Sweet Emma is 7!!

As of today, I officially feel like I'm getting old. Today my sweet princess Emma turned seven! Yep, you heard me correctly. S-E-V-E-N. It really feels like it was just last month that we found out we were pregnant. My pregnancy with Emma was completely the opposite of the one with Aven. Emma was very, very unexpected! We were 21 and had only been married for 6 months. Kids were no where on our radar. But life never seems to happen the way we expect, and in this for instance, we're so glad for the redirection.

Although I had pretty bad morning sickness, once I was past that, things couldn't have gone more smoothly. I was 10 days over due when she finally decided it was time. My labor with her looked just like in the movies - I was completely fine and then at 11 pm, POP! WHOOSH! And the contractions hit like a freight train, one right on top of the other. I was ready to go to the hospital by 8 the next morning. I had zoomed to almost 8 by the time we arrived. And then things started to fall apart - our midwife became so aggressive and hostile that my labor completely stopped. My friend and doula called it mother bear syndrome. Long, painful story short, I ended up electing to have a c-section in order to get away from my awful doctors. I just wanted to meet Emma and all these crazy people were keeping me from seeing her sweet face.

Finally at 2:13 am on April 26, 2002, Emma Mallory Benton made her grand entry weighing 10 lbs 2 ozs and was 22 1/2 inches long! Wow, right!?! I fell in love the second I saw her perfect, scrunchie face and that thick black head of hair.

Emma has grown into such an amazing little person. She's loving, sweet, kind-hearted and a free spirit. She's so creative and imaginative that we call her version of reality "Emma-world". She's also completely impulsive. She brings so much liveliness along with her. Life is definitely never dull when Emma is involved.

She's my first born. The one who's had to endure the learning curve of first time parenthood. She's such a joy. Here are some of my favs over the years ...

You are my Sunshine, My only Sunshine.

Three years ago today we were blessed with the birth of our second daughter, Aven Ray Benton. She's my little Sunshine - if you know her, then you know why we call her that. She's a gift we never thought we'd get to enjoy ...

We were the proud parents of Emma but we wanted to add a sibling to the family for her (and us). We tried to conceive for almost two years. During that time we learned that I have PCOS and that without fertility treatments (which we could not afford) the odds of us having another baby were pretty much nil. I was devastated. I took a long bath the day we found out that news. I cried and prayed and came to terms with the fact that we had more than we could have imagined with Emma. So I decided to let go of my dream of another child and simply put all of my focus on Emma. Little did I know, I was already pregnant!

We made the choice early on not to find out the sex of baby #2. We also kept the names we had picked for the baby secret from everyone. My pregnancy went pretty much perfectly. My due date came and went, just like with Emma.

On April 14th I started contracting. Such a different labor than the 0-60 mph one I had with Emma - this labor was slow. By the morning of the 15th I couldn't take laboring at home any more so we headed to the hospital. After over 30 hours of labor, I had my second c-section. The surgeon, nurses and Drew and I were all taking bets in the delivery room as to what the sex was. I will never forget when the surgeon pulled her out and said, "It's a girl!" I shouted, "We have an Aven!!"

Aven Ray Benton was born on April 16, 2006 (Easter morning). She was exactly what this family needed - we are now perfectly balanced.

Aven's our resident drama queen and comedian all wrapped into one. She's so particular and expressive and has these baby blues that could melt a heart of stone. She's a princess and she reminds us of that fact every day. I am so blessed to have her in my life!

Here are some of my favorite picutres of my Sunshine ...