Per·son·al: of, pertaining to, or coming as from a particular person; individual; private; Concerning a particular person and his or her private business, interests, or activities; intimate. Posts in this category pertain to things happening in my personal life.
The rose bouquet I got Steph for our anniversary has really started to open up over the past couple days. When I woke up today, I noticed the morning sun illuminating the blossoms magnificently so I attempted to capture digitally the beauty of the flowers:
Anniversary flower bouquet.
Photo © Chip Bennett, all rights reserved.
Today is a very important day for our little family: July 3, 2007 is the one year anniversary of my first date with Stephanie.
What an amazing year it has been! I never imagined that in a year’s time I would have the family I have always wanted, that in becoming a husband and father I would finally fulfill some of my deepest desires.
In the time we have had together, Stephanie has shown herself to be the one person with whom I was destined to be, forever – and she has become my best friend, my confidant, my motivation, my heart, and my life. With her, we have the greatest blessing in the world, in our Lily.
I couldn’t imagine life without either of them, and I am so happy and privileged and blessed that God has directed our steps to reach this point in our lives. I know this has been but one year in a lifetime of years, but it is still significant to me (not to mention, it is by far my longest relationship – sad as that may sound).
Tonight, especially, I am the happiest man alive. Stephanie, baby, I love you!
Yesterday, Lily turned one month old! Where has the time gone already? To mark the event, Lily has a new, One-Month Old photo album.
It is amazing to see how much she has changed and developed, in just one month. Here she is, a few hours after birth:
Lillian swaddled, a few hours after birth.
Photo © Chip Bennett, all rights reserved.
And here she is, at one month old:
Lillian, one month old.
Photo © Chip Bennett, all rights reserved.
Here’s adorable, little Lily in all her cuteness.
Photo © Chip Bennett, all rights reserved.
Lily is getting more and more expressive. She is also getting more and more red hair!
Photo © Chip Bennett, all rights reserved.
Lily is still slowly learning about her arms and legs and hands and feet. She is getting really good at sucking on her fist, and occasionally, she will figure out how to suck on her thumb.
Photo © Chip Bennett, all rights reserved.
Mommy caught this picture, after both Lily and Daddy had a very long day.
Photo © Chip Bennett, all rights reserved.
Finally, this last photo was taken a few days ago, but it (finally) shows just how well our cute, adorable, sweet, little Lily can demonstrate the Bennett Lip:
The Bennett Lip, in full effect
Photo © Chip Bennett, all rights reserved.
I apologize for being remiss in keeping everyone updated on Lily’s pictures. I have been taking them, just haven’t uploaded recently. As of this morning, I should be all caught up. Below are some highlights from the most recent pictures added to her Newborn Set (Tuesday brings the beginning of her One-Month Old set!).
Daddy’s chest remains Lily’s favorite place to sleep. Lily is always so kissable, but especially so when she snuggles her head right up underneath Daddy’s chin.
Photo © Chip Bennett, all rights reserved.
On this day, Lily had another new experience: her first bath at home. Here, she is cozy, comfy, and clean after her bath.
Photo © Chip Bennett, all rights reserved.
Lily continues to sleep in the most adorable poses!
Photo © Chip Bennett, all rights reserved.
At only three weeks old here, she is already getting so big!
Photo © Chip Bennett, all rights reserved.
Certain Bennett genes are incredibly prominent with Lily; for instance, she definitely inherited the Bennett Lip. This picture is the closest I’ve come to documenting her ability to demonstrate it.
Photo © Chip Bennett, all rights reserved.
It is a bit blurry, but here is Lily demonstrating her adorable “just woke up, disoriented, and hungry” look. This is the look that I see everytime I wake her up to change her diaper before her feeding.
Photo © Chip Bennett, all rights reserved.
Usually, Lily remains a very peaceful sleeper.
Photo © Chip Bennett, all rights reserved.
But this look is usually accompanied by various forms of grunting – and it usually indicates either that she is taking after her Daddy, passing gas, or that she is leaving her Daddy another diaper gift.
Photo © Chip Bennett, all rights reserved.
Often, Lily likes to lay awake, chomping away on her binky. Though, as she learns that her hands are attached and that she can control them, she alternates between trying to hold her binky in her mouth, and pushing it out – the latter resulting in a very ticked-off baby!
Photo © Chip Bennett, all rights reserved.
But how can you not fall absolutely in love with a baby girl as cute as Lily?
Photo © Chip Bennett, all rights reserved.
Just a quick note to let everyone know that Lily’s WebNursery is up, with the photos visible. It seems that only two of the poses are showing; I’m working on that.
Lily is still up to her adorable ways. Last night she took a nap on my chest (I was somewhat shy of full consciousness, myself), and Princess decided that she wanted to join us, too:
Sleeping with two Princesses
Photo © Chip Bennett, all rights reserved.
(Princess has been doing so well with Lily being here. She is sometimes curious of the new, little creature living with her; but for the most part, she ignores her. It is obvious that she misses getting the majority of the attention, but she still gets enough to know that we still love her.)
I can’t get over how precious Lily is when she is asleep. Her sleep poses just fascinate me. Here are two from today:
Lily is cute even while sleeping
Photo © Chip Bennett, all rights reserved.
Today Lillian’s First Foto prints came in the mail. Here are a couple of my favorites. First, the most adorable picture, ever:
Next, a picture I’m quickly falling in love with – Lily laying on my hand:
Lillian’s First Foto poses. See the entire set.
Photo © Chip Bennett, all rights reserved.
This morning, after her feeding, Lily and I got ready to go in for her first pediatrician appointment. She was wide awake after being fed and changed:
But by the time I had her all covered up, she was sleeping comfortably:
Getting ready to ride in the car for her first pediatrician appointment
Photo © Chip Bennett, all rights reserved.
Her appointment went really well. She was in the 50th percentile for her weight, height, and head circumference; and everything looked great: her cord, skin tone, alertness, scare response, head/muscle control, and everything else.
Probably most encouraging, she weighed in at 7 lbs 14 oz, which means that she has gained 7oz since leaving the hospital two days ago, when she weighed 7 lbs 7 oz!
Stephanie is doing well, if still tired. Lily fed once last night, sleeping four hours on either side of that feeding, so we were able to get a little longer sleep. Steph wasn’t feeling up to dealing with the stairs this morning, so she stayed home while I took Lily in for her appointment. Otherwise, she seems to be doing well. Her pain meds are keeping her mostly comfortable, though she has a couple periods through the day when she is less comfortable. Fortunately, she’s been able to nap between feedings, so each day gets a little bit better.
We’ve made it relatively smoothly through our first night at home. Steph and Lily seem to have taken to the glider in the nursery for feedings, and Lily seems to like to sleep in the bassinet in the living room during the day:
Lily sleeping snug and sound in the bassinet she got from Aunt Jen
Photo © Chip Bennett, all rights reserved.
Last night I went to sleep around quarter till ten while Steph expressed some milk to help with some milk relief. Before turning in to bed, we laid Lily down for her first night in her cradle – the same cradle that I and my sister both slept in. She seemed quite comfortable:
Lily spending her first night in the crib her Daddy and her Auntie JuJu slept in
Photo © Chip Bennett, all rights reserved.
I woke up this morning around quarter till seven, rather well-rested, even with the two feedings Lily took during the night. Steph was still very tired (as is to be expected!), so while she took in-between-feeding naps this morning, Lily and I spent some time together:
Lily taking a nap on Daddy’s chest
Photo © Chip Bennett, all rights reserved.
This afternoon, I am going to try to get some of the housework caught up. Tomorrow morning is Lily’s first appointment with her Pediatrician.
Today has been a busy and exciting day. After a very early morning (around 4:00 am) feeding and another one around 7:00, we began preparations to leave the hospital to head home. I got most of the rest of our things loaded in the car (I had taken a few things out yesterday evening) and then we ate breakfast. We took care of the last-minute paperwork and tests, and then got Lily ready for her First Foto hospital photos (WebNursery link coming in 3-5 days). Lily looked absolutely adorable in her pink princess dress she got from her Aunt Jenny:
Lillian all dressed up for her First Photo hospital baby photos.
Photo © Chip Bennett, all rights reserved.
L ily is so amazingly photogenic; all her poses turned out fabulously.We ordered enough photos to have plenty to give out. For most family, it won’t be an 8×10, but it will be more than just a wallet photo. I wish we could do more, but I think you will all be quite pleased!
After her modeling session, we changed Lily into the Bennett Family dressing gown. For those who don’t know the story of this gown: it is almost 80 years old, and was worn home from the hospital by my father and all of his brothers and sisters. All of their children, and all of their children, have also worn the dressing gown home from the hospital. We are proud to have Lily continue this tradition. And I couldn’t imagine the gown having looked any cuter on anyone:
Lillian prepared to leave the hospital, wearing the 80-year-old dressing gown worn by every child, grandchild, and great-grandchild of her Great Grandma Bennett.
Photo © Chip Bennett, all rights reserved.
Both Lily and Stephanie were checked a final time, and both were declared fit to go home. The lactation consultant who taught our breastfeeding class stopped in to see us, and let Steph know that she and Lily were doing a great job. (In fact, they have done so well that Stephanie’s milk had come in fully by yesterday evening, and Steph never did experience any of the infamous engorgement or initial pain – of course, Lily has been nursing 20 minutes from each side every three hours or more, so not much is left to cause any pain!)
Having been declared ready to go home, we made our way down to the entrance, got Steph situated and Lily secured for the first time in her car seat, and headed off.
Let me take a moment to talk about our experience at St. John’s Mercy Medical Center. Steph and I could not have been happier with the medical treatment, staff, and facilities; nor could we have imagined a better place to have our baby. At all times, Steph had an attending nurse and a nurse’s aide, and Lily had an attending nurse of her own. All of the nursing staff and doctors were incredibly attentive, patient, and informative. (My only complaint – which has absolutely nothing to do with medical care – involves the coffee bar. Almost every time I went downstairs for coffee – even during posted hours of operation – the coffee bar was unattended. Given that my usual need for coffee was exacerbated by little sleep we were getting, I was less than happy with this situation.) Barring any unforeseen circumstances, I couldn’t imagine having our next baby (which will not be coming any time soon – don’t worry!) anywhere else.
We made it home and got both Steph and Lily up the stairs. I called Steph’s OB to give him our pharmacy information so that he could call in her prescriptions, and then changed Lily’s newest dirty diaper. I swaddled her and put her down to nap in the bassinet in the living room, and then got Steph and I some lunch.
After lunch, I went to pick up Steph’s scripts, and when I came home she was feeding again. Apparently, she really likes mommy’s nourishment, as not only was this an early feeding, but she also took it with relish:
Got (Mommy) Milk?
Photo © Chip Bennett, all rights reserved.
So now the real fun begins: developing our family routines and bonding. Fortunately, I have another week and a half before I have to go back to work, so I can be here to help alleviate as much work as possible for Steph. I will continue to upload as many photos as I can take, so keep checking my Flickr photos.
Many have asked why we named our daughter Lillian Nicole. Here is a glimpse into our thought process.
Lillian Nicole
Photo © Chip Bennett, all rights reserved.
We believed it to be very important to give our children names with significant meanings. We believe in the power of speaking life over and into our children. Therefore, we wanted to give our children names that would reinforce the character and values we desire for them.
Lillian is of Latin origin, and means Lily. In the Bible, the lily symbolizes innocence, purity, beauty, and resurrection. Here is a thorough overview of the symbolism of the lily:
The lily’s scepter or trumpet shape makes it a symbol of royalty. Its white color indicates purity, innocence, hope, and virtue…
We hope and desire for these virtues to describe the character of our daughter, and by God’s grace, they will.
Nicole is the namesake of Lily’s Aunt, Angela Nicole. The name is of Greek origin, and means, “the people’s victory”, or “victory of the people”. We chose this name both to honor her namesake, and also to be the encouragement we speak into Lily – that through virtuous character by the grace of God, she will be victorious in her life and will bring glory to God.