6 Days Old

Can you believe that Benjamin is almost a week old! I can't. He had his first trip out of the house on Saturday. We went to his 4 day check up just to see how he is doing and can you believe that the little piggie already weights more than when he was born! We left the hospital Thurday with him weighting 6-4, on Saturday he was up to 6-11!
Of course afterwards we went to Target, Brian wanted to go to Home Depot but we didn't need anything and since no one including myself thought that he would really be two weeks early we really needed to go to Target.

Here are some photos from just a couple minutes ago......

Madelyn is my little helper. Today we cleaned downstairs & set the baby swing up so Benjamin could take it on a test drive while we ate lunch.
And of course the other kids can't be left out, and since Brendan is at school we will have to get him afterwards. Here is Madelyn playing on her computer that she bought with her birthday money.

Benjamin's Details

Okay this will be quick since I don't have any new photos to post but here is Benjamin's quick birth story:
Saw the doctor that morning & she said that I wouldn't make it another week and that I would be lucky to make it to friday.
Madelyn & I walked to pick Brendan up from school & the contractions started about 10 minutes apart. We went to Chuck E. Cheese for Madelyn's birthday dinner out, on the way there 8 minutes apart. By the time we ate it was up to 5 minutes and when we left at 6pm they were 4 minutes apart.
The kids & I packed, they went to Sharon's house and Brian was playing with his knife making stuff, he really didn't think it was really happening. We went to the hospital at about 7:30ish, at 8:30 I was dilated to 3 and they sent me walking for 1 to 2 hours. I was able to walk for about 45 minutes before the pain was too close for me to walk though. Went back and was a 4 so they admitted me. Had my lovely epidural, broke my water after 10pm & by 1 am I was dilated to 6 and less than an hour later he was ready to come out. Push one was to turn him to face the right direction (his shoulders were a little sideways.) Push 1 1/2 was the head. The poor doc wasn't even able to get the scrub gown on over his scrubs.
Very quick and easy. And no we are not having any more.

Baby Ben

I will let Jen handle posting the details. I was just told that Ashley demanded pictures ASAP :D

I don't want to tick that girl off, so here you go :D

Madelyn's Birthday Party

We had Madelyn's 3rd Birthday party this past Saturday at Papa & Grandma's House since I really didn't want to worry about having my house totally party ready 2 weeks before my due date!
We had a full house 8 kids & 10 adults! Here are the photos from the party:
The girls playing together:Madelyn's Birthday Cupcakes...
I learned that there is a difference between using pam & pam for baking, I was out of pam for baking & regular pam just doesn't work on castle bunt cake pans.
Blowing out the candles....(we learned from last year & clipped her hair back)

My favorite photo....eating cake.
Her huge pile of presents....

Sunday playing at home with her littlest pet shop toys. (Yes she has a ton of them)

Brendan taking a break from playing to read from his chapter book. (yes he can read chapter books now, yes he is only in kindergarten!)

Madelyn's 3rd Birthday

In getting ready for Madelyn's 3rd Birthday she has been getting packages, cards & gifts. Here are some photos of her opening some presents before her birthday party that she had on Saturday. Here she is opening presents from Brian's friend Michelle.

Ultra Sound Photos

Here are some of the Ultra Sound photos from this pregnancy.
First we have the 36 week ultra sound just a couple of weeks ago. This is that alien front-face view.Here is the profile shot. (That is the umbilical cord in the background that looks like bubbles) Sharon & I think that he has Brian's nose.
Here is that first ultrasound where they just confirm that the baby is growing in the right spot. All you really see is a blob at the bottom of a black hole.
Here is the typical 28 week ultrasound where they check that everything is growing correctly & the right size and so forth. This shot has the head & body labeled. You can see the spine on the body really well.
Here is one of the legs & both feet too. They use the size of the head, stomach & femur bone to guess the length & weight. Of course I don't remember any of that now.

Haircuts

With the weather getting warmer it is time for the kids to get their hair cuts before Madelyn's birthday party & Easter. Brendan was beginning to look like a Shaggy from Scooby-doo.
So Brendan goes to the 'Chop Shop' here in Berkley & Madelyn wanted to get hers cut there too. Here is the before of Brendan:Brendan getting his cut:
And for the most part the after: (he now is just a fuzzy duck, but a handsome fuzzy duck)
The closer it got to Madelyn's turn the more she didn't want to get hers cut. So I had to have her in my lap to get the job done, there was no way she was going to sit in that huge chair by herself (just a note, other than her first cute which just took the burnt ends off the front, her other hair cut before Thanksgiving she had to sit in my lap too.)
I will have to get better after photos of both of them.

Well it was so nice when we got home from the Chop Shop on Monday I got the kids bikes, big wheels, skateboards & scooters out for them to ride. They had such a great time that I totally forget to start dinner until Brian pulled up home from work. Opps. Good thing dinner was easy that night.

Madelyn trying to chase Brendan. Sooner or later she will be able to catch him.