February 05
Enter February!
February (what a weird word...) has started with a bang. I guess January wen out with one. We went to a super fun birthday party. They rented a bounce house and while it was chilly, all you had to do was jump jump jump to get warmed up! It was a blast! Elijah had a great time once he got over the initial shyness of being around people (that he's around at least once a week...) Jerry kept Grace at home and therefore making him stay away from work for a little bit. He hasn't taken a whole day off since Jan 17th (not that I'm counting... well, really I am!) And while that's a lot of overtime, it is becoming obvious that Elijah and Grace miss him a lot. Grace sees him and immediately wants to crawl over to him and snuggle. Elijah has a tough time after lunch when Jerry goes back to work and then coming to the table to eat dinner. The latter because Jerry comes home and plays with him. But it's okay. I have something for every weekend the rest of the month, so he'll have to be here. And I need a little break too! I'm going out with the two K's this weekend to see a movie and I'm soooo looking forward to it. Honestly, it could be a blank screen for 2 hours and I"d be fine with that!
So the weather has been all weird! Today the high was supposed to be 35 by Sunday it's supposed to be 70! So whatever! Yesterday we had 20 minutes of hard snow and then it stopped, but was FREEZING the rest of the day! We went to a friends house and iced Valentine's Day cookies and had lunch. Today we went to the train museum (where Elijah had his party last year!) and had it completely to ourselves. I was happily surprised. They have a great children's room and I thought it would be packed with moms that wanted to get out of the house...alas, it was not the case. So that was nice. I think that I might get a membership there. I mean if we go just 3 more times it would pay for itself and they do cool stuff like Polar Express readings and whatnot... so we'll see.
On another note: I love our crock pot! It's my new favorite thing! I mean we had one before, and I guess I just wasn't that into it or something. It just didn't seem to cook things right or something... of course, the only thing that ever really cooked was beef stew... But I have been trying all kinds of things in it and most recently I made BBQ! It was so easy and SO yummy! I love it! Just wanted to share! ;)
Tomorrow we are heading for a park since it's going to be in the 50s. I also have a baby shower that I'm taking Grace to this weekend. While it's nice to get out, I really wish I just had two days to really work on the house. I don't know what the solution is to the toy room, but there has to be a better way. Maybe I'm just not diligent enough at keeping things where they go, but Elijah is REALLY into piling things up. That's fine, but then when it's time to clean up everything gets all mixed up and unless I go through and sort it all out it's impossible to find things. THEN he gets all whiny that he can't find one specific toy and tears up the room finding it. I really think shelving maybe the answer, but when the heck am I going to have time to install them? sigh... My folks are thinking about coming down for a week in March, so maybe I can do it then. I really think that I depend on order. And while I don't want to be anal, or pass this tendency onto my children, it really makes me a little crazy to not have organization. We won't even talk about the mess that is the master bedroom right now...though it may say something to my lack of sleeping well lately...hmmmm... sigh...again... time...
Okay...that's all for now...
February 15
How I lost my Mother of the Year Card and regained it!
I've been soooo bad about blogging lately. I honestly, have wanted too, but...well, am too lazy. Though, we have been busy.
So last weekend I went to see He's Just Not That Into You. Good movie, great cast! I went with two of my good girlfriends and we had an absolute blast! I love hanging out with them. Usually I'm not a good triangle friendship type of girl. But with these women, we seem to really connect and have a good relationship with just the three of us. It was really nice to get out of the house! On Sunday I went to a baby shower and I took Grace. It was nice and low key. Again, nice to get out of the house. The weather was absolutely great!
Then Monday happened... sigh... I was striped of my Mother of the Year card for sure! We went to walk the loop (I am determined to get in shape!!) and everything was good. Though Elijah now understands landmarks and generally where things are. Since the loop goes right by the beach, he KNEW we were there, and would NOT stop asking about it...so I reluctantly crossed the road and allowed him to spend time at the beach. I thought that we would get out there and he would want to leave because the wind was really strong and a little chilly. sigh... not so much. He was perfectly content to play. As was Gracie. So I let them. It was fine. I had very little to do that day, so why not. We were there for about 30 minutes and I was starting to get hungry and we needed to stop by the grocery store on the way home, so I gave Elijah a five minute warning, then a two minute warning, then a one minute warning and then told him it was time to go. I picked up Grace and started back toward the stroller. Elijah screams, "NOOOOOOOO!" and takes off running in the wrong direction. Okay. I think, he's going to stop and come back, because he knows better. or not. So I say, "Elijah Jacob Jones, you need to come back here right now!" And I proceed to count to three. He doesn't stop. So I start walking slowly after him thinking, SURELY, he is going to stop and turn around and come back. SURELY he KNOWS that I'm already mad. He DOES stop and turns around and sees that I am coming after him, and starts running faster!!! Now, my blood is physically boiling. I am honestly thinking about sitting down and crying, because this is what happens to me when I get REALLY mad. I'm at a loss. I have a 20 pound baby I'm carrying as well as a jacket which contains my camera, keys, and wallet (not too light) and I'm on the beach alone. I stop for a minute. Elijah stops. Then starts running again. He is now about 100 yards in front of me. I drop my jacket and start jogging in sand with Grace. I'm not covering any ground. My only two choices are, watch Elijah run away out of my sight, or put Grace down, sprint after Elijah and hope that Grace is fine for the couple minutes she'll be out of my sight. I choose the latter. I sprint (mind you I don't run) after Elijah and have to contain myself from not ripping him a new one because the girl child needs me to get back to her. Grace is, of course, happily eating sand and could have cared less, but the fact that I had to put her down pissed me off beyond belief. So I'm half dragging Elijah back to Grace. He's laughing which irks me to the point I am seeing red. I say, "That's it Elijah, we are going straight home, you will have lunch, and go to bed. No chicken fries (McDonald's), no TV, NOTHING!" Elijah suddenly realizes, hey, mom's pissed! And collapses on the sand crying. I say, "GET UP NOW!" He goes limp (must be opposite day I didn't get the memo.) I jerk him up, and do something I thought I would never do, I swatted his little butt. He walks for three steps and collapses again. At this point, I don't care anymore. All good parenting has left my being and sailed away on the ocean. I let go of his arm and say, "Fine. You know what Elijah? I'm done. You can stay here. The tide is coming in you might want to go up to higher ground, good luck." And I walk away. I pick up Grace and I keep walking. My lungs heart, my heart is racing, and I just want to curl up and cry. Elijah comes bolting up next to me saying, "NOOOOO MOMMY!!!! 'Ijah want to go with mommy!!!! P'ease...... 'Ijah going to be a good boy now." I say, "You may come with us, but you need to make big boy choices." He says nothing, just follows us back to the stroller where I chug the rest of my water and sit down while I calm down. I then start getting the good parenting vibes again. I explain to Elijah why it's dangerous to run from mommy. He apologizes and we finish our walk. He was upset that there was no special food and no Curious George, but every time he whined I said, "Next time you won't run from Mommy" and he shut up. After nap we started fresh and had a great rest of the day! sigh...
On Tuesday we had soccer. I LOVE this class! Elijah is doing well in it as well. We got home from soccer, Elijah watched about 5 minutes of TV and announced he was going to bed...and then did so!
Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday we played at various parks because the weather was sooo AWESOME! I wanted to get to the beach again, but the wind was REALLY strong AND I didn't want a replay of Monday.
Yesterday we went to a really fun birthday party at Monkey Joe's. This is big indoor area filled with inflatable jumpy things. Elijah and I have been there before but he's been to nervous to really do anything and I was either preggo or had Grace so I couldn't really do the things with him. Yesterday, though, I got to play with him and we had a BLAST!!! Jerry worked for a bit and then brought home chocolates for me. Next weekend we are going to Myrtle Beach and staying at this place. It has a HUGE indoor water park, so I think it will be really fun. Today we walked around Home Depot and daydreamed about home improvement stuff. We priced a bunch of stuff and I think much of it will be doable within the next year. We also went to Target because Elijah's feet have grown (AGAIN!) I bought shoes for him three months ago a size to big and he's outgrown them...sigh... so new shoes for him. Ohhh, and I forgot, I treated myself to some Fit Flops. They are not THE fit flops, but they are 1) MUCH cheaper and 2) helped out our neighborhood Avon lady. I picked them up Friday and wore them for about 2 hours. They are SUPER comfy and Saturday morning, my thighs were a little sore. So I'm really excited about them. I mean if I'm going to wear flip flops anyway...right???
GRACE: has three teeth now, is crawling like there is no tomorrow, has the funniest chuckle EVER!, occasionally says some words (other than mama and dada), and is pushing up...not so much pulling up. She pushes up on her legs to stand. This only works if she has her hands on something, but she doesn't seem to pull with her arms so much as just use them for balance. She LOVES doing downward dog and REALLY wants to stand up from that, but alas, gravity (and strength are against her in that endeavor...soon baby girl too soon!) She loves to go into the playroom when Elijah isn't in there and play with all the toys by herself. It is AMAZING to me EVERYDAY how absolutely different the kiddos are and yet rather similar. Grace also LOVES her veggies. She will eat corn and peas and broccoli. She also LOVES rice of any kind. However, said food must be whole. None of that mushed up crap for her. Easier for me! Oh, and of course, the world might stop spinning if we run out of cherrios!
Okay... so this is a REALLY long entry...but now ya know! I'll post some pics and hopefully I'll write sooner than later.
February 20
The 3 year old stats!
Today we took Elijah for his 3 year well child check. While a little late, we wanted to wait until we had our new insurance...which is nice because well child checks are free on our insurance (well, no co pay anyway!)
So here are the stats: He's 36.6 pounds which is the 90% for his age. And he's 40.5 inches tall which is 97% for his age. He is roughly the size of a 4.5 year old!! He grew 5 pounds and 4.5 inches in one year! The doctor was impressed that he grew that much. Though he doesn't think I'll have a 7 foot kindergartner, he probably will be one of the taller kids in his class...unless he stops growing (ha!) Elijah is healthy all around. The doc answered my questions about the car seat/booster seat thing (he said to go by weight as opposed to age...so in a 3.4 more pounds or two more inches, he's in the booster part of his seat) and reassured me that his speech issues were normal. I figured they were, but it's always nice to hear from a doc. There is a cool little form you fill out at the beginning of the appointment to see where you child is developmentally. Elijah does everything on the paper except say his first and last name when asked what his name is...which is something we just started working on anyway. During the appointment Elijah was super shy and wouldn't let go of me until the doc said he was done and then Elijah was all about saying bye bye. Grace was a very good girl though the whole thing. We went to McDonalds as a treat afterward.
my little guy!!!
We are now waiting for Jerry to get home so we can load into the car and hit the road to Myrtle Beach for the weekend. We are staying in a resort that has a HUGE indoor water park, so even though the weather isn't going to the warmest, we'll have a fun time. I have been fighting a nasty cold all week and think I'm finally nearing the end of it. I sound all low voiced, but I feel a lot better...mostly due to Jerry being so great. He kept Grace the past couple of nights and brought me soup and juice and zicam and cough syrup and anything else I could have needed.... JERRY ROCKS!!! (in case there was any doubt!)
February 22
Mini Vacation
We're home! We had a GREAT time! I wish we could have stayed for longer, ah well...next time! I gotta say that this was one of the nicest places we have stayed. There were two indoor water parks. We were right on the beach (though it was rather cold...but ya know!) There are restaurants on site, so you don't HAVE to leave...and we only did once. Everyone that works there was SUPER nice! I do have to say that I cannot imagine being there at peak season. I don't know how booked they were, but it was fairly crowded...not so much that it was bothersome, but if they were at full capacity, I don't think it would have been as fun. The kids had a blast in the water. I posted some pics in the February album ( had more but apparently there is some mystery error so a bunch didn't upload...whatever...) I wish we had brought the camera the second day, but on our way out Elijah's hand got caught in the door and we got sidetracked. The second day we went to the second park. There was a lazy river and smaller slides that allowed tandem sliding. Elijah actually went down with me twice...but that enough for him. The other water park is cool too. It was in our tower, so a little closer. It had a submarine that had water features all around it, and I think that was Elijah's favorite thing. Grace LOVED the water. A friend of ours lent us a little float for her and her little legs just kicked and kicked under there. It cracked me up! She was just happy as a little clam hanging in that and watching everything! The two bedroom unit was the way to go. We tried the kiddos in the same room and it worked really well. I slept in their room and Jerry slept in the big master bed. When Elijah would wake up and want to sleep with me, I transferred Grace to Jerry. But they slept well together in one room. Elijah even slept through Grace crying when she woke up. That was my biggest thing about transferring her into her own bed in their bedroom. So I think we will start that transition soon. This morning we got up and went for one last play in the water before check out at 11. We got back to the room by 10 and changed clothes and went to load stuff up. We had to wait a while for an elevator down and then decided to just carry our stuff across the road to the parking deck instead of trying to fight the insane check out traffic. If we had expendable income, I seriously think we would consider getting a time share at this place. Even if we were there at a warmer, more crowded time, we could walk just about anywhere anyway! There's also a new bypass (or maybe it's not new...but whatever) that made getting to this place super easy (we did it in just over one and a half hours.) On our way home we stopped at the outlet mall for lunch and went into Old Navy. They were having a huge clearance sale so we walked out with a bunch of new clothes! Now we're home and (sorta) ready for another week!
