Bennett - 10 Months

Bennett is becoming a little man. He now weighs 19 lbs 3 oz and 28.5" long. He is getting more and more teeth. Poor guy, I know it has to hurt.

He eats plain foods well, but the mixed veggies he does not like. If I alternate between fruit and the mixed veggie, he will eat it. However, he takes his precious time.

He no longer likes to be in his jumper, but would rather hold on to it from the outside and walk around it. We have not seen him take his first step, but he pulls up and walks holding on to stuff. He is crawling well, but whines about doing it. I am trying to do better about not helping him, but to let him learn. However, the whining is like nails on a chalk board.

Bennett seems to like books more than toys. Yea! His favorite book is the 5 Little Ladybugs. I have it memorized by now. He is about to wear the book out.

For Easter, Bennett wore shorts with white shirt and yellow vest. I thought he was so adorable. I got him an Easter basket with two books, bath toys, bunny, and a movie. Unfortunately Bennett was not in the mood to dye eggs, so Kevin did them by himself. Honestly, it was more for Kevin anyway.

Below is a few pictures from Easter.

Book Review

As part of our family dedication class, we made a commitment to read a parenting book. We choose to read Raising Respectful Children in a Disrespectful World by Jill Rigby. I give this book 5 stars. It is easy to read and had many thought provoking statements.

One question Kevin and I asked each other is how did I develop the self respect/self confidence that I have in spite of the abuse I endured. From the first chapter, the book laid the foundation in providing in site into the answer to this question. Building a child's self-esteem is not the answer. Building self respect is founded in self-control and self-discipline. In teaching your child that other people's feelings and needs come before their own helps them not become self-centered. It helps build the confidence to know who they are and what they believe.

Other hot topics from this book include 3 different parenting styles, purpose centered parenting, coaching, parent's example, and teaching gratefulness. The book includes may real life examples and the how your response as a parent makes a difference.

I strongly recommend everyone with children of any age to read this book. I have already started my second book and will give a review on it when I finish it.

Bennett 8 & 9 Months

You would think I could find 10 minutes to make a post. I take back all the thoughts I had about people with kids not finding a few minutes. It is hard. Once you take care of the baby, family, house, and work, you are worn out.

Bennett is 9 months old. It has been so much fun to see his development and learn his personality. He really is such a great baby. He weighs 18 lbs and 14 oz and is 27 1/2 inches long (30% and 25% respectively). The doctor was pleased that he is developing great. He eats well and sleeps well off and on. He has such a happy personality. I love his laugh. He is rolling over well and sits up on his own. He will pull up on the table and hold on by himself. He surprised me one day when I put him in his crib so that I could go start his bath. I went back to his room and found him standing up in his crib. He is not crawling and really does not show much interest. He wants to be upright walking. He now interacts with his toys. He will pull pieces out and put them back in, bang on the drum, etc. He really eats his fruit and veggies well. We have tried to give him puffs and yogurts, but he does not like them. I have tried to introduce the sippy cup, but he does not seem to like it.

At 8 months, Bennett weighed 18 lbs and was 27 inches long. He got his second tooth. His favorite toy was the remote control.

Here are some pictures.




Bennett 8 Months Old

Bennett 9 Months Old

Adoption Update

Although it was a very special Christmas with Bennett, we did not forget our daughter-to-be. I cannot believe it has been a year and half since our paperwork was submitted. Since having Bennett who is a happy and heathly baby boy, we are considering changing our paperwork to special needs. For now, we are waiting for Bennett to get a little older.

For Christmas we got our daughter an Asian baby doll, movie, and recordable book. I hope to record us reading it and send to her when we receive our referral.

Bennett - 7 Months

This month was extremely special because we celebrated our first Christmas with Bennett. It was fun thinking back to last year when we announced to our family that we were expecting. We had a wonderful Christmas. December 18th we went to MS to have Kevin's extended family Christmas. It was fun to see Bennett and Fischer play. Bennett played a song on his toy piano and Fischer sang a song. I so wished we could have captured it on video. Christmas Eve we celebrated Christmas with my family. Everyone came over to our house. Unfortunately, Bennett fell asleep when it was time to open gifts. Christmas day, Bennett woke up, ate, and then saw what Santa had brought under his Christmas tree in his room. Santa was very practical this year. Then, we had our family Christmas and rushed to church. That evening, Kevin's parents came over. Bennett had more fun with the paper and boxes than the gifts. We are so very thankful.

Bennett is now 7 months and such a big boy now. He is 16 lbs 13 oz and 26.5" long. He rolls over from his stomach to his back. He loves his fingers/hands. He is called "preacher man" at school because he keeps his hands clasped together like he is praying. It was also a rough month. New Year's Day we went to Children's Hospital. Bennett was wheezing. He tested positive for RSV which had led to Bronchitis. He was a very sick boy. He just looked like he felt awful. He would just sleep and eat. I missed my playful, smiley boy. He stayed home from school that whole week. By Thursday, he was no longer having a fever. By Saturday, he was his playful self again.

Bennett has tried many different veggies (carrots, sweet potato, green beans, squash, and green peas). He does not like green peas. It was funny because he did not spit them out. He screamed with his mouth open like I needed to get it off his tongue. We will try them again later. Overall, he is a very good eater. He will hold his bottle, but wants to play with it when he holds it.

Bennett got his first tooth 12/11/11. It is the lower left. It was rough. He does not like orajel. He screams when I put it on his tooth, so we no longer use it. Then 1/5/12, he got his second tooth. Bennett does not sleep well when he is teething. He does not like the teething rings. I finally tried filling his pacifier (he does not take them) with water and freezing it. Once frozen, I would let him suck on it and numb his gums. He seemed to like it once he figured out you were not making him take a pacifier.

We have good and bad nights when not teething or sick. He will usually wake during the night when he becomes unswaddled. Swaddling may not have been a good thing. It is good to help him sleep, but now that he is so big it is hard to swaddle him and he does not sleep well without being swaddled. I guess we will have to endure the transition.

Favorite toys: Still loves his piano, farm animal toy, and really enjoys his Baby Einstein jumper saucer. New toys from Christmas that he likes is snail (from Grandmother Lurline)and activity table (from mom and dad).

Favorite food: fruit - peaches, veggie - carrots & sweet potato

Here are some pictures from the month.

7 Month Photo


Bennett's first tooth


Bennett giving Daddy sugar.


Bennett holding bottle.



Bennett the Elf


Bennett and Fischer


Bennett's Christmas Gifts from Mom and Dad



Gifts from Santa


Bennett with some of his Christmas gifts.


Atkins Family Photo

Bennett - 6 Months

Bennett is now 6 months old. It seems everyday he his doing something new. He now weighs 16lbs 8oz and 26" long (30% weight, 25% height, and 90% head). He has been eating fruit with cereal twice a day along with bottles of formula. He has found his feet and loves to play with them. He is almost able sit up, but is still a little top heavy.

Bennett has had 2 ear infections. He did so well taking his medicine. I did not get them flavored and he ate it like it was a bottle. He is getting his first tooth. This has been awful. He is cranky and does not sleep well (which makes everyone cranky).

Bennett has enjoyed some fun days at Nanna and Poppie's. They get him some of the best toys. Cousin Lindsey continues to spoil Bennett with gifts everytime we come to MS. We took Bennett to Bass Pro Shop to have his picture made with Santa. We are getting ready for Bennett's first Christmas. I cannot wait.

Bennett's Favorite Toy: Piano and Farm Animal toy
Bennett's Favorite Song: Santa is coming to Town and Itsy Bitsy Spider
Bennett's Favorite Fruit: Peaches


All ready for the Egg Bowl


Bennett playing


Bennett having fun and Nanna's


Bennett and Frosty


Bennett 6 month photo

Bennett - 5 Months

It seems this month has flown by. The last week of October Bennett visited daycare. I still had the week off, but had many errands to do before going back to work. I wish I could say that the week at daycare went without issue, but that was not the case. It was hard letting go and knowing that they are not going to do it like me. November 1st was my first day back at work. I thought I would ease back into the flow of things, but what was I thinking. It was a crazy week with close starting, fixing problems that occurred the previous month, and hours of meeting. Two weeks later, we have settled into the new schedule.

Bennett is now 14 lbs and 15 oz. He is 25" long. He has become a little jabber box. He coos and laughs all the time. When you sing or read him a book, he sings and reads with you. He likes to turn the pages of the book himself. He has such a grip now. He gets a hold of everything and thinks it is cute that he got it. We also started cereal and fruit. It was an experience at first. I had a hard time with the mess, but after a week he was doing great. He hardly makes any mess, except when I miss his mouth. He has tried apples, bananas, and pears. Bananas is his favorite so far.

We got to enjoy Halloween this year. Bennett was dressed as a puppy dog. Although he slept most of the time at the Fall Festival, we enjoyed walking around, showing him off, and seeing our friend's kids.

He had another sleep over at Aunt Gigi's. The boys seem to do so good with Bennett. Cousin Lindsey continues to spoil Bennett. She had the cutest onesie done for him. It has a cowbell on the front of the onesie with his name. The back has "Go Dawgs". Bennett has a new wardrobe thanks to Nanna and Lindey's shopping. I can only count 3 outfits that I have bought for Bennett. We are so thankful for everyone's thoughtfulness. Bennett will not go naked and is one of the best dressed little boys in his class.

We went to the Botanical Gardens to have some Christmas pictures made. Bennett was such a trooper. The pictures turned out so well.

Bennett got his first cold. He looked so pitiful with the red swollen eyes and stuffy nose; however, he was still a very happy baby. The cold did not pass, so I ended up taking him to the doctor. He ended up having conjunctivitis and right ear infection. I asked the doctor signs I should have looked for, but Bennett did not display any of those signs. He was never fussy, no fever, continued to eat well, etc. The doctor said I had a great baby which does not tell me when he is sick.

Favorite Song - all songs, but goes to sleep to 5 Little Monkeys.
Favorite Toy - handheld piano

Below are some pictures from this month.


Bennett 5 Months



Bennett as a puppy for Halloween


Bennett's first time to eat cereal.


Bennett's first day to go to daycare.


Bennett and Grandmother


2011 Family Pictures