Fullness

If I had to describe our summer in one word it would be FULL. It has been totally packed full of fun adventures with one another and with family and friends. In May I never would have predicted that we could fit so much into a single summer. And honestly, much of the reason that we were able to squeeze so much in is thanks to Elijah's new medication. The dosage still is not ideal, but we are inching our way there slowly. We know that it does something very good for his brain, so we have continued to perfect the dose. Thank goodness we have had the summer to work through the bulk of it!

This has been a long time coming, but both Dan's and my cars are basically useless. Mine is currently not working at all and Dan's is limping along like a 100-year-old man. Some big developments and blessings have come our way in the past week. We have purchased a new (to us) Camry that is seriously the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. I have NEVER been more happy and grateful to drive a car in my entire life. I LOVE IT.

I love driving places and not being stared at for being so annoyingly loud. I love not having to park at the deserted end of the parking lot when I meet someone for a photo shoot. I love that the radio works and the seat moves forward and backward and that I can communicate with others in the car without yelling. Sammy's favorite feature of the car is the fold-down cup holders in the back seat. He loves them and exclaimed, "This is the best car EVER! My favorite one in the entire world!"

We have been working with my car mechanic cousin Trevor (who is sooo kind to us) to figure out which one of our pieces of junk we should salvage. In the meantime, my sister and her husband came upon an extra car unexpectedly so they offered us one of theirs. So now we have two working, non-embarrassing vehicles to drive. Yay! We are super grateful for not only our new cars, but also for the people in our lives who have helped us out so much.

All summer long I have wanted to sit down and write a post about new developments with Elijah, but things just keep developing so it never seems like the right time. I think what describes things the best is what I wrote in one of my last posts about Elijah being composed of puzzle pieces. We are learning what the main puzzle pieces are and that we need to guard those pieces with our lives and keep them firmly in place so that the smaller pieces don't fall off the table. Keeping sugar intake under control is a HUGE piece. Early, consistent bedtimes is another major piece and now so is reading his behavior carefully and changing the dosage of his medication accordingly. We have also continued with essential oils and I don't know if this is a main piece or not, but it certainly isn't hurting. Elijah does still have rough days, but the definition of "rough" has changed since last winter. Even when he is totally exhausted, he can leave a fun party without throwing a fit or use the restroom when asked (not always, but it CAN happen).

The boys have had so much fun getting to know my mom this week! She is visiting from California and we are having a great time with her. Elijah and Sammy were super excited to take her to see Inside Out (their second time seeing it, lucky boys), their most recent favorite movie obsession. They are also educating her on the topic of Captain Underpants, potty talk and brotherly "love."

It is going to be strange having both boys in school after this insanely busy summer. It's just over a week away! Thanks for peeking in and have a great rest of your weekend!

On Charlotte 2015

Our time in Charlotte with my dad and stepmom went by way too fast. It always happens that way, I suppose since we are in the good company of family. The second we pulled in their driveway, we felt right at home (as always). My stepmom had the perfect beds prepared for each of us. I got a bedroom ALL TO MYSELF....complete with comfy bed, pillows and a fan. And across the house from the boys. I slept great! All of us slept well!

The morning after we arrived, all of the boys dressed up as cows so they could get a free breakfast at Chick-Fil-A. I love this picture! :) Gramps is such a good sport. (By the way, we barely got Sammy in this outfit and out the door looking like this.) 

The boys got to watch TWO movies in the theater while we were there. Inside Out for the first time (they loved this one soooo much and are still talking about it daily) and Minions for the second time. Check out these cozy recliner movie theater chairs!

We checked out a local museum one day. The boys had fun running around. Here they are doing "creepy bug faces."

Bath time! Washing off the sunscreen and sweat from the day!

While we were there, my dad/stepmom offered to watch a friend's dog for a few days. They have a dog of their own (Juan), but (sorry Juan!) he's a little bit grumpy and old. Elijah and Sammy were SO excited for Daisy to arrive! Oh my goodness, they were squealing and running in circles when she came up to the door for the first time. She is an old dog, too, but she is so laid back and gentle. The boys and I adored her.

Before we left, Sammy drew this picture for Juan and hung it by his bed in the living room. "So he will remember me!" :)

The boys did story time with Grammie and Gramps every night. A special end to every day!

We went to the Lazy 5 Ranch again this year and this time we drove through it in the car. We drove along the winding path through tons of wildlife, feeding them, talking to them, telling them to GET AWAY, squealing, but loving the entire adventure. We were told NOT to feed or pet the zebras, so Sammy dissed this guy right away.

I loved feeding a giraffe from the sunroof. He was by far the most gentle creature we encountered during the entire adventure. He accepted the food gingerly, almost with gratitude. We all loved him!

Elijah and Grammie, playing on the ship at Lazy 5!

We made it to their community pool 3 or 4 times. The boys had a blast! They loved their swim noodles and time in the water. Sammy began "swimming" (with the help of his floatie and a noodle under his armpits) across the entire pool by himself...kicking, paddling with his hands and all! I was so proud of my boy! He is becoming more adventurous all the time!

When we went to the park by their house, instead of playing on the swing or slides, Sammy started picking up garbage. I asked what he was doing and he said, "I HAVE to clean up this litter! Is there a recycling bin around here?" That's my organized, thoughtful Sammy. As we got in the car to leave, he saw a stray piece of garbage he had missed and felt terrible about leaving it behind.

I love making memories with my precious boys and my parents. This summer's trip was so much fun. We get to see Grammie and Gramps again this coming weekend in Iowa and we are all excited for it. Dan and I constantly express gratitude about our boys have such loving grandparents. Thank you, DAD and PAULA for being so kind, gracious and selfless! We love you guys and love that you let us invade your home without a single complaint.

We drove back to Louisville for a QUICK night after our time in Charlotte, and drove the rest of the way home the following day. It was a long one! The last few hours were rough, involving potty in pants, a smelly car, a VERY windy car ride, VERY loud and excited-to-be-home boys and a VERY crabby mama. I literally pulled into our driveway, got out of the car (without closing the door) and ran inside to ask Dan for HELP. An hour later we were all feeling much better (and sleeping).

This coming week is a busy one for us. Hoping you are doing well and thank you for peeking in!

A visit from Grammie and other fun things!

We have had a super busy and awesome past couple of days! My stepmom flew into town on Thursday and spent the afternoon/night with us. The boys love their Grammie so much! Silly tickle time!

She came with Elijah and me to E's sleep appointment, which went better than expected. The doctor had heard from Dr. M (developmental ped), who had recommended a certain med to help with E's anxiety/ADD stuff, and hopefully sleep, as well. So the sleep doc ran that recommendation by Dr. G (cardiologist), and HE APPROVED IT! I was totally surprised, as I had heard/read that some cardiac patients are unable to take this med. The med can cause low blood pressure, but with Elijah's anatomy this is not a concern for him. We started a super low dose of the med on Thursday and have given it to him every night since. At first, Dan and I thought maybe he was having another adverse reaction, as he was up for the day at 1:20 one morning (seriously) and before 3:00 another. Since then, we think he might be sleeping a little bit better/later?? It is so hard to know for sure since he can be so quiet and we hesitate to go into his room after 2:00 unless absolutely necessary in fear of waking him! I have another call into his sleep doctor to see if we can get a monitor of some sort that he can wear that will let us know what time he is up for the day. That way I don't have to be on high alert every single morning from 1-6am, waiting, listening, wondering, worrying. The sleep deprivation in this house is kind of absurd right now.

We had a fun rest of our weekend! Friday we took the boys to their first-ever circus. It was ok. The boys were mildly entertained. The dancing elephant was fun. I think their favorite thing was sitting next to each other and sharing a giant tub of popcorn.

Saturday we drove up to Bemidji to visit our friends Kendis and Chris at their beautiful home in the woods. The boys had so much fun running around their house, visiting the dogs (aka, "talking cats") in their kennel, going to their "conference room" on the patio, throwing snowballs, running in circles around their kitchen and getting sled rides from Chris and Dan. We even took a trip into town to visit Paul and Babe. On our way there, I pulled up my post from the last time we visited Paul and Babe. Funny (er, not so funny) how waking up super early was an issue even back then. Some things never change. Or, just get worse.

Samson the puppy, although rather large, believes that he is a lap dog. For some reason, he loved my lap. Strangely, I loved having him close. I'm not typically a dog person, but he was so snuggly! He reminds me a lot of my own little Samson.

On Sunday we drove over to Grand Rapids to stay with my stepmom and her wonderful family for a night. Another peaceful house in the woods and more great company! We had a nice afternoon and evening together. We headed back home Monday morning to recuperate. We all immediately walked straight to the bedroom and fell onto the bed.

This week is Spring Break! We had a relaxing day together today and have some fun things planned for the rest of the week. I hope you all are having a great week!

NC vacation!

Hello! We are alive! We had a blast in North Carolina last week with my dad and stepmom and many other family members. It was a lovely vacation. We were all sad to come home. Elijah and Sammy both have been periodically saying to us, "I'm sad! I want to go back to Gwammie and Gwamps' house!" :( I love my family. I wish they lived closer. It was WONDERFUL to spend time with them.

Last Thursday my dad and stepmom and I took the boys to an apple orchard in the mountains. The weather wasn't ideal, but I personally thought the fog added "cool" points to the experience. It was so beautiful! Plus, we are from Minnesota, so we were not a bit uncomfortable. :)

Elijah's favorite part of the orchard was the bamboo forest. We walked through it, and both boys kept calling it a "spooky forest." 

A great pic with Grammie in the Spooky Forest..

Isn't the scenery gorgeous? We picked some apples and once we got back home, Paula and I made Apple Butter with them. 

The next few photos are hilarious. "Boys! Pose with Grammie and Gramps for a picture!" Ha! Ha ha!

The day my brother Joel and his sweet sweet girlfriend Bree came into town, we spotted this praying mantis in my dad's back yard. ICKY! But cool, at the same time. I'm secretly glad we don't have these creatures in Minnesota. They are so big!

The purpose for our visit was to celebrate Paula's 30th year in the ministry. It was really cool to celebrate this with her. Family gathered from all over the country to give her love, so we got to spend time with many more people than her and my dad. The boys LOVE Uncle Phill, so seeing him was a huge highlight from the trip. I love this photo of Uncle Phill reading a book to Sammy.

Elijah and the beautiful Bree!

Here was our family photo, minus Heath (my brother) and Heather's (my sister) children and grandchild.

Not so sure what is going on here?! :)

We spent plenty of time at the park near my dad's house. The boys of course loved that, especially when Uncle Joel and Bree were around.

It has been a busy week since arriving back at home. I have been working a lot and Dan and the boys have been holding down the fort. I have decided that our lives are just crazy. Work hard, play hard, work harder, play harder, sleep little, repeat. Life is good. Thanks for checking in!

Bye bye, Gammie

Check out the tickle gloves ("glubs") and tickle monster book that our friend Cara dropped off for Elijah! There is not a better kid to receive tickling paraphernalia.



We said goodbye to "Gammie" this afternoon. Elijah is going to need some adjustment time. He has enjoyed every single moment he has gotten to spend with her. Paula, thank you for everything you did for us while you were here!



I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow and the rest of our week we will be getting back into the groove of our normal routine.

I forgot to say THANK YOU to everyone for the great reading recommendations and for the ice cream recommendations, too! I will update both lists again in a few weeks!



My awesome cousin Trevor stopped by last night to drop off three of my favorite Ben & Jerry's flavors (could not possibly have been more thoughtful and perfect..thank you so much, Trev!), so I'm going to go dig into those now while Elijah finishes his dinner.

Kickus is near!

I have some pics of Elijah baring his cute little bottom (why do I just want to pinch that cute bum every time I see it?), but I don't have the energy to get them off my camera right now. Plus, someday Elijah may not appreciate his bum being on the internet.

The holiday party on Friday night was nice. Dan and I treated that night as a special date night since we didn't have Elijah with us and since we got to sleep in ("sleep in" is relative) in a comfy hotel bed on Saturday morning. Elijah had a blast at Grandma's house. He was so excited to play the piano and sing for us again when we got there to pick him up. And again he did the sad "Bye, Gabba" when we left. :(

He had a cough (and snotty nose) all weekend that was bad enough to make Dan and me wince every time we heard it. I'm hoping it will run its course on its own, in standard Elijah Cough fashion. We got to know this "friend" very well, TOO well, last winter, so we are pretty familiar with him and his eccentricities, and his tendency to stay much past his welcome.

Well, Christmas shopping is done (yay!), Christmas gifts are wrapped, Christmas cookies are being baked this week (here and there, when I'm feeling up to it), Christmas cards are not being sent this year (sorry!) and Christmas cleaning will happen on an as-needed basis (yuck). We have some things on our Christmas Giving list to cross off, so we will focus on those things this week and next week. I love leaving the fun stuff for last!

Grandparent love

(This morning's wake-up time? 4:19! FUN!!)

We brought Elijah to Grandma and Grandpa's house while Dan and I went out for dinner for his birthday the other night. Dan's parents are great with Elijah, as they are with all of their grandchildren. They have fun toys at their house and they are always so willing to get down on his level and play with him and give him undivided attention. Plus, they just have a loving, warm home, and he definitely picks up on that.

When we came back from dinner, we encountered a little boy who was beaming with happiness. Grandma and Grandpa's house is such a fun, comfortable place for him and that was so evident in his demeanor and in his actions.

I went into the basement and saw that Elijah was in the far bedroom with Dan's mom. He peeked out at me and then shut the door. He started doing his usual PEEK-A-BOOOOOOO-ing from the other side of the door and then he started saying, "Bye Mama! See ya!" When he came out of the room, he grabbed my hand and asked me to help him walk. We zoomed across the basement floor at about 15 miles an hour (this kid can move his legs FAST if he wants to!) and he raced up the steps on his own and crawled over to the piano. He and Grandma had been playing the piano while singing a song (with actions!), so he wanted to show us.

It was so cute. He played the piano while standing, so he would walk back and forth and push on the keys as he sang in his cute little sing-songy voice. When he was finished, it was time for cupcakes so we went to the dining room and got situated at the table. Now, remember that this kid has never enjoyed cupcakes or cake or anything with frosting on it (it's a texture thing). I set a cupcake in front of him and he devoured it. He asked for another cupcake, so we gave him one more and devoured that as well. We had to stop when he asked for a third.

After dessert he zoomed around in "Gamma kishen" and was so completely comfortable and in his element. When it was time to go, he was sad. This is the first time he has ever been sad about going home. He has a really cute little sad voice that he uses sometimes, and he used that when he said "Bye" to Grandma that night.

For so long, we were worried that the only place that would make Elijah happy was our home and that the only people who would make him happy were Dan and me. It is so amazing to see our little boy enjoying another home and other people so much. I love that he has such a genuine bond with his grandparents and that their home provides such comfort for him.

Bittersweet week

Grammie and Gramps came and left and we are missing them again. They are still in the state, though, so we will get to see them again before they head back to North Carolina. I was hoping to get up to northern Minnesota (where they will be for the next few days) with Elijah for a day or two to spend some extra time with them but I'm not sure if it's going to work out. I'm super bummed and trying to think of a way I can make it happen.

I love watching Elijah interact with my dad and stepmom. He loves them sooo much, and they adore him. I wish I could stick them both in my pocket and keep them close to us forever.

So we will spend the next few days figuring out what is in store for the weekend. We have been having a good week. My dad and stepmom took Elijah and I out for pizza last night. Dan is working a lot this week, so YAY for that. The weather isn't cold anymore, so that adds some happiness to our lives.

Quick funny story from the other night.. Dan was watching golf for a bit on tv and one of the commercials that kept coming on during the breaks was for a DVD set of war plane footage. One of the clips showed a plane crashing and the others were of airplanes zooming loudly around the sky and dropping bombs, etc. Every time the commercial came on Elijah got super excited and signed "airplane" and said, "AAyyyy!" which is what he does/says lately whenever he sees or hears a plane. So then when the commercial would end, he'd give me a very disappointed scowl and started to fuss because he thought it was some special Airplane Show on tv that I was secretly teasing him with. I would say, "Sorry sweetie, that was a commercial, not a show." Then he would furrow his brow and say, "Ayyyy! Asshhh!" (Airplane! Crash!) about 54 times in a row. He is definitely in an airplane phase right now. He loves watching them, hearing them, talking about them and spotting them in the sky. Anything that makes that little boy's face light up makes me happy, too. Even crashing, bomb-dropping airplanes, I guess.

I hope everyone is having a good week!

Boat rides, family time, sugar, doors, old friends

We had an amazing weekend on the unseasonably cool shores of Okoboji, as we hung out with a ton of family we haven't seen in a while. On Friday afternoon we drove down to my aunt and uncle's house in Iowa for our yearly family reunion weekend. Our time went fast, as it always does, but it was so nice to see everyone again. I love my family.



Last week I had worried about Elijah becoming overwhelmed with all of the stimulation the weekend was bound to bring our way (based on our experience from the previous weekend), especially since we only see a lot of these relatives once a year. Now, after the weekend is over, I can say that I could not be more surprised with how things went and I could not be more proud of my little boy! Not only did he appear to be very comfortable being in close proximity with a lot of unfamiliar people, but he even seemed to enjoy it! I can't even tell you how many times I said out loud that I was amazed at how well he was doing. His comfort level in a social setting like this is huge and very very awesome.


This photo of "Amps" (Gramps) reading a book to Elijah is one of my favorites from the weekend.

One of the big treats from the weekend was that we got to spend time with my dad and stepmom, who we don't get to see very often since they live across the country. They gave Elijah some serious love, and Elijah gave it right back. I love watching my parents genuinely loving my son. There's nothing in the world like that. I only wish I could see it more regularly. They are still in "town" (town = within a few hours of us), so we get to see them again tomorrow and also for a bit this coming weekend. Our visit with them isn't over yet! Elijah just loves them to pieces. Last night after we got home I caught him standing at the bottom of the stairs, looking up and yelling, "AMPS?! AMPS?!" Sorry little man, they are still in Iowa..



Another big treat this weekend was discovering Elijah's love for boat rides. He fell into a super-sleepy-satisfied-relaxed daze on our Friday boat ride around the lake. On Saturday I took Elijah down to the dock and he started to hit, kick and scream when we passed by the boat without getting into it. A few others were heading out for a ride and he wanted to go, too. There happened to be a few open spots, so we grabbed a life jacket and got in for another ride. Again, Elijah was in a very satisfied daze and did the sign for BOAT throughout the ride. He didn't even mind wearing the life jacket, which came as a pleasant surprise to both Dan and me.



Some other cool weekend treats: We stopped by the famous Sugar Shack to satisfy my sweet cravings and add some meat to my thighs. I got to chat with my college art professor who I haven't seen in years and who happened to be showing his artwork at a show close to the Sugar Shack. I got to see a friend I graduated from high school with and who I haven't seen in years (this is kind of a big deal considering there are only 36 of us from the Manning High School class of 1993 roaming the earth).

And I can't write about the weekend without mentioning Elijah displaying his deep love for DOORS. My entire family got to witness first-hand how enthralling the opening and closing and examining of a door is for him. Thankfully Julie and Virgil didn't mind him playing with their fireplace doors all hours of the day. And I had to remove him from the dining room a handful of times because all he wanted to do was open and close the patio door repeatedly. As Dan and I often say, we may need to look into Door Therapy for our boy. "Hi! My name is Elijah and I'm obsessed with doors!" "HI ELIJAH!"


The weekend wore us all out. Elijah stretched out his arms for a little nap on the ride home.

It was back to business as usual this morning. I headed to work and Elijah and Dan headed to the hospital for the dreaded tests. I hate that I couldn't be with my little boy as he was getting tortured, but at least Dan was there to wipe away the tears. I hear the xraying was pretty awful since they xrayed just about every inch of his body and Elijah does not enjoy being held down. It's good to have those done! Hopefully we will get the results quickly.

I hope everyone had a nice weekend! Thanks for checking in on our munchkin.