tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-330720502024-03-07T09:55:45.686-08:00Baby Benningtontest testLaurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00938716427322888477noreply@blogger.comBlogger1262125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33072050.post-84264715836236889312015-11-17T18:52:00.000-08:002015-11-17T18:52:51.060-08:00My Ladies from Way Back I'm not sure when our tradition started...I want to say 2007 or so. That's when we started getting together every year to Christmas season to shop, my two friends and I. My two friends from the way waaaay back.
Erin I've known since 3rd grade. That blows my mind to think about because I currently HAVE a third grader. I try to imagine one of her little buddies right now, being her good friend Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00938716427322888477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33072050.post-22673247052657168932015-11-10T07:08:00.001-08:002015-11-10T07:08:50.162-08:00The Middle Child Memory FogThere was a time in not so distant history that I wrote on this blog a LOT more. There are almost 1,300 posts here, starting in 2006. I had followers and reposts. I think I even got nominated once for having a good Mommy blog.
Yeah well, life happens right? That was before the ease of quick Facebook status updates and before I had a phone fancy enough to do a mobile upload. It was also Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00938716427322888477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33072050.post-80299298930379343592015-10-27T16:09:00.000-07:002015-10-27T16:09:18.092-07:00Another Pumpkin Retrospective plus another PumpkinTessa
Age 18 months
Age 2
Age 3
Age 4
(couldn't find a solo shot from her that year but it was a weird year. I was still unable to walk)
Age 5
Age 6
Age 7
Age 8
Charley
Age 9 months
Age 21 months
Age 2
Age 3
Age 4
Age 5
Age 6
Crosby
Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00938716427322888477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33072050.post-3299001425900383782015-09-25T11:39:00.000-07:002015-09-25T11:51:32.711-07:00Crosby's Birth- the Full StoryEven though I haven't written on this blog in a long time, sitting down to record the details of my baby birth stories has become one of my favorite postpartum traditions. Crosby Elliott Bennington was born on Sunday September 20th at 5:01am and, as one might expect, his entrance into the world was not like that of either of his siblings.
Tessa's story was long and bumpy, with a 36 hr NICU stay Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00938716427322888477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33072050.post-52340595991317884202015-05-12T09:05:00.000-07:002015-05-12T09:05:15.313-07:006 Years- Might as Well Be Another Lifetime6 Years is how long it's been....since I've been pregnant or had a baby. By the time this guy is born, it will be closer to 7.
And I guess in someways it's like riding a bike. My body so far has remembered what to do, and in fact this has been my healthiest pregnancy to date in terms of energy and illness. As I think ahead to the labor process, it's amazing the dusty details that my brain is Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00938716427322888477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33072050.post-45475708906933698732015-02-21T14:08:00.000-08:002015-02-21T14:08:29.625-08:00First Trimester, Laying Low in the SnowLife has been fairly uneventful lately. This pregnancy has seemed so strangely easy so far that it's almost hard to believe it's real. A few bouts of nausea in the beginning, but so far no puking. I've been a little tired in the afternoons, but thanks to the amazing rock hard sleep I get with my c-pap machine I still feel pretty good. I worried how my appetite would be given that I had bariatric Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00938716427322888477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33072050.post-27197682340927405292015-02-04T07:28:00.004-08:002015-02-04T07:29:49.533-08:00That Mysterious Blood TypeThree pregnancies have followed the same pattern so far. I have some minor spotting at around 8 weeks, which leads to an unexpected run to the doctor, an emergency ultrasound and an injection of a magical substance called rhogam. All because...I have weird blood.
I am part of the 10% of the American population that has negative rh factor blood (more simply known as Rh-). Of course I had never Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00938716427322888477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33072050.post-58947713183609538232015-01-28T16:18:00.002-08:002015-01-28T16:18:54.684-08:00Turning 6 in Monster Truck StyleThis year for Charley's birthday we decided to do an event instead of a party. It lined up perfectly that Monster Jam was in town on the exact right weekend. We gathered up several family members and made a group thing of it. It was a lot of fun and perfect for turning 6.
Cousins, Aunt and Uncle, Mamaw and Papaw, Great Aunt....oh and Mom, Dad and Sister of course. Charley had quite the Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00938716427322888477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33072050.post-9168124329689354382015-01-24T08:20:00.001-08:002015-01-24T08:20:25.729-08:00Revitalizing the Baby BlogWhen I started this blog back in 2006 (which now feels like ancient history right?), it was because we were announcing a pregnancy. Before the widespread use of things like Facebook, for a long time this served as the way to keep our family abreast on what was going on.
I've written about a million things since then and taken a few nice blogging hiatusi. But it looks like we're back to square Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00938716427322888477noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33072050.post-73067355532906463962015-01-04T08:18:00.003-08:002015-01-04T08:18:49.481-08:00New Year's Day 2015 and the Best Dinner Ever? Since we spend out New Year's Eve with a very sick Jeremy, and barely made it to 10:30pm for celebrations, I decided to make a nice 'fancy dinner' for New Year's Day as a means for extra celebration. When you have 5 and 7 year old kids, 'fancy dinner' really means...we're setting the table, using nice plates and trying not to fart at the table or knock anything over. While we eat dinner at the Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00938716427322888477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33072050.post-55376644823195371382014-12-31T14:42:00.002-08:002014-12-31T17:10:18.752-08:00Christmas Pics and a Life Sandwich RevelationI'm finally getting a chance to sit down at hub's computer and upload some Christmas pictures. A quiet lazy day at home...brought on by my husband's blood spewing case of bronchitis and the mandate that both NYE bowling and worship band rehearsal should be skipped for today. Before anyone worries, he is doing fine. Apparently narcotic drugs turn him into some kind of genius Lego master builder, Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00938716427322888477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33072050.post-83848454279058951582014-12-11T12:39:00.000-08:002014-12-11T12:39:29.598-08:00Egg Carton Mini MuffinsBeing home all day with nowhere to go...such a shock to my system nowadays. It wasn't all that long ago that I was home most days with my preschoolers or babies, and domesticity ruled my life. But now, such a rare treat. I am still continuing not to work (you know, by the Uncle Sam definition of 'work' not that every-Mom-knows-it's-a-real-job definition of 'work').
This year since the kids are Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00938716427322888477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33072050.post-45645951538111743952014-12-10T07:27:00.002-08:002014-12-11T12:47:33.942-08:00Looking at the World Through Red-Blue Glasses I have written briefly on this blog before about how Tessa has struggled with reading in the past. How first grade was tough for her, and she ended up seeing a reading tutor after school 3 days a week. There have been many updates on that issue and I realize that as I try to re-invigorate the blog, I should probably write about it.
By the end of first grade and after much tutoring, Tessa was *Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00938716427322888477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33072050.post-43409293840085581392014-12-10T06:48:00.000-08:002014-12-10T06:48:27.257-08:00Didn't I Used to be a Story Teller? Just recently someone that I know mostly as an aquaintance asked me if I was ever a writer. The question took me a bit by surprise. Uh no, why do you ask? She said that my facebook statuses were funny and well written and had a writer-esque feel.
That's just those semesters at Purdue studying PR showing themselves. The same kind of engrained stuff that makes me question people based on their Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00938716427322888477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33072050.post-6267720048765943712014-10-25T06:35:00.000-07:002014-10-25T06:35:29.391-07:002014 Pumpkin PicturesEvery October we go down and see our pumpkin man in Morgan County. Not a pumpkin patch or anything fancy, just a farmer with an honor box and a beautiful yard full of pumpkins.
It's the only time we ever do a 'photo shoot' and pose the kids. Then the awesome part is look at all their pumpkin pictures through the years and watching them grow.
I have to say, I think that this year's crop of pics Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00938716427322888477noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33072050.post-54467915266479870032014-10-25T06:21:00.000-07:002014-10-25T06:25:18.305-07:00Pumpkin Retrospective '14, bigger and more orangey
Tessa
Age 18 months
Age 2
Age 3
Age 4
(couldn't find a solo shot from her that year but it was a weird year. I was still unable to walk)
Age 5
Age 6
Age 7
Charley
Age 9 months
Age 21 months
Age 2
Age 3
Age 4
Age 5
Group Shots
2009
2010
Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00938716427322888477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33072050.post-16300809666888250392014-06-23T12:37:00.001-07:002014-06-23T13:06:43.264-07:00Awards and Rewards, and Lack There OfWay back in Mid-May when it was the last day of school and time for the end-of-year award ceremony, I sat and watched as my first grader left the auditorium without a single ribbon in her hand. She was one of the few in the whole place to not receive something, and I believe the only in her class.
I made every effort to not become 'that parent' who lodged a complaint about my child be Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00938716427322888477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33072050.post-88069432630552926302014-06-23T11:33:00.001-07:002014-06-23T11:33:28.851-07:00Bennington Suburban Vineyard- VortexedWell this year it looks like there will not be a harvest from our little vineyard. Our vines are very slow to grow and aren't flowering at all.
Usually by Mid- July we have awesome little green grape clusters like these.
But this year, our vines are struggling to reach the first rung of the arbor, and there are no flowers yet to be seen.
What caused such a dramatic shift? That horrible Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00938716427322888477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33072050.post-8455300859760877912014-06-03T17:53:00.003-07:002014-06-23T12:02:48.267-07:00Tooth FaceSomeone was talking today on FB about how the new gap in their child's smile looked so big, they wondered how the adult teeth would look. Tessa has had her front adult teeth for a while now and I guess I'm used to her new smile so I hadn't really thought about it...her smile IS much different than it was this time last year.
Those new teeth grew in so big that they have taken over her smile and Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00938716427322888477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33072050.post-9002910607514234332014-05-10T10:30:00.000-07:002014-05-10T10:30:46.643-07:00TigeyOne look at Tigey and you can tell he's well loved.
And that's because he is. He's a busy tiger...he goes with Charley to preschool in his backpack almost every day, and outtings around town. He sits at the dinner table and plays out in the sandbox. He often has to be put down when Charley is attempting to do things like brush his teeth with only one hand.
A couple of weeks ago Tigey even Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00938716427322888477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33072050.post-6284168298800637222014-04-28T06:37:00.003-07:002014-04-28T06:39:33.481-07:00Tessa's Super Easter 7th Birthday WeekendFrom year to year it varies where Tessa's mid-April birthday will line up with the Easter holiday. This year it fell on Good Friday.
Since my family always does a big Easter celebration and egg hunt at the farm on Easter Sunday, I was hoping that we could easily pass that off as her built-in birthday party. We did do that, but she was also wanting to do something fun with a few of her little (Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00938716427322888477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33072050.post-29260256013577677922014-04-15T17:14:00.001-07:002014-04-28T06:41:42.835-07:00Room 42, The Final Tour
Our kids will be attending a different elementary school starting next year and the other night we were at Kindergarten round-up for Charley, exploring the place. When Jeremy and I ventured off of the guided tour to check things like the music room and cafeteria, Tessa was highly concerned that we were going to get in trouble for walking around the school. She literally begged us to take her Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00938716427322888477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33072050.post-64457355087377725562014-04-08T12:25:00.000-07:002014-04-28T06:42:25.969-07:00Back From Hiatus...and Spring BreakI didn't plan my extended break from blogging that last two months. In all of my 8 years of blogging, I have never taken a break that long. It came partially from writer's block, partially from busyness and partially from a desire to put my camera down and just enjoy the ride.
But I'm back. I missed it and maybe a few folks missed us. Anybody?...chirp chirp....Well certainly I at least know Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00938716427322888477noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33072050.post-20232773582229244922014-02-07T06:10:00.000-08:002014-02-07T06:10:22.255-08:00Our Hayden, Processing and Moving ForwardI know I haven't been blogging much in general, but I also realized that I had not yet written about the loss of our sweet dog Hayden two weeks ago.
He had been in our family for 12 years and we knew his time was limited due to a heart condition he had. We gave him meds every day to keep his old ticker pumping and the vet told us it was simply a matter of time. Thankfully he was healthy until Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00938716427322888477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33072050.post-59892279681510982042014-01-27T09:12:00.002-08:002014-01-27T09:13:10.024-08:00Charley's 5th Birthday Yogurt PartyToday is Charley's 5th birthday but we've been celebrating all weekend. Friday night we went to the movies, then yesterday after church we went out to have his favorite lunch (chicken strips) and a party at our favorite frozen yogurt place.
We didn't bring a cake, just let everyone fill up a yogurt cup and make their own creations. Compared to some of our over the topLaurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00938716427322888477noreply@blogger.com0