Happy 1st Birthday, Benjamin Gregory

Has it really been a year already? In some ways, it has flown by and in others, it feels like time slowed down and creeped along (specifically months 1-4 when we weren't sleeping). We just had a wonderful birthday party for Benji with family, and it was a smashing success. A big thank you to our family who helped so much make the day special. I know Benjamin won't remember his first birthday, but I will. In some ways, it was a celebration for Bizzy and I to say, "Look, we made it a year! We survived and made this adorable boy." We had a photographer come and take pictures of the party so that we could have beautiful memories of the party and all the people there who love Benji.



To catch up on who Benjamin is at this point in time, here are a few of his stats.

Weight: 22 pounds 4 ounces
Height: 30 inches...Bizzy is convinced that the nurse measured him short
Head Size: 18.5 inches
Feet: BIG-he is wearing a size 4 right now
Words: No official words yet; although, Bizzy had a dream where Benji's first words were "Nana here?"
Likes: Dancing to his tractor's music, snuggling on the couch during "snack-time," PUFFS, any type of ball or rolling toy, any kind of dog, trains, bubbles, belly-dancing in his car seat, being outside, riding on his red race car, and watching airplanes
Dislikes: Diaper changes, cleaning up after meals, being taken away from anything he wants, carrots, and the ice maker
Favorite foods: It changes weekly, but at the moment, he loves sweet potatoes, cheese, bananas, yogurt, and whole wheat waffles
Mobility: He is cruising all over the place and he stands by himself until he realizes he isn't holding on to anything and then immediately drops. We think he will be walking in the next month or so especially since he is in a Gymboree class with a bunch of little walkers.
Signs: Ben knows the sign for milk, eat, more, puff, all done, dog, and airplane (kind of)

                                       Here are some pics from his birthday party:

Animal Safari Theme

Ben tried to sleep through his party

                                        Eliza looking beautiful

 Sisters!

 Tablescape

 Had to wake Benji up to join his party...making his big debut

 My precious one year old boy

He was excited to see everyone!

Benji got a new red convertible for his birthday. Won't happen at 16, buddy. 

 All the fam..we are a big group!

Bissmeyer clan

Granny, Nana, and Pops (Ben decided to eat his loafer)

We love this boy. 

Hey! Look at me! It's my birthday. 

 "Hmm, interesting."

"Let me try it..."

 "Mom! What did you feed me?!"

Garry and Kate

This would have been super cute if Benji had looked less bored

 Nana and balloons :)

Love this picture! Classic Benjamin. 

 We achieved 1 picture with Benjamin and Eliza together. Success. 

Auntie Melynda with Benji

 Standing by himself like a big boy

Four generations of strong women

 Benji loved his train table and trains from Granny and Nana/Pops

My favorite picture of the day. 

Ok, second favorite. 

Thank you to everyone for their love and support this past year. We could not have survived the sleepless nights without you, and it brings tears to my eyes knowing how much Benjamin is loved by all of you. 

Benjamin, you have brought such purpose and meaning to my life. I can only imagine what this next year will bring. Happy birthday, my precious baby boy. I love you to the moon and back. 

Ready for a close-up

Here are a few adorable photos of our little man. Enjoy!

Spoiler Alert: Motherhood is Hard

Every day, I am thankful that I have the opportunity to be a stay-at-home mom for Benjamin. While money may be tighter than it would be if I worked, I think the trade-off is completely worth it. My life revolves around this little man, and for now, that is how it should be. While I wouldn't trade staying at home with Ben for anything, there are times that it can be isolating. There have been times that I felt like I didn't have anything interesting to say about any topic other than breastfeeding, pooping, sleep schedules, or developmental milestones when out with someone other than Bizzy. And since the moment Ben was born, I discovered that motherhood is flippin hard, ya'll! That should really be the sub-title to that book What to Expect When You're Expecting.

Every single day, I am faced with decisions about Benji's well-being and safety, and there is always a desperation to make the RIGHT choice and do things PERFECTLY. And as any mother would tell you, that hardly every happens; thus, there is an overwhelming sense of mommy guilt associated with most days. Lying in bed at night, I replay scenarios where I could have NOT dropped the toy train on my darling baby's head (just a totally hypothetical scenario...).

Breastfeeding also brings its own set of issues and struggles along with it.
Recently, I've had some issues with low supply, blocked ducts, and Ben's great nursing strike of 2013. There is nothing that has gotten my blood pressure soaring as quickly as attempting to feed Benjamin in the middle of the night and having nothing coming out. He started screaming and I was panicking and my internal monologue was something like, "I can't feed my baby. I can't feed my baby. IcantfeedmybabyIcantfeedmybabyIamtheworstmotherintheworldahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh."
The worst. Then came the week where Ben refused to nurse and I was fairly certain that he would never eat again and again, I felt like the worst mother in the world.

Compounding the problem, I've started trying to pump again so that we can get Benji on a bottle, but the pump has failed to work for me now that I haven't used it in over 6 months, so more stress piles up. Anyway, I was starting to lose it a little bit until I posted something on facebook about my struggles and asked for any advice. I was overwhelmed from the responses from other mommies giving me their advice and telling of their own personal struggles. Even if I am not able to make pumping work for me with any of the advice given, the take-away message was priceless: you are not alone. Motherhood is definitely not for sissies. So I want to thank all my mommy family and friends who came to my rescue and helped me realize that motherhood isn't about perfection. Just having someone say, "Dude, that was hard for me too" quiets that crazy, frantic internal monologue in my head a little.

I also want to give a shout-out to my mom and sister who are the best mothers I have ever known. They continually guide and teach me through their quiet strength and unwavering love.

Put Your Hands Together

It has been a long time since the last blog post, but with the holidays and our increasingly mobile 9 month old, things have been a little hectic. Ben has been changing with leaps and bounds lately. He is crawling, pulling up on anything and everything, throwing balls, and, most recently, clapping!

This past Friday, Ben and I were playing and I was trying to get him to clap and he just sat there staring at me like I was crazy. I guess he needed a little process time because later that evening, Bizzy and I were playing with him and after I leaned over and tickled him, he looked up at us, laughed, and clapped his hands. I think it brought tears to both Bizzy and my eyes. We all sat there clapping for about 20 minutes. Definitely one of my top Benjamin moments so far. Now Benji is clapping a lot and I love it every. single. time.

Here is a video of our little man clapping...