Nude Chef

Today I cooked part of our dinner with my pants down around my ankles. Continue reading, please, I will explain. I remember people telling me not to wish too much for Luke to hit the crawling stage. Once he could crawl, that meant he could come to me when he wanted something instead of whining from the other room. That meant he could come to me, grab me by the pants leg and pull himself up while I would be trying to cook, clean, etc. Kris always got a kick out of watching Luke pulling on my pajama pants while I would be trying to tighten the drawstring to keep my pants up around my waste. That was when I only had one child and I wasn't trying to do forty things at once. I had time to stop and pick him up and take care of whatever it was that he wanted. Not anymore. Today, when Eli came in the kitchen to find me and pulled on my pants, they dropped to my ankles. And you know what, I kept on cooking. And then I got tickled and couldn't finish because I was laughing too hard at the fact that Luke and Eli were in the kitchen with me cooking in my underwear. I LOVE being a stay at home mom where dignity is a distant memory.

The Magic Nursery

The Magic Nursery is where Luke will sit quietly at a table and listen to the Sunday School lesson being taught. The Magic Nursery is where Luke took his first steps. Without me. The Magic Nursery is where Luke goes pee-pee in the potty. What?! Yes, we picked him up yesterday, and the lady in the nursery said he went pee-pee in the potty. Since when does my child do that? We have been casually working on the potty thing before we put him in the shower, and he goes through the motions: put his seat on, sit down, "Hold it down" (He likes this part best, for some reason.), make the pee-pee noise (We did it once, and it stuck.), "All done", flush, wash hands. But never is there any actual pee-pee. I asked the nursery worker about four times if she was SURE it was our blonde little boy that went in the potty and not the other one. There are only three children in the nursery, so I hope she didn't think I was calling her stupid. I was just kind of in shock, you know?

I'm writing down any and all other behaviors that need to be modified and tacking a list to his diaper bag for next Sunday.

Dog Poop and Sweet Love - Not simultaneously

For the longest time, Luke fought me at every meal when it came time to wipe his face and hands. Then one day, like a light switch, (or like a child - whichever) he all of a sudden couldn't stand for his hands to be dirty. He now looks at me as soon as he gets even a smidgen messy, holds out his hands and says, "Hands!" very insistently until I clean his hands. Enter: the dog poop.

We were standing outside and he was dragging the rake around the yard. He came up to me saying, "Hands!" His hands were covered in a rather suspicious looking, thick mud. Oh yes, it was poop. He had dragged the rake right through the middle of the huge pile that our neighbor's dog had so lovingly left in our yard. It was on his hands, his feet, his pants, his shirt. Needless to say, he got to strip naked and play in the hose in the middle of January. He loved it. I still have the smell in my nose.

Below is a picture of sweet love. It has nothing to do with the dog poop, but I wanted to post it just because it was a rare, precious moment.

Pacifiers, Apparently God's Gift To Luke

So, we decided that we would take Luke's pacifier away. He's only had it during naps and at night for the past five months or so, so it really wasn't that big of a deal. EXCEPT...he started waking up about an hour earlier than normal in the morning and from his naps. Now THAT is a big deal. After not having it for three days, he wasn't even asking for it when we put him in the bed. He would say, "Pappy, gone-gone." We would say, "Yep, it's all gone" and that would be the end of it. As much as it pained me to give it back to him last night, I was too desperate for him to sleep longer not to at least try. Drum roll please...he slept until almost eight this morning. I have it on good authority that children usually give up their pacifiers before they go to college. Well, he'll have to do it all on his own because I'm not taking that little boy's pappy away again.

Little Monkey

Luke has been a little monkey for a while now. Climbing all over everything from the table to the couch to his dresser, etc. That I expect. But what I do not expect is to peak around the corner and see Eli, not quite nine months, hanging by his finger tips from the edge of the toy box. Of course, he was only hanging two inches from the ground, but he was totally freaked out that he had managed to get himself in that position. Last night, I let him go and he stood there by himself for seven or eight seconds and then slowly lowered himself down to sit the ground. When I told my friend with nine children that right at seven months Eli started pulling himself up, she looked at me with a shocked expression and said, "He's going to give you a run for your money!" Not comforting from a mother of nine. Nothing should surprise her, right??

Coffee, God's Gift to Mothers

I was sitting in my living room this morning before the boys got up, drinking my coffee (geeze, that makes me sound old), "resting" a minute before the day started, and trying desperately to ignore the sounds coming from Eli and Luke's rooms. I could hear Eli talking, just playing, so it really wasn't a big deal. But I do like to pretend he's still sleeping when it's only 6:45 in the morning. From Luke's room, on the other hand, were the sounds of a wild animal, just waiting to be let out of its cage. Luke is generally a calm sort of kid. He usually wakes up, talks a little bit, calls out to us once or twice and then lays there until we come get him. This morning, it sounded like he was bouncing from one side of his bed to the other. Again, it was only 6:45 in the morning. So went the rest of our morning. Thankfully, he wore himself out. He's still napping and it's 4:30. The morning really wasn't all bad. I'm just glad I had my coffee.

Chic-Fil-A Happiness

We took the boys to Chic-Fil-A last night just to get out of the house and be together as a family. Really it's somewhere we can go so I don't have to cook dinner that nobody cares if Eli screams or Luke dips EVERYTHING, including his fruit, in ketchup. And, they have a nice, indoor playground. After dinner, Luke played on the "paygoun" and Kris walked next door with Eli to the store to look at cell phones. I just sat on the bench and watched Luke running around with the other kids. He was in heaven. He was way up high in the tallest tower watching kids chasing each other. I would occasionally hear him squeal with delight about all the craziness. He has no idea about tag, but he was loving all the action.

And I almost started crying. You know that feeling of being so completely content and pleased, happy and grateful about something that the only response you can come up with is for your eyes to well up with tears? That's how I felt watching Luke. He was so happy! He was enjoying every moment. Pleasure. That's what it was for him, pure pleasure to be standing there with the other kids having fun. And being his mama, that's all I wanted for him. I just wanted him to stand there all night (well, okay, not all night, obviously) and have a blast! Nothing pleases me more than to see my boys happy. Not even a clean house, but I do have to admit it is a close second.

I have to believe that the only reason I feel that way about my children is because God feels that way about me. If there is nothing good in me but that which comes from Him, and I am made in His image, then the part of me that loves my children and loves for them to be happy - that's God, right? Then that means when I am utterly and completely happy, content at my very core, God receives immeasurable pleasure from that. He even arranges that. What a beautiful concept. What a beautiful God.

Child Malignment and Best Friends

Mama always accuses me of maligning my children when I tell her how fussy they have been and then they act like Mr. Happy when she sees them. (That goes for whichever of the boys I am talking about at the time.) Well, Mama, I'm guilty again. I wrote about Eli, talking all kinds of lies about him. He is the happiest baby on the planet these days. And can I just tell you how cute he is! He is smiling and laughing. He's giving us kisses (well, just the open mouth slobbers on the face, but those count in my book) and wallowing all over us without a single whine. Of course you have to keep him fed and well rested or you'll hear about it, but other than that, he's loving life. There is no rhyme or reason with these babies sometimes.

One of Luke and Eli's favorite things is to get in the bed together. Luke jumps all around and Eli just laughs and squeals hysterically. If I'm holding Eli when I put Luke down for his nap, Luke will look at me and say, "Eli, bed?" I'll lay Eli next to Luke in the bed, and I can just tell that Luke is trying with everything in him to stay still because he knows it's all over if he gets up. He practically trembles with excitement, though, and usually can't stand it. The funny thing is how excited Eli gets when I put him in the bed with Luke. He gets a big smile on his face and yells! Luke has always gotten more smiles out of Eli than anyone else, and that's certainly not changing, it seems. There are moments when I think we were crazy having two so close together, but I already see when the two of them are wriggling around together like little puppies that they are best friends.

Are you smarter than a two year old?

Luke got this fishing puzzle for Christmas. The puzzle pieces are fish with tacks on them, and with it came a fishing pole with a magnet instead of a hook - you get the idea. Every fish is slightly different in size and shape, and they're all different colors. My two year old can put this thing back together faster than me or Kris. He has memorized where the colors go, and he literally can put it back together in twenty seconds while telling you what color all the fish are. Amazing. And to answer the question of the title of this post...no, sometimes I think I'm not.

Eli's Smile

Kris read my post yesterday and thought I was a little harsh. I tried to explain that I was just being honest about how I felt. I recognize that how I feel isn't always what's really true. Sometimes it just helps to write things down. That said, let me write this down. Eli's smile lights up the room. When he laughs, everyone in the room laughs, too. He has more personality in his big toe than I have in my whole body. He is smart, too. He figures things out that amaze me. And he looks at me dead in the eye as if he can see into my soul and then puts his hands on my face as if to say, "Mama, you belong to me." He's eight months old, but I have to constantly remind myself that he's not way older than that. He's a born journeyer. That must be why he's constantly trying to jump out of my arms or let go of my fingers to walk on his own. He's not going to need me for long, and sometimes I think it irks him that he needs me now. But as I write this, I know in my heart that he will be a journeyman for Christ, knowing his need for Him and being A-okay with that.

Eli, your name means "The Lord is Jehovah". You were named with the purpose of declaring that God is the One and Only God. May everything in you that loves to move only take you in the direction of HIS heart. Your desire for freedom and to explore your world are gifts from God. You are a blessing to me, and you were made for HIM!

Oye Vey!!

Some days are better than others, I get that. But we're talking about WEEKS here. Eli has been somewhat miserable for most of his life, it seems. But the past two weeks have been really rough. We get a few moments off from the fussing here and there(about five minutes for every hour that he's awake), but for the majority of the time, he's fussing. He's had a cold and he's teething. I hate to take him to the doctor because every time I do they say, "Nope, ears are clear. He just has a cold. Give it time." Then again, I'm tempted to take him to the doctor and beg them to prescribe something for me! I think the worst part is how on edge the constant whining makes me feel. Luke gets sick of it, too. He gets wild and a little aggressive. He gets loud and rough, Eli cries more, I get really irritated and I end up taking it out on Luke. Granted, Luke has been a little more disobedient, too, but no amount of disobedience deserves my uncontrolled anger being directed at him.

Before children I never had a temper problem....amazing what kids can cause you to see deep inside your heart. Not only the lack of self-control, but the lack of trust. I'm afraid. And I play the what-if game. What if Eli is fussy and whiny until he goes to college. What if he has a difficult personality? What will the two's be like? What if I never truly get to enjoy him. Don't get me wrong, I love that child fiercly. He is my heart. I would not trade him for my life before him for all the world. But I just want more smiles. I want more happiness from him. I want him to enjoy being alive, for crying out loud! I feel like once he can walk he'll be happier. He hates being left behind and is happiest when he's being held by the hands to walk around. I just really, really, REALLY hope he learns to walk soon. And if that doesn't help....Oye Vey!!!

Naptime fun

Naps are not optional around here. Getting there isn't usually too bad, but sometimes we procrastinate a bit. This is what happened for naptime yesterday.

My Reason For Writing

I've been thinking for a while now that I needed to write down the moments in my life that I want to remember and know I've already forgotten. Like how yesterday morning, Luke, for the first time, wanted to drink his sippy cup of milk with his face to my chest instead of trying to check out everything in the room. How he's started running up to me and throwing his arms around me for no reason. How Eli now loves to nurse in our chair and then lay in my arms sucking his thumb while we rock. Those precious memories that I won't remember in a few years, maybe even months. I want to capture those times here for my children to read one day and know that they are my treasure.