Sweet Summer Time

Sorry for the delay in writing a new post, the past week has been a little crazy! On Sunday Bentleys belly button became infected, so Monday morning off to the doctors office we go. The doctor had to cauterize his belly button because his umbilical cord did not fall all the way off. While we were there I asked the doctor to check his ears (he had been pulling on his right ear for some time now. (I had previously called about this but was told that he was too young to show he had an ear infection). Guess what…he had an ear infection! Then his belly did not like the first antibiotic so they switched him to a different one, but his belly doesn’t care much for this one either. Shew! Let’s hope he gets to feeling better soon!

Ben has been doing well other than that. He really enjoys playing with his older cousins, he has started watching them more and loves when they lie in the floor and play with him. He also thinks my dad (grandaddy) is hilarious, especially his tickly mustache. He likes to sit up, stand up, and he loves being outside! Boy are we gonna have our hands full when he can walk.

I have decided to start up a mommy group in my area. I am very excited about this. I wanted a way to hang out with other moms and let Bentley meet other kids. Everything I checked into had a fee to participate, so I decided that I had so many friends with children and who really wants to pay a fee? I am hoping to do this with little pressure, kinda a come when you want and can group. I made a facebook page for the group and will send out information on different play dates. I was even thinking it might give me someone to go with and take Bentley to the zoo or other neat places I wouldn’t do alone while Jeremy is working. Like I said, I am really excited about this and hope that this is a fun way for Ben to meet some friends and for me to have some adult time with other girls!

Jeremy, Bentley, and I have taken a couple trips down to the greenway (a trail that is supposed to connect Salem, Roanoke, and Vinton that follows the Roanoke river. We walked several miles the first day, but realized that it is not that easy to walk this trail tends to be more for bike riders and got a little annoying dodging all the bikes. So on Saturday we went over to Joe and Yvonnes and “stole” a bike for me to ride and they also had a pull along wagon thingy (for lack of better words) that you strap kids in. We put Bentley’s car seat in it and we were off on an 8 mile bike ride. It was the perfect cloudy day for it as well and we really enjoyed it, Bentley fell asleep. We are planning on tackling a 17 mile trail soon (thanks to Cari who sent us a pass for the shuttle). This was our warm up.

This week we have no real plans except to hang out and enjoy each other (I like these types of weeks)!

The Enemy (Part 3)

My mother and father are keeping my grandmother for three weeks while my Aunt and Uncle go to Colorado visiting their kids. My mom took today off to help out. I have a guilty pleasure. It is sometimes when my mom is home and Bentley gets up early in the morning I let her babysit him for an hour or so while I get a little more sleep. Now Jeremy and I hardly ever ask people to babysit Bentley because he is our child and we should be with him. Like I said, guilty pleasure! So anyways...the point to this story. My mother came to get Bentley around 6:15 this morning (we had been up since 5:30)and I handed her 2 ounces in a bottle and said just give this a try. I went back to sleep (sometime during sleep Jeremy got up and left for work), I awoke to a text message around 8:30 asking for a little more milk. A little more milk I thought to myself...I quickly jumped out of bed, grabbed a 4 ounce bottle of milk, and ran to my parents house. He had completely drank the first 2 ounces at 7:00 this morning. I said well we can give it another try but I doubt he will drink it now that he knows I am here. He surprised me he drank 3 of the 4 ounces. That is right!!! BENTLEY TOOK A BOTTLE TWICE TODAY!!!!

Now I am not claiming victory just yet....but I will say Mommy 1: Bentley 1....the winner of this battle is still yet to be fully decided! :)

Keeping Me Grounded

I am having a struggle between taking my child out places during the day and staying at home. There are positives to both sides. It is nice to be out and grocery shop or just shop in general. If we are at home Bentley gets to have tummy time and build his muscles. There is a fine line between getting things done and ignoring your child in the process. I tend to find myself playing with my child and my house and chores just don’t get done (so what if I have a messy house, at least I have a happy/healthy baby, right?). I will find a balance soon.

I have also found that since I have been home I think about all these really nice things that I would like to have. For example, the other day I found a beautiful home in our town and decided it was my dream home, or the dog I found in our town (chocolate lab for FREE). Jeremy put a stop to both things (and rightfully so as both are very unrealistic). I am glad someone in this relationship is sensible. However, I feel the need to buy something…anything. (This is what happens when I am at home all day!)

On Bentley news….he now giggles and it is so adorable! He is sleeping in 5 hour chunks (or more) most nights. He has such a big personality and makes us laugh every day. Everyone seems to think he is a miniature Jeremy, which I am glad.

Here are some pictures from our stop at the New River Gorge on our way home from Pittsburgh:

Pittsburgh

Bentley finally got visit Pittsburgh! He was able to meet his cousins, aunts, and uncles from: Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Montana, Minneapolis, New York, and California. Although it was a sad reason that brought us all together (the passing of Jeremy’s Aunt Linda Marks), it is always very special and nice to see everyone. Bentley really enjoyed meeting the Marks and Gallagher families. We had lots of good food and made good memories with our family. Bentley did really well with the trip. He slept really well and despite the overwhelming number of people he met he was in a good mood and loved talking to people. (If you have any pictures of Bentley from the weekend please send them too us we would love to post them and keep them for his memory book).

Now that we are back home we have acquired our first real cold. Bentley seems to be handling it a little better than mommy. We are also getting back on schedule. It has been rather hot the past couple days (in the 90’s) so we are staying inside and staying cool.

Here are some pictures from our trip: Like I said if you have anymore please send them to us :)