Ben, today is your due date and the first thing you'll see is the face of your Daddy. I was thinking you may wonder who he is. Well, first of all we have to discuss your Mama. Mama likes to take it easy and eat chips. She always has and always will. That's why your Mama was smart enough to pick your Daddy for her husband. You see, your Daddy is the active one who will make sure you get your share of the adventures in life. He does that for your Mama and everyone he comes in contact with, and he will do that for you.
Your Daddy is not one to sit around and play bongo drums and explore his navel. Nope, that's not him.
He's the one that gets everyone up and dancing by leading the conga line!
He knew someday you would join his life, and he knew he had to prepare as best he could. So here are some of the things he's done to prepare for you.
He's learned to talk baby talk...
He's explored the ocean to make sure it's a safe place to take you (and obviously he's checked his goods along the way to make sure he was protecting them as best he could for your conception)...
He's practiced being the disciplinarian by keeping the younger family siblings in line...
He's practiced being a cowboy so he'll be able to tell you stories of cattle drives and nights beneath the stars until your old enough for him to take you along...
He's wined and dined the older siblings, not so much because he enjoyed it, but so he can be on the lookout in the years to come for family members who might try to be a bad influence on you when you're in your late teens
He's put on a few pounds during the pregnancy so your Mama didn't have to. It was a sacrifice, but someone had to keep the bad stuff out of the kitchen!
No man wants to be the only male at a baby shower, but he was a champ. He joined in and pretended that he'd rather be there than out playing a round of golf with your Grandfather. I even heard him try to guess the answer to a game or two, now that took real courage with all the women calling out their answers as loud as possible.
He's almost worn a path in the carpet practicing pushing your stroller, so I hope you get here soon.
You can't ask for a better father. He's all prepared as you can see...
...and Ben, you'd better hurry because poor Dee can't take much more of this!
Jaysa and I made fun of Baby Ben's toes, especially how his big toes seemed to be twice as big as his other toes. So Daddy Mike had to whip off his socks and claim paternity. As you can see, Ben got his toes from his daddy.
Damn, why does the camera take good pictures of him, but not of me? I'll have to work on this. 
Look real good at the faces in this picture and guess who may have passed a little wind?
After an all-nighter and 3 hours of pushing with no progress, the doctor encouraged Jaysa and Mike to have a C-section. Mike and the baby were sent to the nursery where I was able to get the first picture of Baby Ben through the nursery window.
Here's some shots from today after he's been able to gussy up a little and get a feel for all the new faces staring at him. He's 7 pounds 12 oz with the longest big toes ever. Of course he's adorable.
Grandma Nancy held his feet while I snapped some shots of those toes. He balled them up before we got a good shot, but his big toe is twice as big as his other toes on each foot.
Mom, Dad, and Baby are all doing well. Sister Dee is staying with friends and has quite a surprise when she gets home.
Jaysa's laptop died yesterday, so that's why you haven't heard from me. We're at the hospital. They say a picture is worth a 1000 words, so here's a fortune of them... Jaysa is looking perky in the first, but then it goes downhill. The last is the clock showing the time they gave her the epidural. More to come. To quote Jaysa when Mike asked her how it was, she said "Birth...with the constant feeling you want to pee and poop and the contractions kicking in? Is this the best mother nature can do?"
So even though his wife is 9 days overdue and pees every 10 minutes, Mike is still the romantic who smuggled home a bouquet of flowers last night and hid them in the closet until this morning when he surprised his lovely wife with them.
He even asked her to "...be my valentine again?" It was very heartwarming to witness.
This old lady was wishing I could have a do-over with Bill. Years ago he sent me a beautiful box of long-stemmed red roses, but I soon taught him to not waste money on flowers. Maybe I should not have killed his romantic streak so throughly. It sure was nice to witness this 11-year tradition with Jay and Mike.
While the girls chose holiday gear, Mr. Wrigley obviously prefers a more laid back approach to life. From the photo below, it appears he's ready for vacation. Of course, he deserves it after the year he's had watching over his new baby girl.
This is the year our family gained two new members, both named Lily. They kind of resemble each other in a happy-go-lucky, always smiling way. Baby Lily came first, although Doggy Lily is older.
You don't have to worry about Doggy Lily either. She has settled in and is part of the family now. Her mother, father and brothers all adore her, and she will never have to fear losing her new family as she has become their princess too... and is working on becoming the queen!
Ben, today is your due date and the first thing you'll see is the face of your Daddy. I was thinking you may wonder who he is. Well, first of all we have to discuss your Mama. Mama likes to take it easy and eat chips. She always has and always will. That's why your Mama was smart enough to pick your Daddy for her husband. You see, your Daddy is the active one who will make sure you get your share of the adventures in life. He does that for your Mama and everyone he comes in contact with, and he will do that for you.
He knew someday you would join his life, and he knew he had to prepare as best he could. So here are some of the things he's done to prepare for you.
He's practiced being the disciplinarian by keeping the younger family siblings in line...
He's wined and dined the older siblings, not so much because he enjoyed it, but so he can be on the lookout in the years to come for family members who might try to be a bad influence on you when you're in your late teens
No man wants to be the only male at a baby shower, but he was a champ. He joined in and pretended that he'd rather be there than out playing a round of golf with your Grandfather. I even heard him try to guess the answer to a game or two, now that took real courage with all the women calling out their answers as loud as possible.
