Benson Keith was born in the afternoon of August 10, 2006 in Abilene, Texas. He weighed 7 lb, 12 oz. I had to be induced, because I had been dilated to a three for three whole weeks and was starting to get sick. I remember walking with Keith in the parking lot of the hospital at 5:00 am and we were so dang giddy to become parents. After wimping through some weak pitocin contractions, I got an epidural and anxiously awaited his arrival by shaking and shivering, playing skip-bo and watching endless episodes of Saved By The Bell. I remember being in awe of having medicine to stop the pain, but still being able to feel the dr. check my progress. I was so excited when it came time to push. It was amazing I could tell when it was time for him to come. I pushed for close to an hour and Dr. Mascorro held up my sweet little blonde cone-headed baby and I just hoped he was actually alive. He was so chubby at birth and very very calm. He almost immediately nursed and knew exactly what to do. We named him Benson Keith.
While the nurses and Keith went to bathe him, I noticed a gushing of blood. Although, I figured this was normal, I asked the nurse to check. When she lifted my sheet, she gasped and called the Dr. Next she weighed the amount of blood I was losing, and said that it was close to that of someone having a c-section. Soon there were Dr.'s and nurses everywhere. Keith came in to discover a frenzy, but he remained calm. Keith is the bomb at being a labor/coach/partner. I got shots in my legs, and medicine shoved down my throat. Soon I was throwing up like crazy and had lost all digestive control (that's a nice way of saying I was seriously pooing everywhere). Luckily I was heavily drugged and have very few blurry memories of this time. For some reason, my uterus did not contract after birth and I was not in very good shape. I remember after all of the hullabaloo, holding Benson and asking Keith to take him because I was way too drowsy to be holding a baby. After a few extra days in the hospital, we took our sweet bundle home. You would think after having such a traumatic experience like that, I would consider myself lucky with my one little guy, but he was so wonderful I immediately wanted more. I remember sitting in my chair just staring at him, hoping I would find the strength to set him down. He was so amazing. He was the calmest, most mellow baby ever born and to this day brings me such a sense of calm. I am so blessed to be his mom.
For some reason, having a FIVE year old makes me feel very old. Like I don't just have little tiny toddlers anymore, I have a big kid. Even though Benson could technically go to school this year, I am keeping him home one more year. Mostly because sending him to school sounds terrifying and well, old. I am so glad I get another year to keep this little boy home. I am not even sending him to preschool.
Griffin woke me up bright and early on August 10, 2011 by telling me he needed to throw up. So awesome. He was a pretty sick boy, but wouldn't miss the party. I strongly considered cancelling it, but realized everyone coming had been around Griffin in the days prior, so if they were going to get sick, they were going to get sick. Luckily Keith's mom came to visit and was a HUGE help. I couldn't have done it without her. This is Griff's GQ pose, by the way.
The party was "sports themed." Benson wanted Star Wars but I am a mean mom and said no, because I had a hard time finding Star Wars stuff. The first game, we threw bean bags onto ball stickers.
It did not take long before everyone began cheating. Griff was definitely the biggest cheater of them all.
I held the treat bags and when the kids' bean bags landed on a ball, they got to pick a candy.
Next, we hit the pinata I made all by myself. It was hideous, but rad. I was so proud of my dinosaur egg/sports ball wrapped pinata. Seriously, why don't I have a craft gene?
All of Benson's wildest dreams came true with the pinata. He was so stoked. That made all the hours of paper machet and wanting to kill Keith for dripping flour water all over my freshly mopped floor worth it. Kind of.
Griffin loved the pinata too.
Next, we opened presents. How about my man-hand in this picture? Yikes. I seriously hate toys. I think in the future I am going to write Bring Cash Only on the invitations. Would that be tacky?
We were going to only have boys at this year's party, but we couldn't leave out Eliza and Awny.
I kind of slacked on making a sweet cake this year, but my MIL and I made about 100 cake pops with the boys.
Overall, the party was a big hit. No one likes to party more than Benson. He is the best boy ever! I am so grateful he is in our family and our oldest child. He sets the bar pretty high. Here are some other fun facts about Benson at his current age:
- He weighs 35 lbs, aka, he is a twig.
- He is 43 inches tall.
- He loves to play video games and watch tv.
- He rides a two wheeler and a scooter really well.
- He can swim the whole length of the swimming pool, actually he has been able to do this for a while now. He is a little fish and loves to be underwater. He can swim to the bottom of our 10 foot pool. It's incredible to watch.
- He loves to go golfing with Keith.
- He will play soccer again in the Fall and can't wait.
- He loves to eat fruit. And chocolate.
- He can write all of his letters, but does not like to work on them.
- He is the most social child ever born and will chat it up with anyone.
- Some cute things he says, instead of "behind" he says "on-a-hind." Instead of "haircut" or "hotdog" he says "wherecut" or "whatdog." He asks for a "cheesadilla" instead of quesadilla. He adds the word even to just about every sentence. And totally. And guess what. And, I want to tell you something.
- He disciplines himself. If he is ever in trouble, he feels so bad, you generally have to console him for quite some time.
- He always eats with a napkin.
- He wears a white shirt to church each week.
- He has good rhythm and can sing exactly on pitch.
- He is perfect.
- The End
We love you Benson!
I am always afraid that when Keith cuts Benson's hair that it will grow in darker. Oh how I adore his little white hair that feels like hay.
And my Griffey, who has sandy locks with white spots all over it. Just like his Dad. Natural highlights, that are of course fantastic in the summer months. Speaking of hair, mine is crazy long right now. Way longer than it has been in a loooong time. Like dating Keith long. I am still not sick of it, probably because reading sweet hair blogs is my latest obsesh.
But a few days later, Keith convinced me it was time for the Rooster tail to go, so Leo could someday have hay for hair like his brothers.
I actually think Leo quite enjoyed his little cut. He was way easier to cut than his brothers.
I am loving my mirror reflection in this picture, trying to get my little guy to smile. It didn't happen.
Poor little guy is hairless, but still white-haired. Thank goodness. And believe it or not, he is still adorable. And unlike his brother Benson, he has dark eyelashes. I hate that he looks so old now and can't wait for the hair to grow back. Keith assures me it will come back quickly. He better be right.
Oh summer, you have been good to us. We have enjoyed the sun kissed skin, bike riding, baseball games, late night swims, running outside, daily park visits and overall ease of life that you bring to us. I guess the calendar is forcing us to move on. Will you stay a little longer please? At least long enough to bleach our hair again.
