Life After The Army » benton

So far… so good

Charlotte — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 21:43:46 +0000

Andi has been at her new job almost a week now and she really likes what she’s doing. She says it’s so much better than the last place she worked at.

It’s not quite what she was doing in the Army as a medic but it’s the closest thing she could find. The 12 hour days aren’t too awful bad either.

The best part is that she isn’t smoking much at all. The hospital does not allow it’s employees to smoke anywhere on the hospital grounds.. even in their own cars.

Benton has gotten used to her and Drew not being here for hours and hours and is almost a pleasure to be with all day long.

Snuggle Time

Charlotte — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 00:34:17 +0000

Andi got a job as an ER Tech in the local hospital. Her 1st 12 hour shift started today. She’s working 11am to 11pm. I’m babysitting Benton. Drew would be doing that but he works 5pm to 5am at a towing company.

Getting Benton to sleep tonight was so much easier than I thought it would be. We started with snuggle time, which involves a cup of milk, his blankie, binkie and “big blankie”. Usually Andi has to have some piano music ready to play (which puts him out within a song or two) but I didn’t need that because he was out like a light within 5 minutes of starting snuggle time.

Andi works tomorrow and Thursday then she’s off for 3 days. It’s 3 12 hour shifts a week. She’s thrilled to be working in the ER because it’s the closest thing to what she did when she was deployed in Iraq.

Now I have some time to myself before she gets home from work. Benton is sound asleep, Drew and Andi are at work and I can get some posts and other things done. I’ll probably get off the computer after the posts are done and just read and watch TV.

This is going to be nice!!

It’s been almost 3 weeks now

Charlotte — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 18:38:59 +0000

Andi and the baby are finally coming home from Texas. They are leaving there on Thursday. They will have been gone 3 weeks tomorrow. I really miss them and can’t wait to see them… especially Benton. As much as that little boy gives me a headache sometimes I can’t wait until he comes in the door.

It’s been quiet here and I really do enjoy my peace and quiet but I can’t wait for a little noise again. I can’t really call JoJo’s meowing at times noise… she’s just talking or voicing her opinion.

The silence is deafening

Charlotte — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 17:50:25 +0000

Andi and Benton are still in Texas. Andi doesn’t know exactly when she’ll be back. It’s gotten to the point where I’m not really enjoying the peace and quiet anymore. I miss them both.

Benton is having a blast going to the park/playground though. It’s good for him to get outside and play. He loves the swings and running around. Andi put up pictures on Facebook and it looks like he’s grown in the time they’ve been gone.

I hope they come back soon. I know they won’t be here long when they do come back. Drew should be with them and they will be moving to Pennsylvania with his dad. They could stay here if I had more than a one bedroom condo.

What’s been going on

Charlotte — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 22:29:47 +0000

I haven’t posted a lot. That’s because I just haven’t felt like it. I don’t know if I’m losing interest in blogging or what.

A lot has been going on in my life and not a lot of it has been good and I don’t want to keep on whining about it here.

I did have a job interview on Monday and was told they would make a decision in the next day or two. Evidently I wasn’t chosen, again, because it’s now Friday at 5:30 PM and I haven’t gotten a call. I still have money problems and really need to get my car registration renewed. It was due the end of December and I haven’t had the cash to get it done yet.

The weather has been so cold and snowy, worse than last year. Today was warm but very, very windy and we had thunderstorms with heavy rain and hail.

Kris came up for a visit, from South Carolina, this past weekend and may be moving back to Jersey soon. He came up to try to find a job in Auto Glass, which is what he does in South Carolina.

My oldest son turned 37 yesterday and that makes me feel really, really old.

Andi and Benton left yesterday for a trip to Texas. Her fiancée is down there in the Army. I just got a text from her and they are in Mississippi right now. She got stuck in traffic in Virginia yesterday and went about 15 in 2 hours time. She stopped for the night in North Carolina and has been driving since 5:30 this morning.

Disaster area

Charlotte — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 18:34:29 +0000

My place is a disaster area right now or at least it should be declared one. I have a 17 month old disaster making machine running around all day causing chaos. I’m so worn out from chasing him around and trying to keep him out of things he shouldn’t be getting into. I swear I need to find a way to fit myself with rechargeable batteries so I can just keep going like the Energizer bunny.

Every time I turn my back Benton knocks over my chair, in front of the computer, and pulls open the drawer and takes my calculator and runs away with it. He seems to think that everything is his and he can take whatever he wants. Boy is he going to be shocked when he finally figures out that everything in the world doesn’t belong to him.

He’s a terror

Charlotte — Sun, 23 Jan 2011 01:40:02 +0000

Benton is becoming a little terror. He climbs up on the coffee table and no matter how many times you take him off and tell him no he just climbs right back up again and again. He gets behind the curtains on the sliding door and I swear one day he’s going to climb right up the curtains and use the curtain rod for a pull up bar.

He’s starting to get temper tantrums and fights Andi when she’s trying to get him to sleep. He’s started to smack at her and pull her hair. All we can say is the it’s a good thing he’s cute.

Now don’t get me wrong.. he’s not like this 24/7. He’s a sweetheart most of the times. He just has his moments where you just have to say “grrrrr”.

He wears me out

Charlotte — Sun, 28 Nov 2010 21:45:20 +0000

I’m talking about Benton. He wears us out. He is just a ball of energy.. constantly on the move and getting into trouble. I sure don’t need any muscle building supplements… all I have to do is lift Benton’s 25 lbs several times a day! He’s 15 months old now and is really getting heavy.

He’s such a cutie pie too and getting really smart. He’s got his bottom two molars coming in and it’s affecting his sleep. Andi will put him down at night and he’ll wake up within 10 to 15 minutes and be ready to play again. That’s getting old real quick.. haha. He’s not really a picky eater at all. He eats just about everything you put in front of him. The only thing he doesn’t really like is rice.

Benton is a climber too. He constantly climbs on the couch and tries to climb on the coffee table. We have to keep the stairs going both upstairs and downstairs blocked off to keep him from either climbing or falling up/down the stairs. He’s a real handful but we love him and think we’ll keep him!

Benton is so funny

Charlotte — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 21:44:23 +0000

Benton now walks around the house (actually runs) waving his arms and babbling away in his own language. He tries to say E I E I O from Old Mc Donald had a farm. He says all but the O. He also runs around saying “liddle, liddle, liddle”.

He’ll stand in the middle of the floor babbling away with his hands out to his side and up. He looks like he’s giving a speech. He’s such a little character. He keeps us laughing.

He’s walking

Charlotte — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 17:32:17 +0000

Benton started walking almost three weeks ago. He looks so cute toddling around and waving his arms all over the place. Andi bought him a toy to help him walk for his birthday and just 2 days later he was walking on his own. That toy converts into a riding toy that almost looks like a miniature atv. Now he just needs to learn how to push along with his feet.

He lifts his feet when someone pushes him on it. It’s so cute!! The toy has a little “trunk” in the front that opens and he can put a small toy inside it. It also has spinning toys on it and even a “gear shifter” too. He’s growing up so quick. It’s hard to believe he’s over a year old now.