Help

Will someone please teach me how to get my baby to sleep? I thought I learned with Eva and this go around I did everything "right", but it's still not working.

So, please. Let the opinions flow.

A Poll

Please take time to answer my question because I am in much need. I mean, I'm really just curious because my house is always spotless and is never messy. And I will just spend the next 2 days "touching up" before my family arrives for Christmas.

QUESTION: WHAT IS YOUR BEST QUICK/EASY CLEANING TRICK?

Here's mine for today, just in case you need/want it. Clean your lampshades with a lint roller! I just cleaned all of our lamp shades and now they look all fresh and sparkly... and I think it's brighter in here!

So do share... even if you think "everyone already knows that trick" chances are someone doesn't.

Our very own Dennis the Menace

Two year olds can be contrary for sure. They often test every limit that is set for them. But, there must be something about 3 year olds that makes them especially curious about things. They are inept little scientists without the judgment to know when something might spontaneously combust. They don't just test limits, but now they come up with a whole new set of things to investigate. Sometimes this little combination is very fun to watch. Like when we put different drops of food coloring into a bowl of water to see what designs and new colors are created. Sometimes it requires some discipline and keeping a straight face just long enough to get out of ear shot so I can double over with laughter.

Today was an example of the latter. It was a moment when I walked in to what I'm sure was a scene out of "Dennis the Menace". One activity that Eva likes to do is to draw on the mirror in her bathroom with dry erase markers. I happily oblige on most days to let her decorate to her heart's content. It takes about two seconds and a bottle of windex and the masterpiece is gone. This morning, she asked if she could draw on the mirror. (Yesterday she got in trouble for climbing up on the cabinet without asking first. So when she came to ask first, I was very pleased and let her draw immediately.) I reminded her of the rules for drawing on the mirror. No standing on the counter, you must stay sitting. Draw only on the mirror, not on the walls. Call for mommy or daddy when you are ready to get down. I left her alone and went back to doing whatever it was I was doing.

After a little bit, I heard the water running and wondered what she was up to. I walked in the bathroom and she froze then smiled at me. Busted! She had taken a bar of soap (a fancy bar of soap shaped like a snowflake) and had lathered up everything in sight. The mirror, her hands, the sink, her legs... and everything in between.

Oh, but she did not stop there!!!!

The water was running because she was taking a water gun and filling it up and then spraying the soap off of the mirror. It ran down the wall into a little puddle behind the faucet. I fussed at her a little bit, but couldn't be too upset. I mean, it makes sense! Right?!

I love my little menace! She makes life interesting and keeps me on my toes!

Correction

Recently I mentioned something about my 19 lb 5 month old. Let's make that 21 lb almost 6 month old. Holy cow! And for the record, Eva didn't weigh 21 lbs until she was about 15 months old.

The reason I know how much he weighs is because we had to make a trip to the doctor this morning after the poor baby screamed every time I laid him in his bed last night. At about 1 or 2 this morning, I gave up and just held him while I reclined on the couch. If he started to recline too much (like when I would doze off) he would start to cry again and stopped as soon as I held him more upright. It was a really long night.

Hopefully the meds and pain drops will start to work and we'll quickly get back to normal.

Writer's block

I really can't think of much to say, but I'm tired of looking at the same post that's been there for about 2 weeks now. What better way to break the silence than with this picture.

I mean look at that belly! It's perfect for blowing raspberries on. :) Especially because the owner of that belly is very ticklish and he giggles like crazy!

This is my best effort at getting a Christmas picture. I finally had to appeal to Eva's vanity because she kept making goofy faces. I told her that I was just going to take pictures of Eli and then she at least made some sort of an effort.

Eli's hair looks reddish in these pictures, but it's really just blonde. I guess he was reflecting light from the tree or something.

These cheeks are just for me to kiss! Every one else can back off. :)

This picture actually started out looking really, really goofy, but I just cropped and cropped until it actually turned out pretty cute. She was being a stinker, but you can't even tell now!

That's all. The end. Maybe writer's block will be done now. We'll see.

Fire in your where?

Eva just asked me, "Mommy, when do you get the fire in your pants?"

"Fire in your pants??"

"Yeah! When do you get the fire in your pants?"

"What are you talking about? What fire in your pants?"

"That's what the police officer said at school. He said you get fire in your pants."

I am still laughing because I have NO CLUE what she is talking about. I think that when the police officer was talking to the kids, I was feeding Eli. I missed his talk and therefore, have no idea where this "fire in the pants" idea came from. So funny!

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On an unrelated note, Eli's teachers at MDO told me yesterday that Eli gets upset when he sees the other babies eating. He wants to eat, too. She said that they had to turn him away because he was fussing at them while they were feeding his little friend.

Does this surprise anyone that my 19 lb 5 month old likes to eat?

What goes around comes around

It's that time of year again. The Christmas season has a way of bringing out the charitable side of people. Hence, the "bell ringers" at the entrance of most stores collecting money for The Salvation Army. These bell ringers should be given some kind of medal. It was a whopping 30-something degrees today with a 20+ mph wind and there they stood, ringing... with smiles on their faces. I dare say that I would not be so chipper. I love cold weather about as much as I love 5am.

Well, today we needed to go to the grocery store after school. (Well if you must know, Eli needed some prunes... which he LOVED by the way.) I asked Eva if she wanted to put some money in their bucket. She wanted to know why they were collecting money and I told her that it was to give to people who don't have food and clothes. She said, "Yeah, I wanna put some money in the bucket. Because I don't have any black shoes, so I'll put some money in and then I'll get some black shoes!" Okay, not exactly how it works, but at least she was excited about giving!

She put the money in and the guy gave her a little candy cane, which made her instantly forget about receiving black shoes. Then on our way out of the store, she was talking again about giving money and out of nowhere she said, "We don't have very much money."

She's too young to know about our financial state... "Why do you think we don't have very money sweetheart?"

E: "The other day we didn't have enough money."

Me: "But today we do?"

E: "Yeah, today we do have enough money. But daddy said we didn't have any money for the bucket."

Me: "Did daddy not have any money for you to put in the bucket when you came to the grocery store Monday night?"

E: "Uh huh"

Now I get it. Apparently, she wanted to put money in there when she was with her daddy, but he didn't have any cash or change. It's so funny to hear her interpretation of things.

We'll see if she gets those black shoes... :)

Ice Skating

A couple of weeks ago, we decided to take Eva ice skating for the first time. She has talked about wanting to go since we moved to Kansas City over a year ago. We were hopeful that her being a year older would help with learning.

Here we are, full of anticipation, ready to tackle the learning experience.

And after just a few seconds on the ice, this is ultimately how Eva's first ice skating experience resulted.

She still had so much fun! Since she wore the skates for 30 minutes, she thinks she got the full experience. As it turns out, it's very difficult to teach a 3 year old to ice skate. I'm not the world's greatest ice skater, so for me to try to keep myself from falling and hold her with 2 hands was more difficult than I imagined. Eva kept letting her bottom drop down so that her feet would take off without her. I kept saying, "Put your weight on your feet. Stand on your feet." After about 3 minutes, my back was killing me from trying to hold her up. But, like I said, she still loved it. We'll have to try again some day when she's either older or we meet someone who is a really good skater.

I've tried to upload a video of Eva telling about her experience 3 times now and it just won't work. I'll try again tomorrow, because it is just too cute.

5 months

Look who turned 5 months old on Thanksgiving!

This big ole' happy boy!

What you're up to these days, Eli:

- Not sleeping through the night. But that's okay, you'll get there.

-Not napping at Mother's Day Out. :( But doing pretty good at home.

-You still love to be swaddled when you sleep.

-Wearing 6-9 month clothes!

-Wear size 3 diapers.

-Weighing somewhere around 19 lbs... about as much as Eva weighed at age one. :)

-Starting to sit up! Sometimes you can only last a few seconds, but many times you can go much longer. It's so exciting!

-You love to play with your rings and they always go straight to your mouth.

-You are now eating cereal.

-Yesterday, we gave you squash for the first time.

You loved it so much that you ate the ENTIRE JAR!!! I guess you're ready for more food. :)

This Thanksgiving, we were so thankful for the gift of you, little Eli. You make your family so happy and proud. We love you more than we even imagined. Happy 5 month birthday!

Absence makes the heart grow fonder

... Or something like that. I've been absent. Not sure why, just been in a funk I guess. Having some writer's block. Not that there has been a lack of activity. I have yet to talk about Eva's first ice skating experience, which lasted a total of 2.3 seconds. I'll share the whole story another day so that pictures can be included.

I'm feeling kinda sentimental tonight. Maybe it's because of Thanksgiving. It could also be because my baby boy will be 5 months old tomorrow. (He needs a post all his own though.)

We are with Ryan's family this week and as we were making the trip last night, both kids were sleeping soundly. It made Ryan and me feel like we were dating again. I realized after we got here, that we talked the entire 4 hours and never turned on the radio. Man, I love that boy!

Among our many topics of conversation was thinking back to how crazy this year has been for us. I think I have cried more this year than I have in a really long time. Sometimes tears of complete frustration and sadness, but sometimes tears of joy.

Despite the roller coaster, my Jesus has been my constant. Steady. Taking my yoke upon Him and giving me His own. His yoke is light. So light. With Him, I can continue to put one foot in front of the other until I've taken so many steps that I can't even see where I started.

I was listening to an old hymn recently and the words spoke so true to me.

If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus it's now.

I finally remembered some stuff

Some funny conversations with Eva:

Eva: "Daddy, smell my armpits!" (high pitch hysterical laugh)

Ryan: "What?!? NOOO!"

E: "Daddy, smell my arrrmmpits!" (More high pitched laughing)

R: "No! That's gross!"

E: "It's not gross because I have on deodordant!" (More high pitched squealing and laughing)

---------------------------------------------------

E: "Mommy, am I big enough for a wedding dress?"

Me: "Nope, not yet. You have to be big and tall like mommy."

E: "But I'm bigger!"

Me: "Yes you are, but you're still not big enough for a wedding dress."

And as far as I'm concerned, she'll never be big enough for a wedding dress! It's just not going to happen. Sorry, sister.

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This conversation came after I'd had a particularly long night with my little guy:

E: "Mommy, why do your eyes have cracks in them?"

Me: "Excuse me? What do you mean?"

E: "You're eyes have cracks in them." Pointing at my eye.

Me: Still trying to figure out what she's talking about, "What color are the cracks?"

E: "Red. Why are the cracks red?"

Me: "That happens when mommies are really tired."

At least she wasn't pointing out my wrinkles!

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Today we were getting ready and she wanted to wear a dress, but I told her she had to wear tights because it was too cold outside for no tights. I informed her that her brown tights were in her dirty clothes basket in her closet.

E: "I'll just go get them out and if they're not crazy dirty then I'll just wear them. Okay?"

Okay! Who can argue with that rationale? I don't think I've ever said "crazy dirty" so I'm not sure where that came from.

That should be enough cute stories to get the grandparents through until the holidays.

A much needed Eva update

I think it's time for an update on Tinkerbell... I mean Eva.

This little girl just barely outweighs her little brother! It's going to be interesting watching those two grow.

Anyway, Eva is just as sweet as ever! I do love that kid. She is getting quite the imagination these days. It's so much fun to listen to her play alone. When she is washing her hands or brushing her teeth she talks to her reflection in the mirror and refers to herself as "Sister". It's so sweet! She tells her "sister" about her day and just giggles.

Eva has also been really interested in God lately. She asked me recently if Jesus still loves her when she makes bad choices. Hello teachable moment! One morning on the way to school, we were discussing the beautiful trees changing colors. To which she asked the famous "Why do the leaves change colors?" (The "why?" phase has been going strong for almost a year now!) I explained that God made the trees to change with the seasons. Her little brain kept ticking. "Mommy, where is God?"

Remembering that she's only three and doesn't understand omnipresence, "Well, God is in Heaven. But God is also always with us and always takes care of us."

"Mommy, how do you get to Heaven?"

"Well, Eva that is a very good question!" Then I explained simply about loving and believing in Jesus. I was not prepared for that question 30 seconds before getting to school that morning and was a little stumped on putting it in 3 yr old terms. She doesn't even really have a concept of death yet.

She is very attached to daddy these days, but still has a special place for mommy, too. The last two mornings she has cried when Ryan had to leave for work. This morning she and I were still in my bed when he came to tell us goodbye. After she got over her sadness, she told me, "Mommy, you're the best mommy in the whole world!" And my heart melted into a huge heap of jelly all over again.

The princess still wants to wear dresses EVERY SINGLE DAY! Now that it has gotten colder, we've had to set some firmer limits on that. As long as it's not too chilly though, she can wear dresses with tights.

Okay, I've literally been working on this post for 3 days now and cannot for the life of me remember some of the hilarious things that child says. I guess it'll have to wait for another time.

Whoa baby!

So this big guy turned 4 months old last week. And I knew he was huge, but I didn't realize how huge until we went for his check up on Monday.

Behold the stats:

Height: 26 inches

Weight: 18 lbs. 6 oz.

Head: 17 1/4 inches

Good gravy!!! He is now starting to wear 6-9 month clothing, although there are a few 3-6 month things that he can still squeeze into. He is wearing size 3 diapers already! The child is only about a pound shy of what Eva weighed when she was a year old! It is amazing to me how different they are.

Eli continues to be a very happy baby. This is his new favorite thing to play with:

Who knew toes could be so fun!? Although he looks scared in this picture. :)

Things he loves:

-His mommy!!!!

- Eva's hair. When she's close, he reaches out and runs his hand through her hair. It's so sweet!

-When daddy comes home. He turns his head to find Ryan when he hears his voice. There are big smiles to be given upon seeing daddy.

-A good game of peek-a-boo.

- Being tickled.

-Eating... shocking, I know. :)

-Rolling over

-sleeping on his side

-eating his fist

-The big shiny box (i.e. the television, particularly when there's football on)

-rocking with mommy or daddy... being rocked to sleep.

-trying to sit up

Things the Mister is not so fond of:

-Going all night without see his mommy. :)

-Tummy time... he usually rolls over immediately.

-Being in the car when he's sleepy.

Eli is also beginning to notice food. Tonight Ryan was holding him while eating dinner and Eli watched every spoonful of red beans and rice go into his daddy's mouth. Ryan jokingly offered some to Eli and then put that bite in his own mouth and Eli fussed at him. It was so funny! We aren't exactly sure what "Ah-ma-na!" meant but I'm guessing it was along the lines of "That was mean, dad!" Maybe we'll be starting some food soon. We'll see. I'm in no hurry.

We are loving this little boy more and more and more. He is just so great! We are convinced that his new phase of not sleeping well will pass quickly... until then, I will just continue with my i.v. line of caffeine. But most importantly, I will not wish away this precious stage. I will cherish every night wakening and tell myself that he just misses his mommy. :)

GREATNESS!

How can I possibly have a bad day with this little guy around?! Enjoy!

I remember when she called them punkims

On Saturday we took a little trip to the country to visit a pumpkin patch. We had such a great time! We got to take a hay ride out to the pumpkins and then picked out two beauties. :)

Here are Ryan and Eva enjoying the hay ride and trying to stay warm.

Picking out the perfect pumpkin.

Our cute little family. :)

Me and my babies.

Daddy and Eva with their pumpkin.

This little girl was so worn out by the time we left that she fell asleep mid-snack. She has one finger in her mouth and a chip in her other hand and fell fast asleep. Unfortunately that was the only nap of the day. Boo!

Some local foliage. I pass these trees every day on the way to our church. They make my heart happy. :)

And just because he's cute and I can... here is my boy participating in a little tummy time.

I'll be back with a more thorough update later. I've got lots of thoughts that I need to put down. Do wait in anticipation. :)

Big Night

Recently our church had a carnival as a way to reach out to the community. It was called the "Big Night". Creative, huh? Our music guy made a joke about it in church about how long they tried to come up with a great name and that was the best they could do. Pretty funny!

Eva had so much fun! I didn't realize how blurry this picture was, until I put it here... but that tiny little toothpick coming down the slide would be my sweet Eva girl. She has a little bit of daredevil in her.

What carnival is complete without a fake tattoo? Have I mentioned her fascination with the American flag? It's a story for another day. (Also just realized that you can't tell that the tattoo is of an American flag... but it is.)

She'll always remember riding on daddy's shoulders! Love it!

Eva also got to do something super fun! Here she is in anticipation...

of riding a horse! She L-O-V-E-D it!

Had so much fun! However...

The next morning her eyes were swollen like crazy! I am afraid her horse riding days might be limited. It seems she is allergic to horses just like her mommy and her papa.

I'm always late!

Last Saturday this big guy turned 3 months old! I know, I know... he looks like he's 6 months old. :)

He was dressed in his LSU gear again because it was game day and he was cheering for his future alma mater . :)

At 3 months old this is what he's up to:

-He is getting bigger by the second. Pretty sure he weighs somewhere around 15-16 lbs.

-His feet are just about too long for his footie pjs that are 3-6 month size.

-I still eat those cheeks for dinner and for dessert!

- He continues to be super happy and giggly. He is so chill. A pretty easy baby by my standards.

- He can now roll from his tummy to his back.

And on top of all that, he's cute as a button! How did we get so lucky? This little boy makes me feel so blessed. I love him immensely. I actually miss him while he's sleeping! Maybe I'm a little crazy.

My Ballerina

This is my little ballerina! We started taking ballet lessons through our community education program. I figured that was the best way to find out if she really even likes ballet without making a huge commitment to a ballet studio. And because she's 3.

So far, she is LOVING it! She likes to practice what she has learned. And because the parents aren't allowed to sit in the class, she is able to tell me what she learned after class. It's so fun!

This is a picture of Eva and her friend Audrey who is in the class with her. They are sweet friends.

You may recognize the tutu that Audrey is wearing. It's the one that I made for Eva last winter, but Eva never wears it because she says it's scratchy. Audrey wanted a poofy one so we gave her this one. Audrey, in turn, gave Eva ballet slippers that she had outgrown. It was a wonderful trade.

The greatest surprise!

Last weekend... well I guess it was the weekend before last... I got the greatest surprise.

Ryan was being all vague about why we weren't going to be having dinner with some friends who had invited us over on that Friday night. I just thought he didn't want to go for some reason, which was weird. Then he told me on that Friday morning that the thought the girl I'm going to be mentoring was going to be coming over around lunch time. I again thought it was weird that he had arranged our first meeting, but wasn't overly concerned. It's just that this was the end of my first week of teaching those sweet 3 yr olds and our house had kind of gotten out of control. I did mention to him that maybe today wasn't the best day and he said he would talk to her and find out for sure if she was coming. At 11:00 he called and said she would definitely be there around 1:00. I'll be honest, I didn't have the greatest attitude about it. But I prayed and asked the Lord for a little grace to get things done that needed to be done before company showed up. He came through big time! About 30 minutes later, Eva told me she was tired and ready to take a nap. So I put her down and then Eli was sleepy so I put him down as well. That left me with an hour and a half to straighten up. That seems like plenty of time, but you have no idea the mound of dishes that were in our sink! :) I'm just being real here, folks. I worked like mad and got everything looking pretty decent and then I heard a knock on the door right at 1:00.

I went to the door and the first thing I notice was this little car seat on my front porch. All I could see were baby legs sticking out from behind a sign that said "Hi Aunt Haley". I was like what?!? I mean I don't have any biological nieces or nephews. Apparently the visitors thought it was too quiet for too long so they popped up from their hiding place. This is who I saw:

Pamela, Me, and Beth

I was so excited that I cried! I had seen these girls in a whole year and I guess they must have known how much I needed some friends about now. I've been going through some loneliness lately and have just been craving friends that I already know. The kind that it's always comfortable and there's never a shortage of things to talk about. The kind of friends that could care less if my house isn't clean. These two girls are those kind of friends.

Apparently they had been planning this little surprise trip behind my back with the help of my husband for quite some time. It was the greatest surprise I've had since finding out I was pregnant with Eli. :)

This Pam with her little cutie pie Lois. This sweet friend endured almost 3 hours of flight time with a wiggly 9 month old so that I could meet Lois for the first time. I'm so glad I finally got the chance.

Beth came solo so she got some good cuddle time with Eli. I think she was missing her own set of healthy cheeks back at home. :)

Lois is investigating Eli. And he's trying to lift that big ole' head up to investigate right back.

For you college friends, yes, I still have my ugly gray ARMY t-shirt. It's just so darn comfortable!

One last little group photo before Beth had to catch a red-eye the next morning at some crazy hour.

We had such a fun time. We laughed so hard we cried a few times. Enjoyed some s'mores outside on the deck and got to see a chick flick.

Thank you girls so much for coming. I love you both so much!

Teaching

I have now spent two weeks teaching a classroom of 12 young three year olds (or almost 3 yr. olds). It has been 100 times harder than I expected it to be. Not that I expected this age group to be easy by any stretch of the imagination, but good gravy I have some stinkers! Of the twelve kids, 7 are boys. However, a couple of the little girls are more difficult than all of the boys combined.

Every day has been a beat down so far, but I'm hopeful that things will start to feel more normal soon. A few times I have asked the question What in the world am I doing here? But then I go downstairs and feed Eli and I am reminded of what an incredible blessing that is. Most people who have to go back to work don't have the privilege of continuing to nurse a baby. So, I really am trying to keep my complaining to a minimum. Believe me I know how lucky I am.

But back to my stinkers. :) One little girl really might make me lose my mind by the time May rolls around. Many days she comes in screaming. Not the kind of "Mommy don't leave me" scream but more of an "I hate the world" kind of scream. Then I get the joy of calming her down and attempting to get her to participate in the current activity. Oh and that is after I take away her "breakfast" of Cheetos (how do you even spell that???) and juice. I know I shouldn't judge, but seriously? Cheetos for breakfast every day???

As I frequently do, I'm back to trying to figure out what I want to be when I grow up. :) I still keep coming back to the same things. Now I'm just doing some research and praying and trying to listen with my little ears to His voice. I'll keep you posted!

Update #1 of many

Instead of doing one gigantic post, I'm going to break up the last 2 weeks worth of busyness into a couple of updates. Today we'll discuss our Labor Day picnic. :0) The weather here has been absolutely beautiful, so we are soaking up all of the outdoors we can before winter sets in. We decided that a low-key picnic would be the perfect way to celebrate an extra day with Ryan home. It was also my last day of freedom before starting to teach/herd a classroom of three year olds.

Here is my beautiful baby boy enjoying the outdoors.

A little game of airplane with daddy. That girl loves her daddy so much! It melts my heart to watch them together.

Me and my babies.

Eva was apparently too tired to sit upright to eat.

But the sun is just too bright!

Step one of our update is complete for the day. Stay tuned, there's more to come... including Eva's first ballet class. :)

Because it's that time of year again

Thank you to Uncle Russ and Aunt Renetta for the LSU gear. We broke it out today in honor of the first game of the season. My dad told me the other day that Eli should be starting for the Tigers in 2027. I hadn't even figured that out yet. It seems so far away, but I know it will come so quickly. Before I start crying, let's just behold the cuteness:

These feet are deceptively big. :)

And seriously, how cute is he? He looks good in purple. :)

This one has nothing to do with LSU or football... and it's a terrible picture, but my mother-in-law bought these monogrammed onesies for Eli. I happened to catch him smiling while wearing this little cute one.

I can't even tell you how many times a day I kiss those chubby cheeks. I could just eat them for dinner! I love them so much!

So sweet!

I just came upstairs (after putting another load of baby-poo clothes in the washer) to find Eva reading her "I'm a Big Sister" book to Eli. Seriously, how sweet is she? I love watching the relationship forming between those two. She always tells us how "cutie" he is and tries to help him play with his toys.

On a completely unrelated note, does anyone have a trick for getting the breastfed-baby-poo stains out of clothes? I'm afraid we're ruining clothes faster than he can grow out of them. And that is pretty fast! I've tried OxiClean and Borax, and that works fairly well, but only if I can get it in the washer A.S.A.P. and that's not always possible. I know some of you cloth diapering folks might have some suggestions.

Change

I've known for a long time that I'm not a fan of change. I'm not spontaneous and new things make me anxious. You would think that with the amount of times that my family moved and with all of the changes I've endured in my short life that I would be more comfortable with it. Nope. So it's no surprise that I'm not at all excited about starting a job next week. On one hand, I'm thankful to have a job that will help us make ends meet, but I'm anxious about all of the change that comes with it.

The ridiculous part is that it's not even a "big" job. I'll be teaching 3 yr olds at Mother's Day Out at our church. Both of my babies will be within arm's reach. I can even go down and nurse Eli, which is by far the greatest blessing. Believe me, I know I'm lucky. As far as jobs go, I've got it pretty good. I'm just not excited that someone else will be taking care of Eli all day. I am worried about all the silly things like "Will he sleep? Will they give him adequate tummy time? Will they...???" The questions are endless. I'm less worried about Eva, because she will be right next door to me and she could not be more excited about going to "school". She will pretty much have the time of her life. She loves having constant activities to keep her busy and active.

But, all of that aside, I do think that this is a great job for me. I get to use some of my developmental background in teaching. I get to use my creative side in making bulletin boards and planning lessons and stuff. When I think of that aspect of things, I do get a little excited. I think the Lord knew me well enough to know that if I was going to have to work, this would be the best case scenario for now.

As of Tuesday, you can find me buried under 12 3 yr olds! You'll know what happened if you never hear from me again. :)

Because we all need a laugh.

I don't usually do this, but I laughed so hard at this today that I felt the need to share.

Enjoy! If you don't think it's funny, then you must not be as cynical as I am. That's okay, Jesus still loves me. :)

We will not be prisoners in our home!

No we did not get robbed. This is not a burglar. That's my loving husband who brought me these beautiful flowers yesterday.

(He said it was a flower kind of day. Love him!)

But, I digress.

The reason my loving husband was dressed like a burglar is because he decided we would no longer be prisoners in our home! It was time to take revenge on the hornets. However, he did not want to sacrifice his body for the greater good this time. So he got all dressed up like a skier, or a bee farmer, or a burglar. Take your pick.

He snuck into the back yard armed with gasoline and hornet spray. Hopefully that will take care of the situation.

But the story doesn't stop there. After filling the nest hole up with gasoline, Ryan started running back to the front yard to make sure that any live hornets didn't try to attack him. I watched him run past our front window toward the garage. And then about two seconds later, I noticed a couple with a small child walk down our street. The mom and dad were staring at Ryan and our house. I started dying laughing. Moments later, Ryan came in and he was laughing hard, too. We joked that we wouldn't be surprised if the police showed up at our house any minute now.

The police never came. Apparently this couple didn't care enough to call the police when they saw a masked man carrying a gasoline can run into an open garage. Hmm... Maybe we need better neighbors.

Look who's 2 months old!

This big ole' boy turned 2 months old yesterday! We took him for his check-up today and found that he is weighing in at 14 lbs 4 oz. and is 24 1/4 inches long! I knew he was getting on up there, but good gravy! He is in the 90th percentile for height and weight, which means he is proportional.

At two months old, Eli is smiling up a storm! He loves to be talked to and will coo back a little bit. He can almost roll all the way over from his tummy to his back. And he is awfully close to sleeping through the night. He is only waking up once, sometimes twice, in an 11 hr period. He's a boy after his mama's heart. He is generally an easier baby than Eva was, but I'm sure part of that is that we are more seasoned parents. Either way, we are all head over heels in love with that little boy. He is just so sweet!

Mad as a hornet!

This past weekend, we had quite an interesting experience. On Saturday morning, Ryan set out to complete the most arduous task of mowing our grass. The front yard isn't so bad, but the back yard is so steep and the grass is thick and there is poison ivy and lots of weeds that require a weed whacker. It's just not a fun task for the boy. He says it is the hardest yard he has ever had to mow. On top of that our lawn mower doesn't really "self-propel" the way it is supposed to so he has to push it really hard. It also got broken during our moves so it has to be rigged in order for it to run. All of this combines into a task that he avoids doing until the last possible minute.

On Saturday, he had finished the front yard and moved on to the back yard. Ryan's parents, sister, and Eva were all in the front yard and I was inside with Eli. I glanced out of the window to see Ryan sprinting across the front yard. My first thought was that Eva had gotten hurt, but I quickly saw her sitting on the front steps, safe and sound. I didn't quite know what my husband was doing, but figured he was being silly. Moments later, his sister came in tell me that they needed baking soda and water. Then his mom came in and said to make that soda and water into a paste because Ryan had gotten stung by something.

Hornets make their nests in the ground. Turns out that running over said nest with a lawn mower can make them... well, you know... mad as a hornet! And when a hornet gets mad, it chases its victim. Unfortunately the victim on Saturday was my Ryan.

I'm inside making baking soda paste. Meanwhile, my husband is running around the front yard stripping his clothes off because the hornets had gotten in his shirt and shorts. (I'm sure the neighbors enjoyed that show!) I run out to give Ryan the soda and see him in his boxers in the driveway! I was like "Dude! At least get in the garage!" At the end of the day, we were able to count somewhere around 12 stings that my poor husband got.

Oh and remember how I mentioned that our lawn mower has to be rigged in order for it to operate? It also has to be un-rigged in order to turn it off. My mother-in-law didn't know that and tried to run out there and flip the handle to turn it off, and she got stung, too! My father-in-law said that there were easily 50 hornets swarming around the lawn mower. And without any spray to kill them, we had to let the lawn mower (that Ryan had just filled with gasoline) idle until it ran out of gas.

Then the next day, Ryan and his dad, armed with 2 cans of hornet spray with a 25 foot spray length were able to go out and kill (hopefully all) the hornets. After they were dead, then Ryan was able to retrieve his lawn mower and weed whacker.

On Saturday night, Ryan commented that he hoped no one went in the back yard and stole our weeder whacker. I asked him if he was worried that someone would take the lawn mower. To which he replied, "Let 'em take it! They'd get their own punishment."

Ketchup Day

Did anyone else have "ketchup day" in elementary school? Well, today is my day to catch up on some blogging that has been severely neglected. My problem is that I'm usually only on the computer when I'm nursing and it's awfully hard to type a real update one handed. (Ha!! Right on cue, Eli woke up hungry. So now I'm nursing and typing one-handed again.)

We've been seeing this smiley face a lot more these days and we love it!! He smiles at us and his toys. It's really sweet.

A couple of weeks ago we had unseasonably cool temps for a few days. It was so nice! Our highs were in the low to mid 70's. Perfect for a campout... on the deck.

These were the faces inside the tent:

They had so much fun!

Then last weekend Ryan's parents brought our Eva back to us after 4 whole days in Tulsa. We missed that little booger, but it was a nice little break. This weekend was also Mimi's birthday so we got to celebrate her.

I think that just about catches us up! And I did that one handed... so ignore the typos. :)