Good Times with Family

This weekend Jake, Elijah, and Jake's Mom and I went to Jessica's (Jake's sister for all you non-family readers) house in CA. Her family will (sadly) be moving to Japan within the next couple months. Phil is in the Navy and so this will start a new and exciting chapter for them. Although they will be well missed they have such a wonderful opportunity before them. What an incredible experience for the kids to be surrounded by a whole new culture! I sure do hope Jake and I can save a little money and visit them! We sure will miss everyone. I'm a little disappointed that when we went we weren't able to see Phil so we're hoping we can see them all at least once more before their departure. Military life is so much different than civilian life. I don't know how Jessica does it! The internet sure has opened up a lot of information so that she can see what her new place will look like and plan all the decor prior to going. How helpful is that?! She is a wonderful decorator and will no doubt have their place looking great shortly after moving in.

Jess and Phil can't take everything with them on their travels so they were very sweet and gave us their bedroom set along with a bunch of wonderful goodies including a whole scrapbook room full of treasures. I can't wait to put everything in its place. I will have to post pictures when everything is all put away.

We sure did have a great time visiting with everyone. Elijah loved playing with Isaac and Abby. I wish we had more time. The drive takes up so much of the visit time! We arrived in the wee hours of Saturday morning and had to leave Monday morning. Of course it took us longer to get home because of the big load we were carrying. We finally reached home at 2:30 am after missing 3 exits, changing drivers twice and surviving a blow out... a poop blow out that is. Of course a 13 hour drive is the perfect time for the little guy to have diarrhea and get it everywhere! Poor thing. It was a long weekend for him.

I will have to post some pictures soon!

A Day with Momma at Our House

This is how our days have gone at our house lately.

No. You can't have that.

No.

Give me that!

How did you get that?

Get over here!

Where did you go?

What do you want. I can't understand. Show Momma.

No. You already saw Cars today..no more movies.

Sit down. No standing in your chair you might fall.

Sit.

Now!

(I'm washing dishes, baby's in the living room...it's quiet)...You don't have the remote do you? Baby's not supposed to have the remote. (laughter)

Waahh! Waahh! (Interpretation..I want the remote...why can't I have it...I don't want you to smack my hand...was I really disobedient? Maybe just a little..but I want that!!! IT's WAY COOL!!!)

Hug Momma's legs (Meaning I love you Momma...see you can't stay mad at me...I'm too cute!)

Feeling Better

I took this picture the other day when Elijah first started feeling better. He actually wanted to play a little bit. Here he is playing with his cars. He loves "vroom"ing around.

This is him when he was sick. Poor thing. All he wanted to do was sleep or sit in his chair and watch movies. I hate to have him watch TV all day but I had to think about what I do when I am sick...lay around on the couch and watch TV. I think we watched Finding Nemo AND Cars once a day when he was sick. He would come up to us and give us the movie and then crawl in his little chair. Granted, he still does that now that he feels better but he's much more animated about it now and kicks his feet and claps his hands. Way cute. He doesn't get as much TV time though...he can play and run around since he feels better...right?

One of his favorite things is to read books. He LOVES it. I am so glad because Jake and I both love(d) to read. I say that b/c who really has time for books with a one year old. I am just working on reading my Bible through this year (I am close to catching up to the halfway point..I got a little behind). Anyway. He reads books in his crib when he wakes up, before his nap, and before bedtime. I don't have to read the books to him all the time either. Sometimes he just goes into his room, grabs his blankie and a book and gets on his little toddler bed to read. It's very sweet to hear him read in the morning too. I am so blessed to wake up to Beethoven or Bach from his music box (it was a mobile but that part comes off) and hear him "abada la ama....". That's how I know he is actually ready to get up. It's funny but if he wakes up crying, he's not ready to get up. I just let him fall back to sleep. In a little while he'll wake back up again happy and reading. Then when I go to get them he has to stand up, go to his music box, push a new button and wiggle his little bum to the music. Then he smiles, plops down and shows me his book. Predictable but very sweet. I just love him to pieces.

Well, I best be going.

I Have Wonderful People Around Me

Last night started out terribly. I came in early to team lead only to find out that they would be csectioning triplets. Of course we had very little time to get things ready and of course it happened at shift change. ICK!!! I had wonderful helpers to get through it, many of whom stayed over their shift to help get things done. Of course to add a little something special, there was a miscommunication in scheduling and we had a no show. Lovely when you're dealing with moving babies, getting beds ready and admitting triplets. This was all a little stressful but I think I would have handled it ok. Until I got a worrying call from Jake. Elijah had a 103 fever, had slept all day and wasn't really eating. I thought back and the day before he had been tugging at his ear a little bit. I attributed it to him getting his molars in but maybe he had an ear infection. How could I have shrugged it off? What a terrible mommy! I told Jake to give him some tylenol and a bath. Then I changed my mind. What if it was an ear infection and he was in terrible pain. Better go to urgent care. How can I deal with all this work stuff when MY baby is at home sick and poor Jake has to take him in to urgent care? What if he didn't know the information they ask him? Shouldn't his Momma be there to comfort him? What if it's not an ear infection and something worse. Of course at this point I burst into tears. I couldn't deal with it...and then I got called to go to a csection. Really? Right now. Didn't they know I was in crisis mode? I went to the csection and when I came back I found out that we had found someone to come in for a couple hours to help us out and my night shift CM (she's wonderful!) was going to do our high risk duty for me. Yeah! Not only that, upon hearing my worries about Elijah, she told me I needed to be home with him..that they could stick through it all. I was able to meet Jake at the urgent care. Thank God!
So at the Urgent Care I found Elijah already being seen. Daddy had it all under control. The Dr. already figured out what he had...drum roll please...Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease. Seriously? He showed me the very slight rash around his mouth. Yeah, I saw that. I thought it was b/c I had given him so many berries lately and he was sensitive. Nope. He showed me the inside of his mouth/throat which was very sore looking. Apparently this is a very common summer virus and you can't really do anything for it. Just keep him comfortable and hydrated. He thinks he has a mild case. I hope so. I just read up on it and often the high fever strikes first. It will be interesting to see if he gets more of a rash today. That apparently is the most uncomfortable part.
I did end up going back to work. Jake had it all under control (a little pang when I say that b/c does any mother really want to feel like she isn't needed when her baby is sick) and he would be going to bed when he got home anyway. I will be home all day (and don't have to work) so I will be able to take care of him. I just couldn't leave the girls hanging.
Better go! Keep Elijah in your prayers!

New(er) pictures...and exciting news!

I haven't posted any pictures in awhile so enjoy!

These pictures are of Elijah's new favorite food...raspberries. He was being a big goofball when I was taken them and kept nodding his head to the right every time I would pick up the camera. He was eating the raspberries as quickly as I would put them on his tray. He stuffed them all in like a little chipmunk and then would sign "more". I bought some cherries too and he was the same way. He sure does love fruit!

These picks are of him in the little pool we bought him for his birthday. He didn't stay in for long but kept kicking his feet and throwing the ball out of the pool (onto the dirt so it would get all muddy, of course). It's funny because he enjoyed it more than he's been enjoying his baths. He is more of a shower guy right now. He really doesn't want to lie down in the water and often just cries. He doesn't like his hair washed either. I think his ears are sensitive. He pulls on them when he gets out. Hmmm. I was hoping he'd be a little fishy. I guess we'll have to see how he does when he's older.

These are pictures of him with a new favorite as well...SNAPS! He loves to throw them and hear them pop. Of course it makes a mess but Daddy was great about sweeping it all up and what a joy it was to see the excited face that he would make with them.

Our exciting news? Elijah and I are going to Michigan to see Grandma and Grandpa in September. YEAH! I can't wait! And what a perfect time of year. I smell fresh donuts and caramel apples...maybe a hayride? I'll be making room in my carryon for some fresh picked apples as well. Yummy!