In Light of our Son...By Ben, #1 Dad

So I was stoked to have this guy, untill Jess went into labor, then I started having the weight of the world on me, not that I was having the labor, that I was responsible to provide for and protect my little family. It's a feeling that can leave one feeling quite inadequate. I guess you just ask God to help you rise up.

Jessica did such a good job through the whole thing. I always heard about girls screaming and yelling (at their husbands mostly), but she was sooo mellow through the whole thing, and I really appreciate her for it!


So since Jessica is still in the hospital 24 hours after our nameless son was born, I thought I would post some pics, so as to avoid emailing them over and over. Some of these are 2 seconds after him coming out, some are later. You could probably tell the difference. We thank God for the safety of Mom and Son.

I want to go home!

Last night it was acid indigestion and heart burn from the flaming hot Cheetos Ben forced me to eat in hopes that it would help me go into labor. Tonight it's this:

You're not alone if you have no idea what this is. I didn't. But it's a nasty, disgusting tick; the one I found implanted on Gus yesterday. The experience was a traumatic one, one that has kept me tossing and turning all night at the thought of more of those creatures lurking around. Living almost exclusively on the west coast, I have never had to worry about ticks, let alone come in contact with one. So you can imagine my surprise (or utter disgust) when I thought I was pulling something from a plant out of Gus' fur only to find that the plant object had eight moving legs. I literally had to look up what the creature was on Google in order to identify the parasite. Ever since, that's all I can think about. I'm freaked out that every itch on my body is my very own parasite sucking on my blood. I've gone over Gus' fur a dozen times and spent over an hour brushing him to ensure that I had eliminated all ticks or other small animals. Considering my horrific experience, it is no surprise that I have been tossing and turning all night with visions of ticks dancing in my head. It's almost as if they are taunting me, knowing that I have an obsessive-compulsive mind that cannot rest when I'm worried about something; and the ticks have won. It is now 5:15am and I am still awake, destined to be ornery for another day due to lack of sleep.

Still no baby...

After announcing to everyone that last night was "the night", I sadly have to admit that there is still no showing of Baby Mack. I had no reason to think that last night I was going to go into labor, except that I have recently started to feel the discomfort that everyone seems to talk about during pregnancy. I'll admit that I was quite embarrassed yesterday walking to the gym due to a pregnancy "waddle" that has recently shown up in my step. Don't get me wrong, I still sleep like a rock (I've never had a problem with that), but I feel that my several walks a day and trips to the gym should be rewarded with an early labor (at least a few days early). Much to my dismay, my doctor did not fall for my feeble attempts last week to persuade him to induce me earlier than the eighth. I believe that it could be my own fault that this baby wants to stay in my stomach. Maybe I've made it much too comfortable for him in there with all the ice cream and bread that I've been inhaling. So tonight... is "the night" (I hope). I've already decided to make a stop at Pei Wei's for some spicy dan dan noodles, in hopes of forcing this baby out by making him extremely uncomfortable (along with myself).

Here are some recent pictures of our time in Bloomington (I can't say that I've missed Vegas much with all the greenery and beautiful weather here. Except for friends of course:)

Home Sweet Home

Since moving to Minneapolis last Friday and getting settled, I seem to have a lot more time on my hands, so hopefully I'll be way better at frequent posts. I feel like everyone who's pregnant gets to lay around and nap because pregnancy is so exhausting, expect for me. I've been just as crazy as ever. In the past month I've finished up school for good, packed up, gotten somewhat ready for a baby (not really, I'm still not ready), and moved to Minnesota. On top of those things, Ben has started selling preseason for the summer, he finished his semester (with a little help), we sold my beloved car, bought another car (that Ben crashed that same night and it is now in the the shop), and I still managed to gain another five pounds to add to my baby weight (does it ever stop!).

Ben and Gus getting ready to go.








Minneapolis has been decent so far. Ben's selling well as always, the weather is great and the scenery is beautiful. Our apartment would be great if we could get rid of the awful stench coming from our kitchen sink (I have tried everything and Ben has threatened the management within an inch of this lives. The best is that Ben loves to tell people that I'm nine months pregnant in order to try to get things done faster. He tells the people at the airport, the management of the apartment, the cleaning people...I'm not sure what he's going to do when I actually have the baby). I've spent most of my time here running errands and trying to get us situated in our new home since we brought practically nothing with us. Today on my nineteenth grocery run, I had a really awkward experience. I had to take Ben's truck (which is already hard enough to get into), but as I was hoisting myself up (wearing slightly snug pants since they all seem to be these days) I heard a large rip. Yes, my pants ripped right up the crotch. Being the ornery pregnant lady I am, I decided it was impossible for me to return home, change, and go back to the store. So I did what every sensible person would do, I continued with my errands with a large rip in the front of my pants. I could swear everyone at the grocery store was giving me funny looks, except it was probably my imagination. Hopefully the people of Minnesota are not offended.

Gus lounging at our new apartment.


The view off our back porch.









One last thing that I need to add is that my wonderful husband took me this past month on a surprise vacation to Hawaii. It was kind of a last vaca before the baby comes, and to celebrate our three-year anniversary and my graduation (that I'll be too busy to celebrate when it comes). We had loads of fun laying around the pool and our hotel room, and it was definitely one of the best vacations.

No longer a puppy!

Last Sunday was Gus' 2nd birthday, and like any good mother I threw him a birthday party. Yes, we had a cake, and presents, and friends came over (except that only one friend came over, obviously we disowned all those that did not show up).





I know I promised to take pregnancy pictures every month from the sixth month, but I seem to have a problem with forgetting things (I'm going to blame it on the pregnancy). So I finally took a few more pictures and these are at 31 weeks (7 months, 3 weeks). I asked the doctor at my last appointment if he could find something wrong so that I could have an excuse to be lazy and watch movies all day. Unfortunately, he couldn't find anything but said he'd keep looking.



And a few more of my trip to Utah to see Celine Dion with my sister. While we were there, we stayed with my grandma.




And Ben and I at Nascar!

He's Finally Showing!

It's taken me forever, but I finally feel like I look pregnant enough to actually take some pictures. I've heard so many times that you should take pictures every month to see the difference, but I never felt pregnant, just fatter. My friend, Courtney, took these the other day and I can't say I love myself in them, but here they are nonetheless. My pregnancy has actually been great. The only things I can complain about are back aches, and requiring an hour every morning to find something that fits me (which becomes even more difficult when Ben informs me that the outfit I choose isn't flattering on me). I told Ben the other day that I feel like Tim Allen in The Santa Clause when all his shirts are getting too tight and he can't figure out what's happening to him (except that I know what's happening). People are finally starting to notice my large stomach. At work the other day, I had a five-year-old boy look at me and say "you're stomach is big". I so kindly replied "thank you" (that made me feel really great). To which he said, "no, I mean really big". Thanks a bunch you little brat!
I can actually feel our little boy moving now inside of me. It's a surreal feeling. At our last doctor's appointment we had our twenty-week ultrasound (a month late because of my lovely husband's reservations about ultrasounds hurting the baby), and we could barely get the little guy to move. Ben was pushing on my stomach and the most action we got was when he put his arms up to block his head where Ben was pushing. I told Ben to leave him alone; that he takes after his mother and he just wants to sleep. After listening to Ben complain about our "boring" baby, the doctor informed us that his lack of moving was a good thing, and we might just end up with a mellow baby (I asked him if he had seen my husband...wishful thinking).
My lack of posts is due to my busy schedule since school started back up. Whenever I get a free second, I'm too tired to do anything but lie on my heating blanket and turn on American Idol (which I've noticed has completely taken over fox).





Since Ben decided to post embarrassing pictures of me on our last post (which I tried to erase several times, but he would just post it again), here are some lovely pictures of him with his beard of a month and a half, looking like a mountain man.

A Month And a Half Later....

Well something had to be done. Even if it's just me that goes on to look at the pictures. Jessica hasn't done a blog since December 15th. If you're gonna have one of these things you gotta atleast do it.

Here's what this one is gonna be about. I was going through some pictures of Jess & Me the other day and found these. So I wanna know what other people who browse the blog world think of her hair cut in these pictures, even if you're one of those people who doesn't subscribe, you just kind of peeping tom these blogs, you're welcome to comment, let's see who's really out there, stranger or not! I love the short hair, but she says she's growing it long (I don't know if there's a specific reason for growing it long, besides me liking it short). Dudes can answer too, I know Matt Gregory frequents the cyber world. Gotta love Matt Gregory. Freakin Matt.

-Ben Mack 1/31/09 (Sat.)

P.S. Stay tuned for my next blog. I've got a great one planned. Laughing already!