Visiting

Last week we ventured out and visited the grandparents/great-grandparents. The great-grandma's hadn't seen Ben yet, so we thought we would go show him off and in the mean time stop and have lunch with the grandparents. While we were at Mom and Dad's, Mom mentioned to Jenna how much fun she had had with her when they went to Salem pond together a couple weeks before. Jenna remembered that and insisted that we go. She kept calling the pond the "puddle". It was pretty funny. So between visits, we stopped at the "puddle" to feed the ducks, splash in the water, and play on the playground. Luckily it was hot enough that Jenna didn't want to stay long. The whole day was fun, but very tiring! We were gone all day long and it was nice to go home and lie down. Here are some pictures from our day.

Jenna had to strap Dolly into the car seat before we left.
She was very selective on which ducks she would throw bread to
Checkin' things out
I love how Ben's shorts crept up to make him look even more like an old man.

First time at church

Sunday was my cousin Nelson's homecoming so we took Ben to church for the first time. He slept through the entire meeting, so it was nice and uneventful. I just thought he looked really cute in his little outfit. I couldn't get a good picture of it, though. The first one he has a poopy look on his face and the second one he looks like a giant because of the angle I took the picture at. Oh well, trust me, he looked cute.

2 week appointment

Ben went in for his 2 week appointment and a little "nip and tuck" today. He did really well and has been sleeping most of the afternoon. Here are his stats:
21 1/2 in long--up 2 1/2 since birth! He's in the 85-90th percentile. Joel is ecstatic!
7 lbs 14 oz--up 5 oz since birth. He is in the 30-35th percentile
37.4 cm head circ.. He is in the 60th percentile. Another Tolley noggin!

Pre-appointment
Post-appointment

Ben

I thought I would post some more pictures of Ben now that he is more than one hour old. Hopefully he looks a little more normal.

A few things about Ben:
*He has huge eyes that are fun to watch first thing in the morning when he is calm and just looking around
*He has really long fingers and toes. Joel says that should help him in the NBA
*He has a sister who ADORES him, but he is still not so sure about her
*He LOVES to eat!
*Going outside makes him fall asleep
*He is lots of fun to have in our family!

Pre-Ben Activities

Two weeks before Ben was born, we decided to go up in the mountains to try to beat the heat a little. It wasn't much cooler up there, but we still had a good time. We drove the Alpine Loop and stopped off for a little "hike" around Cascade Springs. It was a lot of fun and pretty relaxing. We took lots of pictures, but here are just a few.
I had really been craving S'mores for most of the summer. Since camping was not that appealing to me being pregnant and all, and we hadn't planned ahead by inviting people to go into the canyon with us for a bonfire, we decided to make do with what we had--a charcoal grill.

We went out back and roasted marshmallows on our own little grill. It was perfect! We didn't come home stinking like smoke, if we forgot something we just went inside the house, and it was pretty quick. Not to mention, it was a beautiful night! The S'mores were yummy and we still had time in our night to watch a movie. It was great!

Baby Brother

Jenna has no clue what is about to happen to her...
Baby brother's arrival...
8:45 Hospital called. Be there by 9:30
9:30 Arrive at the hospital
10:00 Baby's heart rate dropped and they couldn't find it, so they put an internal monitor on him which broke my water. They have to wait for the doctor to look over the heart rate history to see if they can start the pit or not.
11:45 The doctor finally gets back and says it's okay to get me started
1:30 Get the epideral. Life is wonderful
2:55 Dialated to an 8
3:50 Start pushing
3:55 Baby arrives with the cord wrapped around his neck twice as well as around his hand.

He is healthy and happy (as far as we can tell so far). We are both doing well and should be home in the next couple of days.

Pioneer Day

I had the day off for Pioneer Day (July 24th), but Joel did not. Jenna and I took the opportunity to head down to Spanish Fork for their Fiesta Day parade. Joel doesn't like parades (which, really, who does?) so we could go without him. I was determined to let Jenna have a good time and in the process maybe help baby brother make his arrival sooner rather than later. The parade started and the candy went flying. Jenna was too shy to run out on her own and get the candy and her cousins hadn't arrived yet to help her, so it was my duty to show her how it was done. When you are only two and really cute, your success rate in getting candy is pretty high. I was dragging her in and out of the street shoving taffy in her pockets. It was a lot of fun.

After the parade we went back to Grandma's house (which fortunately was only 1/2 block away from the parade) and made lunch. We had hot dogs, corn, and chips. We sat around and talked for a while, then Jenna and I left. All the running around really took it out of me. We went home and rested until Joel came home. We told Jenna on the 4th of July that we would see fireworks again on the 24th so she was really excited. Unfortunately the only place doing fireworks in all of Utah County was Spanish Fork. We didn't want to head back down there so we went over to Jami's house and watched them set off their own fireworks. Those really scared Jenna so we headed home pretty quickly. The day went by really fast, but it was really fun!

Getting closer to the candy action. (Don't look at the fat lady next to Jenna)
Playing zim-zam at Grandma's just like I used to do when I was little.
Playing with "fireworks" (snaps) with Daddy.

We are in trouble

Jenna has been so excited to help get ready for baby brother. She has helped put his clothes away, set up his room, put up the crib, etc. She has also tested out all of the binkys and put all of the diapers on her dolls. What makes me the most scared though, is that she insists she is a baby and must lay down in his crib, get her bum changed on the changing table, and sit in his car seat. I am really nervous to see what happens when the baby actually arrives.

She stripped down naked (because all babies are naked), climbed in the car seat, and whined like a baby.

Present for baby brother

In preparation for baby brother's arrival, we went to Toys R Us and Jenna picked out a present to give to him. She picked a stuffed frog. She absolutely loves it. We had to hurry and wrap it up and put it away because she kept coming up with excuses to play with it. She had to "show baby brother how it ribbits". She wants to just "show it to him" all of the time. She is so cute with it. I am nervous to see what happens when she gives it to him. Maybe the present he got her will take her mind off of it.

She wouldn't let me take a good picture of her. She was tired of me asking her to pose.