Bathroom Renovation!

Finally after over a month of work, it is all done and I feel confident enough to post some pictures!

Jeremy and his college buddy Patrick did this over a weekend (with many weekends before and after of prep and cleanup)along with help from a couple other hard working guy friends. I will be the first to admit that I scoffed at Jer for having the idea to tile himself....over 300 square feet! But honestly when I look at it I can hardly believe it wasn't a professional job!

Erin helped me paint...this is the same butterscotch color you've seen in our living and dining rooms. That mint green is in our bedroom too and isn't so bad really, but I love the carmel color with the tile, beautiful!

and I LOVE love having tile instead of carpet! It seems so much cleaner and nicer because quite frankly that carpet was stanky.

Thank you to the husband of the year!

Before:

garden tub (where much of Charley's labor took place) and Jeremy's sink
toilet/shower room
Jer's side of the closet

After:

closet entry and Charley in his new toy that he LOVES
entry into bathroom
garden tub and sinks
toilet/shower room

In The Vault

Anyone who's been around Tessa lately knows that she loves princesses all the sudden. She saw Cinderella ONCE when I rented it during potty lockdown week, and ever since then she has noticed all the princess gear, which is everywhere!

I will admit I'm guilty of it too cause some it is so cute. I reminded myself today while shopping that no she didn't need a princess knife and fork set...yes it was me that wanted it before she did. She has princess underpants and a sippy cup as well as a little 3 inch tall mini barbie-like Sleeping Beauty that I picked up in the Target checkout, which she has not let go of (even to poop) in over a week.

Over the weekend she went to Mattie's 3rd bday party and it was a princess theme, and they had enough dress up outfits that each little girl got to be a princess...Tessa was Bella from Beauty and the Beast. She was so happy at the party she was practically shaking. A castle cake, princess color pages and she and I did a 'make your own book' using princess stickers. When they disassemble the towers of the castle cake so we could eat it, she started crying.

Like my rendition of Cinderella..pretty good huh?


It's funny that she's so into the princesses because she doesn't even know who they are or what they're about....just that they are pretty. I guess it comes natural to girls huh? I wonder at 2.5 what Charley will be freaking out over?

Being that she loves them so much I was thinking I should buy her Cinderella....so I looked high and low. I looked at Meijer, Target, Borders...you name it. After over a month of searching my helpful husband told me that Cinderella had been locked away in the Disney vault, meaning you cannot buy it in any retail store until they have a special release.

Today while shopping with Erin we asked about this at the Disney store and they confirmed by answering 'oh no you can't buy Cinderella, she's in the VAULT' (said in such a serious tone that I was wondering if there is an actual vault right there in the Greenwood mall)

Oh COME ON Disney! Why are you doing this to me? I hastily snatched up Sleeping Beauty so she can finally see what her new best friend is all about but rest assured I have means, otherwise known as Ebay! Cinderella has been purchased but is being stashed away for the long flight to Seattle to be used as bribery for good behavior.

In related news...... The Disney store had the full set of six Barbie size princesses on sale 2 for $25 through the labor day weekend. I plan to go buy the whole set and if anyone needs a Christmas present for Tessa let me know!! I'm auctioning them off!

Bah Bye Cable Tv!

Well as promised, in our new simplified life plan, the cable tv is GONE.

People seem to have a strong reaction to this decision ...like I'm saying we're going Amish or I'm going to start popping out kids like Michelle Duggar. Come down people.

Basically we don't watch that many shows on cable. We got rid of movie channels years ago, Jeremy doesn't watch sports (with the acceptation of like 4 car races a year) and so it just seems like a waste. I personally waste too much time channel surfing and settling for stupid stuff when I could be better using my time....maybe I'll pick up a book!

And let us not forget the beauty of Netflix where we will get our required doses of Dexter, Mad Men and Big Love (whose channels we are already without so we depend on those dvd release dates!) and of course the internet, should we be in dire need of something specific.

So be gone, money, time and brain waster! We have network channels with a Tivo recorder so life is still pretty sweet and I can still see (most) my favorite shows.

We will miss you Sprout, Noggin, TLC and Bravo. MTV and VHI, frankly I must say I'm dissapointed in what's happened to you in the past 15 years. Get a hold of yourself, and remember what good channels you once were. Discovery and History, I know my husband loved you and you will also be missed...but have no doubt he will occasionally enjoy you in a lone hotel room. To the rest of you 100s of channels I never watched, best of luck.

NBC, ABC, CBS, FOX and PBS....I will never leave you!

Happy Day Mark!

Saturday was a double party day for us. Tessa's little friend Mattie turned 3, and her cousin Mark turned 6. After Mattie's princess party we headed on down to North Vernon for another great Ward style bbq. The weather was so nice this weekend!

Charley's stud hat that I got at a consignment store for only a couple of bucks
This picture has totally motivated me to pick back up weight watchers cause I look pregnant. Bleck.
Tessa had all kinds of fun with her cousins. Here are her and Ashley behind the wheel.
Sliding with Bob
She had a little bit of an embarassing problem during the party. Just say no to crack! In her defense these jeans used to fit when she wore diapers and that was the first time I had put them on her with only underpants. We need to find a belt!

Charley had fun too, hanging out and eating carrots and babbling

The birthday boy Mark, 6 years old!
Charley got a hand me down helmet that was too small for Mark but well a little too big for him


Uncle Andy showing Tessa the cows up close

Can you believe that as the sun went down we actually needed jackets?? Yay for fall! Charley borrowed one of Bob's....again a little too big
Since it's a kinda long ride home we brought Tessa's Abby Caddaby nightgown...well actually it's a Halloween costume I got on sale last year. She was going through a phase of insisting on wearing it everyday until I established that is was pajamas. Now she knows she can't wear it to church (although I guess that would be cute huh?)


She was pointing at her tummy and saying "I Abby Dabby!"

Just for Farmer Cindy

Today we took a field trip to Mooresville, about 20 or so min away and my old ACA stomping grounds. We went to see my friend and former coworker Cindy at the farmer's market. She had a beautiful display of peppers, blackberries, maters and more.

I need maters and zucchini like a hole in the head but we picked up some blackberries and jalapeno jelly. Tessa was shy when we were there but basically talked all day about going to get blackberries from Miss Cindy.

So we had some for dessert tonight. If only we had some vanilla ice cream around!


When I said 'show me your blackberry' this is what she did....

I know Cindy is an avid fan of the blog, probably one of our most dedicated readers (aside from the Grandparents) so we're just giving a shout out. Your berries rock and we'll come back for more!

The other great thing about taking little trips is that I get a 'break' so to speak. Everyone is strapped up, nobody cries while we are in the car. I can get a coffee, drive and listen to music. Beautiful.

So Good...

...that I couldn't help but share

Stockpiling

Here was our first harvest of tomatoes, which was turned into marinara. I need to perfect my marinara technique cause it was way watery and after like 8 hours of cooking I broke down and added corn starch so I could call it a day. Jer said it's because I had the lid on, who knows.


The second harvest of tomatoes was like 4 times bigger so we made Ragu. Of course not the kind in a jar....I refer to ragu as 'meat slurry'...not quite a sauce, not quite a stew. Several pounds of tomatoes, 5 or so hunks of stew meat and beef shoulder, a bottle of wine, a gallon of milk and a little of everything but the kitchen sink and 8 or so hours later you have this.

In bags to freeze, each bag has about 3-4 servings. Great with pasta, rice or potatoes and a tasty easy meal! (those are left over beef bones in the bottom of the pic)

Stockpiling for Charley too (now that the blender is up and running again, yay!) Carrots, avocado, peas, yogurt, pears and bananas all in ice cube form just ready for a nuke in the microwave.

I think this weekend we are going to make several loaves of zuccini bread to freeze. Jeremy's cake I showed before was a zuccini cake by the way, we have a lot of them!

Stepping Out

Friday night Jeremy and I went on our first 'date' since our business trip to Rome last September. Last date here at home? I think maybe Father's Day of '08.

I realize that sounds horrible but it's really not. Basically Jeremy's traveling about 50% of the time and when he's home he wants to hang out with the kids. Going out by ourselves really never crosses my mind, especially since Charley has been so addicted to the boob...it sorta limits our abilities.

Well Friday night Erin watched the kiddos. Charley cried for boobs while we were gone, and Erin tried to feed him some applesauce but apparently that made him even more mad. But he gave up and fell asleep, and got to nurse as soon as we got home!

We went to Barcelona's Tapas in downtown Indy. If you haven't had tapas, it's alot of fun. It's Spanish food and everything comes in appetizer portion so you order a bunch of different things. We had bread with goat cheese and tomatoes, fried artichokes, garlic shrimp, cauliflower with pine nuts and spinach and these empanadas that were sent from heaven.

Since it was Jer's birthday celebration they also gave us some free bread pudding, yum!

It is a very strange feeling for me to sit somewhere and converse with someone without the kids climbing all over me, basically because it never happens. I felt a little disoriented. But it was nice though. Now that Charley is eating more food, maybe we can do this more often!

Check out Barcelona's delicious menu: http://www.barcelonatapas.com/?page_id=20

Charley's First Sickies

The poor babe has his first fever. This morning when he first woke up it was 102.5, then he threw up after nursing twice. So off to the docs we went! I was sure they were going to tell me he has an ear infection but apparently his ears are perfect. The doc says it's just a virus.

So baby tylenol and cuddling is the cure. Big sister has been especially 'two' today, maybe because Charley is getting extra attention. But at least she did well in the doctor's office with me. She put on latex gloves and told the doc she was a 'princess doctor'.

He just woke up in the other room, so I've got to run. Popcorn, Mad Men and baby cuddling is on the docket for this evening.

Happy Day Daddy!

Untitled from Laura Sargent Bennington on Vimeo.

Preview

I'm waiting until the bathroom is actually done and put together to post 'before and after' pictures...but I'll offer you this preview. Tessa helping Jeremy scrub up the new tile on the floors in our closet.

Jeremy's been working on this for several weeks now. Like most project it was just supposed to take 'a couple of days', but with his busy travel schedule it had to be taken a chunk at a time. What was once nasty old carpet in the master bath and closet is now beautiful tile, and the mint green walls are now a warm butterscotch. Our friend Patrick, the tiling expert, came down for a couple of days and taught Jeremy everything about tiling.

I can't believe it's actually done! We've been talking about doing it since we moved in in 2005. Right now we just need to put the baseboards back on and clean up...everything is coated in 1 inch of mortar dust.

Last weekend was the brunt of the work. Patrick came for a couple of days and Jeremy also employed our friends Ron and Rafe and it was apparently a hardworking, backbreaking, male bonding weekend...then Jer hopped on a plane on Sunday night. Wanting to get out of the way, the kids and I hightailed it to North Vernon!

A little late but here are a couple of pics.

Tessa's (2nd) cousin Ashley was staying the weekend with Mamaw so they got to enjoy each other's company. Below is me trying to help Tess play hide and seek. She liked playing but obviously didn't understand the rules. She just ran around the house yelling 'I find you!'


Charley trying out Ashley's doll bed, and hanging with his great- Mamaw

Of course we ate well and Tessa tried velcro curlers. After using Mamaw's, I bought her some cause they stay so well. Too bad the curl only lasts like one hour.

Alive in the Trenches

People tell me all the time how funny and lively they think the blog is. Thank you! I don't want to bring things down with this post, just keep it real. My intent with this blog was never to portray our life as sunshine and rainbows...because that wouldn't be true. It is what it is, life. And lately it's not been easy, so I thought I'd share.


Last year one of our speakers at MOPs said that being a Mom of babies and toddlers (or both at the same time) was like being in the trenches of parenthood. It's hard and dirty and dangerous. But her wise words were to 'hang in there'..it will get better. I thought of her while writing this.

I'm alive in the trenches
with a 6 month old and a 2 year old, and two obnoxious dogs
my husband not only travels but has been gone all summer
He has logged 100K airline miles since March
I'm not a single parent
but at the moment I feel like it

My toddler is experimenting with tantrums
my baby is experimenting with biting me
both have schemed to never nap at the same time
the dogs are experimenting with peeing inside instead of outside

Sometimes we eat at Mcdonalds, sometimes we eat homemade meals
Sometimes we dance around our kitchen in joy
Sometimes I pray just to make it to bedtime

I'm fat and not budging
too tired, too overwhelmed
too hungry

I wonder if the toddler is getting enough education
enough stimulation and socialization
I wonder if my husband is missing too much
I know he feels like he is

I know God is good
I know He hears me all the time, even when I don't know what to say
I know we will get through this time
I know we have lots of friends and family who love us and will take care of us
and worry about this post

I'm just letting you know that I'm here
it's not all sunshine and rainbows at our house
We're alive
in the trenches

I lift up my eyes to the hills— where does my help come from? ² My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth. Psalm 121:1-2

Wise

Charley- "waaaah waaahh"
Tessa- "baby's cwying!"
Mommy- "I know"
Tessa- "baby's okay?"
Mommy- "yes baby's okay"
Tessa- "baby's mouf hurt, his teef hurt"
Mommy- "probably yes, his teeth hurt'
Tessa- "it's okay baby, Daddy's finger hurt"
Charley- "waaaaaah"

Charley's Other New Trick

Aside from having two teeth sprout through and getting up on his knees, Charley can (mostly) sit up! Do they always have to go through so many changes at once? sheesh!

I think it's GREAT that he can sit up now, cause he hates laying on the floor but sometimes gets tossed there when I got to jump up and take care of something (like a crazy toddler). Now he can sit up and look around!

The other bonus? He can sit up in the tub with his sister! We still use the sink for both kiddos alot and occasionally the garden tub (with a parent). Due to the bathroom renovations though the garden tub is unusable so I threw them both in the guest room tub. How nice to be able to easily bathe them at once with no baby tub thingy!

(don't worry Mom, nobody's bits are showing)

State Fair

Today we joined my friend Traci and her two kids (who you've seen on the blog before) at the Indiana State Fair! It was a really great day to go. With school back in session here it wasn't very crowded at all (note to self for future years). It was, however, very hot and humid. We got in a couple hours of good fun before little people started to melt.

Watching the cloggers, the girls were apparently not impressed

We visited animals in two different petting areas. Tessa went nuts for all the cows, sheep and goats. She got to feed some goats and was squealing and laughing like a madwoman.
Mattie and Tessa checking out the lambs
Bryce fed some goats too

The babies were so cute! I wonder, would it be against our homeowners agreement to have pigmey goats? I love them!


Tessa had her first corn dog. She ate a few bites and wasn't all that impressed. Mostly she spilled ketchup all over her white shirt. Silly Mommy dressing her in white for the fair.

Eventhough it's not my kid, I think I might have to call this the cutest picture ever.

The girls also rode ponies. They asked if she would be scared and need me to walk around with her, and of course she wasn't. I saw her gabbing at the horse lady all around the track and could only imagine she was saying something like 'I riding horsey, big horsey, I ride!!'....that's my guess.



Charley was there too but didn't do anything too interesting. Mostly he was hot and fussy and slept.

We do, however, want to give props to the Indiana Milk Bank for the 4 'lactation stations' they had setup. They were enclosed tents with rocking chairs, big fans and ice water specifically for moms who needed to nurse. Rock on! If only ever event or attraction we went to had a lactation station...much easier than a hot park bench or car.

The ride home....ketchup stained shirt, scraped knee and sweaty hat hair. Signs of a good time in Indiana.