Benson's Business

One Active April

2010-05-02T17:03:00.000-07:00

I HATE blogger right now. Sorry this update the pics are all over and I don't have the time or patience to redo the whole thing. Anyways... a lot happened during the month of April.
Our Hughie is crawling and starting to pull up on things. He loves his new scooter toy that he loves to just sit on. He is also running around the house in his walker and saying na na, ga ga, and da da. He has been teething forever but still no teeth! One became visible the other day and then his gums swelled up over it again. He has been so good during the process, so we can't complain.

This is the start of our 20x15 garden that we have been having fun prepping the land for.

We are hoping to start planting in another week or two.
We took a fun trip to Wisconsin to visit good friends from our island days. Between the three couples there are now 4.5 kids which made the trip extra fun. Below you see our friends sweet little boy Metz reading to Hughie. The strange part is that I use to be the one reading Metz stories when we lived on the island almost two years ago..yikes!

Here are the babies that we all had since the island days....what a cute bunch.

Our friends were so kind to make a delicious cake to celebrate Paul's birthday. The magical kitchen of my pal Kimi came back to life after a short hiatus where she taught me how to basically cook (God bless her!)

This is a pic of Hughie during the 8 hour road trip during a 1 hour traffic jam driving through Chicago.

Here is evidence of our cute mobile monster:)

This is my new $5 yard sale find that Hughie is in love with and is also pictured above b/c I can't figure out how to delete it...rrr! Sorry for the mess of a post! We hope everyone is healthy and enjoying Spring as much as we are...until next month;)

March Madness

2010-04-04T16:08:00.000-07:00

Sorry the pictures are all out of order. They will make more sense after reading the text below. I've decided it's not worth loosing my temper over trying to fix it today:) Sleep deprivation has effected my level of patience these days..lol.

March has come and gone very quickly but was an amazing time developmentally for our Hugh. He has grown so much over the past month and in our opinion has gotten cuter and smarter. He is pseudo-crawling backwards now. He will get on all fours, throw his butt into the air and walk his hands backwards once or twice before coming back down onto his belly. It is kind of sad to see him on his tummy wanting to move to a toy that is just out of his reach for him only to move further away from it. He is steam rolling all over the living room floor from one corner to the next in lightening speeds. He will pick up and put EVERYTHING into his mouth and his first real sound combo was NA NA. The funny thing is that Nana is what we call Blake's mom and when he gets on a NA NA rampage Blake will yell out, "yeah Hughie, I want Nana too:)"

Hughie loves to pull up on our hands so that he can stand and makes all kinds of cooing and awwing sounds. His tickle spots that get him belly laughing are his inner thighs and middle of his back. Paul loves making him laugh. He is turning into quite the boy and already likes to "rough house" a little with Paul. The coolest thing he just started doing yesterday was initiating peek a boo! I have a video I have posted recently on my facebook page of him in action.

This past weekend Paul's parents came to town and we took a day trip to Kirtland Ohio to visit a church historical site. The weather was amazing and the experience was spiritually strengthening for all of us as well. To keep up with the tradition of transforming our son into a holiday animal, Paul's mother gave Hugh his own set of bunny ears.

I thought that the last picture really shows just how big our baby has gotten. Paul's mom bought him this super cute summer romper and it is the size for an 18 month old...YIKES!!! We think he will start leaning out a little now that he has just started running around in his walker and jumping in his "Johnny Jump Up"

That's all for now:)

PS- Springtime rules!!!

2010-03-10T14:38:00.000-08:00

We are SO happy to say adios to February! Our AZ trip was absolutely magical. The beautiful warm sun was like a drug I couldn’t get enough of, so I extended my stay to almost 2 weeks and Paul came down for the last few days to experience the happiness that comes from the warm sun. Hughie and I went for many strolls through various places including the Zoo and a few different parks. It was foreign to not have to dress in a million layers and I enjoyed sporting flip flops and short sleeves.

Hughie’s first zoo trip with his cousins was a lot of fun. He looked so cute in his floppy hat that his aunt KT got him that matched his cousin George. I think I had more fun this zoo trip but I am sure the next one Hughie will be more into all the animals.

Hughie sat in his first swing at the railroad park and road his first train with my best bud Brittany and her little guy Ty. Hughie is just growing so fast it’s CRAZY. He has become a good little eater and doesn't discriminate against any food except peas so far. He loves to play in his saucer and put everything in his mouth. He is still toothless for the time being and enjoys putting on vocal performances every morning in his crib when he wakes up. He is definitely a morning person like the rest of us. He is SO close to sitting on his own and does a funny wiggle worm move on all fours to get just out of reach toys.

School is going good for Paul, he is just so ready for the semester to end. I am trying to start some craft-like projects since I have always had a craft handicap but the spring cleaning bug has taken a hold of me and I have most recently reorganized all our food storage…exciting huh..lol! We are both looking forward to spring and getting the chance to get out of the house more.

January PA Trip

2010-01-31T13:14:00.000-08:00

Wow. January has felt like a very long and cold month. I started to have a small seasonal depressive episode caused by a record number of days without any sign of sun. Paul prescribed a road trip to mom-mom and pop-pop's to shake me out of my funk and it worked:) PA had blue skies each day we were there which was a nice change.

It was great seeing Paul's parents again and to see how Hugh is starting to recognize their faces and voices. We played around in Harrisburg one day and stopped in at my favorite Amish run store for some out of control baked goods. It feels good to be home again and now I only have 10 days until Hugh and I fly to AZ to soak up some serious rays and get to meet cousins and aunties.

Our little Hugh has started doing some pretty fun stuff in the past few weeks. Along with laughing he has discovered his feet, enjoys turning pages during bed-time stories and sitting with the support of a pillow. He will furiously chew on his fingers as we can see his front teeth trying to make there way to the surface. He now enjoys eating rice cereal mixed with fruit. Pears are his favorite so far. He continues to become more vocal and he is wearing 12 month size clothing to accommodate his massive thighs. He grabs all his toys with both hands and puts them on a one way track to his mouth.

Here is a video of Hughie's debut of sitting up on his own. Pay attention for the bonus at the end of the video - he must of had enough pears!

Christmas 2009

2010-01-11T11:42:00.000-08:00

We can't believe the holidays have already come and gone. We had a lot of fun at the Benson Manor in Selinsgrove, PA where we got to catch up with aunt Liz, aunt Megan, and got to meet the "some day" uncle Adrian. We took a day trip to visit extended family in Delaware and the weather was so nice during our entire stay in both places. It was really nice to have multiple sunny days in a row that we don't get a lot of in Ohio.

Trip highlights included Hughie taking his first rolls, eating his first bites of rice cereal, and getting dressed in a reindeer outfit (compliments of mom mom). Paul got to eat some scrapple, Blake did some fun thrift store shopping with her sister-in-laws and we both got stuck in stand still traffic for 3 freakin hours on our way back home. Blake, Megan, and Elizabeth started on some original 90's hip hop cheography while Pop Pop perfected his moon walk and snake. All in all it was a fantastic trip :)

Over the past few days our not so little Hugh has started doing something so great that we are so excited about....he is laughing. The best part is that he laughs as a response to being scared. Kinda messed up, but he is so cute when he does it. He also officially loves his super soft blanket (now called "smoothie") when he naps. Here's his laughing debut......

November fun

2009-12-02T10:59:00.000-08:00

Well, another month has flown by bringing more laughter and joy in our little home. We feel so grateful to be where we are and to have a healthy little boy who is pretty cute too. Little Hugh has really come to life this month and is cooing, smiling, and discovering his hands and feet. He has finally started sleeping in his crib and solidifying more of a sleep and nap schedule which has made our lives a little easier.

We had a great Thanksgiving holiday with Paul's parents who are now just a 4 hour drive away. It is so great to be close to some family again but we are still missing the rest of our family in AZ , UT, and WA. Luckily, the Christmas holiday will bring a few more family members to PA to celebrate together.

We just bought Hugh this exersaucer and he is quite enamoured with all of the toys on it. I can't believe that he is already big enough to even sit in it...yikes!

Home Bodies

2009-10-24T07:39:00.000-07:00

So Paul and I broke down and decided to get some good pics of our little Hugh by a real photographer. I realize that I am so lucky to have Paul at home helping out so much. He is such a great daddy and gets to spend so much quality time with us every day. I need to remember this when I think we are ready to have another one that it will not be nearly as easy b/c Paul will not be around nearly as much to change diapers, burp, and give me frequent sleeping breaks. I really do not know how single parents can do this on their own.

We have been hunkering down in the colder weather and staying indoors while getting to know our new bundle of joy. He has been such a good baby so far but will not sleep in his crib yet. After all the baby and parenting books I read during my pregnancy I was convinced I was going to take a more structured take on parenting but it is becoming quit the opposite. I CAN NOT stand to hear him cry for more than one second and give in and pick him up.

So far at nine weeks of age he is starting to crack the most beautiful smiles at us and the other night he started laughing in his sleep. We are a little worried b/c he has already started fighting his sleep and I am seeing future days of a bigger Hugh running in circles until he drops to the floor in utter exhaustation to get to sleep. He was going through a colicky phase but after making some changes in my diet he is doing a lot better.

On Sunday October 18th Paul gave little Hugh his church blessing with both sets of grandparents in attendance. It was a special day and little Hugh looked so cute in his white outfit borrowed from his cousin Reeves. We are already looking forward to the fun days that lie ahead once he reaches future milestones but we are trying to remember to enjoy him now and live in the moment.

Long Overdue

2009-08-28T17:43:00.000-07:00

It's been 8 months since our last post and I am vowing to friends and family to post a new update with pics at least every month. A lot has happened since our last post. We have moved twice and Paul has transferred med schools. We are now living in rural northeastern Ohio just 45 minutes south of Cleveland. We found a cute little house to rent and start our family in.

We celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary in August and welcomed our first little boy Hugh Maxwell Benson on September 4th at 9pm. He weighed in at 8lbs 8ounces and 21 inches long. Labor went fast and was fairly painless (thanks to the miracle of the epidural), and like I have heard almost everyone say, it was all worth it. We feel so blessed to have a healthy and well tempered baby and can't believe how much he has grown in just 5 weeks.

Being parents is even better than we imagined and we are already so proud of him over things like his excellent ability to pass gas and belch like a grown man and the sweet little farm like animal sounds he makes when he is half asleep.

Paul is back to being a full time student and I am calling myself a trophy wife and mother (lol). I am so glad that I don't have to go back to work b/c I could not imagine leaving little Hugh for more than an hour or two:) Fall is definitly here and the leaves are changing and there is a strong chill in the air. We are so happy to be in the same home for almost 3 years before our next move.

2009-01-02T17:27:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!

2009 started very differently for us this year. I had to take Paul to the ER at midnight on the 1st but not before having to pull over twice so he could puke. They found 5 kidney stones in his kidneys. Poor guy was in a lot of pain until the numerous pain med injections took effect. This makes two ER visits for Paul since we have been married. We are now laying low at home while Paul enjoys a consistent vicadin trip until he can hopefully pass all the stones on his own and soon.

Besides taking care of my Paulie, I was so excited that we got our furnace fixed today! Now I don't have to keep my scarf and jacket on inside anymore..yeah. It was hard getting on the plane in AZ following our fun quick holiday trip to come back to the arctic, I mean Michigan. I am still working with the same social service agency and teaching dance at night and the past few days off have been wonderful.

I have decided not to make any New Years resolutions this year and then maybe I could actually follow through with the ones I "make" every year..lol. Paul has told himself he isn't going to drink one soda the entire year...any bids on how long he will last?

Best wishes to everyone in the new year! Go Utes !!!!!

2008-10-19T09:27:00.000-07:00

Enough said.

October Fun

2008-10-05T17:06:00.000-07:00

We can't believe it's already October! The signs of fall are all around us as the temps start to drop and the colors on all the trees are changing. We have been discovering more of the fun things to do in the tri-city area here in Michigan and are liking it more and more. Paul is enjoying the hospital here and I got a new social work job doing family counseling in Flint ...yes, Flint. I am still teaching dance in the evenings as well. We got a newly used 2003 Subaru Outback and love having a family wagon minus the family...lol! Paul's parents have been in town and we had a lot of fun with them spending time in Frankenmuth, Michigan that is a true German town through and through. We ate lunch at a restaurant where all the waiters were wearing Leederhosen and toured a family run cider mill. We hope everyone is enjoying the change of seasons as much as we are.

September in Michigan

2008-09-15T18:58:00.001-07:00

Hello friends and family!

Just thought I would update everyone on what we have been up to in Michigan. Well, once Paul got to NC I drove the entire way to Michigan but not before we stopped for the night in Cincinnati and got to participate in a sweet Obama rally. It was so much fun until the fire alarm went off at midnight in our hotel where we were sleeping on the 21st floor. Holy never ending staircase...I have never ran down so many stairs in my life. Everything was fine though.

As we drove up to our new place that we had never seen before it definitely felt like Christmas in September. We got inside and did the whole screaming and jumping around thing for a few minutes to take it all in. Going from 250 square feet in Dominica to a fully loaded 1,250 square feet with all the amenities of this blessed country was a little overwhelming but in a good way. Needless to say we love our new place and never want to leave it unless it is for something even better.

I am teaching dance 4 nights a week and am waiting for my temporary social work license paperwork to get processed before I can start a social work job. Paul started at the hospital today and has a big test tomorrow he is gearing up for. He says he finally feels like a real medical school student now that he can be in a real hospital and is really happy. We like our church ward and so far have not been approached about any callings. However, I have already been cornered into teaching Relief Society in two weeks but worse things could happen I guess. All of the members are so kind and a bunch of the guys are med students, residents, and fellow docs and have given Paul a lot of advice and support already. We are both so grateful for the instant family the church always provides wherever we go!

All is well at this home-front for now!

Livin' it up with my mooie

2008-08-22T12:12:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone,

As some of you know I have been living with my mom in NC for the past 2 weeks while I wait for my Paul to come and meet me soon. I have been enjoying living in the USA again and have been over indulging myself in almost everything. My mom took me to a concert at the Biltmore Estate in NC the other night and we had a blast. I forgot how hard the beach boys can rock, even though they are in their 60's. Watching all the old people groovin' to the music was sweet! Other highlights have included, TCBY, shopping, movie theatres, central A/C, and a comfortable bed. I already really miss hanging out on the beach and swimming with the billions of fish oh and my husband of course. I am excited for him to get here so he can enjoy some parts of the lifestyle again.

I got a job teaching dance again in Michigan and so I have been taking some ballet classes to brush up on the lingo and stuff. The classes have been kicking my butt and I have a greater appreciation of the amazing talent I use to have and things I could make my body do.

More to come....

Update-kinda

2008-07-10T10:19:00.000-07:00

Wow! we have not been very good about keeping this updated so here's an update.

We are still living in Dominica. Paul's still studying 24/7. Hmm... I guess too much hasn't really changed. I got to go to NC to see my entire family and had a blast for two weeks. My parents rented a huge barn that was converted into a cool house in the true country of Western NC. The mountains were absolutely stunning and so green. Highlights from the trip included tubbing in the massive rivers, riding crazy rides at Ghost Town in the Sky amusement park, and of course catching fire flies at night with all my nieces and nephews. It was really hard for me to leave everyone to come back to this island but we only have 46 days left so I am TRYING to have a more positive attitude. I started my summer community reading program again yesterday and ESL classes starting again tonight so the time I am hoping will fly by.

Paul found out he was accepted to complete his next semester in Michigan which was a very competitive hospital to land. Everyone is really proud of him and all his hard work is starting to pay off. I have been job and apt hunting in the area we are going and that is fun but often frustrating.

A fun tidbit- when I went into town today I was walking outside and my skirt totally flew over my head turning a lot of other people's heads if you know what I mean. I was totally embarrassed and some guy yelled at me for wearing a short skirt(which actually almost covers my knees completely) on a windy island.

We hope everyone is feelin' Irie!

To our Mothers

2008-05-11T12:53:00.001-07:00

Try JibJab Sendables!

What is Love?

2008-04-19T11:26:00.000-07:00

Last night for my b-day dinner Blake decided she would go way out of her comfort zone. Believe it or not she prepared and cooked fresh fish, Mahi Mahi, which was caught in the local bay.

The picture above shows what a wonderful job she did. I wanted to get Blake in the picture but at that moment she was spraying Lysol into the back of two fans throughout the apartment in an attempt to dampen the smell. This was probably the toughest thing she has ever done. She has an aversion to seafood like no one else. She told me I better document this event because 1.) nobody will believe it and 2.) it will never happen again!

She is amazing. I love her.

Church Service Project

2008-04-11T11:16:00.000-07:00

My parents church in AZ got the children involved in collecting and boxing basic school supplies to ship to the island to donate to a local school. The school supplies on the island are of poor quality are very limited and expensive. Many Dominican children will miss days or weeks of school because they do not have a pencil and cannot attend w/o one. The kids and teachers in this small farming village of "t-baud" (t-bow) were so excited to receive the supplies and letters that the children from AZ wrote for them. I was talking to all the kids about what they want to be when they grow up and my favorite response came from this beautiful tall and thin girl who shouted, "The Chief of Police!" I tried to instill some hope in them by encouraging them to work hard in school to accomplish their dreams even though their reality will make this extremely difficult for them. Dominica is unfortunately a land of very limited opportunity.

a taste of my skills

2008-04-11T10:48:00.000-07:00

So, I feel like this link to my last performance needs a little bit of an explaination. As most of you know I am (was) a classically trained dancer and wasn't too bad at it. Here on the island I have missed dancing so much so I finally went stir crazy and joined whatever dance groups I could. One was a tribal belly dancing class I took for just a month and then performed and then the universities Black Student Association was kind enough to let me work it out a little with them. The university had it's first culture carnival talent show so I got a chance to perform in front of a couple hundred medical students and faculty. Although this is not my typical performance style I came out of it learning the basics of belly dancing(which is a lot harder than it looks!) and a newer hip hop move I didn't know called the "dutty wine." It was a lot of fun performing again eventhough my belly is not as fabulous as it once was. Enjoy:)

My Haitian Friends

2008-03-30T16:24:00.000-07:00

Myself along with two other spouses in our church started teaching adult ESL classes in our church building twice a week. We started the classes in September and have had about 50 Haitians regularly attend. They are working very hard and have made a lot of progress. I teach the beginning class and they are lots of fun. My favorite lesson was when I taught the body parts and then taught them the hokey pokey. I had everyone get up and make a big circle and follow along. A lot of them wanted to write the song down so they could teach there children. There was a lot of laughter that day:)

The "grab a root" hike

2008-03-26T16:24:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I organized a group hike to this crazy not very well known hike on the island. The hike starts at the top of a very high cliff and you have to climb down the cliff to get to the beach where there is a beautiful waterfall that falls right onto the sand. It was a pretty scary hike down because there are no harnesses, just some rocks, a few random ropes, and roots of trees to use to keep you from plummeting to your death! Although it was very hard it felt like such an accomplishment and getting to play under the waterfall and in the ocean was a good break between scaling the cliff. I was really grateful that the cliff was draped with thick trees and forest ferns that often masked the full view of the several 100 foot drop. Our guide that drove and hiked down with us was kind enough to break open some fresh coconut for everyone to snack on. It was a nice sweet treat.

Espwa Donmnik (Hope Dominica)

2008-03-26T15:53:00.000-07:00

Both Paul and I are members of the Ross student group Friends of Espwa Donmnik which is creole (the national language) for Hope Dominica. It is a palliative and hospice care group that is also a branch off of the national non-profit group Espwa Donmnik. I am the education coordinator on the executive board and have been staying busy organizing events and programs for this very new group. I just finished running a student and faculty raffle to raise money to buy a morphine pump for the hospital. The group was able to form a partnership with the government that if the group provides the hospital with the pump, then the government will be able to supply the morphine. Supposedly liquid morphine is very cheap, but the pumps are over 1,000 US dollars a piece! One of the faculty physicians at Ross is trying to open a palliative/hospice care wing in the hospital and having morphine pumps will be a great start. The island has morphine only in pill form and is very limited. I just finished the raffle and am now working on the actual ordering and shipping of the pump to the island.

Once a month the group offers a community volunteer program where students and "spouses" (b/c that is all I am here!) to visit both the island's nursing home and elderly people who are home bound and living alone through a coordinator from the Catholic Church. Paul and I have really enjoyed going on these visits. Dominicans currently have the most centurions in the world! The oldest woman living on the island is 109! There is something to be said about eating fresh food off the land and having to walk everywhere. The people here are extremely healthy and look so much younger than they always are. They always have so much wisdom to share with us:)

A Year Already?

2008-03-23T11:36:00.000-07:00

We have done a horrible job of keeping everyone posted on our adventures so we have decided to try, again, to improve over the next 5 months.

Dominica has been a great place that we have really enjoyed and we want to share it with all of you!!!

Keep checking back for the updates that we hope to add soon. We will also try our best to add some posts that detail some the our most memorable moments on the island.