Friday, July 27, 2007

Happy Seven Week Birthday Benson!




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Boy time flies! It is unreal that it has already been seven weeks since our little love came into the world. He is the sweetest baby I've ever known... not that I'm biased or anything :) He's growing so fast! I wish we had a scale that measures ounces so I could find out how much he's gained. The last visit to the doctor's office, when he was 5 weeks 5 days old, he weighed 8 lbs 8 oz. He had gained 10 oz. in six days! We are so glad he's finally "chunkin' up". He still struggled with Jaundice until he was over a month old. Most babies kick it within the first week or at least after they've had the bili blanket. As it turns out, Benson had a rare type of jaundice called breastmilk jaundice. This basically means that his liver couldn't break down the enzymes he was getting from my milk, so his body was using all of his energy to to do boring things like break down enzymes instead of fun stuff like being awake and growing. We gave him a 48 hour sabbatical from breastmilk and gave him formula (which doesn't contain the enzymes in breastmilk) and gave his body a chance to build up the strength to metabolize the breastmilk. Now, he's good to go and gaining weight like a champ. He's so much more alert and he's even belted out a couple of cries, but not many. We're enjoying every minute with him. What a blessing!!

Sunday, July 22, 2007

Friday, July 6, 2007

America the Beautiful and the Cute


Every year for the fourth of July, the whole Ryan family goes to Maggie Valley, North Carolina to stay in the mountain house. There is a big fireworks display on the fourth, and we have a fantastic view from the porch. We eat all of our meals outside because the weather is always delightful, even in the middle of the summer. We pay badmitten and ping pong and when the boys play golf during the day, the girls get to go shopping in the quaint little shops of downtown Waynesville. It's a week that we look forward to all year long. It's such a fun time and so special having everyone together. I don't think that any of us, last year, would have dreamed what this fourth of July would be like... better than ever!

Click Here to see pictures

This is what it looks like when we try to take pictures: