Christmas 2011...better late than never

Ah...this has been such a nice Christmas break! I realized not too long ago that I had several vacation days left and since they're use it or lose it, I decided to take them all at the end of the year. I took the 16th off but took Lainey to April's and spent the day doing my errands and baking all of my holiday treats. I might have to start doing that every year! I made 9 loaves of pumpkin bread, 2 batches of peppermint bark, 2 batches of pumpkin-spiced oatmeal pecan cookies, 2 batches of Chex Mix (one regular and one extra seasoned) and a batch of reindeer munch. I tell you...I never felt so domesticated. I even put on an apron and got my stand mixer out. I loved it! Meanwhile, I'd thrown a put of chili together and I had some of my best girlfriends over for a little birthday party for myself. We had a good time just hanging out, talking and eating. I wish we could do that every weekend!

Back to my vacation plans...my last day in the office was the 21st. On the 22nd, Lainey and I went to Jamestown and Troy joined us around dinner time. We did Christmas with my family on the 23rd. And I mean, basically my whole family. My Grandmother and an Aunt & Uncle on my Mom's side were there and then all of my Dad's sisters and various other parts of their families were there. It was a packed house and so much fun! Lainey of course had to entertain everyone and she got a ridiculous amount of gifts, including a little kitchen, books, a purse, a baby doll and stroller and various other things.

Christmas Eve morning we got up early and made our way to Goldsboro because we needed to be there by 10:00 for the annual brunch. We stopped at our house on the way to unload the gifts and then we were off. Sort of. We had a little snafu on our way out of town. I had Lainey in her cute Christmas dress (see our visit with Santa). Troy and I were driving separately because we knew we needed the 4Runner for presents while the Honda would have our luggage (totally need a minivan). Troy being oh so patient, he took off out of our neighborhood to get to brunch while I loaded Lainey in the Honda. I had just gotten on 540 to scoot around Raleigh when Lainey started saying she needed a diaper. Well, I couldn't just leave her in a dirty diaper and I thought I smelled her so I called Troy and told him I was going to pull off to change her and then get right back on. Long story short(-ish)...you cannot trust a 17-month old. I stopped at a gas station (because I needed gas too and thought I'd be smart and do both). I checked her and she was just a little wet. Since I already had her tights and everything off, I figured I'd change her really quickly in the backseat while getting gas. But I guess when that cool air hit her little bare rear end, it made her have to go. So now she had managed to pee all over herself and the backseat. Oops! How could I made such a rookie mistake this late in the game? I called Troy who of course was about 30 minutes ahead of me at this point. So I did what I could with a few napkins and wipes and stripped her down. We arrived in Goldsboro with her wearing a diaper and jacket and covered up with my sweater like a blanket. But the good news is that we made it to brunch!

The rest of our time in Goldsboro was much more relaxing and again, Lainey racked up. Don't get me wrong, we did too. Troy got a remote-controlled helicopter and cornhole boards and I got Tupperware and a new robe. These are the things we asked for...why does it sound like I'm elderly and married to a 12 year-old?

Anyways...here are a few pics to recap the festivities (in reverse order because I don't feel like shuffling them around). :)

Photo Up & Over-Load

Okay, I have a bunch of cute pics of Lainey lately that I just have to share because they make me laugh when I look at them. :)

First, a few more pictures from our day at the mall when we visited with Santa. This first pic is of her enjoying some fries at the Cheesecake Factory. She was super excited about them and somehow apparently knows the word "fries" because she requested them over & over:





The second & third pictures are immediately following the Santa encounter. That is one salty-looking baby. You'd think she was traumatized. I suppose she was considering moments after these pictures, she was sound asleep. Poor thing.



The holidays are a busy time and require some multi-tasking. They can also be a little stressful...



But let's not forget the "reason for the season" and try to enjoy the magic and wonder that it brings! :)



Merry Christmas!!

Santa Claus is coming to town...

Santa's been hanging out at all of the local malls since, oh, Halloween I think. last weekend, we had to go to the mall so I gritted my teeth and decided I would put Lainey in her Christmas dress, "just in case." I did not have super high hopes but I at least had the forethought to change out of the pink sweater I originally had one and throw on a green shirt in the event that I ended up in the Santa picture. This was a wise move indeed. Behold the 2011 Santa picture for the Bentons:



Thankfully Crabtree Mall has the best system ever. When I saw the short line for Santa, I thought we had lucked out and hopped in line. Then one of Santa's elves with a laptop came down the line and asked if we were registered. No, I said, but the line was so short I thought I would take advantage. "Um, there's actually a 2-hour wait right now. You have to register and we text you when you should come get in line." Genius! So I gave her my cell number and we went and had lunch at Cheesecake Factory with Troy's Mom and her friends who had joined her for the mall trip. Sometime while wandering around Belks, I got a text that the wait was approximately 12 minutes and there were 9 people in front of us. So off we went and got in the super short line for Santa. Lainey was great because we weren't in line that long and I went ahead and took a few pictures just in case things didn't work out with the Big Guy:





Then it was our turn. Lainey insisted I carry her to Santa and then she just kind of stared at him. She warmed up a little and even gave him a high-five (after I did). But when Santa asked if she wanted to sit in his lap, he got a big ol', "No!" So Santa said, "Mom, how about you sit on my lap and put her on the far side away from me?" So that is what we did. I was so concerned with not putting my full weight on the poor guy and crushing his lap that I didn't even check to make sure Lainey's dress was straight or anything. But I think the picture turned out pretty cute, especially after Santa grabbed a stuffed reindeer for Lainey to snuggle (smart guy...he's done this a few times I think).

The other good part of that day was that it was my last trip to the mall for this year (I hope!). I am done with all of my shopping, save a quick trip to Target today to grab one last item. I was very pleased with this holiday season for our house. I had our house completely decorated and ready to enjoy just after Thanksgiving. All of the bins and boxes that the Christmas decorations came out of were stashed in the now-empty spare bedroom, along with all of the gifts and wrapping accoutrement. I even took last Friday off and spent the day doing my holiday baking and treat making for the neighbors. My only grievance this year has been that it has been an especially warm December. And because of that I think, people have not been so quick to haul out their decorations. It is sad when driving down my street, there was only one lonely house that was decorated (until you got to our end of the street). I made Troy get out there and put out our lights weeks ago so that motivated our immediate neighbors to do the same but otherwise, our neighborhood has been a bit lackluster this year. In any case, I think I'm going to suggest we drive around and look at the lights tonight, even if we have to wander a bit.

Happy Holidays to you all!

The Holiday Season

There is just something about this time of year. It is my favorite time of year, and not because my birthday is tucked away in there somewhere (don't worry, I nearly forget about it now too). No, there is just something magical and almost tangible in the air!

One magical thing so far this season: Rowdy is now behaving! He must have known how close he was to becoming someone else's problem because for the past week, he's been totally normal again. No more messes on the carpet and he's even been a lot more social. He must be feeling the sentiment of the season too!

Our Thanksgiving was very nice. Lainey was able to partake this year and thoroughly enjoyed that. My parents loved having us and seeing Lainey running around now (yes, running...the thing about waiting until you're absolutely sure you can walk is that you're pretty much a pro from your first steps). She is so cute toddling around! She used to Franken-baby with her arms in the air or swagger around like a tiny cowgirl but now she looks much more normal. She kept my parents entertained with all of her new sayings, like, "Move!" (yeah, we're working on adding "please" to that), "Eat your food!" (accompanied by a wagging finger) and "mess!" As you can tell, she's becoming quite the little bossy-pants. Her Daddy is also teaching her some key phrases, like, "poots" (while pointing to her rear end or calling it out when she hears someone else poot) and "giney" for her vajay-jay which she has discovered during diaper changes. Thanks Troy. :-P But even though her vocabulary isn't the most scholastic, we are rather impressed with it. She picks up about a new word a day it seems. This week has been "tree" (Christmas tree appearing in her living room), "man" (for every snowman she sees) and "nasty" (April apparently says this a lot while changing their diapers and said now Lainey goes around telling the boys they're nasty).

As for the other little nugget, she is thriving and kicking! I'm 23 weeks this weekend and "blossoming" as one coworker said. Better than a male coworker who say me and said, "Whoa...you got big! When are you due? Man, you have a long way to go." Ah...back to those fun days! My third trimester with Lainey was pretty much made up of people telling me how huge I was so I expect nothing less this time around. :)

So getting back to the magic of the season...I am slowly decorating. Lainey likes the sparkly "balls" on the tree and swats at them more than the cats. Actually, the cats just like to sleep under the tree and otherwise leave it alone. I'm thinking I'm going to take a day off work and stay home and bake which I am oddly excited about. I have made sure that I'm stocked up on things that I think one needs for baking, like vanilla extract and baking soda. This should be an adventure! But being home by myself, baking and blasting Christmas music seems like a pretty perfect day right about now. I almost wish it would snow! :)

Sh*tty Kitty

Okay, veering off the baby course for a moment here to reach out to the blogosphere for some help/advice/just to vent.

So...for those who aren't familiar, we have two cats. Lately one of our cats has been having some behavioral issues. Namely, he's been "messing" on our floors. I have taken him to the vet and they have determined there is nothing physically wrong with him and that it is totally behavioral. This is unfortunately not the first time I've gone through this with him. While Troy was deployed and I lived at home, he also started having behavioral issues. That time he was throwing up blood. After a $500 trip to the emergency vet, it was determined that he was "stressed" and was put on Buspar (the anti-anxiety medicine that people take). That helped and then when we moved into our house, I was able to ween him off of it. Well, now he's having this lovely issue and I am at my wits end. Obviously, we cannot have an animal pooping around our house with a toddler and another baby on the way. Like I said, I took him to the vet last weekend to implore them for some help and they were basically no help at all. This vet obviously blamed us. Like, it was our fault for going and having kids and upsetting Rowdy's delicate world. Well, I hate to tell you but the people come first in this house. The vet recommended that we put litter boxes all over the house, try various litters to see what texture he likes best and get a $55 pheromone diffuser. As stupid as all that sounds, I did many of those suggestions (Troy was not happy about the diffuser...I think we're gonna try to take it back). Everything was great...for 4 days. Now he is worse than before. He is still pooping all over the house but this time with gusto. It's not just a steaming pile on the dining room rug (which is a hand-dyed one-of-a-kind that Troy lugged back from Afghanistan mind you). This time it is little piles all over the place...all over the loft (on the other rug from Afghanistan, natch), down the stairs, on the carpet...all kinds of fun places. Oh, and this time there is blood in his stool. And he won't eat. WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO WITH HIM??? Troy is totally at the end of his rope. He tells me every day that I just need to say the word and the cat will be gone and I'm not allowed to ask questions. But I just can't. Rowdy is 8 years old and we have had him his whole life. Plus, I know that taking him to the pound would be a death sentence for him. If he's having these kinds of "stressful episodes" at our house, I can't imagine how he would act elsewhere and they would surely put him down. I DO NOT need this stress in my life. Every day when I come home from work and find some new mess on the floor, I just want to grab him and throw him out the door. But I feel bad because I know he is acting out because we have Lainey and another one on the way and our lives aren't like they used to be when he was a happy lap cat. Honestly, we never even see him anymore. He basically lives under the guest bed and comes out when we're not here to sh*t all over the floor.

Whew! Sorry, I needed to unload a bit (no pun intended). But seriously...if anyone has any suggestions (really...anything...I am desperate), please please let me know. Otherwise I'm afraid our sweet Rowdy will not get to live here much longer.

It's a girl!

I think most people were guessing girl this time around. We do make cute ones. ;) But yes, Nugget #2 is indeed a little girl! Troy called it the second the ultrasound tech moved into that area. He was like, "I've seen that before!" I was really excited. As much as I complained about the fact that we didn't get our ultrasound until nearly 21 weeks (with Lainey it was around 18 weeks), I'm now glad for the wait. The baby looks so much more developed and we got great pictures of her! They gave us a disk with them and we got a few 3D pictures and it is amazing how much she already looks like Lainey.





After our appointment, we decided to go to Buy Buy Baby. And I have to admit...it just wasn't that exciting. Since we're leaving the nursery as-is, there really wasn't much to look at. After making our rounds of the store, we decided that the only things we'll need to purchase for this little girl will be furniture (Lainey's will go with her to her new room) and a double stroller. So we looked at the furniture and picked out a set that we like and I had already done research on the stroller so we briefly checked it out. And...that was it! Then it was on to dinner because Troy said he "needed a drink."

So more to come but we're very excited about having another little girl. I think Lainey will love being a big sister and I think this little girl will probably want to be just like Lainey. We're still working on a name...we have one that stands out but I want to marinate on it a bit and make sure it's the one before releasing that information.

20 Weeks - Halfway!

I know I have slacked off on a few weeks' worth of pregnancy posts lately but really, there hasn't been anything all that interesting going on. I am steadily getting bigger but I feel about the same. A few pluses that I've noticed this time around: I don't get up to pee very often in the night and my boobs aren't super sore. Those may not seem like very exciting things but believe me, it helps! My muscle pain is still pretty bad but it's clearly just one of those things I'll have to deal with this go-round.

Here are a few pictures to show my progression as of late:



This was me at 15 1/2 weeks. I'm not sure why the picture is so bad but it gives you an idea.



There I was at 17 weeks. And here I was the other day at 20 weeks:



I can't tell if I think I'm huge this time around or not. I don't feel especially large but I think I might look a bit bigger than this time with Lainey. The other day at work, I was walking down the hall and my coworker was exclaiming that from the front, I don't even look pregnant and how cute my bump is. Little did she know that I had just come from cutting the waistband of my pantyhose because they were strangling my muffin top.

Big or not, this is an exciting week for us. We find out on Thursday what we're having! I feel a little bad because we have not darkened the door of a baby store for this little nugget so far and with Lainey, we went every Sunday just about. But we've been waiting to find out what we're having because that will make all the difference on what we need to purchase (and if we need to do things like repaint the partially pink nursery). So...plenty more to update later this week!

October Recap - Part 3: Halloween

Okay, final post about October...but I wanted to share a couple of pictures from Halloween. It really wasn't very eventful this year. It rained so we only went next door and across the street and we had about 10 trick-or-treaters. Last year, we had a ton of kids that were bused into our neighborhood so I bought a huge bag of candy. So...now I have most of a huge bag of candy left in my house. Troy and I have slowly been working on it but I think I should take it to work or something to get rid of it (although I'll probably just keep it at my desk and eat it there instead of here...doh!).

Anyways...here is what you all want to see:



Lainey was not loving her bee costume at first.



Mainly because the hood part was too big on her tiny noggin. But things improved and she didn't seem to mind after awhile.



Especially when she got candy! Which I then took away from her. But she liked shaking it just as well.

October Recap - Part 2: Zoo Trip

Okay, I might get caught up on October before this month is halfway over! :)

So, the second weekend in the month we went to the zoo. I love going to the zoo! This time we went with two sets of neighbors who have kids a little older & younger than Lainey. The weather was awesome and we all had a good time. Lainey didn't totally get the animals unless they were really close and obvious but she had fun.

Lainey's first glimpse of animals...giraffes!





A bunch of monkeys...



Despite everything there is to see at the zoo, this was by far Lainey's favorite activity of the day:



Yup, she just wanted to play in the rocks by the walkway. She pitched a fit when we made her move on so we could see the rest of the zoo. We are such mean parents. :)

I love that you can see her delighted face in the reflection of the glass.



She really enjoyed this turtle because it kept swimming right up by the glass and she thought that was pretty neat.

It was a fun day and everyone was worn out by the end of it!

October Recap - Part 1: Pumpkin Patch

I know it's November and all know, but I am just getting around to posting about all of the fun stuff we did last month! Here's how it went...

The first weekend of the month, we went to a local pumpkin patch. Not the giant one that everyone talks about around Raleigh but a great smaller one that is right near our neighborhood. It was perfect.



Lainey got to wear her little Halloween shirt, it was already feeling like fall and she had a great time.



She played in the corn crib...



She got to pet the bunny in the country store...



She enjoyed picking out a pumpkin and the hay ride...







Well, mostly enjoyed the hayride (she didn't want to sit in our laps).



Lots of fun and we got two pumpkins! But this is my favorite little punkin:

15 Months

We went for Lainey's 15 month appointment last week. She is doing great and growing! She's a little more than 21 pounds (45%) and 31 inches (70%). Tall & skinny...there are worse problems to have!

The doctor was impressed with her vocabulary (she says 30 or so words) and said that is a direct link to intelligence. She is a smart little thing! She talks all the time and even strings short phrases together.

She's been wearing 18 month clothes for awhile now and just recently moved to size 4 diapers. We're still working on walking. She can do it (she started taking some steps on her own weekend before last!) but she still prefers to cruise or hold our hands. She'll get her confidence up though and will be walking all over soon enough. She's also still slowly growing some hair (which is still a strawberry blond).

Here are some pictures from a recent shopping trip (the girl loves to shop!). It started out fun...



She shopped til she dropped...



She then threw a little tantrum when we got home...



Such a cool girl...she likes her Barbie sunglasses. Or mine...