Benjamin's Birth

 On March, 6th at 4:00 p.m., Catherine gave birth to our newest grandson, Benjamin Noah Stott. He weighed 8 lbs. 4 oz. and is 21" tall. He is so loved and we are so happy to welcome him into our family. 

Catherine was supposed to be induced at 7 a.m. on March 5th, but the hospital had to cancel because they didn't have any rooms available. That night, about 9 p.m. the hospital called and asked if they wanted to come in for the induction. Jared was very tired (he had just taken some Nyquil), but they hopped into the car and drove to the hospital.

All in all, things went very well. Catherine had very little pain. She had an epidural, which helped. Benjamin has the distinction of being our first grandchild born naturally. Every other grandchild was born by c-section. Benjamin was born with a lot of dark hair, which I love. He is so loved by both parents.

This picture reminds me of how exhausting labor can be. It is called labor for a reason.

Catherine and Benjamin were released from the hospital on March 8th.

Since Catherine's mother couldn't come from Colombia to help her out after the birth, Alan and I drove down and stayed with them from March 10th-15th. 

When we arrived at their apartment in Queen Creek, we were greeted by this message in the entryway. So cute!

It was so much fun to see Benjamin for the first time and get to know him. One of my favorite things in the whole world is holding an infant in my arms. The sweetest!

He seemed so little! He's about the same size as Eric was and Eric was my smallest baby.

We had a lot of fun spending time with him during our stay there. More cute pictures of him. 

Our stay there, unfortunately, came to a close and it was time to head back to Utah. It was hard to say goodbye to this sweet little guy. Hopefully we will see him again soon. Babies change so quickly. I'm looking forward to seeing him grow and learn so many new things in his first year and throughout his lifetime.

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Since Kyle, Milo, and Clara live close to Jared, we were able to do things with them while we were there also. Kyle helped unload furniture from our trailer that we had brought down for Jared & Catherine.

It wasn't easy for them to carry it up to the 2nd floor, but they managed. This entertainment center was the heaviest piece. Ben & Eboni gave it to them and I think it looks great in their apartment.

After Alan & I had an eye exam at Kyle's office, we picked up Milo and Clara and took them to a place called Rush Fun Park Extreme in Chandler, AZ. It was their choice to go there. It is a fun place with trampolines, slides, and other fun things to do.

On this trampoline, they strap you in and you can do backward & forward flips. Milo and Clara both enjoyed it.

This is a very tall slide that they are hoisted up onto and then they let go and slide down. There was usually a long line for this, but they each managed to do this twice.

We took them to McDonalds after this for a bite to eat. It was a very fun "play date" that grandpa and I were able to go on with them.