Benjamin Stephen Burkhart 10-4-11

Our son, Benjamin Stephen Burkhart, was born Tuesday, Oct 4th at 8am. He was 9lbs and 21 inches long! A much bigger boy than we were expecting! And oh my, how we are in love!

We decided to go ahead with the induction due to my dr.'s strong urging ( I had an DNC with Bekah and he wanted to be in as much control as possible to prevent that from happening again), he was 4 days over due , topped with the fact that Zack would be leaving town in just a week, it eventually felt like the right thing to do. Zack and I had been praying about it ( along with many sweet friends and family) and I am so glad we made the decision that we did, because who knows how big he would have been then! : )

Here Zack and I are, bags packed, ready to head off to the hospital by 8pm, Monday night. A funny thing to put in your planner, 8pm- Induction! : ) May May and Gramommy would be staying with Bekh and we knew that girl was in good hands, a sleepover with BOTH grandmas!

To sum up the birth story, we got there at 8pm, by 10ish, I had a room and then, by midnight, they had given me the cervadil, or the cervix softer, the first part of the induction process. Well, after just 15 minutes of the cervadil being in my body, I was already having contractions! So I happily accepted the offer to get an epidural, which in itself was interesting because the Dr. had a hard time getting it in, declaring that I had a little bit of scoliosis, I had no idea! So, that made for a lengthy process, but after it was all said and done, I was VERY happy! By 4ish, that night, I had reached 5cm! ( I had gone in at 2). When the nurse checked my cervix at that time, she accidentally broke my water, because he had dropped so much, and I found myself in labor without the petocin, which really worked out nicely. By 7ish, the dr. had come and after 30 minutes of pushing, Benjamin made his entrance!

There was not a single person in the room who wasn't surprised to see a 9 lber come out!

Daddy and Son:

Zack is going to be such a remarkable role model to his son : ).

Saying hello to his daddy:

Grandpa introducing himself:

Love those cheeks!

Gramommy giving some love:

Aunt Rani and Uncle Jeff came as soon as they could:

Close up of him on his birthday:

Voicing his opinion on the swaddle, as daddy tries to brush up on this talent of his:

Special thanks to MayMay and grandpa for all their work leading up to Benjamin's arrival, MayMay was here a whole 10 days early and it was sooo much fun and so helpful to have her around! Thanks for sharing her Grandpa!

Gramommy will be with us all this week since Zack will be out of town, and we sure are excited!

But she made sure to come in for the delivery!

And now, for the most important visitor of all, Big Sister Bekah!

To answer everyone's kind question on how "Bekah is handlig it", she is doing really well! Sure, she is still spunky and full of personality like any two year old, but nothing out of the ordinary, so far so good! Her potty training has even gotten back on track! And yes, I look at her ALL the time and think about how BIG she is! I heard that is what happens the minute your 2nd comes and it is indeed true. Makes me a little sad, but mostly excited : ).

My mom said when she took her to school that morning, she would walk past random people in the hall and say, "I'm a big sister now!" She was SO proud and excited!

That afternoon, my mom and dad picked her up at school, and took her by the hospital to meet him, and so we could see her, I missed her already!

She was immediately interested, curious, happy and as always, SUPER talkative!! Man that girl can talk, and man does she have lots of opinions and observations that she likes to share!

All she wanted to do was touch him, I couldn't have been more pleased and grateful with her reaction!

It really was a special moment I will never forget, the first time our family of 4 was together!

Thank goodness my dad got it all on video!

Teehee, I know that this is a bad picture, but I decided to include it to represent her "spastic excitement" for her brother because really, you have to watch this girl like a hawk, all she wants to do is poke and kiss and hug and everything else that is basically sweet, but makes mommy a bit nervous for her fragile baby!

May May wasn't there for the birth, like Nora and my dad were. She happily stayed back to wake up with Bekah and get her off to school. It was very selfless of her!

Our first, of many, family of 4 pic!

I really can't say it enough, I am so smitten with this boy . .  ever since he was born, I just can't stop praising God for the gift He gave us. I still can't believe it . . .

So when I don't return phone calls promptly, or my emails are not answered for a week, it is this guys fault! These days, my favorite past time is to sit and stare at this little guy!

My friend Stephanie gave me a baseball that you can have people sign, such as the dr and the parents, and then you put the birth date on it and so on. Here is my doctor, Dr. Cook. My mom always spoke so highly of the doctor who delivered my brother and I and after having two kids, I can now understand just what she was feeling, it's a pretty unique kind of gratitude, the kind you feel towards the dr that helped to bring your child into this world! What a prayer answered!

Maybe some of his 9 lbs were in those cheeks of his??

Sweet visitors came like Emily and Robyn, and they even came, bearing desserts for the whole family!

I've been watching their adorable boys grow up and I am so excited to have one too! 

We were discharged a little bit sooner than we thought, but my friend Erin still wanted to come by and say hi, it was so kind of her! She is one of my many precious playgroup friends : ).

Unlike some people, I actually love hospital visitors!

Benjamin was born on Tuesday, and we got to go home on Wednesday, which in a way, felt too early, but in another way, not at all, we were ready to get home to our little girl and start our lives together!

You know what though? His"going home outfit" that my friend Ting made for him did not snap up! He was THAT big! Teehee! It was sort of funny, guess I should have brought a back up outfit! ( I kept trying to move his hands out of the way, to show the cute onsie, but he kept putting them back, it has his initials on it)

Bekah has a bunny that we took a pic next to each month that my parents gave her and so, they couldn't help but want to find him a stuffed animal too. They found him a bear and then, had a polo shirt monogrammed with "Ben's Bear" on it. You will see this bear every month as we document just how big our boy is getting!

And remember that bat that my dad made and put on the plaque? Well, when we got home, Zack had the honor of using the wood burner to put Ben's "stats" on it, such as his weight and birth date.

Finished product:

Bekah was sleeping when we got home, so when she woke up, we greeted the big sister with her brother!

Looking at him, most people say he looks like Bekah  did when she was little, which is so cool to me!

That night we had a cake for Bekah and sang her "Happy Big Sister to You!"

And trust me, this girl is NOT being neglected, if anything, becoming a big sister has spoiled her! Everyone not only has presents for him, but for her too! Yes, the girl is doing JUST fine! It makes me giggle just thinking about how much attention she has gotten!

Exhibit A:

A new dollhouse! What a dream for Bekah! Neighbors down the street wanted to get their old one out of the house and guess who they wanted to do such a thing? Lucky us! When they desperately asked me if I wanted one, I couldn't believe our good luck, because that very "hand me down" would be what Benjamin would be "giving" Bekah for being a big sister!

 I can't tell you how excited I was about unveiling it to Bekah the next day!

Her reaction was just as I thought, love at first sight!

Thanks for my gift Benjamin! You are an excellent shopper already!

I am so happy with the way the timing worked out, for Zack had the whole rest of the week off, to just chill and hang out with the family. We were definite homebodies that week and I couldn't have enjoyed myself anymore than I did, having my 3 favorite people with me in our cozy house! ( it even rained most of the days, making the staying at home fun, even cozier!)

It left me plenty of time to take pics of our precious little gift:

There is nothing like having a child to serve as a reminder of God's miracles and His love for us, and so, to end this post all about a little guy that makes my heart flutter every time I look at him, here is the bible verse that Zack has chosen for our son, Benjamin Stephen:

"Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever s admirable- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy- think about such things."

Philippians 4:8