Happy Halloween!

Picture this: Friday morning, let's say 7:30, Elaina confirmed my fear of what I could have only guessed could be her Halloween trick for me. She told me she didn't want to be Ariel the mermaid again for trick or treat that evening. Oh really.

This child, God love her, is so me. And I mean that in the nicest way. She wasn't throwing a fit or being bratty about not wanting to be Ariel, she just simply hasn't grasped the whole idea of what it takes to get a costume together and expressed that Ariel just didn't thrill her anymore.

Judging from the weeks leading up to Halloween, she had first asked to be Fufah from the Noggin show, Yo Gabba Gabba! She soon moved onto Ariel which I panicked over finding Ariel until a friend gave us her daughter's outgrown Disney costume (HOORAY!) and then Elaina told me that she didn't want to be Ariel, she wanted me to be Ariel. Oh. After that she asked to be a square, an angel and exactly one hour prior to trick or treat, she asked to be a clown. So, what alternative costume can I come up with in an hour you may ask? Heeding a suggestion offered by my mom over the phone, I dug through the storage bins in her closet and she became a firefighter. I actually impressed myself at what a great 5 minute costume I paired together for her from stuff I dug out of our closets. I even found a toy fire extinguisher! Impressive, no?

Lincoln was innocently contented to dress as a puppy once again and the three of us made our rounds through the town collecting the treats. Even though Lincoln wasn't given the option to go to every house like his big sister, he still managed to haul in a substantial amount of candy from his happy seat in the wagon while Elaina, as a seasoned beggar, made her way up winding driveways and steps to bring in her loot.

And like every year, our town concludes trick or treat with a bonfire at the park near our house. Since it's a lot of standing around, our little dressed up beggars conned us into letting them swing on the playground swings in the dark of the night while their hands began to freeze against the swing chains at a chilly 45 degrees outside.

That sums up trick or treat with a one and a three year old. I can't wait to see what's in store for us next year when Elaina has even more opinions to share and Lincoln will be talking his way through protests over how I plan to dress him. Their costumes have already been purchased and neither of them involve a shiny red nose and afro. Halloween 2009, we're ready for you!

Supplement

I can't wait to tell you all about trick or treat, but until then, can you tell me what I did with my daughter's legs? I can't seem to find them anywhere.

Tumbling and Touring

Lately my weeks have just been whirlwinds of activities and craziness. (No wonder I'm posting out of order AND cheating by back dating AND offering excuses!)


Eric has recently been working late a few days each week which really throws a pipe wrench into my Tuesday night plans when Elaina has tumbling class and I'm having to tote Lincoln along with me for the duration. Because it's only a 45 minute class, I've been trying to be creative about how I plan my time there. The best plan I've come up with (only because the class is literally 2 blocks away) is zipping home from work, picking up the kids, making tumbling class to the minute, letting Lincoln bounce around before he decides that he wants to join the class, making our presence known to Elaina, jet home to throw dinner in the oven and pop Lincoln in the stroller and wheel our way back to pick up Elaina. Whew! Weather permitting, of course.


This past Tuesday, Eric arrived home after tumbling class finished and after the fastest dinner on record at the W. house, we even made it to the open house at the fire department. Although it's not like our kids can't go the the fire department whenever they want with Eric (Fire Captain Eric, that is) but the open house is a little more special with other kids there and really, they don't just have iced pumpkin cut out cookies and punch all of the time either. Here are some pictures of our crazy-fun trip to the fire station.

About that shiner

My beautiful baby boy.
And his big, bad bang up.
Just two days later and SERIOUSLY! Black and blue and green and bruised. My poor kiddo.

(On the above picture, those are just crumbs on his lips- no further injury, just crumbs:-))

Even a few days later, the bruising seems to be sallowing out in color but you would never believe the swelling that came along with the color that just doesn't capture on photos.It's sad isn't it? My Sweetie boy; banged up and bruised. And while you're heart is full of sympathy pain, how about the Mom-Guilt that I've been carrying since this happened on my watch? Horrible, I'm telling you.

It happened last Saturday when Elaina and Lincoln were busy playing in the living room, creating ramps and forts with the giant cushions from the sofa. This hasn't been uncommon since Elaina recently learned that jumping off of her slide onto the stripped sofa is a much more thrilling jump without the extra 20" of padding, making it way steeper. Anyhow, I was busy making dinner while Eric was hunting and had been peeking around the corner every couple minutes as I moved from task to task in preparing our meal. One minute I saw Elaina manhandling a sofa cushion as Lincoln bounded happily at the other end of the stripped sofa awaiting his turn to land himself onto a heaping mass of cushions piling upon the floor. Barely 2 minutes had passed when I heard a God-awful cry coming from Lincoln that I had never heard before. As I ran to see what had taken place, I could only determine that rather than landing safely on the cushions, he took a spill onto the edge of the toy box which had been bordering the mound. His nose was instantly bloodied and I could hardly deny the sick knot forming within my throat.

A closer look at his face revealed the most obvious cut in the side of his nose, slight blood coming from each nostril and a scratch next to his eye. Taking into account how and where he must have landed and the damage that was clearly visible, I was thanking God that it wasn't worse. God, it really could have been worse. Can you imagine? With that, I actually felt a slight sense of relief that he was really going to be alright despite what was before me.

So, there's the story behind the shiner and the gauged nose on my handsome boy. We've established a new rule in the house that the sofa cushions may never come off of the sofa unless a grown up is helping. It takes just one bumped up kid to take away all of the fun doesn't it?

The Wagon Train

For the second year in a row, I've broken one of my all-time general guidelines in regard to holidays: don't trick or treat outside of your neighborhood. And just look at this candy-hungry bandwagon of sugar stalkers.My little puppy looks like he had to duke it out for some candy, but no, I'll have to explain his nose-boo-boo later.

Some friends invited us to their neighborhood to trick or treat once again, given that we were going to be the ones supplying the trailer for the hayride. Early in our day, we found out that another trailer was going to be used rather than ours but we were still requested out for the afternoon of candy hoarding with the kids.

Elaina was a super-warm Ariel as the Little Mermaid and Lincoln was a snuggly, little puppy.

Our real trick or treat in our neighborhood is on Halloween on Friday and I'll see what I can do about getting a little more posed shots than this. Sometimes it's good to break the rules. We had a great time.

they're moving!

Omigosh! Omigosh!

Call it a lucky accident or a glitch in my computer but I was finally able to post a video! I haven't been able to put my finger on what exactly was causing my videos not to post, but I tried it again and lookie here what I have to show for it! I didn't even know it uploaded so it was even a surprise for me! Thanks Blogger!

With our older (and nicer) camera and the convenient feature of uploading video that Blogger introduced a while back, posting videos couldn't have been easier. That is until I got my new, smaller camera that is far more convenient to grab from the shelf which I've been using all of the time. For some unknown reason my recent videos have been a no-go when it comes to uploading.

You know what this means.. lots of videos coming your way. I think I have some to post from back in July. My kids were active and video worthy even then!

How about Elaina's too-big pants that seem to be wearing her. Yeah, that wiggle she does is not natural, it's just to keep them on her little no-butt rear end.

one decade down... and still going strong

On a gorgeous, crisp, fall day just 10 years ago, my stomach was in knots and I couldn't wait to get on with my vacation. I was antsy with nervous excitement and was so much looking forward to being alone with the love of my life for 8 solid days with no appointments or interruptions. We were headed to Hawaii (Kauai, actually) for a long, romantic getaway, but first, we had to get ourselves married.

It's funny to think about how much time, money and effort goes into planning a wedding. I do remember loving just about every single detail of the planning, yet when it came to the big day, I was so nervous about having all eyes on me and being (1/2) of the center of attention all day. Of course I knew it was just family and friends that I was going to be happy to see there, but there's really nothing that can prepare you to feeling so much in the spotlight. A little anxious indeed.

Yet through all of my shaky nerves and butterflies flopping around within me, the minute my mom and dad escorted me down the aisle of the church, I knew that it was all worth it when I could actually feel the love radiating from my parents and my spouse-to-be when we joined hands. This was the moment I had been waiting for all of my life. Not the shaky, dry heaving moments which I felt hours before. Not the stress of not knowing if everyone who needed a corsage was going to receive one. And not wondering of there was going to be enough seating at the reception hall. Seeing the man who I loved most in the world awaiting me at the altar with a beaming smile and glistening eyes who was about to become my husband. For better or for worse, happily ever after.

God and everyone who has known us since, knows that we've had our share of "worse." Eric and I have gone through our share of heartache, grief and hopeless despair and we made it through together. And while I don't mean to refer to Ella and Ava as the "worse" but when you lose a child who you've waited so long to love and then have it happen a second time, I don't know how much more unpredictable "worse" a couple can experience. And then, look at us now. Just look what kind of ride this life of ours has taken us on. Elaina and Lincoln have become our now and complete our happily, ever after. We're all here together.

Through all of my life, all of my struggles, all of my joy and all of my laughter, I can't imagine that God could have paired me with someone who completes me more than Eric. We have surely seen our way through our fair share of arguments and differences in opinions, but there isn't anyone who I could ever want to forgive so easily and want forgiveness from and want to make an effort to restore peace. We work as a team, share in a partnership and enjoy a friendship that is about as unique as they come.

With all that we've been through in the past 10 years together, I know that this happiness and love for one another is just the ground work for many more years to come. With that same beaming groom from 10 years ago with the twinkle in his eye, Eric is still the man I want to be married to and share all that our future holds. If the best is yet to come, our future is looking incredible.

Crispy Crunch

At this time last year, Lincoln was just a mere, itsy-bitsy 5 month old baby. Nothing really meant more to him than his warm bottles, silky blanket and thumb and somebody to hug him. A lot has changed in a year. He's still caught up in his thumb and silky blanket and this child will most assuredly never run low on hugs, but there is a big, colorful world right outside our door just waiting to be explored. Although we don't have any trees in our backyard, we didn't have to look much further than our neighbor's house to find a massive jackpot of colorful, fall leaves just waiting to be tackled and crunched upon.

Since the weather was cool but still crisp and sunny, I turned the kids loose to play in the leaves. With only one crunch underfoot, Lincoln decided he was done. He found himself a path right on out of this nosiy patch of ground and tried to get away.

Elaina on the other hand, grabbed her basket and was beginning to stockpile leaves to take over to our yard. (no thanks, Kiddo) Soon after, our neighbor (our friend Sam) (Elaina's "boyfriend") (he is 36; keep looking Elaina) came out and began raking a mountain of leaves for the kids to play and jump in. Shortly after that our other neighbor boys came home and couldn't resist the fun that awaited them in this seasonal explosion of leafy goodness.

And before you know it, look who ended up having the best time of all. Lincoln sat happily in his little nest of leaves and was a giggle box of excitement when the leaves happened to be raked in his direction. He and another neighbor boy sat like anchors on each end of the leaf pile, roaring with laughter as each of the bigger kids took turns jumping and splashing their way through the mound.
I'm pretty sure that the adults had almost as much fun as the kids as we watched them laugh and bounce around outside, but next time I've decided to make sure that the pants my kids are wearing don't have cuffs. Just sayin'.

Gotten

Do you want me to tell you what our little family was doing just one year ago, today?
We got a Lincoln! More specifically, the state of Ohio, the United States of America, the North American continent and the upper crust of the universe will forever declare that today, Lincoln became our son.

Today is Lincoln's first anniversary of his Got-Me-Day! Like many adoptive families, celebrating the actual date in which the courts and every legal, binding document declares your child to be yours, happily, ever after; we celebrate Got-Me-Day.

God, just to think that one year has passed since we took our tiny, little boy into a courtroom filled with our family and friends and a magistrate making a final ruling of what our hearts had already known, just seems surreal. This is the same little guy who wags his right arm beside him as he chases around our house, lays on his tummy to watch the wheels on his cars roll and can't get enough of being outside. The same one who makes my heart melt with his toothy, baby smile and laughs so hard that I think he will surely run out of air. My son who I cling to tightly and can't think for a minute how our lives would have ever complete without him in our family. My blue eyed boy who bears an uncanny resemblance to my husband, who may never figure out if his real name is Handsome, Turdlett or Lincoln-Little. Each night as I squeeze my baby angel boy close to my heart, I can't begin to think of him ever belonging to anyone else. Though he didn't come from my body, he is everything that my heart, my hopes and my dreams could have created. In fact, he is more.

Lincoln, your family is so blessed to have you in our lives. There is no one who could ever love you more than we do and we thank God every single day to have the privilege of calling you our son. Your story began with a phone call and that was truly your very first Got-Me-Day. A day that made our lives richer than we ever thought possible. We love you, our Baby Angel Boy!

Lovin' My Man with Dishpan Hands

A few weeks back, I found myself wondering why my bedtimes are getting later and later, while my Dear Husband is already nestled in bed reading his magazines and catching up on sports highlights way before I have even made a dent in my mental to-do list. I know that this is partly due to the fact that I'm a freak about keeping things up around the house and obligate myself to doing a little bit of my mental "everything" so that "everything" doesn't just come and overtake me one day. A freak, I tell you.

I implored said Dear Husband to give me a little more help around the house in the nightly chores that seem to be sucking so much of my time. Before I go any further, I must first issue a full disclaimer that Eric (Dear Husband) really is a great help around the house and doesn't have to be told, nagged or reminded what needs to be done. While we don't have specific rules of who-does-what, we are always able to divide and conquer the workload to keep things running relatively smoothly and keeping peace within the home.

Lately, I have been feeling like my nights with the kids are going by so quickly. Often I feel cheated that in the few short hours I get to spend with them each weekday evening, at least one hour is spent in the kitchen, cooking, eating (which is hardly enjoyable) and cleaning up. The rest of the time I try to be exclusively theirs. What ends up being my free time boils down to only 2 hours and with two kids, well, you can see where this is going.

So, my Main Man stepped it up a notch. And consistently. And without complaint. And without hesitation. Eric had previously cleared the dinner table while the rest of us finished eating, but has since taken on washing dishes, loading the dishwasher and packing leftovers for my lunch the next day. Isn't love grand?

In the 20 minutes that it takes him to do this, I am finishing my dinner, coaxing Picky Pickerson to finish 3 more bites (because she's 3) and wiping child faces and hands. Just overlapping the workload while we both work to jump the mealtime hurdle has really made a difference in my evenings. Once dinner is over, we can both enjoy more time together with the kids and I'm not feeling so pinched for time. The one problem that I now have made for myself that I need to kick is adding even more things to my mental to-do list now that I'm not so beaten by every single night chores. Is freak coming to mind?

Thank you my Dear Husband for coming to my rescue. Some people like to get flowers? Me? Come do my dishes! Be sure to bring your apprentice.

Happy Sweetest Day Darling!

Accessory Queen: Tumbling Optional

I had nothing to do with helping to pose this child. I may be guilty, however, of hyping up the start of tumbling class just a wee bit too much. Elaina was so excited to go to her class that she could hardly stand herself. I believe that I lost count after the 87th time she asked me if it was time to go yet. She was ready to be out the door. While I did let her choose which pretty, little, gymnast outfit that she wanted to wear with pants, she decided to kick it up a notch and accessorize her pretty, little, gymnast outfit herself. First she decided it was sunny and wanted her Ariel sunglasses. Okay. Next she reached for her bracelet. Reluctant; okay. And then Diva went all out and insisted upon sparkle earrings to match her bracelet. Oh. Dear. God.

All I have to say is that she got quite a few laughs as she walked her sparkly, little, fancy self into tumbling class. In her defense however, she was quite agreeable to take off her bling to go and play in the class when it was time.

What a girl.

The no-sparkle-forward roll.Like Elaina, I am so much looking forward to this session of tumbling for her. A friend of mine is the instructor and Elaina's best friend, Ali, is in her class once again along with several other little friends of hers. I'm excited that this year finds her older and more capable of doing new things. She's never been particularly fearful of anything, but seeing her try new things in someone else's care is big when you're three.

All in all, it was a great class for her, I just need to remember to not remind her what night is tumbling but spring it on her before she has a chance to say "sparkle."

Picture Intermission

While this week is going to busy to the brim and full of something crazy everyday, I 'm going to try my best to keep up a little bit better with posting.

In a lame attempt to cover today's post, enjoy the following...

Lincoln has recently learned "Ring Around the Rosey" and even falls down right on when "we all fall. down."

I love his concentration face when he sticks his tongue out the corner of his mouth. Doesn't Michael Jordan do the same? Must be a sign of great talent, right?

They could ring around the rosey for seemingly hours.

I'm not really sure how to explain this on account that I didn't actual birth this daughter of mine, but Good GOD, she is so much like me. Neat and orderly, she has been stacking things, lining up objects and using them in creative play lately.

I don't think her video tapes saw this coming.

And this...

I happened to mention previously that Lincoln had an acute case of irritable-baby-syndrome while we were away for the weekend, but I didn't elaborate on how bad he seemed to be feeling. The latter part of last week, both kids had their share of snotsy-runny noses, but then again, so did every other kid at the babysitter's house. We were all skeptical and hopeful that the symptoms were nothing more than allergy related with the change of the season, weather, etc. especially since no one presented with fevers. Taking into account that Lincoln sometimes has issues with sleeping away from home, plus having snotsies, plus 4 new eye teeth coming in, I had loads of excuses to try to explain his unlikely temperament and his eating and sleeping strike. That was until about Sunday.

It seemed like over Saturday night into Sunday, Lincoln developed this horrible raspy, somewhat croup-like cough that sometimes left him breathless and gasping for air. Other times, he seemed like he was trying to cough so hard that it made him almost choke. That was enough for me. I was fortunate that our doctor was able to see him Monday afternoon when I was already off work. The good news came when she said there was no sign of ear aches and that his ear tubes are still perfectly placed, but when she peeked into his throat she nearly jumped back in startling confirmation that there was surely an infection already brewing down there. Our doctor was considerate enough to write a prescription for an antibiotic for both kids (without having to bring Elaina in) since they seem to have the exact symptoms, minus the choking-cough for Elaina.

In a bittersweet twist, I'm somewhat relieved that there is an actual, valid excuse that helps to explain Lincoln's eating and sleeping strike other than just being away from home but the down side is obvious, he's sick. I guess that the second half of October will already find us digging out the vaporizers and the Vick's rub. And we're just getting started.

Fall Favorites

Well, I'll be the first one to admit that I have no idea what happened last week that there were almost zero posts on the blog front. All I can remember is that I conceded to some early bedtimes for myself and every night seemed to last only minutes before the stroke of midnight demanded to shut down the busy.

With that said, let's just jump into what we had been looking forward to all week; a long weekend away to relax and play. Because of Columbus Day and because that's one of the few benefits of county employment, I was prepared to spend Friday thru Monday at my parents' house while Eric made the decision to stay at home and catch up on some yard work and other nagging household projects.

Our first night at my parents' house started off much later than I anticipated and only lead to even later bedtimes. Lincoln was the absolute. WORST. SLEEPER. EVER. and could NOT rest his little head being away from home. And of course, when the three of us are sharing a room, a screamy, yelly baby leads to a wide awake toddler and a crabby, sleep deprived mommy. He seriously reminded me our days together when he was newborn baby still figuring out a sleep pattern. It's even more unfortunate that both kids seem to have battling some symptoms of allergies or the early start of colds for the past few days. At least that's what I'm guessing is a result of all the snot that I've been collecting from the dozens of tissues they've been pouring through as of late.

And guess what the next day was to bring? Well it was only the day that we had the biggest and best laid plans of all! And our cranky, non-rested trio wasn't about to have a prayer at having fun unless we got some make-up-sleep. After a forced nap for my overtired children, Greg and Kate arrived with an overly excited Colin ready to play and go to the pumpkin patch.

The rest must have worked wonders for us all because we all had the very best time ever. The pumpkin patch was awesome. There was a hay ride, a straw bale maze, pumpkins galore, horses and apple punch (cider) to chase down the dirt from the already sticky kids' faces.

When we first rolled into the pumpkin patch aboard the hay wagon, Lincoln was blatantly fascinated with the tractor that pulled us there. Once we were let off, a train barreled through on the nearby train track and a semi truck made it's way down the country road. Lincoln's first trip to pick pumpkins was already complete before he even got within 2 feet of his first pumpkin! Elaina and Colin made off like little bandits, never to be heard from again. Actually, Greg and Kate kept a watchful eye out for the little partners in crime as Lincoln and I ended up on the whole opposite side of the field. That would explain why I have no Elaina-patch pictures. And besides, with her army green pants and her pumpkin orange shirt, I camouflaged her just as well that I couldn't hardly spot her if I tried. In the end, we ended up with our share of perfectly picked, plump, pumpkins.
Did I happen to mention that the weather was like the most gorgeous, fall day you could ever imagine? It was gorgeous because the leaves have all started to turn and the air had the perfect balance of a crisp undertone to it, but it was almost edging on too hot with the temperature nearing 82 degrees. We all ended up a little bit sweaty, but seriously, 80 degrees in mid October? It was a perfect, memorable day for all of us.

As I was putting Elaina to bed that night, I asked her what her favorite part of the day was. Since there was so much to see and do for the better part of the day, I couldn't wait to hear what she had come up with. I fully expected her to say that the horses were her favorite or riding in the hay wagon or drinking "apple punch" (cider) at the picnic table with Colin had made her day the best, but she decided that jumping off the bales of straw with Colin and yelling "Geronimo!" while holding onto Grandma's hand was her favorite part of the day.

Some kids are easy to please.

What's New?

Can someone explain to me how a million and eight thoughts of what I want to blog about next go through me head each day and then when I finally make enough time open the flood gates of stories to share, I've got nothing?

It's really not fair. I just don't get it.

I have been thinking that it's been a long time since I've written a little personality- progress report on those there monkeys of mine, so let's start with that shall we?
How about the little monkey first? The little monkey is commonly referred to as "Lincoln" and most often "Turdlett." He gained notoriety as Turdlett during his experimental phase of estimating exactly what toys will and won't fit into the toilet. And speaking of toys, who really needs toys when it's more fun to open and close the toilet lid? We seem to be a little bit past that phase, but the name stays. When he gets himself into any type of mischief whatsoever, he is my little Turdlett indeed.

Monkey is also one of my son's latest monikers. Have you ever heard the saying, "Just because you can, doesn't mean that you should?" I'm guessing that my little bruiser will hear that more times than he hears his own name by the time he reaches kindergarten. Monkey likes to climb. Like Elaina at the same age, he can't get enough of going up and down his slide eleventy hundred times in a day. He thinks he is big stuff climbing up all of the 4 steps of the ladder and has taken to standing at the top platform, not holding onto anything, but beaming from ear to ear at his greatest endeavor as a Turdlett. The climbing doesn't end there. My grandma used to laugh at Elaina when she went through this climbing/ exploring phase and joked that we needed to tie bricks to her ankles to keep her on the ground. Every day since, I've been searching for some bricks and string to use for Lincoln. The boy is a non-stop climbing machine. His prize and claim to fame is climbing himself atop the kitchen chairs, parking his hiney squarely in the seat and making an "mmmmm" noise. Apparently, the boy is ready to eat. Mmmmm.

Just to round out Lincoln-Turdlett-Monkey's update, on the topic of eating, again the boy is a machine. I think God realized that maybe he didn't spend enough time on Elaina's eating mechanism and made it up to us twofold with Lincoln. Lordy, that kid can eat. Oh, and he needs to eat dinner at 6:00 each and every evening. He's not too particular with the timing of any other meal, but if it's 6 p.m. and the kid is not being fed, he will most certainly let you know about it. Loudly. And while I didn't think it was possible for kids to eat and like such a vast variety of foods, I can't think of a single food that Lincoln hasn't been entirely crazy about up to this point. He's hardly picky and even surprised us by eating everything from salmon to chips and salsa. Trust me when I tell you that I've never seen anything like this before. We plan to do everything in our power to keep him this same way. Trust me when I tell you...Now we can't talk about food and kids without mentioning Elaina. Oh, wait, yes we can! There's nothing new to report on Elaina's eating habits or lack thereof. She eats what she likes, she likes what she eats and calls it a day. Her menu, however limited, doesn't consist of junkie foods and she is somehow continuing to grow and thrive and that just is about all we need to maintain any degree of happiness at the dinner table. It is what it is. Gone are the days of bribery an struggling. We still encourage and offer and remind her of all of the great foods that her tummy would like and yet, no progress.

While what I'm about to say next absolutely qualifies for TMI overload, skip this section if you wish: Despite her love affair with string cheese and other binding foods, she has done exceptionally well at putting her poopy in the potty. It was only a few short months ago that she would make herself absolutely miserable and struggle to hold herself that over the better part of a week, she became so terribly miserable that OF COURSE it pained her like no other to just GO already. It's almost like she's jumping the last few hurdles in the race to become a big girl. This is progress. This is necessary. And this is my baby growing up so fast.

The POOP report ends HERE.

In other happenings of the life of a three year old... Elaina has proven at her tender age that she does indeed, have the whole world by the tail. From the things she says and the things that she does, there are becoming fewer and fewer moments that my jaw doesn't just about drop in wonderment of how this little girl thinks and feels. Every single day, this child makes me so proud to be called her mother. And a beautiful privilege at that.

Some things that do register in Elaina's list of all time favorites include the movie The Land Before Time. Remember that one? I think I was all of 13 when that came out and I remember thinking how I couldn't wait to have kids to share that same movie experience with. She still loves books. I've caught onto her little trick of trying to get me to read a book when we're trying to rush out the door in the morning or when it's bedtime and the last book has been read. It goes something like this: She asks to me to read her just one more book. I tell her no due to bedtime/ leaving the house and welcome her to read what she thinks the pictures "talk" about in the book. She points to the words and ever-so-innocently asks, "but Momma, what does this part say?"
And before I forget, the latest thought that's been weighing on my mind and list of things to blog about is Halloween costumes. Lincoln is set to be the cutest puppy dog on the block and Elaina... well, I don't know what Elaina is going to be. She still wants to be a mermaid, but, um, y'all know that we live in Ohio right? You can never plan a Halloween costume that doesn't come with the option of layering eight pieces of clothing underneath and still uphold a great costume. And the ever so slight detail that mermaids have tails and don't walk. Part of me is leaning toward the kids having sort of matchy-match themed costumes and then again, I have no imagination or creativity and find myself at a loss. But what I do have is YOU!! Please people, please... what can Elaina be for Halloween? Any ideas of how to make her a warm, walking mermaid or a matchy friend of a puppy?