All About Ben

So far, we've got a very content little boy. Apparently, he just didn't like being stuck inside me. Now that he's out, life is grand.


Unless you're changing his diaper. This kid is extremely opposed to having his diaper changed. It's as if the world has ended every time we get the diaper off.


Unlike my girls, he hardly ever spits up. He does, however, have to be burped at least twice every time he eats. If the girls burped incidentally sometime during the course of a day, they were good. He HAS to be burped or he just won't eat.


Beyond those two things, he is quite happy. He is either asleep or content to watch what's going on around him.


Speaking of which, he is an excellent sleeper. Once he's fed and changed, I can lay him down in his bassinet and he's out within moments. He sleeps 4-5 hours at a time, especially during the night. Awesome. Love the bassinet, by the way.


Hooray for an adorable, happy baby! And hooray for not being pregnant anymore!

Why kids need a Dad

Dad is way more fun to play with at the Children's Museum.




He even dresses the part.



Mom just sits and holds the baby.


While the baby just sleeps.


Dad builds his own towers, too.

Check out what he's standing on. Somehow, I think that's against the rules.

Then he lets you watch while he blows them over.




Downtown Salt Lake--including Discovery Gateway--on Thursday was the final grand outing of the 2011 Petty Family Reunion. Friday was a day for hanging out in Grandma and Grandpa's backyard before everyone headed back to their various states of residence. Good opportunity for family pictures.


My parents and their seven children--relatively rare to have all nine of us together, even when we all live within two miles of each other. [And I just have to make the side note that I think I look pretty darn good for having a baby only nine days before this picture was taken.]

My parents with all their offspring present--missing only Chase and Christian.


I'm not sure who planned it, but all four grandkids on the front row have their hands in their mouths. Ha.

I missed the picture of just Chris and me and our kids. I'll have to wait until we get the official disc from the real photographer. Sigh.

And here is the big group of everyone present on Friday evening. Our family has certainly grown a lot, even just since the last reunion only three years ago.


And here is the zebra that lives next door to my grandparents. Because that's cool.

Potentially Irresponsible

Besides not being pregnant anymore, my great hope in Ben being born sooner rather than later was avoiding any interference with the Petty Family Reunion. Yes, I attempted to plan the birth of my son for the convenience of a family reunion. And it basically worked.

Day One

Monday consisted mostly of everyone getting into town. This reunion is a big deal because it only happens once every three years. We have family spread all over the country--Utah, Alaska, Idaho, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Maryland, California. It's quite the deal to get so many people in one place. Hence only every three years...

Anyway, we just hung out on Monday in Grandma and Grandpa Petty's backyard.

Look, Brenda fits in Megan's chair.

Funny story here--Jane had an accident, and I didn't have any spare pants in the diaper bag. We scavenged around and were able to borrow a pair of shorts Lisa had in her diaper bag. Why is that funny? They were Nicole's shorts. They were size 12 months and they fit Jane. Ha.

And this was Megan throwing a fit. She's pretty good at that lately.

Day Two

Thanksgiving Point! Here comes my potentially irresponsible part--I went to Thanksgiving Point with a six-day-old baby. I also walked all the way through the dinosaur museum six days after having a c-section. Apparently I recover reasonably quickly.






After the museum, we visited the Children's Discovery Garden to experience Noah's Ark.



And we had some general hanging out and playing.



Ben seemed to enjoy himself decently well.


Then back to Draper for Uncle John's dutch oven chili...um, John, you should come cook for us more often. Yeah, pretty sure that'd be great.

Day Three

At Christopher's request, today's activity was a trip out to Bingham Canyon Copper Mine. I believe I've been there before when I was younger, but it was much cooler now when I can at least semi-understand the whole process.



Again, Ben had a good time.


Even if the other kids occasionally seemed a little bored...




And at that point, our little family decided we needed some reunion recuperation, so we skipped out on Antelope Island and went home. Tomorrow is downtown Salt Lake--wish me luck.