Benscoter Family: October 2015

Joe and I went to a parent orientation at Sophia's school the night of October 1st. We made a date night of it by going out to dinner afterwards and seeing The Martian in the movie theater.

We drove up to Cape Cod on October 2nd. We got in late that night so we were happy to have a calm, relaxing day at my parent's house on October 3rd. That evening we got to see Evan and Erin's new house! It is just a few doors down from my parent's house and it has a great yard and plenty of space for their family to grow over the years. We are so happy for them! Our visit included a pizza party celebrating my Mom's birthday and it ended with a fun dance party in the living room. Fun times! On our way off the Cape on October 4th we stopped by Otis Air National Guard Base for Family day. Evan showed us around where he works and we were able to partake in the food, games, and fun they had! The kids were worn out from all the fun which was nice for our long drive home.

Joe left for a trip on October 6th that was scheduled to go to California but instead he got stuck in Virginia for 4 days due to a maintenance issue with his plane. Nana and Papa came to visit on October 9th in the middle of a big rainstorm! Joe came home on October 10th and on October 11th Joe, Nana, Papa, and I went to Pennsylvania. We went to Aunt Karen and Uncle Uly's house in Bethlehem to see their new house, have dinner, and meet some of their close friends. We were lucky enough to spend some time with Matt, too! After dinner, we went to a Brian Regan show...he was hysterical as usual!

Amanda was kind and generous enough to take our family portraits on October 13th for the third year in a row. She is extremely talented and our pictures came out beautiful! The images are all posted below.

I flew from Newark to Austin, TX early on October 16th for Lindsey and Rene's wedding. I met Andrea at the Austin airport. We got our rental car then went to lunch at an amazing local burger place called Hopdoddy's. Since it was too early to check into our hotel room, we went to a salon for manicures and pedicures. Afterwards, we checked into our hotel, got cleaned up, then went to the wedding meet and greet held at Maria's Taco Xpress. Again- the food was amazing!

On October 17th (Wedding Day!) Andrea and I checked out South Congress Street. We saw a lot of street vendors and even went into a huge boot shop. We decided to walk a little way to downtown Austin where we ran into the Texas Book Fair that was going on and made it to the Capitol building. On our walk back to the car we stopped for a couple slices of pizza and a famous pizza place (I cant remember the name!). Of course the food was incredible...again! Andrea and I made a quick stop back at the hotel to get ready for the wedding. The cocktails began at 4, the ceremony was at 4:30 followed by a delicious dinner. We had about an hour between dinner and the reception so Andrea and I went to a sports bar to catch some of the Florida football game. The reception began at 8 and we had more food, drinks, and a lot of dancing! It was a really great event. Andrea and I both got up early on October 18th to return our rental car and fly back home.

Grandma and Grandpa came down for a quick visit on October 21st. Early in the morning on October 22nd my parents left to head down to South Carolina for a wedding and Joe left for a three day trip to Portugal and Spain. That same morning Tyler and I drove to CHOP for his appointments. We started by seeing his hematologist and it was a rough visit since Tyler had to get his blood drawn and it took two attempts to get his flu shot in his arm. He was not a happy camper! However, he had been very stable on Coumadin -his blood thinner- so the rest of his appointment went very well. Next, we saw his GI doctor. She was very pleased with Tyler's growth and weight gain. He remained in the 3-5% for height and weight without the use of his G-tube for over 6 months. She gave us the go-ahead to take out his Mic-Key button any time we were ready to do so. When we follow up with her in Spring 2016 she will most likely discharge Tyler from her services (hooray!). Lastly, Tyler had a cardiac echo followed by an extremely brief visit with his Cardiologist. Tyler's cardiologist said he would look at the images taken via the echo and get back to me within a week with the results. Tyler was exhausted by the end of all visits and tests...poor kid! He gave me such a huge hug around my neck when I took him out of the stroller to put him in his carseat. I could tell he was thankful to be done for the day and I was thankful for such a sweet hug!

The following day, October 23rd, Dr. Vogel called to tell me that he was concerned that Tyler's heart function was declining. Due to this, he suggested Tyler have an MRI and cardiac catheterization to gather more information. While we were shocked by the information, we agreed that being as aggressive as possible with his care was the best course. We scheduled his catheterization for November 27th.

On October 25th my friends Patrice and Ellen hosted a baby shower for me at a wonderful Italian restaurant named Villaggio Iccara. We played a couple games, ate delicious food, and Baby B was showered with lots of diapers and wipes. I was so grateful to have been honored in such a special way by so many sweet friends from our squadron spouse group as well as some of my neighborhood friends.

Joe and I took the kids to Locust Hall Farm for a Fall festival on October 27th which was held by United Communities--the company that manages base housing. We enjoyed hot dogs, hot apple cider, feeding farm animals, bouncy houses, and the kids even got free pumpkins! It was definitely cold and very crowded but we all had a great time.

Joe left for a conference in Florida on October 29th. That night I took the kids to Sophia's school so they could participate in the school spooktacular. There were lots of snacks as well as several fun games for the kids to play. On October 31st Johnny, Patrice, Jay, and Luc came over for dinner before we went trick-or-treating in the neighborhood. Sophia and Tyler decided that they wanted to be dinosaurs and they both looked very cute! It was hard keeping both kids together since Sophia loved zooming ahead and Tyler was dawdling in between each house while he checked out the candy in his bucket. Once trick-or-treating was over we said "see you later" to the Grimes family. They were on their way to temporary lodging for their last night in New Jersey before leaving in the morning for their next assignment in Oklahoma. We were all very sad to see our close friends move but we know we will see them again in the future!