Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Happy 6th Birthday, Ben!

It's hard to believe my little guy is turning 6 years old today. I remember very vividly the morning Jake, my mom, and I headed to the hospital. It was a Sunday morning, the 15th, and my contractions were getting pretty painful. I was worried about being sent home because I hadn't progressed as far as I thought. The nurse told me I was at a 4 and sent me walking around the hospital to help speed things up. We walked around for awhile but my contractions started coming very hard, every 2 minutes like clock work. My sister-in-law, Katie, was timing them with me. I finally couldn't stand it anymore so we headed back up to Labor and Delivery. I was at a 5 and my water had partially broke. I was in labor the whole day, at 9 cm for nearly 3 hours, and finally the dr decided this little guy wasn't going to come on his own so I was prepped for an emergency c-section. Within minutes Ben was out. The whole room was amazed at how big and pink he was. A few called him "Hercules." He weighed 10 lbs. 1.6 oz. and was 21 inches long. Jake and I were nervous first-time parents. I think we did everything you could possibly do wrong with a newborn. Amazingly enough, though, he still turned out just fine. Now, my big boy is my big helper. He's a very sensitive and caring brother, almost always thinking of others before himself. He loves to play games, play with his cousins, go sledding, t-ball, swim. His favorite foods are pizza, chicken nuggets, green beans, fettuccine alfredo, and salmon. He also is learning how to cook and loves to help in the kitchen as much as he can. His specialty, pizza and chocolate chip cookies. Benjamin Jacob, we love you. Thank you for being such a good boy. Happy 6th birthday!
Our first family picture together. Ben was only a couple hours old.

Ben with Grandma Call at Niagara Falls (7 months old.)

Ben's first time with Santa (1 year.)

18 months
2 years old, right before Christmas looking handsome in his new suit.

Big brother loving his little sister (2 1/2)

Ben with Dad and Emma at Dad's law school graduation (May '06)

4 years old

Easter 2007
Loving the diving board at Dave and Stevie Mangum's house (June 2007)

Ben with his new baby brother (July 2007)

Ben's first day of preschool (August 2007)

Sledding at the Eaglewood Golf Course Club House (Feb. 2008)

T-ball (June 2008)

Kindergarten 2008

Ben's kindergarten picture

And I just had to add this little video of Ben. When he was just over a year he LOVED baths and would squeal if we even mentioned the word (now Josh does the same thing!)

We love you, Ben. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

9 comments:

Ashleigh said...

Ha, that video was so cute. Ryleigh does the same thing, but lately she's been very protective over her baths and will start pushing Jayden out of the bathroom so she can have it all to herself. That's definitely my child! Anyway, I woke up this morning and actually, one of the very first things I thought was, "Oh, it's Ben's birthday today." We love you Ben and hope you have the coolest birthday ever. Happy Birthday!!!

Ksenia said...

I did not know how big he was when he was born! He's been such cute kid.

Reading your post, I can't help but hope that my kid will share his birthday with Ben :) ...C'mon little buddy, come out!

Happy Birthday Ben!

Brian and Carly said...

You have such gorgeous kids! I can't believe how cute and perfect that little newborn picture is! Avie looked like a little cone headed alien! :) I remember going to your baby shower when you were pregnant with him. It seems like a life time ago, but looking back its hard to believe 6 years have come and gone!

Heidi said...

They grow up too fast!! Happy Birthday Ben!

Woodruff Family said...

Happy Birthday to you...Happy Birthday to you...Happy Birthday dear Ben...Happy Birthday to you!

Sonja said...

Happy Birthday Ben, we love you and hope you had a great day! Rest and relax today Jamie, you deserve it!

Rachel Call said...

Jamie, I can't believe how fast your darling family has grown!! I have loved reading your blog, (I just found it) and am so proud of the woman you are! Know you are loved so much by our family. It will be wonderful to see you, hopefully soon. Keep going with your personal trainer! What an inspiration you are. Love you!

Annie said...

Happy Birthday BEN!!! It was such a short time ago that we were both pregnant and going bowling with Grandma Alma (do you remember that?) Now we Ben is 6 and Allie will be in Feb! CRAZY!!! Great post! Love the pics!

Nancy K said...

I remember coming to the hospital!!!! What a fun kid he is!!!!
Birthday wishes from us!