Croup: Season 6, Episode 2 (Samson) and a busy weekend

Our weekend was packed with fun things and fun people and when it was all wrapped up we were pleasantly exhausted. We enjoyed an evening away from home on Saturday night. We brought the boys to some friends' house and they loved exploring new territory. Sunday we had two of my awesome cousins over to watch the Super Bowl, as well as Elijah's bff. It was a huge success! Everyone had a great time and we stuffed ourselves with calorie-laden snacks.

I'm a few days behind in posting about this, but Sammy got croup a few nights ago. It was mild and we managed it with oral steroids, a steamy bathroom and Mama snuggles. As usual, the stridor lingered for a few days but never became severe.

We are ALL at different stages of sickness that just will not seem to totally go away. I got hit with another round of congestion over the weekend and now Dan has been hit, as well. I'm ready for total health for us! Elijah has been the healthiest of all of us this winter.

I am loving being able to work from home and really focus on my food blog. Dan has had some work drama that has added a bit of stress to our lives. Elijah is doing mostly well in school, with rough patches here and there. After a routine appointment to his developmental ped last week, we are going to increase anxiety med dosage again. Sammy is as sweet and sassy as ever, giving me TONS of "love" letters and snuggles and then telling me what a horrible mom I am in the next breath. Ugh.

That's us in a nutshell! I hope you are all healthy and starting your week off great!

A testimony and a punch

It's the weekend already?! This week flew by, as they all do. Dan and I started the week by terrifyingly getting up in front of our church and sharing a testimony about the miracle we experienced when Elijah's ear was healed a few years ago. I avoided speech class at all costs in high school and college, but it was strongly on my heart to stand in front of 500 people and share our story. I knew it would be good for us and I hoped that it might bless others. It felt so good to get it out! You can watch it here (we speak about 15 minutes before the end of the sermon)! The healing that occurred inside Elijah's ear can only be explained by a miracle and I promised myself I would NEVER forget that and I also promised that I would share it with others whenever appropriate.

Elijah had a rough couple of days this week, but things are a bit better today. We moved his bed from our closet back to the boys' bedroom and since then he has been sleeping later in the mornings. We are constantly adjusting and readjusting and thinking and rethinking everything. Nothing is ever static and I suppose that is a good thing. It keeps us sharp and on our toes (when we're not unsharp and exhausted)!

Sammy, oh my little Sammy. We had some doozie moments this week! I will tell one story from Monday which sums up the week for him. The boys had the day off school, so they were ITCHING to go to the club with me in the morning. As always, I told them what I expected while they were in the child area...no rowdiness, no potty talk and no name calling. When I picked them up they let me know that each of them had broken a rule, therefore no treat from the cafe. As we walked by the cafe, Sammy said, "Well I'm going to go STEAL something then!" I said, "The police arrest people who steal!" I kept walking and heard him running toward me from behind. Just as I had the thought WHAT IS HE DOING?! he punched me as hard as he could in my back! I turned around, TOTALLY SHOCKED, and said, "Did you just PUNCH me?!?!?!?!?" We quickly got to the car and had a very quiet ride home. In our bathroom at home as I was calmly explaining to him why he was going to get spanked, he slowly poured soap into his hand. I asked what he was doing and he said, "If you spank me, I'll rub this soap all over you." THAT is how my boy thinks when things don't go his way. Instead of figuring out how to change behavior, he tries to figure out how to escape from us nasty adults. I'm sure this is partially a 5-year-old thing and partially a strong-willed thing. Whatever it is, I love him to pieces. He is smart and sweet and strong-willed and creative and such a perfectionist and I love him! Punches in the back and all!

Elijah has snowboarding tomorrow morning and then both boys are heading to Grandma's house for a fun overnight visit while Dan and I have a night to ourselves. We are all looking forward to it! Thank you for peeking in. Have a great weekend!

Slopes and snuggles

One week of 2016 is done! My week started off a bit rocky after catching Sammy's little sickness and also struggling getting back into the swing of things. After two weeks free of a schedule and a totally crazy holiday month, it was almost like I was experiencing Holiday PTSD. The week improved and we are getting back into the groove. By WE I mean ME because everyone else in my family seemed to bounce back without a problem! :)

Elijah is now officially a snowboarder! I signed him up for Courage Kenny's adaptive skiing/snowboarding program and so badly wanted to get him into skiing. I started skiing when I was a kid and I always envisioned my boys skiing young, too. The only openings available were for snowboarding, but I signed him up anyway. Guess what! The location they placed him at is THE SAME ski resort where I learned to ski as a kid. As I stalked Elijah and his instructors today, I discovered that he was learning how to snowboard on the EXACT same hill I learned to ski on. I couldn't help but get nostalgic and a little emotional. It's so crazy how things work out! Who would have ever thought.

I was worried that Elijah would be anxious about snowboarding, even though he seemed pretty excited about it beforehand. He did way better than I ever could have imagined. He liked having a hand helping him most of the time, but toward the end of the lesson (in the FREEZING cold) he went hands-free for a few seconds both on the way down the hill and on the "magic carpet" ride up. He was so genuinely excited about today and the progress he made. Eventually they will get him on a chair lift and possibly use a tether rope to help get him down some bigger hills. I'm so proud of him for being adventurous and willing to try new things!

I've been working on Sammy. Every time I ask him if he would like to ski with me he screams NOOOOOOO! Now that I've got Elijah on the slopes, I may just have to trick him. Sorry, sweetie, but you'll thank me later. He has started saying this week that he wants to learn how to ice skate, so I'm going to leap on that and get that boy in skates!

Dan left town for work today and will be gone through Wednesday, so the boys and I have some quality time on our hands. Today we got home from Afton and Sammy and I both CRASHED. Hard. Shockingly, Elijah (who should have been the most tired of all of us) stayed awake for an entire Curious George special. After that was a very snuggly pizza-movie night where Sammy kept insisting, "SNUGGLE ME HARDER, MOMMY!"

That Sammy. I still call him Sweet and Sassy (like the bbq sauce) because is the SWEETEST boy, but can also be the SASSIEST boy. He pushes his little limits and can get so upset when we stand firm with rules. It's like he can't help getting so worked up and mad about being told what to do and does/says things that go against his sweet nature. After a bit of time, he always feels bad and asks for snuggles. "Mommy, I'm moving to the other side of the planet! Please snuggle me!" :)

Elijah had a GREAT week at school, yay! Our new med dose was a good call and the transition time occurred over break...just in time for school, which was perfect. He got "great" reports every day this week. His teachers said that he was engaged and stayed on task and had a great attitude all week.

That's all for now! Have a great rest of your weekend and thank you for stopping in!

Christmas 2015

Merry Christmas! We wish you all the best and thank you for being here. We had a great day filled with games, snuggling, playing, present-opening and a bit of sickness. This progression of photos will show you how Sammy has been feeling. Tonight he went to bed with a bit of a fever. We are hoping for healing tonight because we are leaving for vacation in the morning. Enjoy the faces..

Despite the sickness, we had a great day. Dan and I increased Elijah's med dosage a few days ago and we have already seen an improvement in behavior. He has been sick AND he slept only 6 hours last night and despite all of that his behavior was impressive today.

I was trying to get Sammy to bed early tonight because he was not feeling well and he was being defiant. Elijah, without prompting, saw my distress and grabbed Sammy's favorite toy and brought it over to us. "Sammy!" he said, "I'm bringing this upstairs, so you should come, too!" It worked. I was grateful because Sammy went to bed without dispute and Elijah helped...and without any prompting! After Sammy was in bed, Elijah asked if his prompting had helped. YES! Dan and I were super impressed with the forethought.

Our "big" gift for the boys this year was a little drum set. Elijah has impeccable rhythm and I have always had visions of him being a drummer at our church. :) Both boys had fun playing with the drums today. Elijah asked for exact timing, so I found a metronome app that helped him stick with a rhythm.

Right away in the morning we are heading to Illiniois. Sunday we will head to Indiana, where we will spend five wonderful days with my family in a rental home. We are so excited! Thanks for peeking in!!

One man's good days trigger another man's rough ones???

Elijah has had a GREAT past couple days. When he gets off the bus I can instantly see whether he is doing well or not. His spunky, bright-eyed spunkiness has been back this week. Which somehow has cued Sammy to bring out the sass. Tonight was ROUGH with our sweet little Sammy. It began when he got onto my computer without asking. I kindly told him that he couldn't use it and he defiantly unplugged it, stuck it under his arm and started marching downstairs while saying, "I'll do what I WANT!" Uhhh...I don't think so, sir! After telling him that he'd be having a little visit with Daddy for the defiance, he went back upstairs to write out a slew of Mommy hate mail on scrap paper. When Dan got home Sam got a little spank on the bum for all of the above, which sent him into a tailspin. Sammy informed us that he was running away from home and tearfully broke the news to Elijah. He then begged me to help him prepare to run away. "If you're going to be on your own, you may as well learn to do things for yourself!" I told him. He did not like this, so after 30+ minutes of whining and crying he let us know that he had changed his mind. He apologized and required THREE sets of snuggles before bed because he felt so bad. That strong will of his! In a way, I love that he has it but goodness he can be a little stinker!

Elijah's sweet friend A came over tonight and I witnessed one of the SWEETEST moments I've ever seen in my life. His friend loves Pokemon (just like E!) and recently had her entire collection stolen. Tonight while she was here I happened to find Elijah's old book that was empty because he had upgraded to a bigger one. I pulled him aside and suggested that he give his old one to A since hers had been stolen. I didn't push it and wanted him to do it on his own if it was on his heart. A little while later he approached her and I heard him say, "Um, my name is written on this book, but I'd really like for you to have it to put Pokemon cards in if you'd like. I'd love it if you had this! Do you think you want it?" She said, "Elijah! This is the NICEST thing anyone has ever done for me! THANK YOU! This is so sweet!" My heart melted into a puddle from the other room. They are such a great team and I'm so grateful for the connection they have.

A quick funny before I forget.. The other night we were driving somewhere and we were on a street that had a ton of Christmas lights strung through trees. I heard Sammy whisper under his breath from the back seat, "Thank you, Jesus, for putting this here." :)

Good news! Today was my LAST day (possibly ever) working in Cannon Falls! They have been sooo good to me and I have verrrrrrrrrrrrrry affordably acquired tons of home decor and good paychecks from them, but this also means more time working on my own projects and more time at home.

We are wrapping up our week before Christmas break begins! The boys are SO excited for Christmas and everything surrounding it. We have tons of fun stuff coming up! Have a great rest of your week!

The runaway

I mentioned in my last post that the Sammy sass has been escalating. A few nights ago something very minor occurred in our home. I can't even tell you what it was, but Sammy turned it into a major ordeal. He said, "I DON'T WANT TO LIVE HERE ANYMORE! I'M LEAVING THIS HOUSE FOREVER!" I said, "Oh shoot! We will miss you so much! Please be safe. I love you, Sammy." He put on his coat, hat and boots and eagerly left with the door slamming behind him.

I perched myself next to our front window with my computer and acted like I was working as I kept a sideways eye on our strong-willed youngest cutie. I watched him walk halfway down our front yard and stop. He stood still for 10 seconds and then walked in a few circles. Then...he walked back to our patio and sat in a chair. I peeked my head out once and asked if he wanted to come back inside. "NO!" Okie dokie..back to my spot in the blue chair by the window. Our strong-willed Sammy sat for over 30 MINUTES in the cold before coming back inside. When he came back in, he acted like nothing had happened! "Hi, Mommy! I love you! What's for dinner?" I foresee some interesting teen years. :)

(ps: We are still abstaining from technology until the sass diminishes.)

When Sammy isn't trying to run away from home, he is telling me that he wants someone to sleep with him in his bed at all times. A handful of times over the past week he has told me, "I just want someone to sleep with me and snuggle ALL THE TIME!" Today I explained that someday when he has a wife he can do that every night! He was sooo happy about that idea!

Dan had a random day off work today and so did I. We took Sammy out for a lunch date and we made him feel very special. We asked him what he wanted to be when he grows up and he was adamant about wanting to be a fire fighter. I think he would be an incredible fire fighter!

Both boys have separate big days coming up to start off our holiday break. They are both excited! We'll share more later!!

Sass-quatch and fun photos

The sassiness I mentioned last week escalated at the beginning of this week. Sammy showed me a caliber of sass that I have never seen before. He did not want to go to daycare on Monday morning, so I carried him inside kicking, punching and screaming. I set him down and turned around to watch him run back out of the gate and into the alley (where cars speed through occasionally). Again, I carried him kicking and flailing inside and I have bruises on my shins to prove it! Elijah has had a really rough week sleep-wise and that has carried into his days at school and life in general. 

On most mornings, I get him out of bed in the morning and see two very tired eyes looking back at me. It makes me sad to see him so exhausted right away in the morning and to place expectations on him to behave appropriately for an ENTIRE day. We obviously have expectations, but I also know how he feels! When I have reached my limit, I am not nice! I understand his lack of control, but at the same time we can't let him get away with physically lashing out at his classmates, etc. Life is tricky for our precious E! We continue to learn and do everything we can to understand certain behaviors. He has been seeking physical closeness a lot lately. He constantly says, "Mommy, I need SNUGGLES!" as he plops his 6o-pound cuteness in my lap and insists that I cradle him like a baby. He needs love! And sleep! And a much less tired brain.

On Monday after Sammy's rough morning and after dealing with some rough behavior from Elijah, Dan and I decided to pull the plug on technology until things turn around. Neither boy has had phone, iPad, computer or tv privileges all week. They have both asked, but haven't put up much of a fight about it. We will keep it this way until things calm down (minus our Friday night pizza-movie nights which is very cherished family time).

Another crazy week is done! I am still working in Cannon Falls, which is great ($) but also not great (sanity/sleep). Once Christmas is done, I think you all may hear my huge sigh of relief echo around the globe. Isn't it crazy that this time of year is sooo stressful?! It should be just the opposite, but it's just not.

Dan starts a new job on Monday! He was hired by a nearby high school to be a paraprofessional. I am SO EXCITED and happy for him! He will be back in a school setting and it is such a great opportunity. Ok...I'm tired, so here are a few photos from the past few weeks.. 

Sam refused to be in the picture (of course), so I had to sneak him in. :)

Our tree this year is the BEST! It is huge! And so pretty. We love it and comment on its awesomeness approximately 25 times/day. I don't think we will ever have a better tree than this one.

This next photo is titled We Are the Griswolds!

Our very good friends Kendis and Chris stopped by for a visit over Thanksgiving weekend. It was SO good to see them! The boys were all over them. :)

The boys are great at dough rolling, I have discovered! Good thing, because I do not like rolling dough.

Sammy was super excited to put the star on the tree this year.

Our Sammy.. he is so thorough and completes projects with pride. He took tree decorating seriously and didn't stop until every ornament was on our tree.

Elijah helped, too! In his way-too-small jammies. :)

Every December, we build a gingerbread house as a family. This year the boys were SO EXCITED about doing this.

We all contributed to the cute sugary home and it was a fun family activity. And...as always, the boys did everything they could to talk us into allowing them to eat as much of the home as possible.

I hope you are all having a nice December so far! Wishing for peace and happiness for all of you! Thank you for peeking in.

Like bbq sauce

This week seemed to last a million years. Dan has been working overnight two nights a week and it is starting to wear on us, in addition to Elijah's very early morning awakenings. In the past week he has been awake for the day at 1am TWICE. 2am once. 3am twice. His brain is still on overload. He still looks like a zombie when we get him out of bed in the morning. He is EXHAUSTED constantly. We are all exhausted. I have been praying so hard that Christmas break will bring him back to baseline so we can begin to live somewhat normal lives again.

Now for some Sammy funnies. This boy. He is sooooo sweet yet sassy. Mostly sassy lately, likely because he has been waking up super early due to a certain early-bird brother in his vicinity. Lately when we ask Sammy to do something, he replies with the most ridiculous comments. Examples:

Me: Sammy, it is not ok to line your meatballs up on the floor. Please put them back on your plate.
S: But I am a guy who cannot hold things!

..or..

Me: Sammy, please put your coat on so we can leave.
S: But I am allergic to touching coats!

..or..

Me: Sammy, it's time to go upstairs to get ready for bed.
S: But I am a guy who cannot walk. I'm stuck to the floor! Help!

Seriously. The sass from this boy has reached new heights. When he is sweet, though, he is the SWEETEST. He is the snuggliest boy in the world.

I have tons of photos to share from the past week, most of them involving our Christmas tree. I will post soon!

ps. Dan got a new job that he'll be starting in the next few weeks! Details to come!

Second grade, here we come (and some funnies, too)!

How is it possible that Elijah is in second grade?! That seems so hard to believe. After we got him on the bus this morning, I found myself thinking back on his precious little life up till now. I remember being in the NICU with him when he was a few days old and having a nurse tell us that these kids (heart kids) are special. They are unique and awesome and they stand out. Seven and a half years later...YEP! That describes our awesome oldest boy! I was filling out a paper from E's teacher and she asked us to describe him in three words. Ha! Three words?! I said, "Elijah, describe yourself in three words." Without skipping a beat, he said, "Smart, awesome and cute!" :)

Dan and I met with E's teacher, Mrs. G, last week. She was SO kind and comforting and we both got a really good feeling about her. We are grateful. I know we will likely have struggles on some level this year, but I have a feeling it'll be a much different story than last year. Elijah has matured and we have learned so much about how he thinks and operates.

This morning before school, as I was combing and re-combing Elijah's hair so it would stay down, he said to me, "Awww. I'm going to miss my brother today." Just before E got onto the bus, Sammy hugged him violently and said, "I'm going to MISS you, my cute, sweet BUDDY!" These boys love each other sooo much. When E's bus rolled up to our house this afternoon, Sammy RAN to it, screaming, "MY BUDDYYYYYY!!!!!"

And on a Sammy note...oh my goodness, he is so funny and precious! I have a few boy (mostly Sam) funnies to share from recently..

Me: I love you, Sammy.
Sammy: I love your body but I do NOT love your head.
(pretty sure the translation for this is: Please stop talking, Mother!)

Sammy: Daddy, I love you.
Dan: I love you, too, Sammy. I love our whole family.
S: Hands down, we have the best family EVER.

He has been so smart lately with the way he responds to being upset with us. Instead of punching or kicking (thank goodness this reaction seems to be fading), he will throw out the words instead. Here are a few examples:

I'm going to catch Daddy in a giant net.
I'm going to catch Daddy in a giant tornado.
I'm going to explode Mommy.
I'm going to pop Mommy's head off.
I'm going to run away from you.
I'm never going to be in your family again.
I'm going to lock my door forever.
I'm never getting out of this car again.
I don't love you.

Elijah (upon seeing Dan walk by with his hair pulled back in a ponytail): What the heck?! Why is there a ponytail on the back of Daddy's head?
Sammy: Is Daddy MOMMY?!

I don't think I ever wrote about this one, but it definitely needs to be told! While we were in Iowa for our family reunion last month, I brought Sammy downstairs to the bedroom for a time-out. I told him to stay there until he was ready to be kind and use kind words. As I left the room, I heard the door lock behind me. "Sammy, open the door, please!" "NO." "Open the door NOW." ....long pause....then Sammy said from the other side of the locked door, "RUDE WOMAN IN THE AREA!" I about died laughing. I ran upstairs to tell my family and they laughed, too. Then..back downstairs to get through the door that was being guarded by the Sassy Sam. :)

The boys, especially Elijah, fell asleep QUICKLY tonight. Novel situations and times of transition are particularly scary for him, so please pray with us for a positive school year and a seamless adjustment period. Our family has a CRAZY couple of months ahead of us, so I'm doing my best not to think too much about it. We'll get through it, right?!

Thanks for peeking in! Have a great week.

First grade track and field day!

Sammy and I spent the day with Elijah at school for Track and Field Day. For the first two hours, it was FUN! It was great to see Elijah out there with the rest of the kids, trying his absolute best. He needed a little help and struggled a bit, but he TRIED! I was proud. On the first "hippity hop" race, he got about halfway before one of the gym teachers carried him the rest of the way.

The second race was a relay, so he didn't have as far to go. He was very much behind everyone else, but he finished!

Sammy even got to run in a race! He was thrilled about it. He got a "participation" ribbon and was telling Elijah's friends that he won first place. "I'm SO speedy! And strong!" :)

It was sunny and HOT! The boys got a little too much sun, despite the layers of sunscreen I slathered on them. I was so busy taking care of them and worrying about them becoming dehydrated that I forgot to put sunscreen on myself. Ouch!

Toward the end of the event, all of the kids were just plain tired. I love this photo of Elijah in the center and everyone sprawled out and so exhausted. He has some really sweet kids in his class! There are a handful of boys I could actually say I adore! They were so kind to and patient with Elijah. They approached him and asked him questions and tried to play silly games with him. Sometimes he responded appropriately and sometimes he didn't. He has improved SO MUCH in this area. Sammy was really comfortable around E's pals and asked them all sorts of things and told them very random things about our family. "My mom likes to take baths at night!"

Tug-of-war was fun. Elijah got a kick out of it, although this was right around the time when I saw the switch flip in him. He went from being happy, cooperative Elijah to I-want-to-make-everyone-mad Elijah. I was his first victim. I saw it coming. He sat down next to me, dug his fingernails into my arm and said under his breath, "I'll smack you in the face." Yeah. :( I couldn't discipline him like I would have at home, so the only thing I could think to do was walk away and sit somewhere else. I saw him cry big dramatic tears as he screamed, "My mommy LEFT ME!" Oh please. A few minutes later, he came over and said sorry and asked me to sit by him. Then I started noticing that he was pushing his friends just a little too hard and grabbing Sammy's arm and yanking him around. I pulled him aside and spoke to him firmly. His response was a screaming, "I DON'T WANT TO SIT DOWN." Ugh.

Sammy had a really rough day, too, so I feel depleted and disheartened tonight. These boys are so tough right now. They are both in tough stages, and feed off one another so negatively. I have been doing EVERYTHING possible to get them good sleep at night, but nothing seems to work.

Sammy was whiny from the moment he woke up this morning. When we got to E's school, he wanted to do absolutely everything his own way. "No, Sammy, you cannot walk through that race! You'll get trampled!" "BUT I WANT TO." Ugh!

At lunch the first graders went into their classroom to eat. Sammy and I stayed outside with some other parents/families to eat our lunch. After I opened Sam's cheese wrapper for him, he FREAKED OUT. "DON'T OPEN MY CHEESE WRAPPER! I WANT TO DO IT!" "Ok, well it's done, Sam, so you'll need to get over it." "GO BACK HOME AND GET ME A NEW ONE SO I CAN DO IT MYSELF!" "Uh no, that's not going to happen." He whined and moaned and cried about that for ONE HOUR. I'm not joking. When we got home, he didn't like something I had said or done so he ran outside in circles in hopes of not being caught. The whole time he was SCREAMING as if I was going to hurt him. "DON'T TOUCH ME! I'M NOT GOING INSIDE!" I finally grabbed him, flailing, hitting and kicking my body, and brought him inside. I carried him to my room and put him in my bed and hugged him until he stopped.

When I told him what we were having for dinner tonight, he told me (as usual) that he'd rather have something else.

If there was ever a question that we might have another child, today confirmed an absolute NO for me.

On a totally different note, Elijah surprisingly had a great afternoon at therapy (PT/OT). And Sammy was a perfect angel in the waiting room. ??? E's wonderful PT chatted with me for a few minutes about the neuropsychologist's report. She has been a PT for many many years, keep in mind. Her words: "That was the best neuropsych report I have EVER read." Based on his report, she requested more time with E from our insurance company and it was granted! She has all kinds of new things to work with Elijah on based on Dr. M's recommendations.

The boys are finally quiet. I am going to go outside and read my new book on Nonverbal Learning Disorders. Have a great rest of your week! Thank you for the white board/chalk board recommendations!

Sass, sass and more sass

Elijah has always loved surrounding himself with comfort items, whether that be toys or pillows or people. Lately he has been sitting on the couch and completely surrounding himself with pillows and blankets and just lying there. The other day Sammy joined him! They were being kind to each other amongst the pillows and blankets, so I had to capture the moment. 

I tell you what, our Elijah is a tough one. I brought the boys to daycare today and accomplished a hundred things that I would not have otherwise been able to accomplish. When I picked them up, I got to hear about all of the un-kind things Elijah had done and said throughout the day. :( Our wonderful, caring daycare provider said, "Girl, you sure have your hands full!"

He tests his boundaries constantly. Honestly, there are quite a few things that are not easy with him. When things are easy, I think, WHOA! Life is so amazing! He hit a friend at daycare today (this makes me so sad), among other things, so he lost all of his privileges tonight. Despite that, though, we had some rare easy moments this evening and I couldn't believe how wonderful it felt!

We went to E's open house last night. We got to see his kindergarten classroom and meet his very sweet teachers. This is going to be such an amazing experience for him! Dan and I are both very excited to get him back into the routine of school. I want to tell his teacher that I have been praying for her since the day he was born. I have also been praying for a special little friend to recognize how special and awesome he is and to befriend him and take care of him, so to speak.

Sammy is still being his little independent, sassy, ADORABLE self. I have to be super creative in order to get him to do certain things (brushing teeth, sitting at the table, reading books, getting his diaper changed). Gotta be constantly on my toes! But man, Sammy is cute and sweet when he wants to be. I could just eat him up. He asked me for 20 minutes straight tonight to "Tickle Fammy!"

We have a super fun weekend planned! It will involve the dropzone, s'mores, a baptism, friends and family! We are excited! Thanks for checking in. Have a safe and fun weekend, everyone!

Croup: Season 4, Round 6 (Elijah)

Elijah had two bad croup episodes in the middle of the night last night. We had to use two epi nebs (six hours apart) and give one dose of oral steroids. They were a little bit scarier than his past few episodes, but everything turned out just fine. He even had a little throw-up session, which is unusual for him. The doctor we saw today wants us to continue with the oral steroids twice/day for three days. Today he was back to dishing out the sass!

Speaking of sass, here are few gems from the past few days. Elijah is getting WAY too clever..

He has started pointing his finger at Dan and me when he's in sassy mode. I always let him know that it is never ok to point fingers like that at people. So what has he started doing? Pointing his thumb at us, of course!

He has also been heard saying "Be quiet!" to us, which does not fly, either. So what does he now say instead? He says, "Mom, you be..." and then he puts his finger to his lips and says, "Ssshhhh!"

That's Elijah! Always thinking of innovative ways to break the rules without actually breaking the rules.

State Fair and more

This may be close to the longest I have ever gone without writing a post! We have been busier than usual, it seems. Dan and I went on a long-weekend, no-kids getaway. His parents graciously agreed to watch the boys while we were gone. Everyone had fun, all around. It was good for all of us.

We were able to make our yearly trip to the State Fair again this year, and we had a great time pigging out. Here are some photos from our adventure..

Sammy, crying for more food..



Posing with Oink Booth crowns. Sammy's first!



Beautiful eyes..



And another set of beautiful eyes..



Elijah loved the carousel. So much that a meltdown took place 10 seconds after this photo was taken. You can see the meltdown beginning to form..



The slide was a hit, but only after it was done. Can you see the terrified expression?





Ok, getting tired. Getting reeeeeally tired..



And both were out, just like that.



Both boys are doing well. Sam is growing like crazy, in every way imaginable. He is still obsessed with balls. He constantly asks for "BA?!" He is starting to attempt more words. And I swear he is mad at me for leaving him over the weekend. He hasn't given me the time of day since we returned. :( I hope he gets over it soon.

Elijah, our strong-willed little Elijah, oh how he continues to push our buttons. This potty training thing is getting ridiculous. Imagine a full-blown whine-fest/tantrum every time we ask him to go sit on the toilet. And we are still cleaning our share of poop out of underwear these days. I feel like it will never end! He starts school next Monday, and I am so thankful that his teachers are willing to take on poop, as well, as opposed to putting him back into diapers. They are wonderful for agreeing to that. Actually, they didn't even agree to it. They offered!

What else is going on...Dan's work should start slowing down soon. I have been keeping busy with work, boys, photography, cooking and blogging. The boys are keeping us on our toes. I feel like the summer was oppressive in so many ways and that that is finally lifting. THANK GOODNESS. I was not The Summer of 2011's hugest fan.

I hope you all are doing well! Thanks for checking in on our family. More later...

Vacation has begun!

I'm still slacking on photos, but I will have time to get to that soon. For now, I will write a quick update. Friday was my last day of work until January 3rd! Yay! Elijah has preschool today and tomorrow and on Wednesday we fly to Charlotte for eight days. We are all very much looking forward to leaving this snowy state! There is so much snow here that the plows don't know where to put all of it. And guess what? It is supposed to snow another 6-8 inches tonight!

Sammy is FINALLY taking longer, more predictable naps. This is wonderful! He has seemed a lot happier to me the past few days, so maybe his body is finally getting the sleep it needs.

Elijah is as sassy as ever these days. For some reason, he hasn't been sleeping very well. When he doesn't sleep well, the sass is unleashed.

I finally got my Christmas shopping done! Well, most of it. It feels soo good to have that under control. Yesterday I got everything wrapped and put under the tree. AAhhhhh!

I have a list a mile long for today, so I better get started on it. Have a good, safe week! Thanks for checking in on us. xo

Tidbits about our Elijah

Elijah has been on a sassy kick where he will not allow us to call him anything but "Elijah," and sometimes not even that. I am realizing how many different names I call him, now that I have to censor myself so much. Here's how things go down when I forget:

"Good morning, Sweetie!"
"Not Sweetie, no!"
"Oops, I forgot. Good morning, Elijah."

or

"Elijah Daniel, please do not pour milk on your head!"
"NOT ELIJAH DANIEL, NO!"

Depending on his delivery and the amount of sass involved, it may or may not result in a time-out. I hope this passes soon. I miss calling him fun nicknames.

While I'm on the sass topic, here are some other sample conversations that can be heard in our house on a regular basis:

"Elijah, would you like to play outside or inside?"
"Inside!"
[I shut the garage door in preparation for inside play.]
"Go outside?"
"No, you made the decision to play inside for now. We can't change our minds every two seconds."
"GO OUTSIDE?"
[Silence.]
"GO OUTSIDE!??!?!?!?!?"
"Ugh!"

or

[Quick side note: Elijah loves milk these days more than ever before.]
[After dinner, I put his milk back in the fridge. Elijah hears the fridge close.]
"Milk?"
"I just put your milk away, Sweetie, I mean, Elijah."
"MILK?"
"Ok, but you will need to come sit at the table again."
[He continues playing.]
"MILK????"
"Elijah, what did I just say?"
"MILK??!?!?!!?!?!?"
"Ugh!"

Onto some more fun things! Elijah has always been a book lover, but lately he is more interested in books than ever before. He will sit in the middle of a pile of books and "read" through them on his own. He has amazing retention! If we have read a book together more than a few times, he remembers most of the words on each page (by sound, not sight). He has even started showing interest in the actual words (by sight), pointing at and asking what each one says. I can say a word out loud and he can tell me the letter it starts with (aside from the tricky ones, like "chair"). He does it the other way around, too. If I ask him to tell me some words that start with the letter M, he will rattle off four or five M words. Grasping letters and sounds (numbers, too) has always come really naturally for him. I think reading isn't too far off!

Although he adores books, he has a serious problem with book covers. If a book comes with a cover, he immediately takes it off and says, "Frow garbage?"

Lately he has randomly been fake sneezing and/or coughing. I don't have a clue where he got this, but he knows it makes everyone laugh so he does it a lot.

When Dan is at work, Elijah constantly asks about him. "Where Daddy go?" Then he answers his own question: "Daddy working dropzone. Jump airplanes!"

He is still super interested in sign language, so we continue to add to our signing "vocabulary." We are learning animals and colors right now. Every night before bed, while the two of us are snuggling in the rocking chair, we sing a song from one of his signing dvds. "It's time to eat, eat, what a treat! Eat, eat, eat. [insert food] I'm all done now, wash it down, with my favorite drink! [insert drink]" We cycle through the song a few times, while signing and singing, using different foods and drinks each time. He could sing/sign it a hundred times in a row without getting tired of it.

We still are not getting anywhere with potty training. I will admit that I start to panic whenever I think about it because I feel like such a failure. I ask myself, Am I doing something wrong, or is he just really really not ready yet? Or is he THAT strong-willed (this is very possible)?

I will end with a potty training-related conversation from the other night:

[I had just gotten Elijah out of the bath and his diapers were downstairs.]
"I'm going downstairs to get a diaper, Elijah. PLEASE do not pee on the couch."
"Ok, Mom."
[3-second pause.]
"Mom? I pee on couch!"