Halloween

This was Benson's first Halloween (and our first with a baby)! I love dressing up! How great is it that there is a holiday dedicated to dressing up!? In the past Anth has refused to dress up for Halloween but with Benson now here, he gave in! We got the idea for our costumes from Anthony's brother's family. Plus it helped that he had these jerseys from high school. My mom was in town so at the last minute we decided she could be the ref, I think she makes a good one!

Our little football!

Our Ward had a fabulous party and instead of doing the usual trunk-or-treat they had families decorate doors in the church so the kids could walk around inside. We got to man a door and it was a blast handing out candy :) (I don't have a picture, I was holding Bens at the time) For one of the activities they dressed up the Bishop and his counselor, then voted on which team did a better job. Alas, Anth wasn't picked but I think they did a pretty good job! It was a really fun night and I'm sure Bens loved it, even though he slept through it :)

Dress-up a Bishop

Dress-up the 1st Counselor (he won)

3rd Week Dr Visit

Although Benson doesn't turn 3 weeks until tomorrow we had a Dr visit today so here are the stats: 10 lbs 15 oz
22 inches long

He's grown a lot since birth (8 lbs 8 oz and 18 3/4 inches long)! The Dr said "he obviously doesn't have a problem eating." Which he doesn't. He loves to eat 4-5oz, about every 3 hrs. At night he sometimes has a hard time sleeping, which we think is due to gas; just him figuring out how his body works :) The Dr said he looks great in every area!

We love him more and more every day, if that's possible! It's so fun to just sit and watch him, whether he's awake or asleep. He smiles all the time and often laughs while he sleeps. He's a very good baby and we feel so blessed to have him in our lives!!!

Just More Pictures...

Group changing

Picture with Peanut (the elephant)

On the way to the Dr. office

Cute dimple!

Playing with mom!

Baby Shower

Some amazing ladies from my ward threw Bens and me a shower on Saturday! It was so much fun, they really know how to throw a party!!! (I asked my pediatrician if it was ok to take Benson to the shower, he being just over a week old, and was told yes but no one was allowed to hold him. I succeeded 100%!) We played games, ate good food and talked about babies! Benson received so many wonderful gifts! Thanks for everything!

Such a cute cake!

Firsts

First bath

First decorated door

First fruit bouquet

First ride home

First night at home!

First outfit and first time outside (giving a gangsta sign)

Just Pics......

Drum Roll Please...................................

Benson William Vance

Born at 3:03 pm on 10/15/10

8lbs 8oz and 19” Long

He’s here! As you can see we have decided to name him Benson William. He is such a cutie. On Thursday this week we received a text message from the birth mom telling us that she was having regular contractions about 3 minutes apart which lasted about a minute. They were progressively getting stronger. Needless to say, we didn’t sleep too much that night. She had been updating Lynette throughout the day and told us that she and her mom had both felt like they needed to get the bag packed. On Friday morning Lynette got a phone call from the birth mom letting us know that she had been admitted to the hospital and that Benson would be born later that day. She said that the delivery was not too difficult (thank you to modern medicine) but that she did have to push for about 45 min.

Benson is a cute little boy. The pictures don’t do him any justice. We were asked to come up today and arrived a little after 3 pm and were able to stay for an hour. We held him and fed him a bit and got see all his little features in person. He has some cute dimples that you’ll just have to see when you see him in person. He has big eyes and his hair is straight when dry but curly when wet and is very soft and black. He has long toes and fingers and both hands and feet are pretty big. He was all bundled up this afternoon and was just cute. He is full of expression and a very calm happy kid. We certainly love him.

We had some good conversation with the birth mom and her parents and again it was confirmed that this little boy is to be a part of our family. We are so grateful to have him and can’t wait till he is home with us. He will either be coming home with us tomorrow or on Monday. We are waiting for one remaining test. He is healthy and doing great. We will keep you posted and hopefully you will enjoy the pics.

Anthony & Lynette