Belated Benjamin Pictures

I have been informed by more than one person that I am a major slacker in the area of posting pictures of Benjamin. So I am losing sleep for all you baby picture mongers and writing this blog post. My being awake has nothing to do with the wiggly wide-eyed non-sleeping person on my lap.

Benjamin's brothers adore him and "help" take care of him. Whether that means they make absolutely sure he is not cold or they give him a binky that was first sucked on by his febrile brother, the big boys are always looking out for their new little brother.


Benjamin assumes this position a lot. I think it has something to do with the noise level in the house when everyone is awake. I'm glad he is already thinking about ear safety.

Awww. What else can I say? My baby is cute.

Benjamin has a wide range of funny facial expressions and a serious talent for furrowing his eyebrows. Unfortunately I have a hard time catching them with my camera. I think I got him in the middle of a yawn on this one. I guess I bore him.


My little guy is doing better about sleeping at night but he still seems to think that night doesn't start until around midnight or one AM. I got these cute alert pictures during his evening wakeful party time.

I love how he does funny things with his hands while he's sleeping. I'm not sure if he is dreaming about kung fu or slam dunking a basketball, but I think he's going to be athletically inclined. Is there a sport in which really long toes are an asset? 'Cause he's got 'em. Maybe swimming?
Speaking of dreams, I'm going to go convince a certain someone that now would be a good time to have some. I hope this has been a sufficient dose of Benjamin cuteness.

Happy Easter Egg

"Happy Easter Egg!" was Elijah's chosen greeting when he called my mom on Easter Sunday. I thought it was an apt title since all of our Easter festivities were centered around eggs. Even our discussion about Jesus and the resurrection came in the form of plastic eggs with an object and scripture to tell the Easter story. The boys LOVED it and wanted to do it more than once.
Anyway, Gina (my sister-in-law who happens to be Jewish) was in town for the weekend so she got to experience Easter for the first time. Our first activity on Saturday was a visit to "Eggshelland". This is a display made entirely of eggshells that a local couple puts up in their yard every year for 53 years running. This year's theme was "up up and away" and featured characters from the movie "Up" and hot air balloons. It was pretty cool. There is even a documentary about Eggshelland that played at independent film festivals. You can see the trailer on youtube here.
They had a really cool flyer with the history of Eggshelland and how many eggs break each year etc. but I can't find the information anywhere online. You'll just have to trust me that the amount of work they do is pretty amazing. Here are my favorite pictures from our visit:


Next up was dying Easter eggs. This took a little explaining this year because Gabe was concerned about the eggs losing their lives. Those darn homonyms make being a 3-year-old tough sometimes. Once he was reassured that we weren't killing anything, Gabe was gung-ho about coloring the eggs with crayons and dropping them in cups of dye. We did have more than one casualty in that some eggs were dropped repeatedly (thank you David John) and had to be eaten right away. Elijah was especially enthusiastic about seeing the eggs when they came out of the dye. He loved all of the bright colors.


Here are the finished products. For those of you who knew Marc in his high school days, I'm sure you can guess which egg he colored.


Easter morning was, unfortunately, a cold and rainy affair (Dear Cleveland, it is now Spring. Consistent Spring weather would be appreciated.) so the Easter Bunny hid eggs inside for everyone to find. David John woke up Sunday morning with the flu but this did not stop him from finding eggs and eating candy even if he spent the rest of the day huddled in blankets on the couch. Gabriel was the fastest at finding the eggs, but Elijah was fastest at consuming the chocolates and jelly beans. Some eggs had miniature bathtub squirt toys which the boys were anxious to try out.


In addition to the eggs, the Easter Bunny brought each boy a bucket with a Curious George DVD a Bible story book and a squishy ball. Here are the boys with their buckets enjoying one of the George DVDs.Since Gina keeps kosher laws and ham is the anti-kosher, we had a non-traditional Easter dinner of pasta, deviled eggs and fresh pineapple. It was delicious and we would sacrifice a ham dinner for a visit from Gina any day. We were sad to take her to the airport on Sunday night. We will miss her and her "eggscruciating" egg puns.

Labor of Love

Having a baby is surreal experience made more so by the fact that as soon as it is over you are unable to recall with any clarity exactly what happened. I have similar amnesia problems with pregnancy in general and the entire newborn not-sleeping-through-the-night phase. I guess this is evolution's way of ensuring that women continue to have children after the first one. Anyway, here is my baby story- or at least as much as I remember of it two weeks later.

Thursday, March 31st
5:53 AM I am awakened by the presence of an orange creamsicle Jelly Belly under my back. I feel like the princess and the pea. Apparently, Marc is testing me to see just how uncomfortable I am in this end stage of pregnancy. I feel my waking up is a good sign- if a jellybean can interrupt sleep, labor must be imminent.

11:30 AM We finally pick up the car seat we found on Craig's list. Our attempt the previous night was cut short by a freak snow shower and the resulting inability of anyone on the freeway to, you know, drive.

12:00 PM We take the boys out to lunch at Chick-fil-A, the only restaurant even close to our house with a playland. All of the pictures of cows remind me that I am the size of a... well cow. I am so done being pregnant.

3:15 PM I wake up from a nap and- Hallelujah! my water breaks. Who knew Chick-fil-A could induce labor? Much tastier than castor oil.

3:16 PM I call my mom to inform her grandson number four is on the way and she needs to head on up to Cleveland. She is currently subbing as an elementary school secretary. The principal informs her that daughter in labor or no she is not leaving until at least 4 PM. Seriously? She's not even the regular secretary! And I thought the principal was supposed to be your pal.

4:50 PM We drop the boys off at my friend Holly's house while they wait for Grandma to arrive. Holly graciously feeds us some casserole and Haagen-Daz ice cream before I have to be on the old clear fluids only regimen in the hospital. The boys are excited that baby Benjamin has finally decided it is time to come out.

6:10 PM We arrive at the hospital, get checked in and the hospital OB does an exam to prove "with science" that my water did in fact break. He takes a sample to look at with a microscope.

6:40 PM Science confirms that I am in labor. I'm glad science is so smart.

6:45, 6:52, 6:55, 7:03 etc. Our nurses call button goes off. It is possessed. It goes off if you bump it, push an adjacent button or look at it the wrong way.

7:45 PM The nurses start ignoring our call button. If we actually need anything we'll have to send Marc screaming into the hallway.

8:20 PM The really good contractions set in. I tell myself to relax. I am successful, mostly. I am finding the voice on my relaxation CD that was so soothing when I practiced this at home is less soothing in the hospital, especially with the numerous interruptions. After a while, I find myself talking back to the voice on the CD. In my mind I am telling him to see if he could relax through all of this insanity. Maybe they shouldn't have chosen a man. I am not feeling a particular kinship with men right now.

Friday, April 1st
12:10 AM I am starting to doubt myself. Everyone is telling me I am doing great. I guess I look relaxed on the outside. Their words are comforting.

2:15 AM Still only a 5. The OB is recommending some pitocin and I am exhausted after what my nurse is calling "wicked" contractions. I finally agree to the pitocin and the epidural that goes with it. I feel a little wussy, but I also want this baby to come before anyone starts talking C-section.

2:35 AM The anesthesiologist arrives and they send Marc out of the room. They compliment me on holding still and not complaining about the pain. I ask if that is unusual. Apparently women in labor are usually a rude and wiggly lot. I mean, yeah, the contractions are killer but I also don't want to move when someone is putting a very big needle in my back... maybe I'm not as wussy as I thought.

3:30 AM The epidural has finally kicked in and I am feeling so sleepy...

3:40 AM After a too brief nap I am informed that now I am magically at a ten! We didn't even start the pitocin yet. I am feeling a little ripped off. I could have totally made it another hour without help. Oh well, maybe next time. Everyone starts rushing around getting ready for Benjamin.

3:57 AM It's time to push and I can't feel anything because I'm still so numb from the epidural. Awesome. Somehow, I manage to get my muscles to cooperate. The OB tells me this baby is definitely going to be smaller than my last one. Twenty minutes later, Benjamin proves her wrong. He is big and beautiful. Marc had warned me that in his experience newborns are just not cute for a while so we shouldn't worry if he wasn't cute right away. Now that Benjamin is here, Marc holds my hand and tells me, "I was wrong, Honey. When they are yours, newborns are adorable." I feel incredibly grateful for this new, crying, wiggly mess lying on my chest. I hold his perfect little hands and say hello.

Another thing you always forget about the birthing experience- that first look and surge of love for your child. I'm glad I get to experience it again as if it's the first time. Welcome to the world little Benjamin.

Introducing

Benjamin Sherwood Ricks

Born on April 1, 2011 at 4:17

He was 21 inches long and weighed in at a whopping 9 lbs 8 oz. He was born with a full head of hair and is beloved by all three of his brothers. We are thrilled to welcome the newest member of our family and officially start the adventure of having four boys under four.