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.

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!

Post-croup crabbies

Our prayers were answered and Elijah did not have another croup episode last night, thank goodness. Before we went to bed I would have bet a lot of money that he was going to have one, so I was very pleasantly surprised (and tired from all of the sleepless anticipation) this morning.

Now we just have a sick and grumpy little boy. I spent an hour with him this morning and he cried the whole time because he missed Action Chugger, the flying train from Chuggington (Disney cartoon). Tonight the tears have flowed over every tiny little thing. We are trying to keep in mind that he is on oral steroids, as they usually make him a little crazed (and hungry and tired).

I talked to a nurse at his pulmonologist's office today and she said that it has been a really bad winter for kids with airway and respiratory issues. She said to keep him on the steroids for three full days so his lungs have a chance to fully heal.

Tonight Elijah got to go to the movie store to pick out a movie (his favorite thing in the world) and we are settling down to watch "chicken movie." Hopefully he doesn't become so attached to anyone in the movie that he cries for them when it's over. :)

Elijah is trying to kill his mama

One of my best friends in the world, Missy, had a sweet little baby girl in August. Saturday night, all of us girls who were roommates in college (minus one..we missed you, Kendis!) met up in a central location to see baby Addison and to have some quality friend time. We ate dinner and then shared a cocktail together and spent the night in a hotel by the lake. I love these girls so much. They have been such a huge support to me through many many things over the years and I don't know what I would do without them. I was so happy to be able to see them and I'm excited that I get to see most of them again this coming weekend! We are all spread out across Minnesota and Iowa, so it is always a treat when we get to see each other.



Dan was at the dropzone all weekend in hopes of working, but the weather prevented him from even getting a single jump. ARGGGHhh! Because he was gone, I drove Elijah down to my sister's house on Saturday before heading to Iowa to meet up with my girls. He spent the night getting totally loved on by my sister and her family. Lucky boy! I drove back up to her house this morning to get him and we made it back home by about 11:00. Once we got home, Elijah turned into Beastly Baby. He was sooo crabby. He was constantly screaming, fussing or throwing things, which is completely unlike him. He took a really good, long nap but still woke up super fussy and acting upset. He didn't have a fever or any other cold symptoms, so I guess it could be teeth coming in. The more likely answer is that he was "punishing" me for leaving him last night. When I left Lissa's house, I remember looking back as cousin Emma was pushing him in his stroller and he was giving me the saddest, most confused look. It was like he was thinking, How could you really be leaving me right now? I actually cried a little as I drove away because that look broke my heart.


He loves this little chainsaw toy. It's super loud and annoying, but it amuses him.

I put him to bed a little bit early tonight in hopes that he can sleep off this crabbiness and be a new man in the morning. In the back of my mind, I always wonder if there could be an underlying reason for him acting differently. Could it be his heart? Should I be worried? It gets tiring always having to worry about that, but we continue to always pray for the best for the chunky man.


Elijah, if you see that I have posted this picture someday and get embarrassed about it, I'm sorry! It's just so funny! He isn't actually picking his nose, this is just what he does when you ask him where his nose is. It's so funny.

Thanks for checking in on us! I'm going to go sit my butt in the LoveSac and do NOTHING for a couple hours.


Not full of a whole lot of smiles tonight, but still the cutest baby I've ever seen.