Sometimes it takes a lot to keep Benjamin happy at dinnertime. He's teething right now, so meals can be hard for him if his mouth is hurting. Bram has found that distraction is the best way to help him get through meals. Here's some of his most recent attempt to keep the boy happy!
July 29, 2008
Benjamin learns a new skill
Benjamin has not been around too many older kids. The other night our friends Dusan and Elizabeth, and their daughter Eva, brought us dinner and hung out for a little while. Benjamin loved playing with Eva - and she taught him a new skill (well, almost.)
July 22, 2008
Our first day home and what I learned
Monday, July 21st was my first day home alone with the boys. Before this day actually arrived I had many worries. How well would Benjamin adjust to me having divided attention? What would happen if we had to divert from Benjamin's routine? How would Benjamin do while I nursed Christopher? All these questions lay at the back of my mind. All I could hope in was God's grace to help me face these and other unknown challenges.
The morning arrived and I felt a peace that I could not have conjured up on my own. I know my prayers and the prayers of others were being answered by the Lord. Everything happened the way I had secretly hoped. Christopher nursed at the perfect times. Benjamin was in a good mood and played happily throughout the morning. Lunch went off without a hitch and Benjamin went down for his nap without any complaints. While he slept, Ruthie Hemple came over and stayed at the house while I took Christopher to his 2 week check-up with the pediatrician. I was shocked when the nurse told me Christopher had already gained a pound over his birth-weight! At birth he weighed 7 lbs. 15 oz. When we left the hospital he weighed 7 lbs. 9 oz. At his "new born" visit to the doctor (two days after we came home) he was 7 lbs. 12 oz. Yesterday he weighed in at 8 lbs. 14 oz. He gained 17 oz. in 11 days! The doctor said that is pretty rare for breast-fed babies, so needless to say, I am very proud of myself...hehe! I can't say that I am very surprised because my brother grew at the same rate as a baby...we might have another Jamison on our hands :) I hope I can keep up with his demand! What a blessing not to have to worry about how well Christopher is growing. When we got back home, the ease of the day so far continued. I could not have written a better script for our first day in the new routine!
All of these things, the perfect day and Christopher's beautiful growth, have reminded me that God is faithful when we humble ourselves and acknowledge our dependence on him. Left to myself I am emotional and reactionary. But, with his grace I have peace and an abiding joy that changes my perspective on any circumstance, be it easy or challenging. My heart is filled with gratefulness for God's blessings and I am freshly reminded to posture my heart in humility toward him who freely gives blessings to a sinner such as me.
"In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths."
Proverbs 3:6
The morning arrived and I felt a peace that I could not have conjured up on my own. I know my prayers and the prayers of others were being answered by the Lord. Everything happened the way I had secretly hoped. Christopher nursed at the perfect times. Benjamin was in a good mood and played happily throughout the morning. Lunch went off without a hitch and Benjamin went down for his nap without any complaints. While he slept, Ruthie Hemple came over and stayed at the house while I took Christopher to his 2 week check-up with the pediatrician. I was shocked when the nurse told me Christopher had already gained a pound over his birth-weight! At birth he weighed 7 lbs. 15 oz. When we left the hospital he weighed 7 lbs. 9 oz. At his "new born" visit to the doctor (two days after we came home) he was 7 lbs. 12 oz. Yesterday he weighed in at 8 lbs. 14 oz. He gained 17 oz. in 11 days! The doctor said that is pretty rare for breast-fed babies, so needless to say, I am very proud of myself...hehe! I can't say that I am very surprised because my brother grew at the same rate as a baby...we might have another Jamison on our hands :) I hope I can keep up with his demand! What a blessing not to have to worry about how well Christopher is growing. When we got back home, the ease of the day so far continued. I could not have written a better script for our first day in the new routine!
All of these things, the perfect day and Christopher's beautiful growth, have reminded me that God is faithful when we humble ourselves and acknowledge our dependence on him. Left to myself I am emotional and reactionary. But, with his grace I have peace and an abiding joy that changes my perspective on any circumstance, be it easy or challenging. My heart is filled with gratefulness for God's blessings and I am freshly reminded to posture my heart in humility toward him who freely gives blessings to a sinner such as me.
"In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths."
Proverbs 3:6
July 21, 2008
Who's who?
Here is a picture of each of our boys at 2 days old. Can you tell which one is Benjamin and which one is Christopher? (No peeking at previous posts, please!)
July 13, 2008
July 9, 2008
Christopher's birthday
The Story:
Sunday morning came like every other morning of the last three weeks. I hadn't slept very well and the tiredness was still lingering as I made my way downstairs to eat breakfast. This morning Bram was scheduled to serve at church - he needed to leave no later than 7 am. After I eat and helped get him ready to leave, he made me promise I would go back to sleep, for I was having contractions again. As he left I told him that I wasn't sure if I would be able to get Benjamin ready to come and church later on if the contractions persisted. He assured me that whatever I felt was necessary would be okay - I didn't need to push myself. I went back to bed and awoke to Benjamin singing in his crib at 8:15 - we wouldn't make it to first service after all. Benjamin was in good sorts for breakfast and played happily as my contractions got more intense. I began to suspect that these contractions were actually working...maybe this was early labor. I called Bram at church in between services to let him know that contractions were getting strong. He said to me, "Maybe we will have a baby later today." I couldn't bring myself to hope that this was the real thing. But by the time Bram got home from church I was more comfortable saying I was in labor. Bram said, "Of course you are!" There was no going back from there.
After eating lunch I laid down for an hour and slept between contractions to gather my strength for the work ahead. When I finally got up, there was no doubt in my mind I was in labor, but I was not so confident that I would have the baby before the night was through. I continued to labor at home and when contractions were about 3-4 minutes apart I called the midwife. We were to meet her at the hospital at around 6:30 pm. I ate a little dinner and made sure everything we needed was in the bag. Jenny and Ryan arrived to care for Benjamin at 6:00 pm, and with hugs and kisses for our first born we were out the door to return the parents of two! We made it to Shady Grove Hospital in a matter of minutes and got lost on the way to the new maternity wing! With the help of some kind strangers we finally found the right elevator and made it to where I would be admitted. We got into the room and the midwife checked to see how far I had progressed. I was already 7 centimeters dilated and 90% effaced! I was so surprised to be so far along. The next couple of hours held very hard work for both Bram and I. I never felt the need to have pain killers and was able to stay on my feet for a good amount of time before pushing. By around 9:30 pm I was completely dilated and now only needed to wait for the urge to push. At 10:00 pm I started pushing and an hour and a half later my new baby was laid across my stomach! The midwife let Bram "catch" the baby and announce to the room who's birthday it was. Bram, with wonder in his voice I can still hear, said, "We have a little boy!" Our little Christopher Abraham was born at 11:26 pm on Sunday, July 6th, 2008!
His birth has blessed us in so many ways. One way we are blessed is to be entrusted with such a precious little life to raise - this alone is more than we deserve. Another way we are blessed is the fact that he was born naturally, without the need for any intervention. This met a deep desire in our hearts, for after Benjamin was born by c-section we were glad to have a healthy baby, but disappointed that I had to have surgery after 16 hours of labor and almost 3 hours of pushing! We are so in love with our two little boys - born just over 16 months apart! We are so looking forward to life as a family of four (for now!)
The Pictures:
I know all of you are anxiously waiting for some pictures. So here they are!
Here's our little boy about 20 minutes old (he had only just stopped crying from all the poking and prodding from the nurses.)
A happy and relieved mom.
Everyone is all tuckered out - it's been a very long day (well mostly night).
He absolutely loves mom's striped shirt; he couldn't stop staring!
And here is a short little video -- not much action, but Christopher sure is one of the cutest little guys ever!
------------------------------
Benjamin has not been too sure of this new little person. Here's Jenny holding him, with Benjamin looking on. Notice he's holding a little baby doll -- up until today, "baby" has always referred to the little doll that Benjamin sometimes carries around. Now "baby" means this other little thing??!
"Dad, this baby doll is moving on its own! I'm not so sure about this...."
This is a handsome bunch. Sarah is outnumbered!
Sunday morning came like every other morning of the last three weeks. I hadn't slept very well and the tiredness was still lingering as I made my way downstairs to eat breakfast. This morning Bram was scheduled to serve at church - he needed to leave no later than 7 am. After I eat and helped get him ready to leave, he made me promise I would go back to sleep, for I was having contractions again. As he left I told him that I wasn't sure if I would be able to get Benjamin ready to come and church later on if the contractions persisted. He assured me that whatever I felt was necessary would be okay - I didn't need to push myself. I went back to bed and awoke to Benjamin singing in his crib at 8:15 - we wouldn't make it to first service after all. Benjamin was in good sorts for breakfast and played happily as my contractions got more intense. I began to suspect that these contractions were actually working...maybe this was early labor. I called Bram at church in between services to let him know that contractions were getting strong. He said to me, "Maybe we will have a baby later today." I couldn't bring myself to hope that this was the real thing. But by the time Bram got home from church I was more comfortable saying I was in labor. Bram said, "Of course you are!" There was no going back from there.
After eating lunch I laid down for an hour and slept between contractions to gather my strength for the work ahead. When I finally got up, there was no doubt in my mind I was in labor, but I was not so confident that I would have the baby before the night was through. I continued to labor at home and when contractions were about 3-4 minutes apart I called the midwife. We were to meet her at the hospital at around 6:30 pm. I ate a little dinner and made sure everything we needed was in the bag. Jenny and Ryan arrived to care for Benjamin at 6:00 pm, and with hugs and kisses for our first born we were out the door to return the parents of two! We made it to Shady Grove Hospital in a matter of minutes and got lost on the way to the new maternity wing! With the help of some kind strangers we finally found the right elevator and made it to where I would be admitted. We got into the room and the midwife checked to see how far I had progressed. I was already 7 centimeters dilated and 90% effaced! I was so surprised to be so far along. The next couple of hours held very hard work for both Bram and I. I never felt the need to have pain killers and was able to stay on my feet for a good amount of time before pushing. By around 9:30 pm I was completely dilated and now only needed to wait for the urge to push. At 10:00 pm I started pushing and an hour and a half later my new baby was laid across my stomach! The midwife let Bram "catch" the baby and announce to the room who's birthday it was. Bram, with wonder in his voice I can still hear, said, "We have a little boy!" Our little Christopher Abraham was born at 11:26 pm on Sunday, July 6th, 2008!
His birth has blessed us in so many ways. One way we are blessed is to be entrusted with such a precious little life to raise - this alone is more than we deserve. Another way we are blessed is the fact that he was born naturally, without the need for any intervention. This met a deep desire in our hearts, for after Benjamin was born by c-section we were glad to have a healthy baby, but disappointed that I had to have surgery after 16 hours of labor and almost 3 hours of pushing! We are so in love with our two little boys - born just over 16 months apart! We are so looking forward to life as a family of four (for now!)
The Pictures:
I know all of you are anxiously waiting for some pictures. So here they are!
Here's our little boy about 20 minutes old (he had only just stopped crying from all the poking and prodding from the nurses.)
A happy and relieved mom.
Everyone is all tuckered out - it's been a very long day (well mostly night).
He absolutely loves mom's striped shirt; he couldn't stop staring!And here is a short little video -- not much action, but Christopher sure is one of the cutest little guys ever!
------------------------------
Benjamin has not been too sure of this new little person. Here's Jenny holding him, with Benjamin looking on. Notice he's holding a little baby doll -- up until today, "baby" has always referred to the little doll that Benjamin sometimes carries around. Now "baby" means this other little thing??!
"Dad, this baby doll is moving on its own! I'm not so sure about this...."
This is a handsome bunch. Sarah is outnumbered!
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