Christmas in Maine

our christmas festivities began in boothbay on saturday, the 22nd. we had christmas with my parents and brother matthew's family, sadly missing danny and jonathan. mom fixed a fabulous roast and then the boys were a lot of fun to watch opening their presents. josiah was thrilled with his toy tractor and farm set and his tractor books! then sunday, i directed the children's choir in a mini-musical and logan, benji and i were in the nativity scene. there was a luncheon after church, and i was filled with so much joy watching josiah tear around the church like a big boy. he has such a ball with other kids now. after church, josiah posed for some pictures around our house to show logan's family how much snow we've had: 28 inches before christmas!

Brrrrrggggghhhhhh.......it's cold!!!!

Hello from chilly Maine! My digital camera bit the dust, but I just got a picture CD with my last roll of film, so I thought I'd share a little slide show with you, as well as an update on happenings around Chez Perry.

It's been the coldest December since 1989 here in Maine, so Logan has been busy shoveling snow and trying to stay warm working out on the island. He's also been spending his spare time trying to fix our floors since our flood the first weekend in November. Needless to say, he's exhausted. I am also exhausted from averaging 4-5 hours of sleep a day, broken up in segments of 1-3 hour chunks at night. There's no napping during the day with a busy toddler around, so now I know how good I had it when Josiah was a newborn. I feel so bad for little Benjamin for not getting as much attention as his big brother did, but he'll end up being so much more adaptable as an adult. I thought we'd be able to outsmart birth order psychology, but I recognize that sometimes the chips just fall where they may. :)

Benjamin is doing very well! He is so beautiful and sweet. He smiles all the time, and I'm convinced it's not involuntary. Last Friday, the day before his 1 month birthday, he finally weighed in at his birth weight, so I am all done taking him in for weight checks every other day and getting advice from lactation consultants. That whole ordeal was enough to keep my milk from coming in!!! Big Ben is so alert and active now. I love just holding him and watching him.

Josiah has a new love for shoveling snow and doesn't seem to mind the cold. We've taught him to say 'please,' which sounds more like 'cheese' coming from his mouth, so now he has some very cute polite moments. He knows that if he ends a demand with 'cheese,' he'll usually get what he wants! Of course, he also knows how to tilt his head to one side, smile sweetly, open his eyes big and wide, and hold his hands palms up when he's asking for something. This kid is workin' it!!! :)

Anyway, enjoy the pictures! Love to you all!!! Ruth

And then there were four...

here are some more pictures of our happy little family! everything is going well...we're just completely wiped out!!! our church is providing meals for two weeks (what a huuuuuuge blessing!!!) and my parents have been babysitting josiah a lot this week. i don't know what we'd be doing if didn't have so much help. well, probably pulling our hair out...:)

i don't have much time; just thought i'd post some more pictures while i had a minute.

Introducing Benjamin Edward Perry!!!

Born 11/10/07, 1:24 p.m.

9 lbs, 3 oz

22 in

More pictures to come!!!

A flood, but not my water breaking, thank the Lord!

so the past five days have been a little bit too much on the exciting side for us. my nesting energy kicked in last weekend, and logan and i were doing really well getting ready for the baby. saturday night we stayed up late getting our bedroom cleaned and the baby bedding, etc. washed. logan mopped the floor, then dropped the rug in the washer before we crashed in bed at midnight, with logan's last words being: "well, we're ready for the baby now!"

as a pregnant woman, i have to get up out of bed every one to two hours to use the restroom. when i got up at two that night, i stepped in ice cold water outside the bathroom. i wasn't quite awake yet, so it took me a minute to realize the washer machine was still running. somehow, it got plugged up and overflowed for two hours, flooding our bathroom and hallway. logan and i quickly mopped up the water with a pile of dirty clothes, then logan ran and got his shop vac. when he went downstairs to the basement to get it, he saw that water was running down into his shop as well as the apartment that we rent out.

logan called our dear friend paul golden to come over and help, and they stayed up for two hours cleaning up the mess. when logan and i got home from church, our floors were buckled from all of the moisture in the particle board under our laminate. servpro came that afternoon to tear up the laminate flooring (that had taken logan a week to lay down) and install fans and a dehumidifier. it's thursday, and we're still living with the constant hum (and this is not a quite hum) of the equipment.

along with the stress of this event (or probably because of it), i lost my 'plug' and my midwife said i was 3-4 centimeters dialated at my appointment tuesday. she sent me immediatley over to the hospital for an ultrasound and fetal stress monitoring, and i wept in her office, thinking i was going into labor and i just wasn't ready! i'm not even due for two weeks from tomorrow! at the hospital, i started having mild contractions, which grew stronger all that night and the next day. when i put josiah to bed last night and laid down on the couch, they subsided and i've actually not had any contractions today. i'm trying to lay low and hold off on going into labor until my mother returns from WA this saturday.

so pray for us as we cope with a stressful week! in lighter news, josiah went 'pee-pee' in the 'potty' last thursday and friday, and since then he has gone 'pee-pee' on the living room floor once. he keeps bringing me into the bathroom and freezing under the pressure, so i am not too optimistic about him being a potty-training prodigy. there's a pic below of him on his training stool, and in a new 'toy' he found today
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Fall Fun

We're three weeks from Benjamin's due date, and my nesting energy has finally kicked in!!! I'm sleeping very poorly, going to bed too late and then getting up every 1-2 hours to use the 'potty,' then getting up before 7 with Josiah. I've stopped napping, because my to-do list wont allow me any rest. But praise the Lord, I feel great! I'm getting excited. Logan is going to paint Benjamin's dresser this weekend so I can wash all of his little clothes and put them away, and I'm going to set up his bassinet and pack for the hospital tomorrow.

Here are some pictures of Josiah enjoying the fall foliage:

Working hard with cousin Noah

This is why God made me laid back:

Trick-or-Treating with church friends as "Bob the Builder"

Mommy's big belly:

Cutie Petutie

josiah and benjamin

logan and i have been enjoying our last few weeks with josiah as an only child. he is so sweet and so much fun, it's hard to imagine being blessed with another son. it's also true that i am completely wiped out trying to keep up with this little guy everyday, when my belly is bulging, my legs and back ache, and all my body wants to do is sleep!!! i can't wait to be done with this pregnancy. i'm 35 weeks along now, hoping for another early birth. and i'm freeeeaaaakkked out about going through that trauma again!!! i'm sure it will be better this time around, but not knowing what to expect is hard when you've got terrible memories of the first time. josiah was worth every minute. and benjamin will be much smaller....:)

we're baaaaaaack!!!

hello dear friends and family!!! it's been two months since my last blog, and i apologize for keeping you in the dark for so long. we were having internet issues here at home, but now we're wireless!!!!! yay!!!!!! it used to take my computer 40 minutes to download five pics to this site via dial-up, and it literally took less than a minute tonight!!!! i'm very excited. i'm even thinking about blogging again tomorrow to make up for lost time. :)

for tonight, i'm just going to post some pics of josiah from the past two months with brief descriptions. it's getting late, and logan is beyond ready for bed. :)

logan took josiah to nc to visit family for five days in september.

unfortunately, i forgot to send the digital camera with them!!!

this is when i picked them up at the airport.

take note of josiah's harness/leash, and his insistance on pushing the stroller. :)

logan, josiah, mom, dad, and i went to the fryeburgh fair a couple weeks ago.
josiah continues to be obsessed with tractors, so he was very impressed by the fair.
other highlights were the cows, goats, harness races, and the merry-go-round.

logan and i had a yard sale labor day weekend.
i included this pic because i want you to see how logan kept josiah from running into the road...
he's tied to a tree!!! :)

josiah 'riding' a tractor a couple weeks ago.
he's speaking in sentences now, as well as prolonged monologues of gibberish.

WHEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
this child never stops moving....he zooms down his slide at the speed of light. :)
i can't help but think that he must be the most adorable little boy.

summer fun

it's been awhile since i last posted because we have been so darn busy! i just wanted to show ya'll some of josiah's summer activities and how much he is growing. he's developing quite the little vocabulary. his favorite word is 'papa,' but he also says 'daddy,' 'bye-bye,' 'hi,' 'heidi,' 'tractor,' and 'out.' when we ask him what a duck says, he has a funny quacking noise he makes, plus he can tell you what a bear and a cow say as well. and he'll point to his nose when you ask him to and blow you a kiss or give you a 'high five.' he's very cuddly, loves to read books and loooovvvves to be outside. here are some of his july pictures:

josiah immediately begins shoveling dirt into his little pool after we clean it for him...little rascal!

petting sharks at the aquarium; josiah was quite impressed with all of the fish!

josiah riding his trike down our hill; one of his fearless activities he loves so much

sporting a new 'do' on a hot day! :) don't tell daddy what mommy did to you little buddy!

and of course we don't want to forget to include a picture of josiah's little brother! everything is going well with #2. i'm aching all over from working at the shop and running after josiah all day. i didn't know how good i had it when i was pregnant with josiah and was babysitting sophie. she was such a little sweetie and so easy to please! i've got to keep things exciting for josiah at all times. i'm sure i'd be in good shape if it weren't for those cinnamon buns and muffins at the coffeeshop! i've already gained up to what i weighed when i gave birth to josiah. :) tsk tsk.

Big Brother Josiah

I forgot to give you the big news: Josiah is going to have a little brother!!! We had our ultrasound June 27th, and the little guy looks beautiful. He's extremely calm compared to his big brother; I should have been able to start feeling him four weeks ago, but he's just now kicked me maybe twice in the past week. I'm 20 weeks along now, and feeling pretty good.

Here are a few more pictures from last week with Logan's sister Marcia and her family.

Pajama boys

Jared, Marcia, Josiah

Wrestling at the table!

Playing at the beach; much colder than NC, I'm sure!!!

That's Barry, Jared and Rebecca in the distance at Barrett's Park in Boothbay Harbor.