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!
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!
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