Grace... my little 22 month old...

Gracie bear... she is a bundle of energy and IS her own person.  She will TELL you that she is her own person and that she CAN do it herself.  What can she do herself you may ask... well

• pee and poop on the potty!  That's right, she is potty trained!!!  And honestly, I have NO idea how the hell it happened.  She was interested, she became proactive REALLY fast.  If she has an accident, she gets REALLY mad at herself and will look at her underwear in just disgust it's almost funny cause she is just soooo little.  She has definitely made this process MUCH easier than it was with Elijah.
• get dressed on her own.  Don't DARE TRY to help....until she ASKS in her very cute tiny voice, "help, pease."  She also has definite opinions on what she should wear.  She loves this one particular dress that my mom found for her.  It is super cute and really comfy.  She loves that it's swishy. 
• sing at the top of her lungs...a made up song that has no words except "Ahhhhhh!!!"  Seriously considering signing her up for some voice lessons... hehehehehe.
• hold her own in a fight with Elijah.  And MAN can they fight.  I honestly thought that I would have at least one more year, but this little one is starting to exert her independence.  If she does not want to play what Elijah wants her to play, she lets him know... and not quietly.  Elijah has something in his brain that makes him want to take certain things out of Grace's hands...no, not take, snatch.  This drives me up the wall... BUT Grace is starting to anticipate these snatchings.  She doesn't catch all of them, not even a lot of them, but she is starting to get it....so a word to Elijah... watch it!
• go to sleep on her own.  This may not seem like a huge thing, but it really is!  We do our little nightly ritual of reading books and having 5 minutes of special playtime and then it's lights out.  Again, it went much faster than it did with Elijah.  And maybe this is because Elijah is the bedroom with her, but she goes to sleep at night and nap on her own.  This is a big step in the right direction, so WAY TO GO BABY GIRL!!!
• pretty much ANYTHING she sees Elijah do.  He brushes his own teeth, SHE want's to brush her own teeth.  If HE puts on his boots, SHE wants to put on her boots.  If HE goes to the bathroom, SHE wants to go to the bathroom.  This is both cute and annoying.  He has learned that he can get her to do anything.  He'll start spitting (knowing that it is a BIG no no) and then SHE'LL start spitting.  BUT she also follows suit on hugs, helping clean up, saying sorry.  So I will take the bad because there is the good...and right now the good outweighs the bad.

So my little independent girl is turning into an amazing child.  In two months she will be 2 years old and that is just incomprehensible to me.  They really do grow up too quick...

parenthood - sometimes it really could drive me to drink...

I love being a mother.  Really.  I do.  But there are days...
Last week both children were sick at some point.  In a desperate attempt to not spread their germs everywhere we stayed home.  All week.  To top that off, and to make my life peachy, we decided that we should start the potty training.  Thankfully the weather was really nice so the windows could be opened.  Monday was a wash regardless.  Elijah ran a fever all day and the poor guy just crawled up on the couch and was a potato all day.  It's all good.  Every body needs a day like that.  Then came the goop.  The nasty cough.  The unwillingness to actually use a Kleenex instead of the back of one's arm.  Sigh.  Tuesday was also very nice.  Outside we went.  The back yard was played in.  Bikes were ridden.  The sickies were out in the open.  Snot flowed freely.  It was gross.  Grace did well with the potty training, but of course there were accidents.  So laundry was done... a lot.  I cleaned my kitchen.  I played with the kids and by Wednesday I thought I might list them for sale.  Wednesday was fine.  Still warm enough to get outside, but the clouds were rolling in.  Grace woke up from nap with a fever.  Alas.  Thursday the rain came.  No ability to go outside to play.  The walls started closing in.   I called Jerry at lunch and told him we had to get out of the house.  This had to be the day for going out to lunch.  We picked up Jerry and hit ABC (not the alcohol store... though that would have been good...Atlanta Bread Company.)  One would think that we had never been out to eat before.  Grace peed in the car, only because she feel asleep, she also refused to sit in a high chair.  The place was jam packed and we found the last empty table which was meant  for MAYBE two people.  Elijah refused to scoot away from the wall so I wedged myself in between the squirmy toddler and the four year old and attempted to eat my food while minimizing the mess of two children that refused to eat their sandwiches off the table.  Dragged them back home and sent them to nap... or not.  Elijah was feeling better.  So no nap.  Grace did sleep, but not for long.  Alas.  We made it through another day.  Friday.  Good ole Friday.  Elijah's speech therapist scheduled an appointment for Friday afternoon.  Jerry wanted to be home to meet him and to help out with Grace.  SO, he went in at the crack of dawn, which meant I was in charge of both kids the night before.  That was fine.  I slept sandwiched in between my two sweet babies.  We all three slept decently and I thought it was a good sign.  And it was.  We played.  Grace kicked me out of the bathroom while she pooped (wish she would give me the same courtesy...sigh.)  Then nap happened... or didn't.  I REALLY wanted Elijah to sleep so his evaluation would go well.  Alas.  The therapist showed up and while Elijah's punchiness started to show and Jerry felt I prompted him in some questions, the evaluation went well.  He is on the pronunciation level of a 5-6 year old but leaves out some beginning and ending sounds.  He is also on the language level of a 4.5 year old, which is just good to know!  I do wonder how well he would have done completely rested, but that is beside the point.  The therapist will meet with us once a week for 8 weeks and then we will go from there.  So we went to the mall for dinner, and merry-go-round and play before heading home for bed.
Then sweet Saturday arrived.  My friend Kristie is pregnant.  She has a little boy that is one of Elijah and Grace's best friends.  She was SOOOO nice to babysit (including putting the kids to bed!) and as payment I went over and painted nemo and friends on her son's new big boy room.  It was really really nice to get out of the house.  It was REALLY REALLY nice to get out of the house without kids.  I really had planned on only taking about 4 hours to do the room.  8 hours later, I was almost done when the electricity went out.  I have a little left to do, but I had such a nice day.  Jerry let me borrow his Zune player and I jammed out while painting and not thinking about making sure Grace had peed in the potty or if the reason Elijah was being so quiet was because he was stapling all the furniture to the ceiling.  Nothing.  It was bliss.  ALMOST made me want to go back to work.   But then I come home to love and hugs and sweetness... until bedtime, but still.  Elijah stayed in his bed until 7 Sunday morning.  I will take this over fighting them to sleep any day!!!
Sunday Jerry had to work, but I got both kids to put themselves down for nap and while Elijah didn't sleep (again!) Grace did... and all by herself!!!  We have started having a once a week potluck at a friends' house on Sundays and it is the nicest way to end the weekend and start the week.  The kids play (usually) well together and the parents have some beers and talk and eat.  Of course leaving is sometimes a struggle.  We help clean up the mess we made and throw the kids in the car threatening their lives under our breaths and threatening no TV out loud.  And eventually get home, the kids ready for and in bed and relax a bit before we ourselves turned in... only to be awaken by kids crying out of fear from the raging storm outside.  Alas.  A new week begins and so do my thoughts of just a dash of Bailey's in with my cereal...

October 2008

October 08

There and Back Again...a REALLY long post...

So I guess I need to rewind a bit.  Getting ready for our trip was a long process, that would have been made easier had Elijah and Grace not gotten sick.  I don't know where they picked it up, but they had a fever and cough and runny nose and it was annoying.  Then the day before we were to leave, Jerry got sick.  Sigh.  I was a little more annoyed.  But fortunately, I didn't get sick.  ANYWAY, before we left, this happened:

That's right, Miss Grace decided that she would sit up a little bit (long enough for me to get the camera and take about half a dozen pics!  It's still the tripod sitting thing, but it's still a big step!  She's excited about it, being able to reach things and whatnot!

Okay, moving on...lots to cover.  We left Thursday morning.  Jerry and Elijah slept until 8-ish (and only because I woke them up.)  So we got on the road around 10.  I was super paranoid about the car trip.  Elijah has just soooo much energy and for him to have to be in a carseat for 6 hours = not so much!  But he did really well, as did Grace.  I have to say that the ride up was helped with this.  It kept Elijah busy for at least 1.5 hours of the trip!  Best of all is that as the pictures dry you can reuse them.  And if anything spills its just water!  LOVE IT!!!  (at least on the way up... but that's for later...)

So we get to my folks house and Elijah is immediately excited to be there and had my folks off and running.  Of course, Grace captured everyone's hearts as well.  So Elijah played and then we ate and then watched the VP debates.  Gotta say... not really impressed by Palin... never was to begin with, but that was her time to shine, and not so much.  Do love Tina Fey's SNL sketch of it though!!!  Then went to bed.

Friday we got a slow start.  My dad was on jury duty pretty much the whole time.  Jerry and I took Grace and met Leah at Barley's for pizza lunch.  Elijah went to hang with my mom at WWC.  We came back home for naps and dinner and then Jerry, Grace, and I went to the homecoming BBQ.  We just went for friendship not for food this year (good thing, since I heard they turned people away that didn't pre-register!)  It was a good evening.  I caught up with lots of friends.  It was really fun.  (side note: we left Elijah with my folks knowing that we would be really late.  So I left them with a movie (a rarity and special treat) thinking that Elijah would fall asleep... ummm, not so much.  He watched the WHOLE freakin' thing! ha!)  After the bonfire was lit, we decided to head up to the theatre since they were having a reception at 10 (at night!!!!!)  Grace had fallen asleep for about 2 hours in the sling, but she was WIDE awake!  So we went up for a bit and it was FANTASTIC!  I love that theatre.  It made me miss the stage (something that I haven't felt for quite a few years now).  I came across this picture in the lobby...not as young as I used to be for sure... I'm the one in the middle by the way:

This is from a (very little known) play called "Film is Evil, Radio is Good".  It is a very odd play, but it was really fun!

So after a late night Friday (for everyone!) we thought the kids would sleep in on Saturday...not so much!  We got up rather early, but dragged our feet for a bit and ended up on campus around 11:45.  We walked around a bit with Rebecca, Patrick, and Dane.  It was interesting to be on the campus and really look around.  It's changed sooo much since we were there as students.  We hooked up with Leah on the soccer field and watched the soccer games, bounced with Elijah in the bouncy houses, hung out with friends, and ate ice cream.  We left for a little rest period.  While we were at home my folks gave Elijah a BIKE!  You would have thought that the world had stopped!  He was soooo freakin' excited.  He jumped on the bike and was off.  He could have cared less when we left to go back to a casual, fun dinner that Katie had put together!  It was amazing what she did!  There was music later, but we were beat, and I really couldn't ask my folks to deal with Elijah two nights in a row (especially since he had had no nap that day.)  So after catching up with more friends at dinner, we went home.

Sunday, I went in to church with my folks and Jerry got the morning off from everything.  Elijah was still clingy and after Sunday school with my mom, had a bit of a melt down, so after I sang the anthem with the choir, I went and hung out with him.  After lunch, I brought the kids home and we relaxed.  At 2, Obama spoke to a crowd of 28000 people in Asheville so we watched on TV.  I was amazed that he was there.  It was REALLY cool!  Katie met me for dinner and then came over and hung out a bit.  It was so nice to see her and just sit and talk.  It was (as always) as if we hadn't really been apart from each other.  I miss her so much!  There are days it seems everything remind me of some inside joke we shared.  I was thinking about my days at WWC and I think that the friends I had there are the best I ever had (exception with Laura and Katrin... knew them outside of WWC and I include them in best category!)  I have very good friends here.  I haven't known them as long.  But my WWC friends (and the exceptions!)FREAKIN' rock.  After all, I did meet Jerry there...

Monday mom and I took the kids to the lake to play and walk around.  It was a nice day and Elijah learned about Geese (or gooses...hehehehe!)  And Grace learned that sand is oh so fun to play in.  We had a picnic in the park on the way home and then relaxed around the house.  I made dinner for my folks (turkey meatloaf...sooo yummy!) and watched HEROS!

Tuesday was a rainy day.  Elijah wanted to play, so my mom took him out for a bit, but it was a little chilly.  Dad finished his jury duty around 2:30 so Jerry and I went out for dinner on our own and walked around the mall (meaningful since we got engaged there...hehehehe!)  Then came home and watched the debates...another blog entry...maybe...  I stayed up WAY to late trying a new pattern on circular knitting needles.  I have been scared of them, but mom had this pattern for a grocery bag and I wanted one, so I tried it (must say that it did not turn out right, but I'm no longer scared of circular needles...still don't really like them, but not scared....)

Today we drove home.  It did not go well.  We were all tired, and Elijah didn't get that he couldn't get out of the car and play with the toys on the playground below my folks house...for the WHOLE ride home...sigh... he cried for my folks the whole way...no nap... just whining and crying.  That's not true.  He had periods of clam playing, but not a whole lot.  He kept waking Grace up and it annoyed me...but I was crabby too.  I didn't want to leave and I know now that we have the challenge of trying to get Elijah potty trained while Jerry is home until next Wednesday.

Sorry this has been so long, but I haven't blogged in a long time and this week was so much fun!  I miss the mountains soooo much and I need to write this stuff down to remember.  I'm going to post some pics to an album to match!

October 16

Alone again

during the day anyway.  Jerry went back to work today and he is going to start working through lunch.  This means I'm on my own with naps.  So I tried since Monday to put Elijah and Grace down on my own.  It worked Monday and that was it.  But today wasn't so bad.  We have finally broken the habit of rocking Elijah to sleep for nap.  He gets to watch Curious George, take a truck with him to bed, play for about 15 minutes and then he has to at least be quiet in his room.  We had a little bit of a struggle, but both kiddos are asleep for now!  WAHOO!

So since we got back last Wednesday we have been working on potty training.  I swear I would rather go through natural labor again than deal with this, but I am determined.  Yesterday was a major success in that Elijah stayed dry all day...well I should say that he kept his undies dry all day.  We put him in a diaper for nap and night and both were soaked, but it is the small victories that keep me going.  We are rewarding for EVERYTHING right now.  He gets a sticker for trying to go, a sticker and one skittle for peeing, a sticker and three skittles for pooping, and for staying clean and dry all day he gets to have a glow in the dark bracelet to take to bed.  He was super excited about the bracelet last night. I got a few packs at the dollar tree.  I think I'll have to go back and stock up.  He quasi pooped in the potty once, but I made a HUGE deal out of it, so I'm hoping that he'll go again.  He is however, trying to use the whole "I gotta poop" at naptime to avoid going to sleep.  Not okay with me.  And I let him know that today.  I hope that he gets this soon.  I am refusing to go back to diapers.  We have training pants and vinyl covers, so we are set.  He did have an accident at the park today, but I think it was my fault.  I really think he was trying to get my attention to tell me, but I was trying to sort out Grace and didn't respond immediately.  He did however, tell me he had gone pee...so that's a step in the right direction.

Okay, now... the f!#$ing washer.  They came to fix it three weeks ago.  The motherboard they brought didn't work.  So they ordered one from Kenmore and put it in yesterday.  It didn't solve the problem either.  However, for some reason we ended up having to pay for the part.  Sigh.  ANYWAY, so we go to do another load of laundry and the knob is broken.  We call the appliance place and they can't send someone out to fix what they broke until today between 10-12.  Well, that didn't work as I was going to be gone and Jerry is at work.  So we have decided we are going to buy a used machine and save up for one we like.  However, apparently this isn't a malfunction of just our brand.  Apparently this happens quite often with many front loaders.  Sigh... I don't like this solution, but if we spend even just 70 more bucks on this machine (which is what it would be just to have someone from Sears come look at it) it's the same price as another machine.  It's all rather annoying.  I mean our clothes are SOAKING wet since there is no final spin.  I have been wringing out each item into the washer and then throwing it into the dryer, then running a drain cycle to get rid of the water.  What a pain.  So I'm letting it go.  We'll hopefully something reasonable on Saturday and maybe we can sell this one for parts.

Okay, that's it for know.  The girl child is up and trying to pull my lip off....hehehehehe.

October 20

The Weekend

This is just a short post.  I am in the process of writing a longer one that will (hopefully) be my last political blog for a bit.  But in the meantime...

The potty training has taken a fabulous turn!  Elijah goes when we ask him without (as much) complaining.  He has stayed dry since Friday and as a reward gets a glo-bracelet to take to bed with him each night (thank you Target for offering 15 for a dollar!!)  He gets a M&M candy for each pee and 5 for each poop (which has yet to happen, but at least he's waiting until the nap or night diaper goes on...sometimes...  I understand the pooping is a little harder of a concept.  I'm a little worried about constipation now though.  He is holding the poop.  We try to let him do it his way, but...well, we'll see.

Grace has started solids officially.  Well, bananas anyway.  We will move on to better things just as soon as I get off my butt and make them.

We threw in the towel with the washer.  We went Friday evening to a little whole in the wall used appliance place and purchased a used Whirlpool top loader for 150 (including delivery and installation!)  Much cheaper than having to hire someone else to look at the washer and charge some insane price to fix it.  The guy that sold the washer also gave us the name of someone that might buy the front loader off of us!

So Saturday was spent doing 138927407 loads of laundry.  I still have some to do, but most of it is done, folded, and put away.

Sunday was spent weed whacking the jungle that was our back yard. It still needs to be mowed down, but it looks much better.  Now to kill all the ants that think our backyard is prime real estate for their multi-level condos!  And to do so massive black widow killing (killed three yesterday and I know there are more hiding...Dear Black Widows, there are perfectly good woods right next door...move there or face the wrath of my shoe!!!)

Today we finally got rid of the chair that was with Jerry for many many years.  It's been sitting in our garage since we moved in.  Today the trash people agreed to take it for us!  Tonight someone is coming to look at the exercise bike (that has been out there for almost as long!) and since we took the recycling earlier last week, our garage is looking like, well, a garage!  For some reason this gives me a since of calm.  I mean there is still a lot of organizing that needs to happen out there, but I feel like I can move around and deal with it better.

Okay, Elijah has been really quiet now for a bit, he has either 1) decided that mommy is right and he needs to rest quietly in his bed, 2) up to no good, or 3) taking a poop (finally!)  Whatever the choice, I will go check on him and then get back to work (I am working for a company called ChaCha!  totally crap pay, but the work is really really easy and I can work for 10 minutes here and 10 minutes there.  If I can make a little money, the the daunting-ness of paying for college out of pocket next fall seems a little less, well, daunting...)

October 23

quick update

just have to say that elijah is doing great with the potty training.  yesterday after rest time (not sleeping...sigh) when he is in a diaper and told me he had to poop...he could've gone in the diaper, but he took off the diaper climbed up on the toilet (the potty seat and chair are soooo last week) and with a little trepidation pooped in the potty voluntarily!!!!  i was so happy i almost peed my pants!!   today at the park he peed three times and had no accidents!  i know this is probably not of any interest to anyone, but honestly when we (re)started this process i told jerry i would rather go through natural childbirth again twice than deal with this.  i'm glad we stuck with it.  i knew it was happen, it was just a rough few days.  he's even starting to realize when he has to go pee on his own!

the not sleeping at nap thing is bugging the heck out of me!  jerry and i talked about it and we think that it's just his pattern.  when he learns a new skill he just doesn't sleep as well.  i have taken to putting the gate up and ignoring his whining.  but he wakes grace up and that pisses me off.  i just don't know what to do.  i end up being a total grouch because i'm tired from dealing with them.  when grace doesn't get her rest she doesn't sleep well at night.  i don't need a lot of sleep, but elijah comes to me in the middle of the night and wants jerry, so i have to wake up and take him in there to him.  then come back in and settle grace back down.  and then try to get back to sleep.  i guess my tiredness is my own fault.  i'm exhausted by the end of the day, but i just can't go to sleep.  i feel like i haven't seen jerry in ages (though we did watch indiana jones the other night...not a good movie...but nevertheless...)  we did get to go out for dinner when we were in the mountains.  and i haven't had any time away to myself since i got my hair cut when grace was 2 months old.  this is going to need to change fairly soon i think, or i am going to go crazy.

jerry just came home.  he's early.  i am guessing that he thinks maybe i need some help with the crazy boy child...and he's right, but now i have to go make some dinner.

October 28

No rest for the mommas

The one thing I don't like about being a mom is that you can't call in sick.  I came down with a cold or allergies or something.  I'm not snotty, but I have a scratchy throat and am sneezing like crazy.  No fever... but exhausted.  Nevertheless, my day simply has to start.  I did cancel plans with a friend yesterday and we didn't go on our preschool groups field trip today.  But we will get back into the swing of things starting tomorrow.

Elijah is still boycotting his naps (for the most part.)  I'm not keen on this at all. (yes, i said keen...move on...) but I don't know what to do.  I was making him watch Oklahoma with me (with Hugh Jackman...that man can sing!)  but that only got us through a day and a half.  I have tried sending him to his room and putting up the gate... works for all of 15 minutes.  Today we fought and at 3 he fell asleep.  I woke him up at 4 since that's our house rule.  We'll figure something out.

I have decided that I'm not going to post my political blog.  One, it's waaaaaayyyyy long and not even finished and two, it's not going to change anyone's mind.  It's just going to annoy me.  So, I leave it to this: The Daily Show!

November 2007

November 04

DIY....WHATEVER!!!!

okay...so yesterday we decided that enough was enough.  we needed to fix the freaking dryer.  mostly because i'm getting lazy about hanging the clothes up...it's a little hard while trying to keep an eye on a running toddler.  getting him to help only lasts for a bout 2 minutes before he starts throwing the clean clothes onto the dirty ground.  so ANYWAY, i look up changing the belt on a dryer and find that (supposedly) it's not that hard.  so step one is done, the instructions are printed out and ready to go.  this morning i get up and we decide to at least get the front cover off the dryer and get the old belt off so jerry can go get a new one while elijah and i are at a birthday party.  while this wasn't the easiest thing to do and the instructions (which were generic and not specifically for our model...hmmmm) weren't spot on, we accomplished this task.  i'm feeling all good about this thing and feeling the sense of pride that fellow blogger claire talks about when she achieves some household task.  so we go to the party and jerry goes to lowe's (home depot didn't have the part...) and all is good.  elijah falls asleep on the way home and i come in and put him to nap in his bed.  jerry had the belt and we go to work.  after a couple of hours and many cuss words, we realize that we need to pull the dryer out and use the back access panel to get the freaking belt on the pulley and engine drive (look at my use of dryer parts....oooohhhhh, aaaaahhhhhhh....).  by this time said toddler is up and cranky and hungry and demanding attention from father and mother who are trying to not say cuss words around said toddler and not slice their arms off from the sharp edges and random dryer parts.  finally with my last bit of energy (no nap for mom today) i get the !@#%$% thing to go on like it is supposed to and jerry can goes attend to a now very poopy toddler and get said toddler fed.  while he does that, i put the dryer back together (sounds easier that it is, but  I DID IT!!!!) and we load up the dryer and test it out!!  while it running nice and quiet i go and get ready to shower, because i have been lying in dust and grime behind the dryer and while we vacuumed back there, we don't have a fancy dyson and it doesn't clean as well as the fancy (read really want a fancy) dyson would....sigh...  i have just gotten my hair down and my sweater off when i hear a squeak come from the dryer.... i stop and think, it's just adjusting itself.... nope.... it gets louder and if at all possible louder than it was before we "fixed" it... SUPER SIGH.... so i get in the shower all annoyed, with a headache beating in my head and try to ignore the squeaking.  jerry finally goes and shuts it off, because really it's just that annoying.  after the shower we talk about what to do and decide to go look at dryers at lowe's...nothing... sear's...nothing...  well i say nothing, and i mean nothing we want to spontaneously spend money on.  so we decide over dinner at the food court in the mall that we will tough it out until january when all the after christmas stuff goes on sale, and we can get a dryer we really want and do some research on which ones are good and which are not... 'til then, i'll be in the back yard hanging out clothes if ya need me!

November 07

YAY!!!!

I just heard today from my friend Laura that her sister just had her twins.  I think they were only a couple of weeks early and apparently she was to be induced, but went into labor on her own!!!  Anyway, she gave birth to the baby boy around 11 (weighing in at a whooping 7 pounds!!!) and the baby girl at 11:30 (weighing in at 5.9 pounds!!!!!) both were delivered vaginally!  I'm just so freaking impressed by that and I hope they don't mind me sharing.  I've been telling everyone I know.  I mean first to carry twins that long is fantastic and then to give birth in such an amazing way.  I don't know if she had drugs, but either way...DANG!!!!   I think it's great that she was given the option.  When I freaked out for a few minutes about possibly having twins, that was my biggest concern, that I would automatically have to have a c-section...I was calmed down by several people that told me that it was possible and happens in this county, so that's good to know...not that we're having twins, but ya know...  ANYWAY, the kids and mom are doing fine and that's great news too...and I guess the most important thing...ya know all healthy and stuff.  Just wanted to say great job and announce the arrival!!!!

November 11

lazy lazy sunday

i am still in my pjs and it is 4:45.  i did do the laundry and finish up the kid's in the family's christmas gifts.  but that's about it.  elijah is still in his pjs too.  jerry is in comfy clothes.  he did go out and get us sandwiches (i am CRAVING egg salad so he got me one... nice hubby.)  elijah has played hard all morning but inside. we broke out the potato head full of potato heads and he has gone crazy with putting those together all afternoon.  he took a really good nap and i watched heros on the web while jerry watched football.  after elijah woke up we pulled out the air mattress and feather blankets and now we are chilling on that watching football and playing potato heads.  elijah thinks it's all funny.  we've needed a break.  jerry and i have both been really tired this week, so doing absolutely nothing and staying in our pjs all day has been quite nice.  part of me feels guilty that we stayed in on such a nice day, but the other part of me is completely fine with taking a day off.

anyway, it's been a nice weekend too.  yesterday we went out for breakfast and then to a park.  jerry had to go into work for a bit while elijah napped, then we just hung out.  next weekend will be more hectic.  i am going to pass your plate to get our months food on saturday.  i need to finish the rest of the family's christmas gifts as we will only see them at thanksgiving.  sunday we are going to see jerry's folks.  sometime in there we need to do all the laundry and get the house ready to go.  we leave on thursday morning and will have thanksgiving on friday afternoon.  i need to make a pumpkin pie and a pecan pie before we leave too.  when we arrive i will make a sweet potato casserole and a green bean casserole.

this past week rachel and i threw a baby shower for a woman in our play group.  we were a little worried since it was outside, but the wind died down and it was quite nice. and everyone had fun i think.  i did have a little traumatic moment.  we were playing on the playground and i was talking to another mom.  elijah moved out of the way to let another kid go down the slide and all of a sudden i see my kid falling.  there was an opening on the other side of the slide.  i thought my heart was going to stop.  however, he fell in the best possible way.  he step backwards and there was no floor (obviously) and just fell straight down and landed on his feet!  then his knees buckled and he fell backwards onto his head.  i did the stupidest thing possible which was grab up my crying kid.  i should have let him get up and come to me to make sure there was no spinal injury, but hindsight and all.  anyway, he's obviously okay and was just shaken.  it was a big fall...about 7 feet.  i was scared that he might not want to play on big slides anymore, but he was fine at the park on saturday.  it just scared me lots!

i feel like i'm fighting a cold.  my throat has been scratchy for a few days and i just feel worn out.  i went to the doc earlier this week for my eczema.  i have it on my eyelids and it is not comfortable.  unfortunately since i'm knocked up and all the only thing i can do for it is hydrocortisone cream.  so far that seems to be helping, i just look all rough and scaly around my eyes... oh well... there are worse things in life.

speaking of the baby in the belly.  i have bee feeling some beginnings of movement.  not like kicks yet, but definite movement in the belly area.  this morning in particular.   it's just so cool.  i didn't feel elijah until about 16-18-ish weeks.  i don't know if i ever wrote about it.  but when i was about 16 weeks with elijah i had to go get my heart looked at to make sure things were okay.  i guess i was the healthiest person they had seen all day and the ultrasound woman let us see the baby after finishing with my heart.  elijah was kicking my placenta at the time.  jerry said the other day that maybe that was the beginning of his happy feet (we say show us your happy feet and he starts dancing this little run in place dance.)  anyway, it was really sweet...

okay... the boy child needs attention apparently...

November 18

hmmmm...

Where did this week go?  What did I even do this week?  I'm sure we did something.  Let's see... I have decided to not make slings to sell anymore.  I couldn't find anyone who would insure me and I'm nervous in this sue happy world.  So I was a little bummed, because I had all these materials and nothing to really do with them.  The fabric I can of course find something to do with, but the rings...  Apparently the Maya Wrap was recently recalled due to some faulty rings.  Carmen was bummed because that was one of her biggest sellers, so she ended up buying all my supplies off of me.  She's going to make them herself to sell.  So that was sweet!

So with that money I got supplies to make Christmas Ornaments to sell in Carmen's shop.  I need to finish a batch tonight so that she can get them out by Thanksgiving.  I'm also knitting little bells to sell there too.  While we are away for Thanksgiving I'm going to work on some more hats and mittens.

I don't remember the rest of the week really... Thursday was rainy and then it got really really cold, and then this weekend has been a whirlwind.  I went to Pass Your Plate on Saturday and made our food for the month.  Today we went to see Jerry's mom.  His dad had to have his other leg amputated earlier this week and is in a rehabilitation facility to learn how to walk and take care of himself and whatnot.  This is a great thing, I only wish it had happened after the loss of his first leg... but everyone (including his dad) is very positive about this and I am encouraged as well.  I hope that this is a new beginning for them all!

This week is going to be a little crazy.  Elijah needs a haircut, I need to bake some pies for Thanksgiving, we have b-day party on Tuesday morning, and I need to get us all packed to leave early Thursday morning.

Elijah's sleeping is getting better.  He's staying in his room until at least 5:30-6:00 in the morning.  Last night he only woke up twice and it took less that a minute to get him back to sleep.  I hope that this trend continues.  We are still in his room while he falls asleep, but I sit in there and read my book and Jerry just sits in there.  It seems to be working.  He signs that he wants to go to sleep in his bed for nap, but he plays and gets hyper, so we bring him back out to rock for a bit and then after he settles down he gets to go back to his bed.  This is taking longer than I would like for him to settle down, but I think that it will get better soon.

This baby in the tummy is a crazy movin' baby.  Especially if I drink OJ or coke (I treat myself once a week)...man, I can't imagine what my tummy will look like once this kiddo gets bigger and I can see the movement.  It'll be like an alien....now it just feels like one.

I guess that's it.  I'm really tired this evening.  I guess even this short trip today wore me out...even though i slept a bit with Elijah at nap time...hmmmm... I may not make it through The Amazing Race tonight...we'll see...

November 20

emotional ball of...well, emotions

Today I went to pick up Rachel and MR to go walk before a b-day party of a friend.  When I walked in Rachel told me she had a present for the baby to be.  What a nice surprise.

I need to stop and give a little back story for this to make sense... Jerry wrote about this a while ago on his blog...see his fatherhood link and then scroll down to "froggie"...ANYWAY, we bought Elijah this little frog toy when he was really little and he played with it all the time.  We used it in the car to keep him calm and hooked it to his play mat and to his stroller.  On a walk he figured out how to get it off and it became lost.  I was really upset about it and maybe even cried a bit... I know it sounds dumb, but I really liked that stupid frog.  We have called Elijah our little tree frog from day one...symbolism and stuff....

So to my surprise... I have talked about this frog for ages.  And Rachel found one in a used kids store here and got it for us!  It was so sweet and I just started crying.  Rachel is used to my little outbursts.  I know that I wear my emotions on my sleeve, but when pregnant or breastfeeding, it's much worse.  I cried at a stupid Bud commercial shortly after Elijah was born...sigh...

But this is getting ridiculous.  There is a Sear's commercial out there about a little girl that loves clothes, but she has to wear a uniform to school, but next year she won't and so her mom buys her this wardrobe as a surprise for Christmas... stupid Sear's commercial...

Then I was dumb and watched Akeela and The Bee... stupid heart warming movie...

I've started ignoring commercials because I am betting that during the dumb holiday season they are only going to get worse...

Anyway, thanks to my friends for putting up with my emotional butt and a big hug to my hubby for not making too much fun of me... of course, he knows he's got to live with me for the next 24 weeks...

November 25

Turkey Day Adventures...

So we left on Thursday morning to go to my folks.  I thought that surely there wouldn't be that much traffic, and for a bit there wasn't.  But we hit Raleigh and from there until Greensboro it was slammed...moving, but slammed.  We got to my folks in about 6 hours (not bad with 4 stops.)  Elijah did really well and immediately felt at home with my folks.  He was wandering around their house finding the toys they have for him.  My folks just got a brand new TV (about time as their other one was about 25 years old...not kidding, it was at least that old...so old that Habitat For humanity wouldn't take it!!) It's really nice...flat panel, HDTV, HUGE!!!  It was difficult to come back to our boring TV today...hehehehe....

I made the sweet potato casserole that evening and unpacked the pecan and pumpkin pies.  My mom and dad made us spinach pie (one of my favorites!!) and we had dinner then chilled out with the big TV.  Elijah didn't sleep very well and gave Jerry a hard time the first night.  But was a happy guy by breakfast time.  On Friday we went to meet my Aunt and Uncle for breakfast (we left Jerry to get some rest) and run some errands at Ingles (I miss Ingles!!!)  then came home and played at the park with my little cousins.  We came back up to the house and went on and fed Elijah lunch so he could take a nap.  He only slept for about 45 minutes before he was up.  He knows how to open the doors at my folks house, so there was no going back to sleep.  But he was fine.  It was a good day.  We did a little Christmas gifting and enjoyed (way too much) yummy food.  That evening as I was brushing Elijah's teeth, he kept crying and grabbing his cheek...the whole day he had been doing odd things with his tongue...yeah, the elusive 2 year molars we have been waiting for are suddenly making an appearance.  I have been feeling his gums back there for weeks and there was nothing there...Friday night...there's a huge gaping hole with a tooth sticking out... no wonder he didn't sleep well.  Luckily we had IB with us and he got a dose of that and fell asleep and slept well for the night.

Saturday was the laziest day ever.  Elijah is all about fire lately.  When we read Goodnight Moon, he points out the fire on every page it appears.  Friday dad made a fire and Elijah woke up on Saturday and immediately started signing, Opa fire.  My dad went out in the freezing cold (before eating his breakfast) and made a fire for Elijah.  Elijah is very timid of said fire, so he stands across the room and stretches his hands way out.  It's very cute.  He'll point to the fire and say, "hot hot!" so I guess it's good to know he realizes it's hot.  Mom took Elijah out on a walk in the woods, which he wasn't thrilled about, but was fine.  Meanwhile my dad and I sat around the fire and were lazy while Jerry worked on a computer program he's developing.  We had planned on going out to a movie, but nothing looked appealing...well, we didn't want to watch anything too in depth like American Gangster, or scary like The Mist...so we just went out to lunch at My Father's Pizza (super yummy!!!) and came home to put Elijah down for a nap.  We did watch Spiderman 3 during nap time.

We drove home today and man, it was a long drive.  The weather was all dreary....yawn.  We did stop and see my other aunt and cousin for breakfast this morning.  So that was fun.  But still....

I must say that both Thursday and today the police force was OUT!  We saw a TON of people pulled over.  We also saw a bunch of dead deer on the road.  I know that it is that time of year, but there were some gruesome looking road kill on the side of the road and I just know that those had to be bad accidents.

Oh...funny story...

Thursday evening we were sitting down stairs watching football and just hanging out.  There is a big window looking out onto a footpath and my mom;s cat jumped up at the window.  Elijah loves looking at this cat (though the cat is skiddish...but through the window is okay.)  Anyway, my dad is not the biggest fan of cats (or at least acts like it) and has always threatened the cats in our lives...never hurt them, but definitely threatened them.  Anyway, the cat was clawing at the window screen.  We had just been talking about the cat's name (kitty...) and dad said, "You know what that cat's name is going to be if it doesn't stop scratching at the window..."  and I giggled and said, "dead cat dead cat..." Elijah looked right at me and then at the cat and said (and I kid you not) "deadcatdeadcat..."  I thought we were all going to die from laughing so hard.  Here is a child that doesn't say that much, and clear as day says dead cat of all things!!!   At least I didn't say something a lot worse!!!

November 27

Why don't these things come pre-programmed...

Ahhhh, potty training...sigh... so this morning marked the beginning of the training.  Here is my day so far:

8:00 - out of poopy diaper and into big boy training undies (love these because while the absorb very little, so little on can feel wet/dry, they have a vinyl outside to keep my couches from being ruined.)

8:30 - go on a walk, return home go immediately to potty.  dry undies, no pee in potty.  put undies back on...

9:00 - go to potty...wet undies, manages to pee on rug in bathroom...sigh...why didn't i already remove rugs?  oh well, they needed to be washed anyway.  boy child refuses to put undies back on... fine naked boy running around...closed all rooms with carpet in them.

9:30 - pees on floor, put boy child on potty immediately and back on with 2nd pair of undies (why do we only have 4 pairs?) he pees two drops in potty whilst i clean up pee on floor...

10:00 -  after asking every 5 minutes if he needs to pee, (answer always "no") we go sit on potty...low and behold the undies are what? wet... (liar) we sit and read and talk about wet and dry and he refuses the undies again.  fine...

10:15 - after a juice and asking every 5 minutes, boy child runs to potty and sits and goes!!!  he leaked on the way to said potty, but he almost made it... success maybe?!?!

10-30 - starts to pee while playing and i look up at the sound and cheer him on to the potty where he pees an extraordinary amount considering he's left a puddle the size of a small lake (well to ant it would be a lake) on the floor.  stays on potty while i clean up another mess... really happy the weather is warm enough to have the windows open.  both times he's peed in the potty he gets to "wipe" and flush the big potty as a reward.

11:00 - boy child says he's hungry and i convince him (after much struggling) to put on undies before eating...don't want to have to wash the high chair cover too.

11:30  - lunch... again every 5 minutes "do you need to potty?" "no"

12:00 - getting ready for nap...into a diaper... out of what? soaking wet undies...sigh...

12:30-2:23 - nap...no pee to clean up...wahoo!!!

3:00 -  convince boy child to get out of diaper and be naked again...not very cooperative...doesn't want to stay off furniture...sits on potty for almost 1/2 hour with no success...super sigh...

it is now 3:52.... he had an orange for snack and i am betting that he is storing up the pee.  if he would pee in the potty we could go outside for a bit in undies, but alas alack there is no rationalizing with toddler boy child.  i'm doubting my stamina for keeping this up for the next few days.  it's exhausting.  maybe if jerry were home it wouldn't be so bad... why don't they come out trained?  where is evolution in this matter?  opposable thumbs were more important than learning to pee in the toilet?  whatever!!!  maybe things will go better tomorrow... we are definitely having a bath tonight... i feel gross... i know pee is sterile and all, but that doesn't make it any better...

November 28

well, everyone needs a break...right?

well, elijah did well this morning... of course, rachel called and we decided that playing downtown was much more fun than potty training.  so jerry and i decided that this weekend we will tag team the training and we are resorting to bribery.  we are going to make a chart and get stickers for the chart and elijah.  it'll be easier with two.

so jerry's coworker, bonnie, had her twins yesterday via c-section.  she was scheduled for next week but went into labor yesterday.  as far as i know both mom and the the two girls are doing well.  we'll go visit tomorrow or the next day.

on monday, i took care of mr while rachel and erin went in for their 20 week ultrasound and they found out that....they are having twins!  what is the likely hood that i would know three people who have had/are having twins.  this is insane.  but also really cool.  so many babies!!!

we go to the midwife on friday for a check up and to schedule our own ultrasound.  i'm excited.  i really like seeing the baby on the screen...

okay... that's it...elijah is sleeping and i think i may join him...we got in a little late, but i always like putting him down late sometimes.  it makes night a little more difficult, but it makes the afternoon go so much faster!  be well!

November 30

It's Friday...WAHOOOOO!!!!!

So the potty training is getting better I guess.  He had no accidents yesterday evening (we had playgroup in the morning) and this morning they were limited.  He runs to the bathroom after he lets  little pee out... still cleaning up behind him...sigh... anyway, we have the chart up and that's a huge hit, so we'll see.

This afternoon we picked up Jerry, dropped Elijah off at Rachel's, and headed over to see Mary the midwife.  Everything is going smoothly.  Strong heartbeat (only ONE!) and I measuring perfectly.  We made an appointment for our ultrasound for the 14th of December.  I'm really excited!  We didn't do an early ultrasound...didn't feel that there was a need.  I am looking forward to seeing the little one on the TV.  The place we are going is a place where we went last year for some extra ultrasounds (docs thought there was something wrong with Elijah's kidneys...he just needed to pee...hmmmm....isn't ironic?) and it's really nice.  You get to see the baby on a TV screen placed above your head so you don't have to crane your neck to see the screen.  The only problem is that the appointment is at 1.  That sorta sucks.  I don't really want to take Elijah with us, but I also don't want to have to put Rachel out.... hmmm, I wonder if my folks would like to come down for the weekend... mom... dad...?  wanna come down for a long weekend?

We are getting our Christmas Tree tomorrow!!!  That's exciting!!!  I have almost all my shopping done.  We are doing only Made in the US/Europe or second hand stuff for Christmas.  This has been challenging to say the least, but I finally finished Jerry's shopping, and now it's just Elijah left.   We were thinking the Rody but now we are thinking not so much...space issues, rowdiness issues, he already has ride on toys....though nothing that bounces...hmmmm....  so now we are stuck.  I found a kitchen set that was made in the US and I went to take a look at it and the store was sold out and they weren't sure they were getting anymore...sigh... we have found a little basketball goal...that's a possibility... he just has so much already.  Well, see...

Okay...I need to check on my latest addiction....Facebook...so easy to get soooo sucked into...