Sickies

Oh my goodness, this month has been BRUTAL!  Ever since New Year's we have been in a seemingly endless sea of sickness.  Uggg...It has been no fun.  The cruddy thing is that it not only has cycled through everyone but it lasts FOR-EV-ER!  So we have done a lot of snuggling, a LOT of tissues and a lot of movies.  

So here is to better health for all of us!

1 Month

This little man is one month and time is flying by!  I can't believe he is a month old already and yet life before Benjamin feels like so long ago.  

Our little man is slowly growing!

At birth he was 19 1/2 inches (43%), 8 pounds 11 ounces (77%), and 35.5 cm head circumference (45%).  At his first doctor's appointment at 3 days he was 19 1/2 inches (39%), 8 pounds 2 ounces (58%), and 35.5 cm head circumference (42%).  At his two week doctor appointment he was 20 1/2 inches (63%), 8 pounds 9 ounces (61%), and 36.8 cm head circumference (59%).  Benjamin is now 21 1/2 inches (76%), 9 pounds (56%), and 37 cm head circumference (46%).  We just moved him into 3 month size clothes.  It is crazy that he has only now just caught up with his birth weight.  

He is taking three naps during the day and is waking up twice at night.  

Our little Benjamin is so sweet.  He is definitely a snuggler.  He would spend every moment curled up in my arms.  He makes the cutest expressions especially while he is sleeping.  I know when he is really OUT when he sleeps with his mouth open.  It reminds me so much of my Grandpa Moldenhauer whom Benjamin is named after.  When I lived with him and my Grandma here is Bear Lake during the summers, oftentimes I would come downstairs or walk into the cabin and see him reclined in his lazy boy with his eyes closed.  I knew he was actually sleeping when he had his mouth open - just like our little Benjamin does now.  

One thing that has been hard for our little man this month has been some gassy issues.  Sarah had the same problem and it is rough.  It's hard seeing him in such discomfort.  It seems like they are happening less often but he is still having episodes of it.  Hopefully it passes soon!

It has been great to watch Jacob and Sarah with their new baby brother.  It has been especially fun to see Sarah in her new role as big sister.  She is so sweet with Benjamin and is always ready to give him loves.  They are both so great with him and have been really patient in the changes that have happened with our family.  We love these three kiddos.  

We love this sweet boy.  We can't wait to see what the future has in store for you - but we are also pretty happy to just soak in these snuggles for now!

Sledding

The day after New Year's we had a snow day!  Actually, most days are "snow days" around here (which I love!) but we always go sledding on New Years!  Because of Benjamin we just stayed at home which worked out fine that the kids could just come in when they wanted to.  I stayed in all warm and cozy with Benjamin while we watched Mark and the other kiddos play.  Luckily, we live at the end of our street which means all of the snow get plowed up in a big mound in front of our house - built in sledding hill!

Hot chocolate was a MUST afterwards!

We love WINTER!

Family Pictures

The week after we had Benjamin we had our family pictures taken by the wonderful, Emily.  I am loving our little family of five!

Benjamin's Blessing

Last Sunday we were able to bless our sweet Benjamin.  We are so in love with this little boy. 

Mark was able to bless him and it was so tender.  I was so full of sweet emotions throughout the whole blessing.  Benjamin has such a special spirit and I feel so blessed to be his mother.  He has already been such a positive force in our family.  

We had a wonderful day with so much support from our wonderful families.  Gus and Darlene, my Mom and Dad, Melina, Megan, Grandpa and Grandma Clegg, and Grandma Dixie were all able to be there.

We love you, Benjamin.  

We can't wait to spend forever with you.  

Christmas

Christmas Day was just as equally wonderful as Christmas Eve.  It was so perfect to be able to watch Jacob and Sarah's faces when then came downstairs and saw that Santa had been there.  We had a yummy Christmas breakfast and then everyone left for church except for little Benjamin and me.  

Once they came back home we were able to start opening presents.  We are all so very blessed.  Sarah was THRILLED to get her new "baby".  I had told the extended family that we were getting her one and so many of Sarah's gifts were about the baby - she got clothes, a cradle, bedding, bottles, and a diaper bag full of essentials!  She was in baby heaven.  

Jacob's favorite gift was his new Star War hot wheel cars.  He got several of them and some new track.  He loved racing his new cars and seeing which ones went further.  

Benjamin slept and snuggled through most of our Christmas festivities.  His big gift was a new swing which we are hoping he likes as much as we do!

We spent the day in our jammies, playing and enjoying our time together.  We are absolutely loving being a family of five!

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve was so wonderful this year!  We got to spend the whole day together as a family and it was perfect.  We made sugar cookies for Santa, played games, watched a Charlie Brown Christmas and were just happy.  It was a great day.  

We had our usual Christmas fettuccine, opened our first Christmas gift from Santa (complete with new jammies and our new Christmas book), and snuggled and read the first Christmas story from the scriptures.  

I promise Benjamin had a better day than this picture would suggest ;)

Christmas with children is just magical.  There is no better way to describe it.  Every year just gets better and better.