Benny

Our dog, Benny, has been with us since just two years after we got married.  We adopted him the day after we bought our first house.  He was there as we moved in…

…(don’t worry, we replaced that carpet).  He was there as we remodeled…

  

He was there when we got our fist kitten…

He was there when we sold our first house…

He was there for road trips…

…and camping trips…

  

He was there when we bought our new house…

…and when we lost our new house.

  He was there to help Michala with tummy-time…

…and Adam with outside-time…

…and me with workshop-time…

He was there for walks…

He was there for comfort…

He was there for Christmas…

 

And he was there this morning…

…but now he is not.  Today we had to make the difficult decision to have Benny put to sleep.  It will take a long time to get used to life without him.

Rest in peace, Benny.

A Quick Recap

I realize that it’s been a little over a YEAR since I last posted.  What can I say, life got away from me and the blog got put on the back burner.  Here’s a *quick* recap of what’s happened here in the Grissom house (which is mainly for my own edification so that I can keep track of all these memories/milestones before my mommy brain gives out):

• Tim’s still “officially” unemployed.  Yesterday marked the 2nd anniversary of that little event as well as our 9th wedding anniversary.
• Tim has started his own design/remodel/general handyman business to compensate for the above point.  It’s only been a few short months, but he’s so far been kept pretty busy.  Hopefully he’ll stay that way.
• Michala is 2 and a HALF.  Where did the time go?  It seems like she was just born.  To be honest, there was about a 6-8 month period where she was a complete and total brat.  Let’s just face it, I was not born with the ability to speak Drama… but I’m slowly learning.  The last month or so has been really good though.  Michala has learned to chill out a bit and I think I’ve finally gotten comfortable with disciplining her.  She is definitely the epitome of the “Strong Willed Child.”
• Oh yeah… we HAVE ANOTHER KID!  Those of you that actually read this blog probably already know this, but just in case you didn’t…
  • Adam James was born 2/24/11 at 10:07pm.  7lb 13oz

• Pictures can be seen here (sorry you’ll have to be a Facebook friend)
• I got laid off from my job at the end of 2010.  I was given a few months notice so we had some time to prepare.  The project I was working on got unexpectedly cancelled so my co-worker and I got the boot.
• Adjusting to life with 2 kids has (and still is) been an issue.  If I weren’t still at home with them, I’m not sure any of us would still be alive.  How do people make it work with both parents working and two small children?  And don’t get me started on having two active kids…yikes!  I’m still trying to figure out how to be a stay at home mom/wife and all that entails (meal planning, cooking, cleaning, shopping with 2 kids, etc).  Some days, heck most days, I feel like a colossal failure…but I’m starting to get better.  Adam is so laid back, for which I am ETERNALLY GRATEFUL, so that helps a ton.
• We are really happy with life and grateful for what we have.  I get the impression from some people when they learn about our situation (especially those older than us ) that they feel sorry for us.  I can’t even begin to describe how much this frustrates me.  Yeah so we don’t have “jobs”.  Yeah so we had to do a short sale on our house and are now renting a smaller house.  Yeah so… yeah so…  Well yes sometimes I take a look around and think things suck, but then I take another look around.  I have two beautiful HEALTHY children who I get the pleasure of staying at home with.  We have a roof over our heads.  We have never gone hungry.  Things are tight but we have enough.  We have wonderful friends and family who we get to spend time with.  Tim’s new business is taking off better than we could have expected and is staying busy. Our desire is for him to stay busy enough (and of course paid enough) that I can continue to stay at home.  Once the economy gets better Tim would really like to get back into architecture.  I hope he gets that chance.
• I would like to start my own bookkeeping business.  I’m deathly afraid of my brain turning to mush plus we need the extra income…and bookkeeping is what I’m good at.  Know anyone who needs my services? :0
• Michala is just getting into watching movies.  She’s had the attention span to watch shows (thank you God for PBS) but movies have always been too long.  They still are for the most part; she’ll continue to run around and play and torture Adam, but she’s starting to develop an attention span.  Toy Story 3 is her hands down favorite.  She sometimes likes to cuddle me and I can usually get a hug and kiss a few times a day.  This is major improvement!  Other than the occasional tantrum she really is a joy.  She also says some of the funniest things that I’ve ever heard (she’ll see a flower (even dandelions) and says “smells GOOOODD”).  She’s now in a real live Sunday School class at church (no more nursery).  I so badly wanted for her to get to experience Grandma Ruth (because I never had that kind of experience) and I’m so glad that she’s finally getting to.  Grandma Ruth is getting up there in age and I’m sure she’s going to have to retire at some point…but after my kids please :0 
• Adam is 3.5 months old.  He loves his hands, especially to chew on, and is almost ready to discover his feet.  He grabs them occasionally but hasn’t really “found” them if you know what I mean.  He’s already teething (and drooling).  My favorite though is when he sees me he shrieks, his whole face lights up, he smiles, and his whole body just wiggles.  He really is the most wiggly kid I know.  He never just sits there.  He is bound and determined to do EVERYTHING faster than Michala did.

I think that’s enough for now.  I’ll try and update more often but don’t hold your breath.  Really the best bet is to get on Facebook.  I’m more inclined to upload pictures/videos there because it’s a lot less time consuming.

Liz