We have a baby

I hate to blog when I'm super tired because I think I just end up saying silly things. I've been putting off writing anything until I'm not completely exhausted, but Ben is now 11 days old and it hasn't happened yet and I don't think it will happen in the near future, so here we are.

Benjamin Ronald Steele was born on Tuesday, July 27th at 4:45 pm. He was 8 pounds 5 ounces and 22 inches long. I was in labor for right around 13 hours. We had him at a birth center, which has a maximum stay time of 4 hours after birth, but I was showered and wanting to go home by 7:30.

Devan dropped me and Ben off at home and then went to pick up Hannah from his parents' house, but she was already asleep, so he came back home (With hamburgers. I was so starving!). It was a little nice being on our own that first night because Ben didn't want to fall asleep until around 4 in the morning. That was probably the only really hard night we've had so far. Ben figured out how to eat so much quicker than Hannah. By his second night he was a pro and Devan didn't have to get up a single time. With Hannah we were still up trying to help her eat by the 3rd or 4th night.

Hannah came home when her Nana went to work the next morning and got to meet her brother. She was still sleeping when she got home, so this is right after she woke up.

The first day all she wanted to do was hold him, but she wasn't very good at holding him gently. Every time we'd take him away, she'd throw a fit and scream, "No! Hannah's baby!"

She realized Ben was a really cool guy when he brought her a present...a new Tinkerbell movie!

We all spent most of the day Wednesday hanging out on the couch and watching Tinkerbell over and over and over.

Hannah took a nap late in the afternoon and slept until dinner time, so to wake her up I just put crying baby Ben in bed with her.

It still took her a bit to wake up, but then she wanted to hold him again,

The week before Ben

I know this is late, but I've had this  half-finished post sitting here for 2 weeks.

The last full week before Ben was born was a hard one. I was having tons of Braxton Hicks and Hannah was a pain in the butt and I was so ready to be done being pregnant. The weekend before he came was nice though. Friday night we went to a free concert in a park downtown. The performer was Cherrie Call. She's a folksy LDS artist. I've loved her since high school and looking forward to this concert was the only thing that kept me hoping the baby wouldn't come early.

Hannah and Dad weren't as into it as I was so Devan got to take a little nap and Hannah and I improvised some entertainment.

July 24th is Pioneer Day, which is a state holiday when we celebrate the first pioneers entering the valley in 1847. It's basically a second Fourth of July around here. So, finally Sunday morning my procrastination caught up with me and I threw together this skirt for Hannah. I've had the fabric lying around since May and I waited until the morning of the very last patriotic holiday of the summer to do anything with it.

My last pregnancy picture!

Devan made some amazing rolls before church and I brought a jar of whipping cream to nursery and we shook it into butter and ate bread and butter for our snack. It went completely over the babies' heads, but I thought it was really fun and pioneer-ish and they seemed to enjoy the rolls.

After church we went outside and did some sparklers.

Aunt Nicole came over on her motorcycle. She has a really cool helmet.

Monday was a nice, nice day. I woke up and wasn’t having any contractions and was able to get a lot of work done around the house. The pile of clean laundry was literally up to my shoulder, but I got it all folded and put away. I got the kids’ room more organized and Hannah was great the entire time. She followed me around and played with toys and we had a great morning. In the afternoon we went swimming. At one point I was holding her in the water and spinning in circles and she put her head on my shoulder and we just spun and spun. It was such a nice moment. I remember thinking that I wasn't going to be able to have very many moments like that where she was all I had to take care of. I was so glad I got to have that nice day with her because early the next morning I went into labor.  

One Last Hurrah

Last Thursday, immediately after Hannah's last swimming lesson, we dropped her off at Chad and Ashley's and headed out to Wendover. Wendover is right on the Utah/Nevada border, about an hour and a half west of Salt Lake. It's a big gambling city, so to lure people in, they have great deals on hotels. We stayed at the Peppermill Resort Hotel. It was pretty cheesy, but fun. There was a jacuzzi and sauna IN THE ROOM!

Of course the first thing we did while we were there is sit in the hot tub and watch TV. Then we went to a buffet, which wasn't very good and was too expensive. They had good dessert though. I had an amazing piece of caramel cheese cake. When we left I was too full to breathe. Devan wasn't though.

He said, "That wasn't good. I left without stuffing myself."

I said, "What about the cheesecake, that was pretty great, huh?"

He said, "No, I've had better."

"But you ate 3 pieces!"

"Yeah, but normally I would have had 5."

After dinner we hung out in our room for about an hour and played cards. Look at those lights. I told you it was a fun place.

Then we took a walk out on the salt flats.

We walked for an hour and then turned back when it started getting dark.

The trip back took a little longer because Devan had to keep stopping to collect these huge bullets he found.

Just for size comparison, there's one in the salt right in front of me.

The next day we ate lunch at this fine establishment...

and then went around to all the casino gift shops. Devan decided he's going to start collecting the used playing cards they sell at casinos. We got four decks.

Devan on the Utah/Nevada state line

And lounging on a beautiful lawn of astroturf outside of one of the casinos.

We had such a fun time. I missed my little girl like crazy, but I was glad to get away while I still can. When we arrived to pick her up, she barely looked up from her lunch. She didn't miss us at all. I think our relationship is a little one-sided.

Swimming Lessons

Hannah and I took "parent-tot" swimming lessons for two weeks. She actually learned a lot more than I thought she would. If you hold her up in the water, she'll kick her legs, scoop her arms, and blow bubbles. She's put her face in the water if you bribe her with the right bath toy. She'll jump off the edge, even if the person who's supposed to catch her is quite far away. She can get wherever she wants in the pool if she's holding onto a swim noodle. And, by the very end, we made up a game where she'll swim off the stairs to me. She always ends up underwater, but she's never breathed in. She does not enjoy floating on her back.

The very last day of swim lessons they have a play day and all the kids are allowed to go down the waterslide, which they normally wouldn't be allowed to do until they were better swimmers.

Turns out, the slide was a lot faster than I thought it would be and our first trip down wasn't too graceful.

But as soon as we got out the the water, she went straight back for the waterslide, over and over. We went down 8 times in the half hour we were there. She quickly learned that she could get to the top much more quickly if Mom carried her. We also got better at our landing.

And she was a good girl and showed off her swimming for Dad.

We already miss swimming lessons. I thought about signing her up for the next session, but I think she's learned all she's going to from the parent-tot class. So for now, we're spending as much time as we can at our apartment pool.