Superbowl Sunday

Back in February, we had our annual SuperBowl party and were excited again to see the Colts playing. Well, everyone except Zach, who doesn't really care about the Colts, and wore a Green Bay jersey that day. This year it seems that there sure were a lot of little guys and girls running around. Here are some pics of the day.


Lily, Ginger, Luca, JT, Tyler, and Annette playing in the library.



Caden and his Daddy, Andy in their Colts gear.



Everyone showing their Colts pride and playing hard.



8 Months with Max, but showing the Manning support. Too bad Colts lost. :(

The Other Side of Easter

After his dad dropped him off, Luca went about the Easter business the way he should. He had an Easter egg hunt at Noma and Pops' house. Looks like he sure found a few too!

Uncle Jacob helping Luca to not eat the dirt.

Maxwell Arrives

Max's Bassinet card



Right after they cleaned him up, I got to hold him for the first time.




Happy and sooo tired.



Our new addition with his Momma and Daddy.


Luca meets Max for the first time.




My sweet Benedict Boys


Cuddling with little Max. He still lays that way when you home him.



Dad hanging with Max at one day old.

Maxwell, Maxwell

Maxwell. What more can I say? We barely had his name picked out before he made it very clear that he was on his way. With Luca, I had Braxton Hicks for about a week, and then four nights of terrible contractions, and then finally with the help of some pitocin he arrived. Maxwell, however being the little guy he is, decided he would be a little different. We had already decided to induce a week early becuase he was measuring a bit big, and I had extra fluid, but also because of the way that Luca's went. We were going to try to avoid the nights of contractions so I could at least be rested. So two weeks before the due date, of course my doc had to go out of town, but I wasn't worried because I hadn't had BH at all and was feeling pretty good. It also happened to be Easter weekend. Easter Sunday morning I wake up at 2:30 with a pretty strong contraction, so I roll over and try to ignore it, thinking that maybe I was just laying funny. Five minutes later, I have another one, and another one after five more minutes. Finally I get out of bed about 5 o'clock and go take a shower, and start packing my bag, thinking that we'll go to the hospital, they will check me and tell me that I have to back home. I wake Zach up at 6:30 and tell him to get going, pack his bag, and get Luca up and going because it is time to go to the hospital. Of course he thinks I am full of it so he takes his sweet time getting around and reminds me that they will just send me home, and we don't arrive to the hospital until 8:00 am. They take me to triosh (sp?) and leave me there for HOURS while Zach walks poor Luca around and tries to keep him entertained. Finally, I convince Zach that this is probably the real thing (although later I found out he really wasn't convinced, he just did what I asked to appease me) and he takes Luca to his parents house. Finally about 2:00 pm they put me in a room, and break my water. By doing that they find out that just like Luca, Max has meconium in the fluid, only much worse than Lu and that he can't stay in there much longer. They give me an epidural at about 4:00 to spare me the pain of the MUCH stronger than Luca contractions, and I am finally comfortable. I am able to sleep a bit and then at about 8:00 things are really ready to happen. I am reeling, because of how fast it feels that it is moving for me. The nurse checks me and says, "oh we never gave you a catheter, so lets do that." Once they do that, Max is coming like a bullet train and the doctor has to literally run in to be there in time. The nurse said that he may have been there earlier had it not been for my bladder holding him up. I push for only 15 minutes and once his head is out the doctor says something I couldn't hear to the nurse, who then leaps onto my belly like a lemur monkey and they are all shouting at me to push- then he is here, perfect, and pink, and wonderful, and finally after some work, crying healthily. Apparently, he was near being stuck and suffocated, but with the nurse's help, he came out just fine. I got to have him on my tummy right after he arrived, and I was so thrilled to see him. I look at Zach and say 'wow that was fast' and he looks absolutely stunned. He says 'Yeah.' After we had a moment to let it sink in, we both take a breath and smile at our beautiful new boy. He weighs 7 lbs 2 oz (at two weeks early), and is 20 inches long. He was born on Easter Sunday at 8:47 pm. I then wonder if it some sort of sign that I was born on a Good Friday and he is born on Easter Sunday. I think to myself that it definitely means he was meant for me.

Pregnancy...again....

As I may have posted before, this pregnancy was a suprise to Zach and I, but we also were so happy once the news sunk in. We found out on our fifth wedding anniversary that he would be the newest addition to our family. The pregnancy was tougher on me than Luca's. I had morning sickness pretty badly the first trimester, caught the flu shortly after that and was really sick, soon got bronchitis, and then was just more uncomfortable in general. Also, I carried Luca very low, which seemed easier to maneuver and was more comfortable, whereas Max I carried high and always felt like I had a heavy backpack on backwards that I couldn't take off. In the end it all turned out well, so i guess I can't complain (any more than I just did.) :) Here is an 8 month pic on Super Bowl Sunday.

And the Colts didn't win... :(