Benjamin

On

June 9, 2014

at 6:23 am

our little Benjamin

joined our team.

At

8 lbs 10 ozs and 20 inches long

he has almost-black hair

navy blue eyes

and his brother's nose and mouth.

We are completely, utterly, overwhelmingly in love with our perfectly healthy Baby Ben.

The Boys' Rooms

Our baby will be here any day now!

My nesting started early--before we knew we were having a boy--so I started with Jonathan's room. As mentioned in my last post, it's no secret that J loves airplanes. He identifies the kind of airplane flying over him in the sky, he wakes up in the morning talking about the weather that day and how it will affect air traffic, and he makes anything he can get his hands on into an airplane... even the specials menu at Culver's takes off, lands, and flies around in "corkscrews" and "falling leaves" (actual terms for air show stunts).

So it wasn't really hard to pick a theme for his room.

Between some vintage airplane prints from Etsy and a wooden model plane hanging over his bed... it quickly became a very Jonathan room. And I'm so pleased with how it turned out! This is a big deal because decorating is not one of my natural gifts. I have to invest a lot of time, self-doubt, tears, and nail holes before I have something I'm happy with, and even then it's not a guarantee.

But more importantly, he loves how it turned out. He calls it the "airplane room," and still months later walks in and exclaims, "Woh! Yook at all dese airpwanes!" Such a happy little boy!

Then, when baby was definitely a boy, I could finally work on that baby room! And the first step was painting over the lime green... eesh.

Fabio was a great sport to take on the project (we are not at all DIY-ers), and it turned out really great! Is it sad we were both genuinely surprised by that? Again, decorating and DIY are not natural gifts for us, so to have two projects turn out AND with Fabio and I still liking each other after they're over is pretty awesome. (Never mind the 20+ brushes with death Jonathan had during the day and a half we painted and assembled furniture--from climbing the ladder with a screwdriver to eating styrofoam packaging, "cherries" in his words. Yikes! 2-year-olds are busy folks.)

At any rate, the ending was happy and my nesting was satisfied--for a few days. Then I moved on to another project. This little guy better hurry up and make his appearance because who knows how long a lucky streak like this can last?!?

Come on, baby--we are so anxious to meet you! (And Jonathan wants to show you his airplane room.)

25 Weeks

This week I'm 25 weeks pregnant.

This pregnancy has been such a different experience from my last. The morning sickness wasn't quite as bad as itself, but it was so much harder because I couldn't stop chasing a two-year-old just because I'd thrown up all morning. 

I crave bagels, not pizza; San Peligrino soda instead of 7Up. But I still can't get enough chocolate milk.

My nesting instincts have kicked in much earlier, and it seems like every week I have a new project for the house (poor Fabio!).

I don't think about or obsess over the fact that I'm pregnant nearly as often, but when I do think about it my anticipation and love for this little guy is much more intense.

He's measuring in the 70th percentile, so I'm not even as terrified of delivery this time around. In fact, I'm just more excited and less terrified in general. I think more about the coos, tiny toes, and snuggles than anything else--and I feel more confident that everything will be just wonderful.

Fabio felt him kick a couple weeks ago, and so the baby is starting to become real for him now--which means he is getting really excited for someone who cuddles all the time without protest.

One of my favorite things this time around is how aware the baby is of his big brother. He is more responsive to Jon's voice than to any other. Whenever J's in a silly mood, yelling and laughing and singing, the baby will get more and more excited--kicking faster and faster. When Jonathan wakes up in the morning and starts talking, the baby immediately starts his wiggles. When he has a tantrum, the baby tenses up. And when J lays down on my belly the squished little guy will push against him with both legs or both arms. I can't help but laugh and think, "And so it begins..."

And oh, is Jonathan is excited for this baby! He loves to tell people what you can do with a baby:

"You can cuddle the baby."
"Babies need bottles. You can hold his bottle."
"You can tickle the baby's tummy."
"Babies like foot-rubs."
"You can give the baby your finger, or let him honk your nose."

The other day we bought some clothes for the New Guy, and Jonathan quickly told the cashier, "Be careful. Those are for our baby. He's my brodder."

Sometimes Jon gets really quiet for a bit, then points at my belly, and then asks me something like, "The baby has a fire truck?" I explain that the baby doesn't have any toys in my tummy, and that it's his job to teach the baby about fun toys when he comes. Then Jonathan will nod and say, "Baby needs a fire truck. He use mine."

And every night when Jonathan prays, the first thing he says is, "Hea'nly Fadder, thank you for my brodder."

There's no question--this little baby boy is very loved. We can't wait to meet him.

See you in 15, little one!

We Love Blue!

Yesterday we found out we're getting a baby boy--and we couldn't be more thrilled!

It was the baby's 20-week ultra sound, and best of all: he is perfectly healthy.

 his profile

(arm is up with hand by his face)

Jonathan joined Fabio and I for the event. We told him they'd put a special camera on my tummy so we could see pictures of our baby while it's still inside. He agreed with his usual, "Okay." So I wasn't sure he understood. But as we walked back to the ultrasound room, Jonathan looked up at the technician and told her "We're going to see our baby!"

Then after sitting so well and waiting so patiently for half an hour, as we got up to leave the room Jonathan exclaimed, "Wait! Where's our baby?!?" I have to admit, it can be hard to pick a baby out of some of those pictures. Even Fabio and I were asking at one point or another, "Sorry. Is that his heart, or his face?"

We showed Jon the baby's (adorable) profile picture again, pointing where the baby's nose, lips, and arm were. I'm not sure he was satisfied, though.

One thing is for sure: we simply adore our little boys! We are so, so, so grateful for the news our littlest is healthy and perfect. It was so special to see his little toes, knees, hands, and face--we're getting pretty anxious to start kissing them all!

Can't wait to meet this little guy!

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving this year was full of surprises, but it ended up being one of our favorites.

When I was especially sick with new baby, my mom came out to help. She poured juice, read books, and did the laundry. It was such a relief to have her! Then, one night as she was locking up the house, she tripped and fell down our basement stairs! Fabio ran downstairs to check on her, and we heard a little "I'm in the stairwell!" She insisted she was fine, but when she still couldn't put any weight on either leg the next morning, we made her go to the Emergency Room. She had broken both legs (her right knee and left ankle), both so badly that they'd require surgery. After several nights in the hospital, the Dr. decided she couldn't come back to live with us since we didn't have a full bathroom on the main floor, and so my poor mom had to be transferred to a medical rehab facility! Fabio was a hero and ran around to get her what she needed even though he was in the middle of teaching, and I was still flattened by morning sickness.

My dad couldn't stand it any longer and jumped in his car and drove to Wisconsin to nurse my mom back to health. He completely rose to the occasion, not only nursing my mom and tending to her every need, but making food for Jonathan, keeping our kitchen cleaning, doing our laundry, and cleaning our toilets... and somehow still finding time to make wooden block airplanes with Jonathan! He was the hero of the month in no small way. Fabio was relieved to focus back on teaching, I was relieved to have help with Jonathan and the house, and of course my mom was relieved to have her hubby making sure she was well-cared-for at the rehab center.

She healed remarkably fast, and they sent her home to live with us just in time for Thanksgiving! I wasn't sure how much of a feast I was up to preparing, still feeling pretty sick most days, but between Costco and my dad to help we had quite the spread in the end! And as always, plenty to be thankful for.

rolls, stuffing, creamed corn, mashed potatoes, sliced turkey breast 

(a turkey was just not going to happen!), and pecan pie

Jonathan pounded down the potatoes (so did New Baby, if we're being totally honest), and we were so grateful to have our Naynay back.

And after it was all said and done and our tummies were ready to burst, Dap did the dishes (again).

Thanks, Daddy.

The Best News There Is

We are one step closer to world peace, to curing cancer, to ending world hunger, and to reversing human-induced climate change. Why, you may ask? What single event or announcement could bring so much joy to all the earth?

More Gaertners, obviously!

Coming June 8 (or sometime around there), 2014. We could not be happier, except for big brother who is kind of bored with Mommy spending so much time on the couch and the bathroom floor. But that is the price you pay for the very best news there is.