1 week

Wow it is hard to believe how quickly this pregnancy has went by....not that it has been easy, but has been quick!!! One week from today, we will be sitting in our hospital room holding our new precious baby, Luke's brother, Evan Ross Benton!!!!! I want to take this week to cherish the last time we will be a family of three and Luke will be an only child. This past weekend, I took Luke on what he calls " a hot date!" We had so much fun!!!!

Luke, I know you are so excited to meet your brother!! I don't think you realize how much our lives are about to change and how in a week you are going to have a new buddy!! Right now, you always refer to daddy as your best buddy but I am certain that will change very soon. I knew there might be so issues we would have to deal with after Evan arrives, based on all the warnings I have received; but, I did not realize some of those may start before Evan arrived!!! You want me to hold you like a baby and feed you, which I probably should not do but I figure that in a week you will have to grow some so I am going to spoil you a little this week!!! You are an amazing kid and we love you so much!!!! You are already an amazing big brother and love to take care of Evan. You want to lay on him, which we hope will stop once he is actually here, lol!! You try to feed him you snacks and milk, which is so nice of you; however, we hope that too will stop until Evan is much older!!! This morning we talked and you were so excited that you get to go to Nana and PopPops on Monday night and that they are gonna bring you to see Evan!!!

I am so amazed by all the blessings God has provided our family! I have an amazing husband, who can't stand when I write about him...but I want to remember how thankful I have been for his understand, love, and support through our lives thus far!!! I am so glad you will be by my side holding my hand between picture taking as Evan enters this world!!!! i love you!!!!!!!!

To any friends or family out there that may read this blog, I will do my best to update with pictures as quickly as I can after Evan arrives, we would appreciate your prayers for the doctor, Evan and our family next Tuesday!!!

Wow what a week!!

Well simply stated, this week has been crazy!!! My boys were sick over the weekend and we missed church!!! Then on Tuesday, we started state-wide testing. For all of you teachers out there, you know how fun and stressful these test are for the kiddie and for us!!! Once testing was over for the day, I got a call from my mom saying she was being sent by her doctor to the hospital because she was having heart issues. So i left school and headed up there. We sat there until about 7:45 pm before the heart doc came to visit. He did nothing that night but set up stress test for her the next day. Well mom ended up in so much pain that she finally asked for something to ease it so they waited till mid day to do stress test. Everything came back good which is great news but we still don't know why she is having trouble with her breathing, why she feels pain in her chest and why she is so tired!!! Then, to add to my family excitement, I left my mom's hospital room Tuesday night to head home and had the joy of feeling the worst pain of my life. Yes, I thought I must be in labor and if I wasn't, I certainly never wanted to experience real labor!!! So I did not sleep at all Tuesday night and nor did jeff!!! The next morning (suppose to be day two of testing at school), I called doctor and the nurse told me I need to go to hospital to be monitored. Fortunately, I was not in labor!!! I have a UT infection and I was very dehydrated from being sick the night before...all resulting in contractions. So when I finally get home that evening, I found out that my grandpa is very sick, so please be praying for him and his wife who has also been ill!

Well on to a much better topic, bert and Karen took Luke to Awanas last night and he had so much fun. A little funny story for me to always remember is that potty truing is going great and Luke is only wearing pull ups at night. Anyhow, guess he needed to pee while on playground last night so the little angel just let's it rip out in front of God and everyone! Man I love this kid!! Today he asked where evan was...I think he is ready for his bubba to arrive...Just a few more weeks

34 days and counting

Wow it is hard to imagine that in 34 days our lives will change forever! Our precious little Evan will be placed in our hands for the first time. God has truly blesses our family and we are just so excited for Evans arrival. I cant wait to see Luke's reaction the first time he gets to see Evan. Luke is a pretty smart boy and seems to understand more about Evan's arrival than he probably should. The other day he asked me if he was going to get to go to the doctor when Evan comes out. He is starting to get a bit more clinging when i leave the house and I think he may be nervous that he will miss something or that we will go to see Doctor Robins, as Luke calls him, without him. I guess it is getting close enough, that I should make some plans on how this will all work. Does anyone have suggestions on whether I should have Luke brought to hospital with us or later in the day? I am having a scheduled C-section so We could do this either way.

Speaking of Luke, he is going to be so disappointed because I am keeping him home from puggles tonight. He was sick last night and none of us really got much sleep! He seems to be feeling better now according to his Grandma, which I am so thankful for. Before Luke started getting sick, he helpednme put up all of Evans clothes, then he proceeded to dig out all of the toys I have hidden under the crib. Luke loves to go sit in Evans room and often times, we find Luke sitting in the rocker or in Evans little bouncer. I can just imagine Luke sitting there watching over his baby brother.

Well anyhow, my break is about over so I suppose I will get back to the joys of special Ed. Paperwork and look forward to the arrival of my next group of angels who will be more than eager to learn. By the way, please pray for all the student and teachers for next few weeks as testing begins. It is a stressful time for all those involved.

Random pic

Luke on his slide, sporting his cardinal wear!

















Jeff and His father roofing the house. It looks amazing now!!!

Luke "working on things." He is my
personal handy man!





















Luke thinking he is so big!!

Luke loves to work with his Pa!!

These kiddos are gonna hate pictures like this when they grow up. They are so precious and have so many fun times ahead of them, together!

Luke letting a girl drive him around. The kid is girl crazy already!!

I know it is from Christmas but these two boys are too cute in their bibs!!

Here's a pic of my little armadillo hunter on Christmas morning!!

An Amazing Shower

Wow I had an amazing shower. My sister-in-law ordered an awesome cake that was honestly nicer than my wedding cake. And then to top it off, she also made the cutest diaper cake ever. I got so many wonderful things and I cant wait to see Evan in all of the precious little outfits he received. Just as I had anticipated, the shower made me more excited to hold my precious little baby. Luke had so much fun going through all of the things Evan got. He actually took over the rubber duck that Matt and Becky got Evan. I guess that is okay, Evan will have to learn to share also (lol)! I go back to the doctor on Wednesday and I start spring break that day as well. Luke and I have alot of work to do to get ready for Evan. Thanks again to everyone who made the shower and for all the wonderful gifts and a special thanks to Steph for all your hard work and planning!!!

Just a little scare

Well what a day yesterday turned out to be!!! I am 31 weeks pregnant and being the worry wart that I am, my poor doctor may regret that he gave me his cell number. No really, I have tried very hard to just relax about all the weird things that happen to you when you are pregnant and so yesterday morning, when I started having some issues, I tried to relax and thought "hey I will call the doctor at the office and just let him know whats going on and he will tell me that everything is fine!" Well instead, his nurse scared the tar out of me. She told me to go to hospital and have some blood work done to " make sure my pregnancy was still a healthy one!" Of course, I got a bit emotional about this but my good senses provailed. I knew that Evan had been moving all morning so he must be okay. To make certain, I used that handy little cell phone number the doc gave me. He as I planned on hearing in the first place, assured me everything was fine. He had me come in and he exammed me and Evan was doing great. He had a good heart rate and I had not progressed toward any signs of labor. Thank God!!!!!!!!

So, after a quick lunch with my wonderful husband and brother-in-law, I went back to work. I realized when I got back to work and began doing some paperwork in between teaching my classes, that I am so forgetful this pregancy. I am almost embarrased to say it but I want to remember just how silly pregancy makes me....I honestly could not remember if I dreamed up something about a student or if my boss really did talk to me yesterday. I know that is horrible, but it was just one of those days. After a busy day at work, I went back to MT. Home again for an eye appointment. Let me just say that every since Kindergarten, I have had the same eye doctor and now, at the age of 29 I had to see someone new. I always feel nervous and pressured at the eye doctor like I am taking a test that I know I can not pass. It is truely horrible!! Anyhow, I am getting new glasses and contacts.

After the eye doctor, it was off to to pick up supper and head to the house to feed my family before Luke and I had to go to Puggles. I was so tired by the time I got home and I knew that I probably should just stay at home and rest after such a crazy day; however, Luke loves Puggles. He knows exactly what days are church days and all he could say when I got home is that he wanted his jeans and puggle's shirt on. How can you resist such devotion to God and learning about him? Well, I couldn't...so Luke ate quickly (partially on the way to church and back) and we packed up and went. It cracks me up how Luke acts so different in Puggles (with me there) and how he acts on Sundays (when I am not in class with him). He is so wild in Puggles and I spend most of my time trying to get him to calm down but I know he is learning because on the way to church I ask him about God. He told me that God made him and Maddie. Then, he went through all his friends at church. I told him that Ms. Lindsay would be there and his response was "and Landon?" I told him that Landon wasnt coming tonight and he was so concerned. He said, "Landon sick?" I told him that he was getting better. Then Luke said, "He with Mr. Wance?" I am amazed how he knows who belongs to what family. Anyhow, back to how Luke behaves...When I pick him up on Sundays, everyone always tells me how good he was and how polite he is (guess we are doing something right).

Well, I must close. My little angels are here and read to learn how to read some new words. I love teaching this group of kiddos because you can always see so much imporvement in them. God Bless!!!

Armadillos

Just wanted to share something funny that Luke has been doing lately. A few weeks ago, jeff and Luke went to the farm and I am not sure whether they actually shot armadillos or just pretended but ever since, Luke has been pretending to do so. This weekend, he was riding his wheeler and stopped suddenly, got off, picked up a stick, then got back on. He began driving again and pretending to shoot armadillos all over the yard. A few minutes ago, he just told me he needed to shoot an armadillo in our house. I love this kiddo and I am amazed at how he can so easily put me in a good mood after a rough day at work!