Happy Birthday, Benjamin!

My youngest child, Benjamin, just celebrated his 2nd birthday! We can't believe he is 2 already. Time sure does fly with children, doesn't it?

I was reminiscing about his birth the other night. I think all mother's do that. I could tell you in detail, how things happened when both of my kids were born. Since I am a planner, I wanted things to be text book perfect with both births. Of course our plan is not always God's plan. With my first, things were pretty text book. But with little Benjamin, things certainly did not go as planned!

Benjamin was born 6 weeks premature. I guess we just sounded like a ton of fun and he couldn't wait to make his fast appearance:) I was feeling a little bad around 10:15pm, went to lay down, and realized that I may be having some contractions and they were getting closer and closer together pretty fast. We called the doctor, David went to get our neighbor to come and watch our almost 2 year old, Andrew, and rushed to the hospital. (running red lights and all because I was NOT going to have a baby in the car!!) We left our car in the ER drop off area at midnight and were rushed to the labor and delivery room where our little guy was born 20 minutes later. No time for epidurals or to think about what was happening.

He was whisked away and spent 19 days in the NICU. The first week was on a vent to breathe. He had a nasty pneumonia so we couldn't hold him for the first 7 days of his life. It was a rough time but Benjamin is a strong little guy and he got through it. Here is one of his first photos. Look at all of that dark hair!!

When I look at my son today, I can hardly believe all that he has been through. He had some more health issues at 13 months that you can read about on the Benjamin posts on the side of my blog. He is prone to lung issues because of his early start. But today, I am so thankful to say, he is healthy and strong. He is a wonderful little boy who is smart, funny, handsome and such a blessing to our family. We cannot picture life with out him! Here are a few pictures of our big boy (and a couple of big brother) as he turned two! My parents were able to come from Wisconsin to celebrate with us, which was wonderful. Enjoy!

sharing some new toys with big brother, Andrew.

He had so much fun playing with his new toys that I had to talk him into joining us for breakfast. He is usually the first one to the table. lol

Andrew had fun with the new birthday toys too.

Showing grandma the baskets.

reading a new book with grandpa

getting ready for cake! I realized it's pretty hard to find a place to make a dairy free Barney cake so Andrew and I made one for Benjamin instead. I realized I should probably take a cake decorating class. lol. But it sure did taste good!

Benjamin has been such a blessing to our lives and has taught us so much. The trials we have experienced around his birth and health issues made us realize how precious life is and what a gift from God it truly is. It has also brought our family closer together and closer to God. When times are tough, when life gets overwhelming, I just have to look at my son and remember all that he has gone through. Suddenly, life isn't so hard anymore and I remember to cherish all that I have been given. Life is a precious gift and I continually remind myself of that as I realize how blessed I am to be able to watch my boys grow and develop. They are only young once and each day is a gift.


Thanks for reading! Remember to hug your kids today! :)


Rebecca