Benjamin's First Week at Home

Benjamin has been at home for one full week and already he seems so much more alert and aware of his surroundings. While I recover from labor and get some much needed rest, we've been spending most of our time at home letting Ben do what he does best....eat and sleep! Below are some photos of the little guy in dreamland...and looking so sweet and cute in the process:

During the past week, little Ben has been getting used to his mom, dad and big brother Barney. His Nana has also been staying with us for the week to help me out as I recover. He really seems like he recognizes us now since he looks us in the eyes and smiles slightly when we sing, talk, or make silly faces at him. He's not even afraid of Barney at all, even when he pokes his big head near the baby, smells him or tries to lick him. For the most part, Barney has been really mellow around the baby and even seems worried when Ben cries...as any protective big brother would!

Even after a week, Benjamin's wild hairdo doesn't seem like it will tame itself anytime soon. Here's a photo of the baby fresh after a sponge bath, when his hair is at its most unruly! :)

Ben's facial expressions and actions seem like they have become so much more alert, even in the past week. He now watches the mobile on his swing and really looks around the house to observe his surroundings when he is awake. This morning we decided to try out his little play gym to see if he would notice any of the bright colors or if he would be oblivious to it. He did seem to enjoy the colors and different hanging toys but also seemed to be a little overwhelmed by so much activity at this point. He will probably be more interested in another week or so.

Meet Benjamin Thomas Martin

On March 20, 2006 Benjamin Thomas Martin arrived after about 15-1/2 hours of labor. He was born at 6:16PM in Abington Memorial Hospital in Abington, PA. He weighed 8 pounds 7 ounces and was 20-3/4 inches long. Of course we think that he is the cutest little guy that we have ever seen!

For anyone wondering, we decided on his name because Benjamin was one of the top boy names that we both liked (and agreed upon!). We like the full name Benjamin and all of the nicknames (at least those we thought of) so we will most likely be calling him either Benjamin or Ben intechangeably and may also call him Benny sometimes while he's a little boy. Thomas is Andrew's middle name and also my dad's middle name. So apart from being a name we both really liked, it seemed like a good way to incorporate both sides of the family in the baby's namesake.

His four grandparents were able to be with us at Abington for the birth and enjoyed spoiling little Ben during his first day of life. They received our phone call at 5:30AM, once we had been admitted, drove in from New Jersey and New York and spent the entire day in the hospital waiting room eagerly anticipating the good news! Below are two photos - one of Pop and Nana Caulfield with us and the baby and another of Grandpa G and CC Martin with the little guy.

Below are some of Ben's first photos in the hospital:

After two nights in Abington Hospital we headed home with Ben on Wednesday afternoon. Even for an 8 pound baby his 0-3 month outfits were swimming on him. He looked so little and cute in his sleeper and bunting. Here is our new family as we prepare to leave the hospital:

Soon after we got home our rent-a-stork arrived to decorate our front lawn. Every new family needs a 6 foot stork on their lawn for a week!

Once in the house, our first task was to introduce the big, yellow, first-born child - Barney - to the new baby. After some initial excitement over this new "thing" we were bringing into his house, Barney has been very loving and gentle with the new baby. He seems to either ignore him or try to kiss him on the head! Apart from a bit of mild depression, Barney otherwise seems to be unaffected by the new family member. In fact, one kiss he did manage to sneak on the back of the baby's head was the only way so far that we have been able to control Ben's wild hairdo! The photo below is Barney offering his favorite toy to his new little brother.

Day two at home consisted of trying out Benjamin's swing for the first time and also giving him his first sponge bath at home. He looked so cute wrapped in his little frog bath towel as we bathed him! After his bath we dressed him in his little baseball sleeper and got this funny picture of him furrowing his brow, obviously deep in thought about something!

Nursery - All Finished!

The Martin Nursery is finally finished! We hung our curtains and wall hangings yesterday and made a trip to Babies R Us for some last items we needed so we now have a fully-functional, fully-decorated nursery. There's still plenty of wall space for some additional photos and pictures if we decide to add them later, but for now the room is entirely complete. I've been busy washing his little clothes and filling the dresser drawers and closet so now we just have to wait for Baby Martin to arrive!

Nursery - Furniture Arrives!

Our furniture has finally arrived and now the nursery is just about complete. We received a glider and ottoman, a dresser that will double as a changing table once we get the changing pad, a nightstand, and a bookcase. I spent the last hour organizing toys, books, diaper caddies, lamps, etc. and now feel as if I need a nap on our comfy new glider! Everything fits perfectly in the room and the dark wood looks great with our lighter walls and carpet.

This weekend we'll get our Alphabet Soup quilt and some other pictures/wall hangings put up, we'll hang our curtain rod and valance, and we'll work on getting the closet organized with the baby's already-extensive wardrobe. We'll also be making a trip to Babies R Us very soon for some final accessories that we'll need to use right away when the baby comes home. Enjoy these photos and we're excited for all of you to see the nursery in person very soon!

Nursery - The Decorating Begins...

Tonight the decorating of the nursery began and we are really pleased with the final product! As we get through these last two days before our furniture gets delivered, when we'll be able to decorate the nursery entirely, we decided to go ahead and setup some of the accessories we were able to move at this point into the new room. We do have our crib already so Andrew assembled that, I washed all of the bedding and we relocated it to its new home in the nursery. Below are a few photos of the crib outfitted in our Alphabet Soup bedding. Barney was quite nosey as we set up so many new things and so that we don't forget about him, he made it a point to star in many of our photos!

We also were excited to finally be able to lay out our Alphabet Soup area rug. It really adds a nice touch to the room! Again, Barney seemed to be under the impression that we had bought him a comfortable new mat to lay on, as he made himself at home directly on top of it within a few minutes of our laying it out!

Finally, we placed the big frog chair and some other cute stuffed animals around the room:

We'll be able to get the rest of the decor placed around the room once the furniture arrives on Thursday - curtains, baskets and accessories, lamps, pictures, quilts, etc. We'll be uploading the final photos later this week so check back again!

Nursery - Almost Finished...

The nursery is on its way to being complete! This weekend we painted the molding and although it was sort of tedious, it came out great - exactly as we had pictured it. Tomorrow we will add the second coat of antique white paint, which will mark the end of the "home improvement" phase of our nursery and prepare us for the part I've been looking forward to for months: getting our furniture delivered and decorating the room with all of the cute accessories that have been taking up temporary residence in our guest room these past few weeks.

Below are some "action shots" of us painting the room. It was an extremely cold and windy February day so we bundled up, cracked the windows for lots of ventilation and worked hard all afternoon.

What an accomplishment it was to see the finished product...and to have no major painting casualties such as spills on the carpet or smudges on the already-painted yellow half of the room. We did, however, nearly have a run-in with a wildly excited Labrador Retriever tail on wet paint when we had a weak moment and let Barney come into the room while the paint was still tacky. Luckily we were able to banish the beast before any damage occured :)! Below are some photos of the "finished" room after the first coat of white paint:

Tomorrow we add the final coat of paint, after which we will be finished for good with painting. Stay tuned for more photos later this week after Bellini delivers our furniture and we begin accessorizing. We expect the entire room to be complete by Friday of this week and are very excited to share the final product with all of you!

Nursery - Painting Begins!

This weekend we began painting the nursery and all of a sudden it seems more like a baby's room than a construction zone! Andrew finished the molding, put up a chair rail, and we placed some wooden pegs just below the chair rail for an added organizational and decorative touch to our custom look (but really as a means to satisfy my sudden nesting instinct!).

We decided to paint the walls a cheery yellow above the molding and will next paint the molding an antique white, to match the rest of the woodwork throughout our house. The yellow half of the room is now finished and looks GREAT with our bedding ensemble and the green and red gingham accents we plan to incorporate throughout the nursery.

Below are some photos of the nursery as big brother Barney poses for the camera after weeks of moping because we wouldn't allow him inside the room while it was under construction! This week we'll mix up our antique white paint for our next step: painting the molding...