Ahoy Mateys!

We had a fantastic time while my parents were visiting.  I'll post more on that later, but for now, I want to tell you about a little adventure that we went on the day before they went home to Texas.  I had seen information about this activity in my e-mail and I had thought it sounded fun, but I figured there was no way I could do it with Ben's recent arrival.  However, when the organizer e-mailed and invited Evan and I to go for free, I couldn't pass it up.  So, Tuesday morning last week, Mom, Evan and I hopped in the car and we headed down to the lake.

We were going to ride on a pirate boat!!  Actually, it's a company that offers tours on a pontoon boat around our nearby lake, Jordan Lake.  They were hosting a pirate and princess play date complete with crafts, pirate attire, and treasure.  I wasn't sure how Evan would react, but I had to take the chance!

When we arrived, Evan had a great time playing in the sand until the boat pulled up.  When he saw it coming, he started to get a bit nervous.  He started whimpering a little bit and clearly wasn't happy about the boat.  Then, when we presented him with a life jacket and insisted that he put it on, he got really upset.  Mom and I, being the sympathetic parents that we are dragged him on the boat anyway, kicking and screaming, and off we went.

(Evan finds some treasure in the sand!)

(The pirate vessel approaches.)

Fortunately, the breeze and water spray in his hair and the friendly pirate driver soon improved his spirits.  He enjoyed watching the lake and seeing the "water go by". Then, the pirate driver did the best thing he possibly could do and asked if anyone wanted to drive the boat.  Now, if you've read any of our previous posts or just met Evan, you know how much he likes to drive any sort of vehicle.  So, he sat up in the driver's seat, grabbed ahold of the wheel, and started to steer.  He had a fabulous time!  The rest of the boat ride was equally fun: searching for the "king's boat", seeing the princess, and making his voice echo under the bridge.

(Evan watches the sights.)

(A boy and his Grandma)

(Driving the boat)

He was sad when he finally got of the boat but had a great time.  We hopped back in the car and he couldn't stop talking about the boat the whole way home.  I am so glad that we were able to have this adventure, and I will definitely have to get Evan aboard a boat again soon!

A Fabulous Collection of Grandparents

The weekend after Baby Ben made his appearance, we were lucky enough to be visited by all four of the boys' grandparents.  They are both so lucky to have the opportunity to meet and get to know all 4 of their grandparents and more of their great-grandparents.  We realize how lucky they are not only to have that opportunity, but to have such fabulous grand and great-grandparents for them to meet. 

(Grandma, Grandpa, and the boys)

So, Grandma and Grandpa were already visiting, and Gram and Gramps drove up from Charlotte to join in the fun.  We all had a great time.  There was much laughing, talking and catching up as well as quite a bit of gadget discussion and tinkering from the males.  But the most common activity by far was spoiling, those boys were so spoiled by their grandparents.  Ben was held, cuddled, kissed, and hugged.  Evan was also held, cuddled, kissed, and hugged as well as played with until he was so worn out he couldn't keep his eyes open. 

(Gram, Gramps, and the boys)

While the grandparents were here we also had the opportunity to take Baby Ben on his first outing, to the ice cream store.  He thought it was quite unfair that it was his first outing and he didn't get to partake in any of the treats, but his big brother enjoyed more than enough for both of them.  He especially likes the chocolate ice cream with M&M's. 

(Ben's first outing)

It's too bad we all don't live closer to each other so that gatherings like this could occur more often.  We've done joint family vacations in the past and should definitely do them again in the future!  Our little family is so grateful for our boys' fabulous grandparents.  We hope that we get to go visit them all the time and that they come up here to get some quality time with their grandbabies as much as they want. 

(All of the grandparents together)

Here are some shots of our happy extended family:

(Grandma holds Baby Ben for the first time.)

(Gram and both of her boys)

(Grandpa and his sleeping little bug)

(Evan helps Gramps with a little programming.)

A Big Brother is Born

We have been very worried about how Evan would react to having a little brother in the house.  While I was pregnant, he could point to Mommy's tummy and say "brother".  He also enjoyed going to the doctor to listen to brother's heart beat.  He loved going in the baby's room, but we didn't think he really knew what was all about to hit him.

We wanted to do everything we could to help Evan feel positively about the new addition.  We even had Baby Brother Ben bring him home a new bike when he came home from the hospital.  He was very enthused about his new bike, and thus far, he's been very enthused about having a little brother.

(Evan walks his new bike.  Hopefully he'll move on to riding soon!)

Evan came to the hospital to meet his little brother the day after he was born.  Grandma and Grandpa brought him to the hospital with some Chick-fil-A for everyone to share.  We made sure that Ben was in his bassinet when Evan came in so that the first thing he saw would not be Ben in his place on my lap.  He was curious when he saw Ben.  Evan wanted to peer over as close as he could and look at him. and would also say "hi" and wave to him.  He seemed to be genuinely curious and want to be around him.  This boded well for the future.

(Evan meets Ben in the hospital with a little help from his Grandma.)

Since then, his wonderful, loving behavior towards his brother has continued.  He gives him hugs, shares toys with him, and is genuinely happy to see him.  We explain to his what his brother is doing and let him help whenever we can.  I think they will have great fun playing together when Ben gets a bit older!

(My boys upon Ben's arrival home from the hospital.)

(Evan reads Ben and I a story.)

There have been a few signs of Evan stress since Ben has come home though.  He's not showing any of it toward the baby, but it comes out at other times.  He is just a little more needy and fussy.  He'll cry at things that used to not made him cry, and he is in a little more need of adult attention.  All in all, he's a really good boy, and we're very proud of him for being such a great big brother!

(I love my boys, and I'm so proud of my "Big Brother"!)

He arrives!

Finally, more than a week after his big entrance to the world, I finally get around to documenting the arrival of Benjamin James Davis.  My excuse is that we have been more than a little busy keeping up with our two little angels, but more on that later.

As I was saying in my last post, we last left off with a walk around the neighborhood.  I was determined to yet again, walk this baby out.  (My labor with Evan was precipitated by a 3 mile walk around Green Lake in Seattle.)  The walk was pretty hard, but no definite signs of labor yet.  So, I settled down on the couch, and Dad was busy preparing a feast for dinner, eggplant parmesan.  Oddly enough, I had looked up natural approaches for inducing labor on the internet that day, and in a strange coincidence, eggplant parmesan was on that list.  Apparently, it's a potent technique because I didn't even need to eat it, all I needed to do was smell it.  Dad pulled the casserole dish out of the oven, I got up to head to the table for dinner, and my water broke!

Fortunately, when we called the doctor to tell her, she said that since I hadn't had any really strong contractions yet, we could all stay home and enjoy Dad's feast and then head off to the hospital at our leisure.  This was much more enjoyable than our 1:30 am rush to the hospital during my labor with Evan.  So, after dinner Mom, Ian, and I hopped in the car, and Dad stayed home to put Evan to bed. 

We arrived at the hospital about 9 at night.  They wheeled me in to the emergency room and then, after a little waiting, up to labor and delivery to determine whether I was really in labor.  My contractions were still not all that strong, but I was definitely sure that my water had broken and I was ready to have this baby!  After sitting in triage and having my contractions get stronger and stronger, the doctors soon came to the same conclusion and told us that they needed to get us into a delivery room soon because it probably wouldn't be too long before he arrived! 

We headed over to the delivery room.  By this point, I wasn't quite seeing straight and was in a lot of pain, but I was pleased with the fact that the baby's heart rate was regular and strong.  After a little bit of medication in the delivery room I was in much better spirits.  The night progressed, we all enjoyed a little bit of late night television, and about midnight they told us it was time to push.  With much huffing and puffing on my part and some quick catching on the parts of the doctor and nurses, Benjamin James Davis made his entrance into the world at 1:53 am with alert eyes and a quiet, but very welcome little cry. 

(The obligatory scale shot)

(Ian and I, our new addition, and the doctor and nurse that helped bring him into the world)

(Baby Ben and his record of birth-He seems happy to be here!)

I was thrilled when they were able to immediately put him in my arms, and they pronounced him completely healthy!  Looking at his face, his squally, red, adorable newborn face, I knew that our little family was complete.  It was a wonderful feeling that you really can't quite put into words. 

(Me holding my little angel-Everyone laughs at this picture because I'm still wearing all this jewelry right after having a baby.  Funny, taking off my jewelry just wasn't a priority when my water broke!)

(Okay, this one's just really cute!)

(Basking in the warmer after his first bath)

(A close up)

Starting at that moment, the next few days were a flurry of activity with countless doctors and nurses shuffling in and out of our room examining me or Ben in turn or asking us question after question.  After about 36 hours of that, and some horrible hospital food, we were ready to take our little bundle of joy home.  He had already met his brother in the hospital, and the two were ready to really get to know each other.  The first week as a family has been fabulous, fairly exhausting, but fabulous, and I can't wait to share it with you.

(Evan meets his little brother with a little help from Grandma.)

(Mom and baby get ready to go home.)

(The traditional car seat shot on the way home from the hospital.  Can't wait to see how he grows in these shots!)

Waiting...just waiting

So, turns out it's a bit tricky to catch up on all the blogging that I have to do with a newborn, a toddler, and a lot of guests running around.  However, people have been requesting pictures, so onward with the updating!

As I said, my parents arrived in to town a week before the baby's due date.  Before the action started all we had to do was wait, and we had a great time adventuring around town while we did.

We made our first stop on our way home from the airport, before Mom and Dad even had time to put down their suitcases.  Evan absolutely loves the airport observation deck, so we stopped by to watch the planes for a little while.  Evan had a great time showing Grandpa how the planes took off and landed.  Mom and I had a great time sitting in the shade watching the boys.

(Evan and Grandpa watch the planes.)

(The large pregnant lady watches the planes from the shade.)

On Friday, continuing with one of our weekly traditions we had over our friends Abby, Quinn, and Jonas as well as Abby's mom for our Friday breakfast.  This time Mom and Dad made pancakes to which we added bacon and eggs and it was delicious.  The boys had a great time playing and occasionally munching on their yummy treats.

(The boys play before breakfast--They look a little guilty, don't you think?)

Over the weekend we headed down to the Durham Farmers Market for a little adventuring.  This outing was a little hot for the large, pregnant lady, but everyone had fun picking out fresh strawberries and strawberry cider as well as browsing through the foods, plants, and crafts.  While we were downtown we also stopped by a park with some neat animal sculptures.  Evan loved these, except for the fact that had had to share them with others.

(At the Farmers Market)

(Evan and Daddy and a red "daddy" cardinal)

We also stopped by a store near the market called The Scrap Exchange.  Audra and I would have had a field day in here when we were younger.  There were containers full of every sort of scrap and junk imaginable from bottle caps and puzzle pieces to computer mouses and keyboards.  We took Evan and let him pick out some scraps to play with.  He came home with three strings of Mardi Gras beads and a purple plastic tube which we have gotten quite a bit of mileage out of.

We finished out our weekend by spending a little time at home and getting out Evan's pool.  Grandma and Grandpa and Mom sat in the yard and relaxed while Daddy Evan-wrangled.  Evan loved playing in the water, especially with the sprayer, and Rip even got in on the fun too, fetching balls from the water.

(Ripple enjoys his soak in the pool.)

(Evan has discovered the sprayer.  All bystanders beware!)

The day that I went into labor, Monday, we decided to head down to the Museum of Life and Science where Mom and Dad had bought us a membership for Christmas.  We had a great time.  Evan showed Grandma and Grandpa all of his favorite parts of the museum like the ball tubes, the tornado maker, the drums, the dinosaurs, and of course, the bugs and butterflies.  The butterflies always seem to be his favorite, and he always comments before we go in that he wants one to land on his finger.  Well, when one actually decided to land on his shirt this time, he was a bit taken aback.  He whimpered a little bit and was pretty glad when the butterfly finally decided to fly away.  I guess having a butterfly land on you is great in theory, but a little scary in reality.

(Ball tubes at the museum)

(Evan thinks the butterfly is a bit too close for comfort.)

Our special treat when we went to the museum this time was riding on the train.  We normally don't go through the trouble of buying the tickets and making it to the station at the appointed time.  However, this time we went all out, and he loved it.  He was a bit nervous when we first got on the train, but when it started chugging around the track he was entranced, watching the scenery chug by and smiling.  Now, whenever we talk about the museum, the train has actually displaced the butterflies as our favorite part.

(Grandma and Grandpa enjoy a train ride with Evan.)

That night, Mom and I went for a walk while Dad was making dinner and things suddenly got very interesting.  That, however, is a story for another day.

Happy Mothers Day

Looks like I have plenty of posts to write to get everyone up to date.  Today we are sitting here enjoying being a complete little family and getting to know each other.  But, I'm getting a bit ahead of myself.  I wanted to fill everyone in on the past couple of weeks before I get to where we are today.  It may take me a while, but I'll eventually catch up.

My parents arrived a week ago yesterday.  Since they've been here, we've been having a great time.  It was fabulous to finally be able to spend Mothers Day with my mom, and we decided to celebrate in style.  When I was younger, our family used to always go out to Mothers Day brunch buffets at various hotels.  I have very fond memories of these delicious meals, so when I realized that Mom would be in town, I decided that's what we should do.  So, I found The Carolina Inn in Chapel Hill and made reservations for Mothers Day.  I just hoped I wouldn't have the baby before we got a chance to eat because I was a mere 4 days before my due date.

We were also a bit worried about logistics because The Carolina Inn sits on the campus of The University of North Carolina, and it was graduation Sunday.  However, we actually managed to avoid every bit of traffic because our reservations were at 11 and everyone was busy attending graduation then.  It worked out perfectly, and I didn't go into labor while sitting in graduation traffic after all.

Instead, we enjoyed a fantastic meal.  They even had a fantastic kids buffet for Evan complete with pancakes, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, fruit, chicken tenders, and other toddler-friendly fare.  We hit up the buffet countless times and each had our own favorite item there from the seafood ginger salad to the berry-stuffed french toast.  We finished the meal off with pictures on the front porch and headed home completely satisfied.

It was a fabulous Mothers Day and a great way to celebrate my fantastic mother.  I'll finish out the post with a belated Happy Mothers Day to all of the fabulous mothers in my life.  Thanks to my grandmothers, mother-in-law, and very own mom for showing me what it means to be a good mother.

My own Mothers Day gift would arrive shortly after this post, but you will all have to stay tuned to read about that!

(The happy family at our table)

(The two mothers after our meal)

(The Davis Family)

(A boy and his grandparents)

Older Women

So, apparently my son is very popular with the ladies already!  A few days ago, we were out playing with Evan in his pool. 

(Evan enjoying his time in the pool)

He was enjoying playing with his watering can and sprinkler.  Then our neighbor girls come driving up in their pink, electric car.  One is 3 and one is 5, and I guess Evan is already a ladies' man because they immediately offered him a ride.  Evan loves driving, so he happily hopped in, and they went circling around the cul-de-sac. 

(Evan and Isabelle wave at their fans.)

Now, I was planning on not allowing Evan to date until he was about 40 years old.  However, looks like we might be in trouble already.

(Happy Trails!)