Pictures and Video

So Don has been busy over the last few weeks working on new photo galleries and on the amazing Benumentary. He was able to post them to the website and link them in over the last 24 hours. Just a warning that the Bentastic, first six months Benaversary Benumentary might get a little boring at times as Don found it hard to cut footage out. There are several times where you are literally watching a baby sleep. But on the bright side it should not take you six months to watch, and it is a lot of great footage of Ben and the rest of the family. Enjoy!

Iterium Update! - The Texas Perspective

Greetings from Texas, everyone! The family has been very busy in the last month and a half so, I thought I would let you know they have not fallen off the face of the earth and are actually doing very well. Tiffany, Jacqueline and Benjamin visited Texas in October, while Don stayed behind to hold down "the fort".

Don worked some very long hours, spent time with his mom and Nee (while his dad traveled for business) and kept the home front running while the rest were gone.

The three that came to Texas had some good parent/grandparent time and meet the newest family member (Matthew Crockett Lasiter)! They also spent some wonderful time catching up with friends. There were lots of cuddle, play and showoff times!

Ben discovered hours of sleeping on Granma GeeKee is much better than a cold lonely bed, had a wonderful time rolling and scooting backwards all over everywhere and made progress in the ability to crawl! Jackie did a lot of roaring, quacking, hooting, zooming, and beep beep choo chooing, as well as collecting every stuffed animal in the house (and there are alot!!), "visiting with" my doll Patty Play Pal, rocking on Uncle Russell's wooden horse and "cooking" with her mother's Fisher Price kitchen items. Tiff Ann finished Jackie's lion costume, added a skirt/ruffle to Jackie's fall tee shirt, went through some boxes and items to decide what I am going to ship to her later, shopped and visited with friends and family AND snuggled with the new nephew (just not enough).

We never cease to be amazed at the brilliance of the little ones and are very proud of the parenting observed in our Tiff. The trip home was very long and trying but Tiff does say she will make the trip on her own in the future.

The above mentioned parents/grandparents had a wonderful time and are very grateful to Don for sharing his family with this extended family. The pits and pieces left behind (toys, crumbs, things to be shipped, memories...) continue of bring moments of giggles and joy!

There should be an official update very soon. The preparation time before the trip and the readjustment/catchup time following the trip have left them with little time to share their perspective on the events and happenings. Please keep checking the website. In the meantime there may be items on Facebook. Don should also have pictures soon as well.

Thanks for checking in and also for allowing this Texas Granma GeeKee to share a bit.

Our Six Month Benaversary

So this past Sunday at 9:35 am was the official six-month Benaversary. I am especially glad he made his debut six months ago and didn't wait any longer than he already had. Now we didn't do anything fancy to celebrate the day; we just wished him a happy birthday like we do each month on the 20th.

Tuesday was our six-month well-Benjamin visit so we have all of his latest stats. And thankfully it isn't quite time for a new car seat, but I believe it will be in December when we go for his nine month visit. So are you ready for the fantabulous Ben stats? Benjamin is 27 1/2 inches tall, that is 2' 3 1/2", and he is 18 lbs 10 oz! I am quite pleased with his growth and the doctor is pleased with his progress as well. He had grown 2" in the last two months and gained 2 lbs 10 oz. Now on to a little about what Ben has been up to over the last month.

It took a while after that first roll, but about a week ago Ben started rolling around on the floor. He doesn't really go anywhere and he isn't quite flat on his belly (usually one arm is in the way) but he does roll trying to reach for toys to play with. He sort of rolls back and forth onto his side and then onto his back and sometimes nearly flat on that little belly of his. I am thankful for every day he remains stationary so I don't run myself ragged chasing after two little ones up to no good!

Ben is also sitting unsupported quite well. His balance has gotten much better over the last month in the sitting position. He can sit and play for several minutes before toppling over (usually backwards). Ben likes to sit but standing is still his favorite position. That means I am not getting a lot done these days as Ben is still not too proficient at standing. However he is beginning to learn about moving his feet while standing so once his balance improves I think he will be cruising all over the place. Jackie didn't do much cruising, but I definitely think Ben will. He already knows that he needs to be fast to keep up with Jackie, so I think he will do whatever he needs to to start moving around with her.

This past month was the advent of the next phase of growing up: solid foods. (And by default: solid poop.) We had been given the green light by the Doctor at the four month check-up, but decided to hold off a little while before giving Ben his first bite. After several episodes of Ben trying to help himself to our dinners, we finally decided we needed to start on the solids. It was a good decision because Ben was pretty determined that if we did not willingly give him "real" food then he would take it himself. He had quite a grasp on Don's bowl of pasta the night we finally relented! Ben has done quite well with his solids. He even liked rice cereal which Jackie never really liked. I guess Jackie still doesn't eat overly well, maybe Ben will be our big eater. But he especially likes his yellow vegetables: carrots, squash, and corn with sweet potatoes. This past weekend he really ate well. Ben ate half a jar of squash for dinner and then still had some milk. I was amazed at how well he did! Don has posted some cute pictures of Ben's first feedings, so check them out under the photos tab.

I'll post more about Ben when we get back from Texas in a month.

~Tiffany

The Turbulent Twos

So everyone always talks about the terrible twos, but after having experienced the twos on a daily basis (instead of just off and on when I was babysitting) I have decided that terrible isn't quite the right word to use. I think that the turbulent twos is a much better description. I guess that many people only think about the tantrums and power struggles when they use the word terrible, but there is so much more to the life of a two-year-old. Turbulent encompasses all the ups and downs of life at this age; I think being two must be sort of like traveling down a wild river. There are moments of tranquility and peace and then times where everything is unsteady and in danger of capsizing. Turbulent just seems to capture that image in one word.

Jackie's turbulent twos are traveling right along like a river in the spring near the source: quickly changing with the weather. Calm on cold days but becoming overfilled on rainy days when the melting snow runs off the mountains into the stream. There are a few odd days of tranquility right now. Days when Jackie is loving and cuddly like she was daily before turning two. But it seems most days right now are quite rocky, overflowing with new emotions and an ever growing need to assert her desires. And I think that Ben's new sense of independence and growing accomplishments is part of what has Jackie feeling so unsteady. She sees him getting praise for all that he is doing and to some extent being allowed to do things she is not (like pulling on hair and grabbing at things) and she feels the need to test the banks of her little stream.

But there are wonderful moments with Jackie. I guess they are the moments she feels the most secure in herself. It is nice to just sit with her in the wonder of growing up. Below are a few of these moments.

So recently Jackie has been having a blast with another little girl a lot like herself. She spends a little time here and there during the day with this little girl, but not necessarily every day. We live very close to the other little girl and Jackie is quite taken with her. We live so close to this little girl that she can often be found in our dining room. In fact, when Jackie found her she was staring back from the back of the china cabinet. You might have guessed it, but this other little girl is Jackie's reflection. Not to say that Jackie did not discover the power and awe of mirrors before now; she did. But this is a little different - Jackie is playing with the reflection somehow differently than she used to. And she thinks that she is quite funny. Maybe Jackie is now using her reflection to practice socializing with (that is sort of the impression I get when watching the interaction.) But whatever is different about the interchange between Jackie and her reflection, it is adorable.

Another recent occurrence happened while reading one of Jackie's favorite books: The Ear Book by Al Perkins. We probably read this book an average of 20 times a week and sometimes it feels like we read it that many times in a day. But about a week ago, shortly after my parents left, Jackie started to help read the book. This is a book filled with otomotopeas, and as I went to turn to the page about water Jackie said, "Drop, drop, drop." Which is exactly what the page says, "We hear water: drop, drop, drop." And she continued to help read the rest of the book.

This story is not so calm and wonderful as downright cute. We were driving home from errands the other evening and Ben was tired and hungry and not so calm. In fact, Ben was crying this ear-piercing cry. I looked back in my "Jackie view" mirror to see how she was coping, because she is usually upset by Ben's crying, and she had her fingers in her ears. It was so cute I burst out laughing and told her I wished I could do the same. She didn't like me laughing and she got upset. But the picture of her with little fingers in her ears trying to block out the painful screaming is still pretty funny.

New Photos

Just a quick note: there are several new photo galleries up. Two new ones are under the family photos tab, and one new gallery under Ben's first year.

Hope you enjoy the pictures!

(Oh and I will try to get a few posts written this week.)

Jackie Visits the Zoo

This past weekend (8/22; it took a while to finish writing this post) we decided it was finally time to check out the little zoo near our new home. The Capron Park Zoo (capronparkzoo.com) is about a 5 minute drive away from our house, and it would be shorter but the closest bridge is out. So off we went on Saturday afternoon to the zoo.

Now this was Jackie's very first visit to a zoo. Sadly we have not made it to the zoo in Fort Worth yet. (Partially because Daddy wanted to be with us on the first visit to a zoo.) So Jackie was not quite sure what to expect, even though we kept telling her she would see lots of animals. And she did not begin to understand until after we got to the zoo and saw the first couple of animals. That is when she started getting really excited about the zoo.

The first animals you see upon entering the little zoo are the kangaroos, emus, and tortoises. This left me wondering what happens to the kangaroos and other warm weather friends during a nice cold MA winter, but I guess we will find out soon enough. Jackie thought they were nice but a little boring as they were all just laying around in the grass. Jackie's excitement really peaked when we entered the Sadler building where quite a few of the smaller African animals live. She really liked standing and looking into their exhibits and watching the little energetic tamarins, meerkats, and lemurs playing. Jackie also enjoyed the rainforest building with its frogs and birds of bright colors.

Jackie's favorite animal we saw were the lions. She probably would have stayed there next to the lion exhibit all afternoon if we had let her. She kept talking to the lions and shouting exclamations of joy over the two lionesses and the male lion with his mane. When Daddy finally told her she had to leave the lions she waved and said, "Bye lion." She also bestowed many kisses and hugs on the lions. It makes a mother glad that she could not get really close the lions since there was only joy and no fear on Jackie's part. It was so cute watching her tell the lions goodbye. Luckily for us, Don was video-ing the whole proceeding. I'm sure someday soon he will get the clip on the web for y'all to watch.

Because of Jackie's joy and excitement, Don and I decided to become members of the zoo. Now Jackie can visit her lions often. In fact, I'm sure she would love to show them to you if you come for a visit. Granma GeeKee and Granpa enjoyed seeing the lions with her this Sunday (9/6). And Jackie again had to wave and tell the lions bye, giving them even more kisses and hugs. Jackie has also started roaring like a lion since we visited the zoo the first time. She hasn't heard our lions roar in person yet (it might scare her b/c it will be loud), but it doesn't stop her from roaring at us. She is also pretending to be a lion. And she says, "Ben lion. Ma lion. Daddy lion." Then she wants us to roar with her. So watch out if you come to visit, you might have to be a lion with Jackie. :-)

Vignettes of Benjamin

Since it has been a while from the last posting about Ben, I thought I would write a few little vignettes about what he has been up to.

So the best story recently, happened Saturday night while we were over at Nee's apartment for dinner. (Now remember that Nee is a 93 year-old Sicilian woman, who does/ says what she wants. She has after all earned the right.) I had Ben laying on the couch and was changing his diaper. Nee was sitting across the room facing the couch and apparently looked over just as I was placing the clean diaper under Ben's little bum. "Look at that fat ass," Nee exclaimed. And just in case we had not heard her the first time, she said it again in response to a question my father-in -law posed. I apologize for the language but in all fairness, that is an exact quote. The whole group of us burst out laughing and Don lamented not catching it on video.

And for all of you wondering if Ben has rolled over yet; the answer is yes. Ben rolled from his back onto his belly on Thursday the 13. We had just come downstairs that morning and I laid Ben on his back on the playmat while I changed Jackie and got her breakfast together. I looked over just in time to see him resting on his side almost all the way over reaching for his pacifier. I started to look for the video camera but couldn't find it and so grabbed my camera instead. I took a few pictures before I realized I really needed to use Don's fancy camera. All the while I was cheering him on to roll the rest of the way over. And when he did, it didn't startle him. Ben was just smiling up at me as proud as he could be. Or at least very excited by my attention which was soon divided with Jackie as she got a little jealous of my praising Ben. And in true Foster fashion, he hasn't rolled over since. Once is all it takes to prove you can do something!

Don and I were discussing dinner options for the week and Don mentioned Carbonara. Ben gave him this great big smile. And so now Don and Ben have a little game of Benny Carbonara. The look on Ben's face is so cute, but it only works for Don. "Do you want a little Carbonara?"

Don likes to spend time in the evenings and weekends finding ways to make Ben smile and laugh. Recently one of the things that really gets Ben going is singing and dancing with Daddy. Don will sing a song (sometimes changing the words to make it about Ben) or hum a tune and hold Ben under the arms moving him to the beat of the music. Sometimes there is a little chest shake or other fancy dance move as well. Ben finds this little game quite funny and he will give his daddy little "huh, huh-s." I will try to catch some of it on video soon before the funny breaks.

Ben's most recent accomplishment is standing by himself. Now don't get too excited, he isn't pulling up yet- just standing. I can place him on his feet next to the trunk and place his hands on top of the trunk and let go. And Ben can hold himself up for quite a while. Now I do have to make sure his little legs are not too far apart and I do lean him just a bit forward (mainly because our balance is still a little off,) but he can stand all by himself.

I will also try to post other cute little Ben stories as they happen, but you know how it is. Sometimes life gets in the way of our intentions.

Out of the running for "Mom of the Year"

So today was one of those days that takes you out of the running for "mom of the year." Well, at least, it started off that way. Any other mom out there knows what I am talking about; we all have them and we all wished they did not exist.

When something inside of me kept telling me to roll back over and go back to sleep this morning, I should have listened. I had already done that once though and Jackie was awake so I ignored the impulse for more sleep and dragged myself out of bed. After taking Ben downstairs and returning upstairs, I opened the door to the kids room to find myself staring at Jackie. She had learned this morning how to climb out of her twin bed. I kept expecting it, yet I kept hoping the day would not come. So today I must stop procrastinating and finally put up the gate outside of their bedroom door. And I think to myself that I need a new plan for enforcing nap time and then we head downstairs.

I began to gather their diapers and clothing for the day so we could all be ready for errands after breakfast. Since I was so tired, I had not thought to bring clothes down for them. So in a sleepy state, I head back upstairs for the third time this morning. Normally Jackie would behave while I was upstairs, but something was amiss this morning. Maybe it was the air hanging limp from the impending heat of the day, or the pride of managing to wiggle from her bed, but Jackie was up to no good. I don't know, that might be a little harsh. For all I know she might have been trying to help when she decided to open the clean diapers waiting near Ben and take Ben's to the bathroom and drop it in the toilet. She might have witnessed Don rinsing a poopy diaper in the toilet in the past and thought she might do the same. Only this diaper was clean; no need for rinsing.

I thought she was playing in the living room since I could not hear any strange sounds echoing up the stairwell outside their door. But as I stepped down towards the landing, Jackie heard me and came running from the direction of the bathroom with a mischievous grin and the water-proof diaper bag (the one for dirty diapers when we are out of the house) in her hands. I knew something wasn't right and as I grabbed the bag from her I could tell her hands were wet. I felt of the bag and it was dry so I went to place it back in the bathroom and that's when I discovered her diaper escapades. There was Ben's clean white diaper pushed into the bowl of the toilet. I was mildly thankful that it didn't appear to have been flushed (I don't think Jackie knows how yet.) And this is the moment I lost the "mother of the year" award. I yelled, "Jacqueline Frances," and I don't think there was a reason to yell as she had followed me into the bathroom. Apparently she was proud of what she had accomplished while I was gone. That feeling did not last long as I let into her verbally. I did swat at her big blue padded bottom in the midst of the tirade and her look changed to one of forlorn sadness as she realized I was very upset.

As I finished rinsing out the diaper, washing my hands and banishing her from the bathroom, we headed into the living room to dress both kids. I was still fuming when I discovered she had been playing with her clean diaper as well and that it had toilet water on it and was now also dirty. By this point Jackie had been told that if she did anything she was not supposed to or had to be asked more than once to follow instructions she would head back up to bed. And she did; shortly after getting dressed, she threw a toy. This is an ongoing battle with us about not throwing things and so up she went after being downstairs for around a half hour. This time she stayed upstairs just long enough to change and dress Ben.

We finally ate breakfast, rounded the kids into the car and headed out on our errands. And then Ben decided to scream the 30 min from our house, through the construction, to Nana's and Papa's house. Apparently he really was hungry when I tried to feed him before we left but playing was more interesting at the time. So the list of errands was rearranged to care for Ben and my nerves were rattled beyond measure. But Ben calmed down after eating and we made it through the grocery store and Target without too many rough patches. Although in the grocery store I told Jackie that I was sorry but she would just have to be upset if something was not the way she wanted it.

And after getting home and having Ben scream half the way back, all during the time I needed to unload the car and put away the cold stuff, my nerves were really frazzled. I changed diapers, fed Ben and gave Jackie her milk, and then finally I fixed lunch. By this point it was three o'clock and luckily Jackie and I had each eaten a cereal bar on the way home from Target. I had bought Jackie Annie's Spaghetti O's while shopping because she had asked for them and I figured it was worth a shot if she ended up eating them. So I asked if she wanted them for lunch and she agreed. I no more got her sitting in her little chair with the bib on and the food on the tray then she threw her bowl to the ground. That was it! No second chance here, it was nap time and it was over-due. I told her to lay down and if she crawled off the bed she would sleep in a crib. Jackie stayed put and within 10 minutes lay sleeping. That is the moment my day finally started to turn around. Ben fell asleep on his playmat and it was finally quiet in the house.

Jackie woke up in a better mood and found me in a better mood as well. It is nice to know that even on bad days things can end well. It is good that toddlers soon forget the bad times with their parents and can show them great affection. It is reassuring that they seem to bounce back and recover their pride so easily. It helps to think that we can overcome our bad moments and build our children up to hopefully be better people than we are. God is very wise to make our children so forgiving of their parents mistakes when they are little. I know that there will be more mistakes to be made, but to also know that as long as I show my children love we will overcome those mistakes is a very promising thing. Now if only our children stayed as forgiving as they grew into teenagers. But again God is wise in teaching our children about fallibility through their parents' short-comings; it makes us strive to follow his will more closely as our children grow.

~Tiffany

Early to Bed, Early to Rise

So as far as a toddler is concerned if you go to bed early because you are extra tired, it doesn't mean you need to stay asleep until your usual wake-up time. Jackie headed to bed a little earlier than normal last night because she was exhausted. So after her 10 or so hours of sleep she decided it was time to wake-up and have some milk. Pay no attention to the fact that it is 6:30 am; I'm a toddler and I demand my needs be met immediately. So Don, who was getting ready to leave for work, brought up her milk. Only Jackie did not want Don giving it to her in her bed; Jackie wanted Mama to give her her milk in our bed. Deluding myself with the thought that she might settle back into sleep if we appeased her and thinking some Jackie cuddles might be nice, I sleepily agreed to give her her milk in my bed.

The Jackie cuddles were nice, but they lasted briefly longer than it took to drink her milk. She laid down just a little past the time it took for me to take the rest of her milk back down to the refrigerator and climb back into bed. Then, because she could sense that I might be right and she might fall back into dream land where everyone belongs at 6:30 in the morning, Jackie started to play. For you see at this point in Jackie's life we have become rather attached to a few items. And whenever we are tired or just need a little comfort, we bring these things along. That really means when Jackie was placed into bed for her milk this morning, I should have said that Baby, blanket and Olivia (the Piggy) all fell into bed with her. Thus when fear of actually falling back asleep set in, Jackie had friends along to entertain her. I let Jackie play quietly beside me while I tried to catch a little extra sleep. Ben had finished his early morning snack around the time Jackie requested hers, so I knew he would sleep for another hour and a half or so and thought I might be able to rest during that time as well. Unfortunately, Jackie had other plans.

As I drifted in and out of slumber, never fully asleep but not what I would call fully awake either, Jackie entertained herself. But that gets a little repetitive after a while and she needed to find something else to do. So Jackie would lay down, and get up, and crawl around the bed, and talk with Baby and Olivia, and pat my arm in an effort to stay awake. She would drift between these activities while I drifted between sleep when she realized that Ben was sleeping in the basinet at the foot of the bed. This sparked a new idea. Jackie could entertain herself with Ben. At first she just pointed to him and exclaimed about his presence while I shushed her to keep from waking him. Then after moving on to something else she returned to Ben. Only this time I was asleep and Ben had woken up. So I hear her talking to him and him laughing at her and I can sense she is near the foot of the bed but not quite where she is. I sit up, and there she is. . . not at the foot of our bed at all, instead she is at the foot of Ben's bed. That's right she had crawled into his basinet, which is barely big enough for him, and was sitting just at the end of his folded up legs. They both thought it was quite funny for a two-year-old to be in the basinet with her four-month-old brother; they were having quite a nice time together. All I could think of was that basinet tumbling off its hinges to the floor and a pile of Ben-Jackies underneath. So no, I did not run down the stairs to grab the camera and shoot a few pictures of the scene and thus condone it by documenting it (Jackie thinks the camera means something is good and deserves repetition). Instead I jumped to the foot of the bed and pulled Jackie out as fast as I could. Sensing this was the end of any rest I might have attained this morning, I crawled out of bed just before 8 to "start" the day.

I don't think Jackie will be permitted any more early morning, half asleep Mama cuddles while the basinet sits at the foot of our bed.

~Tiffany

Curiosity

So I was looking through old blog posts and stumbled upon one Don had written with Jackie's two month check up stats. That piqued my interest as to how big she was at four months. It turns out she was 13 lbs 6.8oz and 2' 1" tall. When you compare that to Ben's 16 lbs and 2' 1.5" tall, she seems like a light weight. I guess size all depends on perspective because thinking back to Jackie at four months I felt like she was so big. And she was if I compare her to where she was after losing all that weight in the beginning, but she was not if I compare her to Ben.

Life as a Two- Year-Old

It is official, as of August first Jackie is now 2. And I think she would tell you that from her short experience (three whole days), life is grand when you are two. Don and I managed to pull together a party for her in just about a week. A small group of family and friends gathered on Saturday to help Jackie celebrate the momentous occasion. And as she was the center of many adults' attention she was quite satisfied. That and I had spent hours working on a bunny cake that she couldn't wait to eat. If you need the full saga of the bunny cake you will have to check it out on facebook (Bunny-cake Baking Debacle). 

My favorite part of the party, aside from the fantastic cake (if I do say so myself), was Jackie opening her presents. She was filled with such joy and awe. Each package deserved her full attention and trying to pry her away from it once she had opened it was nearly impossible. Jackie wanted to take each toy out of its packaging and play with it right away. Every new present brought new exclamations of "oh boy" and "wow"and "oooh." The unwrapping was fun and what was inside was even more exciting. There were a couple of toys that really stood out from the others. She received these neat blocks called Wedgits that I have to admit I have been playing with. She also received a set of chimes to play with mallets. Don has been playing with those, he especially likes the tone each one has. Jackie is so musical by nature that she has really enjoyed playing with the chimes and also with her xylophone which Grandma and Grandpa gave her. She will sit with both in front of her and give a little solo performance, clapping for herself at the conclusion of each of her songs.

After Jackie's party, the family headed over to Capron Park. It was such a nice place for her to play and there was a little rose garden where we took pictures of Jackie and Ben together. There is a little zoo at the park which we will visit another day soon. I can not wait to see her joy over the animals; I am sure she will point and exclaim each of their names for us with great excitement. 

After the park, we returned home and Jackie took a nice long nap. So nice was the nap that she did not want to go to sleep Saturday night. In fact, Jackie stayed up later than Don did. She was still so excited over all of her new toys she didn't want to fall asleep for fear they would be gone in the morning. I was finally able to convince her to head up to bed and allowed her to take her new little stuffed Olivia the pig upstairs with her. After tucking Jackie in and laying the toy next to her in bed, Jackie picked up the pig, sat it on her chest, and in the the sweetest voice said, "hello piggy."  That was how she ended her birthday.

Today was the big day we took Jackie to have her well check-up. She is growing very nicely just like Ben. Jackie is now 34" or 2' 10" tall and she weighs 26.2 lbs. That means she only outweighs Ben by 10 lbs. That isn't much and I'm guessing it won't be too long before that gap is narrowed even more. Ben is definitely half of one Jackie. And Jackie did not need any shots today, just a finger prick. She did very well during the finger prick but was very glad when it was over. No more doctor's visits for Jackie until she is three (unless she gets sick or to get the flu vaccine.)

This year promises to bring even more wonder for Jackie as she interacts with the world in new ways. I can not wait to see life as a two-year-old sees it.

~Tiffany

Benja Moose

So last Monday (July 27) we took the four month old Ben to the doctor for his well baby visit. We were all curious to see how he has been growing and it turns out we were right. Every time we look at him, he is a bit bigger. He is now (drum roll please) 16lbs even and 25 1/2" long / tall (however you look at it.) He is a Benja Moose. For those of you who can not remember our "little" Benjamin was only 7lbs 9oz and 20 1/2 " long at birth. That is a lot of growing in just four months. I guess all I can say is he sure does think Mama makes yummy  milk. We are very pleased with the progress he is making and it is rewarding to see him doing so well.

Now that we have the business of growth out of the way we can move on to more exciting things. What is more exciting than a 16 pound baby, you ask? Well the things that baby does, I say. Ben is the mellowest little fellow I have ever known. Two months ago when Ben had his first round of immunizations I was impressed by how little he cried. This time he cried even less. He only received two shots this trip and he didn't cry at all with the first one and only let out a fuss over the second because his pacifier fell out. That is definitely doing his brave. He also travels well. Load him into the car seat and he just chills no matter where we go or how long we are gone. He might fuss a bit if he starts to get warm but other than that he either sleeps or just plays with the toys on the seat. 

There have been a few times lately where Jackie decided to pull Ben off of his playmat while I was in the kitchen. I had no idea she had done this until I walked into the room and he was laying in the middle of the floor. He just looked up at me and smiled. Ben had made no fuss over her moving him at all. But it seems that Ben adores Jackie so much that I don't think it would matter what she did to him, he would still smile at her. I hope they can maintain a good relationship throughout their childhoods and lives. 

Ben is also becoming quite impressive physically. He loves to be stood on his feet and to hold himself up while grasping your fingers. He has done this so much that he has rather good balance and only sways after standing for a while. He is definitely grabbing onto objects now but instead of just holding onto them, he is learning to maneuver them to his mouth. I think his favorite pastime at the moment is penguin wrestling. We have these little stuffed penguins with different textures and colors and I will sit one or two of them on the floor near him while he plays. He likes to grab onto them and hold them against his chest, sometimes gnawing on them while he holds them. So to me it looks like he is wrestling with them. 

Ben has gotten close a few times to rolling from his back onto his belly. One time he was sucking his finger and refused to stop so he got stuck just short of rolling over. I think within the next month he will be rolling all over the place. He might also be scooting around everywhere. He can move himself all over his playmat like a little crab. Every now and then he will start to fuss because he has found himself stuck with an arm under the entertainment center. It sits next to the playmat and he will start pushing himself along with his feet, leaving his shoulders on the ground and wind up caught. Jackie was always content to stay in one place as long as she didn't feel left out. If she could see you, she would play quietly by herself on her mat not feeling the need to explore outside of it. She accepted her boundaries as they were given to her. Ben feels the need for adventure. Instead of fussing until you move him, he simply moves himself. Maybe he has already established that he will need to keep up with Jackie so he better start learning how so he won't be left behind. 

~Tiffany

New Photos

Just a quick post to let everyone know there are new photos on the website. You will find them under the family photos tab and they are way down at the bottom of the page. Don finally found a little time to compile the pictures of the move into the new house. He is hoping to get the pictures of Jackie's second birthday on the site soon. And I promise to write a few posts about life over the last couple of weeks. Jackie is headed for her 24 month check-up with the doctor on Monday so we will let y'all know how big she has grown. 

More soon,

Tiffany

Jackie's World

On the verge of turning two, Jackie is definitely having "two moments." They are not horrible but she seems to time them at the most inopportune times, so I perceive them as worse then they are. Usually her meltdowns occur at the Hallmark store where looking at every card by herself is not an option, or sometimes at Target when walking is not an option (because I have not evolved enough to have that second set of arms and hands that every parent of a young child really does need), or just when she can sense I am tired and stressed.

Aside from these moments of toddlerhood there are many sweet things Jackie is doing these days. Most recently it has been to kiss everything in sight. She might kiss the little spider hiding in NaNa's laundry room or the spot where the bunny and kitty have previously been spotted but are not currently residing, like our neighbor's yard. We also blow kisses to things we especially like such as the ceiling fans and the slide.  Occasionally Jackie will even have a kiss for Don or myself. She is still a very sweet and loving child especially when not having a toddler moment. 

I think Jackie grows and changes on a daily basis. Each new day brings new words and more smiles and joy to her face. She is learning that if she tells us with her words what she wants that we will get it for her quicker than when we had to guess about what she needed. Because of this we are having a vocabulary explosion out of her little mouth. It is exciting to hear her name things and point to something telling us what it is. She is asking up and down and for juice, milk, or cup. She brings us books and says "read," and will say it again when we finish the book to have us read it again. And if asked  Jackie will even say please and thank you, all in this cute little Jackie voice. We are working on saying Ben because we recently realized she is calling him "boy" which is a little cute but not his name. 

As for how she is with Ben, she is still very loving and mostly gentle towards him. Jackie is still trying to share her milk and food with Ben, and she will occasionally ask to hold him still, although it is getting hard for her to hold him as he grows closer to her own size. Jackie has also started dancing with Ben; she will hold his hands and do a little wiggle and it doesn't matter if he is upright or laying down. On a regular basis, especially in the car, Jackie will share her blanket and baby with Ben. She just sort of plops the doll down on Ben's chest, sometimes a little harder than Ben would like. Ben will then hold onto the baby or sometimes gnaw on it. 

Jackie appears to be adjusting to the move fairly well. I think some of her toddler moments lately have been related to the stress of the move and a little less attention than she normally receives. This past Saturday (July 18) we finally got Jackie's big girl bed set up. We don't have the bed frame we wanted, instead it is just a metal frame, but it works for now until we can figure out how to fix the other. Jackie helped to straighten the bed skirt and tried to help get the bed put together so it would be ready for her to use that night.  So Saturday night was her first night to sleep in her new room, in her new bed. She was so excited about it that I wasn't sure she would be able to sleep. But she did sleep and she slept well. Now if only her naps would go as smoothly. You see there is a door to the attic crawl space at the foot of Jackie's bed. We placed the bed there so her curious nature wouldn't urge her to open the door and explore the attic. Instead while she is supposed to be sleeping she will sometimes crawl to the end of the bed and play with the latch on the door or the trim around the door. I guess it isn't too bad, she could get herself into real trouble and probably will once she learns how to get off of the bed by herself. Then enforcing nap time on days she doesn't agree with my assessment of her need for a nap will become quite a challenge. But I have a video monitor on my side and a quick yell up the stairs is still effective in getting her to mind at least for a few moments.

I can't think of any other cute Jackie stories at the moment. I will post again about her birthday party in just about a week and after that about her 24 month well Jackie visit at the doctor. Until then I will try to post about Ben and the rest of the family.

~Tiffany

It's almost here!

What is almost here, you are wondering? A very special day, a day when we become official homeowners. Tonight we have the walk through of the house to verify that everything is still ok and then Friday morning we head to the lawyer's office to close on our first home!! Don is so excited he already packed most of his clothes. He can't wait to move in and live with piles of boxes. He has forgotten about all the hard work ahead of us and is just looking forward to the house. I am trying to let his enthusiasm be contagious and not think about 12 hour days alone with two small children in the realm of chaos that will be our house for the first little bit.

But it is exciting to be able to finally call a place our home and to paint the walls. Although we are only painting two rooms to begin with, I already have a list of home improvement projects started. My mom is coming to help with things in two weeks once Don heads back to work. So hopefully in a month we will feel pretty settled. I know a lot of people can't wait to come try out the guest room, but remember there is only one bathroom for all of us.

We will try to post some pictures of our new home as soon as we get them. Maybe in the midst of painting this weekend Don can post some on the website. The internet should be ready to go by Friday and the modem supposedly arrived today. Things are moving along pretty quickly these days but I will try to catch up on some blogs in progress and to write one with a Jackie update since I haven't written about her lately. More to come soon on all fronts unless enthusiasm gets the better of me and I don't slow down to write updates.

~Tiffany

Ben's latest Stats

So we took Ben to his two month well baby visit on June 1. He has grown so much over the last month. He weighed 12 lbs 15.5 oz just over a week ago and was 22 3/4 inches long. That means that by now he is well over 13 lbs and will probably double his birth weight (7 lbs 9 oz) by  the end of his third month. And at that point he will probably weigh about half a Jackie. I think that is fairly impressive.

He also got the first full round of immunizations at his check up. He did his brave for each of the three needle pricks. He hardly cried, it was more of a "hey, that hurts people. Don't do it again." And then he was quiet. He had stopped crying after the last injection before I could even pick him up. 

And Ben is doing so well that we don't have to go back to the doctor until his four month well baby visit. 

Ben has also started smiling a lot. Those baby smiles are so wonderful and we also get wonderful little coos. Ben is also grabbing onto his toys and getting enjoyment out of them. He especially likes the little animal shaped chimes hanging on his basinet and laying on his back on the play-mat. Mirrors and lights also capture his attention for long periods of time. Ben is really starting to show us his sweet little personality and it is rewarding to see him blossoming.

~Tiffany

Photo Updates

Just to let everyone know there are new pictures up. Don was able to get them uploaded this weekend. There is one new gallery under the family tab and one under Ben's First Year. I am working on a couple of blog posts but haven't had much time to write on them the last few days. I will try to finish them soon.

~Tiffany

The Next Big Step

So we are about to take the next big step. We have the car, we have the kids (well at least two of however many there will eventually be), and soon we will have the house. That's right, we're buying a house! We put an offer on a house about two weeks ago and they accepted it outright without a counter offer. We were a little shocked that they did not counter but were very excited. The house inspection was last Tuesday and there were only a few things the inspector found that need to be fixed in the short term. So we will be moving on to the next step of the home buying process tomorrow night. We will sign the P&S (purchase and sale agreement) on Monday night and the closing will be in July. All in all the process has gone pretty well. There has been some of the requisite stress and there will probably be more before we close but we are really excited.

So I guess everyone would like a little information about the house itself. It was built in 1930 and is a cute "little" cape style house. The exterior is about the shade of green that we used in our wedding, just about the perfect shade for Don and me. The house has three bedrooms and an office. There is one bathroom that is downstairs and someday we will probably add a bath upstairs. There is a nice little vestibule with a coat closet that leads into the main living area. The living and dining rooms are open with a pellet stove in between them. The kitchen has been recently updated with nice cabinets and a Corian counter. There is tons of storage in the kitchen, I think there will be no problem fitting all my appliances in the kitchen pantry. I can't wait to start baking and cooking in my own kitchen. Just outside the kitchen in the hall is the little vintage telephone alcove. Across the hall are the steps upstairs and the door to the basement steps. There is also a linen closet in the hall and at the end of the hall is the bathroom with the office to the right and the guest room to the left. The master bedroom and the kids' room are upstairs with sky lights in each. The rooms follow the pitch of the roof so although they have nice floor space it is limited by the slant of the ceiling. There is a full basement where the laundry room is. Don's favorite feature is just outside the kitchen/back door: the Jacuzzi. My favorite feature is the cute little backyard. There is plenty of space for the kids to run around and still leave room for a small garden full of summer vegetables. There is no garden yet but that will be my project for next summer. At the back of the lot is a one car detached garage.

As soon as things are final with the house, we will post pictures. But we feel weird putting pictures of someone else's house and possessions on our website. We will however try to post a picture of the front of the house soon. However if you can not wait to see a few pictures of the interior then follow the link to the online listing of the property. Since the current owners posted those photos I don't feel quite as weird about sharing them.

We will keep everyone updated on the homebuying / moving process. We are very excited about where God is leading our family and what He is providing us with.

Ben's One Month Visit

Just a quick update on Ben. We had his one month Dr's visit on Monday. He now weighs 9 lbs 14 oz. Well really now he weighs more than 10 lbs because the other weight was from Monday and he grows more everyday. We saw the Dr. a calendar month before, so he was able to calculate how much weight Ben is gaining each day, he came up with a little over an ounce. I'm so proud of my growing boy. And everything else checked out ok as well. So we go back in a month for the first round of shots.

Amazing Ben

So as I was sitting in the living room writing the las post, Ben did something amazing! Don had just finished changing his diaper and decided to give Ben some tunny time ( only the second or third tummy time he has had). I sat watching him lifting his head up, which is the point of time spent on the belly, and he started to squirm a bit. All of a sudden he rolled himself up onto his side and I thought he was just going to chill there or maybe roll back onto his belly when he rolled the rest of the way over. You got it, Ben rolled over and he isn't even a month old yet!!!!! Ok so he will be a month old on Monday but he isn't that old yet and even if he was it is still amazing to roll over at a month old. He worked so hard on rolling over that he needed to eat so we have not tested to see if he can duplicate his feat, but I am sure he will be able to. He had rolled onto his side from his back earlier in the day so I bet he can roll from his tummy again.

All about Jackie

Jackie has been up to all of her normal stunts and added a few new ones in the weeks since we last had a post mainly about her. She is adding new words to her list (apple, shoe, bird, Ah-boo, pretty, yeah, probably some others that I can't remember) like Ben and no. And I know what you are thinking: here comes the endless barrage of "nos." But it is actually nice to receive an honest answer about what Jackie wants instead of yeah to everything whether she wants it or not. And so far Jackie doesn't say no to everything we ask her to do, just to some things. I think she likes the capability to express her discontent and so far has not abused the privilege of saying the word although I know at some point she probably will.

Jackie had a nice Easter with her cousins. Jackie went to an easter egg hunt the town of Norfolk had last Saturday. She had a blast running around the field at the end of the hunt with her basket. She however did not quite understand the purpose of the hunt. The field was divided into sections by age so that the older children would have a more challenging hunt than the younger children. The section for two and three year olds had little foil covered chocolate eggs literally all over the ground, you almost could not walk without stepping on one. Jackie would not pick up the eggs unless I was standing there telling her to pick it up and put it in her basket. I picked a few of the eggs up and put them in her basket thinking it would help her understand the object but it had no effect. I even handed her a piece of the chocolate to eat thinking it give her a little incentive, it didn't. But when she participated in the family Easter egg hunt on Sunday, she finally got the point and she did quite well collecting eggs. Although Papa, Uncle Anthony and Aunt Mary helped Jackie fill her basket a little bit before she finally understood about collecting the eggs. So we shared her found eggs with Kaelin who was too busy eating what she found in her eggs to pick up many. There should be pictures posted soon from Easter so you will be able to see Jackie hunting for her eggs.

On a slightly sad note, Jackie has an ear infection. It is only the second one she has had but it is still no fun. She has had a cold for about a week and had seemed to be getting better until Tuesday night. That was the worst night we have had in some time. We no sooner finally got Ben to sleep at 1 in the morning when Jackie woke up with screams. And nothing would console her. So Jackie ended up "sleeping" in our bed, we all got about two hours of sleep. So Wednesday morning Don called the doctor and I took both kids to the doctor by myself. It was our first outing alone. Jackie was such a big girl at the doctors office even though she didn't feel well. She followed all of my directions and held my hand in the parking lot so she could walk and not be carried. She was very grown up.

Because our trip to the doctor went so well, I felt brave enough to take Jackie to the park on Friday. The weather was a beautiful 70 degrees, which we haven't seen in MA since August or September of last year. And the town has a very nice playground with all sorts of toys. She was a little tentative at first but saw a ball and went over and picked it up and just stood there holding it, looking at all the kids playing. After a few minutes she decided it was safe to look around some. She found a little pail and carried it around as she explored the playscape. Jackie spent most of her time walking back and forth on the ramp of the playscape. I only got her to go down the slide twice even though she enjoyed it. She also had a nice time in the swing but didn't want to swing very long. She just enjoys being outside and running around and watching other kids.

One other cute thing that Jackie has done recently is that she has decided she needs a pillow when she sleeps. After sharing the room with Grandma in March around the time Ben was born, Jackie started wanting to sleep on the futon in that room with the pillow and the sheets pulled up over her. So Don and I went to Target and found a travel sized pillow for Jackie to use in her bed. So now at night Jackie lays down on her pillow and waits for us to put her blanket over her like a sheet and cuddles up with her puppy (woof-woof as Jackie now calls dogs) and a light-weight blanket and goes to sleep. I think as soon as we move, Jackie will move into a big girl bed. She is growing up so fast, it is hard to believe that just 20 months ago she was as little as Ben is now.

I think this gets everyone up to date on Jackie's escapades of late. I'll try to start having a few posts every now and then that focus on just one child and what they have been up to lately. Hopefully I will be able to actually accomplish this.

~Tiffany

Life since Ben came home

We have had a busy three weeks since Benjamin came home from the hospital, but they have been a mostly good three weeks. I sat down a week ago to write this post and then Jackie woke up from her nap and I am just now getting back to the post. 

Life with a second child is definitely different and crazier than life with one child. And I think it is a harder transition to two children from one than it is from no children to one. Jackie has for the most part been very good with Ben. She spent the first week mostly just fascinated by his feet and hands, and she understands she needs to be gentle with him. Even if she doesn't always remember exactly how soft gentle always is. Jackie has become more loving toward Ben as he gets older: she likes to give him hugs and kisses and likes to "hold" him. When Jackie holds Ben she wants his bum resting in her lap but she is too little to understand the need to hold any other part of him, like his head, so I hold the top half of him so she can pat his head or touch his hands while she "holds" Ben. It is pretty cute. This week she has also started giving Ben kisses and hugs on a pretty regular basis.

Whenever Ben cries, Jackie points to him, looks at me and generally says Ben although Jackie's "Ben" does not have a hard "n" sound at the end. If we are in anther room than Ben when he starts to make noise she runs toward the room he is in while doing the above. She wants to make sure I can hear him and will take care of whatever he needs. She does not like to hear him fuss. And yesterday (4/17) when we were getting ready to leave the house, Ben started crying in his car seat and Jackie tried to put his pacifier in his mouth. Mind you she was holding the nipple and trying to put the other end in his mouth but it was pretty cute. It was also the first time Jackie seemed to understand what the pacifier was for and use it appropriately. Before then Jackie was just fascinated by it because she hasn't seen a pacifier since she was three or four months old. So she would pluck it out of Ben's mouth or grab it from wherever we left it and look at it or stick it in her mouth.

I'm sure everyone would like to know what the progression of Ben's weight has been. He was born at 7lbs 9oz and was discharged from the hospital at 6lbs 15oz. That Monday we had a visiting nurse come and she weighed him at 7lbs 1oz and on Wed. at 7lbs 2.5oz. Thursday Ben had his first pediatrician visit and they weighed him at 7lbs 3.5oz. Two weeks later (or the Wed. before Easter) Ben was weighed again at the hospital when he went for his "procedure" and he was a whopping 8lbs 5oz. That made all the sleepless nights a little more tolerable. I am so thankful that breastfeeding is going more smoothly than it did with Jackie. It has been nice to spend the first month mostly at home and not in and out of the Dr's office and the hospital like we did with Jackie.

And Jackie and I are getting a little more used to life with just us and Ben during the day. The very first day the three of us spent alone was fairly traumatic for Jackie and I, Jackie especially had a rough time. But we have sorted life out and Jackie is getting more patient and I am getting better at doing things for Jackie while Ben is eating (which seems to be most of the time). We even made it out of the house a couple of times in the last week. I think I am finally getting the hang of being a mother of two and Jackie is getting the hang of being a big sister. Now if we could just get a little more sleep all around life would be good.

~Tiffany

New photos of Ben!

Hi Everyone! Check http://www.fleaandcompany.com/Photography/20090329_Ben2/index.html for more Ben photos. Ben's gaining weight and doing well, although it seems like he wants to eat every hour. Tiffany is feeling mostly better at this point, apart from lack of sleep. I have video to post; hopefully I'll get to it in the not-too-distant future!

Don

Benjamin Richard

Hi everyone! We are proud to announce the arrival of Benjamin Richard. He was born at 9:28am this morning, weighing 7 pounds 9.3 ounces and 20.5 inches long. He's a good sleeper and a good eater so far. I've posted some photos at the link below. http://www.fleaandcompany.com/Photography/20090320_Ben1/index.html Take care! Don & Tiffany (and Jackie and Ben)

The really long, really overdue update

So life has been a little crazy since the last post at the beginning of December. I really did mean to get an update on here shortly after the start of the new year, but a lot has happened in those short weeks gone by. Don has been better than I and has already updated the photos with several new galleries. To start from where the last post left off:

Russell and Joanna's Wedding in Texas

Jackie was an amazing traveler to Texas and back, just like always. US Airways lost Jackie's carseat and my suitcase with her dress in it on the way to TX, and as my luck would have it, they lost the same bag on my way home. Yep you read it correctly lost bags both ways. Luckily for us the bags were found and delivered to us within just a couple of days each time. 

On to the more exciting portion of the trip, the wedding itself. Jackie was as you know a flower girl and she was fantastic. During the rehearsal she actually performed the task quite well. Jackie was handing the petals from her basket to a few people near the stage. But her performance at the wedding itself was quite cute. She first of all wanted to head down the aisle before all the bridesmaids instead of waiting her turn. Since she wasn't allowed to do that, she ended up carrying her snack trap full of puffs down the aisle instead of her flower basket. She still ended up running down most of the way before stopping to tell her Daddy hello and to hold up the progress of the other children. Savannah, the other flower girl, was a little annoyed when Jackie stopped right in front of her and wouldn't move. After surveying the crowd a bit, Jackie finally made it up the steps of the stage where she roamed throughout the first half of the ceremony. She ate her puffs and smiled and chatted and even pulled on her uncle's leg to try to get him to pick her up. It was a very adorable scene. The last part of the ceremony she sat with her grandparents and behaved as well as can be expected.

We had a nice visit with my family and as best as we can tell Russell and Joanna are now happily married. They have survived the honeymoon on a small boat in the middle of a lake so the rest should be easy, right? Of course the honeymoon probably isn't over for those two yet. And by the way, when's the baby coming?

Christmas with the Foster Clan

Two days after returning home to MA from TX began the family Christmas experience. When we returned on Sunday, Anthony was already up from VA. Mary and her gang came in on Wed. (Christmas eve) and Christmas had officially started, so had 10 people living under one roof with 2 1/2 baths and four bedrooms. Space was a little tight but everyone is still alive and all of us are on speaking terms. So I think it was a success. 

Christmas eve we had a nice family dinner with pasta and seafood in the Italian tradition and tamales in rice and beans in the Texas tradition. After dinner, Don, Jackie, and I went to evening Mass with Anthony. It was nice driving to church with snow along the way. The choir was very nice for the Christmas Eve service and Jackie couldn't resist dancing along with the music. When the music is playing Jackie has got to groove. By the time we arrived back home on the house had pretty much settled down for the night. It is nice to enter a peaceful house after a reflective Christmas Mass.

Charlie woke everyone up for Christmas morning and he gave us all a nice gift by not getting up at 5 am. Present time was a little chaotic just because of the sheer number of people all gathered into a single room already filled by the tree and presents. It was difficult to watch everyone opening presents because there was so much activity, but it was a nice family time spent together and no one opened the wrong gifts. 

The week of Christmas was a nice time spent with family and three young children enjoying each other. Jackie is so cute with her cousins running around the house together.

Life since Christmas

Life since Christmas has been a bit of a blur. It has taken over a month for me just to get this update typed and posted. I started to write in the beginning of January and it is now the beginning of March. Some of the delay in getting this post up is that in the middle of January we moved Jackie into the room with the computer. So nap time, when I used to write posts, is no longer a good time to update everyone since Jackie is trying to sleep. She is doing very well in a room by herself and only woke up in the middle of the night the first couple of nights she slept alone. Now she sleeps a solid 10 to 11 hours each night. And I still get at least one good nap time in a day. Lets hope that survives the new baby disrupting her life.

Jackie is still the little dancing queen. She is still dancing at church and to pretty much any music that itches her need to groove. And she has some pretty fancy moves these days, she just keeps refining her style. Don is working on getting the video uploaded to his computer so he can begin editing and posting it to the site. There are some nice clops of Jackie's dancing he will put together for everyone's enjoyment. We'll let you know when he gets it up, but it probably won't be until after the baby is born. 

As for the little baby, things are still going well. I have fallen three times this pregnancy and been ok each time. It is pretty amazing though that the baby hasn't gotten tired of the bumpy ride yet. We keep thinking this baby is going to come anytime now, but it seems to want to come closer to its due date and make sure mama has plenty of time to get everything done. Well after I post this, everything I wanted to get done will be done. And since the little baby didn't come with the snow storm last weekend, it would be nice if it would come with the 60 degree temps this weekend. I am tired of being pregnant; I did the math and I have been pregnant nearly 20 months of the last 28 months. That is well over half and I want to have my body back to me.

We will let everyone know as soon as possible all the details of the little baby's entrance to the world. That is if the little baby ever decides to show us its pretty baby face.

I guess for now that is all I can remember I wanted to update everyone on. Hopefully there will be more exciting news to post soon. And if I get bored before this baby shows up I will post a list of Jackie's words. Until the next post (hopefully it won't be three months from now).

~Tiffany (March 6, 2009)