Benton's Arrival

Well, my little one has arrived!  With Anniston, we knew the time and day of her arrival.  We scheduled an induction and packed up and went to the hospital.  Everyone was at the hospital ready and waiting to meet her.  It was a perfectly planned day.  Benton's story is different.  We didn't know when he would decide to come. My doctor made the mistake of telling me to expect him to come early. Therefore I was ready.  I packed my bags weeks in advance, I got the nursery ready, I washed the clothes, I tied up loose ends at work.  I was ready.  Those who know me know that it's not my personality to be so prepared...but I was.  The only problem was, now I was ready and I had nothing to do but wait...and wait and wait...

Family and friends would check in and it was always the same story:  "Yes, I'm having contractions but nothing significant.  No new news"...for weeks.  No I wasn't miserable and no I wasn't even past my due date but that didn't matter.  It was still all consuming.  When would he come?  Who would be there?  How would it happen?  Would I be at work or would he come in the middle of the night?  The last week I was having contractions pretty regularly all through the night...but still not to the point where I felt like it was "time".  Then on Sunday, October 20th the contractions picked up.  More often and more painful (which I was actually happy about- I kept thinking "bring on the pain").  Then about two in the morning I woke up Jake up and told him I thought it was time to go.  We called Sara King and asked her to come stay with Anniston, we took showers, we got our stuff together, we were ready to walk out the door.

Then I chickened out.  I was afraid they would say I wasn't ready and they would send me home.  So I asked Jake if we could wait one more hour.  An hour later we drove to the hospital.  It was raining and cold.  I walked up to the front desk and said "Umm, I think I'm in labor".  I felt ridiculous.  I didn't look like I was in labor and didn't really look ready to have a baby...and I knew they were thinking "this silly girl is getting ready to get sent home"...but they sent me up to get checked out...and sure enough, I was in labor!  Dialated to a 6- no going home for me.  We quickly called parents and told them to head to Norman.  Three hours later, our little man had arrived!  Everything went perfectly.  Not everyone made it on time, we didn't have pictures to capture the moment he was born like we had planned...but it was still perfect.  Our healthy beautiful boy was here and we couldn't ask for anything more!  Welcome to the family Benton Clay!

Benton Clay Bauer

October 21, 2013

6:44 a.m.

6 pounds 14 ounces

20 inches long

So much hair!

We stayed two glorious nights in the hospital- where we had visits from friends, amazing nurses that took excellent care of me and of Benton, and a nursery where we could send Benton to get a little bit of sleep.  It was a great start!

Some pictures of our hospital stay:

The wonderful Sarah Denbow came up to the hospital the afternoon he was born to take some pictures.  Here's what she captured.

Pumpkin Patch

Our first trip to the pumpkin patch was admittedly a little lame.  It was windy and cold and I was days from having a baby...but we went.  We ran around and looked at all the pumpkins.  We didn't even get one.  But Anniston didn't mind that I didn't get great pictures and that we didn't get a pumpkin- she had a blast just looking at them- picking them up and moving them around.  This girl is pretty easy to please.  Anniston reminds me when I am trying to create the perfect memory that Joy can be found in the simplest of things...like a 5 minute trip to look at a bunch of pumpkins in piles.  

Big Girl Room

We really went back and forth on what to do with Anniston once Benton arrived.  Should we keep her in her crib or move her to a big girl bed?  Well, we finally decided to go ahead and take the plunge and move her to a big girl room.  We had a great time.  Mom and Anniston went for ice cream while Dad put the finishing touches on the room.

So we came home and introduced her to her new big girl room.  What fun!

 She loved it!  She played in her bed, played in her tent, and read books with Dad.  What a fun first night!

She did better than I ever could have imagined.  We said good night and watched her from her monitor- she played for about 15 minutes then climbed into bed and went to sleep all night long!  Success!  Way to go Anniston!

Summer Days after the move

This has been a great summer.  The weather has been unusually cool, which has been awesome for lots of outdoor fun.  We play in the backyard, we take walks almost every night to the park, and we soak up every day as a family of three while anxiously awaiting the arrival of our son.

Anniston loves painting.  We paint outside, in her high chair, in the bath tub...wherever!  The only thing we are working on is not eating the paint...let's hope the paint isn't toxic!

Lots of the summer days are spent outside.  She loves bubbles, riding her car, and playing in the mud.  Again, we are working on not eating the mud.  Yes, that's mud around her mouth.

One of the many walks home from the park on a gorgeous evening.

Anniston loves to help Dad wash the cars.

Anniston also likes to help mom get work done.  I took a quick break from work and came back to find Anniston was picking up the slack while I was away.

 While we had lots of outdoor fun, we also found some fun indoors.  Anniston loves the book store...

and checking out the lizards at the Sam Noble Museum.

And playing at the mall...but most importantly getting a treat at the mall...

Her favorite indoor activities include curling up in her Cinderella blanket to watch Cinderella and reading Cinderella.

She has also started to help mom cook.  This has increased the time it takes to make food, but is also lots of fun.

One fun evening we took a trip to Dave and Buster's with friends.  Anniston was the big winner of the night, earning 2,000 tickets and two stuffed animals.  She was thrilled!

One of my favorite nights was when our dear friend Whitney came home and we got to celebrate her with a dinner at Hideaway.  It was so good to see her and catch up on her adventures in Africa.  She is really seeing amazing movements of God and is reaping a great harvest right now.  It was fun to celebrate with her!

 Another fun dinner was a family trip up to Pops.  Anniston tried her first soda and hated it- too spicy.  But she did enjoy her ice cream treat!

Anniston and Dad walking hand in hand.  She looks a little sassy here.

But she doesn't look sassy here...so sweet and beautiful.

She got all dressed up because Nana and Pops were coming to visit in their new RV.  Anniston was ready to drive!

Last but not least as we close the summer chapter, here's a shot of our freezer.  Yep, it's true.  That's what happens when mom is pregnant in the summer.

 We are so thankful for all the blessings of a wonderful summer.  Now on to the adventures of Fall!

Weekend in Tulsa

We decided to take a trip to Tulsa with Anniston before the baby came.  The first thing on the agenda was going to her first movie, Turbo.  She did awesome.  Just give this girl some candy and some popcorn and she's happy!    

The next day we went to the aquarium.  This was really fun- Anniston LOVES fish.  She gets really excited about seeing the fish at the pet store so the aquarium was definitely a treat.

Anniston and Dad checking out some jellyfish.

My husband is a gifts guy.  He loves gifts, so he had to get Anniston a gift to commemorate the first trip to the aquarium.  It was no surprise that Anniston picked Nemo.

Didn't take long for her to crash once we got in the car.  Tulsa wore this girl out...but there was no tearing her away from her new pal Nemo.