7 Weeks and We're Still Alive...

It's been 7 weeks and our world has been rocked. No one can prepare you for a new baby, no matter how much they try! In the past 7 weeks Benson has changed so much. He went from a skinny 5 pounder to 8.5 pounds with some chub. He smiles and coos and LOVES to lay on his back and kick his little legs like it's his job.

Here are a few things that used to make him cry:

Getting a bath
Getting his diaper changed
Being naked
Laying by himself (awake)
Yawning

Our big boy can now handle all of the above without having a tantrum! He actually oddly enjoys his diaper changes- it kills me!

We took a trip to Las Vegas for Brandon's spring break. Here Benson is all ready to go:



I had so much anxiety about the flight but he was a little angel face!


Benson was blessed in my parents ward on March 7th. Almost all of our family was there and a few close friends. Brandon gave a beautiful blessing and we had an awesome lunch after. It was a day to remember. I spent the week before trying to find some sort of outfit that wasn't pajamas or completely cheesy that would fit our tiny baby. I think I went to every baby store that exists. He ended up looking so cute...

Brandon had to go back to MI for school and I stayed a week longer. What a blessing my family is! My mom let me sleep in (which I miss dearly) and Benson got held and loved on all day. He had RSV last week and I seriously could not have handled it without them. Between all the appointments, breathing treatments, not to mention the fact that I'm still pumping and he's eating like a champ- it's beyond a full time job to take care of this little guy!


Me and Kenzie did a little photo shoot and the pictures are so, so, cute I can't handle it. Kenz is so talented, I love how she captured his personality...

Love his little face!

Sneak Peek

Benson had his pictures taken a couple of weeks ago. We had so much fun and I loved the gal that came and took them, check her out if you're in the Lansing area and ever need a photographer- http://www.studiobree.com/. I don't want to give them all away since we haven't sent his super cute announcements yet, so here are a few that we loved but didn't end up using:

I've had a long post in the works about what we've been up to, our take on being new parents, etc, etc, but this little guy prefers to be held 18 hours a day! One day it will get posted, but this is it for now.

Happy Birthday Brandon!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

to the love of my life!

Thanks for being an amazing husband and the best daddy!

Benson and I are so lucky...we love you!

Benson Loves Grammie

My mom was here for 9 days, and those 9 days were total bliss. We LOVED having her here. She took such great care of us! She made us a super bowl feast, left our house sparkling clean and made sure we got plenty of sleep. She is the only reason Benson isn't naked or in clothes 3 sizes to big, his preemie wardrobe was furnished by Grammie. For some reason when he peed all over the couch at 4:00am it was hilarious when she was here, now...not so much. It was pretty hard to let her leave, but I think my dad is thrilled to have her back. I didn't realize it would be so hard to be so far from our families. I don't want them to miss Benson growing up- but being at MSU is a great opportunity for Brandon and our friends have definitely made it easier. We are just counting down the days until we go home in March for spring break.

In love...

Benson Christensen Wood

January 30, 2010

7:24 pm

5 pounds 7 oz 19 inches

Love at first sight

Our Family

SO stinkin' cute!

Just a little guy!





Jamie and Benson

Emily and Benson

The smallest outfit we had...not quite small enough!

Benson and Grammy



First sponge bath

First pediatrician appointment

Benson surprised us and arrived 2 weeks early! Yay!

Ready for the birth story? Here it is... Friday night we went to dinner with some our besties to Red Robin. I was having some pretty painful contractions in my back, but totally thought it was more Braxton Hicks. I had gone to the doctor on Wednesday and was told I wasn't dilated at all. We got home and the contractions kept on coming. They were 20 minutes apart, then 15, and when we finally went to bed at 1:00. I was pretty much up all night, labor is pretty painful stuff! In the morning they were 5 minutes apart. I was SO worried about going to the hospital and being sent home. When I would have a contraction and would be in so much pain; I was ready to go to the hospital right then. When it was over I would change my mind. Finally around noon we decided to go. When we got to the hospital around 12:30 I was dilated to a 4. Within a couple hours they finished my blood work, hooked up an IV and gave me the best thing that ever happened...an epidural. Love me some epidural. I watched a little TV, hung out with Brandon, took a nap, facebooked. I have to give a shout out to Dr. Maser- love him. He hung out all day, he doesn't force pitocin, doesn't try to make you push before your ready, and is super patient. I was ready to push around 7:00 pm and everyone got set up, I pushed for about 10 minutes and our little angel face was born! He is perfect!

So far things have been mostly amazing. My mom came on Sunday and has been incredible. I really would not have survived these first few days without her. Brandon is the BEST daddy, I knew he would be a natural, but seriously. He has taken such good care of me and Benson. We've been visited, fed dinner and treats, came home to flowers and balloons, given preemie clothes for our little munchkin...I'm telling you, the works. Our friends are a blessing, we love them, ya'll know who you are.

The not amazing part is that Benson does not want to breastfeed, I'm determined to breastfeed. He is so, so tiny so the problems we're having are normal, but completely frustrating. So say a little prayer for us about that. I've never seen a tinier baby. We are so happy, he is absolutely precious.

Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years and Everything In Between!

If I had done a Christmas card it would have said what a busy/awesome/exciting year we've had! We feel so incredibly blessed to be in Michigan in law school, to have the friends we have, and especially for our families. We've hit the half way mark of school and I'm a little bit sad, we're really enjoying this stage of life.

The highlight of the year was obviously Benson, we can't wait for him to join our family (we got a sneak peek at our 4D ultrasound we got for Christmas)...



I've spent most of the winter in Las Vegas for Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years and have loved every second of it, which is possibly why I abandoned my blog for so long!

Thanksgiving was just how I like it, traditional, good food, and the whole family together...

At Christmas time this year we had our semi-annual soup party and made 8 different kinds of soups and treats, threw a big family Christmas party, shopped and shopped, spent Christmas Eve with Brandon's family and went to a late dinner at Lawry's with my family, opened presents (Benson even scored a few), and spent some quality time with our families...

A few days after Christmas my aunt threw me a dang cute shower and lets just say, Benson is going to be decked out. I can't get over the quilt my aunt made- it's amazing, Brandon's mom put together the cutest diaper cake, and we pretty much got spoiled!

We rang in the new year with Katee's 20th Birthday and a big party...

We're definitely looking forward to 2010 and what the new year will bring!

To Do

Time seems to fly by these days. I'm in my third trimester now if you ask one book, and will be on Friday if you ask another. I'm starting to feel like I have so much to and not enough time to do it. Nesting is not good when your Type A!

We leave Friday to head to Vegas and I can't wait. I'm feeling a little homesick and I can't wait for sunshine 7 days a week. Finals are coming up already and I think Brandon is feeling the pressure.

Want to hear my "To Do" list? It will make me feel better so here we go:

• Clean my house, I refuse to leave town with a dirty house
• Put my fall decorations away
• Doctor's appointment tomorrow (glucose test- ugh!)
• Make some yumminess for my friends shower on Wednesday
• Do all the laundry so we can pack
• Pack
• WORK! I'm so behind.
• Deliver our guest bedroom bed to family that doesn't have one (to make room for a crib)
• Buy a crib and changing table and get Brandon to put them together
• Build shelves in Benson's closet
• See New Moon
• Plan the ward Christmas Party (yay for my new calling!)
• Find the perfect birthday present for my niece that's turning 4
• Find curtains, a rug and mobile that match Benson's bedding

What? Who does that? I do feel a little better though :)

Good Stuff

It's been far too long since I've blogged about good stuff I found at the grocery store, but food is a funny thing when you're pregnant. Lately it's been slightly more appealing and I've found a few things that must be tried. First, these...



The lemon ones are SO delicious- and only 100 calories! And these...

Equally as good, but not exactly 100 calories. And my mom sent this in our Halloween package...

I cannot get enough! Try it all!

Last weekend we headed to Ikea in Detroit to get some inspiration for Benson's room. We remembered some outlets on the way and took a detour. It's funny, the kid isn't even here yet and I already gave up on shopping for myself. I never understood how moms did that, but I found myself going from Baby GAP, to Gymboree to Children's Place. There was a massive sale at Children's Place with the CUTEST clothes on racks there were .99, $1.99 and $2.99. We had arm fulls, then a lady in line handed us a coupon so we ended up spending $25.00 on about 25 things. We were pretty dang proud of ourselves! A few of my favorites...