Hidden Baby #2 Blog: December 27, 2010

We had our OB appointment today. Since we had no idea how far along we were, they did an ultrasound to date the pregnancy. The sac showed that we were a little over 5 weeks pregnant, but there wasn't any visible baby in the sac. It is a little too early to see anything, but still makes us (99% Landon, 1% Jen) a little nervous. Our OB suspects everything is great based off of physical exam, and we are scheduled for another ultrasound on January 6th.

Benton Update: 7 Months

Our sweet Benton turned 7 months old on Christmas! We feel like this is the month that we have seen the most change...and it has been so fun!
Some facts from Benton's seventh month of life:
-Wearing 6-12 month clothes. He is wearing 12-18 month jeans.
-Mainly wearing cloth diapers with no snaps. In disposables, he can wear either a size 3 or a size 4 diaper.
-Eating 4 times per day. He has started weaning, so he is eating an 8 ounce bottle with a mix of milk and formula. He doesn't mind the change at all, he just loves food. :) He has also been having solids with two meals per day...2 tablespoons of a fruit, yogurt, or cereal in the morning, and 3 tablespoons of a vegetable at night. We are about to add meat (gross).
-Still a great sleeper! He is sleeping from 7-7:30pm to 7am. He is taking 2 really good naps in the morning and afternoon, and we think he is about to drop his evening nap. He is only taking it about half of the week.
-Still loving the eat/play/sleep routine.

Random things we don't want to forget:

-He is a master at sitting up. He could literally sit up for hours without falling over.

-Ben still has 2 teeth, but there are a couple more coming in. We LOVE his toothy grin.

-He's starting to let us know his likes and dislikes. For example, he has been eating peas for months, but just in the last week or so starting trying to let us know that he hated them (clamped jaw, sad face, whines, etc).

-Bath time is quite fun at our house. He is splashing a lot and tries to gather all of his bath toys in one place.

-He has started sucking on his big toe almost every time we change his diaper. I know most babies do this earlier, but he had quite a bit of chub to work around in order to get the toe in his mouth. :)

-He LOVES puffs and cheerios, and is now quite good and getting them in his mouth. I'd say he can get 7 out of 10 in his mouth without help.

-His favorite foods are avocado, banana, pear, apple, plum, and pumpkin. He is pretty much starting to dislike most vegetables, but I can't say I blame him. He is also really liking yogurt.

-We have become human jungle gyms. Benton tries to climb all over us, all the time. We figure this is the calm before the storm (when he actually starts crawling, cruising, and walking!).

-When we pick him up from the church nursery or whoever is watching him while we work, he is starting to really show emotion. Big smiles!!! He's been recognizing us and happy to see us for quite awhile, but he is now genuinely excited to see us.

-We started 1o minutes per day of independent playtime this month. For some reason, it was a big step for us. We put him in his room with toys and he plays and talks to himself the whole time. We actually think he loves his time alone!

Ben continues to be the sweetest little guy, and we are so grateful for him!!!

Hidden Baby #2 Blog: December 25, 2010

Hidden Baby #2 Blog: December 23, 2010

Not much to report here. We have our ultrasound and OB appointment in a few days, and we are still getting used to the idea of baby #2 being in my belly. Landon has been really calm and collected, and I have been wavering between thrilled and terrified (it changes by the minute).

I'm still feeling fine for the most part. Weaning has been REALLY painful, but I think we are almost done (thank goodness!). I have had some waves of nausea, which is about the same as what I felt with Benton at this point. I figure I'm just weeks away from the real sickness. :( I've also been a little more tired, and Landon has been GREAT about making me take naps (hard for me...I want to be there anytime B is awake...he's too cute and fun not to play with). It's all worth it though!

Santa Pictures!

We went and visited Santa today! Benton totally didn't care whether we were holding him or Santa was holding him. I imagine that will change next year! I also included a couple other pictures we took today.

Merry Christmas From The Hubbarts

Merry Christmas from Landon, Jen, and Benton!

(I knew better than to put a picture of Landon, Ben, and I on our Christmas card! We had decided to put only a picture of Benton on the card, but then felt like we needed another once we were actually putting the card together. When Shutterfly sent them to us, they had pretty much blacked out my face. We went ahead and sent them out because no one cares about me. :) FYI-Shutterfly had great customer service.)

Hidden Baby #2 Blog: December 14, 2010

Wow. We are still in a state of shock about this whole baby thing, but we have been moving along and getting things done. I had lab work drawn yesterday, and we made our OB appointment for December 27th. We will have an ultrasound and appt with the doc.

Another thing we have been doing is a weaning Benton from BFing (at the doc's recommendation). Ben totally doesn't care who or what he gets food from, so that part has been easy thus far. I hated BFing, but felt like I should as long as I could due to the benefits to Benton, so I'm partially glad there is a reason to stop. The only problem is that I also don't really love being pregnant either, so it's really just an even trade off. I was kind of hoping to stop before we took a big vacation this spring (Hawaii), but it is appearing that we will probably have to put that off for another year. HA! :)

For those that haven't had to wean quickly, IT HURTS! Oh.my.goodness. I won't go into too many details, but I will say that Ben keeps looking at me strangely because I smell like cabbage and that I have already had to change clothes a couple of times today.

With all of this whining, I do want to say that this sweet baby and our sweet Benton are worth doing anything. We are so grateful for them!

Hidden Baby #2 Blog: December 12, 2010

Yes, the title really says Hidden Baby #2 Blog.
Yes, we are expecting our second baby.
Yes, Ben is going to be a big brother.
No, we are not kidding.
No, we are not crazy.
No, we did not plan this.
Yes, we were trying to prevent this.
Yes, we are excited.

Here's our story for Baby #2. As we were driving home this afternoon from doing Advent ("Joy") with our small group friends, I told Landon that I felt nauseated and had a metal taste in my mouth, and it seemed identical to when we found out we were pregnant with Ben. I just said that in passing, totally not thinking I was actually pregnant. When we got home, Landon told me to go take a pregnancy test, just because he was curious. I took the test and thought it was negative, but went ahead and brought it into the kitchen to show Landon. We played with Ben for about 30 minutes before I remembered to show Landon the test, and when I looked at it again, I noticed a faint line. My first response..."Oh no!" Ha!

Obviously, we are thrilled with this gift of life. It certainly wasn't in our plans to have another baby this soon after having Benton, but we are more grateful than we can ever express. Right now, Ben is 6 1/2 months old. By the time baby comes, he should be about 15 months old.

ETA for Baby #2: August 21, 2011. That is based solely on the fact that the pregnancy test line was faint (thus assuming we weren't very far along)...we really have no idea!

Benton Update: 6 Months Continued

Ben had his well child check-up on Tuesday. He is no longer hanging out at the very top of the charts for weight. The nurse said that they had seen all 4 and 6 month well child checks that morning, and that they had all been boys...and she said that he was the smallest 6 month old boy! Ha! That is hard for me to imagine. Seriously, when she put him on the table she said "Hey little guy." :)

Stats from 6 month Pediatrician appointment:
-Weight: 19 pounds, 7 ounces (75th percentile)
-Height: 26 3/4 inches (60th percentile)
-Head Circumference: 17 inches

Prayers Please!

One of our dearest friends, Courtney Cartwright, was recently diagnosed with recurrent thyroid cancer. Today, she and her husband, Matt, headed down to MD Anderson in Houston to begin treatment. They have been faithful and honest and have an eternal outlook on the whole situation. Hopefully she will keep the blog up-to-date (hint, hint), and we promise that you will be inspired by their journey. Please read their story and add them to your prayers.

http://mattncourtcartwright.blogspot.com

And This Is Why We Are Different...

Funny story. A week or so ago, I was giving Benton a bath and I grabbed the "F" and "L" out of his foam alphabet letters...to teach him about his feet and legs, of course. Benton totally didn't care and was trying to eat the letters or throw them out of the bathtub. :)

A few days later, Landon is giving Benton a bath, and I hear all kinds of crazy noises coming from the bathroom. Apparently, Landon was teaching him about guns...the single shot and automatic. Ha! Benton was much more interested in Landon's lesson, which came with sound effects.

The difference between males and females is just too funny sometimes!

Shutterfly!

I've seen so many blogs that are basically advertising Shutterfly and getting FREE Christmas cards. Ummm, yes please. For our past 3 Christmas cards, Landon and I have set up the tripod and taken a picture of ourselves. They haven't exactly been fancy, but they served their purpose. Now that we have Benton, we are wanting to something different. We are having family pictures taken tomorrow, and then we plan on sending out a Christmas card using this promotion! Thanks Shutterfly!

We already have our cards picked out, so I won't be revealing them until they arrive in your mailbox. :)

(Click on the photos below for a link to the Shutterfly website!)

The card below is a Christmas photo card (5 X 7).

The card below is a Christmas invitation. So fun!

The card below is a Holiday card. A sweet family we know sent out a similar card a few days before Thanksgiving. It was SO fun to get a holiday card early!!!

Benton Update: 6 Months

Holy Moly. Our sweet baby is half of a year old. Six months old! It is so hard to believe that he has been with us for six whole months, but at the same time it feels like he has been a part of our little family forever.

Some facts from Benton's sixth month of life:

-Wearing 6-12 month clothes. He is wearing 12-18 month jeans.

-Mainly wearing cloth diapers with no snaps! In disposables, he is wearing a size 3 diaper.

-Eating 4 times per day for about 10 minutes! We were in the process of dropping a feeding during his last update, and he has done really well with the new routine. When it is convenient, he has a bottle with 8 ounces. He has also been eating 2 tablespoons of solids with one meal per day. We think he is about ready to eat solids for two meals per day!

-He is quite the little sleeper! He goes down at about 7:30pm and we wake him up at 7am. He is also taking 3 naps per day.

-The eat/play/sleep routine has worked out so well for Benton. He thrives on the routine and loves it!

Random things we don't want to forget:

-We have teeth! Benton has been teething for a couple of months, so we were really excited to see his bottom 2 teeth pop through earlier this month. He also has one tooth slowly coming in on the top.

-After his evening feeding, we have been giving him a sippy cup (with a little bit of water) to play with. At first he chewed on the handles or threw it off his high chair tray, but now he is starting to understand what to do with it. So cute!

-He has a passion for jumping...in your lap, in the jumper, anywhere.

-Benton is such a content and laid-back little guy, and I'm not sure he has much motivation to roll over. He is seriously happy just staring at his toy that is out of reach, instead of rolling over to get it. The only time he rolls is when he is in bed at night. :)

-He has added a few new foods to his pallet. He is eating avocados, green beans, peas, sweet potatoes, butternut squash, carrots, pears, bananas, and plums. He has tried oatmeal and rice cereal, but is much more interested in the fruit and vegetables, so we have only given the oatmeal and rice cereal to him a couple of times.

-Last night, when we were putting to bed and reminiscing about the past 6 months, he spit out his pacifier and gave us kisses. So sweet. He knew his mommy was a little bit sentimental.

-He has always been very interested in books, but he has loved trying to help turn the pages and he is definitely starting to pay attention to the pictures.

-One of his favorite things to do is the airplane. He gives us HUGE smiles and lots of "ahhhs" and screams.

-He has started some of the beginning motions of crawling. When he is on his belly, he kicks his legs and slaps the ground. Also, in the last few days, he has begun putting his legs underneath him and lifting himself off the ground with his arms.

Benton, thank you for the most wonderful 6 months. You are an incredible blessing to us, and we are so very grateful!!!

Thankful

What a wonderful year this has been. Today, we celebrate Thanksgiving with family, along with the six month birthday of our sweet baby Benton! Six months!!!! It's hard to believe that this time last year (see here) we were revealing our pregnancy to family and friends, and now we have a precious six month old.

Enjoy this day, and make sure to take some time to count your blessings! We are grateful for all of you. Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Little Stinker

Landon calls Benton his "little stinker," so B's costume was an easy choice...

Happy Halloween from our baby skunk!

Cloth Diaper Update

We have now been using cloth diapers for about 3 1/2 months, and we still LOVE them! In fact, Landon pretty much refuses to use disposables. Benton has only had one blowout ever in cloth diapers (sorry Courtney), and he rarely leaks out of them. They are easy to wash, stuff (Landon stuffs them while we watch TV), store, and use. Seriously, we love them.

Right now, we have a mix of snap and aplix (velcro) BumGenius and Flip diapers. Although we have heard horror stories about the aplix having to be replaced, we still prefer them over snaps. I think we have about 25 diapers total, which works out well for us.

Now that we have started feeding Ben solids, we are using a liner (Kushies) that can simply be placed in the cloth diaper and then flushed. Easy peasy.

I do have a few questions for other cloth diapering moms:
1) What is your washing routine?
2) What kind of detergent do you use?
3) What brands of diapers do you use? Do you like them?
4) Any tips for me?!?!

Benton Update: 5 Months

It's time for another monthly update! It feels like we just sat down to write Benton's 4 month update. Sweet boy is growing so fast!!!

Some facts from Benton's fifth month of life:

-Wearing 6-12 month clothes. He is also starting to fit into some 12 month clothes (mainly t-shirts and pants/jeans).

-Mainly wearing cloth diapers on the middle snap. In disposables, he is wearing a size 3 diaper.

-Eating 5 times per day for about 15 minutes. When it is more convenient, he has a bottle with 6 ounces. We also recently added 1 tablespoon of solids to one meal per day. We do think it is about time to move to eating 4 times per day though!!!

-Still sleeping great! We put him down between 8-8:30pm and we wake him up at 7am. He is still taking a nap after every feeding.

-Loving the eat/play/sleep routine. Some of his favorite awake time activities are jumping in the jumper, chewing on everything (especially his hands), and giggling. :)

Random things we don't want to forget:

-He has been rolling over multiple times a night. He wakes up mad and ready to be flipped back over. We joke that we are "baby spatulas."

-We haven't actually seen Benton roll over (other than a time or two on the video monitor). When he is having tummy time or laying on his back during wake time, he just lays and makes no attempt to roll over. The minute we put him in his crib, he starts trying to roll over. Silly guy.

-Sickness hit our house again. This time, Benton was sick enough that we had to go the Pediatrician. He started Amoxicillin, which quickly cleared up his URI and gave him a raging diaper rash in return. Thank you very much.

-We started feeding him solids at the beginning of the month. The first thing we tried was oatmeal. Now, we are feeding him 1 tablespoon of vegetables once a day. He has tried peas, green beans, and butternut squash...of course, he loves all of them!

-He enjoys walks and sniffing the wind. Yes, sniffing the wind. :) No wonder he has horrible allergies.

-He LOVES his jumperoo!

-We think that he will be sitting up unassisted soon. We'll see...

-Benton is smiling, giggling, and "talking" up a storm. We do think he is somewhat shy though, as he really only does it for us or others he is very comfortable with.

-Watch out ladies, Ben is a kissing machine. Plant a few on him and he will turn right back to you and give you an open mouth kiss. Awesome.

Umm, how beautiful are his eyes?! We can't believe that his next update will be his 6 month update...he's almost been with us a year! Wow!

Pumpkin Patch!

A couple of weeks ago, Landon, Benton, and I headed to Chester's Party Barn with the Whites, Cartwrights, Galeys, and JP. :) We had so much fun at the petting zoo, riding on the hayride, going through the corn maze, and picking out pumpkins at the pumpkin patch.

It ended up being really warm, so B spent most of his time in the stroller. We were afraid that he was going to get sunburnt. Poor little guy got Landon's pale skin...ha! We could tell he had fun though!

Enjoy some pictures from our day...

Also, as the reigning mom of the year, I took Benton down the HUGE slide. You can tell from the picture below that we barely survived.

Three Good Years :)

Three years ago, we commited to love each other forever. To stand by each other no matter the circumstance. And, we couldn't be more grateful for each other and the decision we made. What a fabulous 3 years this has been!!!

Benton Update: 4 Months Continued

Benton had his well child appointment with the Pediatrician today. He is doing well and growing fast.

Stats from 4 month Pediatrician appointment:
-Weight: 18 pounds, 10 ounces (95th percentile)
-Height: 26 inches (75th percentile)
-Head Circumference: 17 inches

Genius

I'm a genius. Links in a necklace around Ben's neck + toy attached = not having to pick the toy up off the counter 40 times while I'm cooking. He seemed pretty happy about it too. :)

After Taste

I have always been a picky eater. Always. I could never really pinpoint why... usually it was reflux or a mildly upset stomach. Since I don't like either of those things (who would?!), I have been an excellent avoider of certain foods. Those certain foods are usually spicy or have some other strong taste. Thus, I have always eaten bland and boring foods in order to keep the peace in my body.

I haven't had reflux AT ALL since Benton was born, and I was so famished during pregnancy that I no longer care about a mildy upset stomach, so I have been eating a lot of foods that I would not normally eat. Did I mention that I have been eating a lot?!? One thing I have noticed is that more than reflux or an upset stomach, I hate any strange after taste. Specifically garlic. I had a fish dish (haha) for lunch at a nice restaurant last week, and it pretty much made me miserable all day long. Garlic.all.day.long. Gross.

That's all. :)

Benton Update: 4 Months

Benton has been alive for 1/3 of a year...oh my goodness! It's so hard to believe he is 4 months old!!!

Some facts from Benton's fourth month of life:

-Wearing a few 3-6 month clothes, but he is now mainly wearing 6-12 month clothes.

-Mainly wearing cloth diapers on the middle snap. In disposables, he is wearing a size 2 diaper.

-Eating 5-6 times per day for a max of 15 minutes. We vary the number of times we feed him based on what we have going on (for example, he eats 6 times on small group days because he stays up later). He is also taking a 4.5-5 ounce bottle when it is more convenient.

-Still sleeping great! We put him down at around 8:30pm and we wake him up at 7am. He is still taking a nap after every feeding.

-Thriving on the eat/play/sleep routine. He's staying awake just a little bit longer, and we are loving the additional time with him awake! He is starting to enjoy tummy time a little more and he is starting to really play with his activity gym.


Random things we don't want to forget:

-He's rolling over!!! We haven't actually seen him do it, but we put him to sleep on his tummy and he wakes up on his back. :) He will also roll from his back to his side, but not all the way over onto his tummy. I should note that we are pretty sure he is totally cheating when he rolls from his tummy to his back...we think he's pushing off the crib slats with his legs.

-Our poor little baby is teething. So sad. But, he is doing well as long as we give him teething tablets and have something for him to chew on. The things he seems to like for teething are Sophie the Giraffe's legs and rear, a frozen pacifier, a frozen washcloth to suck on, his hands, and our fingers.

-He is starting to try to sit up. We can put him in the Bumbo and he sits wonderfully, or we can sit him up in his Boppy. In the Boppy he isn't requiring very much support to sit!

-We can put Sophie or his circle rattle a few inches in front of him and he will grab them and bring them to his mouth.

-He is a splashing machine during bath time!

-He has watched 3 OU football games thus far, and he can already say "Boomer Sooner." Okay, maybe not.

-An upper respiratory infection hit our house a couple of weeks ago, and sweet Benton got sick. :( It was so sad, but he was a trooper and was the first one to get over the upper respiratory infection. We are pretty sure that he was mesmorized by the frog humidifier. Ha!

-He is such a happy baby. He smiles for us all the time. It will be interesting to see his personality develop, but if I were to guess based on the current time, I think he will be: introverted, deep thinker, laid-back, friendly. We'll see!

-He had his first real play group experience this month! It will be fun to watch the kids grow and interact.

We love our little guy! And, thank you to our friends and family for loving him too! We are so grateful for him and the joy he has added to our lives!!!

Big Baby

Somehow Landon and I came across this article. It is about a 4 month old baby boy from Colorado who weighs 17 pounds and is 25 inches long...and was denied health insurance. For the record, Benton is 10 days shy of being 4 months old and is weighing in at about 18 pounds and is 25 inches long (by our measurements).

So sad that an infant can be denied health insurance for obesity (or anything else for that matter)...

Rubber Band Ball

Michael and Heather White are some of our friends from small group. We love them (and the rest of our small group!). Somehow, we all started talking about rubber band balls, and somehow it came up that Michael made a huge rubber band ball in high school. And he just happened to have made a website.

If you know Michael and Heather, please go to www.mikesrubberball.8m.com, and be ready to laugh. And maybe mention it the next time you see him. :)

Game Day!!!

Boomer Sooner! Benton has spent this week preparing for his first OU game day! We have been dressing him in Crimson and Cream and singing him the words to the fight song before naps and bed (for real). :) I tried to sing him the chant but could only remember some of the lines...

Notice that he already has his first football penalty...a facemask penalty! We think he is teething, and he was trying to get it into his mouth. :)

Back to Work

I have a great job. It is my first and only "real" job. It is the job that I took after 7 straight years of school (gag). My boss is great, my co-PA (if that is even a word) is awesome, and my other coworkers are friendly. My hours are flexible. There really isn't any overtime. I have an office with a wall of windows and a door that locks. My lunches are free (at the free cafeteria...or freeateria, as we call it). Most days, I can wear scrub pants, a t-shirt or hoodie sweatshirt, and tennis shoes...that's pretty much like wearing pajamas to work.

But, now we have a bundle of baby love, and I have been so torn on what to do with regards to work. Before I had Benton, I figured I would go part-time, but was also somewhat open to working full-time. Then Benton came, and I knew immediately that there was no way that I could leave him 5 days a week. No way. I also know that being a full-time stay-at-home mom isn't really for me.

About 2 weeks ago, I came back to work part-time. Leaving Benton for the first time was horrible. I cried. And cried. And cried. And cried more. I actually held it together until I got in my car after leaving him. After I composed myself enough to go into work, I didn't even get to my office before the doc whose office is next to mine asked how I was doing. Tears. And that continued all.day.long.

It's gotten easier now, but my heart is still torn on what exactly to do. I definitely don't want to work full-time or stay at home full-time, so now I just have to find the part-time schedule that works best for us. It does help knowing that Benton is in such great care while I am working, and I am so stinking excited to see him at the end of the day. Literally, he could do anything and I am unfazed. I feel like being away from him makes me so much more grateful for the time that I have with him. But, it is still hard to be away from him.

So, for those of you who ask me how I am doing, hopefully that gives you a better idea. I feel like I should have a long letter to give to everyone who asks so that I can really get my feelings across. It's hard to properly explain how I am doing when there are so many conflicting emotions.

Disclaimer: This is just about ME, so please don't take offense to anything I wrote if you are either a full-time working mom or a stay-at-home mom.

Scary Noises and Smiles

We think the video above is so funny! Benton is smiling at me, but listen for Landon's growls and watch Benton's face... (Note: I hate my voice in home videos.)

Benton Update: 3 Months

Wow. 3 Months. They have gone by so quickly and have been so very perfect.

Some facts from Benton's third month of life:

-Wearing 3-6 month clothes.

-Mainly wearing cloth diapers on the middle snap. In disposables, he is wearing a size 2 diaper!

-Eating 6 times a day for a max of 15 minutes. He is also taking a 4.5 ounce bottle whenever it is more convenient.

-AHHH, sleep! We love sleep at our house. :) Benton is sleeping like a champ and we are all super happy and rested. We've been putting him down around 8:30pm and we wake him up at 7am. He is also taking a nap after every feeding (except the last, when we put him down for the night).

-He still loves his eat, play, sleep routine. His play times get more fun every month! This month he is starting to have "conversations" with us, he is smiling all the time, and he LOVES his little circle rattle thing.

Random things we don't want to forget:

-He found his thumb! He was so proud of himself.

-We put him down at night in his crib, and when we go in the next morning he has usually done a complete circle around the edge of the crib, ending up in the same place he started. We've watched him do this on the video monitor...otherwise you would think he didn't move at all. Ha!

-His smiles have gotten so big, and he kind of smiles with his eyes too. And his giggles are too much for us. He is just so sweet.

-Of all the places we put him, his favorite is BY FAR the changing table. He loves it!

-Mommy started back to work last week, so he has been going to the Fosters for 2 days and staying with my mom for 1 day. He is doing really well with everything (mommy on the other hand...), and he seems to be enjoying the new faces and activities.

-And, something monumental...we cut his fingernails for the first time...yesterday. We are horrible parents. He has pretty much been clawing us all day long, but we were too scared to cut his nails. It is now done with no harm to anyone. :)

-And, something even more monumental...mommy gave him his first haircut. And a bad one at that. He has the baby pattern baldness in the back, and he was also sporting a long, thick rat tail. Lets just say it was not as easy to cut as we thought. Please don't make fun of him if you see him! :)

-He loves his swing. Mainly, he loves the mirror and the mobile. Lately, he has been talking to himself in the mirror...so funny!

Sweet Benton has been an unbelievable blessing to us. When we found out we were pregnant about this time last year, we had no idea how much our life would change...for the better. We are so grateful!

Benton Loves Elliott

We are so very excited to welcome baby Elliott into our friend family! Elliott was born on August 6th, and is the daughter of one of my very best friends, Erica, and her husband, Kevin. I have waited 6 long years for baby Estep!!! :) She is so sweet and cute...and amazingly alert for a newborn (notice in the picture below that Elliott is checking everything out while Benton is snoozing away).



Ummm, how did my little baby boy get so big?! Elliott weighed 7 pounds, 5 ounces at birth, while Benton weighed 7 pounds, 3 ounces. Now, Elliott (5 days old) weighs 7 pounds, 1 ounce, and Benton (11 weeks old) weighs in at a hefty 15+ pounds. I didn't realize how big he really was until we laid them down next to each other.

We are so, so excited for the Estep family, and look forward to raising our sweet babies together!!!

Note: Erica had Elliott without an epidural. She is a rockstar! I am sure that she was smiling the whole time (for real). :)

Little Swimmer

Feast your eyes on this bundle of love...

Edit: Yes, Benton loves the pool! He just looks around and watches all the other kids play. Next year will be very different! And, his swim diaper is the Bummis Swimmi diaper...I definitely recommend it!

Benton Update: 2 Months Continued

Benton went to the Pediatrician today for his 2 month appointment. Yes, the dreaded 2 month appointment. He definitely didn't like the vaccinations, but he is doing well now...just a little snuggly and wimpy. Poor guy.

Stats from 2 month Pediatrician appointment:
-Weight: 15 pounds (95th percentile)
-Height: 23 3/4 inches (75th percentile)
-Head Circumference: (50th percentile)

I'd say he is eating well! :)

Dedicated

This past Sunday, we participated in the dedication service at our church. For those unfamiliar with a dedication service, it is essentially a time of commitment from parents to raise their children in a Christian home. Benton did really well while we were in front of the congregation, and even lasted for about 30 minutes of the actual service before we had to head out into the atrium.

It was such a special day for Landon and I, and our families. All of our immediate families were able to attend (except Landon's brother, Justin, and his family), and my grandparents even traveled down for the service. After the service, the family came over to our house for lunch and visiting. Benton is one loved little guy.

PS-Papa Son also came, but we didn't get any pictures of him with Benton!

Things We Couldn't Have Lived Without: 2 Months

I thought I'd keep this going since there are some readers who aren't mommy's yet, but are thinking about it soon. You know who you are! :) We still love all the things on the 1 month list, but here are a few more recommendations:

1. Angelcare Monitor. Benton is sleeping on his stomach now due to reflux, so Landon and I bought this so that we could rest a little bit easier (and we have!). It came highly recommended from other friends with little ones.

2. Breathable Crib Bumper. Benton is able to scoot himself all over the crib, so we removed his crib bumper. After we removed the bumper, there were a few nights were we found him with either his arms or legs hanging out of the crib. Obviously, he woke up everytime his arms or legs were out, and he in turn woke us up. :) The crib bumper is made of mesh material, so it prevents his body parts from escaping, but also allows him to breath if his face is up against it. More sleep for everyone.

3. Gripe Water. When Benton gets the hiccups, he spits up ALOT and for a long time. We use the Gripe Water to get rid of the hiccups! It works probably 75% of the time.

4. Brookstone Baby Noise Machine. We also have the Sleep Sheep, which we like, but it only plays for 45 minutes. The Brookstone noise machine is great because it plays continuously, which is perfect for nighttime!

Benton Update: 2 Months

Time.is.flying. Way too fast. People told us that time would pass by more quickly once we had a child, but we had no idea how right they were. Benton is growing like a weed and we are truly cherishing each and every day.

Some facts from Benton's second month of life:

-Wearing 0-3 month clothes. They fit him well right now, but he is probably about to transition to size 3-6 month clothes.

-Mainly wearing cloth diapers on the smallest snap, though he is moving to the middle snap. In disposables, he is still wearing a Size 1, but I think he could easily move on up to Size 2 in the next week or so.

-Eating 6 times a day for 15-20 minutes. Of those 6 feedings, 2 are a bottle with 4 ounces. He still loves bottle time with dad!

-Sleeping much better! We put him in his crib around 9:30pm and he wakes up around 6-7am. Yes, that's right! We are back to sleeping (most nights) at the Hubbart house. :) Due to reflux, he is sleeping on his stomach with his mattress at an incline. He loves it and we can tell that his reflux isn't bothering him at all. Our Pediatrician recommended this, even though the hospital pretty much made us swear on our life that we would never let our baby sleep on his stomach. He also takes most of his naps in the crib, but we keep him out for snuggles for a couple of naps a day.

-Still doing well on the eat/play/sleep routine. Our play time is becoming much more fun and we do things like play in the activity gym, practice smiling :), sit in the swing and watch the mobile, take walks, and go to the neighborhood swimming pool (his favorite).

Random things that we don't want to forget:

-He was dedicated at Crossings on his 2 month birthday. We are so grateful to be entrusted with this little one, and we are committed to raising him in a Christian home.

-He watched his first television show this month. Landon had a few guys over to watch the FIFA finals, so Benton got to join in on the fun. We don't think he was impressed at all!

-Smiles!!! He started smiling on his 1 month birthday, but now he is really smiling. And giggling. :) And cooing. We love it.

-When we go on walks in the evening, Benton either rides in his stroller or in the Baby Bjorn. He loves both. When he is in the Baby Bjorn, he will look at the person who is not holding him and smile/giggle. It is so funny...like he thinks he is playing some kind of game.

-He went to the lake for the first time over the 4th of July weekend! He had a really good time! He saw the infamous golf cart parade and slept through the fireworks.

-Before he goes to sleep every night, he must turn himself sideways in the crib. He does this by grabbing the side of the mattress and pulling himself sideways. We've tried just putting him in the crib sideways, but that just makes him mad. Silly little guy.

-We had our first family swimming night! So fun. He loves the water at our neighborhood pool, and he loves all the action going on around him. The pool is perfect because the water is warm and part of the pool is shaded in the evenings.

Our 2 month appointment is next week, so we will add have his weight and length stats after the appointment. He weighs at least 13 pounds based on our scales at home...