine!

Monday was my 34th birthday and I got to spend it all day with you! Gram and Pops came up to take us all out to dinner, and as usual, you behaved perfectly! (It's a good thing we stuff you full before going anywhere....we're quick learners on that one!)

I think you're in another growth spurt right now because you're sleeping a little longer at night (6.5 hours both Sunday and Monday night and 6 hours on Tuesday night), and eating a full 3 oz bottle whenever we're feeding you--night or day. When you nurse, you might not be taking in as much, but I'm still working on that one! You've started spitting up a little bit more an hour or so after feeding, so your naps are frequently in your bunny swing, which you like (and I like b/c it sits you up a bit!).

(Okay...wrote that last paragraph on Tuesday. It's now Friday and the sleeping thing is GONE! You've only slept in 3-4 hour spurts the past 2 nights...I must've jinxed it!) It is so frustrating getting the feeding stuff correct. Your daddy wants to help, so we started off with bottles once we got home from the hospital. However, everyone said it could lead to nipple confusion. The only true thing it's led to is you taking an hour to nurse vs. 10-15 minutes to bottle feed. I have NO CLUE what to do and I'm just trying to figure out nursing vs. pumping vs. everything else! :) However, I still love it no matter which way I/we feed you!

You like our daily stroller walks (twice daily on the nights that daddy has school) and pass right out. We've gone through the neighborhood and last night we went to our first park. You must have liked it b/c you fell asleep! :) I can't wait until you enjoy them when you're awake!

Saturday, we headed on a road trip to meet up halfway with your other Gram and Papa (your dad's parents!) Here they are being silly with sunglasses--but it made for some cute pictures!

Look how cute you are ready to go on our road trip:

We headed to Cuero after meeting Gram and Papa in Luling. I wasn't too thrilled since your dad and I had nothing for ourselves, but luckily we had some extra clothes for you and I knew that Gram had baby stuff at her house already, so I wasn't worried about that. Stopped at Wal-Mart for a few necessities for the rest of our road trip and we were good to go!

Bennett--Week 3 (Aug 21-27)

I'm trying to get some good pictures for the birth announcement. Not sure if these will make the cut, but I love them!

The dogs still have no clue what to make of you, but they sure do like licking you! You're not 100% sure of it either though!

One of your favorite places to sleep is on daddy!

The day you turned 3 weeks old is the first day we took you anywhere besides someone's house! We had to go find bottles at Babies R Us and then next door to Best Buy. You did great--a little fussy, but it was probably b/c we put a blanket over the car seat and you wanted to check out the world!

I also had to take you to the post office the next day to pick up my long lost camera! You did great there too...so great in fact that I called Amber to see if she wanted to meet up somewhere the next day. So...you had 3 days in a row where you went out on the town--in addition to mommy and daddy's date night eating out for Mexican food! You're such a trooper!

Here you are at the mall with Miss Claire:

We brought out your playmat and got it set up for you because you seemed to like the one at Claire's the other day. You seemed to like looking at everything....but then I worried it was too much stimulation for you at night (daddy said no!).

You got out on basically every day this week:

Wednesday: Walgreen's in the Baby Bjorn

Thursday: CVS and Bagel Cafe in the Baby Bjorn---you're loving it by the way and passing out in it, which makes me happy because I wasn't sure if you'd like it!

Friday--dinner out at Burger Girl and then a trip to Kroger for groceries....fun times!

Saturday--daddy bought a new truck, so you ventured into a car dealership

Saturday night you got a slight fever (99.2), but we weren't sure if it was actually a fever b/c of sickness or if you were just hot from crying and being bundled. We un-swaddled you, tested your fever rectally (fun times!), and you were back to normal, which made us happy. However, you did still have a slight temp. of 98.8 the next morning, so we skipped church too. But we'd rather keep you safe and healthy!

You're growing so fast and we want to make the most of every moment with you! You are now eating almost 3 oz from a bottle, and when you nurse, you take about 45 minutes to an hour to finish, so I'm working on ways to 1) keep you awake and 2) make sure you're getting enough food (because when you don't, you are my "mini-me" and wail until you get what you want!

You're eating every 3 hours during the day (unless I don't get you enough milk...), and we're now letting you sleep until you cry at night, which is giving us 3, 4, or 5 hours...depending on the day!

Bennett--Week 2 (Aug 14-20)

Your faces and stretches are priceless in our eyes! We try so hard to capture them all on camera, but it's just not possible!

Love this onesie from Aunt Danyah--"Could I be any cuter?" Um...no!
More learning! We went on our first walk this week. You didn't seem to mind it--it put you right to sleep! Mommy and daddy enjoyed getting out too--especially mommy!

Playdate with Claire Dunagan:

Such a peaceful sleeper!

Bennett--Week 1 (Aug 7-13)

What a week of adjustment! Let me just say that no amount of reading could have prepared me for this! The first time we heard Bennett cry, we looked at each other like "What now???" We are 2 educated people--why can't we figure it out?? :)

We are learning to love everything about you, Bennett! We are slowly trying to figure out breastfeeding at home (which was hampered a little bit due to your circumcision the day we came home), the fact that you LOVE to be swaddled, and figuring out how to sleep more often!

You had a lot of visitors this week and so many people love you already. You have so many facial expressions that it's hard not to laugh at some of them. When you stretch, I see your daddy in you--you make the same faces as he does when y'all are waking up! Everyone is amazed at the color of your hair--and how it looks JUST like daddy's--down to the way it parts and everything!

You had your first bath this week, but you didn't like it very much! Maybe one day you'll like them more--I hope anyway!!!

Bennett William Dickens

Bennett William Dickens was born at 4:06pm on Sunday, August 7th! He weighed 7 lbs 4 oz and was 20 inches long!

We were getting ready to go to church to hear Natalie Grant lead the worship service and we'd told Bennett he'd have to stay put so we could do this. He had other plans though! My water broke as I was cleaning up breakfast, and after calling Ashley and the nurse at my doctor's office, we determined it REALLY was time to have a baby! HOWEVER....I had to shave my legs 1st! It had been a week and I couldn't let the doctors talk about me! Here we are before we left for the hospital--we had just enough time to sneak in a quick picture!

My labor was fairly fast--less than 7.5 hours from start to finish. I told them when I went in that I wanted the epidural, and after that came, I was a happy camper--couldn't feel my legs, but a happy camper nonetheless!

Here is our angel: He is a carbon copy of his daddy--starting with his dark red hair!

9 Months

Week 36--Continued

Went for the weekly dr. visit and got some exciting/scary news: Bennett will be arriving early!!! We set the date for Thursday, August 11th (we were given a choice of Aug 11th or 15th and since a family member is already born on the 15th, we chose the 11th!). We go in on Wednesday night (the 10th) at 10pm to get everything started....unless he decides to arrive on his own before then!

Prego symptoms: still itchy, but have begun taking Aveeno Oatmeal baths and it helps a little. I just smoosh the oatmeal pellets that don't dissolve all over my itchy arms and belly--and let me just say that baths at this point are NOT easy!

At the dr. appt, we got the last ultrasound of Bennett. He was movin' and groovin' as usual and I got told I had a lot of amniotic fluid which helps the tech see everything. She was so excited in fact, that she gave us a 3D ultrasound for FREE and some pics too! It was not something we wanted b/c we think it's a little odd to see Bennett in 3D before we meet him, but it was pretty cool. In one of the pics, I think he looks just like Jeff when he sleeps--see below. He weighed 6lbs 15 oz, so we're going to be bringing home a sack of potatoes on the 11th!

My 36 week picture--the usual...no makeup!

Week 37

Prego symptoms: I've noticed the itchiness start to fade. Can it be true??? YES! The dr. said that bilirubin (which causes Jaundice) from Bennett was most likely the cause since it manifested itself in my skin, and that now maybe his liver is working well enough to take care of it himself! Yeah Bennett!!! Getting harder and harder to get to sleep and stay asleep. Every time I move, it's an ordeal to arrange the pillow, and usually I wake up enough to realize I have to go to the bathroom. Oh well...only a little longer!

I checked out some photography blogs last week because I thought Amber's newborn pics of Claire were so cute and found some maternity pics that I loved. Decided that I didn't want to actually schedule a session (was actually planning on asking my cousin Jae to take some pics when we went to the family reunion this weekend, but my dr. told me I could no longer travel, so that option was out), so I asked Jeff to take some. Let's just say....we're NOT photographers, and if I felt more comfortable posing by myself in the front yard, it might have worked out better b/c the front yard pics were better thanks to my "location scout" husband! Here are a few I thought were decently cute:

Week 38

We didn't experience much of week 38 because little Bennett decided to arrive even earlier than our induced date! And now....instead of pregnancy posts, I get to do Bennett posts!!!

8 months

Week 32--What I forgot to mention...

We went on a camping trip this weekend with the Dunagans and I'm glad we stayed in cabins instead of tents. I needed my prego pillow badly and couldn't have camped any other way, and I'm so glad it got shoved into the car!

Finished the last week of summer school just in time for the pure exhaustion to set in! My body is now telling me to take it easy instead of just the Dr., Jeff, and mom!

Week 33

Kitchen update: the kitchen got countertops and backsplash!!! We're getting official here and it's really exciting!

I picked up Ashley and her 3 kids Olivia (6), Nicholas (3), and Jake (8 mos.) on Friday since they came to TX to visit for a week! It was so much fun to see them and loved that they ran to me as I waited outside when picking them up. Even though we don't see each other except about once a year or so, I'm so glad that whatever Ashley and I have done to help the kids know us even though they don't see us often is working! We always seem to pick right up where we left off!

I handed the Wintons off to mom and dad that night in Columbus b/c I wasn't going home yet since Jeff and I had so much to get accoplished on the house. I went home on Sunday and the 5 days that I spent at home were a whirlwind!

July 4th = 4th of July Carnival with dad's church AND dinner at the country club with fireworks.

July 5th = Splashway Waterpark in Sheridan. I finally got to see what my friends raved about. This place is so kid friendly it's amazing! I love how small it is, yet full of things to do!

July 6th = Cuero shower for Bennett

Pregnancy Symptoms: This is the week that I started itching like a baboon! I would wake up in the middle of the night and find myself itching my arms and legs. This is worse than the "my belly is expanding" itching because it just doesn't seem to go away.

Week 34 (seriously....I'm THIS close???)

July 7th = spent most of the day with the fam and then drove home to Katy. It was good to be back in my bed with my prego pillow--which sadly got left at home!

July 8th = scrapbook time with old school friends at Archivers. I knew this was titled "Scrap and Baby Fun with Steph", but I literally had no clue that they were bringing gifts too! I thought it was just fun time together gossiping and scrapping, and this was a huge surprise! Once again, I'm amazed at how supportive friends are at this time when my life is about to have its biggest change! I loved being able to ask them labor and baby questions too--even got a few pieces of info from people at Archivers that didn't even know our group (Yes, we're that friendly!!)

July 9th = had friends over for pool time, hamburgers, and card playing. Thank the good Lord that we have an amazing maid who also came over today to clean up all the construction mess! Tile got put in on July 7th/8th, so we looked rather dusty. Busy day of cleaning up the house and getting it ready for friends, but it was great b/c it meant that we had to do NOTHING on Sunday with the house!!!

I guess you could say that I'm now in full "nesting" mode. I really hate calling it that when I've got to organize the kitchen (because it just got completely redone), the office (because it's now been fully moved out to the loft), and our bedroom (because we got mom and dad's old king-size bed after they bought a new one). Bennett's room is coming along, but is still a work in progress. To me, this is not nesting (except for B's room) - it's "Stephanie is out of school finally and has time to get things organized in the house now!"

July 11th = Dr. visit. I was labeled as having "itchy limbs" by the nurse--guess that sounds better than being an itchy baboon! Dr. told me that pregnancy does lots of things to your body (duh), one of them being bringing things to the skin that might be a nuisance! Got told to do what I'm already doing--hydrocortisone cream, Benadryl, and take an oatmeal bath. Itch away my friends!

Jeff Story: He has been telling me that I've been snoring and of course I deny it completely

b/c I never have. However, one night this week (a particularly bad night of not sleeping due to the "itchy limb" syndrome, he woke me up twice within an hour to tell me I was snoring. This really annoyed me and his defense was that if I was snoring, I wasn't sleeping well anyway, so he wanted me to turn over. FINALLY, the 3rd time he woke me up, he decided to be

brilliant and record me snoring with his phone so he could prove to me I really was snoring! Annoyed = YES! Kind of funny = kind of! Does Jeff think he's brilliant? YES!

Week 35

Not liking the firm-ness of the new/old bed so we have been buying and trying out different solutions that work for both of us. I'm now waking up at least 3-4 times a night and will go to the bathroom every time (not that I have to, but I figure, since I'm awake...why not??)

I offiically told Jeff last night (day 1 of week 35) that today was going to be a "take-it-easy" day and I'd appreciate it if he'd remind me of how exhausted I am if I say I want to do something. His response: "I've been telling you that for 2-3 weeks and you still haven't done it!!" Guess I'm a stubborn itchy baboon!

Finally got caught up on reading the "What to Expect..." book and am freaked out a

bout the epidural. Reading about it makes me want to do a natural childbirth....and then I think of my pain tolerance and go back to the epidural! I am EXTREMELY nervous about the actual birthing process and cry almost every time I think about it in detail. I think these next few weeks I need to focus on good delivery exercises to prepare my body and relaxation techniques. That's the goal anyway!

Jeff got some newborn practice in (we both did) when Amber had Claire this week. It's amazing that something this size will be coming from me in a few weeks--whoa!

Had a very busy week (AKA-no days with naps in them!) Mom came up Tuesday evening and stayed until Thursday and although we weren't doing baby stuff the entire time, I couldn't have everything finished without her help (and Jeff's too!) We got the pillows taken care of for our bed and finished B's room (YEAH!!). Here is the finished product of his room:

Meet BOB (Big 'Ol Bear): Bennett's first friend!

Week 36

Although I'd picked up the glider/ottoman almost a week ago, we hadn't decided where it should go, so we left it in my car! Finally decided to put it in our room right now (an old rocker is in B's room, so we're still good up there). I'm so glad we went with the cream paisley fabric b/c it's neutral and can go anywhere even after kids are grown!

We got some exciting news at the dr. visit today, so I think I'll continue "Week 36" in the 9 months blog!