Brayden's First Roll!

Brayden rolled from his tummy to his back for the first time on May 24, 2009!!

Brayden 4 mos old!

Brayden turned 4 mos on May 20, 2009

Here are a few things that he is doing these days:

1. Always sucks on his hands- not his thumb, his entire fist or first two fingers!
2. Is a constant mover and shaker
3. Reaches for toys and grabs everything...then everthing goes in his mouth
4. Rolls from tummy to back and back to side (he is very close to going all the way over!)
5. Always smiles :)
6. Laugh/Giggles
7. Kicks like crazy in the bath
8. Discovered his hands- extends both arms and clenches fists and just stares at his hands...its a crackup!
9. Has slept throught the night since he was 2 1/2 months old!
10. Loves to be naked...like they say "like father, like son!!"
11. Loves storytime!
12. Is a drooling machine!
13. Pulls from laying down to sit and stand
14. Loves to be on his belly now, he squeals everytime we put him on his belly!
15. Has a "fo-hawk"!!

Meeting Uncle Chad

Uncle Chad graduated from Carroll College May 9, 2009. Congrats Chad!! In order to be there for the big day (which we wouldn't have missed) meant a plane trip to SLC followed by a 7 hour drive to Helena, MT. We were a little nervous about the car trip since that meant Brayden was stuck in his carseat for a very long time.....but, of course, he was a rockstar both ways!!

This was also the first time that Uncle Chad and Brayden had met. It was great to see them together....I especially loved the first time Chad held him...needless to say, he was a bit nervous!

Since Brayden was born everyone said that he had Uncle Chad feet!!

Hopefully, they both grow into those feet!!! Haha!!!

Little Glow Worm

Brayden was a little jaundice when he was born and the hospital sent us home with a home UV unit (Bili blanket) that he had to wear for the first few days, 24 hours a day. The machine provided UV light which helps the body break down bilirubin while the liver works to catch up. We were literally plugged into the wall! It made him glow and we called him our glow worm or firefly!

ITS A BOY!

Brayden Michael Benson
6 lb. 5 ounce
18 inches long

Our precious baby boy arrived on January 20, 2009 at 8:19 pm!! He was 6 lbs. 5 ounce and 18 inches long.

Mommy was induced at 8 am and had a relatively easy day of labor...only dilating to 2 with mild contractions until Dr. Gaio broke my water around 6:30 pm. I wanted to wait to have the epidural until I had enough pain, but once my water broke I went from 4 to complete in less than an hour leaving an epidural out of the question. Trust me.. I begged for something but no such luck the little man came naturally after 20 minutes of pushing at 8:19 pm!! We all did great, thanks to Daddy, my coach!! Dr. Gaio said I ws lucky that I was induced or I may have delivered halfway down the hill because of how quickly I progressed!

We stayed in the hospital for 2 nights because of the time of day we delivered and living in Big Bear. We then stayed our first night at Aunt Deb's because we had an appointment at the pediatrician's early. We brought Brayden to his new home on Friday and really enjoyed our time with him...we are so blessed to have such a beautiful, healthy baby boy! We love you Brayden!!