A Short Story of Baby Ben

Here we are welcoming into the world our 3rd little BOY. As you all knew we did yet another surprise. I can honestly say that I was thinking for Alayna's sake we would give her a sister. But BOY were we wrong. Instead she is going to get all the "girly" attention while her brothers play and wrestle all day long.

The Dr. asked Jared how involved he would like to be in the delivery and Jared replied, "As involved as I can be." So with that in mind, he put on the gloves and literally delivered our little Benjamin Jack.

Benjamin Jack 6lbs 3 oz. 19" long born at 2:44 pm.

This labor was a dream. Besides the epidural being the worst experience ever, and not to mention it made me totally loopy, shaky and slow in the brain. This kid wanted to make an appearance quickly. I was dilated to a 5 when I came to the hospital, then after sitting for four hours getting the meds (not even pitocin) I was a 6. Then they gave me pitocin and broke my water. I went from a 6 to a 8 instantly, then he was born with in the hour they broke my water. This time around pushing wasn't even an option, he just slipped out. Honestly, it was so fast I'm just glad I ended up going in that day. I was really against being induced, but after I found out I had to be on an IV for 4 hours getting meds for being strep B positive, I decided since I was a 5 and effaced I should do what is best for the baby. Once my 4 hours were up, my water broke, I was there ready to deliver! I couldn't imagine having waited till my water broke at home, AH just thinking about it scares me. The pain was so instant and he came so quickly. I'm just beyond thankful his labor unraveled the way it did, because if not I'm sure we would have been referred to as the "drive and drop" labors. Our nurse explained those are the people who wait too long to come into the hospital and end up driving up and dropping out their babies. :) Thankfully, I listened to my dr and decided to do what was best for this little baby.

Proud Grandparents...well proud that they have another grand-baby but my mom was totally wishing and pulling for yet a baby girl! Apparently we can only produce little boys. Ben is the 10th baby boy born in our family.

Grandpa Randy, proud to have yet another little boy to pass on the family name.

Oh, me just pleased as can be that he's here, healthy and a little boy. I must admit I really LOVE my boys.

Proud dad, we can't believe we really have three boys!

Finally, we had picked a name so he wasn't referred to as the "no name" baby. Jared and I have had the hardest time throughout the pregnancy deciding on a name. We have prayed many many times to know if we had a little boy what his name would be. After months of deciding we decided to not really talk about it until we knew the gender of the baby. So after meeting this sweet little guy and looking at his sweet little face I knew between the three names we had picked he was our little Benjamin. Way back 7 years ago when we were expecting Alayna our boy name of choice was Benjamin. It never seemed to fit the other two boys, but this time around our little Benjamin arrived. Middle names are important to me. I love them to have meaning. Each child has been named after someone special. This little Benjamin was no exception. He was named after Jared's mother Jacqui, who passed away. Since we didn't end up having a little girl and being able to use her name completely, we decided and felt strongly to name him Jack. The funny thing is we never came up with the combination of the two names, not one time during our pregnancy. But isn't it amazing how prayers are answered and we know he has a special name and it feels perfect for him.

Just as sweet as can be.

I love baby feet.

Sweet little guy getting ready to head home.

And really, the tiniest little person in a big car seat. This little guy is really so special. It's amazing how during hard pregnancies I forget the end prize. This amazing love and connection to this new special baby. My heart couldn't be more full with love and gratitude to our loving Heavenly Father who truly blesses us so completely. Our little family is so thankful to have our special Benjamin in our home. There really are no words to adequately describe the love we have for him, other than we are so glad to finally have you here!

Our little bundle...

Our 4th little bundle has arrived. We couldn't be in love more.

The Pumpkin Patch

Oh, how I love the pumpkin patch! As much as I love it my kids LOVE it more. Seriously, they were in HEAVEN.

Mr. Easy Going - Just always happy!

Happy Guy - just simply happy to be finally at the "pumpkin patch wiff my dad!"

Alayna - always wanting the Biggest and Best pumpkin! Thankfully we had a rule they had to be able to carry their own pumpkin.

Oh, how he LOVED the tractor! The second Jared put him on it he said, "Dad this is so FUN!" It really was adorable.

Just my favorite little guy around. Seriously, we just eat him up all day long.

Gotta love a FREE corn maze!

This is your chance to see "big mama" in 9 month prego action. Let's just hope this baby makes it's appearance before I have to pose for another picture!!!

Lovin the corn maze.

We had SO much fun. Really, I'm so glad we went and that we left before it got too chilly! Hurray for the holidays approaching!

Caleb...Oh how we love you!

Okay, I'm not sure if it's the age or what but this kid seriously is adorable! I'm wanting to blog all I can before this new little bundle of joy arrives in our home. Before I'm totally sleep deprived and no longer a "nice" mom to my two year old, or even able to think about another child besides a newborn. Let's just say that I am in LOVE with him. He is such a happy kid and really hilarious. He TALKS and TALKS and TALKS and makes the funniest faces EVER. Honestly he can't go more than 10 seconds with out a pause in between words, sentences, thoughts, etc. My dad has nicknamed him Glenn Beck, because like Glenn Beck Caleb has the gift of GAB.

A few days ago I went over board on buying spices. Random, I know but totally important in your food storage. My sister of coarse had this brilliant idea to make home made dressings, dips, from all the spices. So that's what Jared and I did one night. We made Ranch dip, Taco Seasoning and Italian Dressing Seasoning. I have all three in three different mason jars and I have to admit I have used two of the three already and I really am pleased. So thanks again Shan for the great tip! I have to admit though we had to shower that same night because we were both sneezing and coughing due to all the pepper! But after the mess was all cleaned up it was totally worth it. Ok, on to my story about Caleb. He has been creating his "Oquirrh Mountain Temples" by stacking all the spices up on the table. One morning Jared thought he'd totally impress his little dude buy building it all the way to the ceiling! Lets just say Caleb thought it was SUPER cool! Jared was nice and even let him knock it over!

Here is our little man helping roll out pizza dough. Like I said in a previous post, he's really my only kid at home most hours of the day, so hence the MANY pictures of him.

Just one happy goofy kid!

He ate all his dinner and Jared had a favorite "Daddy treat" for him...Ice cream!

Oh, and here is the confession...Caleb LOVES cartoons, movies, t.v., you name it he loves it! He started his little wee life not having any interested in television, but either he has an addictive personality or I have allowed a little more TV time for this kid. Call me a bad parent, but sometimes a cartoon here and there is good. That smile you see on his face is because he as adopted/kept a toy from a friend of mine. If you don't know who that character is, let me educate you on Caleb's favorite show...Little Einsteins, "rocket" He LOVES this show. I find it totally adorable. In fact I really enjoy sitting with him and watching it. He does all the little hand movements, calls out the levels of sound, and sings the little songs. We played at the reservoir the other day and our friends had this toy, Rocket. Caleb saw it and instantly he didn't let it leave his hands. So after about 2 weeks of "stealing" this toy, he has yet to loosen his grip from it. It's totally adorable though because he pretends he's chasing after "big jet" (the bad guy on the show), has Rocket sleep, eat, dance, fight bad guys, etc. It really has been fun to see him LOVE a toy so much. I think it's time I invest in our own little Rocket toy and give this one back. So, thanks Alissa for sharing your Rocket toy with Caleb. It's been well loved and will continue to be until I see you again!!

General Conference, Birthdays, Preschool...etc.

General Conference weekend is a personal favorite at my house. It's not only my favorite but it's quickly become a favorite of everyone. Now, these pictures DO NOT DO JUSTICE to how darling our pancakes turned out. My friend Emily told me to buy a ketchup/mustard squeeze bottle and then make shape pancakes. Well we did just that. My kids (and Jared) were in HEAVEN! When my family stopped by and saw the darling picture pancakes they were SHOCKED how cute they were. Jared made faces of our family...let's just say they were darling! The shapes on the griddle are a roller skate, tree and a rocket ship. These were children creations so just imagine the possibilities Jared made!

Snuggling up and enjoying conference!

I just have to document that he can finally help around the house! :)

A big 30th birthday celebration for Emily! I planned a little SURPRISE birthday lunch with some friends at PF Chang's. It was an AWESOME surprise.

Here's to the 30 year old birthday girl!!! Happy Birthday Em, we love you!!!

And yet, our little Jacob is blossoming in preschool. So last week if you remember he mastered his letters and sounds. Well, don't you worry this week he came home and said he earned is "Blending Badge!"

This is his first book that, YES he can read! As I sit and listen to him read and sound out new words I feel like he's pretending or someone is whispering in his ear. It really is darling!

Here is yet again, his little award! If anyone is in search of a fabulous preschool teacher, well lets just say she gets a ringing endorsement from me! WAY TO GO JAKE!!! It is really fun to have two kids needing reading time now. I feel this sudden lunge into a new life of responsibility, having to be MORE organized with my time, and spending equal time with both kids learning. Oh, the joys of now adding yet another little monkey into our family!

More updates...

Caleb is really my little buddy. Because we live so close to cousins it seems like he and I are at home alone...a lot! So with him taking SHORT naps lately, he is around for "cooking" dinner. He thinks it's great because Jake isn't home to tell him to take off his apron. I think it's time I make Jake a bigger one and give this one to Caleb. Either way, I couldn't be happier to have this HAPPY kid around. Yes, he puts his fingers in EVERYTHING, and spills everything but honestly, I have to admit I have several "tender" moments when I think, "Seriously, you are so adorable!"

Alayna and her cousins working on a FHE art activity. They were all in HEAVEN! I had just enough girls camp supplies left over for the four older kids to do a temple art project. They all were so proud of their hard work!

Isn't it amazing the DARLING smiles you can capture when it's a 2 year old, a balloon and NO older SIBLINGS teasing him! Once again, he's in total heaven when he hangs out with mom!

I guess paying for preschool is paying off...He knows how to write his name. And he passed off all his Alphabet letters and sounds.

Way to go Jake! Let's just say that this STAR is something special to Jake. He lost it momentarily, starting BAWLING hysterically and then was screaming..."But MOM, my star necklace is VERY SPECIAL TO ME!" Thankfully he found it in a bush and it's in a safe place now.

Updates on life...

Grandpa turned 90...he had his 4-tier cake that he decided he wanted and too many cupcakes to count! We all sent my Aunt memories and favorite things we loved about Grandpa. She shared them at the park for everyone to enjoy. It was SO fun to reminisce on so many memories and reasons why we are so thankful to have Grandpa in our life. And to have set such an amazing, inspiring and hard working example for us all. His legacy will always live on.

Just a cute picture of Caleb and Krista at the park!

We have also been spending some time on Saturday's cheering on Conner at his football games! Go Mustangs!

Olivia and Caleb posing for a cute picture...Caleb is yelling at the top of his lungs either..."Go CONN-O" or "Conno's football game!" (I write Conn-o because Caleb can't say his "R" sounds just like my other kids at this age!! We are just hoping he grows out of it too!!!