Love is in the house

It has been sad to say good-bye to winter break. I LOVED the precious time I got to spend with my boys and I was secretly so sad to drop them off at school on Tuesday morning after spending two and a half weeks together. Having my cuties within earshot and arm's length makes me a happy mama. There is certainly value in them going to school, but I adore my time with them. They won't be "little" forever so I relish every moment I can get.

Over break my boys decided it was time to watch Star Wars! We watched the first three movies together over the weekend and we all enjoyed them. The boys asked a TON of questions (so many that it was hard to hear what was being said most of the time) and they are excited about the next few. 

Sammy and Elijah have both lost teeth over the past few days, but Sammy's loss has added an extra lisp to his already cute lisp. I just love it when those top front teeth go missing. The cuteness is almost too much to handle.

Since break, Sammy has been extra into Mommy (lucky me!). Every morning (after getting dressed of course, because his is Mr. Responsible & Organized) the first thing he does is crawl into bed with me, usually after asking, "Anyone want some Sammy snuggles?!" And this is when the I-love-yous begin for the day. Lately he's been saying, "I love you more than you love me!" And I say, "Not possible!" And he says, "Always possible!" Repeat about 100 times. I love it!

While I'm on the Sammy topic, he has shown such incredible determination lately. This fall Elijah took a chess class at school and became really good at it. Sammy saw this and decided he needed to learn, too, so he watched his brother play and within a couple days he knew all the rules and could hold his own. I thought this was impressive! Then the other morning he decided that he needed to learn how to play the recorder since Elijah knows how. He asked E to teach him the notes and within 15 minutes could read music for and play Jingle Bells. Nice work, Sammy!

We are coming up on the time of year when we see a bunch of Elijah's specialists. Next week brings a couple appointments and we expect everything to check out fine. We have seen improvements in some areas and regression in others (like following directions). Sometimes I have to stop and remember all that he has overcome. It's amazing to consider how well he is doing in spite of the many big hurdles he has had to leap over! We are super blessed and have two amazing boys!

Elijah starts SKIING tomorrow, wooo! I'm buying Sammy a used pair of skis and boots tomorrow so we'll see if I can get them onto his feet without too much fuss. I hope you all have a warm weekend!

Tooth decay and answered prayers

I feel terrible for our oldest boy. He cannot control the things he does and says right now and he must feel terribly confused. As his lucky mama, I will not give up on him. I will fight for him and do everything I can to support and help him. It is difficult not to become frustrated with him when he has lost control of himself like this, but I constantly remind myself that it is not his fault. He is a sweet, kind, friendly, funny and smart person! Dan, Sammy and I love him so much!

We have had another couple of rough days. I've noticed improvements, but things are overall still so challenging. I have been keeping my shield held high! I received a phone call today that gave me hope and lifted my spirits immensely. Dr. M (developmental ped) called and we had a great conversation. He is an incredible, caring, smart, kind and compassionate doctor and we feel so fortunate to have him on our side. He asked a lot of questions and agreed that Elijah's brain needs an extended break. He faxed a letter to E's school requesting three weeks of homebound instruction. YAY!!!!!

We need to find a teacher willing to come to our home one hour/day for the next few weeks and then we'll be set! Dr. M and I made an agreement that once E is back to "baseline," we need to address his anxiety so that boiling point isn't quite so easy to reach. We have a very timely appointment with him scheduled for February 9th, so a discussion addressing this issue will occur then.

In other news, I brought both boys in for a dental check-up today. Side note: I feel I deserve a medal of honor for keeping two boys entertained for 2 hours in a dental office by myself. I pulled out all the tricks without using technology! :) I was completely exhausted afterward, but I felt accomplished. Sadly, BOTH boys have cavities. They are tiny, but obviously need to be taken care of. Consistent flossing has commenced in our home.

If you have time, please continue to pray for Elijah! Pray that he can get back to a point where he isn't feeling so depleted and out of control. Pray that he can finish second grade on a good note! I know we can get him there. I can picture it. I can't wait for him to not just scrape by in school, but to flourish! Thank you so much for checking in!

Mustaches and mud!

Click here for the recipe for Sammy's birthday cake!

And here are a few silly boy pics from the weekend..

We were so excited to get a visit from my bestest friend Heather and her awesome kiddos this past weekend. We had tons of fun together, as we always do, although the weather didn't exactly cooperate with our plans. Before they arrived, I did something I had never done before! I ran in a mud race with my sister-in-law Christine and two friends. We had a blast! Ok, so running straight up two entire ski hills wasn't exactly fun, but the the experience as a whole was fun and we proved to be a great team.

Here is a pic of us after finishing (we finished in one hour and three minutes!) and getting rinsed off a bit. At one point we were running with totally goopy muddy legs, torsos, arms and hands and our shoes weighed about 10 pounds each. Then we went down the giant slide that got us (mostly) clean and filled with suds!

(photo credit: Aubrey Mathews)

Here we are before the race, clean and fresh! :)

                                                       (photo credit: Aubrey Mathews)

The below pic was physically the toughest point of the entire race for me. My most difficult mental part was the balance beam, which I wouldn't have expected beforehand. I freaked out half-way across, but thankfully my awesome team talked me through it.

                                                         (photo credit: Aubrey Mathews)

I can't believe tomorrow is Wednesday already and that the little boys and I leave for our big road trip in LESS THAN A MONTH! Yikes! We have much to plan before then, but we are very much looking forward to it. It is going to be an adventure of a lifetime!

Just a few tidbits before I sign off for the night..

Elijah needs foot orthotics again. He had them when he was two for about a year because his ankles turned in when he was upright. His feet are super flat, so he typically walks with his feet turned out for stabilization. We will likely take care of this in the fall, after croc season. :)

E will be having a cavity filled in the morning. It's the exact same spot as the last two. The filling from the last round fell off and created the perfect cavity pool. Hopefully this filling will take care of it for good, and with little to no stress.

A few more of my most favorite mispronounced Sammy words:
birthmark=buckmark
suitcase=soup-case
band-aid=bamma-dage
naked=make-id

I will end with the funniest quote of the week and perhaps the month!
Dan had Sunday night free due to bad weather, so we took the opportunity to enjoy a meal out as a family. Totally out of the blue in a moment of silence, Sammy said, "Daddy! What's the name of the restaurant where you took your pants off?!" Uhhh.... Dan? Is there something you should share? :) Never a dull moment with these silly boys.

That's all for now! Thanks for checking in! OH! I was going to ask you all to leave a comment on this post. We would love for you to say hello, or more or whatever. We want to know you're there! It would be so fun to see 25 comments in the morning. :) Elijah would be thrilled to read through them all. Thank you and good night!

Toothless in the snow

Doesn't he look adorable with his two front teeth missing?

Sammy is adorable, too, sword sticking out of mouth and all.

Today was just depressing! The temperature and wind chill outside felt like it was the beginning of January. It sleeted and snowed and we have a fresh layer of white on the ground. We are supposed to get MORE snow tonight! And Saturday! I wonder how many Minnesotans are depressed after this winter.

Other than THAT, we had a pretty normal day! Ha! We recently joined a gym, so we have been going there as often as possible. When Dan and I don't have to work in the mornings, we bring Sammy to the gym with us while E is at school. There is an awesome daycare area with kid-friendly activities. This is good for all of us! Dan and I can squeeze in a workout and Sammy can get used to being around other people in a safe environment. He is slowly getting more comfortable!

That's all for now! Thanks for checking in! I had best get back to saying curse words to the snow under my breath. :)

Warmth, snow, letters and stones

We are back in the frigid cold state of Minnesota. It is freezing outside! This is ridiculous! Needless to say, we enjoyed our vacation thoroughly. It was WARM and wonderful and tons of fun. Dan and I were able to sneak away to South Carolina by ourselves for two days. As always, the time passed too quickly. We are very thankful for my dad and stepmom's generosity, hospitality and help with our boys.

Fort Sumter!

The boys had a blast with Grammie and Gramps. They were able to do some pretty fun things while they were there, like go to an animal ranch where they fed animals from inside the car. The llamas tried to steal Gramps' bucket and Sammy's favorite animal was the cow.

Gramps' freezer is NEVER short on ice cream. :)

And every morning the boys helped Grammie feed the birds.

I spent my entire childhood getting onto airplanes in order to fly away from my dad. I'm still doing it, and I still hate it. I love my dad and stepmom so much! We all do. We have sad hearts today. We miss them.

My dad is having a small surgery next week sometime, so could I ask for your prayers for him? He is going to do AWESOME. Pray for a calm spirit for him, and of course for total success, as well.

We are gearing up for Elijah's ear surgery on Tuesday. I've been doing a good job of keeping it out of my head. I'll worry about that tomorrow. Isn't that a line from Gone With the Wind? :)

THANK YOU to all of you who have sent cards and letters and other fun things for the boys. They have been so thrilled about every single piece of mail they've gotten. I sincerely want to hug each one of you for the amount of comfort this barrage of mail has provided for ALL of us. Thank you thank you thank you! Maggie, your card was particularly moving and thoughtful.

I have to share with you this one special gift we received right before we left for vacation last week. A friend (Hi, Christine!) of a friend (Hi, Alise!) sent us some worry stones that she makes herself. (Check out her website to see more!) Some of the stones have Elijah's name on them. Some have fun drawings. And some have the word I have always used to describe Elijah in medical situations--STEADFAST. Whenever I need to turn off my fear and start focusing on positive thoughts, that is where I start. It holds a lot of meaning for me. Thank you, Christine! The boys have treated the stones like they are precious jewels. In fact, there is a batch of them in a glass jar in my refrigerator right now. I asked Elijah what was going on and he said, "Oh, PLEASE don't touch those! My stone soup is cooking." :)

One more piece of news and I'll sign off. Elijah lost his fourth tooth last night, literally 5 minutes after we had gotten home! The Tooth Fairy was very nice to him, and he looks adorable with his two top front teeth missing. That will be my next picture! Thanks for checking in..

Sammy funnies and another missing tooth

Elijah lost his third tooth! We are pretty sure he yanked it out, as he did the other two. He sure loves his letters from the Tooth Fairy! :) He left her a letter under his pillow tonight that said, "Dear Tooth Fairy, I lost my third tooth. Get Ready. Love, Elijah" I'm sure she is "getting ready" as we speak.

This is going to be a quick update, but I want to type out some Sam super-funnies from lately.

I was chatting with Sam on the phone a few mornings ago on my way home and I said, "Sammy, are you having a good morning with Daddy?" He said, "No, I'm just pickin' my nose right now."

Sam got a bloody lip the other day in the bathroom. :( He's still such a cutie, isn't he though?

More funnies:

Dan was walking down the stairs, so Sammy turned to me and said, "Here comes the BIG GUY!"

His arm was asleep after a nap one afternoon this week. He kept describing it as being "farkly" (sparkly).

He is such a huge eye itcher. The other day after itching his eyes vigorously, he looked at me and said, "There. Now mine eyes are fresh."

That's all for now! Elijah has a cardiology appointment on Tuesday, so I will write a post after that.

The Tooth Fairy

Elijah pulled out his tooth in the middle of the night last night and placed it under his pillow. He was bummed that the Tooth Fairy didn't come. :( I explained that she didn't know his tooth was there, and that she would come tonight.

Sammy said, "Take a picture of my teeth, too!"

Better get to my Tooth Fairy duties! :)

The sweetest little Sammy and a wiggly tooth!

This Sammy of ours. When he is sweet, he is so stinkin' sweet. I can hardly stand it!

Today after Elijah got home from school he was eating lunch and excitedly announced to me that he had a wiggly tooth! I had not yet talked to him about losing teeth, but thankfully he had watched the "Teeth" episode of Yo Gabba Gabba a couple of times so he was somewhat informed. I almost started crying! Losing teeth already?! My big boy!

We talked about what would happen in the next couple days and then he asked about the Tooth Fairy. In standard Elijah fashion, there were A LOT of questions about her. Where does she live? What color is her wand? What does she do during the daytime? Do her wings move fast? What city is her house in? 

Then it was 100% his idea to write her a letter..

Translation: 

Dear Tooth Fairy, 

Elijah broke his tooth. 

! Bob (no idea what this is about). 

Elijah

By the end of the day the tooth was a little bit more wiggly. In the next few days we will have one less baby tooth!

Installment 2: The Dirty Face Brothers

Here is part 2 of my Dirty Face (and arms and legs) photo session with our boys the other night.



Our oldest beautiful-eyed boy has his first cavity! :( I was hoping we could dodge this bullet, but alas. He's following in him mama's footsteps. Actually, the cavity is super teeny, and we are going to take care of it right away so hopefully it won't be too traumatic. The dentist won't even need to use novocaine or needles, thanks to laser dentistry. Crazy!



Elijah's quarter jar has ONE quarter in it currently. Yep, that's it. Apparently Ken is not enough motivation to keep poop out of his pants. We'll keep trying.



So here are our upcoming big dates in the next few weeks:
Oct 25th: IEP meeting
Nov 3rd: Dentist
Nov 7th: Cardiology appt



I haven't mentioned this in a while, but Elijah is still in weekly physical therapy. He loves to go "pway" at Vicki's "house." We are glad he finally sees it as "playing," as that has not always been the case. I remember the months and months of TEARS that occurred before he realized that we weren't trying to torture him. He also gets some PT and speech attention through his school that we believe hugely benefits him. His teachers and therapists are truly awesome! I just saw a note on Elijah's daily report the other day that said they were teaching him to get up from sitting on the ground using a kneeling transition (as opposed to using just feet and hands with butt up in the air). I love knowing that the people caring for him are keeping THAT close of an eye on the details. I know I always say this, but he is in the best hands!



Let's see, what else. Elijah still begs us to be tickled constantly. He loves saying goofy nonsense words and giggling his head off. He is still into knock-knock jokes (please tell us some new ones!). He and I have a new thing where we go lay in the grass after Sam is in bed and find pictures in the clouds. As much as this little boy pushes my buttons and tests his boundaries, I love him (and his cute, snuggly little brother) to pieces!

Already?

Would you think it was strange if I told you that our not even 4-month-old baby is teething? Because he is. He has been a little bit extra fussy/clingy/whiny lately and he has been trying to gnaw on everything in sight. I peeked into his mouth last week and sure enough, there are two little teeth ready to poke through on the bottom.

I find this crazy! Or is it more normal than I think?

So many brushing options

Cling

I couldn't help myself last night. He looked sooo cute when I checked on him before I went to bed.

Last night as I was putting Elijah to bed he felt just a tiny bit warm to me. This morning he still felt warm so I took his temp and he was 99.5 degrees. Not bad, but he usually runs a really low temp, so his body was up to something. Dan stayed home with him and he seemed a little extra tired, but other than that and the slight temp, he was fine. Dan took him to the doctor just to make sure everything was ok since we are leaving town tomorrow, and everything looked fine. The doctor thinks Elijah either has a very very mild viral thing going on or that his body is reacting to his new molars coming in. I'm about to give him a dose of tylenol (temp is still just barely above normal) and put him to bed early. He looks so tired.

Please pray that this is just something little and that he has a healthy, fun, safe weekend at Grandma's house.

We will bring him to his surgical consultation in the morning and then Dan and I are off to the airport! Unfortunately I probably won't be able to write an update about the appointment until next week. Maybe I'll find a computer and update quick sometime this weekend. I don't know, I might be too obsessed with sitting by the pool.

I'm pretty sure Elijah understands that we are going to be gone for a few days. He is normally a snuggly boy, but I've never seen him THIS snuggly. He has been literally stuck to Dan or me all day/night. I have to say that I don't mind it at all! Of course, it could also be because he isn't feeling 100%, but usually even when he's sick he doesn't get to this degree of snuggliness.


Awwww, laying on Daddy.

Ok, gonna go get my share of loves quick before bed. Have a good holiday weekend, everyone! Please keep our man in your prayers. Thank you!

Perspective, wow.

I just got done deleting the post I was going to publish that ranted about how yucky of a week I have been having, blah blah, poor me.

Before I was able to publish it, I found this. This little boy is in the hospital with serious head trauma after falling from three stories, head first onto concrete. His future is uncertain, his parents are devastated. A single moment has changed their lives forever. My chest literally aches over this. I had to step into the other room and let out a good cry to relieve some of the aching. It's almost like I can feel a millionth of a tiny sliver of what they must be feeling.

All of the screaming that we have heard this week (from Elijah, not us...although it's been tempting) and the tiredness we have felt are suddenly ERASED. None of it matters. Tonight, I'm not going to lose my patience, I'm not going to let myself get overwhelmed by the little things. Maybe I will even embrace those crazy screams (and The Cough?) because who knows when they could be gone.

Pray for this family. Go to their blog and show them support. Hug your families extra tight tonight. Tell everyone just how much you love them. Appreciate what you have.

Teeth and crusts

For a few months now, I've been waiting for Elijah's last four back molars to come in. I keep looking in his mouth wondering where they could be. I think I have been searching for them since the end of last summer, so it has been a while. The other day I did a quick tooth count, and...hmmmm, 20 teeth?! He already has all of his teeth?? I counted again and again, and sure enough! They are all there, and they have been there since at least August. E's pediatrician has always told us not to be surprised if he got his teeth later than usual considering all the other stuff his body has had to work through. Obviously this is not the case! And aside from maybe the first two teeth he ever sprouted, he has never shown a single sign of being bothered by teething. Those molars must have been a piece of cake for him. Tough kid!

Last night Elijah ate another wide array of foods....more chicken pot pie, pizza, veggies, bananas.. and he ate two entire HUGE pizza crusts.

Still no new pics, so here are some more oldies...


One of my favorite pics, taken at three months old. I just love that chubby neck.


Four months old


Five months old


Mmmmmmmm....I love smooching that soft, chubby neck..


Six months old, catching up on news..


Seven months old, another one of my favorites..


Remember Helmy? I feel Elijah's lopsided head every day and wonder if he'll be upset with us someday for not sticking it out with the evil helmet.


One year old. This is still his trademark sad face.

45 degrees is WARM

This was the view out our window last Sunday...



This is what we did today...













Elijah loved the swing! This was his first time to try it out and he was in heaven. The high today was 45 degrees, and that was amazingly warm for us. Finally we get a glimpse of spring! AAAAaaaaaahhhhh, I can't wait for warmer weather. This winter has been particularly harsh and LONG and we are very ready for a change of seasons here in arctic Minnesota.

Let's see, what has been going on with us...well, Dan has been trying out some new styles...



and Elijah has been getting very tired, very early in the evening. He never falls asleep in my arms like this.



And Elijah's toy box has been throwing up toys..



Oh and Elijah has been throwing up, too. We have no idea why. Maybe new teeth? Maybe a sickness? We don't know. He had a 99.5-degree temperature this morning, but aside from this and a few small throw-up sessions, we see nothing unusual. I guess we will keep an eye on things and see what happens. We are PRAYING for no sickness before surgery. We need our man to stay healthy!

I've admittedly been pretty sad lately. I've been crying a lot at night because that's when I think about surgery and what is to come in the next few weeks. I spend every possible moment with my chunky monkey and I've been loving on him and smooching his chubby neck as much as possible. I'm just really anxious about surgery this time around. I don't feel the same strength I felt the last time. I'm praying that will change.

Thanks for checking in on us. I have some cute Elijah stories to share but I'll save them for another post. Thanks for all of the prayers. We love all of our friends and family so much! xoxoxoxoxoxoxo