The View From Here

32 weeks.

There is some concern that this little guy is going be somewhat large. Hopefully that will not be the case.

Naming Baby

When I found out I was pregnant with Bentley, we knew Paul would be leaving in a few short weeks. We started looking at names right away. I had a list of names I have liked for a while, and they all got vetoed. We would just throw names back and forth whenever we thought of one. One day Paul said "Bentley," and that was just it. We both loved it. We already had a middle name picked out (Ceaf - my dad's middle name and his grandpa's middle name). We never came up with a girl's name, but it didn't matter.

This time I started a list, but we didn't discuss it much. Paul wasn't leaving so we had plenty of time. We didn't really care about any meaning behind the name (Bentley means grassy meadow), just one we both agree on and that sounds good with the middle names we had picked out (family names). Then at my first OB visit at 11 weeks, a nightmare came true. The midwife looked and looked, but there was no baby. I was given three options; to take a pill that day that would induce a miscarriage, schedule a d&c for the next day, or wait. I was in a state of shock, and Paul was not there with me. I said I would wait. That next week was probably the hardest and most confusing week of my life. I was so upset and anxious, but at the same time this little bit of hope would not go away. Nothing happened so I made an appointment to see the midwife again and schedule a d&c. When I went back for the follow-up a different midwife did an ultrasound, and there on the screen was the most amazing thing I have ever seen. A little baby with a beautiful heartbeat just wiggling away.

There is a very simple explanation as to why we didn't see the baby during the first ultrasound, and there are several things the midwife could have done that would have changed the way I felt when I left that first appointment. My bladder was too full. It was a transvaginal ultrasound, so my bladder was blocking the baby. What she saw that she thought was my uterus was just a cyst. Paul and I were both very upset, but the relief we felt overshadowed our anger.

So, the reason I tell this story now, 16 weeks later, is because it made us want a meaning behind this baby boy's name. I kept thinking "what if." What if I had taken this midwife's advice because she knows more than I do, and had gone home that day with a pill that would have aborted my healthy baby. I am beyond thankful that the Lord put doubt in my mind. We feel like he is somewhat of a miracle (although all babies are miracles). We want his name to be a reflection of this story.

Unfortunately I am not going to post what his name is. We have decided, but have not told anyone yet. It may or may not be announced before he is born, but we both love it and are thankful that we get to be this little boy's parents. He is much more active than Bentley was. I could sit all day and poke my belly just to feel him roll away or poke me back.

Baby, Oh Baby

I am now 6 months pregnant. Wow. It has gone by really fast. So far it has been completely different than my pregnancy with Bentley. I hope that trend continues and I don't have the same complications at the end. I'm not getting my hopes up though. I am feeling the need to get everything in order for him just in case I have to be on bedrest or something. Right now we are enjoying feeling and seeing him move around and trying to guess what part of his body we are feeling. Bentley will even put his hand on my belly and kiss it, but I don't think he has any idea why. When I tell him there's a baby in there he lifts his shirt, points to his belly button, and says "me too." I think he is going to be a great brother.

Bentley is 2!

I cannot believe Bentley is 2 now. It has gone by so fast. I seems like yesterday we were celebrating his 1st birthday. He is a tall, skinny little guy at 35 in. tall and almost 25 lbs. He still isn't talking a whole lot, but he surprises me every day with a new word or phrase. The other day we were walking outside and he pointed up and said "moon." I was like, how did you know that!? He is a very picky eater, eating something one time and refusing it the next. He loves to put the shapes in a shape sorter thing, put together his wooden puzzles, and anything to do with cars or trucks. He loves to help with anything I will let him. He helps us unload the dishwasher, take out the trash, check the mail, carry in groceries, vacuum, and many other things.

Our main struggles right now are that he wants to be so independent he refuses to ride in a stroller or hold our hand. This has caused many fits everywhere we go. We are introducing the potty and related concepts, but I don't think he's really anywhere ready to potty train. I'm also nervous about moving him to a toddler bed. He sleeps so well in his crib and makes no effort to climb out. We're hoping to try in the spring, so we'll see how it goes.

Now for some pictures of the last two years. A couple weeks old:

6 months old:

12 months old:

On his second birthday (he blew out both candles by himself):

The other day:

Change

I'm not a big fan of change. Especially the sudden, unplanned kind of change. Like when our computer died last weekend just outside our warranty period. One minute it is working fine and the next minute... nothing. Back in college when I had a laptop that kept having problems, I swore I would never buy a computer from anywhere other than Best Buy, and not without an extended warranty. In my opinion they have great customer service. Well... when we needed a new computer, oh, about 14 months ago, we found a good deal at some other place with not so great customer service. And we did not buy an extended warranty. Lesson learned.

After getting the computer looked at we discovered it would cost almost as much to fix it as it would to buy a new one. So we got a new one. I didn't think it through. I miss my old computer. They were able to get my pictures off the old one, but I have yet to put them on here. It is so different. Where are all my buttons and shortcuts and favorite websites? The websites I like to visit are like the phone numbers in my cell phone. I don't know them, they're just there, saved, and very hard to find when lost. I know I put all these things on the old computer at some point, but I don't want to do it again.

So the new computer and I are taking some time to get to know each other. Hopefully it won't take too long.

I'm Still Around

I have not been purposefully avoiding my blog. I have several posts in my head, I just haven't made time to come and type them out. Bentley is really getting into imaginative play, and we play non stop all day. Nap and bedtime are my best friends, but he hasn't been sleeping well at all. He's getting his 2 year molars. He has always had a hard time when teething, but these are by far the worst. I'm pooped.

So, imaginative play is soooo fun to watch. He's been treating his stuffed animals like babies, carrying them around, putting them to bed, feeding them. It is so cute. He also likes to make tunnels and forts with pillows and blankets and "cook" things that we both pretend to eat. He's still not talking a whole lot, but it's something new every day. The other day his thing was, "I know" to everything I said.

We recently visited AR for the arrival of baby Drew. I took Bentley over to Kayla's house twice. The first time he didn't really notice Drew, but he gave him a kiss when we left. The second time I was holding Drew so Bentley decided he needed to as well. He did a really good job and kept coming back to hold him several times.
He had to point out all of Drew's body parts.

While we were there, Bentley had his first sleepover with his papa (my dad). He had so much fun, but did not sleep at all. My dad said he just got out of bed at 2 in the morning and wanted to watch cartoons. Thankfully he wasn't crabby because they just played outside the whole time.

July

Wow, July was a very busy month for us. Warning: this post may have lots of pictures.

We spent the 4th at the beach. I don't know why we don't go there more often. It's only 20 minutes away, and we all love it. We played all day (or I should say they played, I lounged and read a book), and stayed to watch the fireworks on the bay. I was nervous about Bentley being scared of them, but he was oohing and awing along with everyone else.

I decided it was time to face my gettingpaintoneverything fears, and let Bentley have some messy fun. He must have picked up on my fears because he wouldn't even paint on the picture frame. He just wanted to paint inside it. When I would tell him to paint on it, he would then move to paint just outside of it. He was cracking me up.

We found a really neat children's pool near our house. We have been going there more recently because it is so hot in our apartment. Bentley loves other kids, and I enjoy seeing him run around trying to play with all of them.

We spent 3 weeks in Arkansas visiting family and going to lots of baby showers. I think I went to one every weekend I was there. Paul was able to be there for a few days so we were very busy running around. Bentley enjoyed playing with his cousins.

Bentley loves going to my dad's house because he has dogs and lots of fun toys. He is fascinated by the dogs and loves to pet them. He knew exactly where my dad kept this remote controlled car, and he would go get it first thing every time. He only knew how to make it go forward though so he would chase it around the yard.

He also loved going over to my grandma's house because my aunt has fun toys for her grandkids. He knows how to make the Escalade go, but he doesn't understand steering. My dad had the privilege of providing the steering.

He looks so grown up on the big boy swing.

In the evenings, he had to spend some time with my mom out on the deck. He would just talk and talk. He also would steal her head coverings to wear for himself.