The first month of #2

Here are a bunch of pictures to document Solomon's first month living in the world. They are in backwards order...most recent on back. We love having him in our life. He is a SUPER mellow baby, cries when he is hungry, dirty, or bored. Will soothe with a pacifier. Is content to be in a bouncy seat around the action. Sleeps through ANYTHING, except maybe his big brother prying his eyes open. Eats every 1-2 hours when awake, 3-4 hours at night. Pukes ALL the time. Love you baby Solomon!

My 3 boys

First sink bath

Naming ceremony

Hanging out with mom while Aber's and dad nap.

Story time after pancake breakfast...hence David's apron.

Mom and her little guys. Abraham LOVES to hold his "beebee"

Mom and Solomon resting.

Helping himself to some icing.

The guest of honor when we went to Grandma's to meet Uncle Jake and Kandin.

Kandin is a baby hog!

The happy new parents...or just the uncle and his girlfriend! Glad they could make it down to meet the newest addition to the family!

Our little man is 2!!

Loving on #2 before bed time.

Wow, where has the time gone? Seems like a couple of years ago, we were anxiously awaiting the arrival of #1. Now, he's a walking, talking big guy! He loves to watch the opening to Lion King with Nana in the mornings. Sleeps from 1900-0600 on a good day. Eats lots of breakfast, for lunch and dinner as well. Could play alla (outside) all day if we let him, as long as his head is covered. Has discovered trucks, playdoh, and playing in water. New words are coming every day. We have words for book, outside, nose, more, open, help, door, eye, the letter P, boots, nana, mama, dada, grandpa, tons of animal sounds. You can jump, getting both feet off the ground. You love to read books, visit the giraffes, hold your little brother, help mom, vacuum, and pretty much anything else we ask you to do. Now, the word NO is in your vocabulary, but we try not to use it. Some days you don't need a time out, other times you have quite a few. As the days go on, you push the boundaries more and more, but are the sweetest, most loving little guy.

Matching dad in carhartts and flannel shirts. Notice the awesome boots he got for his birthday! They are toy story light up boots!

Same awesome boots. You would wear them daily if you could, even if they are too big.

Playing with the new basketball hoop with his best buddy Jackson.

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Enjoying Lion King with Nana.

Awesome birthday cake made by our good friend Jen!

#2 has arrived!

Here are the LONG awaited for pictures of baby #2! After being in labor for 5.5 days, Solomon Keji (pronounced Kedgy) Lougeay Benson decided to arrive by c-section on 1/2/11 at 1016. He weighed in at 7 pounds 14 ounces and was 20.5 inches long. In comparison, Abraham weighed 8 pounds 3 ounces and was 20.75 inches long. Solomon seems much more petite in his build and overall size. We labored away for a while Sunday morning at home and I decided I was pretty sure they wouldn't send me home from the hospital, so we went. Sure enough they didn't even hesitate to keep me. Solomon was a footling breech - his presenting part was a foot instead of a head. We knew he had flipped at one point, then went back in the right direction, but sometime between then flipped back. I had a feeling he did this because my labor stopped abruptly early Wednesday morning and then I was having kicks in totally different spots when it restarted.

Needless to say, not the delivery we were hoping for, but good none the less. Better to have a healthy baby than not. Slowly but surely, I am moving better each day. We spent 3 nights in the hospital and came home last night. David has mom care arranged for me so that I do nothing for a couple of weeks...and by mom care I mean somebody to make sure I don't do to much! Thank goodness that Grandma is so close by. She kept Abraham for us and will be over to help as much as she can! Tough to have somebody spoiling the boys. =)

Abraham is IN LOVE with HIS baby. There aren't enough kisses, hugs, pats, etc to give out to Solomon. He wants to hold him all the time, but when he is done, be ready, because he will try and throw him down! Whoops!

Brand new in the OR with dad by his side.

Bad newborn rash, but still checking everything out.

First visit from big brother and Grandma! I had a terrible time with my spinal, got very sick throughout the night.

Check out that smile!

Grandma was at the hospital to hold Solomon within his first 4 hours of life. Can we say excited?!

Serious moment with dad.

I was clearly feeling better and enjoying a snuggle with my boy. He has already shown to be much easier than Abers ever was as a baby. He SLEEPS!!!

90 year old Uncle Herb couldn't wait to see the newest baby. He came up to the hospital for a visit.

Dressed and ready to head outside and home for the first time!

First family photo minus Abraham while we waited for the truck to be pulled around.

Looking super tiny in his car seat.

Abraham wanted to hold Solomon as soon as we got home, so I asked him to put his arms out. He did this instead because your arms have to be up when you get the tray on the highchair at Grandma's house. He continues to do this whenever he wants to hold his baby.

Thats about it for now. Solomon is attempting to stir. We go to the MD for his first well check tomorrow. Stay tuned for more pictures and updates!

Love all of us.

Christmas!

We had quite the Christmas this year. Abraham LOVED opening presents, playing with ornaments from the tree, looking at Christmas lights - exclaiming WWWHHHHOOOOAAA any time he would see them, and especially helping bake Christmas cookies. Unfortunately Grandma's camera has all the pictures of his "helpfulness" in the process. He really is quite the baker, able to now crack the eggs and open them with his thumbs to put then into the bowl. There are very few shells in the mix when he is done.

We ended up having a couple of different celebrations. We did our little family Christmas on the eve of as David had to fly to MN/WI for a funeral. He left Christmas morning. Abraham and I stayed with Grandma and Grandpa since nobody was home and delivery could have happened at any time...which of course didn't happen! On Christmas morning, Uncle Jake and his girlfriend Kandin came down to open presents and spend the day with us. It was really fun. Grandma, of course, had tons of food and fed us both days so that DB didn't miss out on Christmas goodies!

It is new years eve morning and we are planning on having some friends over during the lunch time to make pizzas and just hang out. There was a big storm that came through last night that dropped about 6 inches of snow. We all got out and shoveled, including me, hoping that would bring on baby. Nothing yet. We have been in and out labor for the last few days with contractions ranging from 4-10 minutes apart. Come on #2, we are all excited to meet you! Only 6 days left until our due date.

Watching Uncle Jake's puppy dogs in their cage while sitting on his new stool for helping in the kitchen. He loved herding the new puppy in and out of his cage.

Helping Kandin open her present.

90, going on 12. He was super excited about his new winter hat! Love the smile.

His own big guy table for the grandparents house!

Cheese face and having fun

Opening stockings with dad.

The bows were so much fun!

Helping decorate Grandpa with ribbons and open his presents.

Jumping, but not sure what about.

Our painting we got in New Orleans a year ago, finally framed!

Hope you all had a great holiday! Happy new year! Stayed tuned for news of #2.

Love,
the L-Bs.

Hanukkah

David was in Salt Lake City for the first 4 nights of Hanukkah but we made up for it when he got home. Abraham loved lighting the candles, calling them up down because the smoke would go up when the candles burned out! He had a great time opening gifts and reading his couple of Hanukkah books. Thanks Pop pop and Bubbie for the box of goodies. We loved the clothes and had to try then on as soon as the presents were opened.

David found this old school record player in Salt Lake. Aber's loves to change the records and listen to different music.

Still love to be a duck!

New books! Always a favorite.

Thanksgiving

Wow, little late in the postings. Trying to catch up before Christmas and #2! We had a very quiet Thanksgiving this year, just our family, Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Herb and Jen. The food was plentiful, the bird was beautiful, and we all enjoyed the day. Abers, of course, needed BaPa to sit right next to him and pay attention only to him the entire time.
David made an awesome turkey, again, that was beautifully presented and ever so tasty!

Big helper in the clean up

I think Grandpa might have done some of the dishes...

Yumminess...half gluten free, half gluten full.

The newest way to use a vacuum!

Checking and basting the bird.

Sittting in a pot!

Story time. I think mom's belly is a pretty good resting place for an elbow. Reading our current favorite book....Little Blue Truck.