Happy Birthday Ben Ben

May 27th we celebrated Benjamin Jarom Jensen's 1st birthday! I for one cannot believe he is one already and leaving the baby stage in the dust!



I am hanging on to it for dear life (the baby stage). Knowing Ben is my last baby made his birthday bitter sweet. We had a little play that Elsa was in at school and then afterward went to our house for cake and icecream with June Denny and our friends Michele and Phil Hansen. Michele watches Ben for me one day a week and is, quite frankly, a better mother than I am even though she doesn't have kids yet. (maybe that's why!) But I digress.

Hitting the one year mark with Ben makes me remember the crazy way he entered this world (aka our 2 month stay in the hospital before he was born). It also makes me grateful for so many things. We were blessed with a healthy baby boy and I had no serious complications with the delivery. No blood transfusions, no hysterectomy. So many family and friends prayed for us during that time and it was honestly the first time in my life that I could feel people's prayers in such a tangible way. I get teary just thinking about it. For two months I sat in the hospital and 99 percent of the time I felt peaceful. I immediately felt the spirit when I first checked into the hospital and the longer I was there, the stronger I felt it around me. It was so tangible that I actually missed it once Ben was born and I was back home. People think it is strange that I have good memories of that time, but I know that it was the presence of the spirit that made it such a peaceful experience. Mark has said many times that he and the kids had the same spirit around them at home too. Our family was truly blessed


So, some things I love about Ben. His smile. Ben is probably the smiliest kid I have had thus far. And that is saying a lot because all of my kids have been pretty smiley. But Ben takes the cake. When Ben was a new baby I loved to sleep with him just laying on me - he was so tiny and I couldn't sit up anyway due to a c-section. I would just lay awake in the night and enjoy my tiny little Ben sleeping on me. I still do, and he still does on occasion. Every now and then he wakes up in the night and I snatch up the moment to pull him into bed with me.
Ben loves his bottle, and he loves music. He and I have a song - it is the break-up song from highschool musical two - you know "I have to move on and be who I am. I just don't belong here, I hope you'll understand....." Anyhow - I will play it in the kitchen and he immediately wants me to hold him. He will put his head down on my shoulder and hum. Sometimes he gets so relaxed that he will actually drool on me! Good Times! We are so thankful for Ben. Happy Birthday!