So I'm home today because Benjamin is sick with a virus. Who knew children got such high fevers? He also broke out in a pleasant rash around his mouth and face on Saturday after we gave him yogurt. I must say that Benjamin has done very well in the illness department. We were told he may be sick every 2-3 weeks when we started him in daycare, but so far, not the case! Some may attribute it to the wondrous powers of breastmilk. It is a sad day, but Benjamin is now all on formula. We made it to the 6-month mark exclusively breastfeeding, which was a huge accomplishment with me going back to work when he was 10 weeks old. It is hard to believe that in the beginning we spent 5-6 hours per 24-hours at this task, and now there's no more. Those who have successfully worked full-time and breastfed their babies can fully understand the accomplishment that this was for us. We gave up a lot in the time department and even more in the sanity department in order to give this gift to our son. There were many nights of hallucinating due to exhaustion in the very beginning, but somehow we got through. Now I suppose that I have an extra smidge of time during the day, I must turn my attention to some exercise. Keep checking for updates on that. I will say that it is nice to have a full 45 minute lunchbreak everyday!! By the way, the photo is of Benjamin doing his favorite activity (cuddling) after nursing in the very beginning, taken at the hospital.

Cute Outfits (Month 3)

Benjamin has worn many cute outfits (pretty much all of them gifts). So here are three for your viewing pleasure from his third month.

Giggles

Because I think this is the cutest video ever, I am going to attempt to post it. Benjamin was just lying on his playmat and I was rubbing his belly with my foot.

Benjamin has really become very loud over the past couple of months, often yelling at us and sometimes just laughing for no apparent reason.

Goshen Fair

Every year the Goshen Fire Company has a local fair. We made a quick trip this weekend with Benjamin to take him on his first ferris wheel ride.

These past couple weeks have been pretty unbearable indoors for us with no working air conditioning and a lot of chores to be done. Sometimes I wonder if we would be better off if air conditioning was never invented. We went with our second bid to replace our unit and will have our new heat pump installed this coming week. I highly recommend getting second opinions because in our case, we saved $6,000, though I think the first guy was ripping us off.

Karissa's Wedding

The weekend of July 18th, we traveled to Dear Old State. For those who don't know, Stephen and I met at Penn State in January of 2002. Stephen thought I wouldn't give him a second thought, but obviously he had me wrong. We recently passed our 4 year wedding anniversary and can't wait for the years ahead. Our most recent trip to Penn State was a special one because it was Benjamin's first trip to State College. We will hopefully make a little lion out of him. We went to a few favorite spots and attended the wedding of one of my college friends, Karissa. It was fun to see some old college friends and meet their growing families.

Swimming

Recently we decided to take Benjamin to the pool for the first time. We thought since he loves the bath so much that he might like a giant bathtub. After a few confused facial expressions, it turns out we were correct. What a great invention Huggies Little Swimmers Diapers are.

I'm Going Home

After a 4 night stay in the hospital, we came home as a family of three on January 10, 2009. Upon walking in the door, we looked at each other with the cliche "what do we do now?" Little did we know that within hours, there would be no more of that question. Life became a blur of nursing, diaper changing, and a little self-care to recover from the birth. Somewhere in there we know we had some visitors. Our tiny bundle consumed every moment of every day (and most moments of most nights too).

Blessed

Along with updating some photos of Benjamin, we would like to share memories as they come to us and also post current events in our lives. One late evening in the early weeks, we had the radio on and were cuddling with Benjamin in an attempt to get him to sleep when the song "Blessed" by Elton John came on. Ever since then, I have chosen this song for him.

Hey you, you're a child in my head/You haven't walked yet/Your first words have yet to be said/But I swear you'll be blessed/I know you're still just a dream/your eyes might be green/Or the bluest that I've ever seen/Anyway you'll be blessed/And you, you'll be blessed/You'll have the best/I promise you that/I'll pick a star from the sky/Pull your name from a hat/I promise you that, promise you that, promise you that/You'll be blessed/I need you before I'm too old/To have and to hold/To walk with you and watch you grow/And know that you're blessed

Benjamin's Birth

We're going to have to do a little catching up here on some photos for Benjamin, so here are some from his "birth"day. Our little man was born on January 7, 2009 at 1:22 am, just a couple of days early. He was 7 lbs. 12 oz. and 19.5 inches. I spent a couple of weeks on bedrest for pre-eclampsia so I was very happy to hear "congrats mom" at the time. We were (and still are) amazed and blessed by our bundle of joy. We are completely aware of the gift that we have been given and can only hope to be good parents for Benjamin. This was one of my first moments with my son. I still (nearly 7 months later) can't believe I'm his mom.