Vacation for 4

Wow, we can really tell this is the second time around becoming parents.  This past weekend, we celebrated Benjamin's 4 weeks birthday on a mini-vacation to Søndervig. Just going to the grocery store with Silas as a newborn seemed like a feat, but with baby number 2 our lives have just kept on going and it almost feels like we just have an extra baby tagging along. I will however attribute other facotrs to the relaxed feeling we have with Benjamin other than that he is a #2.  He sleeps a lot more....eats a lot faster and not as often...and well he is easy to calm down when he does get upset.  So, yes, we were ready for a 3 day family outing.

Each time we go to Søndervig it is more and more fun, as Silas is getting older and enjoys different things. Again this time we spent multiple hours at the swimming pool.  Benjamin and I weren't able to go into the water so we watched from a table...(Benjamin slept)...The workers at the pool kept coming over to get a look at our sleeping beauty, and I had a great time watching Silas have so much fun.  Silas would just run into the water by himself even out to the area where he couldn't touch.  He also LOVED riding the big waterslide with Søren, you could hear his laughter throughout the entire place.

We also took a walk down to the ocean where Silas passed the time collecting rocks and throwing them into the water.  He walked most of the way himself as he was determined to get back to the bikes we had tried on the way down to the ocean. The electric cars/motorcycles were a hit again.  We had to try ALL the different colors.

Saturday we went bowling and it was going well, until Silas remembered an arcade game we had tried last time in that building with YELLOW CARS.  For over 20 minutes Silas whined about trying the yellow cars eventhough we tried to explain that he could try them after bowling and before pizza.  He didn't quite get that!  We ended up giving him a cell phone to watch videos on so at least Søren and I could enjoy bowling (yeah Benjamin slept right through it all!) Søren and I played quite well, so we thought it was fun!

Sunday morning we spent walking down by the harbor in Hvide Sande (a little town 10 miles from Søndervig) Silas enjoyed looking at all the big boats and after freezing in the wind for an hour, we ended our trip with a hot chocolate!

By Sunday afternoon it was time to go home to Skjern, but not before another trip to the playground while Søren cleaned.  All in all a wonderful weekend. We feel so blessed to have this wonderful place to go to as family and to bring our kids.

Benjamin's baptism day

February 16th was a big day for Benjamin--- he was baptised! We had a wonderful day with friends and family.  Everyone arrived for brunch at 11am and by 11:30 we were sitting down to a nice warm meal consisting of: pancakes, egg & bacon cups, sausages, fruit, quiche and rolls.

There were quite a few guests.......Søren, Silas, Benjamin and I--of course.  Farmor, Grandma, Farfar & Hanne, Ulla, Peter, Lukas, Nikolaj & Celina, Jette, Carl, Ida, Sigrid & Johanna.... and we all sat at one long table in the living room. (Thanks Farmor for the beautiful table decorations and flowers!)

 After brunch there was time to talk and play games and the kids had a game of Picture Bingo, where the words were first said in English.  The kids thought it was fun to try to guess which animal I was talking about just by hearing the English word.

Before going to church at 3:30pm, we opened presents and had ice cream cones with ice cream from the ice cream truck!! Yum Yum.  Benjamin recieved a lot of great and sentimental things.

When it was time to go to church, our entry way turned into chaos as all the guests had to get out of the door at once.  We made it on time with a few minutes to spare before the four of us walked down the aisle of the church during the præludium song.  My former student sang a beautiful solo, Matt Redman's 10,000 reasons, as we walked in, and the moment brought tears to my eyes! This time it was me who held the baby during the actual baptism and it was a very wonderful feeling.  Benjamin was awake the whole time and it was touching to see the way he seemed to look into the pastors eyes as he was being baptised.  By request, Benjamin was held up and presented to the congregation and the entire church clapped! I loved it and my Mom said Benjamin seemed to enjoy it very much too...another ham on our hands!

After the service we took a few pictures before returning home for a sandwich dinner.  Most of the guests were gone a bit after 7 and my Mom, Søren and I spent the evening reminsicing about the day and how wonderful it was.

We are so happy to have had this special day for Benjamin, and we know we will look back on it for years to come with fondness and joy!

Benjamin is here!

Benjamin Adrian Madsen arrived on January 26th 2014 at 6:14pm at Herning Hospital.  He weighed 4340g (9.5 lbs) and was 53cm (21 inches).  Benjamin has been a delight to get to know this past week and a half. He is not giving us much difficulties.  He sleeps most of the day and is only awake for about 1 hour at a time.  He sleeps well and is generally happy as long as he can be held.  So it's been a lot of naps and night time sleeping on Mommy's chest or tucked under my arm, but it's such a special time so in general it is so cozy!

Here’s a bit of the birth story.  12 days overdue I was induced into labor.   At 8 am the midwife checked the baby’s heart rate on a machine and after everything looked fine, I was given two small pills to hopefully get the contractions going.  We were given a room to be in while we waited to see if I would start going into labor and told to come back at 2pm. 

We rested in the room until about 11am and then decided to go out into the town to pass the time. We ended up going to Bilka and looking around....by 12 we decided to go for a walk on the walking street. It was a rather cold day in Denmark (below freezing) but I thought it was refreshing. Søren and I ended up going to a café for lunch.  While eating lunch I was having some small contractions, but nothing that was too bothersome.  By 1pm we were back at the hospital and I laid down for a bit again.  I could tell I was having more contractions, but again nothing too severe.  At 2pm we went back for the checkup.  I was put on a monitor and during that half an hour I had pretty regular contractions 6 minutes in between lasting about 1 minute. They were intense enough I had to breathe through them but I was still okay.  The midwife said that we should give it another hour and she would check back on me.  She wanted by body to work with the contractions a bit longer before breaking the water.  Less than 20 minutes later I was having really strong contractions about 3 minutes in between.  I used a pilates ball to bounce on and that was an amazing help. We called the midwife back in and she said I needed to go into a birthing room.  From there the contractions stayed strong and close together but were also a bit shorter.  Around 4:30 I was really ready to get into the bathtub to relieve a little pressure and get ready for delivery. I remember seeing the clock at 5pm and asking “Is he out yet?”…It was a silly question,  but  everything was so intense I just wanted it to be over.  The water was actually a big help though as I could more easily move around during the contractions.  At some point I was allowed to push and at 6:14 our miracle was born.  I was able to help pull him up to my chest and I also got a look at his head during the labor.  It was very surreal and amazing.

After some stitching, we were given some food and alone time with our new baby.  He was sleeping a lot there so we just enjoyed staring at him and talking about the day.  How happy and blessed we felt and what his name should be! After about 4 hours we felt ready to go home and sleep, but I needed to go to the bathroom first.  When I got up  I got super dizzy and that concerned the midwives, so I was given more food and rested for another hour.  By then I was feeling a lot better and we packed up and went home.  Pretty much exactly 5 hours after giving birth.  It was a wonderful ride home as the adrenaline was still going and Søren and I just smiled as we listened to our baby’s sucking sounds in the back seat.  He was ours! He was here!

At home Farmor was waiting up to meet her new grandson.  She had picked up Silas from daycare and watched him most of the day.  Benjamin woke up and was crying pretty loudly around 2:30am.  This woke Silas up and I went into Silas’ room.  Silas said “hov, Baby crying.”  I told him it was his little brother and asked him if he wanted to meet him.  Silas said yes and we went out to the changing table where Søren was changing little brother’s diaper.  Silas just looked at him and touched him. He didn’t seem to confused, he seemed like he thought it was normal.  All this talk about little brother coming and now he was here.  Silas went back into bed and talked to himself a bit before falling asleep again. 

Since then I have had a lot of cuddling time with Benjamin.  Søren had 3 days off before having to go back to work for the schools musical project.  So I spent Thursday and Friday lying with Benjamin.  We had a few guests but in general it was all relaxing and a time to heal for me. Silas has taken becoming a big brother quite well. He has given Benjamin lots of kisses, a few hits, and a lot of kind words...caling him "sweetie" etc. Silas has wanted Mommy or Far to have some alone time with him and shuts the door to his room when we are in there playing with him.  So we are seeing some reactions but taking them as they come.  In general Silas seems like a proud big brother. Apparently they were walking with daycare and as they past a complete stranger Silas blurted out "I'm a big brother"!  Cute!  

This past week has been more difficult as Søren was very busy at work.  Luckily my Mom came on Sunday and she has been a tremendous help this week.  Holding Benjamin so I can nap, tidying up and giving me a chance to really give Silas some attention so he continues to feel seen and loved. are looking forward to this next week where Søren is on vacation and the baptism on Sunday.  After my Mom leaves, Søren will have about 2½ weeks off where we will get to enjoy being a family of four and whatever that might bring.

Here are some pictures of Benjamins first week and a half.

Silas likes to act like Doggie is his baby and do what we do with Benjamin!