What Happened to Spring?

We have a lot of catching up to do! It has been awhile since an update, and we have been pretty busy at the Brown household. Mother's Day was several weekends ago, and it was a very nice day. I got pictures of the kids along with my cards as I woke up. This was the first time that Adaline had the opportunity to hold Benton on her own. She loves her brother so much, and I am glad have photos to capture that. We had a nice morning at church, and then I got to have an afternoon away to enjoy a late lunch with my mom.


Group hugs!

The weekend after Mother's Day, my brother, Josh, his wife, Michelle, and their daughter, Tallison, came home to NC from Colorado for a visit. It was nice to spend some time together after so much time away. The cousins had the chance to play and we got to catch up a great deal.

Talli / Josh playing ball with Talli

Uncle Ryan holding Benton / Adaline and Talli sharing a seat

This past weekend Shane worked at camp and I took the kids for our first trip on our own. We traveled to Apex for a baby shower for Melanie, a college friend of mine. My first experience on a weekend away with two little ones was tough, but made so, so, so much better and doable with the help of my great friends. I am thankful.

Laurel / Adaline and Kay playing "house"

Benton's baby butt

We all got back home on Sunday and now have one week left to prepare to go to camp for the summer. It is so hard to believe it is already that time again. It sneaks up on us every year. Before we go, however, we will have one more weekend of visitors. Shane's mom and Jerry will come in on Friday to spend the long weekend with us and meet Benton. We are very excited for the visit.

With all that is going on, we have to fit in rest when we can. Shane's favorite time is resting with Benton, but he does so much to help me as well. Shane has been a great dad and I am so blessed to have him and all of our wonderful family and friends!

Happy Earth Day and Easter

For Earth Day weekend, Shane removed the almost dead dogwood tree beside our house and replaced it with a new cherry tree. He was glad to get the stump out and the new tree in place. Now we can just watch it grow.


We celebrated Easter at home. We went to church in the morning and Benton made it all the way through the service just fine in his first trip to the nursery. After church and Adaline's nap time, mom came over and we had a egg hunt in the back yard before dinner. It was more of us pointing at eggs and Adaline running to pick them up. She was excited to fill her basket and even more excited when she had a taste of the candy eggs inside after dinner.



In other news...Adaline got her first bike! It is a starter bike with no pedals that is supposed to help get young kids ready and used to the balance part of riding a bike. She will start off just scooting along with her feet, and eventually will begin to glide and steer. Right now she is still just slightly short but loves to have Shane push her around. She runs to and points at the bike whenever she sees it to initiate a ride.


Benton had his 5 week check up last week and all is well. He has been struggling with a bit of cradle cap and congestion, and his sneezing has us wondering if he has allergies, but overall it was a good visit and everything checked out fine. He weighed in at 9 pounds, 12 ounces and 21 inches long. He really hates getting undressed (diaper changes and bath time) so it was a pretty loud time with his crying. Wonder how the shot visit will go in another month???

Camp is also just around the corner. Shane is busy at work getting prepared, and we are excited for a summer together there. It will be an adventure!

Treasures

Our little man is growing so fast. It is hard to believe a month has almost gone by.


We have enjoyed having Benton around so much. Learning to be parents of two little ones has been challenging at times, but certainly entertaining. Adaline has been wonderful at her role as big sister, and she seems bigger than ever. She always seemed so small until we brought Benton home. Now she is impressing us more and more each day.

Napping arms crossed on the couch / Adaline giving one of her many many kisses to Benton

Here are some videos we have taken recently... The first is just Benton, mostly for family at a distance that hasn't gotten the chance to meet him yet. He is just hanging out, but very alert when awake. He is much more vocal than Adaline was, so we are still getting used to the loud cries (not in video). The second is some tummy time with Benton, and Adaline is showing how much she loves being near by. Every day when Adaline gets home with Shane, she runs to Benton and gives him lots of kisses (not sure if it is pure love or just the praise from us).


As I mentioned, Adaline has been growing so much. She is really improving on her skills with a fork and spoon (videos below), she is showing a great deal of understanding when we speak to her, and she is trying a lot more vocally. She says several words now with consistency and comprehension, including yeah, no, uh oh, ball, shoes, knock knock, and even hello. We are so proud of her accomplishments and love hearing her new found voice. The speech therapy is finally showing progress, and we are excited to get more and more.


We celebrated my 31st birthday this past weekend, and I had a marvelous day. Shane did a project of mine (that I wanted to do years ago) for my gift, and I am so pleased that now I can hang some pictures in our hallway. I will post a picture as soon as we get them up. We were also able to have a night out thanks to Nana coming to stay with the kids. Thanks for the birthday wishes everyone, and we wish you all well!

It's a BOY!

Yeah! He's here! Benton Parks Brown was born on Wednesday, March 16th, at 5:30 PM. It was the first day of my 36th week (5 weeks longer than Adaline!), and I was getting ready for work. Around 7 I finished up my cereal, and on the way to the sink with my bowl, my water broke. I called to Shane, and after mom arrived to help with Adaline, we were on the way to the hospital. I spent the day trying regular labor (with only a one sided epidural), but after getting to 8 cm, the doctor decided I would not get any further and this baby would have to come another way. I went in for a c-section a little after 5:00 and soon after, Benton was with us in the world. He arrived at 8 pounds, 15 ounces (just a few ounces short of his estimated weight) and was 20 and 1/2 inches long.

We spent the next three nights in the hospital. Many people helped us out so much with Adaline back at home to allow for Shane to be at the hospital as much as possible. Thanks! It was difficult for both her and us to be apart, and we were excited to get to come home on Saturday.

The first night home was tough and a new challenge began with two children so young. Adaline has been a bit confused as to who this new little creature is in our house. She wants to touch, poke, and grab at Benton a lot, and we can't let her. She also is showing us that she may be a bit jealous and needs some extra loving. It is hard to tell her I cannot pick her up and play with her as I normally would because I am still healing. She doesn't understand, and I look forward to feeling normal again soon so that we can play as usual.

On Sunday, some family came to visit, including my grandmother and aunt from Colorado. It was a fast, but wonderful visit, and we were happy that we got the opportunity to get together.

Adaline watching Benton / Great Nanny with the great grand-kids

Since we have been home we have been getting settled and enjoying life as a family or four. It will still take some adjustment, but we are so blessed and happy!

Still Cookin', Still Waiting...

Two more weeks have gone by and we are still waiting for our new arrival. Cheri is just over 35 weeks pregnant now and is still doing relatively well. We had another ultrasound appointment last week and the doctors estimate that the baby is just over nine pounds already! It is hard to believe the new baby could easily be over twice Adaline's birth size by the time it is born. This of course is all pretty nerve wracking, and Cheri continues to have contractions at various intervals all of the time. The doctor wants us to keep hanging on as long as possible to give the new baby as much time to develop as possible and said that by the time the baby is born it could weigh in the high 10's. None of this helps Cheri feel any more comfortable trying to sleep at night or get around during the day. It is hard sometimes to stay patient and just wait for the baby to let us know when it is ready.

Adaline is pretty much oblivious to our stress level and continues to grow mentally and physically every day. She is saying "uh-oh" pretty regularly and seems to be trying to work on other words too.




Adaline really likes it when we sing to her and has been working on the motions for Itsy Bitsy Spider, If You're Happy and You Know It, and Row, Row, Row Your Boat.




Adaline seems to finally be feeling better after a double ear infection diagnosis and a quick round of antibiotics. We were able to get out and enjoy the great weather last weekend at Adaline's favorite place - the park.




Life for the Brown's rolls on and we will just keep waiting, watching, and praying. Who know what the next update will bring...