Happy New Year!

Waiting for the new year is not easy....

Simon, Jackson and myself made it, but not by much!!

Have a very Happy New Year!!!

Two, Four, Six, Eight...

...who do we appreciate?

My 2, 4, 6, and 8 year olds!!

For the next month I hit that "sweet spot" of having everyone at a nice even age.

How fun!

The End of an Era

Sad, but true, our crib came down for the last time. It's been in four different houses with four different children and seeing as Simon had to rig it when he assembled it for Whitaker we knew when it came down this time, it was final.

So long crib!  We had some great memories!!

Above and right - Jackson

Above and below - Bennett

For Haviland

And Whitaker...

Four is the new Six

I thought 6 was a decent age to learn to ride a bike.

Bennett Bear the outdoorsman set his own standard just a couple of weeks after he turned four.

Note his hands - he insisted on wearing "racing gloves". We are in so much trouble when he turns 16!!!

He's Four!

Who buys their four year old power tools?

We do, of course.

Bennett loves anything that is fast, loud and powerful so Simon and I got him a real leaf blower. He was so excited! 

The cake, as always, was fabulous - mom made it of course!

And we had a wonderfully simple party at the park.

If you can't tell we have a "boy" boy on our hands. His gifts from others included a bow and arrows, basketball, t-ball bat and tee, and a pogo stick. It doesn't get any better than that for him!

Happy 4th Birthday Bear!!! 

We love you so much!!

History with a three year old

I love hearing what Bennett picks up from the older kids' memory work.

His favorites this year are singing about the Black Plague, the guillotines used in the French Revolution and the "bad guys" from World War II.

Should I be worried? :)

Bible Study with a Three Year Old

On an average morning either Jackson, Haviland or myself take turns reading our Bible Study to one another. For the most part, Bennett grabs a book for himself and sits nearby.

Friday he announced that HE would be reading the Bible to us that morning so here's what he said. (I had to have him repeat himself so I could catch most of it.)

"Okay, Chapter 2. Deliver our temptations. Deliver us from evil, not from Egypt and not to Jonah's whale. Praise you, O Holy God with liberty and justice for all."

I love that boy!

Leaving his mark

I have a mystery for you. 

Can anyone decipher this cryptic symbol?

I found it on Jackson's violin practice chart...

 

And also on the closet door...

Oh wait. It's only Bennett practicing his "B"s.

Watch out.

"Busy Hands" Bennett is on the loose.

 

Ahhhhh....

...there's nothing like returning home from vacation

                                                 to discover a freezer full of spoiled meat.

(I'm trying hard to laugh at the antics of a certain three year old who's busy hands got him in trouble once again. Just give me a few minutes to get over my gagging.)

Three!

Bennett, how does it feel to turn three?

"SUPER!!!"

 

 

The big highlights of the day were playing with friends, the bubble lawnmower (Thank you Aunt Staci!), his super hero cape, and his lawnmower cake (both of which were made by his Nana)!

I love you Bear! xoxo-Mommy

Got grass?

Bennett is very verbal so I don't have any trouble understanding what he says. However, this morning he came to me and said "Got grass."

I said, "Do you want to cut the grass with Daddy?" That's usually his favorite thing to do, but he usually asks for that by saying, "Ride lawnmower with Daddy?"

He said, "No! Got grass!"

About that time, I hear a noise.

"Grass, mom, grass!"

"Oh," I replied, "You've got gas!"

"Yes Mom, grass!"

Outside fun

One of the mothers from our local CC group is a very talented writer, artist, and photographer.
The other day she called to ask if she could take a few pictures of the kids for an article she's writing for a regional magazine.

I can't wait to show the ones she's using for the article, but don't know if I'm supposed to or not so I'll post a few random ones she took after she got the shots she needed.

I can't believe he's 2!

Time has sure flown. And just as I did on Haviland's birthday, I want to share Bennett's birth story as well.



Simon and I without a doubt knew we wanted more children after Jackson and Haviland and we were so excited to find out we were expecting just two weeks after having relocated from New York to Georgia to be closer to family.



Having had the same midwife for Jackson and Haviland in New York I knew that I would have to start from square one in Georgia. I remember checking into the midwifery program that the Medical College of Georgia had and found that it staffed two midwives. It was a pleasure to meet them both, but I was soon discouraged as I found out that they practiced from more of a medical model of care than a midwifery model of care, but due to no fault of their own since their hands were tied by so much hospital red tape there was not room for them to provide care any other way.



I then started looking into homebirth midwives and found the only local homebirth midwife for over 100 miles away lived only three miles down the road. I remember being so excited and thought I was set! Come to find out, she was pregnant with her 7th child and our due dates were only a month apart so we eventually decided it would be wisest for her to turn me over to her mentor who just happened to live in Atlanta- two hours away!



The transition of care was smooth and I seemed to be so busy that the entire pregnancy flew by. Of course, we were house hunting after renting a house when we moved, so I'm sure that's where much of my focus was.



My due date was April 15, but in typical Graham baby fashion, the date came and went. As I passed the 41 week mark, I made an appointment for a biophysical profile and ultrasound to check on the the baby. The appointment was set for Monday, April 30.







On early Saturday morning the 28th, at 3:30 am I awoke with contractions and decided to wait for an hour to call my midwife to make sure this was "it" since she had a 2 hour drive ahead of her in the middle of the night. I took a shower and remembered to put my contacts in this time so I wouldn't lose my glasses like I did with Haviland's birth.



We called the midwife at 4:30am and she told us she'd be on her way. At this point my contractions were about 4 to 5 minutes apart and I found relief by leaning on the kitchen counter, rocking my hips and breathing very deeply.



I was still preparing for at least an eight hour labor (the length of Haviland's labor) so I remember pacing myself and trying to relax while Jackson and Haviland were still sleeping. At around 6am I tried to distract myself by reading the newspaper but found I could not read more than one story at a time without having to stop for a contraction and even noticed that my hand was leaving a sweaty handprint on the counter so I knew I was beginning to work hard. Since we figured the kids would be up soon, we went ahead and called mom to come over and she arrived by 6:20am. Not five minutes after she arrived, I started feeling tremendous pressure and a constant urge to have a bowel movement even after having just gone.



Simon took one look at me and said, "If you want to labor in the tub, now's the time." I remember thinking "No, it's too soon. I've only been in labor three hours. I'm sure it's too early." Thank goodness he's seen me at this stage two other times and knew what he was talking about. He somehow helped me the five feet from the toilet to the birthing tub that we had set up in our bedroom. It seemed to take about a year to get there.



Sure enough, the minute I settled into the warm water I immediately felt more relaxed but with the next contraction felt the unrelenting need to push and when I did, reached down and felt Bennett's head come out.



Simon o-so-calmly put down the video camera and called the midwife to check on her arrival time. She was 15 minutes away. Like a pro, Simon took instructions over the phone to check for the cord around Bennett's neck and to check his position -whether he was coming face up or down. Here's what Simon recalls:

"I don't remember. I just did what she said. Something with the head and something with the shoulders."

All I remember is pushing with the next contraction and Bennett was born at 7:10am. All 9 lbs. 9 oz. of him without any tearing whatsoever- which I credit to the ability to be able to push slowly as needed from an upright position in the water.

The midwife arrived ten minutes after he was born and was there just in time to do all of the great midwifery things like help me deliver the placenta, clamp the cord, clean up and do all the newborn checks on Bennett.

I was in denial quite some time that the entire labor lasted only 3 1/2 hours. What a blessing and incidently, I'm not looking to top that record this time around! :)

Unlike with Haviland's birth, there aren't any pictures of me in labor since it went so fast, just his first picture after making his arrival.





Bennett, I love you so much and am so very glad that the Lord gave you to our family. You make every single day an adventure and a messy one at that! I pray that it's that very same adventureous and inquisitive spirit you will use to relentlessly seek His word and will in your life - especially when life gets messy!



Happy 2nd Birthday Bennett Bear!!