A Surprise, Benjy's Birthday, Benjy's First Words

I am a bit behind on blogging, for the reason I am about to post. I haven't been feeling well the past few weeks, and last Thursday (May 19) I found out why... I'm pregnant! Backing up a little bit, when we got back from our trip, I had this feeling that I should schedule my annual checkup. I hadn't noticed feeling any different at that point, but the feeling persisted that I should go in to the doctor, so I scheduled an appointment for the following Thursday. Only a few days after scheduling the appointment, I started feeling sick. I was able to explain it away for a few days as just being a normal passing sickness, but when it didn't go away, I started to wonder more about it. I realized I felt pregnant, but I knew I couldn't be, since I have an IUD in place. The more I thought about it though, the more I felt that I was pregnant. When I went in for my appointment, I told the practitioner my suspicions and she was extremely doubtful, since she said an IUD pregnancy was "very unlikely." She obliged me however and did a pregnancy test, and incredulously returned with the results that I had tested positive for pregnancy. She said I needed to have an ultrasound right away, so I came back later that afternoon to have the ultrasound performed. Justin was able to come with me, since I had called him after my appointment in the morning and he came home in time for the ultrasound. 

As we watched the screen, the ultrasound technician explained what we were seeing and we saw both a horizontal flash of light, which was the IUD, and a tiny pulsating blob, which was the baby. After the ultrasound we met with the doctor, Dr. Stacy, who talked to us about the whole situation. She said that normally with IUD pregnancies they try to take the IUD out right away, but in my case the IUD is so high up they can't take it out without disturbing the pregnancy. She said leaving the IUD in place would give us the best chance of having the pregnancy turn out successful. She also said that IUD pregnancies overall have a 50% chance of miscarriage. In my case, since the pregnancy has already reached the point it has, the chance may be lower, but she didn't know for sure. In general though, she said that the first trimester is going to be the most risky time for miscarriage, because the larger the baby gets, the less of a risk the IUD will pose. It was a lot to take in; I was very much in shock that day and felt very emotional, especially as we sat waiting for the ultrasound, as I had flashbacks to waiting for an ultrasound with my very first pregnancy (before Eli). That time it ended up that the pregnancy had terminated. However, after the appointment with Dr. Stacy, I felt considerably better and much more hopeful than I anticipated feeling. I very much felt then, as I do now, that this pregnancy is in the Lord's hands, and whatever His will is for it, that is what will be.

Right now we have only told family and a few close friends about the pregnancy, since there is an especially high level of risk involved. Justin and I are hopeful about it though and look forward to telling all our friends and acquaintances our happy news!

Despite the emotional challenges of that week, life goes on and I had a birthday to plan for. Two days after my appointment and receiving the life-changing news of another pregnancy, Benjy was to have his birthday party, and I had a cake to make. I had made some layers on Wednesday and Thursday, so Friday I stayed home the whole day and assembled his particularly difficult cake. He requested a minion cake, and it was by far the most difficult cake I have made to date. It was worth it in the end though for the happiness it gave Benjy! 

For his party, we had invited his Joy School classmates and a few other friends to go to Jump City with us for an hour and then return to our house for pizza and cake. I didn't get any pictures of the jumping but I got some of the party. It was a beautiful day and we all ate and visited outside in the backyard. Our lawn right now is a lush carpet of green from all the rain and snow, so it was great to get outside and enjoy it (come August, its condition will have deteriorated significantly, though we are planning to water this year, which will help). 

Benjy wanted the minion's eye on his piece of cake. 

After cake he opened presents.

 

 

We had such a fun time celebrating this special boy. We love him so much and are so blessed to have him in our family!

It seems fitting to include this in a post about Benjy. I found this list of his first words awhile back in my old planner. I wanted to be sure and post it to have a little window back in time on sweet baby Benjy.

First Words:

no

ball

down

wawa (water)

8/30 go

9/10 nienie (Lene)

9/11 oh no, let's go

9/12 gum, beep beep

9/17 cheese, juice

9/19 bople (apple)

9/24 tiki (turkey), bubble

9/23 kiki (cookie)

some

poop

dur (there)

10/7 beam (bean), hur (here)

10/8 crcr (cracker)

10/27 all done

10/31 nanny (candy), oggie (huggy)

11/5 E-i (Eli)

potty

puppy

truck

warm

cold

12/3 alright

doin?

12/6 ten

six

eight

12/12 away

12/31 sock, spider

Cassie's Graduation, Lillywhites Visit

Last Friday, May 13, Cassie graduated from Colorado State University with her B.S. in Exercise Science. I drove up with my mom, Brad, Lene, Carlos, and Patricia to Fort Collins to see her graduation ceremony. We got to have dinner together and then parked at Cassie's apartment and walked to the events center. It was a bit of a walk, but I remember how "walking distance" in college was pretty much anywhere. :) 

There was a pretty big group of graduates, and we were sitting pretty high up.

 There's Cassie- we could spot her because she put a tiny red balloon on top of her graduation cap.

Hooray for Cassie! Now that she's done with her Bachelor's, she's going to take a year to work as a medical transcriptionist and then apply for P.A. school. Con"grad"ulations, graduate! We're so proud of you!!!!! 

On Sunday, Laura and Ryan Lillywhite came to visit us. We had planned to go out to dinner with them, but it didn't work out, so they came to church with us that day and came over to my family's after church for Cassie's graduation party. It was so fun to see them!

Georgia and North Carolina Trip

Tuesday we got back from our trip to Georgia and North Carolina. It was a whirlwind trip, but we all had such a great time. Here is the recap:

Wednesday of the week before, we got up very early and drove out to the airport. We had a long day of travel ahead of us: getting to the airport via shuttle from the parking lot, going through all the airport rigmarole, a connection in Houston, and finally our arrival in Atlanta where we had to pick up our rental car. The kids were excited for the adventure and were troopers the whole trip. They had some fun "surprises" on the plane to keep them busy.

When we finally got to Lisha's house in Decatur, we were exhausted but very excited to see everyone. We had a nice dinner at Lisha's and the kids got reacquainted.

The next morning, Evan and Lilia went to school and Lisha showed us around Decatur. We had fun getting yummy donuts, playing at a toy park, walking to Ponce City Market and having lunch, and walking around the campus of a dinosaur museum.

That evening, we had pizza and walked to downtown Decatur where we got to explore a charming bookstore and eat delicious ice cream. I had the best almond brittle ice cream of my life! :)

Friday morning we drove up to North Carolina. It was about a six hour drive, and it was made longer by several stops and a detour. The built-in screen and DVD player in the rental van were our lifesaver! It was a long day, and we were so happy to finally pull up at Adriel's house. The kids had a great time getting acquainted with their cousins, and Justin and I got to catch up with Adriel and Mark and see their new house. After a dinner of barbecue pork and Bojangles chicken, we had a movie night. The kids watched "Beauty and the Beast" upstairs while the grownups relaxed in the basement watching "Ant Man."

The next morning we drove to Grammy and Grampy's house. The kids got to see the garden and some baby birds in their nest. They had fun getting acquainted with their house and playing "schmopposites."

That afternoon, Lisha's family and Adriel's family joined us and the whole family played games and visited. The kids enjoyed the egg hunt, games, popsicles, and wild truck bed rides. :)

That evening was the family talent show. Everyone had prepared a nice talent to showcase. Some of the acts we got on video.

When the show was over, it was dark out, so the kids went outside and played with glow-sticks until it was time to turn in for the night.

The next day, which was Mother's Day, we all gathered at Pullen Park. The weather was beautiful and we got to sit at a nice shaded picnic table that Teresa had scoped out ahead of time. There were lots of great trees to climb.

Family pictures were taken by Lisha- soon to be added. :)

Then we had fun riding the carousel and eating a delicious picnic lunch.

After lunch we got to ride a train around the park,

and the younger kids got to ride some tugboats.

It was such a fun day and everyone was sad to say goodbye. It was so great for the kids to get to spend time with their cousins, and some unexpected close friendships seemed to form, especially between Eli and Brenne. The kids will certainly be looking forward to the next time they see their cousins. We were also grateful to get to spend Mother's Day with Teresa. Justin and I are both blessed with wonderful mothers and grandmothers and are so grateful for the ways they have positively shaped us and loved us throughout the years.

We drove back to Decatur on Monday and got to have dinner with Lisha, Evan, and Lilia. On our way back from the restaurant, the kids had fun climbing the huge magnolia trees in front of the library.

We said our goodbyes that evening and headed to the hotel where we were staying by the airport. It worked out for the best that way since Justin was able to return the rental car that night and save us all that extra time and hassle in the morning. We had the same long journey home in reverse, but we all made it in one piece and relatively good spirits. :) We all had such a fun vacation and are looking forward to the next time we all get together!