What's Ben Been Doing?

With all the excitement over new baby Anna, you might think Ben could be feeling a bit left out.  Well, fear not - this boy has had an action-packed few weeks for sure!!

He's been eating donuts at the farmer's market...

...snoozing with Daddy on Saturday mornings :)

 
 
Riding his new tricycle (he's not really into the pedaling thing yet, though...just being pushed!)
  

Having a ball at big brother's soccer games...even wearing a cool Manchester U. jersey!!




Playing golf with Daddy...

...and his MOST favorite activity of the summer...going to the POOL!

Bringing Baby Home...

Goodness, time is just FLYING by with little Anna!!  So much has happened in her little baby world ~ here's what we've been up to for the past two weeks!

We brought Anna home two days after she was born...here we are ready to leave the hospital!

We had a little bit of trouble with the carseat, even though it's the same one we used for Ben.  Anna and Ben were close to the same size, but it seemed like we couldn't get the seat to go small enough for petite little Anna!  Mark and the nurse worked on it for a while and we finally felt good about keeping her safe for that 5 minute drive home :)

First ride in the car!!

 

She had a tiny, tiny bit of jaundice ~ so little that the doctors didn't even require any follow-up.   So, we tried to get her a lot of sunshine the first few days.  Turns out that's hard when you've got them bundled up keeping warm!!  Here she is looking very Elvis-like with her shirt open to let some skin show, sitting by the window...

Out on her first stroller ride!  I was itching to get outside and enjoy this "cooler" weather we've been having.  She did GREAT riding in the stroller, and even slept better that night.  Of course, I took her for a stroller ride the exact same time the next day, hoping for another good night....no such luck, ha ha!!

Anna's big brothers think she's pretty neat.  I love this picture - it's the first time Ben got to hold his sister.  We'd been keeping them separate as much as possible because Ben had a 102° fever the night before we brought Anna home (YIKES!), but fortunately, that was the worst of it.  So, I think he was pretty excited...so sweet!!

Anna's first visit to the doctor ~ Granddaddy Raoul!

Our sleeping beauty :) 

Anna's Birthday

So, Anna's really here...I can't believe how fast it all happened!  One day, I'm at my 39 week appointment (38 weeks and 6 days actually), and the next minute, I'm crying all the way home because the doctor has told me they want to induce tomorrow!!  Mama's not ready!!  Of course, I couldn't wait to meet my sweet baby girl, but I was not prepared at all mentally (nor was my to-do list in good shape yet, ha!!).  But, it was in baby's best interest...several weeks ago, my belly started measuring small so they did an ultrasound and estimated she weighed 6 lb 4 oz.  So, at that last appointment when another ultrasound indicated she weighed the same as she did 2 weeks ago, the doctor thought since we were so close to the due date, it didn't make sense to wait any longer.

In the end, though, it all ended up working out wonderfully.  Just like with Ben's birth, we really couldn't have asked for a more perfect experience, and for that we are so very thankful :)  Here's how the day went....

Friday, 9/2/11:  We arrived at Franklin Woods Hospital at 6:20 and unpacked our bags in room 1412.  I filled out all the paperwork and got "hooked up" to the IV and baby monitor. 

7:30 - Nurse Cindy starts the pitocin drip
8:30 - Dr. Bevins says I'm 3 cm and 50% effaced, so it's time to break my water!
10:30 - Mom and Ernest arrive for the big event :)
11:30 - Nurse anethesist comes to do the epidural (I didn't want to get stuck waiting over 2 hours like last time!),

and we wait, wait, wait....

Passing time on the laptop while the meds start to work!

Finally at 2:15 Nurse Cindy says we're at 5 cm, then just 30 minutes later, at 8 cm.  Daddy immediately starts running around the room getting everything ready!!  I think that's when he put his game face on, ha!

At 3:25 it was time to push, and Baby Anna was born just perfect at 3:39 p.m!

Here she is, just minutes old!!

7 lb 5 oz...boy were they wrong about that "not growing in the past two weeks" bit!! (Praise God!)

~ Mama, Daddy and Baby Anna ~

Proud Daddy (Anna, when you read this one day, I want you to know your dad couldn't stop saying how beautiful you were!!!)

Proud Big Brothers, too!!!

Beautiful Baby Anna

Just a quick picture (or four, ha!) from the hospital nursery of our little girl...Mark and I just can't stop looking at her and saying how gorgeous she is!  (Proud parents, huh?!)

She's Here!

~ Susanah Julia Williams ~

September 2, 2011

3:39 p.m.

7 lb 5 oz!

Anna & Co. ~ 32 Weeks

Last month (in the sweltering heat!) we had maternity pictures made for little Anna.  These were done by Swanky 5 Studios and I just love them!  They're also going to do Anna's newborn pictures and I can't wait because they always seem to do something unique :)

Ben Goes to School!

We're so proud of Ben!  His first day of preschool went GREAT!!  Daddy took him and he was a happy camper thanks to a special treat of Apple Jacks for the morning snack.  He told Daddy, "Bye bye" and his teacher Mrs. Juanita said he didn't shed a tear ALL DAY!  What a relief that was for Mama :)

We've been "practicing" for preschool (i.e. being away from Mama, Daddy or Grandmama for a little bit) by way of the church nursery, and honestly it wasn't going well at all.  So, I was glued to my phone just waiting for "the call" to come get him due to excessive crying.  Well, that didn't happen ~ WHEW!  I was so anxious for him, I even dreamed about it the night before and had a belly ache when I woke up, ha ha ha!!!

My sweet little baby, all grown up....*sniff sniff*....

Stillllll Partying!

I was thinking that being two years old calls for two posts with the birthday festivities :)  So, here are a few pictures from when we celebrated at home.  

First thing on the day of his birthday:  "Why are you singing 'Happy Birthday', Mommy?"  (I think I'll take one of these every year...Click here to see him back on his first birthday!)

Somebody's excited about Elmo cupcakes!!

This was Ben's reaction when we tried to get him to put down the ball and bat to open the next gift...ha ha ha!!!

 

Can't wait to blow the candles out (again!!)

Playing with the Pirate Ship water table we got him - splashing Mommy and Daddy seems to be the best part!!

Ben with Great Grandmother Nana...

Giving big brother Mason some spanks with the help of Uncle Tom!

 

Our Happy Little Fella!!

Anna's 3D Ultrasound

A few weeks ago, we excitedly went in for Anna's 3D/4D ultrasound.  I was SO hoping she'd be more cooperative than Ben was for his (remember he kept his arm over his face almost the entire time, or turned toward my back!).  Wellllllll......believe it or not, she was actually WORSE!  Boy, did I think the pictures from Ben's ultasound were "iffy"...wait 'til you see these, ha!!  That's OK, though...we did get one or two good looks at her face from the side or top, and I thought she really looked like Ben in the womb!!

The ultrasound tech said we had a few things working against us...one was that she had her face pressed really hard up against me - so that made a lot of her face pics look distorted, especially her nose.  Her nose and mouth also looked strange in a lot of the images because the umbilical cord was right over them.  Apparently, they can "look through" parts like the cord sometimes, but it might look odd (which it did).  Also, since she was so pressed up against me, there wasn't much amniotic fluid,which is a must to get a good ultrasound pictures.  Maybe the waves have to have that to go through to make a good image?  Oh well...given those things, maybe we didn't do so badly after all!

We did get to see her moving around in general, which was amazing, of course.  At one point, we saw her open and close her mouth so clearly, and another time, we could see little fingers in front of her face!  Here are some pictures....

This one is of her face slightly from the side (the brown picture) and the 2D black and white picture is her profile.

Here's her face again, looking down with her hand over part of it - you can tell the hand by all the fingers showing.  It was so neat to watch her waving those sweet little hands around!

 Another face and hand picture, but I especially loved this one because it looks like she's sleepy, rubbing her eyes.  Check out those FAT CHEEKS!!

And, finally, we made SURE to verify for the third time that she was "still" a she...IT'S (still) A GIRL!! :)

Shootin' Hoops

Here's Ben playing with the basketball goal he got for his birthday - I think he likes it!! 

Look Who's Two!

Two and Terrific!!  :)  Ben's just cute as a button (sorry about his braggy mommy, ha ha!) and his Elmo Party just fit him to a tee!  We invited about five friends and went to the pool to have cupcakes and go swimming.  

Check him out swinging on a BIG BOY swing!  I think that was the first time he'd done that!

 

The theme of his party was Elmo.  Although he's not into TV in general, much less Sesame Street, he does seem to be interested in Elmo and has a few books and stuffed Elmos that he likes to play with.

We had cupcakes (with Elmo's face on them, of course!), fruit, goldfish (Elmo's pet is a goldfish, ha ha!), and "Elmo Oreos" ~ it wouldn't be a celebration without Ben's favorite food, you know ;)  The swirly lollipops are favors that said "Thanks for coming!" 

Lighting the candle for the birthday boy!!  We practiced the night before and he LOVES blowing candles out, asking, "More Candle"!



Ben's friends Sophia, Clara, Liam, Ensley, and Addison were there...

...and also Mimi & Pop, Grandmama & Grandaddy, and Great-grandfather Pawpaw & Ms. Alice (all the way from Gastonia!)

He had a ball opening presents (here he is wearing his new Baby Banz sunglasses he got!), but it was a little hard for him not to play with what he had just opened...I can understand that!! :).

Sliding on the playground with Chandler...

And last, but not least, (thanks to the Oreos ) looking more like Cookie Monster than Elmo ~ Ben and Mama :)

Anna ~ 32 Weeks

These days, little Anna is stilllll kicking a LOT.  I just read that this week is the peak of her movements and from now on she'll move less and less because she'll be getting cramped in there!  She is turned head down now, and should weigh about 4 pounds.  Mama is feeling a lot better, maybe because I started taking probiotics and iron supplements.  I try to remember to take a Tums every night before bed because I've started getting bad leg cramps in the middle of the night like last time.  The doctor told me that Tums would help even more than eating bananas!  I'm also trying to stay out of the pool (anything to avoid more Cryptosporidium!), but it's hard with Ben...he keeps saying, "Mama in!  Mama in!"

Anna's room is finally coming together!  I found curtains,

fabrics, paint colors, a cute storage bench...

I only need to get a crib (trying to narrow it down between two choices), dresser and chair.  They're not washed yet, but I did put all her clothes on hangers and organized them by size to get a better idea of what else we might need.

At my 32 week doctor visit today, everything looked great as it always has so far - Praise God for that! :)  My feet are starting to swell a little some days, but other than that, I'm so blessed to have had a GREAT couple of weeks here lately!  Here's the latest belly shot progression...we missed a few weeks in between 20 and 28, but we'll try to make up for it in the next few weeks!