Little Shepherd Boy

Here's our little shepherd boy and baby Jesus :-) Benson was taking such a good, sound nap, we couldn't resist throwing together a shepherd costume and blanket backdrop.

The past couple of days . .

Asher offered to hold Benson, what a nice brother.

We went to visit Great-grandma Zohner and Trish and Great-grandma and Grandpa Pond today. Benson was quite comfortable on the couch. I love this outfit, and I think he'll be grown out of it before Israel gets to see it on him in person!
The puppies were quite a hit with Asher. And they really liked him too, especially after he fed them his cookie :-)

Don't look at me too closely, I just wanted to show that I really do hold Benson once in a while, it's just usually in the middle of the night! I'm loving all the help I'm getting. There's always someone - usually my Mom - who is willing to get him and calm him and help feed/change him. It's such a blessing.

This was on Sunday. Asher likes to sit on the stairs, but he REALLY likes having company while he sits on the stairs. Jaxson, Austin, and Porter are his preferred tenders. He'll pick them over Mom and Grandma anytime. Their only rival is Grandpa.

A week at Grandma and Grandpa's

Asher, Benson, and I are here with Grandma and Grandpa this week - and we had to leave Daddy at home. Hopefully he'll be able to get his homework done! Since babies change so much so fast in this second week, I'm trying to keep the pictures coming for Israel.

Grandma is getting the house all ready for Christmas early

and Asher really liked the Santa hats.

Here's Benson just after a meal today. He still isn't opening his eyes too often,

so these moments are rare - and darling.



I was trying to catch his little sleeping smile.

I miss you Honey, and the boys do too. You're so wonderful, I love you.

Welcome Baby Benson!!!

Benson J Montano

Born November 6th, 2008 - 11:55 a.m.

8 lbs 13 oz

20 1/2 in long

Isn't he SO cute? :-)

I was scheduled to have him induced early on the 7th, so of course I went into labor around 1:30 a.m. on the 6th. I decided to wake Israel up around 3:30 when the contractions weren't pretending to go away. He gave me a blessing (how I love the priesthood!) and we woke the Kramer's up (Thanks guys! soo much) and Austin came to watch Asher. We left for the hospital at 4:30 and by 5 I was in my room and already dilated to a 6. They got my IV going so I could get my epidural ASAP. Israel and I got a short nap and I noticed that my epidural wasn't working extremely well. After a few extra doses that didn't work, they got a new one in for me, which I was very thankful for. My Mom and Jaxson got there just as I started pushing, and a littl less than an hour later, Benson came! I was surprised to see that he was so different from Asher. Different shaped nose and mouth, less hair, and more chubby :-) I'm amazed how two different kids can both be the cutest kids ever in my eyes :-)Everyone at St. Al's was great, I was very impressed with all of my nurses and the services and everything - the massage was wonderful. Overall, everything went and is going extremely well. I am having the exact same problems with nursing that I did with Asher, so we'll see how that goes in the next little while.

Looking forward to the epidural kicking in! I'm glad I remembered the iPod, I think I was listening to Mormon Tabernacle Choir - Peace like a river. It was great, very soothing.

It seems like I have always been the last one in the room to hold my baby. There was a meconium scare, so the NICU people were all there ready to clean him out as soon as he came. They apparently did a great job cause there haven't been any problems. I don't remember his eyes being open at all, good thing we've got this picture!

Here he is after being all wiped down and stuff. They sat him up so I could get a look at him, so this was my first glimpse of him. He was happy to get a blanket wrapped around him. Chubby compared to Asher, who was 7lb7oz. We just got back from his first doc's visit and Benson now weighs 9lbs 1oz at 5 days old. So, he's not starving.

Benson checking out his Daddy :-)

Happy Halloween

Here are our pumpkins. We actually had to throw them out a few days BEFORE today cause we carved them too soon and left them in the nice warm house, but they were cute while they lasted. Israel did most of the hard work, and I got to paint and help carve the pictures. Asher's contribution was . . .admiring them afterward.

Thanks to Austin Kramer, Asher decided it wasn't a bad idea to put on his pumpkin costume, and thanks to Heather, he had a nummy bread stick to eat. We could have gone home right then and he would never have known what he missed. This is the same costume he had last year, so the sleves are a little short, but I thought he was pretty darn cute. Almost time to start Trunk or Treating. Good thing I stuck that had on him, cause it ended up being the only thing we had to stash all his candy.

Woohoo, the hats full! It took him a few cars before he figured out that he was getting treats at every one. He never quite got to the point of actually saying "Trick or Treat" or anything else for that matter besides, "Da!" when we'd walk away from each car. He preferred to take the candy himself and then put it in the hat. I must say, I was pretty proud of our costumes :-)

Now THIS is a happy kid. He ate a sucker on the way home and a Baby Ruth and 3 Musketeer while sitting on the couch. Luckily Israel got home, distracting Asher long enough for me to put the candy away for the night :-)

Daddy and Asher, watchin' TV - Funniest Home Videos I think.

Here I am! This was taken on Sunday, October 12, at 37 weeks. One of the few times that I'm actually dressed and able to get a picture taken.

We took these this morning :-) Oct 15th. Israel and I had an adventure with our security system, it started beeping repeatedly at around 2:30 a.m. About an hour and a half later we had it figured out and went back to bed, but it set us back. Luckily, Asher let us sleep in until 8! Unluckily, Israel was supposed to leave around 8:15 - so, we decided to take family pictures. Random? I think so. Asher sure liked the countdown and the big flash at the end :-) so it turned out to be a pretty good time for him.

8 Months!!

I know, I know, it's been over three months since I last posted ANYTHING. And I still don't have a single picture of me - but you can imagine, I'm huge, and I feel bigger :-) I've only gained 20 lbs. so far, but I sure hadn't lost much after Asher, so I'm hoping it stays around there. I have taken pics of Asher, though I'm having a hard time finding them right now, so . .you'll just have to take my word for it that he's darling and active and going to be hit hard I'm afraid when this new little one comes along. On the other hand, I think he'll appreciate having a playmate. His favorite word is "Da" and says that for Everything imaginable except for 'bath' and 'ball', for both of which he says, "Ba". He loves to throw balls, drink milk (he's been going through his own gallon every 2 to 3 days), and Dance :-). He's figured out that if he pushes the buttons on Israel's iPod he can usually turn it on. Then he holds one of the little ear buds to his ear and does the cutest dances. He LOVES his daddy, and misses him SO much when he's gone. They are inseparable when daddy is here, and Asher copies everything Israel does. He's actually quite posessive of him. I've been pushed away from Israel more than once when Asher was pretty sure I was hogging all of his attention. :-)

I'm feeling really well considering my size. Having a toddler to chase this time around has definitely put more of a strain on my body, but I sleep well most of the time and am able to do all the stuff I need to do in a day. I've even started on Christmas stuff, just so there is less to worry about later.

Israel continues to be SUPER DUPER busy. He's working so hard. I love him. We are lucky to see him for 1/2 hour or so in the mornings before he heads to school and then work. Getting home by 9:30 is early. Then he's usually either up till 2 a.m. or up at 5 a.m. (and occasionally does both) in order to keep up with his homework. I don't know how he's doing it. Luckily, he never has to work on Sundays, so he's got one day a week to spend with us.

I've got 3 1/2 more weeks left! The more I think about it, scheduling an induction sounds like a great idea. Any opinions on the matter? I've heard it's harder on your body - but I'm a huge fan of epidurals - And there's always the chance that the baby could come earlier, but I'd be really surprised if that happened. The convenience of knowing when he's coming is sounding really appealing lately. I'm due on November 2nd and Israel wants a Halloween baby - mostly cause it happens to be a Friday and he'd have a whole weekend to be with us. We'll see!!