March 5, 2011 Ben is Twelve!

How did this baby boy grow so fast? He was our joy made perfect!

We dressed our little Ben Boy up in his great, great grandfather's christening gown.  He wasn't too happy about it and I was terrified the ancient fabric would rip!  Getting his pudgy hands through those little bitty sleeves was a feat to be mastered.  The rocking chair was purchased in about 1904 for his great, great Aunt Sally.  Both heirlooms have been passed down all these years.  I wore the dress and had the rocker in my room as a little girl!  With three boys and Katie, it's been put away!  Go figure!

We learned quickly that Ben loved books!  He is a reader to this day.  Often he is telling us some interesting fact that he has read.  Sometimes they are strange boy facts, but never the less, he loves to read!

I had to have just the right cake! I was terrified of actually making a birthday cake!  Boy how times have changed us!  His cake will be homemade today!  Everything had to be perfect on his first birthday!  It was for this silly mama!

He was and is my helper! If there is chocolate involved then he is definitely my  helper!

Ben was in Paul's brother's wedding. He thought he was getting married!  He was so confused and wondered how he was going to take care of the little flower girl!   Ben was told that if he stayed in place during the wedding, he would get the taped dollar bill off the floor where he was supposed to stand!  He didn't move a muscle!

I loved it when he was my my snaggletooth six year old!  Somehow it reminded me of that toothless little gummy faced baby!

You can only imagine the critters the boys have found in our woods!  This was a box turtle that we returned to it's rightful place!  The woods.....

Ben has been so amazingly gentle with Katie.  He could hardly wait to hold her.  One night after the boys had gone to bed, he came in and said: "I just want to hold her and feel how real she is"!  It meant something down deep to him to hold her.  She stole his heart right then and there!

He willing poses every Fourth of July for the "group" picture.  Not his favorite thing, but he does it for his mama!  I'm so blessed to have this young manchild for my son!  God did everything that I had hoped or dreamed when he gave me Benjamin Aaron Lorenz!  Truly he is our beloved son!  Happy Birthday Ben!  I love you!

I  have been blessed to have four wonderful children!  I can't imagine life without any of them.  When I sit and think about Ben's birth, it reminds me how my life changed in a moment!  How glad I am that God gave me the opportunity to be a mother!  At times I wondered if it would ever happen.  I'm so glad that motherhood was better than I could have ever hoped.  Praise Jesus, that God had me wait for Ben!  He was worth the wait!

Blessings from the Hilltop!
Sheri