Week One

Here's Callie's 1st Week in pictures!

Fresh from the oven! I am born.

Meeting my new big brother and sister was awesome!

I spent three glorious days in the hospital with this lady...I *think* she's called mommy?

She and the blond guy called 'daddy' dressed me up, put a giant bow on my head, strapped me into this contraption and took me home.

My first week was H-O-T which made me super-drowsy. I spent most of my time snoozing away, fooling mommy and daddy into thinking I was an easy baby. Bwahahahahaha.

I started to wake up, so they bought me a swing. My big brother and sister love helping to buckle me in and press the buttons for mommy. They're a little too helpful sometimes, and I swing harder and faster than the manufacturers intended!

On my sixth day of life outside the womb, I got my first sponge-bath at home. It was NOT fun.
One week old and lovin' life on earth! Hello world, here I am!

Nana Comes To Visit

Dan's mom came to help with the new girl and we had a wonderful visit! She stayed for 5 days and we were all so sad to see her leave. From the minute she arrived, she was incredibly helpful and Ben and Emily fell in love with her right from the start. They loved all the attention and affection she gave them and I loved all the help=) Thank-you so much, Nana! We miss you!

Favorite Pictures From the Hospital

A self-portrait of Callie and Mommy. I love this picture because she looks like a
Campbell Soup Kid--smiling with those chubby cheeks=) She even looks like she's winking!

This picture cracks me up. I'd love to know what Emmie was thinking as she rubbed Callie's head.
Something about her expression tells me it wasn't something sisterly!

The Best Daddy In The World holding the
third luckiest baby in the world(Ben and Emily holding the 1st and 2nd position, naturally)

Ben told me to take his picture as he posed with his new umbrella and new baby sister. Love this kid!

Coming Home

I decided to come home a day early, after receiving two of the saddest phone calls from a very blue Emmie. She was really missing me and hearing her little voice on the phone tell me so broke my heart right in half. All the doctors agreed that we were fine to go home, so we made our way from the relative calm and safety of the hospital to the chaos of our home! While leaving early wasn't the best choice for me, physically, it was absolutely the best choice for my family and I'm so happy to be here=) I missed my husband and children terribly and couldn't wait to bring the new girl home for good. Our first day home was a whirlwind that my mind has blocked from my memory, but I have a few pictures that captured the mood!

Sweet Callie, all dressed up and ready to go

A maniacal Daddy, foretelling the events ahead--pure insanity!

Enjoying her first car-ride and her brand-new carseat.

Callie, enduring the pokes and prods of a curious big sister

Benjamin, enjoying his new baby sister

A very tired mommy, ready for a nap and a percoset!

Introducing Callie Josephine!!

On Friday, July 10, 2009 at 1:15 in the morning, we happily added the third cast member to The Benmily Show! Callie Josephine was born via emergency c-section after 6 hours of mild labor contractions. She weighed 7 lbs, 13 ounces and is 20.5 inches long. She's our biggest baby yet, weighing a full pound more than Ben(6 lbs. 13.8oz/20.5 in.) and 9 ounces bigger and 2 inches longer than Emmie(7 lbs. 4 oz/18.5 in). We jokingly say she should be named Benmily, because she looks exactly like both her big brother and sister as newborns. It's like we morphed the two together and just gave her darker, thicker hair=) She's absolutely perfect and we're all head-over-heels in love with the new girl! We'll be home by Tuesday, and I'll overload the blog with pictures then!

At Last We Meet

Once they woke up and found out I went to the hospital to have Baby Callie, Ben and Emily couldn't wait to come and visit. Before you go thinking they were excited to meet their new baby sister, let me tell you how we've talked-up the arrival of Baby Callie to our two toddlers=) Ben would often state that he didn't want Baby Callie to come live with us, and all the advice I'd read was to get your older children a gift from their new sibling as a way to endear them to their older sib. Thus began the concept of "Baby Callie as Santa Claus". I asked Ben if he'd like Callie to bring him a present, and of course he did! Over the months, we'd discuss what she'd bring him and how excited we were to go to the hospital so he could get his gift. Yes, it's cupboard love, but it worked! His final gift of choice was an umbrella(?!), while Emily prefered a new backpack(to go with her current collection of 4). They were excited to see this Baby Callie we'd been speaking of, but couldn't wait to get the presents she was bringing them!

All that changed the minute they laid eyes on her=) I've never seen two young children so in love with a baby and she doesn't even do anything yet! She's the first person Ben wants to see in the morning and he talks to her and about her all day long. Emily spends less time focused on her little sister, but often stops what she's doing to pay her a visit, kiss her, pet her and say, "Baby Callie so cute!". They both want to help me with her, especially Ben. He loves to help change her diaper and always asks if he can feed her=) He's even tried to pump his "booboos" to make her some milk, haha! Explaining the anatomy of a nursing mother is a little out of my element, but we're working on it! We're only a week in(and less than that has been spent at home), but they seem to be happy with the new addition. We've hit a few snags regarding the dividing of mommy's time and attention, but loving the baby is more than half the battle.

My Own Personal Labor Day

Apparently Miss Callie couldn't wait for her c-section day(7/13) because I started having contractions Thursday night during bedtime. They never got to the "OMG, somebody kill me!" point, but for over three hours I was able to time them. We called the doctor and they told me to go in to be checked. After being monitored for about 45 minutes, the nurse decided it was Go-Time and I was prepped for surgery! From first contraction to first cry it was 6 hours and definitely an experience to remember! I was my most lucid ever during this emergency c-section and I must say that I am happy to never have to experience this again! Callie is worth every ache, pain, discomfort and inconvenience of pregnancy, labor, deliver and recovery, though!


Hello, World! 7 lbs, 13 oz 20.5 inches long and more beautiful than we ever imagined

PUT.ME.BACK!!!!!

L.O.V.E.

Morphine...a mommy's best friend=)

New Park

Sadly, our new neighborhood lacks the awesome proximity to child-friendly activities that our old apartment did. We're enjoying being able to play in our front and back yard but sometimes a kid just has to go to the park! We have one small park within walking distance, but I've discovered that time of day is a huge factor in when we can play at it. After 11:00, it's far too hot and often frequented by less-than-desirable characters(bums, creeps, etc). Before 11, we've found nice kids, nice parents and nice weather. Better than nothing!

Emmie enjoys a snack in the shade

Ben says hello from the top of a ladder

Making friends with the water fountain and this little guy(never caught his name, as he only hable espanol!)

Picking wish-weeds while her crazy brother plays in the water

Baking Brownies With Benjamin

As I've mentioned before, Ben has found a love of baking. He loves to help me bake things, and luckily for him, I only bake in the most basic sense of the term. Think brownies/cakes from a mix, break 'n bake cookies from a package, just-add-water muffins from a box etc. All "recipes" that he can help with and what a good helper he is! I think he loves it just as much as I do=)
The weeks leading up to my delivery have me craving brownies like nobody's business. Ben loves brownies even more than I do, so he was more than willing to help endulge my final pregnancy-cravings!


Pour

Mix

Stir and Smile

Lick the spoon and get cleaned up!

Family Day

This was our last day as a family of 4 and I really wanted it to be special for Ben and Emily. After my last OB appointment of this pregnancy, we took them to play mini golf! This was Emily's first time and we discovered she's a little too young to enjoy the game as intended. She was very frustrated trying to hit the ball with her club and would get so upset when her ball wouldn't go into the target. Once we got the ball in, she'd flip out that it disappeared. She liked physically putting her ball into the hole, though! She also enjoyed all the various miniature houses/displays on the golf course=) Ben, on the other hand, was in his element and enjoyed a fun-filled game with Daddy. At 38 weeks pregnant, I chose to fore go playing a round and acted as "Emmie-wrangler" and photographer! Once we finished our game, we ate some pretty terrible food in the snack-bar and played some games in the arcade(and by we, I mean Dan. He pretty much hijacks the tokens with the excuse of wanting to win as many tickets as possible for prizes. Suuuuuuure, Dan. Whatever you say.)



"Go in your home! Why won't you just go in your home?!"--Happy Gilmore

Benny Woods in action.

Yes, she might be technically cheating, but she looks cute while doing so!

Emily was much happier playing Guitar Hero;)
She stood there with that guitar, strummed it, sang some songs and won the hearts of fans the world over.

Farmer's Market Fun With Ruby

We met up with Ruby and her Grandma Mary at a different farmer's market a few weekends ago and the kids had a blast. They held hands the entire time and walked around like the Three Amigos=) They took time out to play "Ring Around the Rosy", show off their dance moves, chase each other around the lawn of a business and sample fruits and veggies from the various stalls.


Ben and Emily, patiently waiting for Ruby

The Three Amigos

"ashes...ashes...WE ALL FALL DOWN!"