HAPPY halloween!!!

We got to spend halloween hanging out at the hospital and Benjamin was excited to dress up.  All the nurses and staff thought that it was pretty cute.  I think this sweetie might be a lady killer at one point in his life!

The kids came in today to see Benjamin.. and we had to get the traditional picture of all the kiddos on the bed together.

And Halle just loving up on her new baby brother.  She has such a beautiful soul and I am beyond grateful that she is the big sister to all these brothers.  She is so great at that role!

I am grateful for the spirit that I feel when I hold a newborn.  I can not describe the feeling but can only say that it is beyond peaceful and it is joy that I can not describe.  I am so grateful to be Benjamin’s mom.

And here is the halloween crew 2017!!!

We welcomed Benjamin into our family this evening.

Things happened pretty quickly and with not complications which I appreciate!!!

I was induced this morning because Benjamin did not want to come on his own! 

Alan and I arrived at the hospital around 8:00am.

It took a little while to get the pitocin started.  Once it was started I really did not feel like much was happening.  Alan and I walked the halls for a while, I bounced on a birthing ball... and I did not feel any good contractions.  The nurse came and looked at the machine and also my IV lines and realized that it was not screwed in correctly and I had not been recieving any medicine for the past like 3 hours.. AWESOME!! So once that got figured out I started to actually have some good contractions.  Around 4 I asked for an epidural.  They came in and gave my the medicine.  Right when she gave it to me I could tell that it was not going to work because my legs went numb right away which I had never experienced with my other births.  I was still in a lot of pain but the doctor asked that I give the epidural time to work.  We gave it about 20 minutes after she had completed it, that being around 5:00, and still not relief.  She came back in and I told the nurse that I felt ALOT of back pain.  The nurse had a hard time believing that I would be ready to push because only an hour ago I was only 4cm dilated.  The doctor ended up pushing more meds through my IV... and it just made my poor legs completely DEAD.  The nurse checked me and said that I was ready to push.  She asked for a practice push, while looking at Alan and Alan said “not sure you want her to do that...” I did it and the nurse was like HOLD ON!!!!  She called the doctor in to deliver and she arrived just in time to catch our sweet baby Benjamin!!!  I was so grateful to have a good delivery with a great team of nurses and doctors and my husband there supporting me during it all.  Welcome to the world Benjamin... we can not wait to watch you grow up.

Meeting your siblings for the first time!!!

We are so in love with you Benjamin.  We hope to provide the best life for you.  We promise to love you and teach you and do our best each day to help you accomplish what the Lord would have you do while you are on this earth.

He is here safe and sound

 

And when people ask... Benjamin looks pretty close to Noah!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BENJAMIN!!!

Benjamin Keith Blake was born at 5:22pm on October 30th, 2017.

Weighing 7 pounds 14 ounces and 20 inches long.

Welcome to this crazy thing called life Ben!

The emotions are real...

Tommy is not too excited to be promoted to big brother tomorrow!

Everyone else is real excited to meet Benjamin.

Can not believe that by tomorrow evening we will be a family of 7!!!

Feeling humbled, blessed, overwhelmed, and so very excited.

And since there is still no baby!!!

We are headed to the halloween party up at my Aunt Kathy's house.

The kids have been talking about it since we got the invite about a month ago.

The kids were excited to wear their costumes, play the different games, listen to the spooky stories, eat a yummy dinner, and got for a spooky hayride.

They all got loaded up with lots of treats and goodies and had an amazing time!

Thank you Aunt Kathy for such a fun evening with family.

And today looks a little different with some snow on the GROUND!!!! Still all smiles from all the kids during the ride.

And tonight we had dinner with the sister missionaries over at my parents house.  The kids are always on their best behavior!!!! NOT, but it is always great to hear their message and feel their spirit when they come and have dinner.  My kids adore them!!

The boys love this kind of stuff!!!

Alan took them around the house for a long time today and there were nothing but smiles on all of their faces!

Halle's class came up with adjectives that describe her.  This is another activity that they do with her being star of the week.  I thought that the words that they came up with describe Halle to a T.  Halle is having a great time being star of the week this week!  She is looking forward to sharing her favorite snack tomorrow and also having a dance party with her favorite song.

I have great people in my life that lift me up and help me to feel happy.  They brought me treats, dinners, made phone calls, and sent messages and it really does help get me through these last days before meeting this sweet baby boy!  So grateful for these friends in my life and for the sacrifice that they made to help make my day better!

These two dudes having fun and having a snack together this morning!

Due date!!! Made it to the beautiful date once again.  I went to the doctor today and set my induction date for next Monday.. so as long as the hospital does not get too crazy next Sunday evening we will be having a birthday party on MONDAY!!!

Halle is star of the week this week in her classroom!  Today she was able to share something about herself.  She even brought in some pictures of her family and of her doing things that she loves to do. Daddy and Abel were able to go in and watch her share this afternoon! Mom was sad that she could not be there, but Dad took video and I was able to watch it later.  She was so natural up there and it was fun to watch her share things about herself!

Pretty much 40 weeks pregnant with Benjamin Keith!!

Can not wait to meet you little dude!

Tommy pulling his weight around here and pulling that chocolate milk up the stairs!!! It was so funny to watch him try to carry it up the stairs.  There was a couple close calls of him falling down, but he kept strong and made it all the way up there!  Thanks buddy for the help.

And put on another successful halloween party with the nieces and nephews!!!

We did some crafts! Ashley brought fun treats to make! Played BINGO! And then enjoyed dinner and playing outside.

Living close to family is something that I feel so grateful about.  It is beyond great to see our children interact and be friends with their cousins.  I loved being able to spend time with my cousins growing up and I love that we can do the same for our children.

All Alan wanted to do on his day off was spend time with his family and go 4 wheeling over at his parents house.  So we did just that!  We loaded up the 4 wheelers and headed over to spend the morning in Austin.  Alan's parents were in California visiting Sabrina and her family so we just hung around outside and enjoyed the fresh fall air!  Abel had a BLAST driving his own little 4 wheeler and Mom and Dad had the others ride along with us.  We ended up in the car a little later than expected so decided to stop at kwik trip and everyone got to choose what they wanted for lunch.  There was a variety of pizza, corn dogs, hot dogs, and chicken fingers.  Everyone left happy and full!  Such a fun way to celebrate Alan!!!

Dad and his Twin!!!

Halle and the boys having time on the screen this morning.  I kind of love seeing them be peaceful and kind with each other!

And here is Tommy just throwing his weight around and doing anything and everything he feels like... oh and enjoying popcorn!  That is one of him most favorite snacks these days.

Here Daddy is at work doing something dangerous!  The boys love to get these types of pictures from dad.  Abel loves to ask all sorts of questions to Alan about his job and about the different things that Alan does during his night at work.  So when we got this picture sent the boys were super excited to hear all about it.  We are grateful for the job that Alan has and his willingness to go to work and provide for our family.

Your days as the baby are numbered.... and i can hardly believe it!!!!

Happy Happy Birthday Alan Dear!!!!

We started the morning off with letting Dad sleep in, and then had blueberry bran muffins complete with candles and a great rendition of the birthday song!!!

Then the boys got to head to fleet farm with dad and picked up slushes and popcorn.

We spent the rest of the morning doing mulch around the house and then enjoyed some john hardy's for lunch!!!

Alan has to go into work tonight but has Friday off and we are looking forward to celebrating him on Friday.

Abel went down to get some yogurt for me and brought me up a soda and said "just thought you might like one of these..." so sweet to think of others Abel.  That is one of those endearing traits that you have that help overshadow the hard days.  I sure love being your mom and watching you grow into such a handsome, caring, and helpful boy!

And here is Halle at school today.  It was pajama day because it is MEA break starting tomorrow.  I love it that her teacher sends pictures during the week of different things that they are doing.  Fun to see her interacting with friends and having a good time at school!

Alan served the kids this morning by getting up and making them homemade waffles and they loved it!!! They got to choose Nutella, syrup, snow aka powered sugar, and sprinkles.  They all had a really fun breakfast and I was grateful for Alan's willingness to serve them this morning!

And I will never tire of this sweet boys face, smile, giggle, and screams!!!

Not sure how many nice fall days Minnesota has left to offer... so we enjoyed this afternoon outside at the park and playing around!!! We had a little snack and then ran off our energy until dinner time.  Perfect way to spend the afternoon with our littles.

Thomas loves to come up to you and grab your legs and then look up waiting for you to grab a hold of him and carry him around.  Lately all he view has been my big belly.  So now he will go and grab my legs, step back a little bit, and then take a look at my face... this sweet little guy loves to be held!!!

And I completed the kids Halloween costumes today.

They are all real excited to be PJ masks heros!!!

Just a big brother helping his little brother get back home.

Abel can sometimes be really trying, but then there are many times where I see his heart of gold.  This morning was one of those times.  He really does have a heart of gold and I am so grateful to be his mom!!!

And tonight Alan and I got to go out and celebrate our anniversary.

We started out the afternoon with going and getting pedicures and I'm pretty sure that Alan is sold and would for sure get another one with me!!! Then we decided to go a progressive dinner around town.  We started at Five West and got some yummy appetizers.  Then we went to the porch and got some delish fried chicken.  And we ended the evening with picking up cookie ice cream sandwiches for dessert.  Alan also had to get some parts to fix his truck so we did that as well.  

It was really fun to be able to spend a nice long evening with Alan.  Just enjoying each other and the life that we have created together!!!