Farmer Ben

Just back from a weekend at Mom and Dad's farm. More photos to come. Ben loved riding the tractors and chasing "nanny's chickens".

Loved

On January 10th our baby boy was stillborn. The number of kids in our little family was going to double at the end of February, but 6 weeks before he was due, we found out that our baby no longer had a heartbeat. He was a gorgeous boy. Almost 5 pounds with dark hair. Very much the opposite of our incredibly fair, genetic marvel, Benjamin. Precious little fingers and toes. An adorable baby nose. He also had a tight knot in his umbilical cord. We've learned that about 1 percent of pregnancies end with a stillborn baby. One percent of that 1 percent are caused by a problem with the umbilical cord. I now hate statistics.

We buried our sweet baby three days after he was born. Last week, coincidentally 4 months to the day of his birth, we marked his grave with a headstone.

We are so thankful for every person who called, wrote, sent flowers or food. Thankful for everyone who asked about our baby, everyone who asked how we were doing, and everyone who helped us. What would we have done without you?

We are also so thankful for Ben. He has gladly accepted all of our extra kisses and cuddles, and he keeps our lives filled with fun, laughter, and action (lots of action!). It's hard to feel sad for too long when a 2 year old asks you to help him carry every toy he owns out to "Dada's truck". If he could travel with all of his toys in the back seat of our car, he certainly would.

We miss our baby boy. We're excited to move to Salt Lake City, but a little piece of each of our hearts will always be in North Carolina.