just hangin' out

I took the boys to the park the other day.

this is what Papa and Eli did - napped on the slide!

Eli's awake time is getting a bit longer.

I actually got a picture with his pretty blue eyes open!

this is Gma (my mom, can't you tell?) and Eli hangin' out together.

his shirt says "I tried to be good, but I got bored"

it's soooo Sam; I had to buy this shirt!

this picture needs no explaining, right?  just my goofy kid!

a mom's disorder

I copied this from thriftymommy.blogspot.com - I hope I'm allowed to.
I think this is something all moms get!

recently I was diagnosed with A.A.A.D.D. - age activated attention deficit disorder.
this is how it manifests:
I decided to water my garden. As I turn on the hose in the driveway, I look over at my car and decide to needs washing.
as I start toward the garage, I notice mail on the porch table that I brought up from the mailbox earlier. I decide to go through the mail before I wash the car.
I lay my car keys on the table, put the junk mail in the garbage can under the table, and notice that the can is full.
so, I decide to put the bills back on the table and take out the garbage first.
but then I think, since I'm going to be near the mailbox when I take out the garbage anyway, I may as well pay the bills first.
I take my check book off the table, and see that there is only one check left.
my extra checks are in my desk in the study, so I go inside the house to my desk where I find the can of Pepsi I'd been drinking.
I'm going to look for my checks, but first I need to push the Pepsi aside so that I don't accidentally knock it over.
the Pepsi is getting warm, and I decide to put it in the refrigerator to keep it cold.
as I head toward the kitchen with the Pepsi, a vase of flowers on the counter catches my eye; they need water.
I put the Pepsi on the counter and discover my reading glasses that I've been searching for all morning.
I decide I better put them back on my desk, but first I'm going to water the flowers.
I set the glasses back down on the counter, fill a container with water and suddenly spot the TV remote. someone left it on the kitchen table.
I realize that tonight when we go to watch TV, I'll be looking for the remote, but I won't remember that it's on the kitchen table, so I decide to put it back in the den where it belongs, but first I'll water the flowers.
I pour some water in the flowers, but quite a bit of it spills on the floor.
so I set the remote back on the table, get some towels and wipe up the spill.
then, I head down the hall trying to remember what i was planning to do.

at the end of the day -
the car isn't washed, the bills aren't paid, there is a warm can of Pepsi sitting on the counter, the flowers don't have enough water, there is only 1 check in my checkbook, I can't find the remote, I can't find my glasses, and I don't remember what I did with the car keys.
then I try to figure out why nothing got done today. I'm really baffled because I know I was busy all damn day, and I'm really tired.
I realize this is a serious problem, and I'll try to get some help for it, but first I'll check my email ...

nemo lovers

we, I mean, Sam loves finding nemo.  he would watch it everyday if he could; I think we've watched it twice already this week.  and he's at the age where he is beginning to recite lines from his videos.  it's extra funny to us because as movie buffs ourselves, we do that a lot too.

yesterday Papa made a stupid joke, so stupid I can't remember now, but I do recall Sam saying "hey, that's not funny ... and I know funny, I'm a clown fish!"

for those of you who love nemo like we do, you know what I'm referring to.  :)

moooooo

why do people have a problem with nursing in public?  I can understand that it would be uncomfortable seeing breasts everywhere, for men and women alike, but being discreet and remaining covered while nursing is what most women do, yet it still seems to make people uncomfortable.  is the majority just not mature enough?

I went out this morning with both boys, and it was long enough to where I knew I'd have to feed Eli while we were out at some point.  we went to the movies, which by the way, I love the freebie summer movies.  (if you don't know about them, check out the website at: www.regmovies.com) and afterwards we went to Target, which is where Eli woke up hungry.  so I found my way to the patio section and of course, they were taking it down and rearranging the entire area for what looked like back to school (already?!).  luckily there were still some chairs, so I found the most out of the way spot.  but because they were taking it all down, the patio furniture was on clearance and there was more traffic back there than usual.  oh well, my boy needs to eat!

Sam is doing good, staying where I can see him, playing with whatever is around. 

I'm minding my own business, feeding Eli, using my nursing cover.  well let me tell you, I got some looks. they weren't dirty looks, and no one said anything, but I noticed it and could tell people were uncomfortable just to glance over.  they obviously knew what I was doing.  I was waiting for an employee to come over and ask me to leave or something; I was ready to say "you can't make me, it's perfectly legal ... so there!"

then on my way home I thought of why they may have been looking the way they did.  this is the pattern of my nursing cover - I laughed when I saw it in the store.  cute, right?!  I do feel like a dairy cow at times, and I'd like to keep a sense of humor about it.  even though it has lots of pink to it, I love it.  maybe people were looking at the print?  who knows!

my week

who says you need a girl to paint pretty toes with?  I was honestly minding my own when Sam comes in, "mama, what beautiful toes you have!  can you make my toes pink too?"  I thought pink may be overboard for him (or maybe his dad would think so!) so I said "how 'bout blue?"  he went for that, and so, here are our pretty toes!  this being his first time with painted toes, whenever anyone comes over, Sam makes sure to mention his toes.  pretty, right?!

so we went geo-caching again this Sunday; it was a bust!  I chose 3 this time because 1 went by too fast; I guess because we had such a good time actually finding it.  all were in the easy category, but we didn't find any!  it was a big bummer, especially because it's still 100 degrees here and for some reason we went out at 1:00pm - not a good idea!

here are some photos anyway of Sam searching for treasure. before we got to the 3rd one, we realize we have to have something for Sam, otherwise he won't want to come on these adventures anymore.  the only things I had in the car was a matchbox car and an orange flashlight, and by looking at his face, he was happy to find 'em!  and oh yeah, check out that mohawk!

and last but not least, a blurb about Eli.  I tried to take his picture as I'm holding him.  he says "no pictures mom!" and puts his hand up ... that will never stop me!  this guy is just a few weeks old; sometimes I feel like he's been around a lot longer, but maybe that's the lack of sleep talking because some days are really looooong!

I getting tired of looking and smelling like spit up.  I'm afraid to wear anything  1/2 way nice because it will just end up getting covered in that stuff.  even though I use burp cloths, it somehow gets on my shirt too.  eeewwww!  

it's amazing to me that even though he's out, he's still completely dependent on me.  like I said in another post, he is my world and I am his ... literally.  I have heard these first few months ought to be called the 4th trimester 

because of this dependence, and not to mention all those hormones trying to get back to normal.  I guess it would be called the 4th quad-mester, right?

I just am in love with the bond that is developing; there is nothing else in the world like it.  of course this job is ultra-frustrating at times, but just one moment can make up for the rest of the day.  like when he's sleeping, he'll get a huge cheesy smile on his face - just precious!  and now his awake time is getting a bit longer, so when he is calm and trying to look at everything around him, learning & growing just as fast as he can, it's fascinating to watch and wonder what he's thinking about.  it truly is miraculous how God brings life into this world; such perfection.

the life of a crayon

for all those broken bits at the bottom of your crayon box or container, they can have a second chance to live!

put the pieces in a muffin tin, probably 5 or so per cup.  I have a mini-muffin tin that works perfect for this.  preheat to 250 degrees, and they "bake" for maybe 10 minutes.  I put mine in the freezer to harden up again, probably another 10 minutes.  at last you will have new crayons; each one has 5 different colors to it.

I'm not a crafty person so much, I'm trying to be though.  this is where I'm starting from, with crayons!

it was actually my new year's resolution to become crafty and create things with Sam.  better late than never, right?!

Happy Father's Day

today on Father's Day we had a couple of firsts -

we went geo-caching. basically you go out looking for buried treasures, as Sam says. the website (geocaching.com) will give you coordinates for your GPS, and then you're off.  some of them have just a logbook to sign; some have stuff in them, you take one, but you also have to leave something; some are way of the beaten path and it's a hike to find; and still others are riddles/puzzles that take some effort to locate.

I forgot my camera on our adventure, bummer!! but we had lots of fun and want to begin a weekly adventure.  our family day is usually on Sundays after church, so I'll post some pictures of our discovery next week.  you ought to try it, it's fun, and they're located everywhere!!

the other first today was bath time for Eli ... and yes, we decided to call him Eli rather than Elliott. I know some people say to bathe babies everyday, others say every once/twice per week, but I say do it when they need it. babies just don't get dirty ... especially compared to 3 year olds! oh my goodness, what a difference!

Eli was completely relaxed in the warm water; he loved it!  so relaxed that he pooped on Papa, so that cut bathtime short for everyone. :) afterwards, I fed him and now he's out cold.  hhmmm, maybe we'll do it more often for the sleepiness factor.

I love my boys!  Happy Father's Day Papa!  

funny but true

have you heard this one before?

A 3 year old boy examined his testicles while taking a bath.

"Mom," he asked, "Are these my brains?"

"Not yet," she replied.

God save our boys!

it'll grow back

Papa and Sam cut each other's hair tonight.

it was interesting ....

good thing Papa wanted to shave it all off!

when done-up, he'll have a rockin' mohawk!

more pictures to come ... after I go buy some hair gel.

what comes to mind

today Elliott is 2 weeks. aren't those toes cute?!
I think I've left the house twice since we've been home. once for his doctor's appointment, and once for mine.
that first growth spurt is kicking in. we're up every 2-3 hours eating and eating and eating and eating some more. needless to say, I'm tired.

I'm still recovering from the surgery, but at this point can do everything but pick Sam up. his 32 lbs is just too much for me.
I'm losing weight already, which is cool. I don't know how much ... if I begin using a scale, I'll get obsessed and paranoid. it's one of those things I'm better off not knowing. I'm still in maternity clothes, so I haven't lost that much yet.

my awesome mom's club is bringing me dinner 3x a week. I'll be sad when it's over. it's so nice to have other people cook for you! maybe when I have too much money I'll hire a chef for a few nights per week, one that will do the grocery shopping too.

Sam loooooves his brother. he talks to him in a very high-pitched voice (like most people automatically do ... which I think is funny!) and gives him lots and lots of lovin'.
we've had a bit of bad behavior this week; could that be the regression? I guess I shouldn't wait for it to come, it may never. Sam needs something just for him, I'm sure that would help. it's good summer is here, there are lots of activities going on. I'll be signing him up for swimming and he says he wants to play soccer. I'll officially be a soccer mom! how funny.

I know 2 other gals that just had a baby a few days after Elliott arrived, and I now know 3 people who are newly preggo. babies are everywhere! it's kind of like once you buy a new car, you see the exact one you got everywhere. strange, right? can another baby boom be possible? hhhmmmmm

life with love

As we grow up, we learn that even the one person that wasn't supposed to ever let you down probably will. You will have your heart broken probably more than once and it's harder every time. You'll break hearts too, so remember how it felt when yours was broken.

You'll fight with your best friend. You'll blame a new love for things an old one did. You'll cry because time is passing too fast, and you'll eventually lose someone you love.

So take too many pictures, laugh too much, and love like you've never been hurt because every sixty seconds you spend upset is a minute of happiness you'll never get back.

Don't be afraid that your life will end, be afraid that it will never begin.

May 28, 2008

Here are a few photos of our newest addition.

More to come, I'm sure!

Nice outfits, huh? this is us all prepped for surgery.

I was pretty excited, but scared too. I'm not sure if this was a real smile or not.

Here he is, Elliott James.

Just minutes old.

He was crying right away and I just couldn't help but cry and cry, I was so happy.

What a great feeling that was.

Hubby bought a tiger at the gift shop because his cries sounded identical to a baby tiger trying to growl or maybe a baby lion trying to roar - I don't know, some kind of wild animal!

It was a great sound.

Sam was happy to see his new brother.

He gives him lots of kisses, sometimes a few too many.