Panda bears and dentist chairs

"Yet's see," as Elijah says, what is going on with us. Dan worked his bum off last week/weekend and made lots and lots of skydives, so he has been happy to be at home for a couple days. We have loved having him at home! I cherish our time together as a family so much more than I ever have. We have been spending a lot of time outside (grillin' and chillin') after I get home from work. Dan and I started watching Dexter Season 4 last night. Aahhhh, we love this show!



Sam has been a super smiley little guy. We still do not have a nap schedule nailed down, but I am sensing (hoping) it is on the horizon.

He has evolved into such a very good baby. As long as he is rested and fed, he is one happy, content little person.



Elijah got his teeth cleaned by the dentist for the first time yesterday. Dan said he did really well (I was not able to go). The scariest thing for him was when they lowered the chair back while he was sitting in it (there's that gravitational insecurity).

Yesterday morning when I was talking to Elijah about what to expect while at the dentist, he said, "Oh. Dentist? Panda bear! Open mouth!" Hmmmm, I had no idea what this meant. After the visit I asked Dan if a panda bear with an open mouth had any significance. He said, "Yeah, there is a painting on the wall of jungle animals. One of them is a panda bear and his mouth is open because he is chewing on bamboo." Ok, that freaked me out a little bit. We were in that office briefly one other time, six or more months ago. Apparently the open-mouthed panda left an impression on his little mind.

Elijah has been saying "Sure!" a lot. It is so cute how it comes out. It sounds like he is saying "sir," except without being able to say the R sound. So it sounds like "siw," or something like that.

Being back at work gets better with each day that passes. Dan is back in the sky tomorrow. Elijah goes back to preschool next week. Sam seems to be adjusting well to daycare and to our new schedule.

That's about all we've got for now!

Another fulfilling weekend with my little ones

With Dan working so much lately, I can occasionally get a glimpse of what life is like for single parents. I admire single parents so much more than I ever have. It takes a ton of patience, energy and organization to care for two little people alone.



Summers are a bit tough on us as a family (especially this summer, with all of our huge changes). Dan is a skydiving instructor during the summer months, so he is at the dropzone from early in the morning until sunset as long as the weather is cooperative. Our situation is something we have all come to accept, even though it would be so much nicer if he were around more. I hate to wish summer away (because it seems so short here in Minnesota), but I am looking forward to the skydiving season winding down. We miss Daddy!



I have to say that there is something strangely satisfying about "doing it all" alone the majority of the time. And I love the close bonds I have formed/continue to form with my boys because of all of our together-time. At the end of the day I am very tired, but I somehow love that weary feeling because it means I had a productive day of being the best mama I could be.

As each weekend passes that I am a mother of two, I become more comfortable. This weekend I braved the grocery store, the pharmacy, the movie store and Target with my boys! And it all went great. I am learning some good time-saving and tear-reducing tricks that help out tremendously, like: leaving my car unlocked when I go into a store so I don't have to fumble with keys on my way out, and only leaving the house when Sam is well-rested and has a full belly, and having a rattle in my purse for the check-out line when Sam tends to cry, and having a chat with Elijah beforehand about being a good boy, and always parking directly next to cart stalls if they are available, and having everything super duper organized in my head before I go into a store so there is no lost time, and keeping my car keys in my pocket so I don't have to dig through my purse in the parking lot.

All of the thinking and organizing and planning can be tiring, but it is also rewarding and satisfying. We miss Dan a lot, but we get by just fine and I am learning some valuable lessons as I learn how to be the best mama that I can be!

Love

Week #2 of being back at work is done. Samson finally started looking and smiling at me again last night. I think he was mad at me for the first week we brought him to daycare, so he withheld smiles and refused to make eye contact with me. All is well now. I think I have been forgiven.

I felt much better this week about Dan and I both having to be working parents. Last week wasn't the greatest week I have ever had, so I am happy to be feeling better about everything.



This boy of ours, he is so delicious! One of my favorite things to do is smooch the little fat rolls on the back of his neck when I sit him on my legs to burp him. I am madly in love with this little person.



I am beyond happy about having another weekend with my two little boys ahead of me. There isn't anywhere else in the world I would rather be than with them. (Ok, if I had a choice I would want Dan here, too.)

Grounded

Elijah has always been an exceedingly cautious child. He avoids the tops of stairs (I actually have always been very glad about this!), he will not walk on uneven surfaces or surfaces with unfamiliar textures, he does not like being moved out of a vertical position (upside down or sideways, for instance), he won't walk up or down stairs unless somebody is securely holding his hand and he avoids situations where he is not in control of what is happening with his body (this is why swim therapy was such a scary, awful experience for him).

I recently talked to Elijah's physical therapist about these things and she told me that he is the textbook definition of someone who has "gravitational insecurity," which is a sensory processing disorder involving the vestibular system. (You can read about gravitational insecurity here and here and here.) I have done a little bit of research on it, and without a doubt, it describes Elijah to a T.

He will not step onto playground equipment that other children are playing on because he doesn't know what they might do to make him fall or stumble or feel out of control. Most of the time he won't go on playground equipment even if no one else is around because I think he feels like bad things could still happen to him. A few months ago we were at the park and a little girl ran up the stairs of the playground equipment so she could go down the slide. Elijah yelled after her, "Be careful, little girl!" :)

His situational discomfort is something we have had to be really sensitive about. We have tried to find a good balance between encouraging him to try new/scary things while very much respecting his fears. When Elijah is forced into a situation that he is not physically comfortable with, he has a really tough time emotionally.

We are just getting him to ride his bike again after a long hiatus. He gets scared when he rides over certain parts of the sidewalk that are even slightly sloped or curved. During his biking hiatus, I would consistently ask him (in a non-pushy way) if he wanted to ride his bike. If he said "no," I would say "ok!" If he thought about it for a second, I would try to gently encourage him. For most of the summer, he would not get on his bike unless he stayed within a five-foot, FLAT radius in our garage. Just in the past week he has slowly started trying it again (very cautiously) on the sidewalk and I am so proud of him!

Because he has lived such a "grounded" life, I think his body (or brain) craves controlled movement. Swinging is a really good source of controlled movement for him and this is why we cannot get him off the swing once he is on it. His PT has given us other exercises to do with him that can satisfy this "craving" so we can try to keep his vestibular system as happy as possible (without scaring it).

This is just my personal opinion, but I also believe this is why he flaps his arms. It is a safe, controlled movement that is somehow satisfying an innate need.

I worry about what all of this means for him and whether or not this will cause even more anxiety for him than is already present in his little life. It already affects the way he plays and interacts with other kids because he constantly wants to make sure he is in control of his body and his surroundings.

One thing that does give me peace is to think about the progress he has made. A year ago, he wouldn't reach one inch out of his comfort zone for a toy. He screamed through every physical therapy session. He had no desire to walk. He has come a really long way, and I have faith that he will continue to make progress.

I have been doing a whole lot of thinking about everything I have written here. It has been one gigantic puzzle that I have been slowly piecing together for the past six months. I feel like I finally have a good grasp on this part of Elijah and like we are finally starting to understand the reasons for some of his actions/non-actions. Although, I do feel like there is still one hole in the puzzle. I am still trying to figure out what caused him to become so gravitationally insecure.

Why do sensory issues seem to follow a lot of children who have major medical conditions? Could some of Elijah's gravitational insecurities stem from his non-movement for the first fourteen months of his life (which was the result of having such low blood-oxygen saturations)? Lots of things yet to ponder and research!

Now when somebody questions some of Elijah's behaviors or asks why he is hesitant to try certain things or why we don't always push him to try things he is not comfortable with, I will point them to this post!

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!"

Tidbits about our Sammy

I love this photo of Sam. It's one of my new favorites.



When Sam is about to cry, he sticks his bottom lip waaaaaay out. This is how I know I have about five seconds to make him happy. I appreciate the warning, especially when it is so darn cute.

His smile (that he wasn't too willing to show off for me this weekend) makes me melt! It lights up his entire face. It is one beautiful little smile.

We just started sitting him in the Bumbo chair and he does really well! After a few minutes of trying to hold his head up he lets it fall backward and rests it on the back of the chair as he looks straight up at the ceiling. That is my cue to remove baby from Bumbo chair.



He is so physically strong! He is constantly doing things that surprise us and that make us say, "Is that normal?"

He has been kicking his leg a lot. Yes, just one (well, mostly). We lay him on his playmat and he will kick that left leg like his life depends on it. There is a rattle that dangles from the top of this same playmat that he spends a lot of time staring at. He has started batting at it with his fists, with great determination.

His sweet baby smell is wonderfully delicious. When I'm feeding him in the middle of the night, I rest my nose on his head and breathe in the scent that I wish would never go away. Yummy!



As I have said many times before, Sammy is one hungry little guy and he has been right from the start. When he is hungry, his little mouth searches for food like crazy. ANYTHING that is near his mouth gets slurped/sucked/attacked/mauled. Most of the time his fists are the victims. We even have to be careful about having blankets or clothes anywhere near his mouth because if a piece of fabric touches his face he will mistake it for food and try to devour it. I will never forget seeing him slurp slurp slurping away at his poor fists for the first time, when we were still in the hospital. We have seen it a hundred times since and it continues to produce much laughter in our house.

Sam is finally getting some love from his big brother! It is very sweet to watch Elijah shower him with attention. He is extremely gentle and gives him nice little tummy rubs and leg pats and head kisses. Just this past weekend he started saying, "I wuv Sam!" without any prompting. He even said it a few times when Sam wasn't in the room with us. I guess Elijah just decided that he was going to love this little person who has been living with us for the past eleven weeks.

Re-re-adjusting

These pics are from last weekend when my dad and stepmom were still in town. This was our last evening together before they had to head back home to Charlotte. I love this photo of "Gwamps" (my dad) and the boys. Love it!



Oh man. I love this guy.



Elijah could swing all day and night, every day, all week and for months on end.



Especially when Grammie and Gramps are around. He loves them so much!



It takes some major coaxing to get Elijah to go onto any playground equipment that doesn't involve swinging. I had to take a picture.



This week wasn't the most fun week I've ever had. I am working on being more positive about our situation because I felt really down about being back at work and all that did was make me feel awful. I miss my boys so terribly when I am away from them, but this is the way things have to be for now and I need to accept the fact that I am a working mama.

It seems like we are constantly in readjustment mode. This week was a major readjustment week for us, so today everything seemed way off balance. Sam didn't smile hardly at all, he didn't sleep much and he did a lot of crying (regression!). Elijah was a whiny, crabby boy for a lot of the day. Despite this, there is still no place I would rather be than with my boys and I 100% mean that.

I felt ambitious after nap time today (and we REALLY needed groceries), so I took the boys to the grocery store. It actually went really well until we were checking out. At that point, everything fell apart.

First, Samson started screaming bloody murder in the check-out line. His screaming doesn't bother me, but I am always aware of how other people might be affected by it. The woman in line in front of me was super duper slow and taking her time and this didn't help our situation. I finally got up to pay and this woman turns around (so there is no way I can get around her to start bagging my groceries) and says, "OH! Do you think he is hungry? Maybe he needs a pacifier? Hmmmmmm, could he be teething?" Oh dear goodness, are you serious? GET OUT OF MY WAY!! Finally I had to say, "I think he just wants to leave!" and that made her step aside.

Then Elijah asked to hold his toasted raviolis box (his favorite meal), as he always does. I handed it to him and he threw it on the floor. "Not THIS one! THAT one!" Ok, the boxes are exactly the same, and NO I am not handing you the other one when you just threw this one on the floor. I picked it up and put it in a bag and continued on with bagging the groceries. This is when the flopping/screaming/flailing began (thankfully Sam had stopped screaming by this point).

As we were walking out of the store, Elijah was screaming at the top of his lungs, "WANT TOASTED RAVIOLIS! WANT TOASTED RAVIOLIS! WANT TOASTED RAVIOLIS! WANT TOASTED RAVIOLIS!" I completely ignored him (or pretended to), while every other person within hearing distance glanced our way. Oh lovely.

We got to the car and suddenly the toasted ravioli fiasco turned into something else and screaming continued about whatever that was.

Ugh!

The good moments are really good, though. There were many times today when I thought about what good boys we have. The rough times really are not the norm. I dearly and sincerely love my two little boys and I don't want to spend a minute of my weekend time away from them, no matter what.

Work Week #1 almost done

Sam loves to have his little fists up under his chin. So cute.



Up until a few days ago, Elijah has basically ignored Samson. He would occasionally acknowledge his presence (especially at first), but for the most part pretended Sam didn't exist. Then the other day I came into the living room to see Elijah down on the ground with Sam, talking to him and rubbing his legs and kissing him. "Sammy so cute! So soft! Hi Sam! I 'ove you!" Then he tried to snuggle right up next to him, but I had to remind him that babies can't be squished.



Going back to work has been difficult/sad/tearful/yucky. I miss my boys like crazy and I can't seem to concentrate on anything but them. At 4:00 on the dot, I run to my car and speed home and practically maul those boys. It feels unnatural to be away from them so much, but I know with time I will start feeling better about it. In a sad and desperate state, I bought a powerball ticket yesterday. I looked up the numbers right away this morning and apparently we aren't meant to be millionaires. At least not now.

Sammy's first day at daycare went well. He did a lot of smiling at the other kids. It makes me feel good that he was happy. By the time I get home from work in the evenings, he is no longer happy (ready to eat and ready to sleep) and that is a little bit hard for me. I actually look forward to getting up to feed him in the middle of the night because it is our peaceful, happy time together.

Well, the week is almost done, and that means a weekend with my munchkins is drawing near!

Dan's photography

This would have been a really good picture..



..look at the smile!



There we go. There's the beautiful Sammy face.

Sammy

We have been so consumed with travel and non-normalcy lately that I haven't taken the time to write an update about how Sam has been doing. For the past few weeks he has been an extremely good baby. He has been going to sleep at 7:00 pm, getting up to eat once or twice in the middle of the night (usually twice), waking up at 7:00 am, and taking somewhat predictable naps during the day. Thanks to the sleep training we did, he can do all of his sleeping in his own bed, and with very little soothing or crying. I do usually put him in my magic sling for his evening catnap that he takes around 4:00 just because it's a good chance to be close to my little guy.

His gas issues have almost totally disappeared and our little Sammy is a completely different baby than he was three or four weeks ago. He is super smiley and happy and he now has long stretches of quiet, happy time during the day. What a difference a few weeks can make! Those first seven weeks were TOUGH. We are extremely thankful for the progress he has made and for the peace that fills our home. Honestly, I think the fact that we make his sleep such a huge priority has been the biggest help. Sleep is so very important for babies and I think that fact gets overlooked a lot. We get some funny looks when we tell people how early we put our boys to bed, but it works. Sleep begets sleep, as our magic sleep book says, and a rested baby is a happy baby.

My first day back at work was ok. I felt overwhelmed and sad, but it went fine overall. It's going to take a while to get back into a work groove. I miss my boys so much when I'm away from them!

Ok, I know I have to change the header on this blog to include our precious new baby and I will get to it.

Back to work

It has been ten weeks since this unforgettable day..



..so that means it is time for me to go back to work. I am feeling very sad about it. Sammy will be going to daycare Wednesdays through Fridays and Dan will be home with him Mondays and Tuesdays. The thought of leaving our precious little 10-week-old baby with someone else for a good chunk of time makes me very sad.

I know it will get better as we get our new routine down. I'm looking forward to feeling better about it.

Elijah seems to have mostly recovered from our vacations. His mood was greatly improved today. We only had one time-out and he was much more pleasant to be around than previous days. I had a realization today about our big boy. For the past few weeks he has not wanted to play outside at all. He loves being outside, so it has been a little confusing to me. Today it was cool outside for the first time in a long while and Elijah played outside almost all day long. I have always known that Elijah hasn't preferred being hot (and it's funny to see that Samson is the exact opposite), but I wonder if his heart makes him feel yucky when he gets too hot. Have any of you other heart moms noticed this with your heart kids?

Ok, I must go mentally prepare for tomorrow. Thanks for checking in on us.

Home sweet home

Sadly, I did not take a single photo on our last of three journeys. So here is a photo from last weekend on "Birgil's" boat.



Elijah, Samson and I cut the last leg of our trip short by a few days. We were all supremely sleep-deprived and missing our home. I even heard Elijah say, "Back home soon?" at 2:00 in the morning a few nights ago. We needed to come back. When we got here, Sam was as happy as a clam. He sat in his swing and smiled for 45 minutes straight.

We had a wonderful time with wonderful family. Elijah found a new favorite buddy, Uncle Phill! He asked about him all day today and I think he really formed a cute little bond with him.


I will end with a conversation Elijah and I had right before nap time today (to show how seriously overly tired our boy was/is):

Me: It's time to take a nap. Will you take off your shoes, please?

Elijah: NO!! Wear red crocs?

Me: No, we can't wear shoes to bed, sweetie.

Elijah: NO! I NOT SWEETIE! I ELIJAH!

Me: Ok, Elijah.

Elijah: NO! I NOT ELIJAH!

Me: Ok, who are you then?

Elijah: I MOMMY!

Me: Ok, Mommy, please take off your crocs.

Elijah: I NOT MOMMY!

Me: [laughing]

Elijah: No laughing!!

Me: Sorry sweetie, I mean, Elijah, I mean, Mommy.

Elijah: Where purple triceratops?

Me: Uhhmmm, ok, let's get into bed.

Elijah: Say pwayers.

Me: Really?

Elijah: SAY PWAYERS!

Me: Okay, okay. Dear Jesus, please help Elijah and Samson to take good naps.

Elijah: Good naps.

Me: And please help Elijah to calm down a little bit.

Elijah: Elijah NOT CALM DOWN!

Me: Amen.

Elijah: Amen.

Me: I love you, sweetie.

Elijah: I love you, Mom.


And he slept for two hours, which apparently wasn't enough. He woke up tired and crabby and needing more sleep. I put him to bed early tonight and I am hoping he won't get up and talk for an hour and a half in the middle of the night (for the third night in a row).

I have never been so happy to be home. After 2.5+ weeks of traveling in the car I started to get extremely homesick, and I know my boys were needing the normalcy of home as well. We are so happy to be here and sleeping in our own beds! Don't get me wrong, we loved every bit of our vacations and our hosts were the absolute best. But, we are so very excited to be at home.

Have I mentioned that I go back to work on Monday? :( Ugh. Very very sad about that.

Road Trip #2

We are home from Road Trip #2 and we are tired. Vacation alone is tiring and when you add getting up two to three times per night with a newborn it becomes even more tiring. We had so much fun, though.



We spent a lot of time with family we haven't seen in a while and enjoyed every moment of it. Everyone loved Samson like crazy! He got loads of attention.



Elijah fell in LOVE with Uncle Joel, and the cousins loved him, as well.



We went for a boat ride and at first Elijah was very nervous about the whole ordeal. Before we left the dock, he said, "OFF!" repeatedly because he wasn't so sure about the situation.



We also found our dream house.



After a while Elijah was braver than I ever thought he could be. He stood at the front of the boat ON A STEP, WHILE THE BOAT WAS MOVING and didn't get uncomfortable. I was so proud!



He even got to drive the boat. "Do it 'self!" he kept saying.



I love spending time with my wonderful family. It is always so hard to say goodbye to everyone, but we are grateful for the time we had together.



Gramps and Samson had some good bonding time.



Elijah perfected saying "NO!" and "HI!" to everyone and we also realized that he is not so good anymore at sharing toys. That is something we need to work on!



And as a special little treat, we got to meet up with our heart friend Wilson (and Amy and Mitch) on our way home. We met Wilson and Family two summers ago and we were so happy to be able to see them again.



Wilson loved the slides at the park we went to and, of course, Elijah was hooked on the swings. Oh man, this kid loves to swing!



So, tomorrow I leave, with my two little boys, for Road Trip #3 to Northern Minnesota with my dad and stepmom. I have no idea how we are going to survive the exhaustion, but it will be worth it and tons of fun.

2-month well visit and other

Sammy had his two-month well visit today. I know I have said this before, but it so surreal not to spend an hour in the doctor's office, going over concern after concern. The doctor doesn't even ask how much/when he is eating because he is gaining weight so well. When the doctor left the room I sat in there feeding Sam for a few minutes and wondered, "Why did that seem so weird?"

Anyway, he got his 2-month vaccinations (owie, but necessary) and he weighed 12 lbs. 8 oz. (70th percentile!) and he was 24 inches long (80th percentile!). He "looks great!"

The two little boys and I are heading out in the morning for Road Trip #2! I can't wait! We are going to see family we haven't seen in a while and we are all giddy about it. Dan will join us late Saturday night. Road Trip #3 will take place next week/weekend, and that one will not involve Dan at all. Yes, I am crazy!

Elijah's croup symptoms never turned into anything. I gathered up so much prayer on Monday night that I am convinced that is what saved him from an episode. Almost every single time I predict a croup episode, it happens. Today he seemed 100% healthy, so we will take it!

We mostly likely won't have time to post for the next few days, so I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend! If you have extra room on your prayer list, pray that Elijah doesn't have me pulling too much of my hair out on our drive tomorrow. Don't get me wrong, he's a very good kid, but long car rides are very difficult (we learned last weekend) for 3-year-olds.

Vacation photos

Samson is getting so chubby and cute. Mmmmmm, we love him..



We stopped at the ice cream shop Dan used to go to with his family when he was a kid. Elijah took his ice cream very seriously.



We had to take a picture in front of the "bwue cow."



Mommy and Elijah..



One of the peaceful moments in the car on the way home. Elijah loved snuggling up with his blankie, while fighting sleep (like Sam!).



My gorgeous, wonderful husband. I love him so much, it's crazy!

Asoiehp oawhjadh g;jadg ;kadg;kjah!!!!!

I think this cute little boy, along with his big brother, is trying to kill his parents today. Thank goodness Dan is home today.



We have had a rough start to our day. I won't even go into details because I don't want to rehash any of it. It has involved a lot of screaming and wailing and whining.

Elijah showed some signs that he might get croup last night, so I got very little sleep worrying about that. Thankfully he did not get it, but I will still be on high alert for the next couple nights. He obviously isn't feeling 100%, so that could be part of the reason for some of the crazy behavior we have gotten to be a part of today.

We have another big trip coming up this weekend, so I am praying we can get things sorted out again before then. Samson is overly tired again, so we are working on taking care of that problem before it gets too out of control.

I hear screaming coming from upstairs and yelling coming from the kitchen, so I better go!

Back from vacation

We had a great vacation. I must say that I worried about the wrong child misbehaving. Samson was a breeze! Elijah had his moments in the car during our 6-hour drive (each way). Ugh, Dan and I certainly exercised our patience. All in all, we had a wonderful weekend away. It was great to see family and stay in a hotel and just get away from home for a few days. I am so in love with all of my boys. I have the best boys in the world, I am completely convinced.

Photos of the weekend will come soon! Dan and I have an exciting day scheduled tomorrow. Sam is spending a "trial day" at daycare. Please pray that it goes well for him!