Bensley Bulletin #1 (Q3 2007)

Introduction
Welcome to the Bensley Bulletin Number 1! Our goal is to publish a quarterly newsletter updating family and friends of recent events in the Bensley Household. We know with our own schedules, as well as everyone else's, that it's hectic these days to stay in communication. This bulletin covers the months of July, August and September, 2007.


Baby News
Hanging Out at the Crib: After some Tetris furniture moves, the smallest room has been converted to the baby room. We've painted the walls a "Royal Peacock" blue (no, it's not boyish!) but still need to clean the carpet. The room theme will be "Pond" and we hope to have lots of pond-related decor such as turtles, ducks, dragonflies, fish, cranes, frogs, cattails, etc. We finally purchased a natural-colored crib and changing table at Divine Consign and a glider from Garden Ridge. The room still needs work but we're getting closer to completion.

Camera Shy Baby: Can it be? A baby in the womb of Jen is ... *gasp* ... Camera Shy? The July sonogram images of Baby Bensley didn't come out so well as the baby was in the worst possible position for images (facing the spine and right under the belly button). Each image had one item of interest such as a foot or a spine or the head. At least we know it's a baby in there! Hopefully, this camera shy thing isn't a continuing trend.

Baby 101: Bradley classes started on September 1st and last about 8 weeks long. We have met several other expectant couples and are learning great things about preparing for natural child birth as well as tips-of-the-trade regarding important things after the birth.

Top Baby Inquiry Questions:
(1) Due Date? The official due date is December 5th.
(2) How far along? As of this Wednesday, Jen will be 31 weeks out of the 40. She is in her third trimester and around the 7th month.
(3) Boy or Girl? Life could use a few surprises so we are not going to find out the gender of their baby until the birth.
(4) Which Hospital? Barring any complications, Jen will be giving a drug-free, natural birth at a Birth Center with a midwife located downtown near Baylor Hospital.
(5) Is the baby kicking? Jen started feeling the baby kick back in July and now gets nudges around the clock. So far, they haven't been uncomfortable and it's a joy to get a reminder of the bundle inside.

Carnival Fun! Don't forget to RSVP to the upcoming Fall Carnival Baby Shower (this coming up Sunday) at the baby shower website! This isn't a "girly event"; lots of fun will be had by both guys and gals.


Pets
Fat Cat Has Issues: Well, more than usual. :) Tux gave us quite a scare one night when he could hardly move without crying out in pain. We new something was up because he wasn't eating; Tux always eats. A visit to the vet revealed kidney stones and he was admitted for a week! Fortunately, he's doing well now but will have to be on a new prescription food.

Pets Gone Wild! While Fat Cat was out of the house, the dogs sniffed out a cute, baby opossum in our office. Jen initially thought there was a rat in the house but quickly changed her mind when the rat "suspended itself from it's tail" on a piece of furniture. After an adventure of capturing the animal, we learned a bit about opossum care, such as food preferences of apples and cat food, while he vacationed in our house for 4 days until a wildlife rehabilitator could take him in. The Opossum will stay in captivity until 3lbs or so and then released in a wildlife preserve in Denton, Tx.

Work & Education
Trec: This July was another work marathon month for Jeremy. He survived over three weeks of 12 hour days, though this year at least the consistent air conditioning and unseasonably cool (and rainy) weather made things bearable.

School: Following a slow start to August, Jeremy resumed graduate school for the fall semester. Due to Jen's pregnancy and an awful set of courses to select from, he is only taking one class this semester.

Jobless: Meanwhile, Jennifer had her schedule busy with work travel to such exotic destinations as Abilene, Kansas and Chicago, Illinois. The Abilene trip was as refreshing, but the Chicago trip was grueling. The travel schedule, long daily commute, and general dissatisfaction with her company led Jen to start pursuing other opportunities in September. She is currently looking for a telecommuting position in technology or seeking to establish a photography business. Please do not hesitate to send business her way!


Entertainment
Husband Torture: September passed another Jen birthday who requested attending a hockey game in celebration (oh, the torture to poor Jeremy!). The pre-season hockey game was good, full of Kris Barch Beatings and rookie practice, even though we lost the game. Dinner with friends was a feast at Paesano's Italian; all for the Creme Brulee, of course.


Book Worm: Even without the train commute to work, Jen still has time to read. Check out her latest interests on her Book Index Site.

Wet Year: Due to all the rain, we have not had much social time in the pool. This is the wettest year in quite a long time. Not to mention that our pool motor needed replacing due to an early death.




Health & Lifestyle
Year of Slicing & Dicing: Well, this year has definitely brought on a few health challenges. We survived Jeremy's bout with Cancer and surgeries in January and May. He is officially cleared at this point though he will need to monitor things throughout life. We survived Jen's emergency appendectomy in February. We do want to thank everyone for their support during these difficult times.

AND we managed to get pregnant in March. We are definitely going on vacation next year since we missed out in 2007. :>

Health: Due to all the medical topics, Jeremy and Jen have started making some healthy lifestyle changes. Jen walks 45 minutes to an hour *almost* every day. Jeremy is working out at the gym and doing cardio work several times a week. And both are attempting to eat better foods. We still eat our cake, too.

Top 5 Worst Foods You Can Eat: A link worth checking out. The top 5 worst foods you can eat are as follows: Soda, Doughnuts, French Fries, Chips, & Fried non-seafood. Check out the details on the GoToHealth website.


Family News
Ray: After several weeks in the hospital, Ray is doing well though still recovering from surgery.

Mya's 1st Pool Swim: Though the weather has been awful this year for swimming, a few days of sun peaked out of the clouds in July. Trish and Mya came over for Mya's first swim in a pool. She was decked out in her girly swimsuit attire and ready to hit the water. Check out pictures of the water fun. She's definitely not ready to scuba dive any time soon but she'll get there.


Cheyenne's 2nd birthday: Cheyenne celebrated her second birthday in August. The small, family event was held at a local park where a princess cake (made out of cupcakes!), opening presents and having fun on the playground was enjoyed by all. Check out pictures of the party. All the Peruchi kids are looking good and doing great.




Toys
Roomba: This quarter we aquired, through a woot.com "Woot!-Off", a Roomba automatic vacuum cleaner. While we're not as fanatical about it (yet) to give it a name and put on a silly cover, we cannot deny it is incredibly useful and cute! Our floors have become significantly cleaner, and it does an excellent job of picking up after our shedding pets. The version we bought has a scheduling mechanism, and it runs every day at noon whether we're here or not!


Other News
Overly Happy Vandalizing: Tori's car was vandalized ... with a smiley face. Could be worse. Fortunately, Jeremy saved the day with his nifty paint-removal tips (acetone) and Tori can continue driving through life without the additional car spam.





The Cookie Ain't Happy: We hope this bulletin has informed you wisely. And, remember, "ask not what your fortune cookie can do for YOU, but what YOU can do for your fortune cookie".


Communication
Please do not hesitate to contact us for anything! Feel free to submit questions to the Bensley family via email or by posting comments to our bulletin.

If you do not wish to receive notification of these quarterly updates, WE WILL NOT BE OFFENDED. Just let us know and we'll remove you from the distribution list for future posts.


.