For Better or For Worse

The title of this blog is named after my favorite comic, the writer decided to end the story today. I've followed the comic since I could read. It's funny because when the oldest son got married, I got married, when he and his wife welcomed their first child, Mike and I welcomed our first child. I've enjoyed the comic because it's about family and real stories that the everyday families go through.

Last Wednesday I took Zachary to his kindergarten registration and we got to meet his teacher. Registration lasted for 2 hours. We got to know how the class will operate everyday, the different stations, the group and individual merit system, how the teacher sends communication home with the students, etc. We got the September lunch calendar and the schedule of events for the month. I left feeling comfortable knowing how class would operate.

During registration Ben stayed with his babysitter. I am really happy we found her, she is great. Each day she sends home a list of everything that the baby did and what time. For example, he had a 4 oz bottle at 9:30 a wet diaper at 10:00 a dirty diaper at 10:30, a nap from 10:30-Noon, etc. I like it because I know she's taken care of him an I know if he's still on schedule or not.

Friday was Zachary's first full day of kindergarten and my last day at the Chamber. We dropped Ben off at LoAnna's and then I walked Zachary into kindergarten. He wouldn't let me take a bunch of pictures (tear, tear) he told me he was fine and I needed to LEAVE. I got a few pictures of him but that was all. When I left I called Mike in tears, maybe it's just that I'm 6 weeks postpartum and I'm an emotional wreck right now, but I think it's because my baby, my first born is all grown up and off to school for the next 13 years and then he's off to college and out of our house. Friday was the day we officially had to let go and let him go off and do his thing. No more can we keep him at home with us from school just because we want to spend the time with him. (We used to do that at preschool, if we had the day off we'd keep him home because we could go do famiy things.)

Tuesday is the first official day of school for kindergartners, all kids will report to class at the same time. Friday was just 1/2 of the class. Since it's also my first day of my new job, Mike has taken Tuesday off from work so he can take Zachary to school. I am happy that Mike will be able to share in the school experience with Zachary. Mike also offered to take Ben to the babysitters that morning so all I needed to worry about is getting myself ready and to work on time. (Thanks dear!!)

Back to Friday, I spent 6 hours working at the Chamber, it was bitter sweet. I was training eveyrone so the time flew by. My step-mom Bev showed up around lunch time and asked to take me to lunch, we went to Bob Evans. She gave me a card and a gift certificate to get my hair cut, she had already scheduled my appointment even! I went back to work and almost for got to pick Zachary up from school! It was 3:30 and I looked at my watch realizing school lets out at 3:35! I had to run out of the office and end my last day there with out being able to say the proper goodbyes. I got to school on time (I drive very fast when I need to!) Zachary was waiting in his classroom for me ready to go. We then went to Memaw's to pick up Ben and to visit so Zachary could tell her and Allie all about kindergarten. She said Allie had been asking her all day if Zachy was in school or if he was done, she missed having him around. After visiting we went to my parents house for the usual Friday night sleep over. Mike and I had to run some errands in town so we went to dinner and ran errands.

Friday night Mike took care of Ben all night long! I got 8 solid hours of sleep. I thought he was at least going to wake me to nurse Ben but he didn't, he just let me sleep. Then on Saturday, I got to spend several hours of just me time. My grandma milligan gave me some $$$ to purchase new work clothes and then I went to get my hair done. I got it cut and next weekend I am going to get a perm. I think the perm will make it easier to get ready in the mornings. The boys stayed home with Daddy all decked out in their Ohio State gear and watching the first game of the season. (I have pictures I'll post when I get them off my camera). I enjoyed my alone time and appreicate Mike for letting me have it. I think he could tell I was about to blow a fuse and needed to get away for a bit. Don't get me wrong, I missed my boys also.

I'm at home with them today, we are going through all of my clothes and putting away the ones I can't wear anymore and reorganizing the ones I can. The boys and I are meeting Mike at my office (at the Chamber) to clean out my stuff and to get our fish tank. I wish I could just flush the fish, I really don't want to bring them home. Oh well.

My parents are having a bon fire / cook out tonight for Labor Day.

I will try to post next week with updates on the family.

Kick Ass Blog Award

Thanks to my new blogger friend MBKimmy for my very first blogger award! She awarded me with the kick-ass blogger award!

Now I must present this award to 5 other kick ass bloggers!

1. My first award is going to go to Our Little Weeks Baby Story. My cousin who got me started in this wonderful world of blogging!

2. My second award is going to go to my sister in law and her new blog about my adorable little niece and nephew, The Adventures of Allie and Kyle

3. My third award goes to my newest blogger friend My World.

4. My fourth award goes to The Brensen Family Blog. Still praying for you girl! Chris and I had babies 4 days a part and became fast friends chatting about our pregnancy and newborns. She is how MBKimmy and I met.

5. I present my fifth award to the Sophia Grace Mourn blog. Sophia's Daddy is friends with my husband and he is serving in the United States National Guard. Sophia's mommy Tiffiany is one kick ass strong woman and most definately deserves the kick-ass blog award!

Now if I've awarded you with the kick ass blog award it's time for you to award 5 others. Thanks MBKimmy for the award!

At this rate the tooth fairy is going to go broke!

Zachary lost his second tooth about an hour ago!

He was eating gummy fruit snacks in our bedroom and watching cartoons when it happened. He came running into the living room saying "Mommy I have something important to show you hurry", so I jumped up with Ben and ran into the bedroom to see what the problem was. Zachary was on the bed crying and told me to look on the floor that he was sorry. I didn't find anything and asked him what had happened, he said he was sad because his favorite tooth, his lucky tooth wasn't supposed to fall out. I couldn't get him to stop crying, so we called Daddy and he helped him calm down a bit.

He just told me that he misses his lucky tooth and that he and "toothy" did a lot of things together like eat ice cream, sing, dance, play tennis (Zachary has never played tennis!), play soccer, and laugh. I told him that he could do all of those things with his big boy tooth when it comes in.

His first tooth came out on July 8 and it is just now starting to pop out a little bit.

He looks so cute with his little toothless smile. I am going to have to hold him down just to get a picture though, he runs every time he sees me with the camera.

Summer Flew By!

I can't believe I start my new job next week! This past summer has flown by so fast. Mike's soccer team is already having games and Zachary is starting kindergarten on Wednesday. Our family has had so many changes the past few months . We are still trying to get the hang of our new family and attempting to stick to schedule.

I've had some ask me how Ben is doing with both formula and breast milk. I have created a schedule we follow daily. It starts out with the first feeding in the morning is me nursing Ben, the next two feedings are formula and then the next two are breast milk. We continue alternating every two feedings until the 9pm bottle and that is a formula bottle, usually 4-5oz. Ben sleeps better with a full tummy of formula than he does with mommy's milk. I then get up with him every 2 1/2 - 3 hrs at night and nurse him until we start the next day's schedule. On the day before I know Mike will be responsible for a breast milk feeding if I'm not going to be here I make sure to put at least 8 oz of frozen milk in the fridge so it starts to thaw. We have a plastic bowl that we keep with water in it near the bottles and we put it in the microwave for 2 1/2 minutes, we use this to warm formula bottles and to thaw out breast milk baggies. Ben's digestive system is now responding much better than it originally did. The first two weeks he was constipated and had a lot of belly issues. Now he is having at least one BM daily which is which okay according to his doctor. I continue to pump when I'm not nursing and I have gotten quite a supply of milk. So much I've gone back and tossed frozen milk that's over 2 weeks old. I feel bad tossing it but since I am pumping so much and I know we won't ever use the supply I have. I have been able to pump 6-9 oz each time I pump and that equals 1 1/2 to 2 feedings per pump.

I don't know if I've written about the babysitter schedule for Ben (I don't feel like going back to check.) Ben is going to LoAnna "Nanna" from 7 - 12:30 Tuesday through Friday. His Memaw (Mike's mom) picks him up when she gets off work and watches him the rest of the afternoon until either Mike or I get off work (which ever one can pick him up earliest). She watched Zachary from the time he was 6 weeks old until last week and has also watched our neice and nephew (Allie and Kyle) since they were babies as well. We feel so blessed that Mike's mom has volunteered to watch the kids, it has created a very special relationship between her and Zachary and we hope Ben is able to get the same relationship.

After I drop Ben off at the babysitters I am going to drop Zachary off at his preschool. They have a before and after school program that he will participate in. His preschool is located right next door to the elementary school he will be attending (it's walking distance away!). And it also is less than a 1/2 mile away from Ben's babysitter.

I'm happy we have the kids (it's still weird to say kids rather than it being just one!) daily schedule taken care of. Now we just have to work on our daily and evening schedules once I get back to work. I have to admit, the house is a darn wreck - I don't think I've vacuumed in over a week. Don't even ask me the last time I dusted. Bed sheets haven't been washed in weeks and my kitchen needs to be mopped. It was much easier for me to keep the house clean right after I had Ben, but the past few weeks has been very difficult because he's been attached to me. I hope that when I go back to work we will be able to include cleaning into our daily routine, even if it's just one small task and one large task at night. The only tasks we've been keeping up with are laundry and dishes. Oh, well - if you stop by unexpected just know I don't let people in my house if I think it's messy.

Mike's soccer team is off to a slow start, they lost their first game to their rival team. He has a bunch of new girls on the team who are just learning the sport. After his game last week he came home so upset with the girls. He is having a hard time coaching girls, he says they have a lack of spirit for the game they are playing and he doesn't know how to get them to put their heart into the game. His complaint is girls have too much drama and girls are more stubborn than boys are. He reminds me after practice every day how thankful he is that we have two boys and not girls.

One of my blogger friends who was pregnant the same time I was has been in the hospital for almost a month now due to a seizure that ended up being a brain aneurysm. She had her baby girl 4 days before I had Ben and has been in the hospital since she was 2 weeks old. Her family has asked that we do not disclose any other information. They created a Care Pages Blog account for her through their hospital and are keeping friends informed on a daily basis. I'm asking that you send a special prayer to her for a full recovery. She has two small adorable little girls that I am sure would like for their Mommy to come home.

As the title of my post states, Summer Flew By so fast. I am very thankful that I was able to spend the summer with both of my boys. We didn't get everything done that I had wanted to do, but that's okay. Instead I spent time with Mike, Zachary and Ben which is more important to me than getting flowers planted around my house or getting our back porch repainted. Although I am not scratching everything off my list - it will get done sometime.

Ben is calling, time to go try to get him back to sleep.

**EDITED** Gripe Water

**EDITED**
I should have done a little bit more research before I gave my baby Gripe Water. My aunt used it for her 5 month old baby this year and is the one who recommended it to me to use. For the first few days we used it worked great then we noticed Ben starting to spit up after we gave it to him. So I did a little bit more research and this is what I found: http://www.helpmeandmyfamily.com/colic_help.html

Baby`s Bliss

Baby`s Bliss Guarantee: At amazon the package most be unopen for refund. Description: Bliss Gripe Water is a highly effective, herbal supplement used to ease the gas and stomach discomfort often associated with colic, hiccups and teething. The product is based on an original gripe water formula. Ingredients: Deionized Water, Vegetable Glycerin, Sodium Bicarbonate (15 mg), Organic Ginger Extract (5mg), Organic Fennel Extract (4 mg), Fructose, Citrus Bioflavonoid Extract, Citric Acid, Grapefruit Seed Extract. I would not give my baby gripe water with Sodium Bicarbonate in it. Why, read below.

SODIUM BICARBONATE (BAKING SODA) What is Sodium Bicarbonate and why do you NOT want to give your baby Sodium Bicarbonate? Sodium bicarbonate is commonly known as baking soda. Sodium bicarbonate is an alkali (antacid) which alters the naturally occurring pH of baby's stomach acid. Changing the delicate pH balance in baby`s system can cause over-alkalinity and exacerbate a colicky condition. Furthermore, sodium bicarbonate is also absorbed into the bloodstream and thus can have unwanted side effects. Sodium bicarbonate containing products are not to be consumed by "children under 5 years of age", as stated clearly on antacid and baking soda boxes. Antacids always warn against extended use: "Do not use for more than 2 weeks". According to Medline Plus, a service of the National Library of Medicine, antacids (sodium bicarbonate) "should not be given to young children (up to 6 years of age) unless prescribed by their doctor". Since children often cannot describe their symptoms well, doctor visits are advisable before giving any antacids to children. Medline also warns against taking sodium bicarbonate with large amounts of milk or milk products. To do so may increase the chance of side effects.

So, I TAKE BACK my original message on Grip Water. I have stopped giving it to Ben and we are now searching for something else to give him to help ease his gas pains. We did the mylicon infant gas drops but they don't seem to be working.
____________________________________________________________________




Ben has been having belly issues so my grandma told me about Gripe Water, it's an all natural belly soother sort of like the infant gas drops. So, yesterday afternoon I went to Rite Aid and purchased a bottle (this was in the middle of a huge gas crying fit with Ben). Within 20 minutes of taking the dose he was calm and had passed quite a bit of gas. WOW. Ben was more alert and playful last night, he even sat in his swing for about 1/2 hr and fell asleep with out crying in his swing. He wasn't in a hard sleep, so I woke him up about 10:30 and changed his diaper and then gave him a dose of the Gripe Water and fed him a formula bottle. The little man was out in 10 minutes and slept until 2:30 a.m.! I got up with him, nursed him and then he fell asleep on my chest by 3 am the next time we woke up was with the alarm at 6:15 a.m!

I have to say, Gripe Water is wonderful. It works with babies who have upset stomachs, teething, colic or are gassy. I highly recommend it!!!

I love my boys - all 3 of them! (Lots of pictures)

Ben is ONE month old. I thought I'd start the post with his one month picture. I have lots of pictures and not much text. I have started a post with updates on both of the boys and updates on Mike and I. Lots of things going on, breast feeding is going okay, but not the greatest. We had to supplement with Isomil because Ben is getting very gasy. We took Zachary kindergarten school clothes shopping (tear, tear!). The four of us spent an afternoon visiting Ben's babysitter and letting her get used to Ben and him get used to her. That's just a little synopsis of what's been going on.

Enjoy the pictures!

I'm working on a smile!

Mom you really want me to smile for the camera?

All four grandkids (on Mike's side) Allie, Kyle, Zachary and Benjamin. The boys and I spent a good part of last Friday visiting Mike's mom and the kids. This picture took about 20 minutes to take because we couldn't keep all 4 kids in one spot for more than 2 seconds.

One of the many tries to get a group shot!

Daddy and Benjamin sleeping.

POOP ON MICHIGAN - We're Ohio State Buckeye Fans! GO BUCKS!!!

Zachary put together this outfit on his own the other night and then walked into the living room declaring he was king for the night and then tried to boss us around. Notice he even put a red blanket over the chair so his thrown could look like a kings thrown. Smart cookie he is.

Okay Mom, I guess I will give in and let you snap a picture of me SMILING. Ain't I cute?

Zachary and Ben getting ready for Ben's first walk. I have to note that Zachary picked out his own clothes (and please excuse the tall grass!)

Now I can't quit smiling!

Hmm, what is this thing? This was Ben's first time playing with is tummy / back time toy. He didn't know what to think of it.

Hmmm, is this jail? What am I supposed to do here?

Big brother Zachary decided he needed to show Ben how to play with his toy.

The boys playing together. Zachary is SUCH a great big brother, always willing to help - except with diaper duty!

Yummy, my tummy is full!

Grandma Bev, Cousin Bryce and Zachary at the local fair enjoying a little ice cream break.

Zachary on the Nemo ride at the local fair.

Ben in the stroller getting ready for our walk (I just realized these pictures are all out of order, sorry!)

Future Ohio State Buckeye tailgater - GO BUCKS!

The walk wore Ben out!

Zachary on the kiddie farris wheel at the local fair.

Mike and Zachary enjoying the slide. I have to note that I didn't go with them to the fair. I wasn't going to drag Ben to the fair being a newborn. Mike and Zachary went with my step mom and nephew.

Zachary getting ready to touch the sky!

Yummy ice cream treat on a hot summer day at the local fair.

I promise I will have an acutal update soon. I thought I should post pictures before I forgot. Of course I have more pictures to load from my camera so I will probably post them next week.

Big News!

It's official, I am not returning to the Chamber of Commerce for work, instead I have been offered (and accepted) a position with Ohio University. I am going to be an administrative associate in the Dean's office for the College of Osteopathic Medicine.

I broke the news to the Chamber this morning, it went much better than I thought and I left there on good terms. I loved my job at the Chamber but the position with Ohio University offers me so much more, I am going to be able to learn more from the position and grow more with the University.

I'm going to work next week for 2 days and then 2 days the week after at the Chamber to get some things cleaned up and to help them with the transition. I start my new job on September 2.

September 2 is also officially Zachary's 1st day of kindergarten and Ben's first day at the babysitters so it's going to be a big day for all of us!

4 Weeks old!

I can't believe Ben is 4 weeks old already! I haven't taken a picture of him yet today to post. I plan on taking a picture of him and updating the post with it later. I also am going to get his weight and height so I can post it with the picture.

Ben went on his first walk on Sunday night. We walked for over an hour all over our town. He stayed awake for most of it. I got a few pictures of him relaxing in his stroller while we were walking. Dumm-Dumm me wore flip flops instead of tennis shoes so my feet were sore by the time time we got home.

Yesterday I ended up calling Ben's doctor to talk to her about his tummy issues. She decided that I need to hold off on BF'ing for three days and start him on Isomil formula for 3 days. After 3 days I can re-introduce BF'ing every two feedings. So, we headed to Wally World (Wal-Mart) to purchase Isomil and some bottles. His first formula feeding was before bed he slept for 3 hours and then woke up and ate another 4 oz and then slept for another 3 hours and ate 4oz and is now trying to doze off a bit. I am surprised he is taking 4 oz bottles! After each bottle feeding I am pumping to keep my milk supply going since I really want to be able to at least supplement with my breast milk.

When we were at the store last night I forgot to purchase milk storage bags so I can freeze the milk I am pumping. All the storage bags and containers I had are already full and in the freezer. I counted and I have at least 12 - 3 oz bottles in the freezer. I am going to get the boys ready in a little bit and head back into town so I can get more bags. While I 'm there I am going to check with the photo studio at Wal-Mart and see if they have slots available for tomorrow or Thursday to get Ben's month picture taken. I also want to get one with both of the boys.

As for being the mommy of two - it's slowly getting better. Being the mommy of one was so much easier I was able to find me time when I allowed myself to. With two, when I'm not doing something for one I'm doing it for the other. I wasn't able to get my shower until almost 1 am this morning! It's because I was doing things for everyone else. Mike still hands Ben to me when he's crying instead of bonding with him and figuring out how he can calm him. His automatic response is "he wants his mommy, he's used to you." He's used to me because Daddy is never home and when he is he is usually with Zachary or doing other things. Don't get me wrong, Mike loves and adores Ben it's just harder for him to bond with Ben. He's gone from the house so much because he's working and then he's coaching soccer. Some days he leaves at 5:30 a.m. and doesn't get home until 8:00 p.m. When he gets home Zachary wants all of his attention.

I have been trying to come up with ways to get my hair done so when I do return to work in a few weeks it will be an easy get up and go. So I think I am getting a perm. I am going to get it cut (not short) and get a perm. With a perm I can wash it, and go. I won't need to make sure I dry it because by the time I get to work it will be mostly dry anyway.

Going back to work is going to be difficult. So much going on that I can't write about now but by the end of the week I'll be able to make mention of it. I'm very nervous about this week!

Zachary starts kindergarten in a few weeks. This Saturday my step mom Bev is taking Zachary, my nephew Bryce, my sister Stephanie and me school shopping for the boys. Bev knows that since we are on a limited income and Stephanie is a single mom we both need a little bit of help with school shopping so she decided we should make a trip away from town out of it. I still don't know if we'll be taking Ben or not. Mike has a soccer scrimmage and we don't think we have anyone to watch Ben so he is most likely going to be traveling with us. I still need to get Zachary an appointment to get his hair cut and purchase his school supplies then he's ready to go!

I feel like I'm just rambling to make this post longer so I'll going to end here. I promise to get a picture of Ben to post for his 1 month b-day. I am also going to get a picture of both boys together and post it monthly with Ben's posts so I can see how they are both growing up!

Thong Thursday

Ha! The title got your attention, right? My old co-worker Dawn and I used to tease our interns telling them Thursday's were thong days.

Yesterday I had a doctors appointment with my doctor because I had been having some bladder issues since my c-section. Turns out I have a pretty severe bladder infection that we are heavily treating with antibiotics, lots of water and yogurt. I thought there was an issue with my bladder not being in the right spot or it being bruised. I know my doctor had to remove some scar tissue before he could get my bladder back in place. It was nice to know it was only an infection. My doctor also told me the beat up feeling I have in my abdomen is because I over did it too fast. I didn't give my inside incision enough time to heal before I started lifting things that were too heavy and walking around too much. He said to remain active by not as active as I have been and I will start to notice the pain going way. I am released to go back to all normal activities after 6 weeks!

Good news, I've lost 28 lbs and I have about 8 more to go until I'm at my pre-pregnancy weight. Then I want to lose another 80 lbs to at least be where I was before I got pregnant with Zachary 6 years ago. It was a comfortable weight and wasn't too small or too big. I think I was a very comfortable 10/12 in clothing then which is fine with me. I am going to really try hard this time around. The boys deserve to have a mommy that is able to get on the floor to play with them and to run around with them with out getting winded.

Can you belive in 5 days Ben will be ONE MONTH OLD! Where has all of the time gone? I return to work in 3 weeks! Not fair! At this point after Zachary was born I was ready to return to work, now since I've been home with both of the boys I don't want to go back to work. I've really enjoyed being home with them. But unfortunately we can not afford for me not to return to work. It's been hard enough living off of only 1/2 of my paycheck this summer.

Ben is staying awake more during the day and is starting to notice more things around him. I bought him a few toys yesterday to keep him enteratined and awake. I gave away all of my baby toys, oops! A lot of them are at Mike's mom's house she said we could go through them and bring back what we need to the house. There was one toy that I remember having with Zachary it was for belly time that he loved, I can't remember if we gave it to Mike's mom or to Mike's sister.

Last night Ben went to bed at 11pm and he didn't wake up until 4 am this morning! I fell asleep when I put him down so I got 5 hours of sleep! He then went back to bed around 5 and was up again at 6:30 and then up again at 8:30. I made sure to give him a big hug and kiss from mommy thanking him for sleeping through the night.

Zachary and Mike and going to the demo derby tonight and Ben and I are going to hang out at the house. We might go visit my Grandma Milligan for a little bit, I'm not sure. I tried to get Zachary ready earlier to take a walk to the library up the street from us but he didn't want to go, so we'll do that tomorrow.

Ben's Doctor's appointment

We had a follow up doctors appointment for Ben this morning to check to see if his heart murmur was gone or not. Good news, it is gone! In other news, we have been having a lot of problems with him being very gassy and having at least 12 or more poopy diapers per day. The past few days his stool has turned into pure liquid and he's getting a pretty bad diaper rash. His pediatrician said that he is allergic or having a reaction to foods I'm eating. I have already cut out almost everything from my diet, what more can I do? I am to stop eating lettuce and all other green veggies for a few days and then wait a few more days to see if that helps him, then I have to cut out WHEAT! That is going to be so hard. No bread, pasta, cereal, bagels, croutons, cookies - nothing! She told me to start eating Probiotic Yogurt to help with his digestive system. I'm not a huge fan of yogurt but I bought some and alrealdy had one cup today. If he doesn't get better in the next week and a half then I have to bring him back to her office and we will discuss him being forumla fed. I told her I'd like to continue pumping while we are forumla feeding because if we can I'd like to be able to supliment with forumla. (That is if we get his gassy tummy issues solved first.) She also checked his tongue and said that we'd continue to keep an eye on it because he is tongue-tied, it's just not very severe and she doesn't want to have to snip it if she doesn't have to.

In good news he is up 1 lb 3 oz since his last appointment. He weighed 8 lbs 15 oz this morning, he weighed 7 lbs 12 oz 2 weeks ago. We scheduled his 2 month check up for Sept 15.

After we left we went to drop off the new insurance paperwork to get Ben added to our policy and then paid our car insurance. Before we headed home we went to the grocery store to pick me up some food I can eat, bananas, frozen boneless grilled chicken breasts, potatoes, sliced turkey, sliced ham and yogurt.

Mike and Zachary are going to the fair tonight, Ben and I are staying home. There is no way at his age I would take him to the fair grounds. So we will stay home and hopefully catch a few winks while the older boys are gone!

Many pictures as I've promised!

Big Brother Zachary showing Ben how to use the Ben 10 watch. (Ben 10 is a cartoon)

I am still too small for size 1 diapers!

Zachary reading his Magic School bus book

Mike caught Ben and I napping

July 29, 2 WEEKS OLD!

I'm starting to keep my eyes open more!

Another shot of Ben on his 2 week birthday.

Zachary reading to Ben before bedtime.

Mike's sister, Aunt "T" to the boys enjoying some quality Ben time.

Family photo time.

Ben really likes to go for car rides

Getting fussy but Big Brother Zachary is there to make sure everything is okay.

My Mom, Ben, Zachary and I

Memaw Smith, Ben and Zachary

Pepaw Smith, Ben and Mike

Ben meeting his great grandparents for the first time. (My dad's parents)

This is what I found on the couch one night after I got out of the shower. Mike and Zachary teaching Ben how to play Nintendo already!

Ben loves to sleep in his crib.

Nap time in his bassinet

Just hanging out with Snoopy

Zachary wanted us to try the swing, he is still too small to sit up very well. We'll try it again next month.

Papa Butch, my dad with Ben.

Zachary holding Ben while Mama Bev watches.

Ben's first bath. Big Brother Zachary joined him to help out.