Getting a Family Photo Can Be a Bit of Work

Rounding the kids up...

Wrangling them into place...

Getting everyone to look...

And to stop sucking their thumbs... As good as it gets.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

I'm the Weiner!

Christy thinks my blog is great, so she gave me an award! Thanks for the compliment, Christy.

I think Kristin's blog is great, too. She is always inspiring me to try crafty and different things with my boys. Her honest view on all things "motherhood" are fun, encouraging and very beautiful. Thanks for sharing your life, Kristin! Your turn!

Here are your instructions:

A. Put this logo on your blog.

B. Add a link to the person who awarded this to you.

C. Nominate a blog; add a link to this blog; and leave a message for your nominee on their blog.

There, that wasn't so hard.

A Day at the Beach

We played hooky from church yesterday and spent the whole day at the beach. It was a really fun day. The boys were so sweet (Luke even without a nap) and we enjoyed the beautiful weather. We're back to jeans and sweaters again today, but yesterday's weather was perfect. The whole day was just perfect.

Fishing was fun, in spite of the fact that Luke kept swinging the pole around and I was terrified he was going to hook someone. I was, admittedly, a bit of a nag at that point.

My Little Girls Will Be So Pretty

A Little Roadside Assistance, Please

We were heading back home from meeting Kris at a park for lunch today when Luke said, "Mama, look what I did." I don't know about you, but that little phrase almost always strikes terror into my heart.

I turned around (We were at a stop light, thank God!) to see that he had a blue bead shoved neatly into each nostril. His nose was completely blocked, and he was trying to decide whether or not to stick his finger in there to dig them out. After hollering, "Don't touch!!", I wheeled the car to the side of the road, flung the car door open to assess the damage and come up with a rescue plan. I tried to just squeeze them out, but that wasn't quite enough. Thankfully, I had not cut my fingernails as planned and was able to use them to dig the beads out while squeezing the bridge of his nose to keep them from going further in. He alternated between giggling nervously and tearily saying, "No, no, Mama. Don't do that!" But I think he understood that letting me do surgery was better than the alternative.

All in all it was a good experience. The ER trip was averted and we gave a lovely roadside show. And Mama learned her lesson about beads.

The Things We Do

Luke got a new bed two weeks ago. It was a nice bunk bed set from Rooms to Go that someone was getting rid of for a great price. Here's a picture:

About that same time is when Luke kicked the passy habit. It was also when Luke had a nasty cold. Sooo, the fact that naps have not been going well is not a big surprise. The question is, "Is it the new bed? No passy? Not being able to breath because of the cold?"

After a week of nap time battles, I have decided it's the bed. Too much freedom.

He's not roaming the house. He's simply getting out of the bed to look out the window, stretching as far as he can across the room with his toes still touching the bed (so he's not technically out of the bed), laying over the edge of the end of the bed, etc, etc, etc. The other day, he laid in bed from 1:30 until I finally got him up at 4:00. I have threatened, punished, laid with him, let him stay up later, begged, and nothing has worked.

Today, I prayed, "GOD!!! HELP!!! This child needs a nap!" And I thought, what if I put him on the top bunk and take the ladder away? The bottom bunk if a full bed, but the top is a twin with rails all the way around. Kind of like a crib.

Ya'll. He fell asleep in five minutes.

Maybe I'm a terrible mother for letting my just barely three year old sleep on the top bunk (Kris will probably crap a brick when he finds out), but I am a terrible mother who is so grateful for God's inspiration.

Eli's Future Job

I told Eli to sit on the couch so I could take some pictures of him, so he posed for me. Apparently, he thought I was taking pictures for the Sports Illustrated, Swimsuit Edition.

The fact that I have WAY more pictures of Eli than Luke says nothing about favoritism and everything about the fact that Eli is a ham. Case in Point:

Psalm 73

Yet I am always with you;
you hold me by my right hand.
You guide me with your counsel,
and afterward you will take me into glory.
Whom have I in heaven but you?
And earth has nothing I desire besides you.
My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart
and my portion forever.
But as for me, it is good to be near God.
I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge;
I will tell of all your deeds.

Eli's Newest Trick

Belly (I know, it's his chest, but it's in the vicinity:)

Hair

Feet

Hands

Teeth

Tongue

Nose

Eyes

Ears

Because I'm a Genius, That's Why.

You know that part in the movie The Wedding Planner where Matthew Mcconaughey and Jennifer Lopez knock a nude statue over and the statue's *ahem* falls off and they have to super glue it back on? Remember how Mcconaughey's hand gets super glued to the unmentionable and JLo has to use fingernail polish remover to remove it? Well, I always thought that was just theatrics, that your hand could never really get superglued to something so completely that you couldn't just pull away.

Definitely not theatrics.

And you want to hear the best part? It wasn't just one hand. I glued BOTH of my thumbs to a picture frame that I was fixing. I thought I was going to have to dial the phone with my tongue to get help. However, I am way better without thumbs than I would have ever thought. I managed to get my manicure box from the top shelf of my closet, fish out the fingernail polish remover, open it (I did have to use my teeth for that), pour a little into the cap and (here comes the tricky part) use Q-tips to detatch myself from the picture frame. That too required my teeth. Thankfully, one of my thumbs was not completely glued down so it didn't take very long to get it unstuck. The other one took some work.

I believe I still have all my DNA intact. And my pride only suffered slightly since I didn't actually have to walk over to my neighbor's house with a picture frame attached to my thumbs.

For the LOVE!!!!!

Make that seven colds in the last three weeks. Eli and I both have colds number 2. The bright side is that I am so used to being congested, having never fully recovered from the original cold, that it's really not bugging me all that much. Eli and Luke's booger noses are just par for the course as well. Sigh.

A side note: the final passy died, so Luke is passy free forever!

"I Will Survive"

I've been thinking that I need to update, but honestly, I don't have much exciting to say. In the past three weeks, between the four of us, we've had:

1 stomach bug (Kris)
5 colds (Luke is on #2)
4 ear infections (Yes, all four of us)
1 sinus infection (me)
and 1 trip to the emergency room.

We ended up in the ER when we were in Camilla because Kris and I had both developed ear infections and me a sinus infection and Eli's ear had not cleared up with the first round of antibiotics. It wasn't a "real" emergency (except that Eli's whining was making me feel homicidal), but there weren't any quick care clinics in town. I felt silly going in, but when the doctor look at our ears and said, "Ooh!", I felt a little better.

So, aside from the leftover coughing and nose blowing, we're much better. Eli even played beside me today instead of climbing on my back like a monkey all day. Seriously, Tuesday was so bad I went to the bathroom with him in my lap. At the end of the day I had claw marks on my neck from his death grip. Silly me for thinking he was going to let me put him down.

Thanksgiving was a blur, and we are definitely ready to head back to Camilla at Christmas and have fun. We're just so glad to be almost totally better!

Pacifiers, Part 2

Almost a year ago, I wrote about trying to take Luke's pacifier away. Well, true to my word, we haven't tried again since then. We haven't bought anymore, but miraculously, they have continually appeared in our house. I would think we were down to the last one, and Luke would show up sucking the most ridiculous looking, tiny baby pacifier. How he could even hold on to them with his mouth I'll never know. Anyway, we've finally exhausted our supply of pacifiers and he's down to the last one.

While he's been sick I have been letting him take it with us in the car on the way to the store, the doctor, etc. and just making him take it out when we go inside. I'm sorry he's felt so bad, but I mean, I don't want people to know my three year old still has a passy. Seriously, the other day he said, "Mama, can I just take one more suck before I put it in my bed?" That's out of control. And it doesn't help that he looks like he's at least four, so it seems even more crazy than it really is. So, when we couldn't find his pacifier after a trip to the store, I thought for sure it had fallen out of the car and we were done forever. Alas, two days later, after successfully sleeping and napping without the pacifier, he sniffed it out. We had just left it in the chair in the garage.

Oh well, at least we know it can be done. I guess we'll just wait for this last one to bite the dust and then maybe we'll be done with this oral fixation forever.

Sickness Update

We are still alive. Kris was ready to go to work by Tuesday morning. Luke woke up Wednesday morning in the wee hours wailing about his ear hurting. When Kris went in to check on him he asked Kris for a piece of ice for his ear. So sad. We took him to the doctor and he has an "bad" ear infection in one ear (according to the doctor). He seems to be much better now, in health and attitude. The meltdowns are slowing down a bit.

Eli, poor Eli, with the low pain tolerance, also has an ear infection. We took him to the doctor this morning, and she said that the five patients before us had ear infections as well. Apparently, it's an epidemic. After a dose of antibiotic and some ibuprofen, he is still asleep after three and a half hours. Praise God. Did I mention he has a low pain tolerance? Poor Mama.

Sick House

Kris started throwing up at 3:30 this morning, went to work at 7:30, came home at 9:00 (I told him they would rather have him stay away, but because it's a new job and he doesn't have any time off yet he went in.), and has laid around all day. I've been sneaking around behind him wiping off every surface he touches. It's not you I'm rejecting, Darling, it's just your germs.

I've had a little sore throat and my stomach has felt queasy all day. I think it's just because I listened to Kris throwing up in the wee hours of the morning.

Luke has had a temperature and a miserable cold today. He has asked me more than once to "Get me warm, Mama" and to wrap a blanket around him. Pitiful.

Eli has been in a great mood all day and has been walking around saying, "Haaaah, haaah!"

Needless to say, you don't want to be at our house.

To Add To the Humiliation

I am quickly approaching thirty but still have the occasional breakouts associated with "that time". My sweet child, being observant, as most three year olds are, but unfortunately, lacking the tact that most of us have acquired with age (READ, "This zit is big enough for anyone with eyes to notice across the room, but most people feel sorry enough for me not to mention it."), asks me:

"Mama, you got a booger on your nose?"

To which I replied, "No, I just have a boo-boo."

And, the natural response, "Oh, can I touch it?"

Sure, go ahead and touch Mama's booger. She needs a good laugh about right now.

These Boots Are Made For Walking

Luke is very sad that he can't fit these boots anymore, but Eli is quite pleased with the situation.

Luke's Birthday Party

We had a party for Luke Saturday night with Kris' family. Luke asked every day from Monday to Saturday if it was the day for his party and would he be getting his trucks that day. Needless to say, he was way excited.

The expression he wore for the whole evening.

Posing by the presents.

Seriously, Daddy, you have got to move faster than that. Eli standing by in case Luke accidentally puts something within his reach.

Showing off his crane. Eli still hoping...

My attempt at cake decorating.

Ready to dig in. I told you he had that expression on his face the whole night. I wasn't kidding. A very happy boy, indeed.

What I Don't Love...

...is that when left alone together for five minutes, this is what happens.



The toy box is empty.

I Love...

...the way Eli comes running anytime you dare to lay on the ground so he can straddle you and inch his diaper butt up your belly until he's eventually sitting on your face. And then laughs.

...the way when you ask for a kiss, Luke puckers up his lips really big and says, "Mmmmmmmm..." until you lean in to receive his sloppy, wet kiss.

...the way Luke and Eli use Daddy's tools so they can "work" on the tractor together.

...that Luke and Eli take comfort in each other in unfamiliar places, make each other crazy one second and laugh the next, fight to get in my lap first but are really happiest when they're snuggled up together, splash way more in the tub together than they do alone, stick their fingers under the door to each other and try to "catch" the other's fingers and squeal when they're caught.

...that Luke and Eli are teaching each other what it means to love, be loved and to be a friend.

...that my boys take good naps and that most days I can't wait for them to wake up.

My Luke

I got Luke up this morning and asked him whose birthday it was. He said, "It's mine." When I asked him how old he was he said, "I three." Just like that. Three.

I have been the mother of this sweet, tender-hearted, gentle, wild, fun-loving, go-with-the-flow, cuddling, interesting, light-up-my-day little boy for three whole years. Oh, Luke, do you even know what you've done to me? You have changed me from a self-centered little girl into a mama who loves that her whole day gets to be about you and your brother. I love that name, "mama", and you started it. Thank you, sweet child of mine, for giving me your heart and for helping me find mine. I love you!







With the fork lift that Grandma Clair and Grandaddy sent in the mail.