New Blog

So, I have finally bit the bullet and combined blogs. Please visit us at our new 'location' and here all of our crazy stories from parenting, life and raising three blessings under the age of 4.

www.ourcrashcourse.wordpress.com

I'll delete this link in a few days so bookmark it now :)

How to Climb a turtle

We recently went to the new outdoor area at Scott & White for Erin's checkup. We were a bit early, and after getting our Starbucks (it was that kind of week), we went outside to explore the park. Eli quickly found the turtles and proceeded to figure out how to climb and ride them.

Hmm...maybe this way

Now, this works better

Hurray!

Eli is such a great little boy. I love to see him figure stuff out and how happy he is when he is successful! I am sure that we will spend many hours at this park when #3 arrives.

for many reasons...

I have decided to make this blog private. Really, I want "you" to keep reading it, I just want to make sure I know who "you" are! :)

However, I am a total blog-stalker who reads blogs of blogs of blogs and, in the end, I am so far in that I have no idea who you are or how I got to your blog. But, I still read it because, that's the fun of blogs!!! :) So, don't be shy any blog stalkers out there, just let me know who you are and that's all! You are free to still read and lurk and do whatever you wish!

So, shoot me an email at erin(at)purewonderphotography(dot)com and I will gladly add you to the list.

And, you have to send me an email...I am 34 weeks pregnant and not about to try to remember everyones emails! :)

It's not that

These are pictures that I took a while ago of Eli but apparently, I never blogged them. He makes my heart melt. I love these pictures so much!

I bought him this hand-drill when I was out 'garage-sale' hunting for photography props...it's was a big hit!

It's not that I don't have things to blog about or that I don't want to blog. The truth is, I am just plain worn out. I could dedicate a whole posts towards Eli's screaming FITS that he has been having lately or how mentally exhausted we are from it all but instead I will post the positive. I am not one to gloss over the ugly. What you see is what you get and there is nothing going on behind closed doors in this house that wouldn't be happening if you were standing in the same room with us. That's just how I am. So, it's not to save you from hearing about the mind-aching screaming that takes places almost daily or the incesant whining that is happening but rather to save me. I need a moment to reflect on the crazy little man that we are raising. To take insight and respect what a beautiful child he really is. So, aside from all the above, he is such a wonderful, smart and thriving little man. He is too smart for his own good and much like his father(stubborness and all).

He loves many things; tools, legos(the really small ones), any kind of 'mighty machine' including excavators, front-end loaders, bulldozers, etc... and he can tell you exactly which is which and what they are used for.

He has a heart of gold and wears his emotions on his sleeve. Whatever path he chooses, he will make somebody very happy one day. He just has that kind of genuine love...much like his father.

He is so smart. He thrives off of it(well, that and structure). He wants to be learning all.the.time. He doesn't miss a lick and he remembers everything. He knows all of his letters and the sounds that go with them. I can give him a word and he can tell me what letter it starts with. He loves to read...wish he got that from me but, alas, like his father. He loves numbers and figuring out simple addition and subtraction problems. For instance, today he got 5 tickets. Everytime he whined, he lost one ticket. At the end of the day, he got a candy corn for every ticket that he had left. At one point, he lost a ticket. He was so upset. I explained to him that he had 5 tickets and he got one taken away and so I asked him "how many candy corns can you still get?" He quickly responded, "4" and on he went.

He loves preschool and his teacher loves him. They just mesh so well together and I am so glad that he is in her class. Of course, I know we are doing something right because he is a polite, well behaved boy while at school. Thank the Lord.

He loves his sister. Aside from the occassional toy taking, he truly loves her. He makes her laugh and smile and giggle like no other. He is her protector and doesn't like others trying to tell her what to do. Now, she can hold her own but he is always there as her backup, just in case. He is so very interested in what she is interested in. Before, he could care less about dolls. But, because of her love and interest, he does all he can to 'learn' how to play dolls with her. He tries to teach her all he knows and, truthfully, that's probably one reason why T has more words than I can count. It's an amazing relationship.

So, there you have it. In a nutshell, our wonderful, spunky little man. We do love him so dearly.

Teaching his sister...

Adam's guest blog: Eli is such a great big brother. Sometimes, he just gets in a teaching mood, and patiently shows Teagen how to do something he loves...such as filling up "scoops" with water from the bathtub. So cute!
At the playground, Eli discovered he could scoot up the "sit up" bench to the top. Teagen just had to do this, so Eli showed her multiple times.

He would climb to the top, and then say "Take a picture, Dad!" He was so proud!

for the record

A few things before I forget...

1. Eli loves playing with Teagen. He is at such a fun age where he wants to interact with her and teach her and he just truly enjoys her company.

2. He is so excited about his baby brother. I mean, like really excited. Like today, he put ALL the baby clothes into Gavin's dresser. Then, he helped me organize his diapers.

3. Contrary to #1 and #2, we are in tantrum mode. There are just some of those pull.my.hair.out, I.might.say.something.I.will.regret. days. The poor kid wears his heart on his sleeves and on some days it's just more than he can handle. Thus, let the screaming begin. Since he doesn't(err..can't) suck his thumb anymore, it has been truly difficult for him to find other ways to soothe himself once he gets going.

4. He is really into "no" and "why". "Eli, go do______." No or Why is almost always the response that I get. So, "why" now gets a return of "why not" from me and "no" gets a return of "go sit in timeout". I just couldn't take it anymore. But, in all honesty, it was really hard for me to think of a consequence for him saying "no". The reality(especially in this day and age) is that I don't want him to feel like he can never say "no" to an adult figure. Lets be frank, there are alot of bad adults out there and I want him to have the willpower to say "no". So, I set strict boundries that you go to timeout anytime you say "no" to mom or dad when we ask you to do something. There. Problem Solved. For now...

5. He is very concerned about how the baby is going to come out of my tummy(c-section) but more importantly, how they are going to get my tummy closed up again. Seriously, how does he think of this stuff??

6. Eli likes to roam the halls. We took the monitor out of his room a while ago and told him that when he woke up in the morning that he could come into our room. BIG mistake. Now, I hear him 'wandering' the halls at 1,2,3,4, or 5 int he morning. Seriously, the kid doesn't sleep. Sometimes he gets up to go to the bathroom but he won't just go to his bathroom, he walks all the way down to our bathroom and wakes us up. Grr... So, I bought a little toddler alarm clock that lights up at the time you set it for. So, I set it for 7(wishful thinking) and told him that he could not get out of bed until the light goes off. What did he do? He was waking up at like 4 or 5 and laying there watching the clock, for hours. Bye bye clock. Anymore ideas???

And, he started preschool up again this year. He is only going 2 days a week as opposed to 3 and it seems to be working out great! His teacher, Ms. Marsha, is super nice and he has really taken to her. He came home spelling yellow and saying the pledge of allegiance the other day. Now, why a 3 year old needs to know the pledge is just beyond me and...don't get me started on why they teach kids stuff SO early now. But, he loves the structure and his friends and, truth be told, the kid LOVES to learn.

We went through a ton of magazines and online stores to find his 'perfect' backpack for this year. He picked it(and the lunchbox) out all on his own and loves them both. And, yes, I am the mom that buys a new backpack everyear. Isn't that the fun thing about school?

as always

So much to do...so little time. Eli started preschool this week(that in another post) and adam was out of town last week and then we headed out to arlington for a long weekend(also, another post). We have decided to sell our house(hopefully) starting in February/March(yes, I know, 3 kids...i'm nuts) and so I have been busy meeting with the realtor and trying to get as much packed/ready as I can before little g-man makes his arrival(more on him later too). So, we are praying that another recession doesn't hit and we can easily and swiftly sell our house to get a smaller, more our style house that is walking distance to parks and playgrounds. Ahh...I can't wait!

Eli was sick a while back and so these are from his sick days...poor and pitaful

We have been playing outside A TON. Every morning and every afternoon. As much as I moan about the heat, I know that it will be gone all too soon and replaced by cold days that are much better spent inside. So, we have been digging, bulldozing, swimming, playground hoping and having a blast. Eli needs the outdoors. He is just a kid that thrives on it. Too much time inside and he just goes a little crazy. Luckily, his sissy is the same way so it works out perfectly. We have spent a lot of time hanging out with friends and enjoying their company. I am awaiting the day where I can drink a margarita(or two) while watching my kiddos play outside all in the company of good friends. Ahhh...just dreaming.

I am working on albums for each kiddo so I have been organizing years(yes, I am that behind) of pictures. It's amazing how much time has flown. Just makes me so thankful that I am able to stay at home so that I can relish every minute.

We have been replacing all the old doorknobs to get ready to sell and Eli has become very proficient at taking the old ones off and putting the new ones on.

Love how he always has his tongue out when he is concentrating...I used to do that.

Here is Eli working outside and cleaning off his 'forklift pallet'

Hopefully I will get more pictures up soon!