Conversations With A Three Year Old

Elijah's vocabulary and semantic have really improved by leaps and bounds lately. I find myself surprised and amused at the things he says. Here are a couple of conversations from this week:

Elijah (pointing to his toy): Mama, are these batteries dead?

Me: Yep, they're dead.

Elijah: Well, shouldn't we bury it?

Me: Elijah, get in this house! You can't be outside when you're naked!

Elijah: I'm not naked, I'm Elijah.

Is it possible I am raising a little smart aleck here? He may get it honest!

Oh, and in case you're wondering about the picture above, that's Elijah using Emma's headband as a bandana. He was an outlaw cowboy at the moment. ;0)

Yesterday (Wed), we closed on our house for the final time. We actually refinanced it, but it's complicated, so I won't go into how it all works. Anyway, we've been through that before, and we always get schmoogled somehow in the process. Shmoogled meaning they tell us an amount for the monthly payment and/or the closing costs and it's always a significant amount more than what we are told, which is not revealed (conveniently) until we are at the lawyer's office, signing the papers. What do you do but sign? Let your house go? Move out after you've been living there for 5 months? Well, this time, my hubby stood up to them and the lawyer got on the phone and did some negotiating until the amount was back down to what we had been told. Go Baby! :) So we are now proud owners of our home, with a nice fat little note to prove it!

Yesterday, I made a point to spend some good, quality, one-on-one time with each of the kids. Emma is not a problem, since she is stuck to me half the day :). She is such a precious sweetie, really smiling big smiles at Mama now. Everytime I pick her up from her bed she seems heavier and longer. It's amazing!

Elijah is so funny in his expressions. He talks with his hands. It is so cute. After he woke up from his nap yesterday I laid down with him and we had some good chat time. I could tell he drank it in, every minute of it. And so did I!

Grace needs soooo much attention, there's no doubt about that. She gives me many opportunities to show it to her. We had some rock & cuddle time in the recliner yesterday afternoon. She is a mischevious little hoot! She usually wakes up first in the morning and is SO loud and does not know how to tone it down. One morning I got close to her face and told her, "You.....have.......got........to.......be........quiet!!" She grinned, scrunched up her nose and said, "Gimme a kiss." You would have to be there, to appreciate the full impact of that statement!

To end this blog, I will say, please, fellow bloggers, send up a prayer for me. I cannot seem to get back into the rhythm of the schedule I was going by last week. I need to do better next week! It was so nice to be organized and planned out and stuff get done. I wanna do it again!

Thanks in advance :)

To Save a Squirrel

Interesting title, eh? Yesterday, Elijah and I were sitting out on the porch swing while the girls were napping. All of a sudden I heard the most dreadful sound--the sound of some creature in pain and panic. I looked up to see our cat, Snowbell, walking across the yard with a squirrel in its mouth! The poor little thing was crying with all its might! I felt so sorry for it, I immediately jumped up and ran to Snowbell and hit him, hoping the squirrel would get away. Well, the squirrel would get loose, run a little ways, and then Snowbell would chase him down and capture him again. Thence I would hit him again (I had a stick after about the 3rd time). Snowbell decided I was not going to let him have his lunch, so he grabbed the squirrel and tried to run under the house with it. I caught him by the tail, just in time, and held it! The little squirrel ran under the house, Snowbell hot under his heels. I don't know if it got away or not, but I sure did try to save him!

Elijah thought the entire ordeal was hilarious and had a wonderful time watching us! If only you could've seen me! :)

Our Weekend

Wow, was it busy! I forgot to mention in my Friday blog, a little incident that happened to Grace Friday afternoon. I put her down for a nap, and of course, she got up and was playing in her room. I heard some thumping and singing going on, and went to administer some understanding to her, but alas, the door was locked!! Every other door in the house has a flat little slit where you can just stick in a butter knife and unlock it, EXCEPT Grace's room! This was a lock-and-key thing that only a locksmith could unlock! I started telling her to unlock the door, which she doesn't know how to do! So I told her to go lay down in her bed and go to sleep, hoping she wouldn't realize she was locked in and freak out. It didn't work. She started crying hysterically. Elijah was telling her, "Just TURN it, Gracie!" lol That was cute. I called Daddy, he said just try to keep her calm til I get home (another 45 minutes). Then Elijah started sliding her pictures and pieces of paper under the door and that disctracted her so she calmed down. I prayed a very serious, heartfelt, "Lord, please help her to unlock this door", bcause I knew even when John got home he did not have a key and I wasnt' sure if we could take the door down because the hinges were on the inside. And a few minutes later, here she comes, "I got out, Mama!" Whew!! Thank you, Jesus! Aren't you glad he hears our little Mom prayers when we need Him?

So now on to the rest of the weekend. We got off at about 11:00 Saturday, with plans to meet with John's sister and her kids (who were up from Mississippi for a visit) for lunch. I really expected Emma to do worse than what she did--she hates her carseat. But she surprised me and did all right, actually. We had a good visit with Wendi, Andrew, Tatiana, and Diego, whom we rarely get to see, and then we headed to Columbia, LA, to spend the night with John's uncle and aunt. My dear, sweet, thoughtful, loving husband informed me on the way that we were going to go pick out a dishwasher!! He sure knows the way to my heart :). I can't wait to get it installed!

The kids had a ball at Uncle Mike's, playing with their toy poodle Bear (isn't that a name for a tiny poodle?), riding the four-wheeler, and watching cartoons. And Emma, well, she actually fell asleep when we got there and slept for 6 hours straight!!!! I was checking her breathing every 15 minutes! It was nice to relax and be someone company for a while!

Yesterday, we went to church at John's home church and saw a lot of good friends we haven't seen in a while. It was a little like going home for us, since we went to church there for 5.5 years. The church services there have always been so powerful, and I think we forgot about that a little. We just looked at each other in awe during the song service like, "Wow, doesn't this feel good?" It was a great day in the Lord's house.

We're back home now, and glad for it. There is lots to unpack and put away, lots of laundry to do. I am so thankful for the peaceful, happy home I have to come back to when the traveling is over.

Friday Feelin'

Does your home get a certain vibe to it on Fridays? Ours does--it's a feeling of excitement, anticipation, and relief! I am more positive and upbeat, which the kids pick up on, and in turn, they are excited, too! For one, Daddy will be home early today. He gets off at 3:45 every Friday and is home by 4:30. His homecoming is the highlight of all our days, but especially Friday. He usually has something up his sleeve--a plan he lets me in on at the last minute. I have learned to have the diaper bag packed, the kids dressed nice and ready to go somewhere--wherever it may be. Sometimes it's just to browse around Home Depot and dream of the things we'd like to see done to our house. One Friday we took the kids to Chick-fil-A so they could play (we are now anti-McDonald's). It's always fun, but sometimes rather nerve-wracking when I am not prepared. It's quite a job to get three little ones ready to go somewhere in a rush!

Today, we are just hangin'--John and the kids are in the backyard. Daddy is trying to fix the John Deer gator he managed to get us for free! It doesn't run right now, but he thinks he can fix it. Very exciting. We also got a new computer today! It is very nice! Also very exciting. Tomorrow we are packing up and heading to Monroe, LA where we will be attending the Homecoming service at the church we went to for five years before John's job took us elsewhere. Another exciting thing to look forward to. How about your Friday? Does your home have that Friday Feelin'?

:)

Improvement

OK, things have gotten a lot better since the last time I blogged. I read it and am a little embarrassed! I started implementing a cleaning schedule this week, and it has went really good. My goal is two rooms for each day, just surface cleaning and tidying the first week, and the second week, deep cleaning. We are still in the first week, so there may be some adjusting to this routine after it's been tried out. It has been very relaxing and pleasing to have my house stay tidy this week. I am proud of it. And I have also had enough time with my kiddos, too!

My schedule basically revolves around Emma's feeding/fussy times. My goal this morning was to have Elijah and Grace sitting at the table doing "school" work by 11:00. Miss Emma had other ideas and we still haven't got to it! We also had a friend and her two children over for a visit today. It was nice to catch up and just hang out with another Mom for a while. But anyway, back to the school part. Elijah loves working in his workbook (just a WM pre-k thing). I can see vast improvements in his skills already. He is learning to color in the lines really well. Previously, he had not shown much interest in coloring, but is now going at it full blast and is becoming quite the little artist. He likes to draw and I am often surprised at how he gets the concept of what he is drawing down on the paper.

My camera is being cantankerous right now! I have changed and charged the batteries and it still tells me the batteries are dead! There are always good things to take pics of when the camera is down. With the cooler weather, the kids have played outside almost all day every day. I went to the back yard with them yesterday and stepped into their world of play. Elijah has collected scraps of wood from his Dad's discard pile, and has built "barns" with them. What a great picture to post (I wish). He has also set up drum sets with different sized buckets and boxes. He uses sticks for the drumsticks. He sleeps with them, and I have often heard him making drum sounds in his sleep! Grace uses her play cookware on her picnic table and her food is little nut thingies that fall off the trees and she gets water from the rain buckets to cook with. I love to see them outside developing their imaginations! I wonder, could they have this kind of imaginative play at a daycare or preschool? A good question to ponder.

Emma is getting better at her downtime. She will sit in her bouncy seat for 20-30 minutes at a time now and let Mommy have a break from holding her. Not that I don't like to hold her, but you know what I mean. She is sleeping better at night, as well. She is 4 weeks old this week, and holding her head up pretty well. She definitely has her own look!

I'm hoping the nice, fall-like weather continues. I think the Lord wants to bless us a little with some nice weather after the perils of the storms that have been passing through. It's like He is sending a healing balm in the breezes that flow through our hair. The storms of life are scary and destructive, but for a child of God, there is always hope. Quite often, the repairs we make after the storm make the land/houses look better than they ever did before the storm. If we can trust the Lord through it, we will be better and stronger after it.

Have a good weekend!

Messes Can Be Deceiving

Ok, I started this blog Friday night and I'm just now getting to finish it (Sunday). We were out of power for a while from Ike, but thank goodness, it's back on already. The news was saying it may be out for 2 weeks--I was about to start packing and head for Alabama (seriously).

I look around at the disaster of my house surrounding me and think, "What have I done this week?" Then I remind myself, you have a four week old baby who is not an easy one to say the least, and you also have one preschooler and one toddler--just breathe and let it go. I think it would be funny to post a pic of how bad it is. People are always posting pictures of their clean houses and stuff they are proud of. I am changing my thinking. "Look at this mess. This means I focused most of my energy on my children, nurturing, instructing, rocking, feeding, bathing, schooling, and playing with them. Emma will get older. Things will get easier. I am proud of the things I did in place of stressing over this mess!"

On the other hand, I did tackle some pretty significant project this week:

1. Hung pictures on the wall in living room and dining room.
   
2. Helped hubby hang new ceiling fan/light fixture in living room.
3. Put together new floor lamp for living room (on sale at WM for $11.00--tag read $54.99).
   
4. Started cleaning out den formerly used as storage/junk room.
   
5. Friday I watched Micah, my friend Janna's little boy, while she was having her tubes tied and also made her a batch of potato soup.
   

We also had a series of mishaps and misadventures:

1. Grace fell of the back porch and could have very easily broken her leg from the position I found her in (whole body dangling from one leg that was stuck between step and rail).
2. Elijah poured out a bucket of paint in the living room floor. Thank God we have laminate floors instead of carpet. I scrubbed on hands and knees and got it up, as well as the trail of paint from the living room to the dining room.
   
3. Elijah picked up Emma from her bouncy seat and carried her from the living room to the kitchen!! What am I going to do with him? This is the 2nd incident of this nature.
   

I think you will agree with my new line of thought--messes can be so deceiving! The fact that my house is a mess does not mean I've been idle or negligent--maybe just not the best manager of time. I am proud that I am learning to look at it differently. It is making my life easier.

Making It

This week has been challenging, to say the least. Emma has decided her home is on the boob and nowhere else! If she is not eating or being held or asleep, she is screaming. We went on an errand for John today, which took about 3 hours, and she cried the entire time (in the carseat), except for maybe 15 minutes. I remember Elijah going through something like this for a period, but he grew out of it. That gives me some hope.

Our camera is acting up, or rather the batteries are. And so I was really disappointed that I could not get a picture of Elijah today when he brought me a nice little present....a big, fat, long, squiggly worm!! He thought it was hilarious when I squealed and demanded he take it back outside. I caught him hiding in Grace's room playing with it later. I think he was carrying it around in his pocket!! Ugh! Boys.

Grace asked to go tee-tee twice during church last night and made her deposit both times. I am very excited. She has done great today as well. It's the cutest thing--when I take her and she can't go, she will shake her head woefully and say, "It not workin'." :)

John is now back in college full swing. He has classes on Monday and Thursday night this semester, and we are all adjusting to his absence. The kids miss him so much and start asking "When is Daddy coming home?" almost as soon as he leaves each morning. He is such a good Daddy. He helps with nursing home service and the adult SS class at church, so he also has to study for those occasions. It is hard to leave him alone to let him study when he is here. I am proud of him and his commitment to better our family. I know it will all be worth it one day.

New Experiences

Last Friday night, we went to Pancho's for supper. This is not my favorite place to eat, but John loves the turkey rolls, or fluatas, and I do like to please my man (wink) so that's where we wound up. Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but we have three kids now, and in my opinion, that's not considered a "large" family. Although today's average family generally consists of only 1 or 2. When I think of a large family, I think of 5 plus. So I was a little surprised when we became the object of many a fellow diner's attention during our meal. First I noticed the looks, then I noticed that people would look and then call their dining partner's attention to look at us as well. There was lots of glancing and nudging going on. Then came the questions: how old are they, how far apart are they, how old is the little one? Now don't get me wrong, I was not bothered or angered by this, just a little....suprised, for lack of a better word. Maybe it was because they are all three under the age of 4? Yea, that was probably it.
If we do fulfill my husband's desire to have 5 (which is a subject of much debate), I can't imagine what it will be like going out in public as a family. I would expect this kind of attention for a family of say, 10, but my goodness! We are not there yet! :)

Lately...

I've been walking around in a seep-deprived fog! Emma is a good sleeper when she sleeps. But it takes a while to get her there...sometimes an hour. She wakes up, I change her and then nurse her for 1/2 hour--15 to 20 minutes on each side. I burp her every 10 minutes, at which time she normally burps pretty good. After feeding, she goes right to sleep. Then the hiccups start. So I nurse her a little bit and after about 3 swallows, the hiccups are gone. Back to sleep, lay her down. Then she poops and wakes up again! Now she wants to eat again! I try to get her to sleep without nursing her, to keep her from getting into the snacking mode. I nurse and rock until she is asleep again. Then she will sleep for about 3-4 hours. Shew!!! This is exhausting at 3 a.m.!

Elijah is acting so growney! He is all the big brother, loves to hold the baby, correct Grace and do his share of tattling. This morning, Daddy took him to Home Depot to the kids' craft hour. He built a field goal and got a Home Depot apron with his name on it. I tried to take his picture with it, but he wouldn't let me! He loves his Daddy so much and wants to be just like him. This morning he HAD to wear a red Alabama hat just like Daddy's, so he wore John's older one--what a cutey! One day this week we were eating hot dogs for lunch and he said, "Aaah, the secret to flaky hot dogs." ????? It was so funny!

Grace is potty training (again). She was ready months ago, but with all the moving around we were doing, it was really a futile effort. So now we are in it full swing. She is doing pretty good, as long as I take her. She is still the happiest little thing, and very dramatic. When she is happy, she is high, and when she is sad she is in bad shape! She always says please and thank you and if she gets a piece of candy or some such, she always asks to "take Wijah his". Ain't that sweet?

Our house is coming along. The appraiser came Thursday and appraised it for $140,000. Pretty good since we bought it for $82,000.00. I probably will not want to move out when the time comes.

We are enjoying a Saturday or not doing any home improvement projects, just chilling and enjoying our family today.