...then there were 4

It is indeed true. We are expecting a new addition to our family just in time for Christmas.   Baby Gummersall #2 estimated to arrive December 20th, 2014.

We are so excited.  Also shocked, nervous, surprised, worried, and overwhelmed would be words to describe how we have been feeling over the last few months.  When trying to get pregnant with Bennett, Lance and I made the decision to not prevent in the future.  Since that journey lasted over 20 months of actively trying and seeking fertility assistance with Bennett, we figured we might need a little additional assistance to get pregnant again.  Boy were we wrong.
With Bennet just being 5 1/2 months old I began to wonder if I was indeed pregnant.  With Bennett the first symptom was my need to pee every 45 minutes.  This began to happen again the week after Bennett's baby blessing.  The Wednesday that followed the blessing I took a dollar store pregnancy test only for it to reveal a negative.  With a sigh of relief, but yet still concerned as to why I was 3 days late I forged on with the rest of my week.  Friday came however and I still had an inkling that I could in fact be pregnant.  I went for the big guns and took out the expensive pregnancy test only to be in utter dismay when the words pregnant read clear across the screen.  I am pregnant. again. I thought as I smiled and shook my head.  My son is only 5 months old.  My kids will be 14 months apart. -- I began to panic on the inside.

I picked up Bennett and went to our backyard where Lance was diligently working to perfect our lawn and said, "Lance, Bennett has something to show you" and in Bennett's hand was the positive pregnancy test.

We decided to wait until Mother's Day weekend to tell our family and the weekend after to tell our good friends.  Those stories to be posted another day.

All in all we are excited and feel so extremely blessed that Heavenly Father has given us the opportunity to be parents, again.  We are excited for Bennett to have a best friend to play with and confide in as they get older.  With them only being 1 year apart in school I'm sure they will accrue the same friends.  So here's to enjoying the next 6 months as a family of 3! Let the craziness begin!

7 months

This hazel eyed handsome boy is now SEVEN months old!
Where has the time gone?
Bennett has now gotten his second haircut - it's absolutely amazing how much hair he has.
He's on the verge of crawling and currently back scoots across any room you let him venture into.
He spent the week before his 7 month in Saint George enjoying the pool a little too much.  Lance even dipped him all the way in a few times.. he didn't cry, but had water pouring out of his mouth.
Bennett is has such a LONG torso making his 12 month onesies tight.  This little romper is 12-18 months!
In the event that he is upset cereals and yogurt bites calm him down in an instant.  He loves chewing on pretty much everything and anything.  He's advanced to stage 2 baby food and even eating bits of bananas, bread, and ice cream :)
He is like clockwork and wakes up at 3am for a quick bottle and then goes right back to sleep until 7-7:30.  We are thinking of letting him cry it out, but the 10 minutes of being up is far better than the hours of hearing him cry.
It has been so fun being a momma to this little guy even though his only word so far is dada.

6 months

I can't believe my little bugger is already half a year old! Wow has time flown by.  

At 6 months Bennett is...well... a monster.

20 lbs 12 oz.    92%

29 3/4 inches  well above 100%

17.5 inch OFC  68%

He loves....

sucking on his bibs or blankets, no binkie

sweet potatoes & squash

bouncing and standing

Smiling and Laughing

phones or anything with buttons he can push or put in his mouth

KICKING

baths...still.

Rolling onto his tummy.. and gets stuck and can't go back to his back.

He has...

2 teeth

9-12 month clothes.  Mostly 12 month

almost outgrown his infant car seat.. only 1/4 of an inch left until we have to upgrade

transitioned to 2-3 naps a day. A 1 hour, a 2-2.5 hr and a 30-40 minute cat nap.

kind of digressed a bit and now wakes up 1-2 times a night starving.  We will be working on fixing that problem.

Overall Bennett is such a joy to have in our home.  He has such a cute personality and loves babbling away to anyone who will listen.. or loves yelling to get your attention. We truly are blessed to have such a good baby.

A Name And A Blessing

 Last Sunday Lance blessed Bennett Nicholas with a name and a beautiful blessing.  It was a chaotic morning trying to get our house ready for the luncheon. I felt like I was running 100mph. 
Even once we got to church I still felt a little flabbergasted seeing who was there and talking to those  hadn't seen in a while.  I even was so flustered that I was caught off guard to hear my name called out with Lance's stating the blessing was about to begin.
However, as soon as Lance started speaking a sense of peace and calmness came over me.  How blessed am I?
I have this amazing little boy to call my own.
A wonderful and worthy husband.
So many supportive family and friends.
A home to live in.
A career that I love.
The knowledge of the gospel.
A wonderful ward.
What else could I possibly need?

With each and every word that was spoken in the blessing I couldn't help but be overwhelmed with gratitude for all that Heavenly Father has blessed me with. I am thankful each and everyday for Him and His plan for me, and my family.

Here are a few family shots from Sunday- I love these people!

 

Lance Turns Twenty Nine

Well, only one more year of his 20's left to celebrate.  Lance turned 29 yesterday.
We had a very busy weekend trying to get our house in order for Bennett's baby blessing.
We did however enjoy a lovely night out, kid free, with our friends at Rodizio Grill (Lance's FAVORITE SPOT) on Friday night.
Saturday was spent on the lawn and house, but then we had some friends come over and enjoy some trampoline jumping, pizza eating, helicopter flying, and cupcake decorating.

Here are a few shots (don't mind that minnie is a little nakey.. it's hard to eat cupcakes as a 2 year old).

I don't think there any better way to celebrate a birthday than to have Minnie sing happy birthday to ya.

5 months

The other day I was telling Lance that I honestly cannot remember life before Bennett.   He's been here now for 5 months plus the 9 months of pregnancy and 2 years of trying to get him here. I LITERALLY cannot remember life without him.  

Bennett is now FIVE months old! It's crazy!

Bennett has gotten such a personality now- he loves blowing bubbles and drooling all over the place. Baths are still his favorite and he's just barely started to lay flat in the tub splashing water EVERYWHERE.   He has developed quite the attachment to his green bath cup and follows it wherever in the tub it ends up. 

The sun has started to shine here in Utah which has blessed us with a few walks around the neighborhood in his big kid stroller and some bouncing time in the backyard. 

Just this past week we've gotten into eating some baby food and Bananas seems to be the winner... his experience with apples the first time had him almost aspirating in disgust. 

He is officially a grabber.  He will try and get his hands on anything thats in front of him which has resulted in some spilled food and beverages. 

Clothing wise he is squeezing into some 6 month clothes and has moved up to a good amount of 9 month or 6-12 month clothes. 

Bennett sleeps like a champ still from 9:30pm-7am give or take an hour. When he plays on his mat every few minutes he's turned himself 90 degrees and eventually makes a 360, its quite entertaining. 

Physical Therapy wise he is doing great- only 2 visits and he has full range of motion and stretches like a champ. We are now onto strengthening his neck muscles which will only aid him as he begins to roll and sit on his own.

All in all he's a very good boy and happy 95% of the time. 

So here's to a happy 5 months my Bennett Nicholas...

Mr. Flathead

For the past 5 weeks Lance and I have been working hard trying to correct our little tykes flathead.  Torticollis and plagiocephaly are becoming more and more common among infants due to the SIDS awareness and making sure your infant is sleeping on their back.
We went in to visit our pediatrician when Bennett was a few days over 3 months.  From that point we were diligently attempting more tummy time and encouraging all interaction be towards Bennett's left side.
Over the past 5 weeks I can honestly say his range of motion and head shape have vastly improved.
Today we went to physical therapy to get baseline measurements.
The percentage for a normal shaped head is 0-4% variation.  Any variation over 10% is subject to a helmet.  Our little man is at 7% currently (which I'm sure he was >10% 5 weeks ago.
Our physical therapist is confident that if we help strengthen his neck muscles and continue left sided interaction he SHOULD improve and not need a helmet.
We will meet with PT once a week for the next few weeks.  Here's to hoping things improve!