Christmas was fun this year... though not much can beat Hawaii!! We spent it with my family in Salt lake city. Grant was so excited because he got a bottle claeaner and drying rack!! Ben got me a popcorn maker, so I am really excited! Here are a few pics for your enjoyment!!


This is Grant's favorite thing to do when we are changing his diaper and getting him dressed... awesome.



We have a hard time finding clothes that fit our little man, so here are two pictures that contrast each other. One pic shows him in his premie clothes, while the other is a newborn outfit... can you tell which is which??


In my family, it's a tradtion that Mr. Clause makes/brings/buys P.J.'s for everyone on Christmas Eve. Due to the size of Grant, we were a bit limited in what we could find... but with Ben being such a baseball fan, we decided to go with the pin-stripes!

Eat! Eat! Eat!

Well, our little man is eating a lot better, but he's still stuck at the hospital. The nurses are doing a good job, and we're very grateful to them for everything they do. Everybody say thank you to your local NICU or Special Care nurse!

Aunt Sarah came to visit this week, and she did SO much to help out around here. AND she made some incredible chicken enchiladas for us, which I ate quite quickly indeed.

Grandma Worthen is here with us now, and she's been spending a lot of time cleaning for us and helping with little Grant. We love her!

This week I'm especially grateful for technology. If it hadn't been for things like ultrasounds and feeding tubes my little boy probably wouldn't be alive! I think we take a lot of things for granted in this world. It's incredible to see my little Grant and think how hard it would have been if we didn't have modern medicine. It kinda makes me want to go into nursing instead of music!

Grandma also brought Grandpa's cool camera, so here are a few photos we took this weekend!

Anyway, we'll keep everyone updated as things progress. In the meantime, enjoy the photos.

-Ben

And a few more... sorry!!

Here are a few more... I love when Ben holds Grant! I think that he likes his dad!!

Here are some pictures for you all!!

IT'S A BOY!!

Friday night, we (I) gave birth to a baby boy! We are so excited! His name is Grant Thompson Mathews, and he's just the cutest thing! He looks a lot like Ben, but has the Worthen weight and head size (thank heaven!). He was 5 lbs 15 oz and 18 inches long. The delivery was kind of crazy-- we had been told that his head was coming down, but for some reason, I wasn't very dialated. Turns out- his but was coming down the birth canal, not his head! Within about 10 min, the decision was made to deliver him butt first... ow. It was a little painful!

The following morning, I woke up with awful pains in my side and back again. I was a tad confused, because I had already given birth... why was I having the same pains that I had had while delivering Grant? Well, guess who has a HUGE kidney stone??!! ME!! So- while Grant stayed in Rexburg, Ben and I were loaded into an ambulance and transfered to the Idaho Falls hospital... sweet! They pushed the stone back into my kidney and they are going to blast it to peices this next Thursday! So that's the story... a bit crazy- but hey- we now have a son! Enjoy the pics!

Waiting...

So here we are, at about 37 weeks of pregnancy, and it seems to be going SO SLOWLY! Though this is what I was excepting, I wasn't all that excited about it. I am not too uncomfortable- in fact- I feel bad for all the women in my ward who are not due until January, and waddle like crazy!! I think Ben is more anxious to get this child out that I am!! Oh well, we're just excited to meet this child.

On top of me being 9 months pregnant, Ben threw his back out the other day, and now we are two pathetic people who can't get off the couch! I have a little bit of energy that is more of a blessing than anything, so I can help him with little tasks. But his random shouts of pain kinda remind me of terests (sp?)!! It's kind of scary at times! It's a good thing we have awesome SCHOOL INSURANCE that doesn't cover the things we really need!! j/k

Thanksgiving was great! We spent it with my high school friend, Kelly Bouma, who now lives in Jackson. We only drove 45 min to get to Driggs, ID and only saw about 5 cars on the road... talk about nice! It was just four of us, and though all of our cooking and baking was first time craziness, it was all SOO good!! Here are some pictures from that! Hopefully we'll be better at posting... oops.

School!

Well, we're back in school... Blah. It's not very exciting, but we'll survive it. We're really just biding our time until we can move out of Rexburg and into the real world!

We're finishing up our degrees in Jazz Studies (Ben) and Recreation Leadership (Rochelle). Hopefully someone will want to hire us when we get out of here, but the honest truth is that we're not exactly expecting to be recruited by any major corporations with good benefits... We'll be happy with whatever employment comes our way!

In addition to schooling, Ben is teaching private guitar lessons and a jazz sextet at BYU-Idaho. He also repairs guitars and various electronic musical equipment, and runs live sound reinforcement for various local concerts and parties and such. Rochelle works two jobs - one for Downeast Outfitters in the Grand Teton Mall, and the other as a nanny for four cute kids in town. She is also taking a few classes this fall to inch just a bit closer to graduation.

Is anyone else stunned by the fact that it's October already? Crazy.

Love,
Rochelle & Ben

Dear Family and Friends,

Ben and I have been happily married now for 9 months! We are enjoying every minute of life, and can't wait for the joys that wait around the corner. I thought I would write a quick update as to our crazy life thus far (like a Pre-Christmas card and Post wedding announcement).

WEDDING:

We were married on December 22nd, 2006 in the Jordan River Temple in South Jordan, Utah. Ben and I wanted the ceremony to be very small and private, and we got our wish. Our marriage in the temple was the most beautiful and fulfilling thing we have ever been a part of. It was (and is) sacred and solemn, and we are so glad that we made the decision to keep such a sacred ordinance quiet and reverent. Because of the day which we chose to be married on, Ben and I knew that people were going to be busy with Christmas shopping, seeing as it was the Friday before a Monday Christmas. We had a small gathering of family and friends for lunch after the ceremony, and by 3 o'clock, everyone was free to continue preparing for the holiday. Though some look at weddings as an entire family ordeal, Ben and I didn't want to take away from the overwhelming spirit that enveloped us that day, and so we made another decision to only have friends and family at the lunch who were already in the area. The luncheon (not reception) was beautiful, and we are, again, glad we chose to do things this way.

After we were married, Ben and I flew to Hawaii and spent our honeymoon and Christmas on the island of Kauai. Flying back home to Salt Lake City, and then driving to Rexburg, ID was heartbreaking after a week in paradise!

LIFE:

I am sure some are wondering why we waited 9 months to send out announcements (people like my mother!), and this is why. LIFE! When Ben and I returned to Idaho, we started school. We were managing a small single-student apartment/house of girls, as well as both being full time students. I started to get sick, and school was put on the back burner. When we finally pin-pointed the medical problem, we were able to address it, and things were starting to calm down!

By the end of March, things were going great. Ben left with the Jazz Band (Sound Alliance) here at BYU-Idaho for Chile, and spent 3 long weeks touring and returning to where he served his mission. While he was enjoying touring, I was getting sick again. However, this time, it wasn't a problem. On Easter, Ben and I found out that we were going to be expecting our first child in December!

I was still trying to go to school, but the first while of being pregnant didn't settle well with my body. So again, life was pretty rough. We also found out that we were going to have to move, as our Landlord sold the house to someone else, and their need for managers was already met. Though I was sick, and though Ben and I had projects and finals to work on, we moved up the street to where we live now.

After moving and finishing the summer semester, we had a 7 week break. We decided to travel. I was finally feeling well, so we went to Bryce Canyon, Chicago, Yellowstone, California, and back to Hawaii. We returned right before this semester of school, and again, we sad to have to be back in Idaho rather than Hawaii!

So now, we have time to send out announcements!! Ben and I live a wonderful life, and we are happy with everything that we have. However, we do have a child on the way, and the closer it gets (less than 10 weeks now), the more we realize that we aren't as prepared as we wanted to be. So, though we do have our wedding registry on our website, we have also posted a link to our baby registry for all you philanthropists...

Thank you all so much for being in our lives (as family, friends, or friends of our parents)! We know that the reason we are who we are is because of all of you!

Sincerely,

Ben and Rochelle Mathews
www.rochelleandben.com