Charley's Photo Shoot

9 weeks old...



As always we had an assistant...

Thursday Breakfasts with Mommy

Thursdays are library day which doesn't start until 10:15 so it's our only late morning where we don't have to be out the door by 8:30 or 9. So when Jeremy's out of town I've gotten into the habit of taking both kiddos out for breakfast at Sophia's pancake house before library.

It works out really nicely cause we have plenty of time to have a nice big breakfast (then Charley eats his breakfast at the library)and take our time out on the town. Sometimes we go to Target afterward because we aren't in our usual hurry to get home for lunch before the toddler loses it.

The lady at Sophia's has come to know us and now looks forward to seeing us once in a while. They all dote over Charley while he sleeps through the whole thing. Tessa has a kid's breakfast plate that consists of eggs, a sausage, a piece of bacon and toast. I myself have to be very careful not to be gluttonous with options like biscuits and gravy tempting me....instead I go for eggs,turkey sausage, and wheat toast.

The best part is the that we get out of there for $13 and Tessa usually has enough breakfast leftover for Friday as well. Oh and I don't have to cook anything or clean up the kitchen. Double yay!

btw Charley's one full night was indeed a fluke. Last night he was up at 3:30 like normal and just to make it extra fun he choked while nursing and threw up all over both of us so we had to change clothes. That's more like it.

My Hero

Look what Erin did as a practice run...WOW. Wahoo for an awesomely cool homeade Kermit cake. I'm going to bake and Erin's going to pretti-fy cause we're cool like that.

April Fools

Charley surprised us by sleeping through the night last night...from 10-6:30. Is this an April Fools joke or what?

The more surprising thing was that I slept through the night as well, and wasn't up checking on him, peeing or getting a snack. I couldn't believe the clock at 6:15...whoah!

I feel strangely energetic today! :)

Which One?

I can't decide...what's a better present for a 2 year old? I'm thinking she might be a little young for the trike at the moment, but I'm sure she'll get the hang of peddling pretty quickly.

The coupe might be a nice transition (you push it with your feet flintstone style) to a trike when she's a little older. Maybe next birthday.

I need advice from you veteran moms!


You may remember I bought her a trike for $1 at a garage sale. We still have that but there was a reason it was $1, the peddles are broken. I suppose we could put some energy into restoring it, but who knows if we'll actually do that.

A Homegoing Celebration

Of course it was unfortunate to gather under such circumstances but we really had a great trip up to Elkhart to memorialize Grampaw and visit with family. I wish we could all be together more often but I guess it's weddings and funerals huh?

Jer and I had debated bringing Tessa along but I'm so glad we did. Not only did she behave herself with the help of some toys and her entertaining Aunt Becky, she even sat quietly with Jeremy in the back of the funeral service. He said she put her hands together to pray and said 'amen' with everyone else...we've trained her well. Of course everyone doted over Charley, the youngest person present and Grampaw's 5th great grandchild.

We are so blessed to have had such an awesome Grandfather in our lives, and doubly blessed by the love and fellowship we all shared when we were together. There were so many great pics we had to make a slideshow....

Family Pictures Grampaw's Memorial from Laura Sargent Bennington on Vimeo.

Happy 2 Months Charley

The day of Grampaw's funeral also marked Charley's 2 months birthday. It's interesting to think about the coming and going of life, huh?

Anyway, Charley is becoming more and more smiley and has just started making happy squeal noises in the past couple of days. Here's my attempt at getting a good smile caught on camera.



Of course his sister still loves him to pieces. She likes to sing 'Oh Charley' when he gets upset...set to the tune of 'Oh Donna'. That or she'll say 'it's okay, it's okay baby'. When SHE gets upset, like yesterday when she fell down, a baby hug always cheers her up faster than anything else.

In Memory

July 2007, Grampaw with Tessa

Tomorrow we're traveling up to Elkhart to celebrate the life of my Grampaw Sargent who passed away on Monday after a long and fulfilling life. He will be dearly missed in our family.

I am looking forward to seeing some family that we haven't see in a while, and some are meeting Charley for the first time. Of course it stinks to gather under such circumstances, but as one of my church friends reminded me, we should think of it not as a funeral but as a 'home-going celebration'.

By the way I know Grampaw is an incorrect spelling, but I've spelled it this way since I was 10 years old and refuse to be convinced otherwise.

Cheese

I made it my goal today to get some good pics of the kiddos together, only to find out the battery on my camera was dead. Ah well, I promise to work on it!

Before my camera died, Tessa did have this to say...

Big Healthy Guy

Today Charley had his 8 wk appointment and first vaccinations. It's so hard to believe he's ready for all that! He did really well, just screamed a little then feel asleep and is sleeping now after a nice dose of baby tylenol.

His stats are:
13.5 lb- 90th percentile
24.5 inches- 95th percentile
He's a big tall boy and very healthy!

Tessa was really good at the appointment and 4 hrs later is still wearing the blue surgical glove the doctor gave her. After Charley got his shot and was screaming she kept repeating 'I sorry baby, I sorry'

This completes our first full week without Jeremy who comes home tomorrow and we are ready for his return. I am super tired, but I think that's partially because I overbooked us with activities to stay busy and wore us out. I'm having a hard time staying awake today! Our plans are Chinese for dinner and after Tessa goes to sleep at 7pm, Charley and I are going to watch tv in bed, woo hoo!

By the way Tessa started saying "I la you" this week :-)

Last Weekend's Slideshow

Let me just say I have NO IDEA why this slideshow is playing hip hop music. I didn't see that when I was making it, and this website won't let you go back and edit.

So since I don't feel like doing it all over, you can mute it, or choose to dance to it!

We had a great time with Jerry and Barbara last weekend. We went out to a great dinner at Iaria's Saturday night where Tessa pigged out on calamari. Then Sunday we went down to the farm. The weather was SO nice..yay for the start of spring! Other than that we just hung out, played board games and Tessa and Grammie made a cake.

Oh and we celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary. Alot has happened in the last 6 years!

Oh and Also...

...the funny thing that happened today.

I put a jelly jar full of M&Ms in the bathroom. If Tessa pees she gets one, if she poops she gets two.

Well she peed in her potty while watching Elmo so we hooped and hollered and ran to the bathroom to flush and get an M&M.

Then she asked for 'mo pwease!' and I explained that she had to pee first. I can't believe that her little brain actually understood the concept but she did! She went back to her potty and managed to squeeze out a little more pee and we did it all over again. Yay for progress!

Park and no Pics

What an awesome day. We had our regular Tues morning playdate with our friends from church this morning then this afternoon hauled it out to the park. It was like 70 degrees! It was our first time to the park since probably early November when it started getting too cold.

On the way there we swung by McD's so Mommy could get an ice cream cone (only 3 ww points) and Tessa could get a FREE kids cone. Did you know they did this? It's not on the menu but all you have to do is ask. It's about 2 inches tall and perfectly toddler size, although giving it to her in the car wasn't my brightest idea.

I put Charley in the Ergo carrier at the park and also later when we stopped by the health food store. He is snug as a bug in that thing and it is so easy for me to get on by myself.

All of these fun things happened today and I didn't have a camera. Sorry!

I'm also going to wait until I get Grampie's collection of pics before I post about the G's visit this past weekend. I have a feeling I may need to whip up a slideshow.

Dinner Time

Ka-corn!

One of Tessa's new favorite post- nap activities...popping corn and watching a little Elmo. She loves the popper and also the spray butter. Popcorn time today took place on the potty...
My popper sometimes has a mind of it's own (I got it for free on Freecycle!), and popcorn flies all over the kitchen. Look out Charley! (okay so this was maybe a little bit posed)

Here's Tessa showing off our Anniversary present. Yup the 15th will be 6 years and we got a new vacuum, wahoo! Hey gotta be practical you know? I really like the new one. On the first day we used it we filled the canister 6 times with the stuff the old one left behind, yuck. Tessa thinks the canister is a car and has been trying to ride it.

She's in her apron cause she was finger painting and in her Easter hat cause...well it's a day that ends in Y.

Just for Stephany

...and again

Two more pee pees in the potty today. Wahoo!

As if the girl weren't nakey often enough I decided to leave her mostly diaper-less the whole afternoon and she took care of business!

By the way, the "Elmo Potty Time" movie is hilarious. I know it's educational and all but I can't watch it with a straight face, especially when Elmo makes a poopy face.

No Way!

I didn't see this myself but Jeremy reports that during her nightly nakey time, Tessa walked over to her potty, sat on it and peed in it....all on her own accord!

WOW!! I hope it's not a fluke.

Perhaps it's time to trying pottying every night during nakey time. What a big girl.

Family Portrait

Getting our picture all together is hard. For every one good picture there about 100 to throw away. Thank goodness for digital cameras! Due to our great cameras plus those of the family photographers (my Mom and Jeremy's Dad), we've never felt the need to have professional photos taken and yet still have some great shots.

Tessa got an Easter hat for $1 at Target which she is obsessed with. We were all dressed so nice for church I thought we'd get a family photo, but as you can see below it was difficult. We did get one great shot (above) even though Jer's is wearing Tessa's hat. Oh well!







In other news, Charley slept from 10-4 last night (which was actually 9-4). WOO HOO!

Spring is (almost) Here

Jeremy is once again getting carried away with the garden, adding yet another 'wing'. With this economy, next year our victory garden may turn into a full fledged farm. Do you think our homeowners has a limit on cows and chicken in the yard?

So what started as our whole garden area 3 years ago is now strictly dedicated to tomatoes. Last year Jer planted 4 grapevines on the side of the house and that's also where we have onions, shallots and garlic (which are sprouting in abundance already!). The new wing will apparently house zuccinni, squash, a pumkin, herbs and some sunflowers.

I'm trying to not be overwhelmed by the addition of more live things to care for around here, but Jeremy promises me that he'll continue his role as chief groundskeeper. Actually I've mostly taken over his role as executive chef so that seems fair. He's now more like culinary consulant.

Anyway, today was a beautiful day and Jer got outside to lay down some newspapers and dirt in the new wing. Tessa was of course extremely helpful. No doubt the girl likes to get dirty, and it was just so nice to finally be outside!

Look closely, that's a dirt covered snot bubble....

What's a garden?

DIY

Following my last post I've decided heck I can be crafty! We're having a Muppets themed party dangit...and we don't need that mass produced party decor anyway! Especially not in today's age of the internet and photo printers.

So tomorrow the kiddos and I are going to the party store. I figure now is a good time to find a multitude of green party supplies with St. Patty's coming up!

Becky was helping me think of cheesy snack ideas too...Rolph's puppy chow, frogs on a log, pond scum punch. I suggested Miss Piggy's pork rinds too ;)

Are We Too 'Vintage'?

Apparently so.
Tessa really likes Kermit and the Muppet movies ("froggy dance"), but when I looked into finding Kermit or Muppet party supplies for her birthday (yes it's coming up, wow!) they are impossible to find.

We are having a small little affair this year, mostly family. While last year's blowout was fun, we are hoping to scale it back a little this time, haha. So I'm just looking for some cups and plates, maybe party hats. Who knew it would be so hard. I guess kids today don't know Kermit, which makes me feel sad (and old).

I even looked on Ebay and the closest we can find are collector's items like these vintage invitations from 1978.

Backup plan is Elmo of course, which can be found anywhere and everywhere.

Happy 1 Month Charley!

Okay so we're a couple days late...but wow can you believe he's a month old? It doesn't seem possible but on the other hand it seems like forever ago that I was pregnant and he wasn't part of our family.

His one month old life is good. He likes to look around and is starting to gain control of his neck and head. He would nurse all day long if I let him but we shoot for every 3 hrs instead. He has baby acne but we try not to let him feel insecure about it.

Big sister likes him alot but we have to make sure she's careful, especially when he's in his swing. She wants to push him like we do at the park...a BAD idea. She still mostly calls him baby but she definitely knows who 'Carrry' is. She is also obsessed with him having a blankey at all times. If he is blankey free, she hunts one down for him.

We're mostly back to our normal activities...stroller aerobics, MOPS, library time. I haven't quite figured out how to grocery shop with both kids and still have room for food in the cart, so Jeremy goes with me on Sundays.

Over the weekend we dropped down to the farm for a visit and lunch at Mamaw's.

Becky and I took the kids for a long walk in the cold. We all got a big workout, woot! We went a little 'off road' and Tessa had a hard time with some of the terrain, so she occasionally got a lift.
After a big lunch and long walk Tessa was wiped. She crawled up on my lap, said 'night night' and went to sleep.

On the way down south we stopped by the outlet mall and I got a pair of Nikes and two pairs of Crocs for $50 total. Yay for bargain shopping and recession sales! I have to officially apologize to the years of making fun of people who wear Crocs, cause I'm now a believer. They are like walking on air, and I don't think I could have survived this pregnancy without my Croc mary janes. But I still won't wear the ones with the holes in them.

I'm still checking my blood sugar from time to time but overall am feeling alot better than last week. Maybe it really was nursing related after all. So I'm starting WW over again today, wish me luck! (again) I check back in with the doc next week to make sure my blood test results were all clear.

Snuggly Babes

Aside from the fact that Tessa is 10 months old in this pic, just wondering if you see a resemblance?

Charley
Tessa

I stand corrected

To the few people who noticed, it's spelled TONGS not THONGS. I really did think they were spelled the same way. Baby brain :)

Our Favorite Things to Do

Look around the room and make grunty sounds, and occasionally ponder my baby acne afflictionSuck on pacis and sleep. Mommy likes pacis cause when I don't have them I want to nurse all day and night. She's trying to trick me.

Pretend my Mardi Gras beads are dog food and I'm Rosie. After Mommy took this picture I got in trouble cause I'm not allowed to touch the dog bowls.
Dress like a country girl
Demand hugs from anyone who will give them. If they ignore me then I scream HUG!! It almost always works
Help Mommy cook dinner. My jobs are always very important like stirring cabbage with thongs

Or transferring my snacks back and forth from a bowl to a cup, then peeling garlic and stabbing it with a fork. This is my friend Asa who joined us for lunch and playing yesterday!

As for Mommies, a fun thing to do is prick your finger and squeeze out drops of blood! Okay not really fun but I saw the doc about my dizziness and weak feeling and he is testing me for anemia and thyroid and also gave me an Accu-check thingy to test my blood and see how low my blood sugar is during these down times. The other day I just felt soooo dizzy that it made me nervous being here alone with the kiddos.

Of course in the couple of days since I felt horrible, I now mysteriously feel much better....so it could very well just be post partum and nursing body weirdness, but I thought it was good to check in with the doc anyway. It could also have been the after-affects of Charley's growth spurt, in which he wanted to nurse ever 1.5-2hrs. His spacing is getting alot more manageable.

Unfortunately this has derailed my first week of WW a bit cause I've been eating too many points, so we're starting that again next Monday. Do over!

4 wk checkup

Can you believe Charley is that old?

We went to the doc's today and Charley is doing great. He weighs 11.6 lb, so he's gained 2lb in the past 2 weeks. He also gained 1 inch of length.

He is in the 90th percentile for weight and 70th for height. So whereas Tessa has always been tall and skinny, he's the opposite!

I talked to the doc a little about how much he's been nursing and how I feel weak and hungry alot, eventhough I'm eating all day long and lots of protein. I'm taking iron supplements and drinking craploads of water (which is what his advice to me was) so I'm not sure why I still feel so hungry ALL the TIME. But I'm sure Charley nursing ever two hours might have something to do with it. I hope we can figure it out cause I really want to start counting WW points and losing weight. Ugh.