Photos of my beautiful Sammy Jammy and what we have been up to

Dan and Elijah ran some errands together the other day, leaving Sammy and me home by ourselves. It seems so rare that I get one-on-one time with either of my boys. When it does happen, I try to make the absolute most of it and give them as much love as a I possibly can. Oh, and take pictures. :)



Have I mentioned that Sam got a few balls for Christmas? And how he wouldn't pay attention to any of his other gifts because he was obsessed with said balls? He would show them to us again and again, saying, "BALL!" Yes, Sammy, we know! And he is already tossing balls around quite well. A natural athlete, perhaps?



Tonight we are packing our bags in preparation for our trip tomorrow! The four of us will be flying to North Carolina to visit my dad and stepmom for a few days. Elijah is so excited to see "Gwammie and Gwamps" that he can hardly contain himself. Every day he wakes up and says, "Today is Wednesday, Mama? Tomorrow is Thursday? On Thursday we go to see Gwammie and Gwamps? What we do on Fwiday?" and on and on.



I don't have much more to share right now, other than that we wish you all a wonderful and safe holiday weekend! May 2012 bring all of the wonderful things you dream of. We will be back after the new year, certainly with more funny boy stories and photos!

Building a home for Mr. Gingerbread

Elijah kept telling me that the Gingerbread Man was inside his house washing dishes and folding laundry. I wonder if he would be willing to come to our house for a few days?

Christmas morning!

Here are a few photos from Christmas morning!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas, everyone! We hope you had a peaceful, wonderful, fulfilling day spent with loved ones!

Rudolph, I mean Elijah, says hello!



I had to post this photo because it made me laugh so hard I cried. I was trying to take Christmas Breakfast photos (see Dan's awesome pancakes?) and I captured Sam STUFFING his face. That's our Sammy!



And by the way, here is what Sam's eating area looks like post-meal.



And here's our little Linus, I mean Sammy, saying hello, as well.

Spinning world

I have no idea which way is up. It has been a particularly difficult month for me and my mysterious health issues and dizzy episodes and general unwellness. Add to that the stress of Christmas and another unnamed stress and....(insert loud scream)! I have actually researched "luxury spa vacations," and do you know how much those things cost? Holy cow! I guess I'll look back into it when I'm a millionaire.

Elijah has just recently dropped his nap, so that transition has brought on some extra behavioral issues and earlier bedtimes. Sammy's little attitude has been blossoming lately, too. He is such a sensitive and strong-willed, yet LOVING kid. If he's not throwing himself on the floor and crying BECAUSE I TRIED TO HELP HIM PUT THE CAP ON THE MARKER, you can find him snuggling in my or Dan's arms, while sucking his thumb and holding onto his blankie. Picture Linus from Peanuts! This is Sammy to a T (only with a green blankie)!



We are still struggling with Elijah saying naughty words. Thankfully his "bad" words aren't terrible, but they still drive Dan and me crazy. Last night he was getting up onto his chair for dinner and his leg slipped. I heard him say, "CRAM!" He looked at me and said, "Mom, I said CRAM." Thanks for the reassurance, Elijah.

I have all of my Christmas shopping done for my three boys, and I am unbelievably excited to see them open their gifts this year! This is the first year Elijah has been really excited for Christmas. Every morning he asks me if I will tell him what his "surprises" (presents) are. I ADORED Christmas as a child, but I think I enjoy it even more as a parent. I'm giddy about it! It has been fun sharing the true meaning of Christmas with Elijah this year, since he finally can wrap his head around it. I LOVE that Jesus comes to his mind before Santa when we mention Christmas. Good old SC will make a stop in our home, but it will be a quick one and we do not make a big deal about him.

We plan to spend time with Dan's family on Christmas Eve and time at home (just the four of us) on Christmas day. Next weekend we are traveling to North Carolina to visit my dad and stepmom for a few days. We are all very excited about that trip! Although, Sammy as a "lap child" on an airplane for three hours might get interesting. We'll survive!

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas! Thanks for checking in and GOD BLESS YOU ALL!

Family photos

Here are a few of my favorites from the bunch my awesome and extremely talented friend Maren took for us!

Potty-mouth

Here is a photo from Sammy's very first carousel ride!



I thought of one of the things I wanted to write about in my last post. I have mentioned the CR*P word that Elijah likes to use lately. We have been punishing him for saying it when it slips out. For the past few days, the little stinker has been lying to us about saying it!

Elijah: CWAP.
Me: Elijah, what did you just say?
Elijah: Um, I, uh, said, 'Wrap!' I'm going to wrap a Christmas present!

Other words that have covered for him: crack, crayon, rap and cram.

December uh-webben

We actually got out of the house and did some fun things this weekend! Dan and I attended my company's holiday party on Friday night. Sunday we took the boys to the Mall of America (or as Elijah calls it, "the mall at 'merica"). We rode on a few rides and did a little bit of Christmas shopping. We splurged and had lunch at the Rainforest Cafe.



For the first time ever, Elijah LOVED the rides! No fear, just pure enjoyment. And Sammy showed no fear, either, which didn't surprise us. Our laid back little guy.



One funny thing from the weekend quick. Sammy has started doing something funny every time Elijah is put in a time-out. He will march back to the time-out corner, stand in front of Elijah while shaking his finger at him and say, "GAH-GAH-GAH-GAH!!" Then he will march back to the living room and look at us like, "Got it taken care of, guys!" Then he will go back to Elijah and do it all over again. Thanks, Sammy. As you can guess, Elijah doesn't like that so much.



I know there are a handful of other funnies that have happened recently but I've forgotten them. I'm sure there will be more!

Sammy 18-month well visit

Just a quick note about Sammy's 18-month well visit yesterday. He is in the 90th percentile for height and the 57th for weight. He got one vaccination and, again, NO TEARS, nothing. Our boys are so drastically different! :) Everything else is fine with our Sam Jam.

More later..

December is here!

I have no idea how it is Thursday already. And December 1st, too?! Will somebody do my Christmas shopping for me please? I feel like my head is spinning. Literally! This week I learned that the dizziness and extreme fatigue I've been feeling off and on since last summer is due to inner ear damage (??). My inner ear (balance) is not communicating well with my vision, and therefore causing a list of lovely symptoms that interfere with my everyday life. This week has been the worst of it, and I feel like I'm about to lose my mind! I've started vestibular rehab (very similar to what Elijah does, coincidentally), so I'm hoping this will eventually help.

Another disappointing part of the week is that Elijah is not only still pooping his pants frequently, but now he has reverted back to peeing in them, as well. UGH! I don't even have words to express how frustrating this is. I've had people say, "He'll do it when he's ready!" Well, yes, trust me, I understand that, but goodness, he's almost five! That and, he knows how to use the potty. He just chooses not to do so.

Sammy is in love with the Baby Signing Time videos. It is adorable! He asks to watch them constantly by doing the sign for BABY and saying, "BWAA-BWAA," which is his way of singing the baby signing time song. He can do most of the signs on the videos, and thoroughly enjoys watching them. They were always some of Elijah's favorites as a baby, too. In fact, Elijah still enjoys watching them!

A couple quick funnies..

Elijah has been reading like crazy lately. He even gives the tougher words a try. On the yogurt he was eating the other night, he was trying to make sense of "99% fat-free!" His first attempt was: "Ninety-nine dollars February!" :)

One of Elijah's recent hobbies involves watching videos I have recorded over the years of him and Sammy. He will sit at the computer and watch them repeatedly. He loves them! In one of the videos I took while he was in the hospital last summer, I tripped over some of his lines while filming and let a "Crap!" slip out of my mouth. Of course, our smartypants boy picked up on that and has been heard saying that very word in recent days. I've explained that I shouldn't have said it and that I don't want him saying it. The other day he tripped over something and started to cry, then stopped himself, yelled, "CWAP!" and continued crying. THEN, at the dinner table, he said, "So. Mom. What word you said?" I said, "I don't know what you're talking about." I could hear him sounding out the letters under his breath, "Cuh-Cruh-ah-ap," and then he said, "It starts with a C and ends with a P????? With an R and A in the middle????" Oh my goodness, it was so hard not to die laughing! Since then, we have been working on having him say BUMMER instead. So far there's about a 50% success rate. We'll keep working on reversing the damage I've done.

That's about all I've got today. Thanks for checking in!

Out with turkey, in with lights

As Elijah has been saying today, Thanksgiving-time is done and Christmas-time is here. We enjoyed Thanksgiving dinner with family yesterday, and now we are already thinking about the next holiday!



We got up this morning and picked out a Christmas tree for our living room. It's big and beautiful and partially decorated (so no pics yet!). Elijah loves it. Sammy is indifferent.



This was the first time both boys met Santa! Elijah acted shy at first, and then he was totally indifferent. I don't think Sam even noticed. He just wanted to be in mama's arms.



I love this photo. It's like Sammy is saying to Elijah, "Can you believe Mom is making us sit with this guy?" I'm sure there will be much more of that in our lifetime.



The boys had fun with their cousins this morning. We even got to see Santa's reindeer! I didn't get pics of them because Sam was being clingy.



And here is a family portrait with Santa!



Sammy had a pretty fussy day and had a low-grade fever AGAIN. Dan brought him into the doctor. Again. And, nothing appears to be the matter. Teeth? Perhaps. We hope.

I want to write just a few things and then I want to get my butt on the couch for relax-time..

Elijah and I had a sweet moment today. I laid down for a nap when Sam did, around 12:30. Dan put Elijah down shortly after, and in bed with me (he has been napping in our bed a lot lately so he and Sammy don't wake each other). When he got into bed, I heard a "loud whisper" say, "MOMMY?! MOM?" I peeked over at him and he smiled and grabbed my hand. We laid next to each other, holding hands, for 20 minutes or so. Elijah fell asleep and I stayed awake and watched his sweetness and thanked God for him and Sam. At one point he startled himself awake and his hand fell from mine. He realized what had happened and grabbed my hand again and fell back asleep. I love those moments! They make up for the ones that occupy most of our days involving poop, sass and sibling-hitting.

I will end with a very funny funny! A few nights ago all four of us were in the loft after bath-time. Sammy was reading a book and Dan and I were cleaning up a bit. Elijah came up to me with his hands on his hips and said, "Mom! Wook at THIS shaky body!" and shifted his little hips from side to side to side to side. Dan and I laughed for a long long time.

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!