Benjamin Joseph

Born September 12th -- we're calling him "Joseph" (Tim says we can call him "Joe" too). He's a very good-natured little boy and has already started figuring out that nights are for sleeping. The first thing Tim did this morning was check on Joseph, really cute. He says that he "used to not like him, but now [he] does." Carolina is another story. She's coping okay, but she's doing her best to ignore her baby brother and impose herself physically on me everytime I'm holding him. I need to post a picture of her with her brother. When we got home from the hospital, I could have sworn that she grew twice her size while we were gone just the one night. If she hadn't gone in for a check-up a couple weeks ago, I would have sworn that she was much bigger than average (she actually weighs under the 50th percentile, but she's definitely still solid!)

Here is Joseph within a few minutes of birth. Absolutely amazing!!




Here we are a few hours later.


These last two were taken today -- he's four days old. He weighed 7 pounds 1 oz at birth and lost a few ounces while we were at the hospital. He's so tiny. I always laughed when I saw "newborn" clothes at the store -- my kids would never need them. Tim was 8lb6 and Carolina 8lb14. Now, I put their little sleepers on him and they don't come even close to fitting. He was born two weeks earlier than they were, but he still would have probably been my smallest. Eventually, he'll catch up!
(I made this quilt and am finally adding a post to my other blog soon).


Brothers! (3 1/2 years apart)

Big news!

So, Ben has accepted a new job. This is going to be a huge change for the whole family. He'll be moving from a neurosurgery/neurology position at a big hospital 35 minutes away, working 14-hour shifts, nights and weekends included. He started looking for his new job earlier this year, mostly to get away from working nights and Sundays. He had a bunch of interviews with nearly as many job offers, but felt like he should turn down every single one of them. He was getting a little discouraged and then a family practice job less than half a mile from our home was posted on one of the job sites. Yay! Of course, they liked him -- he'll be starting there a couple weeks after the baby is born. The hours are great. Now, the kids will be able to see him every day!

So this map shows our home (the house), our church (the sun), his work (the red cross), grocery store and even the school that Tim will start attending in two years. Everything within a half mile of home -- Amazing!! (just eight more shifts left -- half are nights)

Carnival time

I really like living in a small town and here's proof -- a Carnival that is very accessible, not too expensive, and just the right size for our family. Carolina takes a while to warm up to new things. She wanted to get on the rides, but then would try to throw a fit when we tried to get seated. She's 'miss independent' and likes to make her own decisions about everything. Both kids had fun though!

This made for a long day -- Philadelphia in the morning until afternoon and the carnival in the evening. Ben is such a good sport! He's been working long days (or nights sometimes) and lately has not been able to enjoy a "stay at home" day like the kids and I do. About once a week, I just announce in the morning that it is a "stay at home" day and the kids know we are just playing at home. They know not to even ask "where are we going today?" I get so much done on these days!

Philadelphia trip

Yesterday we journeyed up to Philadelphia, about 2 1/2 hours from here. This is our third year heading up to Shriner's Hospital (a wonderful free orthopaedic pediatric hospital) to have the orthopaedic hand surgeon, Dr. Kozin, look at Tim's thumbs -- his thumbs don't really bend at the first joint. This year he says that he doesn't believe Timmy will have any deficiencies or delays related to his thumbs and we don't have to return unless there is a problem. Yay! He's a really great doctor and we were happy to hear the news. Tim's deformity (don't really like that word) is very minor compared to most of the patients we encountered, so we already felt so blessed. I was never too worried about his thumbs; he still uses them at least as much other kids and does really well. As he says, "my thumbs are good."

After Shriner's we stopped by Franklin Square for a carousel ride. This was a first for Carolina and Timmy doesn't remember an earlier time that he rode. They really enjoyed it!

The next two pics are from the same square. We went to the foodcourt a couple blocks away (remember it in one of the chase scenes from the first "National Treasure?") for Mexican food.

Mets game!

The last post said "Big games!" so here's the second one -- Mets vs. Nationals. This was just three days after the Redskins game. Ben's a big Mets' fan, so I gave these tickets to Ben for father's day, hoping it would be a fun evening for him and Timmy. I think Timmy had had his fill of pro-sports and so he was not a very good sport himself. He decided he missed his sister and was disappointed she wasn't there. It will be awhile before he goes to another game. I think they left after the fourth inning with Ben actually able to watch just one of them. Tim did get to ride the metro -- that was a first according to him because he was too young to remember an earlier time.

Big games!

We've had a busy week! Last Saturday, Tim and Ben went to a pre-season Redskins game with our friend Kris. You can check out their blog too for a few pics. Carolina and I were tempted to go, but I knew it would be a late night for her and I wasn't willing to ruin our Sunday morning. She's been doing so well in nursery. The only "off-day" she has had was when we were visiting with family and she lost some sleep on Saturday. Although she didn't go to the game, she dressed up to see them off.

Notice the multiple barettes? She used to be opposed to any hair decoration; now, she insists I put as many as she can find in her hair. I think she had six in yesterday!

Tim's fondest memory is the big helmet that all the players run out of at the beginning.

Indiana, part 2

Just a few more pictures of the kids at the museum. Carolina was in her element with everything. She enjoyed being colored.

Carolina loved the air dryers after a particularly wet area.

My upside-down boy.

Indiana trip

We really enjoyed our trip to Indiana -- even though it's a long drive. It took us about twelve hours with stops/traffic each way. The kids were real troopers. We had fun visiting our friends and spent one morning at cMoe, a children's museum in Evansville. They really could have spent all day there.

Carolina enjoying the legos with her dad.

The kids liked playing in the sand, I mean "rice" box. Timmy kept correcting me.

Digging for dinosaur bones.

Sleeping girl

She was out of sight and suddenly very quiet while I was making lunch today. I've been trying to get her down to one nap a day, but some days she still needs two. Today, she took things into her own hands. Here she is a the bottom of the basement stairs where it is dark and cool -- perfect for a nap. She has her favorite blankie and lambie (check out my other blog -- finally updated -- for her new pillow).

Monday night baseball

First baseball game for the kids and my first game since Ben and I started dating (five years ago). It was Mormon day at the park -- the first picture is Tim, Daddy, and Mormon pitcher Jeremy Guthrie. I'm not sure how many innings we made it through, but it was after ten when we left. The kids are real troopers. Pop-pop and Uncle Gene joined us too (along with a bunch of ward members).

Hummer fun

This will probably be the closest they ever get to hummer. The kids loved it. Seatbelts would have been a little helpful, but Carolina is a real trooper and didn't mind nearly being thrown out with Tim's quick starts and stops. It had been almost a year since we had been to visit Ben's aunt and uncle and the hummer was really the only thing that Tim was sure he remembered.

Carolina Beach

The kids loved the beach. Mostly just digging in the sand because it was a little on the chilly side that day. Tim thought it was cool that it's called "Carolina Beach," but he says next time we need to go to "Timmy Beach."

Tractor Museum

The museum has been closed for some time now due to the owner's death, but you can still roam around it and check out all the rusty tractors. The kids got a kick out of it.