First Bath

Bennett's belly button fell off on Tuesday. I think the girls might be more excited about this than anything else. They have been so looking forward to him taking a "real" bath.

Here he is in his new bath tub.

"Wahoo, I love the bath!"

One-eye

There's both! He is much more calm in the bath at this age than the girls were.

Speaking of the girls, here they are captured in the mirror.

Carly doing some washing

The Past Week

We have been getting out more and getting into more of a routine this past week. The girls start school on Thursday, so we will have to find another routine then:)

Here is the crew reading My Big Backyard together

Carly and Joiner are making canvases for Bennett's room. I bought the supplies before he was born, but we didn't get to it. It was nice to have something to do while he was sleeping the other morning though. They did a great job. Now I just have to hang them.

Having some tummy and quality time with Carly and Bennett

Bennett has the strongest neck. He even rolled over the other day, but I think it might be a fluke. He can raise all the way up on his arms when he wants to as well.

Getting some more love from both sisters

Carly multitasking. Don't worry...I didn't walk away while she was doing this!

Joiner has started reading People magazine while I nurse. While this wouldn't be my first choice, it is better than staring at me or laying on me while Bennett eats. We will kill the habit when it is time!

Milk coma. You can see what a chunk he is turning into. However, this is not anyone's best angle!

Of course, if I take one person's picture, I need to take them all. I am surprised Zoie didn't want her picture made. Here is my sweet, beautiful Joiner.

And my beautiful Carly, who never misses an opportunity to pose for the camera! I have heard that I was the same way as a child, so there is still hope that she will form a severe aversion to the camera:) I hope not; maybe she will be better at moderation than I am.

Our Triplet

As soon as Bennett came out, Andy and I started calling him our triplet. I know all babies look the same, but he has so many of the same features. I found some free time (I should have been washing bathrooms) and was looking through pictures of Carly and Joiner on the Boppy to compare. They are about 2 months old and he is only 4 days old, so the comparison isn't quite accurate, but I think it is still very interesting.

Here is my boy doing some tummy time. You should see how high he can raise his neck already. It is a little wobbly and he is always throwing it around, so not always positive.

Here is Joiner at about 2 months. You can see the same nose, mouth, and eyes. I have always loved this picture of her. She put herself in this little pose.

Here is Carly at the same age. You can see they all have the same little widow's peak hairline. Carly was content to just spread out on the Boppy!

Bethabara Park

Andy has been home on Paternity leave the last week. He was out this Monday for the last day as well and we all headed to Bethabara park to ride bikes on the greenway. We were hoping to see the beavers, but the trail to the wetlands wasn't paved. We had the bikes and stroller, so we stayed on the paved paths. We will bring the sling and walk it another time. It wasn't too, too hot when we started, but it was pretty warm on the return trip.

Here are Andy and the girls along the trail

Bennett enjoying the ride. There were lots of biting bugs so I put the little OFF fan in the seat with him. The girls and Andy had on spray, but he and I stayed pretty good with the fan.

More riding. The girls did such a great job.

This is a beautiful greenway with lots of plants that attract butterflies and birds. I don't know if it shows up too much, but there are several butterflies in this picture.

The final paved area was a pretty steady incline. The girls took the whole thing. Then on the way down, they were very cautious to go slowly.

Evans' visit

Mary, Tom, and Robert came for a super short visit Friday and Saturday to see Bennett, and the girls of course. It was good to see everyone and we hope they will come again soon. Mamie took so many pictures that I didn't think of it much, so I only have a few. I hope to get her files when they come next.

Pops and Robert with Bennett

Joiner has joined to supervise

Mamie with Bennett

Bennett Clark Evans

Our sweet baby BOY was born on Sunday, August 8th at 7:07pm. Bennett Clark Evans is a sweetheart of a baby. He weighed 7lbs 6oz and 19in long. In comparison to our other babies, we think he is quite chubby.

My water broke for several hours on Sunday morning as I was getting ready for church and on my walk. So around 10am, we headed to the hospital. Thanks to Margaret for zooming over to hang out with the girls. Gigi came a little later and I know they all had fun.

Here is the last belly shot of "Mistletoe" before we left for the hospital

Our last photo of a family of four ( and Zoie)

I had a C-section with the girls and I was really committeed to trying to have a VBAC this time. When I got to the hospital, I was only 1/2 cm dialated, so they were telling me there wasn't much hope I would be able to go in 24 hours, since you can't get much help with a VBAC. I assured them that I still wanted to try. My platelets have been low, so they kept taking labs to make sure they were high enough to get an epidural. After about an hour of labor, the labs were still low, but OK, so I got an epidural. My street cred is pretty low as I only had about an hour of painful contractions before the wonderful meds were in. By then, about 2:30, I had progressed to a 4 with the help of regular pitocin that they could give me very slowly. We just sat back to wait and watch HGTV. At about 5, I was only at a 5, so Andy went to get some dinner when my dad came to hang out. They checked me again about 6:30 because the nurse thought the baby was really low. Sure enough I was a 9 1/2 and it was almost time. They said about an hour, but it was only 37 minutes later when Andy got to tell me it was a BOY! The whole staff was in the room with us because they all get so excited when it is a surprise. Here I am waiting to push.

10 minutes later it is time to meet Bennett! He has a good set of lungs!

Little chubby baby body

Our new baby

Since Dad was around when things started moving, he stood outside the door (against the rules) until he heard something

Against better judgement, we let the girls come that night to see their new brother after they went to dinner. We didn't tell anyone what we had until they came to see.

What is it?

Joiner kissing

Carly kissing

A new baby brother!

Gigi with Bennett

Big sisters

Jarrett and Miriam

Our new family portrait minus the baby. Gigi or Grumpa were probably holding him hostage.

In the newborn nursery

Checking out the stats

Joiner with her brother

Carly

Bennett getting burped

Carly and Bennett and mommy

Getting ready to go home

We are outta here!

In the car. You can see Bennett in the mirror

They look so tiny in these seats at first!

Trying out his crib for the first time

Daddy and his boy

Big sister time

So cute!

Joiner on the playmat!

I could eat him up!

Big sister Joiner ( I could eat her up too!)