Ben's Baptism

Last weekend, Kristina and I had Benjamin baptized. We organized a late afternoon ceremony and reception at the school where Kristina teaches. Friends from LA joined our family from afar and the turnout truly humbled us. Our siblings--the same people we used to give wet willies and knuckle tacos to--honored us by being Benjamin's Godparents. The location was beautiful and Kristina did a wonderful job with the ceremony. A personal highlight had to be when everyone came forward and tied a ribbon of prayer to Benjamin's cross. The reception afterward was so special. I was so busy talking to friends and family that I hardly had a moment to eat.

I've included a link to the pictures of the evening. Feel free to look through all the pictures and marvel at what a beautiful child we've got on our hands. Through the website you can order prints sent to your house for a very reasonable price. You can also download them to your computer and email them to your entire contact list. You can find the pictures here.

I've included a few of our favorite pictures to enjoy now.

3 Months

In the last month, Ben has really grown! He continues to fill out--I didn't think that was possible--and get longer and longer. While he has physically changed quite a lot, his mental changes have been even more amazing. He can laugh and smile at our silliness. He can reach for things. He can even articulate noises. He mimics me and I mimic him and we can talk and talk all day. Here's a summary of today's conversation about the neighbors:

"zzzzzppptgaaah." Ben stated.

"zzzzzpppptgaaAH!" I exclaimed.

"WWWaaaaaHHHHH!" Ben wondered with his fist firmly in his mouth.

"glaaagleeeglobglob." I agreed.

This week Ben even started school. He goes to see Miss Beverly three times a week and seems to love the company. He talks all day and smiles with her also. Miss Beverly, however, doesn't believe that Ben is only three months old. She thinks he is too big to be just 13 weeks old. I keep telling him that it's all that old European blood and he should be proud. Here's a picture of him all dressed up and ready to go to his first day of school.

In the three months Ben's been to three weddings. He was so bored by the most recent one that he actually fell asleep. He's got another one in two weeks and requested a seersucker suit. We'll see. This weekend Ben was baptized. It was a beautiful evening with friends and family and we'll post those pictures as soon as we can. He really loved the cards he got in the mail from his great-grandma in Nebraska and great-aunt in Seattle.

Anyway, enjoy the video. It's just some silliness we recorded during the crazy heat wave and all we did was enjoy the air conditioning. Thanks for all your support and love. More next month!

2 Months!

In Ben's second month there have been many changes. He has grown so much! He's nearing 15 pounds, is much longer and is putting on chubby rolls all over the place. He can smile, reach for objects and even kind of sing along to songs he knows.

But the biggest event of his past month was his Midwest Tour. We visited friends, grandparents and great grandparents over the course of 2 and a half weeks. It looked a little like this:

LA>Denver, CO>Fremont, NE>Denver, CO>Chicago, IL>South Bend, IN>Grand Rapids, MI>Chicago, IL>Denver, CO>LA

or by time zone, it looked like this:

Pacific>Mountain>Central>Mountain>Central>Central -DST>Eastern>Central>Mountain>Pacific

So any routine that we had worked out with Ben has been thrown out the window.

The best part to come out of the trip was that Ben went on his first college visits. Our tour of the University of Colorado was shortened by rain, but the little guy seemed to like campus. Later we visited my alma mater, Lake Forest College, and he slept through my engaging tour. Lastly we visited Notre Dame and talked with an admissions counselor about Ben's admittance to the class of 2031.

Enjoy the pictures!

1 Month!

Please, enjoy the slide show. The music comes from our friend Justin and his children's band, The Okee Dokee Brothers. I get the feeling that they will provide much of Benjamin's soundtrack over the next few years.

Benjamin has been with us for 1 month! It's been a blast and we've learned a lot.

Thank you all so much for the continued love and support. Your love has helped us more than you will ever know.

More from the Hospital

We made a little video from our time at the hospital. We'll post a whole bunch of pictures later.

Enjoy!

Day 1

Allow me to take you through our past 3 days.

Monday at 7:30 we left the house for the hospital.  As you can imagine we were so jazzed up that we didn't get much sleep the night before.  After we checked in and moved into our room, they administered the Pitosin, the drug that causes induction.  At about noon Kristina had the epidural put in and she quickly felt pretty crappy.  She just didn't react very well to any of the drugs they gave her.  After a long nap, the doctor checked her and she was 1 cm dilated.  Kristina was in and out of sleep for the rest of the night, while her mother, my brother and I watched TV, read and drank 96 oz of coffee.   We finally called it a night at about 4:00am.  

Three hours later, everyone was up and the doctor came back to try to break Kristina's water.  She was still only 1 cm dilated and he couldn 't do it.  He came back at 10:15 to try again to break it.  Again he failed.  With great resignation, the doctor decided to send her in for a cesarian section.  It was amazing to see Kristina's attitude change quickly.  She was thrilled to see a light at the end of the long tunnel of pregnancy.  

At 11:20 the nurses wheeled Kristina into the operating room and I scrubbed in.  By 11:55 we had a bouncing baby boy.  Benjamin, his first name, was a name we both initially liked; I  because it starts with a "B" and she because it is bilingual.  Charles, his middle name, is a significant name for both of our families, so that was easily agreed upon.  It is important for us to include his Latino heritage in his name, so we included Ortega as a second middle name.  Of course we end with the powerful Lowdermilk.  

After they took him out, they told me I could take pictures.  While they finished stitching up Kristina, I followed Benjamin to the recovery room where a nurse measured (21 3/4 inches long), weighed (7.6 lbs.) and tested his joints.  I held the new addition while the new mom rested up .  We were a family.

Since then it's been a whirlwind.  Once my adrenaline wore off, I realized how tired I was.  We had some guests last night and Kristina gradually got more energy and spunk.  We all slept well last night, and if we hadn't work Benjamin up to eat, he would have slept through the night.  Today we've had more guests and more food.  The baby has been a treat to watch, despite the fact that he just eats and sleeps.  

A few interesting facts about Benjamin's auspicious birth date:

1. It's also the day Charles Dickins died (good riddance).

2. Secretariat won the Triple Crown.

3. Les Paul, Natalie Portman, Peter the Great, Dick Vitale, Michael J Fox and Johnny Depp all share a birthday with Benjamin Charles Ortega Lowdermilk.

Enjoy the pictures!

39 Weeks

Okay, it's official.  On June 8th--a Monday--at 8:00am, Kristina and I have an appointment to have a baby.  Set your clocks.  Ready your tear ducts.  Practice swaddling the dog.  Nemo's coming.

Of course we'll update the blog once we have the little guy or girl.