Baby Bennett with the Birth Story and Updates

Introducing...

Bennett Brady Smith

January 25 2013 at 10:30 pm

7 lbs 6 oz and 20.75" 

 Before I go any further... look at these boys.  I am just amazed that I have four boys. 

My little ones!

 The Birth Story
Last Thursday, the 24th, Chad and I went to the hospital to begin my induction.  At that point, I was barely 1 cm and Bennett was still really high.  The actually induction started around 9 pm and I was starting to feel contractions around 1 am, they were not painful but were there.  I had sent Chad home to sleep and I am glad I did since I knew it would be awhile.

I was moved to a labor and delivery room at 6:30 am.  They checked me later that morning and I was at 3 cm --- a little bit later at 4 cm.  Though contractions were not painful,  I went ahead and got the epidural at 12ish with Shep the epidural really sped things up... it didnt this time.  Eventually, by the 7:30 I was at 10 but baby was still high.  I gave a few pushes and my wonderful doctor said that he was sunny side up and though it would be possible to push him it out that way it could easily take an hour or two.  She recommended that I use what they call a "peanut" which really was just laying on my side with this huge odd shaped work out ball between my legs to try and get him to turn.  This went on for about 2 hours in which he slowly made his way down. 

By 10:20 pm, he was low enough to begin pushing and after 2 contractions he was out.  As predicted, he was smaller than Shepherd.  I had guessed he was in the mid 7's and he was. 

Getting my hands on him for the first time.  I actually took him before they cleaned him up.  Normally I request a clean baby... haha

Not happy with his current situation

First little hospital bath

Clean and ready for visitors

He had so many wonderful visitors at the hospital too!

PapaHub and Grandma were the first to arrive

Mantis and Queenie, with the other boys were next

My parents with Bennett

My men!

Hunter holds his newest little brother

Even Shep takes a turn.

Before they left, Shepherd was goofing off swinging on the arm of the chair and face planted on the floor... lots of blood followed

Some of my dear friends came to visit... Leah, Kahla, Jessica, and Jodi

Aunt Sandee with my nieces

Even Zach and Anna with my nephews were able to come up.... since Anna has neglected announcing the news on her blog... I will do it on mine.... look at the adorable little baby bump... so excited for another niece or nephew.

We came home Sunday at 1 in the afternoon and it has been great!  The boys are smitten by him and I am just in love ... again!  Recovery has been easy and he is nursing great. 

Sleepin the day away

Sheppy and his "baby Bennett"

Smash lovin on Bennett.  Ashton is just amazed by Bennett

Brothers minus one.

He had his first weigh-in check this morning and is already past his birth weight weighing in at 7 lbs 8 oz, so he definitely has the food thing figured out... he definitely lets us know when he wants to eat.  He doesnt have the sweet little whimpery cry--- no, he wails. The hospital said they normally dont do circumsions before discharge now, so he will have that done in the next few days... dont understand why they changed that policy.  I wish that was already out of the way. He is a strong little thing, when laying on my chest, he can already move his head from one side to the other. 

I am going to try and do this comparison picture monthly

I can look at these four amazing little boys and feel so blessed and so grateful that I was chosen for this exact moment.  God has entrusted these men to me. What an immense responsibility. 

I know so many of you guys have been praying for us and those prayers have been felt.   Thank you.

Also, thank you to our parents.  Mom and Dad kept the boys Thursday night and Saturday night and Hub and Patsy kept them Friday night.  It made is so much easier being away from them knowing they were safe and being loved on. 

More to come... I will try to get some better pictures of Bennett.  I must admit, with 4 kids, the camera is an afterthought.

Just wanted to give a quick baby update/ family update.

Chad leaves tomorrow to begin his new job 2 hours away.  I am excited for him but also a little nervous for me as I am now the single parent of 3... almost 4 boys during the week.  So thankful to have plenty of help around me!

I hit the 40 week mark on Wednesday.  Before Chad got this job, I was ready to wait this baby out at least 7- 10 days before I started talking induction.  However, now that I am by myself at night, the last thing I want to happen is to go into labor and then have to try to get ahold of family/ friends to take me to the hospital.  So, at my appt last Thursday, I saw my doctor, we talked induction.  She said she was on call this Friday, the 25th and though I have no signs of labor that we could start an induction Thursday night.  And I agreed.  I do have appt Thursday morning where they will check me again (cross your fingers that there is some progress), but regardless of the result, I will hopefully be admitted Thursday evening to begin the long process that I have come to expect from my boys (so far from start to finish they have all taken at least 20 hours)!

We are so excited to meet Bennett and get to know him.  The boys are thrilled and I do love having the countdown with them every morning.

 

39 week shot

Here is my 39 week belly shot.  Compare it here to the 28 week shot (wearing the same thing). I think I look much more tired... I have that look of "I am soooo over this).   At my 38 week appt, the doc said he was an average size baby and he guessed a weight of low 7's at that time.  He is also the one who delivered Shepherd and he said that he didnt think Bennett would be that big (Shep has been by far my biggest baby at 8 lb 9 oz).  He then chuckled and said that with tall girls though, they often underestimate the size.  But, I dont think he feels overly huge either, so we will see.

Anyway, just wanted to post a quick update of sorts since I will probably be without a computer until Chad comes home Thursday afternoon.  So please so a prayer for us as we head into this crazy week!

Homeschooling installment

Oh my gosh!  I mentioned last post that I would do an update on homeschooling post knowing I had not blogged about it in awhile... yall I had no idea I had no posted about homeschooling since Unit 8!!!!  We will be finishing up Unit 21 tomorrow.  Obviously, summing up 13 units would be too long and for the most part, boring.  So, I will do my best to give a short and sweet version.  And as mentioned last post, I had taken more pictures of Hunter actually doing some of these projects and such but computer crash so use your imagination...

Hunter :)

*** And dont feel bad if you dont get through all this... these homeschool posts are mainly  documentation for me! :)

Ok...
Unit 9 ( Sep 20- Sep 26)
Bible- Col 3:23-  focus on hard work and idle hands
History - Landing in America- continued talking about the Pilgrims

Art activity of the Mayflower.

Read- finished up the Early Reader's Bible      and      Daniels' Duck
Storytime- begin a new genre of historical fiction with the reading of Little House in the Big Woods. Though I love Little House on the Prairie books, this book was pretty boring but we tried to make it fun
Science- discussion of the Equator
Math- grouping into items of 10
Language Arts - exclamatory sentences.  Spelling list pattern was long "a" words with silent "e"


Unit 10 ( Sep 27- Oct 4)
Bible- Psalm 118:1- giving thanks to the Lord
History- Pilgrims Settle in Plymouth
Read- Frog and Toad are Friends     and    Katy and the Big Snow
Storytime- Little House in the Big Woods
Science- underwater playdough model of the ocean shelf
Math- tens side and ones side
Language Arts -when to use an exclamation point vs a period.   Spelling pattern long "i" with silent "e"

Unit 11 (Oct 5- Oct 12)
Bible- Ps 143:10- Praying God's will
History- Pilgrims Build Houses in Plymouth

Hunter's map of Plymouth

and a map of Jerusalem during Solomon's day

Read- Owl at Home    and    Dust for Dinner
Storytime- Little House in the Big Woods
Science-
Math- fact family
Language Arts -   continuing with Punctuation including the question mark. Spelling pattern long "o" with silent "e"


 Unit 12 (Oct 15- Oct 19)
Bible- Ps 119:9-11- a young person staying pure and living according to His way
History- Samoset and Squanto Help the Pilgrims
Read- Frog and Toad All Year    and    Snowshoe Thompson
Storytime- Little House in the Big Woods
Science- experiment with how germs and sickness spread and experiment with how the Earth orbits the sun linking with why the Equator area is so hot
Math-Review of numbers to 20, fact families, addition and subtraction to 20, comparing sets, missing numbers in equations...  New material- shapes
Language Arts- Nouns- people, places, things.  Spelling pattern long "u" with silent "e"

Activity with the spelling words this unit

Unit 13 ( Oct 22- Oct 30) --- Field trip to the Pumpkin Patch on Oct 25)
Bible- Rom 8:28- God using ALL things to work together for Him
History-The First Thanksgiving at Plymouth

Basket weave taught by the Indians to the Pilgrims

Read- Wagon Wheels
Storytime-  began another new genre and picked Charlotte's Web for the next 4 units
Science- The Seasons

Art linked with Science

Math- continue with shapes and began patterns
Language Arts- Proper names need to capitals.  Spelling review week

Unit 14 (Oct 31- Nov 6)
Bible- John 14:1-2- trusting in God
History- More Problems for the Pilgrims in Plymouth
Read- Buffalo Bill and the Pony Express    and     A Chair for my Mother
Storytime- Charlotte's Web
Science- Reptiles

Hunter's snake that goes with our Science lesson

Math- measuring/ length/ weight
Language Arts - discuss full names and write down family members full names. Spelling pattern words with "or" like horn

Unit 15 (Nov 7- Nov 13)
Bible- Matt 25:21- being a faithful servant
History- Dutch Pioneers Settle in New Amsterdam

The poem this week went along with History story of the little Dutch boy and his pet cow.

Read-   Prairie School    and    Keep the Lights Burning Abbie
Storytime- Charlotte's Web
Science- Made ice cream which was a success... attempted curds the next day and it was a flop
Math- weight and estimating
Language Arts - initials.  Spelling pattern "er' as in her

Unit 16 (Nov 14- Nov 23)  ---  Field trip to Shielle Museum on Nov 19)
Bible- Prov 15:3 God can see everything we do
History- King Phillip Declares War on the Pilgrims
Read- Helen Keller    and    A Weekend with Wendell
Storytime- Charlotte's Web and we watched the movie. 
Science- Light
Math- subtraction word problems
Language Arts - The word "I" in  a sentence. Spelling pattern "ir" as in girl

Unit 17 (Nov 26- Nov 30)
Bible- I Peter 5:7- Casting our cares on Him
History- Two Pilgrim Children Become  Captives
Read- Helen Keller    and began     First Flight
Storytime- began new genre of mystery and picked Who Stole the Wizard of Oz? Really good book to represent a mystery.
Science- Fish
Math-graphing
Language Arts - days of the week.  Spelling pattern "ar" as in farm  

Unit 18 (Dec 3- Dec 10)
Bible- Review week
History- Trouble in the New Land
Read- First Flight    and began    Christian Liberty Nature Reader

Level of book Hunter is reading.  This is a page from The Christian Liberty Nature Reader

Storytime- Who Stole the Wizard of Oz?
Science-experimenting with the sense of smell
Math-counting and adding by tens... finding missing numbers
Language Arts-   Spelling- Review

Unit 19 (Dec 12- Jan 2)--- this was during on sicknesses and then Christmas)
Bible- I John 4:10-11 Loving eachother.  God loving us
History- Life for the Puritans in Colonial Times
Read-    Christian Liberty Nature Reader     and he picked a super hero book each day to read
Storytime- Who Stole the Wizard of Oz?
Science-Experimenting with hearing
Math- tens and ones up to 100, number patterns, add greatest numbers
Language Arts-    Names of the month.  Spelling pattern long "a" as in day

Unit 20 (Jan 3- Jan 9)
Bible- Prov 12:24 - Diligent vs laziness
History- Colonial Schools
Read- Christian Liberty Nature Reader     and he picked a super hero book each day to read
Storytime- finished Who Stole the Wizard of Oz? a week early and picked one of his LarryBoy chapter books
Science- mimic different kind of animals
Math-subtract numbers to 40
Language Arts-  Names of the month cont.  Spelling pattern long "a" spelled "ai" as in brain

Unit 21 (Jan 10- Jan 17) field trip to The Children's Museum Jan 11
Bible-Phil 4:8- think about good things, pure things
History- Pioneers from France Settle in Detroit

Art project linked with history lesson on the benefits of using birchwood canoes.  Hunter made a canoe of flour and salt and then painted it

Read- Christian Liberty Nature Reader    and    Wagon Train
Storytime- new genre of non fiction and chose How to Travel West in a Covered Wagon

Some of the material we are covering with moving west. Book of the left is our non fiction book.  The middle book is one of our history books.  The book on the right is one of the supplemental books Hunter is reading to me and on the Nook is the game Oregon Trail... tell me that doesnt take you back (all those who are around my age)

Science- clouds

Cloud types

Math-Subracting patterns and subtracting with zerors.  Add 3 or more numbers,
Language Arts-  Birthdates and dates.  Spelling pattern long "e" spelled "ee"  as in tree


And there it is.  I wish I had all the other pictures I had taken and that this post was really 3 posts so you could get a better feel for all we have done.  Hunter is doing great.  I hope that he will be MAP tested next week so I can make sure I am giving him what he needs.  

7 Updates on Us with Hunter's 7 yr stats

So, cant remember if I posted anything about our computer crashing.... well it did and it has severely cut into my blogging.    It crashed a week or two before Christmas.  Thankfully, Chad is able to bring him lap top home from work at night but by that time I am in new state of mind to blog.

So, this post will be sectioned...

First, Hunter had his 7 year old check up and he is healthy as ever.
Weight 57.8 lb (79%)
Height 51.5" (95%)
He has grown a lot... here are his stats from last year

My big 7 year old sitting by the fire.

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Second, we are moving! Chad was contacted about a month ago about a head football job on the NC/ SC line.  After prayer, meeting with the team at CHS, and a significant pay increase, we have decided to go.  He starts the 21st of this month which is totally crazy to me as I am due with Bennett on the 23rd.  Dont know when the boys and I will move or list the house but we are excited.  It is definitely going to be sad to leave EHS and this area but it is a good move for our family plus we will still have family closeby.  I keep telling myself... God will be your portion.  God is your portion. 

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Third, after all of our sickness in December, we finally got around to completing all the things we told Hunter we would do for his birthday which included Hollywild and The Childrens Museum.  Here are a bunch of pictures from the fun.

Van sized cow in window

The mammoth cows... notice how far back my head is

This kid is beautiful... kind of hate I had his hair cut.

Shep feeds a zebra who then nibbles on his hand

Shep feeding the goats

Ashton takes a turn

Hunter's turn- he got the wild ones

Add caption

Daddy's butt tick

The boys

Family shot at Hollywild

Future astronauts

Excited over the ball chutes

Construction crew

Such concentration to roll bricks up a conveyor belt

All of us though Ashton blends into me.

Preschool water table

Hunter is a bear and Shep looks scared

playing the water... you can barely see Ashtons head in that clear dome

lovin the museum

too cute

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Fourth, I was 38 weeks on Wednesday.   Hard to believe that the time has basically come to have a baby.  I dont feel as pregnant as I am sure I look.  My back is not really even hurting anymore, no contractions, dont even get up to pee most nights.  I also have gained the least amount of weight from any of my other pregnancies.  So far, I am up 38 lbs which, for me, is good.  I am walking 2.5 miles in 30-35 minutes two or three times a week.

An artistic and actually very slenderizing 38 week belly shot.  I would like to think I actually look this small at 38 weeks so humor me.

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Fifth, I painted our bedroom a couple months ago and just painted and fixed our bathroom up yesterday.  Call it nesting or preparing to list the house, but it looks good and clean.  I also put up Bennett's crib right after Christmas and got his clothes washed.  However, that is all I have done.  All the rest of the baby gear is still at mom and dads and i have yet to pack the first thing for a hospital bag. 

Bedroom makeover- would show before pics but COMPUTER CRASH!

New paint - it was taupe.  It has totally brightened up the bathroom... love fresh paint

Another view

Bennett's bed... I will be honest, makes me kind of sad I dont have a whole nursery to post about but this kiddo is only getting a wall and this is it.

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Sixth, homeschooling is going great.  I will get post an update this next week of all the things we have done.... it will probably not be super picture heavy since the computer crashed and I lost ALL my pictures from the last 5 months (pray that the computer guy can at least recover the pics) but it will show Hunter's progress and all that we have been up to.

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Seventh, the boys are playing basketball this winter.  So far they both love it.  Have I ever mentioned that I hate basketball.. . if not, I hate basketball.  I love most sports but basketball and I just dont jive.  The rules are ridiculous and the bleachers are uncomfortable.  Anyway, here are some pics from there games last Saturday.  

Hunter actually getting physical and coming away with the ball

Eli with the ball and Hunter trying to get open

Hunter playing point guard (which he should not do). 

Ashton shoots and scores!

Again Ashton shoots and scores... He is small and you cant even see him though.  You can see his hands in front of number 16

Ashton bringing the ball down the court.  Also notice the lady in heels... the other team's coach who complained to her church over us because she doesnt know the terminology of basketball.  hahaha, nothing like church league sports

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Anyway, there is an update in a nutshell.