Quuuue seraaaa seraaaa

Sammy, I know you're probably going to be mad at me one day for showing the world your cute, chubby bottom, but honestly...can you blame me? It is the cutest! And look at those legs!



I have no idea what happened to this week. It is suddenly Friday! And sunny! We don't have huge weekend plans. Dan will be working, weather permitting, and the boys and I will be chillin'. Maybe we'll get out and do something fun.

We don't have much to report, which I suppose is good! On Monday Elijah gets his laryngoscopy procedure (my tummy turned as I typed that), so hopefully we will have GOOD news to report after that.

Have a good weekend! Thanks for checking in.

Easter 2011

Please forgive me for not having any Sam photos from the weekend. He is always either blurry or I'm chasing him and unable to take pictures.

We had a busy busy weekend. We went to a wedding on Saturday and spent time with family yesterday to celebrate Easter. Here's Elijah on the way home from Grandma's house last night, candy in each hand and totally passed out.



Elijah thoroughly enjoyed the time he got to spend with his cousins this weekend (aside from the few times he struggled with sharing). He loves being amidst a big group of kids. He even ran around with them a bit in the yard. Last Easter he didn't even want to stand on the grass because it was too bumpy!

Remember?



A big puzzle piece clicked into place for me this weekend surrounding Elijah's tendency to not want to play with other children. The times I saw him distance himself from the group yesterday was when the other kids were being physical in a way he was not comfortable with. If they were anywhere near the hammock, he would go play by himself somewhere else. He still is not comfortable being unsteady or unbalanced and he always wants to be in control of his surroundings (I wrote this post last summer about his gravitational insecurity).

For a while he was playing by himself with a wagon. He kept crawling in and out of it and pretending he was driving to the store. At one point, one of his cousins thought it would be fun to pull him. What kid wouldn't like that, right? Well. Elijah wouldn't like that. That would mean he's not in control anymore. So I watched him start to panic. He tried to get out, but it was too late. The wagon was already moving. So he sat down and cried for help.

A couple different times it was just me lying on the hammock (ahhhh) and he would allow me to pick him up and put him on it with me. If anyone came within five feet of us, he would immediately get off and go find something to do by himself.

The SOLE reason Elijah distances himself from other children is because it is very easy for him to feel physically uneasy and unsafe around them. It makes me a little bit sad, but he always appears to be confident in his decision to remove himself from the group and he never seems upset about it. I just pray he finds a special friend(s) in school who will stick with him and understand that he likes having his two feet planted firmly on the ground. :) I know that special little friend is out there!

For the first time, Sammy didn't seem totally overwhelmed by his cousins. He enjoyed checking everyone and everything out. He tried to eat the dried leaves on the ground (yum!) and he tried to climb down the steps (face first) all by himself. He's definitely our fearless child. And he's starting to giggle so much more. I have to get it on video. It's the absolute cutest thing.

It's warm today! But I heard it's supposed to snow. Better go enjoy the nice weather while it lasts..

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter!

King for a day

Last Friday was Elijah's special Heart Day, so we ordered pizza and let him eat in the living room while we watched a movie (Megamind) and as he held tightly onto one of the heart balloons Dan picked up for him.



Then he got a special dessert, topped with a cherry.



I asked him a few times if he knew why we were celebrating and he said, "Elijah's heart surgery."



Well, it has been a much better week in some areas and a crappy one in others. Does anyone ever achieve total balance and harmony? Let me rephrase that. Does anyone with a full-time job, two little boys, a house, a husband and two blogs ever achieve total balance and harmony?

Elijah's surgery will occur exactly seven weeks from today. I don't feel ready in any regard, but this is something I will never feel ready for. We have some things to figure out before it happens, and I have been praying hard for nothing but good, reassuring news. His laryngoscopy is scheduled for May 2nd. I have all kinds of knots in my tummy about that day and about what Dr. S will "find" down in our boy's croup-prone airway.

Tomorrow we have a wedding to attend and Sunday we will celebrate Easter with family (and food!). Elijah has some adorable bunny ears to show you all. I'll snap a few pics this weekend.

Happy Easter, everyone!

Wii love

Have I mentioned how good Elijah is at playing Wii? It's a little bit scary. And he wants to play ALL DAY LONG. Of course, that doesn't actually happen, but he would like for it to.

"Elijah, let's go sit on the potty chair.."

"I CAN'T sit on potttttty chair. I pwaying Wii!"

"If we don't sit on potty, then Wii is getting turned off."

"Ok, wet's go sit on potty.."



Have I also mentioned that we are still working on pulling underpants up by ourselves?



And also how much Sammy adores his big brother? And how chubby Sammy's legs are?

Elijah has been saying some funny things, as usual. Here are some that I remember:

This morning I was rushing to get out the door, so I tossed a dirty towel into the bathroom, hoping it would land in the sink. Well, it knocked over an entire bottle of scented oil on the floor. As I was cleaning it up, E came in and asked me what I was doing. I said, "Mommy spilled the oil and made a mess." Elijah: "Oh no, Mom. That sounds terrible."

He has been doing his usual Elijah nonsense language, but lately it's been more present than ever. His favorite nonsense phrase sounds like this: Aye-my-no-me-sigh-dye-doe-nee. He says it ALL THE TIME. And then he wants to be tickled. The other day I asked him what it meant and he said, "The snake comes out of the balloon!" Ahhh, yes, I see..

Our little (um, big) Sammy is crawling up the stairs now. He's even trying to crawl up onto the table in our living room and he gets upset when he realizes it's not going to work out. He is still putting everything into his mouth. I've even seen him trying to eat the wall. Except, his forehead bumps into the wall before his mouth can get to it, and he looks confused and tries again.

Sam signed "Daddy" last weekend! Dan was working at the dropzone on Sunday, and Sam would yell around the corner of the kitchen "DA?" I asked him if he was looking for Daddy and he did the sign! He's signing ALL DONE still, and I've seen him do the sign for MILK a handful of times. I swear I heard him say "Moe" for MORE yesterday.

That's about all for now! Thanks for checking in. Have a great rest of your week..xo

I love it all

Sammy, I love your beautiful smile and your cute little teeth.



I love your goobery nose and the food all over your face (and floor and chair and tray).



I love your beautiful eyes and the way you explore EVERY PART OF OUR HOUSE.



I love you, my sweet Sammy! We are so lucky to have you as a part of our family.

3-year heart anniversary

It has been three years today since Elijah's second open heart surgery. It's crazy to think of where he was then, that morning three years ago, and where he is now. He was such a sick little boy. He had a very tired heart, and it was getting ready to give up. But his surgery was a success! Look at our spunky, smart, energy-filled boy now!

As we always do, we will do a little celebrating today. April 15th, 2008, was one of the most important days of our lives, so we will forever acknowledge it.

My way of preparing for open heart surgery #3 up until now has been to not prepare for it. In fact, all I've wanted to do is tuck my three boys under my arms and run far far away. This week I came to a place where I realized that I have to face this. I cannot run. So I have made a few positive changes and I've started taking care of myself a little bit (this is something that typically gets pushed aside for this busy, working mama). I KNOW God will carry us all through this.

Happy Heart Anniversary, Elijah! I love you, my sweet, brave boy.

Flooded river = spring has sprung!

Remember these photos from last year? We went down to check out the flooded river.



(This next one is one of my all-time favorite Elijah photos, by the way.)



Then we made a stop at the almost-flooded park for a quick swing break.



Well, the river flooded again this spring. So again, we went down to check it out.



The water level is a bit higher than it was last year.



Elijah is much bigger than he was last year.



And this year, a cute, chubby baby was able to join us.



This was Sammy's first time on a swing!



He seemed to enjoy himself. Although, he doesn't express his emotions quite like his brother does. Which is just fine.



We had a hard time getting Elijah to leave the park.



Sammy was up for anything. :)



We are welcoming spring with open arms!

More photos that speak a thousand words

These photos totally speak for themselves

Balancing silliness and sadness

Our friend Neal was called to heaven yesterday. I'm so sad I'll never see him again in this life, but I'm so happy he is in a better place. The BEST place! We love you, Neal!! Thank you for being such a genuine, kind friend to us!

A couple Elijah funnies from last night:

If Dan isn't home when I'm putting Sammy to bed, I have a pretty hard time keeping Elijah out of the room while I'm getting him down. Last night I had a gentle talk with him: "Elijah, I will be back out in two minutes. Please play in your bedroom while I put Sam to bed so he can get to sleep." "Ok, Mom." Just as I was kissing a sleepy Sam good night, Elijah opened the door and in a (very) loud whisper said, "Mom! Mine underpants is wet!" I couldn't even get mad. It was too cute.

Then later, he was crying over something or another, most likely about being asked to go sit on the potty chair. A few minutes after he was done crying, he said, "Wook, Mom! I have cry on my shirt!" At first I didn't know what he was talking about, but realized he meant his tears had dripped onto his shirt.

At least the weather is improving!

Oh, Sam-Jam, I love you and your fearless, adventurous spirit.



Our week has been an emotional, yucky one so far. A friend of ours had a stroke and is unresponsive in the ICU. I've had a few near-breakdowns and have experienced some physical symptoms that I'm hoping are related to stress/anxiety/worry surrounding Elijah's upcoming surgery. I was so glad to wake up to a new day today!

I'm so thankful for my cuties, who make me laugh and smile all the time.



Sam tried to eat a leaf the other day, which caused a mild choking/gagging session. There is nothing he will not put into his mouth.

Elijah's new favorite breakfast (feckis) is "Fwosting Fwakes," aka Frosted Flakes.

Sam is a strawberry FIEND. Of course, he is an everything fiend. But, holy cow, can he pack the strawberries into his belly!

Elijah is back in school this week, after a week of spring break, which means lots of pretend bus rides and class time. "MOM! Sit at circle time!" "MOM! Come wide the bus to school! Hop in!"

Please pray with us for our friend Neal, and for a better week. I hope all YOUR weeks are great!

Where's the snow??

Sam sat outside and looked around like, WHAT IS THIS?



Elijah excitedly pointed out birds to me. Wook, Mom, a BIRD! Thank goodness for this tiny taste of spring. I need spring. We all need spring.



Sammy did his first sign last night! He pushed his bottle away and I said, "Do you want more bottle or are you all done?" and he did the sign for ALL DONE. That was Elijah's first sign, too!



We had some rough patches with Elijah over the weekend. The sass and drama that can come from that boy gets ridiculous at times. Dan and I got to the point where we had a zero tolerance level for whining. If he whined, he went straight to his room. Then, there were other times that I couldn't believe how sweet he was. "Mommy, come snuggle on the couch wif me!" Or a random, "I wuv you, Mom."



Sammy is crawling everywhere and he is even pulling himself to a stand and then trying to stand on his own. He is ready to RUN. We have found him at the bottom of the stairs, looking up, crying because he doesn't know how to climb them yet.

I have been feeling extra vulnerable lately about Elijah's upcoming surgery. The bad thoughts creep in too often, and I don't deal with them very well. I want this surgery to go away. I don't feel ready to face it. I haven't found peace yet, although I'm trying so so hard. Please God, protect our little boy! That's something I say under my breath at least once every five minutes.

Dan starts night/weekend work soon and I'm feeling down about that, too. I want that reality to go away, as well.

I'm hoping spring will improve moods and emotions all-around!