What we've been up to...

Lots and lots of snuggling!!!

Before Owen woke up...


After... Lola lost her spot.
Also, anytime we try to take a picture of Owen, he makes this face. Hopefully he'll be over it for Aunt Emmy's wedding pics next weekend!

Lola found a new spot

Oh, and Ben's cord fell off :o) He had his first "real" bath today. The boys took the camera outside while they were snowman building, so our only picture is the after picture. We'll have to take more bath pictures soon... By the way, the cloth diapering is going really well.

Owen's first snowman!!! So exciting!! Didn't they do a great job (especially considering that the snow is just powder!!!)

Due Date!!!

Crazy to think that today was my due date! We've been blessed to have Ben as a part of our family for 10 days now and I really can't imagine life without him. He is a very sweet baby and so laid back. He loves milk, snuggling, his big brother, and sleeping and he hates getting his clothes and diapers changed. He mostly sleeps, but when he is awake his eyes are so bright, shiny, and alert. He definitely started out looking like an old man baby(in a good way:o) but as he continues to fill out, he has lost most of that old man look already. Sometimes we affectionately call him Benjamin Button!
As for labor, here's my story...
I woke up around 4 on 12/16 feeling crampy. I changed position a couple of times and got up to go to the bathroom. Around 5, I decided to turn the light on to read and noticed the contractions were about every 6 min. About 5 min later, Owen woke up and came into our room to watch TV. He was particularly loud and wild and at about 5:30 I sent him and Mike into the living room so I could go back to sleep because I was supposed to work 12 hours that night. I did back asleep, but I got up at 7 and was still noticing crampy contractions. I decided to take the dog for a walk. Unfortunately for the dog, the windchill was -10. About a block or so into the walk I called my sister to see if she could possibly come over. The contractions were about every 2-3 min and still feeling crampy. I also called the doctor. My doctor wasn't on call, but the doctor who was said I could go to the hospital whenever I wanted. I walked for 25 min before I returned home with a frozen dachshund. The contractions were still frequent and continuing to get stronger, so I got in the shower and got all cleaned up and ready to go. My sister arrived and I eventually was able to get my hair into a ponytail. I think it took about 20 min because I kept having contractions. I was definitely getting more uncomfortable at this point which was starting to concern Owen. I had to bend over or squat down during the contractions, which my sister thought was hilarious. Mike was great. He sprang into action giving great counterpressure on my back and Owen tried to help, too. He kept asking me if my belly and back were okay. It was so sweet, but I was pretty sure it was time for us to go to the hospital or Emily to take him elsewhere, so they left for the library and I laid down for a little bit. I think this was probably around 9. When I was laying down, my contractions were about 7-8 min apart but more intense. At this point, I decided that I probably wasn't in labor. After I got back up, they came back to be about every 2 min again and so we decided it was time to go to the hospital. We left the house around 10. Between our house and labor and delivery I had about 10 contractions. We took Em's car because she had taken ours with Owen's carseat. I took some towels because I was so nervous my water would break in her nice car (it didn't, thank goodness!) We parked in the parking garage and walked down the long hallway and people kept coming by and offering me a wheelchair. Mike signed in and I went right to my room and changed. The doctor came in and checked me. I was 4-5 cm dilated and he said he didn't think my doctor would make it from their Glenview office because things seemed to be progressing quickly. I asked him to break my water and keep things moving. After he broke my water I was 7cm. I got in the tub for 10 or 15 min. I loved it when I was in labor with Owen, but truthfully this time I wasn't too impressed. Maybe it was just too late and nothing would have helped?! After a few contractions, I felt the urge to push and I really don't know how I was able to get out of the tub, but my nurse, Malkie, was great and she just told me that I had to. I did get out and I got into bed and had Ben after pushing for 4 contractions. We checked in at the hospital at 10:15 and he was born at 10:59.
No IV, no epidural, no nothing! I have to say that I always feel like this is the way to have a baby. And I didn't have to be induced! Not that there is anything wrong with that, but I was just hoping things would happen on their own (and I really didn't think they would, especially after my last check-up which you can read about in my post 12/15 if you missed it.) To be completely honest, I was really wishing I had the epidural for the last two contractions I had in the tub and then while I was pushing, too. Poor me! Sorry for being a whiner! Really, things couldn't have gone better. Every time I saw or heard about a nice labor and delivery for at least the last several months of my pregnancy, I would tell Ben that is how his labor and delivery should go, too! Apparently he was listening. A special thanks to baby Ben for having a small head and for coming 10 days early! I really didn't want to work that night! What an accommodating little boy!

Merry Christmas!!!

Merry Christmas from the Walsh Family!!! Our blog post is one day late and we mailed the Christmas cards on the 24th, so be assured we did not forget you :o) We're just a little slow this year! We've been busy as you might have seen!

I think this picture was from the night before Christmas Eve! So sweet! Owen wants to snuggle with baby Ben before his nap and bedtime each time he lays down...

After Christmas Mass. We made the mistake of going to the 4pm Children's Choir Mass. Yikes!!! We thought we were actually doing pretty good by getting there 10 min early. I think we needed to get there at least an hour or an hour and a half early to get a seat. People were standing 2 deep around the church. I am feeling great, but, I think we would have had to leave if we weren't able to find a seat with some nice family whose sister didn't show up! Owen, Ben, and I sat behind another nice family with a little boy Owen's age who brought an entire backpack full of cars and trucks. Owen had a blast! Church was super crazy and noisy with all of the kids and we couldn't see anything anyway, so at least he sat still and played with cars and the little boy. Ben was a dream. He didn't make a peep! Everyone thought he was so tiny! Next year we will not be going to Children's Choir Mass.

Ben's first pair of Christmas jammies...

Looking particularly elfish :o) We took Ben to his first check-up on Christmas Eve and I am happy to report that he weighed in at a hefty 6lbs 1oz. Watch out!!! He was 5lb 4oz when we brought him home from the hospital on Friday. Dr. Minkus told me I was not allowed to wake him up to eat or worry about his weight or if he was getting enough to eat. Fair enough.

The boys each picked out a book for Daddy... He also got some DVDs, Beatles Rockband, and some giftcards to get some more "professional" clothes.

Owen was very serious about present opening!

Ben was a little less enthusiastic...

Preparing Santa's plate of cookies. Owen wanted to "share" with Santa!

Christmas morning!!! Owen woke up at 6 am which is pretty typical for him. We were able to hold him off on the present opening until 6:30. Santa brought Owen a Thomas the Train set which he was so excited about! He also got some new engines, a refrigerator for his kitchen and some new food, a playdough set, a "computer" (talking blackberryish educational thing), and a superhero cape just to name a few things. And, a baby brother!!! Lucky boy! Owen had a great Christmas this year!

As you can see, Ben was extremely excited to see what Santa brought to him! Ben mostly received rattles and teething toys. He also got some clothes and a new boppy cover. It's kind of hard to shop for a 1 week old :o) We were all very excited about his gifts, though!

Ben brought me a B necklace from Tiffanys to go with my O necklace. I also got a nice nursing tank, shirt, nightgown, cover, etc. I get pretty excited about that stuff, so it was a great! Ben's other gift was sleeping for quite a long stretch on Christmas Eve (and then again on Christmas night!) Please don't ask me for details unless you think you can handle it...

Here Ben is in his other Christmas jammies and trying out his new boppy cover. Looking pretty snuggly, huh?!

And here is a little video of Owen modeling one of his favorite Christmas gifts. Enjoy!

We had a wonderful Christmas this year and hope you all did, too. Owen was SO EXCITED about Santa and the presents and even going to Church to celebrate Jesus' Birthday. It was so fun to watch him enjoying everything as much as he did. And, having a new baby to snuggle is really about the best Christmas gift a Mom could ask for :o) It was a little sad to be away from our families this year, but kind of lovely to just stay home and relax and enjoy. It will be great to see everyone at the wedding next week!!!

Owen Sledding

While Katie and Ben went to Ben's one week check up at the doctor, Owen and I went sledding. Here are a few pictures and videos from Owen's first time out.

Owen's Solo attempt.

More Ben and Family

Here are some more pics of Ben and Family.

Welcome Benjamin James

Well the Walsh Family has just increased by 33% with the addition of Baby Brother Ben. It was quite and eventful morning with Katie and myself leaving for the hospital at 10 am and Ben arriving at 10:59 am. I will let Katie describe this in more detail later for those interested. The naming of Ben took a bit longer than the delivery but we finally settled on the name around 5 pm after Owen arrived and seemed to approve of the name (as seen below).

Mother and baby are doing well and Owen seems very happy to have a baby brother. So we are all doing well and here are some pictures and video to tide you over until Katie has some more blogging time in the future.

The videos are uploading super slow, so we'll try to add more tomorrow!