Decor Decisions

I said before that we were going to re-do the log cabin room to make it Tessa's, but Mom has got me half talked into leaving the log cabin and doing a country/cowgirl theme. We could get some country style patchwork quilts to hang on the wall and things like that. The idea is definitely growing on me. I think it could be really cute.

The log cabin is very well done which is part of what makes it so cool. We were never sure we were going to use it but never had the heart to paint over it either.

The nice thing is that it would be easy. The only thing that room would require would be a bed for Tessa, dresser (the closet got mutilated when they installed our new ducts) and curtains. And voila we would be done!

Here's the question of the day though, for all you vetran Moms. Tessa will be 22 months when baby 2 (yet to be given a cute nickname, suggestions welcome) is born. Will she be old enough at that age to move into a toddler bed?? We found one online for $75 and we're tempted to just snatch it up for later. It says it fits until 6 years old.

If she's not old enough that means of course we need to find a second crib. Our bassinet is pretty small so will only fit the new babe for a little while (Tess only fit in it until 3 months before she was too long). I just don't know much about 2 year olds....do they sleep in cribs or beds??

Thoughts? Opinions on a cowgirl room? Here's some pics of what it looks like. Excuse the crap, it's currently a storage room.

Answers to All Your Questions

Wow what a fun couple of days!
My email inbox has been absolutely flooded so my apologies to those I didn't respond to.

So yes we're pregnant, no it's wasn't completely a surprise (we all know how these things happen right?), I'm 4wks along due February 4th. Tessa and the new babe will be 22 months apart. I'm feeling just fine, just a little tired. So far I don't have any other symptoms but we'll see what comes in the next few weeks. And no the name of the blog won't change to 'babies bennington', haha. We'll just leave it the same.

Exciting huh? It will be crazy to have two kids here. I can't quite wrap my brain around it actually. Our plan is to move Tess into the uninhabited 'log cabin room' and since our nursery is a uni-sex jungle theme the new babe will move in there! Sorry to all who love the log cabin room but it's going to be painted over and become a little girl room. Now we need to think of colors and stuff, ooh fun! If we can find a toddler bed for cheap (used) we will do that, if not we will get Tessa a twin bed...but moving into that is a ways down the road.

We are going to TRY to not find out the sex of this baby, but we said that last time too. I really mean it this time though, haha! I think it would be the ultimate surprise. I've already put some thought into training myself harder for natural childbirth, and maybe even getting a doula. But that too is a ways down the road!

And no we won't tell you names this time either, sorry :-)

In current Tessa news, tonight will be her very last time to nurse to sleep and then we are done. I think we are both ready, but I worry about her nighttime routine being all disturbed. I'm hoping a song and a little rocking will make her snoozy...we'll see!

So I only had a couple weeks of breastfeeding while pregnant (or 'duel fueling' as I like to call it) and I'm glad, it's quite a toll on the body. Although I'm not sure how smart it was to overlap the pain of drying milk with the symptoms of early pregnancy but here we are.

Can You Read Me Now?

We *thought* the ink was dry until we tried to put it over her head. Either way, you get the message?

Cheap Entertainment

I swear we don't need a tv around here. Between wiener dogs, Tessa and myspace karaoke we're set on entertainment. Here's an example of what I mean. Yesterday the dogs went nuts for a cheap yard ball that you buy at Walmart. They so badly wanted to get it in their mouths!

It was pretty funny for a good long time. The white dog is Mom's dog Moose. He was visiting us cause the boys went to the 500 yesterday and Mom and I went shopping.

Tessa's New Cousin

Tessa got to go to the hospital and meet her new cousin on Friday. She did say 'hi' to him and petted his head really nice like she does the dogs, but that was about the extent of her interest. There were lots more things to look at in the hospital room.



Saying 'hi' is really her thing now. When we go to the store she waves and says 'hi' to all the people we walk past. Alot of times she will say 'hi teh-duh' (=hi Tessa) or 'hi dadddy'. Maybe one day she will realize not everyone is named Tessa and Daddy. There is after all a third person in her house :)

Virtuoso

We are patiently waiting for Jeremy to finish working so we can go visit baby David in the hospital, and to cure our boredom Tess and I played piano a bit. Little did I know she was a budding piano genius.



I forgot to mention that yesterday Jer was home alone with Tessa all day, for like 8 hrs. I haven't left her with anyone that long since Blythe's wedding in October, and Jeremy's never been alone with her that long. Jer was nervous (why I don't know) but they did fine! She was pretty fussy by the time I got home but everyone was okay! Jeremy and Tessa do get alot of bonding time though and enjoy their special trips to the hardware store alone together. I think they are planning a trip for tomorrow.

Introducing

David James
9lb 2oz, 22 in long
born at 1:39 today, huge feet and dark brown fuzzy hair
he's a big boy but the smallest of Andy and Becky's babies
(Mark was 9.12, Bob 10.4)


We watched him get his first bath and stuff through the nursery windows. Both baby and mommy are doing well after c-section, although Becky was pretty doped when we left.
Later Mark and Bob came to meet their baby brother. Bob called him 'my baby' and both boys went nuts taking pictures with various cameras

Another Online Addiction

Sometimes I think I need to get a life....then I remember that I do have a life. I just don't have any good tv shows on right now so internet has become my leisure activity. (I don't care about American Idol so sue me)

My new favorite thing is myspace karaoke. How awesome that I can finally karaoke in my own living room and record it. Yes! So this goes out to all of you faithful blog readers: http://ksolo.myspace.com/actions/showSongProfile.do?rid=106038&sid=20684&uid=745936

By the way Tessa finally ate some dog food yesterday. I normally lock her away from the dogs when they're eating but in the post- dinner craziness yesterday she managed to open the gate and share Rosie's dinner with her. Luckily Rosie is a friendly dog and didn't get snippy with her. When I found them Rosie was looking confused while Tessa had a cheekful of Iams. Now that she's developed a taste for it I need to be more careful at dinner time! I don't think Hayden would be so apt to share.

Another Hairdo Pic

This just makes my day. Too bad it only lasted 5 min or so.

Finally Long Enough Hair

Tessa finally has long enough hair that I can put small clips it it. I bought a pack of cheapy plastic barrettes today at the store. Yay! Finally I can play with her hair! Now I am in search of little bow clips.
We're down to one nursing per day, right before bed. Going 24 hrs has been harder on me than her. By the time about 20 hrs have gone by I'm having noticeable pain and can't wait until bedtime!

I've started drinking sage tea which is supposed to help dry up milk (sort the opposite affect of the 'mothers milk' tea). It's tasty so let's hope it works too! I have a cup of it going right now.

Thursday Jeremy is going to hang out with Tess for a few hours so I can go down to hospital for baby David's birth (schedule csection). I'm so excited! Today at Meijers I got Becky some things for a hospital goody bag. I won't say what in case she reads this, but it was fun. It brought back good memories of our hospital stay and how well we were treated there, especially by the awesome nurses in the NICU.

This weekend we went up to the lake to help get things ready for the summer and visit Gramaw and Grampaw. We had a really nice time. Eventhough it was way too cold to swim in the lake, Tess showed off her bathing suit.

It was a long car ride but Tessa did okay playing with her Mamaw in the backseat, especially playing peakaboo with her blanky.



And finaly some pictures from the suprise party! We threw a surprise 35th anniversary party for Mom and Dad last weekend. It was alot of fun. We rented a tent and tables, uncle Steve bbq'd, and Becky made some awesome decorations. Dad knew about the party but Mom didn't, and it's fair to say she was pretty surprised.

That's Mom's surprised face as she came into the backyard and saw the party

Becky is amazing, making these beautiful centerpieces and decorating while very very pregnant. The wedding pictures you see there are printed on velum so you put a candle in the middle and they light up.

I'm No Martha

Yesterday I baked three loaves of bread and two batches of cookies. For real. From scratch. I love Mom's response...with yeast and everything? Yup. They are both for our worship team meeting tonight at our house, and the leftovers are going up to the lake with us this weekend.

And basically my sumation is this. I love to cook, I like to host parties and clean and do all things domestic. But I hate baking. I just hate it, so sue me. I think it's all the ingredients everywhere and the big mess. I get easily confused.

I made a mistake since I had three batches of bread I mixed together the yeast for all three at once and Jeremy said it wasn't properly mixed because my loaves ranged from flat, medium, and fluffy. My hatred of baking being stated I AM going to try to bake our bread every week. We'll see how it goes.

Poor Tessa is all confused with weaning and her eating and sleeping schedule has been thrown off. We're still working out the kinks I guess. But we've had a few mealtime scenes like this:

And special for a Friday smile, here's a video of Tessa rocking out. She's staring at herself in the glass reflection of the wine fridge:



Surprise party pics coming soon to a blog near you. I just need to sit down and sort them out and upload.

An Intimate Note to My Intimates

* if you may be easily offended by a discussion on undergarments this is your warning to skip this post*

To my two Goddess brand nursing bras, I would like to thank you for your support and stamina over these past 13 months. Several other brands of nursing bras have come and gone , but the two of you have remained the most faithfully well fitting garmet in my closet. You are grey and milk stained. Your clasps are broken and your elastic is worn. Frankly you are kinda disgusting.

So it is with respect that I retire you. I apologize that I am not keeping you for future use but I honestly believe you have no more life left to give. I will honor your memory by sharing my affinity to your brand to all who ask.

To my new Playtex brand (non-nursing) minimizing bra purchased this morning for $14.99 at Target I must say that I love you. I know we haven't known each other very long but I really really love you already. A value cannot be placed on your new elastic and properly fitting size. When we are completely done weaning I'm going back to buy several more of your friends.

* I know people are waiting for a post about the surprise party. I didn't take very many pics so once some are collected from other folks I will post! *

More Firsts

Tessa had her very first happy meal today! We met her Aunt Becky and cousin Bob for lunch. They actually make happy meals with apples now so she had a cheeseburger and apple. She actually ate almost the whole burger. Jeremy just changed her diaper a while ago and asked that I not feed her McD's again, haha.

She also had her first major boo boo resulting in blood. She was carrying around a plastic tumbler with sorta sharp edge and fell on it and it cut her right between the eyes. All is well, a few minutes of drama and a bandaid with neosporin and it's all over.

Hayden's Big Award

I was pretty excited about getting a tshirt and tennis ball for Hayden's win of 'best trick' on www.worldwidefido.com but nothing could top the excitement of the actual award itself. Yes that's a crown shaped water bowl :-O


This is the coolest thing that's happened around here in a while, note the excitement on Hayden's face.

Happy Birthday Bob and Andy!

On Sunday we went down south to celebrate Andy and Bob's birthdays. Yes they have the same birthday...one of them turned 30 and one of them turned 3! We had a great time and Tessa stuffed herself with mac and cheese and cake.

Enjoy pics!

Tessa with her great Mamaw- the original Betty

Andy and Mark

the birthday boys

Tessa got to sit on Bob's present- a tractor!

The birthday boy's favorite present- a giant box

Tessa was squealing at the cows and saying daw-dee (=doggy). Smart kid.

I'm happy to report that Tessa is finally into her whole milk. It took a week or two but she's drinking very well from her sippy cup. She's down to three feeding per day and next week it will be only twice (at 7am and 7pm). We're getting there!

Garden Day!

While the big event in Indy today is the Mini-Marathon, Jeremy and I decided we were too busy working in the yard to run it. Otherwise we totally would have ;)

Did you know that Indiana has been moved from frost zone 5 to 6? Global warming! That means it's okay to plant our veggies today so that's what we've been doing. Now way back in the winter I suggested that we plant one grapevine for our 5th anniversary. You all know how Jeremy likes to latch onto an idea and blow it out proportion right?...well today he planted 8 grapevines.

Yes after all these years Jeremy finally has the start of his own vineyard. This project included the building of a whole new wing of garden. In the new wing we also planted asparagus and garlic bulbs. Seriously if our garden gets any bigger we may need to move to a farm.

a tiny grape bound for greatness...the start of Bennington Vineyard and Winery

It's hard to see but this is the new wing. Those freshly dug holes are the grapes. There's asparagus and garlic in the ground (that we planted in early March and are coming through!) and the containers are herbs.

It all started with our 6x7 ft box which you can see this year is very tomato and pepper focused. I know what I will be doing this summer...making spaghetti sauce! We will also put a couple of zuchinnis in there when we get them.

I didn't get a picture of Tess 'helping'. She sat (mostly) contently in her stroller and watched. She's pretty happy as long as there is stuff to look at. She's feeling alot better and thankfully has cut the dramatics at least some. Also she's been drinking a little more milk from her cup so here's hoping that she's starting to like it!


When I was rifling through my pics I realized I never posted one of the quilt that Janet made Tessa for her birthday. It's really really cool...very intricately done and beautiful colors. You can see it's a jungle theme to match Tessa's room!

Yup the Drama Mama is Sick

Not an ear infection but red ear canals and a fever tells the doctor that an ear infection is coming. So she got some drugs and is not snoozing the afternoon away.

I hope this explains her recent dramatic behavior. Screaming at the doctor, screaming at Target when I wouldn't let her play with the shirts on the rack (while we were waiting for her drugs)...just not her personality.

This is her third illness and the doctor was pretty impressed with that. She's now had two ear infections and a stomach flu in 12.5 months. A good track record I guess!

He said to hold off on cutting another feeding until she's over this. That's why she went and got herself sick, so she could nurse more. Aha!

We Won!

Remember several months ago when we were in the running for 'best trick' on worldwidefido.com....that video of Hayden rolling over?

Well I got an email today that we have in fact been voted 'best trick' by their website! They are mailing us a tshirt and two tennis balls for Hayden and Rosie (really exciting prize huh...I was hoping for cash).

I had totally forgotten about this but I guess we have recieved an unprecidented 744 votes! I think it's funny that our dogs won for a trick when they are really pretty stupid. Hayden's rolling is the only impressive thing that either of them can do.

In case you've forgotten, click here

It seems yesterday's meltdowns may in fact be an illness. Tessa has been running a fever since last night so we are swinging into the doctor this morning to see what's going on. Perhaps the drama wasn't all boob related after all, which is good to know!