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We really hope that any of you that have been hesitant to post comments will now take a moment to participate in articles and posts and other news or tidbits we post here. We’re excited to open things up a little bit, and we’re hoping this leads to good discussion and feedback. Thank you!

We’ve been really busy. New job, new house soon (!), lots of packing, and just getting a lot of Big Stuff(tm) taken care of lately.

Sure, it sounds like a line, but it’s really true. And we’re really, really sorry.

Benjamin’s super-excited about the new house. He’s stoked to have a new room, and a new house, with a new yard, a giant wooden play set in the yard with a slide and swings, and lots and lots of room. He’s also pretty excited about our decision to get a kitten once we’re in the house, and to befriend some new neighbor kids to play with.

Zachary continues to grow and smile and laugh. He’s almost crawling, but not being able to crawl doesn’t stop him from moving across 25 feet of floor in just a couple seconds, rolling and twisting his way from Point A to Point B. He eats well and plays well. We’re very pleased with his growth and his demeanor. It’s so strange to see him in Benjamin’s not-really-all-that-old clothes…

So that’s a quickie update. More soon after we move and get unpacked and settled in. The next few weeks are going to be busy!

Proofs from Benjamin’s 2-year birthday pictures! Since they’re just proofs, they’re not large nor very high-resolution. You can click them to get slightly larger sizes.

Zachary (roughly 5 months old here) is naturally in some of them. We went to a Target photo studio near us; the woman there was rumored to be terrific…and she was. We were very impressed with her ability to capture great facial expressions and the natural look and feel of Benjamin.

We didn’t order all of these poses, of course. If you see one you really like, though, let us know!

Rough week. Looking to reschedule party to a date a couple weeks from now. More on that when we figure it out…

We know it’s late notice already, so if you show up, you show up, and we’ll all be happy to see you. :)

Can’t believe it’s been two years already!

She’s still a lot younger than Daddy, though. Daddy’s REALLY old!

OK, gotta go… I hear someone coming, and I can’t let them see that I know how to use the computer properly! Bye-bye!

From everyone here, we hope you had a great year in 2007,
and we wish you all the best in 2008!

He was born at 1258am on Sept. 24th, 2007, weighing in at a somewhat large-ish 11lbs 11oz, and 22 inches long! He did great, Mom did great (though there was no shortage at all of drama during delivery), and we’re already home, a full day early. Benjamin’s already very accepting of his new little brother, offering him kisses and hugs and patting and rubbing his head, holding his hands, etc. It’s really great to see them get along so well already. We spent a lot of time seeding the idea of a baby and brother into Benjamin’s head, and it appears, so far, to have really worked out well.

More pictures and a birth story will eventually follow. Thanks to everyone for their support and interest these last many months! We really appreciate it!

We scheduled another NST and OB visit for this Monday and again this next Thursday, as necessary. We were told that they don’t let anyone go over 42 weeks, so by the end of this coming week at the latest, we should have our new addition. The OB we saw prior to this last visit seemed to indicate we’d be moving along into the induction phase much more quickly than we are, so who knows. Seeing a variety of OBs in the end-stage of it all seems rather ineffective.

Stacey’s been increasingly uncomfortable lately, so she may well progress on her own just fine. We’re all getting impatient, though…

Again, more as we know it.

For those curious, the non-stress test involved Stacey relaxing in a recliner and being hooked up to a monitor with two straps across the belly; one tracks contractions, and the other measures the heartbeat of the baby. Basically the same setup you get when you’re admitted to labor/delivery so they can monitor the baby. Stacey was also given a little button to press every time she felt the baby move.

The test was probably 20-30 minutes long. For Dad, with Benjamin there pulling on curtains and running out the room and down the hall into other exam rooms, it felt more like 2 hours! He wanted to interact with his mom and be up in her lap, which of course couldn’t happen…so he was getting a little impatient and frustrated. A box of raisins helped…

We’ll have another NST on Thursday and see the OB again. I’m sure the topic of induction will come up…and I guess we really aren’t sure what to do. On the one hand, we’re eager to see our new addition, but on the other hand, we don’t want to shorten any additional development time in the womb he might need. One thing’s for sure: Stacey’s tired and sore and ready to be done.

We’ll do a pregnancy update again after our Thursday appointment, assuming nothing happens sooner. We obviously hope something happens sooner…

Thanks to everyone that’s sent us messages of support and encouragement!

We had what should have been our last OB appointment this past Thursday. We’re moving along in the dilation department, but the little stinker still wasn’t dropping down into the necessary position. We’re told that once the baby drops, given the amount of dilation, everything should move along very quickly.

We have family and friends on standby (thank you family and friends!), and our bag is packed and ready to go!

Assuming nothing happens over the weekend, we have a non-stress test scheduled on Monday to make sure the baby’s still OK, and then we’ll have another appointment with the OB on Thursday, if necessary, for another non-stress test and to decide how to proceed, and if induction will be necessary. We’re kind of opposed to the idea of induction, it being an often slippery-slope-y kind of thing that all too frequently seems to lead to unwanted c-sections, but we’ll do what we have to do based on what we know, and that’s really all we can do.

It’s also with some emotion that we’ll be retiring the countdown widget that’s been on the sidebar of this site for the last 9 months… It’s been a handy reminder of where we were and how far we had yet to go. A great big thanks to the folks at babystrology.com, for their handy-dandy widget!

Once again, once we know more and have more info, we’ll certainly post about it here. Who knows, it could still happen today…today’s just starting! We’re certainly ready–Stacey especially. :)

• http://luciana.misura.org/2007/08/15/julia-chegou/

I did some conversions from the info listed there, too, for those who don’t do metric ;)

• 6 lbs 11.5 oz
• 18.5 inches long

Congrats again, to all three of you! :)

Benjamin will be an older brother to a younger brother. In other words, we’re expecting a boy! (Coming in September!)

So if you didn’t know already, now you do. ;)

Since we were camping the rest of the weekend, and Stacey’s Mom’s parents were there, too, we were also able to tell them in person. This past weekend turned into great timing all around for us.

We don’t have a name picked out yet. Figuring out Benjamin’s name took us a very long time, and this new baby’s name will be no different, we suspect, but we do have a couple of early ideas…

Thanks for bearing with us with this website lately, too. We have a bunch of stuff to add, but it’s been a very busy spring/early summer so far. Bottom line: Benjamin’s doing great!

I love you every day!

I light up with all the brightness and cheer that could ever exist, every time you come home. I feel like the whole world revolves around me when you’re there, and I love all that you do for me, and for Dada.

Dada was talking about how you have a special day coming, so I thought I would have Dada help me write something since most pencils are both too big and too yummy for me to write all by myself. I also don’t know how to spell just yet.

First, Dada and I are amazed, every day, by all the love that you have to give. I know that you work very hard, and still have time for me, taking care of me, feeding me, and loving me. Dada seems to get a lot of love and attention, and he seems to really look forward to it and love it, too. We both are so excited to see you when you come home every day! Even when you look very, very tired, you have time for us and try to keep us happy!

Mama, thank you for trusting me to climb and run and play and read books and magazines.

Thank you for letting me fall and encouraging me to get right back up.

Thank you for the baths you give me.

Thank you for feeding me and tucking me in at night, reading to me, hugging me, tickling me, talking with me, teaching me love and respect, words, pictures, showing me airplanes and animals, and laughing both with and at me.

Thank you for all the different kinds of food and drink you give me to try!

Thank you for trimming my fingernails and toenails. Those things grow SO FAST!

Thank you for all the clothes and toys you buy me.

Thank you for singing and dancing with me!

And thank you so VERY much for changing my stinky diapers!

Thank you for all of the other stuff I can’t think of right now because I’m just a bab…well, TODDLER now, too!

Dada tells me almost every day now that you have another baby in your belly. I don’t know if I believe him, because I look under your shirt almost every day and I just can’t find it under there ANYWHERE! But, assuming Dada is right, it seems really hard to believe that you could have more love than what you already give Dada and me. Dada has said that he knows you do, so I know you can and will!

I know I will be a great person someday because of you, Mama. Dada says he is a better person because of you, too. We love you and need you and can’t ever imagine living without you.

Have a great Mama Day!

:)

-Benjamin (Dada helped!)

PS: Dad here… I agree 100% with our brilliant son. ;)

In some babies, it not only can cause speech issues, but may affect eating. Benjamin never has had any problems eating or nursing, so it’s not that bad for him, but his tongue is still rather tightly bound to the bottom of his mouth, and you can see his poor little forked tongue when he tries to stick it all the way out.

In less than a week, on April 19th, his tongue will finally be free. After discussions with his pediatrician, we’ve scheduled Benjamin for a frenulectomy to correct the problem. As it turns out, he’s old enough now that they have to actually knock him out with a general anesthetic/laughing gas, and then snip the thing. The ENT (ears-nose-throat) doctor doing the procedure has told us Benjamin will also get a stitch or two to help prevent reattachment of the tissue and help maintain the freedom he’ll have.

So that’s great news. As endearing and cute as his little forked tongue is, it will be nice to have this finally remedied.

The only thing that’s, well, obscene about this is how much the doctors/etc are charging. By the time we’ve had our initial visit, the surgery itself and all the related trimmings (laughing gas, etc.), and the follow-up visit, the total charges (before insurance) will exceed approximately $1500. For what is basically a simple half-second snip with a pair of scissors of some tissue that Ben won’t even feel being cut due to a lack of nerve endings in the area…

It seems a bit, umm… excessive, really.

Sure, we get that he needs to be knocked out so they can actually do the work, but wow. The initial consult to get the ’surgery’ set up was billed at (pre-insurance, again) $275. The ENT did–literally–nothing! Some racket they’ve got goin’ on there, for sure…

Anyway, wish our little guy well for his first-ever surgery!

And boy-oh-boy, it’s coming up so quickly… Oy!

Enjoy the countdown!

Due date is mid-September. We’re anxious and nervous and excited all at once. :)

Our hope is for a little sister for Benjamin, but a little brother would be just fine, too, of course!

It’s been a year since Benjamin was born. He turned 1 year old today, Feb. 20th!

We wanted to let you know how the year has turned out. For us, it’s gone by VERY quickly; we knew it would be quick, but we had no idea just HOW quick it would be. Amazing!

Benjamin is growing and exploring every day. We turn around and he’s doing something new. He’s been walking since about ten months, and has now perfected the task. He runs away and squeals when chased. He can also now stand up without having to hold onto anything to pull himself up.

Alex and I take Benjamin everywhere with us. He’s been camping, fishing, to a Brewer’s baseball game, on a plane ride to Florida and back, to an Admirals hockey game, to Barnes and Noble to read books, to parks and play areas, etc. He enjoys the outings as much as we do.

Benjamin loves nature and the outdoors. He lights up when any animal is pointed out to him. He is constantly pulling back our curtains to look outside. In the car, he stares up at the sky and clouds.

Benjamin is 95% on table food now. He still loves his baby cereal with applesauce (or bananas). We can give him any fruit or vegetable and he goes crazy! Some of his favorites: bananas, tomatoes, zucchini, oranges, lemons, green beans and corn. He also enjoys apples, lima beans, avocado, cucumbers and olives. We’re definitely lucky that way. He also enjoys chicken, ham, pork and beef. The only food that seems to disagree with him is hamburger, specifically; he gets an upset stomach every time we give it to him so far.

In the last month a new trend has occurred; Benjamin will now lay down in his bed awake and fall asleep for his nap or to sleep for the night. He cries for about 5 minutes and then he’s down. What a relief for Alex and me!

Don’t get us wrong; Benjamin has his little sassy streaks too. When he gets a hold of the Tivo remote he runs away pushing all the buttons. We ask for the remote back and he takes off, all excited and laughing! He also lets his frustrations be known when we take it away. Although the remote is one of his favorites, he also enjoys power cords, nightlights, keyboards and mice, and electrical outlets. If it’s gadgety, he’s interested.

This week, we’ll get him his first haircut and flip his carseat around, too!

And finally, about this website… Alex tries to keep it updated with stories and pictures between working and caring for Benjamin. The pictures have been a little slow to appear, but we’re trying (really!). Please visit the site, get registered, leave us some feedback, and keep in touch, OK?

Hope all is well with everyone!

– Stacey, Alex and Benjamin