Grace

May seventh.

Three years ago today, we held our baby Ava in our arms for the last time. It was this day that our hearts felt broken beyond repair, our eyes ran out of tears and our hopes of ever becoming parents seemed less than dismal.

To this day, I don't really even know how we got by losing our second child. We were still recovering from the loss of Ella. Ava was meant to heal us. She was our angel that was going to fill our arms and our hearts and our home with love. From the moment that her soul lifted up to heaven, I only felt pain and emptiness right down to my bones. A feeling that's more than despair. Crumbling. Debilitating. I promised myself that I would never smile again. I was convinced that I would never even begin to think that I could find happiness in anything without a child of my own to love. I truly didn't know what our future had in store for us. I was empty. And so, with a painful heart, I continued to pray. What else did I really have left? It wasn't like it was the very first time that I ever called on God for healing and protection. It wasn't the first time that I cried in vain over losing my baby. It's not like God didn't know the pain that paralyzed our hearts. I needed to tell God that I was angry. How could he take our two daughters to heaven when we needed to love them so badly? And why us? We deserved a baby. Why not the crackheads and the teenagers who don't have an ounce of responsibility or affection for their children? God needed to know that sometimes I just wanted to yell and scream and shake a stick at the entire world and beat my anger out onto anything in my path. How did He let this happen?

I still don't know.

What I do know is that God had a plan. Just when we began to try to pick up the shattered pieces of what was left of our lives, the hope of adopting a baby girl fell into our laps. It was like a dream come true and an answer to our prayers when we got the call that changed our lives. We were going to have a daughter. Elaina was going to be born into our family. She was and continues to be nothing short of a miracle. We had a daughter.

Almost 2 years later, God had yet another miracle in store for us. Just hearing of a baby boy who was about to be born and still in need of a family, our minds trembled with excitement and disbelief. A baby boy for us? Did we really deserve to be this blessed? Our wonderful baby boy, Lincoln filled our arms and our hearts with love and reminded us what a miracle felt like.

It's amazing how God brought us through this journey to parenthood. He turned a once angry and hopeless shell of bitterness into the most proud and fulfilled mother ever. I never thought that one day I would recover from my anger and emptiness to the extent that I have. While I can't say that I don't cry over my babies in heaven (I do) I remind myself that if it weren't for them, we would have never been blessed with Elaina and Lincoln. This can't be explained by mere luck. God allowed us to walk through the fire and not get burned. I didn't know this was possible. I'm not the first to proclaim that all things are possible with God. This is true. And He works miracles. Even for us.

Lincoln turns one today. Our beautiful angel boy who came into our lives and has given us happiness beyond compare. The baby boy that we wanted so desperately, yet felt overly blessed already to ask for more. And without him, our lives wouldn't be nearly so full. Full of smiles and hugs and kissing and cuddling and love. Another miracle to make our lives complete. Fulfilled. Proud.

With this, I send my love to Ava and Ella. I know that they chose Elaina and Lincoln to be their brother and sister in our family and that they can feel our hugs and love through them. I know God works miracles and that He can mend hearts. I know that I will always be the mom to hold her kids tighter and love them a little harder because they are sharing our love with our angels.

Lincoln is one.

Let them eat cheese

A few months back, over dinner time, I got so frustrated with Elaina's ever-so-limited menu options that I told her that when she turns 3, she will no longer have a choice in what she eats at mealtimes. My statement was mostly off the cuff and had no idea at the time that she would take my words to heart. Yet, she has.

It's no secret that Elaina is an extremely picky eater. Just maybe I've complained about that here more than once. She's probably on her 63rd consecutive day of eating grilled cheese for at least one meal (sometimes twice a day) with her second option being pizza. I can't complain about her getting enough fruit in her diet since she easily accepts apples, applesauce, bananas and grapes. She laughs in the face of a vegetable. This doesn't however, prevent me from offering her a bite of anything that we're eating for her to taste. Her standard answer as of late has been been, "No thank you. When I turn 3, I eat big people food." Or "Mommy, I'm not 3 yet."

While I admire her for her manners and her acceptance (we'll see) of the eat-everything-at-3 rule, a slight, sneaky idea crossed my mind. What if her birthday just happened to come early this year? Kinda like she turns 3 maybe, oh let's say, 45 days early. Is that wrong?

Okay, okay, okay. I know it's wrong. I'm not really a bad person that would intentionally fraud my child out of her respective birthday celebration just to get her to eat a vegetable. Just a thought. And my husband and mom have already put the kaboosh on my idea anyway.

So, July isn't really that long away is it? Just another 5o grilled cheese sandwiches away.

Finding Gold

I spent my morning rummaging through a neighborhood garage sale seeking out bargains and treasures. Despite the intermittent drizzle of rain, I really had an enjoyable time and found both bargains and treasures.

The one and only downfall of garage saling is coming home and cleaning up my finds. And so, after the many hours I spend out collecting my deals, I spent the next several hours cleaning them up to look fresh and new and find homes for everything. At one point, my house was such a complete disaster that my Type A personality kicks into super anxiety speed and I begin to think of all of the million and 8 things that I need to do while I'm going about my business.

By the end of the day, my kids were fed, order was restored to most of the surface areas in my house and I sat down for the first time all day to feed my baby his bottle. As Lincoln cuddles up on my lap and we feel each other breath and then his eyes close from his hard day of playing, I know that everything is right in my world. Everything.

On a Roll

Just for the record Ladies:

If you feel like you hardly ever get a break and you just need some down time with your girlfriends, let me fill you in a little secret. Play Bunco.

Tonight was our third monthly Bunco night with the girls and it has been everything we had hoped it to be. A fun filled evening together to sit around, catch up, snack and roll the dice of chance. Bunco has got to be the most simplest of games, requiring only a little bit of your attention along the way. And can you say FUN??? So fun in fact that I ended up going home with a prize tonight. We had a Cinco de Mayo theme and my prize was a cactus in a terracotta planter.

By the way, anyone know how I can get a cactus prick out of my thumb?
Yes I am serious.

Fan Club

Since Eric and I took a little longer and struggled a little harder to have children of our own, I may well confess that we may just hug our kids a little tighter, kiss their faces a little more often and spoil and love them for all their worth. And that's a lot. I'm not ashamed to say that I am my kids' biggest fan. Each of them. Both of them. I will be the first one to stake a claim on pure, 100%, biased Mommy love. Don't get me wrong; I'm not oblivious to their bad behavior, but I'm not ashamed to divulge my secret conviction that my kids are the best kids in the world.

The simple reason: because they're MINE!

So there. I let you in on my dirty, little secret that I've been trying to squelch deep down inside, all the while little shards of pride spill out into my writing. I'm not ashamed. Just in love.

I said this before and feel happy to stick with it: If you're not your kid's biggest fan, who should be?

(Thinking: bumper stickers, billboards, coffeee cups, boxes of hair color, boxes of chocolate)

As I was saying, I am my kids' biggest fan. Ever. Interestingly enough, they reciprocated some of their excitement tonight. Some examples of what got us going-

~ Lincoln has been taking more consecutive steps. Tonight he walked about 9 steps across the room to reach his Daddy. As we lined him up, back and forth, Elaina was standing on the sidelines cheering him on squealing and shouting, "C'mon Baby, you can do it!! Mommy he's walking! Go Lincoln!" Each time he fell, Elaina sighed saying, "Game over." Where did she ever get that? It was pretty funny and somewhat in context.

~ Elaina decided we were going to play ball tonight. Although we were only about 4 feet from each other, the Girl can catch. And she can throw. We actually did play a game of ball. I don't know when or where her miraculous ball handling skills developed in the past 2 months, but she was impressive. For an almost 3 year old that is.

~ I often sing (try) to Lincoln when he begins to wiggle or fuss. It seems like he settles immediately and gazes upon my face and listens to my words. While I was giving them a bath tonight I began to sing Elaina's request of the song, "The Wheels on the Bus." Once I finished 4 verses, Lincoln clapped his hands for me with a giant smile on his face. It's as if he knew the proper response and acted accordingly. Even if your convinced that it was a fluke, it still melted my heart. Oh that Boy!

So there, go and cheer on your kids and remember to give someone a little extra encouragement today. See what a good cycle you can create? I know that I felt the best of all!

Dinner dates

Tonight Eric and I were scheduled to go to the dentist for our 6 month check up. Since we actually really like our dentist, we drive an hour from our home for our appointments. The office staff is great and there's even a little built-in playhouse for the kids that contains their entertainment with a VCR and a toy box.

The kids were great while each of us took turns with our appointments and then we headed out to get some dinner. Lincoln barely fussed the whole evening, Elaina ate something other than grilled cheese and Eric and I had good meals also. Finally, a successful, non-stressful meal that we sat down to enjoy together.

I guess the reason that this is so blog-worthy to report is that when you're dealing with an almost 1 and almost 3 year old, you just never know what kind of mixed bag of temperament you will have to deal with from one minute to the next. I commented several times to Elaina about how nice it was that everyone was enjoying their meals and how happy we were together. It's nice to think that our kids are growing up and getting to the point that we can take them anywhere and have an enjoyable outing with them wherever we end up. It was just one of those nights that have me peering into the future of what our little family has in store for us. It looks like lots of good times!

Tally: 914

Oh Lincoln. I'm hoping to be done reporting illness with this child 'o mine sooner than later. This morning, Eric took him to a follow up appointment with our pediatrician as requested by the emergency room doctor. It's a good thing he was scheduled because his fever persisted much of the weekend. Thankfully it only hovered around the 100 degree mark, he's still not fully reclaimed his health as far as I'm concerned.

Dr. Joni gave Lincoln a shot in his thigh to boost the effect of the prescribed antibiotic given to him at the ER. She said that his ears still looked somewhat inflamed and he was growing about 4 big teeth in the process. The tooth part we knew. In the past, I've asked Dr. Joni whether or not there would be consideration of placing tubes in Lincoln's ears. In her opinion, since he had most ear infections in the winter and he was still under a year old she wasn't particularly concerned. With this latest ear infection, I consider it just one more tally mark on his road to tubes in the near future. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a fan of putting my baby through unnecessary medical procedures, but I'm even less of an advocate of multiple rounds of antibiotics to treat ear infections every other month. And let's not forget the cranky baby that comes with that package deal.

Let's hear it for healthy ear canals and some warm sunshine to get my little guy back on track! Come on already!

Humor

The good news is that Lincoln is good. I can't quite say that we've reached a point that we're out of the woods of concern only because we've still been treating his fever. Overnight, he woke up screaming at 3:00 with a temperature of 103F. After some more meds, a bottle and some rocking he felt significantly cooler to the touch within a short time.

Today, Lincoln's temperament was more like his usual self and still stingy with his smiles. Throughout him not feeling well, his appetite never suffered. That's my boy! He played and took an almost 3 hour nap today. Oh, the life...

As for Lincoln's big sister. Whoa, she's been a pistol.

Elaina did get a nap today. Not particularly long, but rest nonetheless. Lately she has been just cracking me up. Just to hear the mature thoughts of an almost 3 year old roll from her mouth in such innocent humor. She just makes me laugh.

Here is some excerpts from our day that I can hardly do them just as you just needed to be there...

Preparing Lunch:
Laura: Elaina, can you believe that Daddy went out to lunch without us?
Elaina: I know! We can go to McDonald's!!! *squeal*
Laura: But we went out to dinner last night and we ran out of money for today.
Elaina: *pause* I know! I know! I got money in my room! Daddy, you have some. Momma, you have some. And then we can go to the other ice cream store too!!
Laura: Are you talking about the money from your piggy bank? You can't spend that!

Lunch conversation:
Eric: How did this loaf of bread get all smashed?
Elaina: I didn't do it. Maybe the Easter Bunny did it!
Laura: Oh yeah, just like the Easter Bunny came and ate our cake at Easter time.
Elaina: Yeah Mommy! We'll have to shoot 'em!
Eric: Elaina, we can't shoot the Easter Bunny.

During Lunch:
*Justifying my indulgence of Tastefully Simple salsa as my accompanying vegetable**
Laura: I think I'm going to have some salsa as my veggies for the day. Do you (Eric) want any?
Elaina: Save some vegetables for me Mommy for when I turn three.
(I have her hooked on the "Eat new foods when your 3 kick!!)

Post Lunch:
*Struggling with getting Elaina to eat her lunch*
Laura: Elaina, how about if I sell you to the gypsies and they can return you when you turn three and you can eat then?
Elaina: Okay.
Laura: Alright then, it's time for your nap.
Elaina: No Mommy, I don't wanna take a nap. I wanna go with the jippies.

After Nap:
Elaina: Mommy? What"s that word? Oh yeah! Stinky diaper Bay-Bee! HAHAAHAHA!
**Repeat** Repeat** Repeat** Repeat** Repeat**

Oh if I just had a little microphone. She was actually a riot. Another instance of "You just had to be there."

Too hot to handle

Some days it's all I can do to remind myself that life is short, time is precious and kids grow up too fast. I keep thinking that the busy days and nights that we can't seem to escape won't last forever.

Things won't always be this way, I tell myself. One day I'll rest easy.

And then something like the events of Friday night come and smack me in the face and I regain perspective that all that's right in my world begins with the safety and happiness of my children. Throw all of the other "busy" out the door. It all began on Thursday night when Lincoln seemed somewhat feverish at bedtime and then woke the next morning burning up with a 103.8 fever. My baby boy felt like he had been sleeping on hot coals rather than his fleecy crib nest. Since I'm mostly out of sick time at work, and Eric was already out turkey hunting, I put him on notice to pick the kids up from the sitter's house as soon as he could, just to keep a close eye on Lincoln. By the time I arrived home later that evening after a hair appointment, Lincoln was happily playing, eating and drinking just fine. Eric had given him a bath (and meds) to quench his latest fever.

By the time Lincoln finished his bedtime bottle and fell asleep on his Daddy's chest, Eric asked me to take his temperature because he felt even more hot that before. Child's temperature reading was 104.8. After a second equally high reading, there was no question and no hesitation that My Baby Boy was headed for the emergency room. I packed a quick bag and kissed my boys goodbye as they backed out of the driveway at 10:30 p.m.

It was midnight before I finally heard from Eric. Apparently, just as they arrived at the ER, Lincoln barfed all over himself and the back seat. He presented in the ER with a reduced fever at 103F. The ER doctors told Eric that Lincoln's ears looked somewhat inflamed and the fever was probably a cumulative effect of a growing ear infection and teething. They gave him a children's dose of ibuprofen, some antibiotics and sent them on their way at 2:00 a.m. The doctor told Eric not to worry too much unless his fever reached 106F. HELLO! He was like a whole number away and we're 30 minutes from the hospital. Our worry kicked in out of pure caution and the realness of the situation. This is one set of parents who aren't willing to gamble on how fast their kids' fever can spike a whole point. I don't regret for a minute that Eric took him to the ER.

I woke him early this morning to check his temperature and dispense some more medicine to halt his fever. Throughout this whole ordeal, he has acted his regular self, maintained his appetite and not expressed any more pain than usual. God, I love this kid.

In other news...

The eldest Girl Child suffered a rare case of No Nap-ititus today. She woke extra early this morning, was given two chances to lay down with each parent and only relented to about 40 minutes. As a result, many battles were waged. Has anyone found MY sweet girl? Anywhere?

Let's just say it was a long day.

Pictures and videos coming soon to a computer near you. Oh, and did I mention I got my hair chopped? hmmm....

What the YELL?

Yeah... I don't know what's going on with Blogger tonight, but it appears to me that I missed the rule stating that only I would be unable to upload videos of my children whenever the heck I wanted to. What gives? 3 tries, 25 minutes later, same old error message. Darn it anyway. No videos tonight folks.

So let's talk about Lincoln. A topic that's especially fresh on my mind since we just won the battle at Cry Central Station. As I mentioned before, Lincoln is just generally calm and content. That is, until bedtime as of late. It's hard to pinpoint exactly what factor we're overlooking, but he seems to have a very (very) particular window of opportunity to be put to bed. By this I mean, the exact constellation of the stars, the direction of the wind, the heat index and the barometric pressure MUST be factors taken into consideration for Lincoln to willingly submit to sleep effortlessly. Some nights we can lay him down after a warm bottle and he'll suck his thumb quietly while he looks around and falls asleep without a peep. And then there are nights like tonight. I just hate to even retell the woe of tonight. Just around 8:00 (not unusual) his clinging and thumb sucking begins and I prepare his bottle. We cuddly up quietly in our comfy chair and Little Guy sucks down his bottle and begins lays contentedly for all of 2 minutes. Just then, the squirming starts and the crying and the climbing and the headache. Mine, not his. In some cases, it's crucial to put him into his crib at this juncture to give him his space and fall asleep. In the past 11 months, if I've learned only one thing, it's that Lincoln doesn't love to be rocked to sleep like his big sis. Sometimes this agrees with him; most times, not.

So,tonight I lay him in his crib. The screaming crying (scry-ing) begins. And the hollering crying (crollering). Not a fan of either. And then... I wait. Five minutes is really all I can take before I have to go rescue my baby from his misery. And trust me, I watch the clock like it's my job. I go into save my baby from his crying mess of himself and the cycle repeats, only minus the bottle. Oh, and don't even think about sitting down with him, much less trying to rock him. No no. Only standing will be permitted.

I just have to mention that we're pretty regimented here in this household. Not at all strict with timing (hello! I'm always running late!), but we aim for consistency and let things fall where they may. Still I am in denial that Lincoln's latest cry fest bedtime will be accepted into our regularly scheduled plans. I can't take this every night. What is going on with this guy? I can presume everything. Hungry? Teething? Over- stimulated? Over-tired? Separation anxiety? Environmental factors not in alignment (see above). WHAT already?

God, if I could only sleep until about Friday...

Wow Weekend!

Another weekend, another excuse to spend money! Oh, and that we did!

For several months, Lincoln has been in dire need to make the transition from his infant carrier into a regular car seat. I'm actually embarrassed to admit that we waited this long to move him from his infant carrier, but I have a lot of good excuses, just in case you want to hear any of them. So, for the past 3 months, I have been researching car seats in hopes of finding the exactly perfect seat for our kids, knowing we don't have a spare $400 sitting around and recognizing that this new seat will have to last through Elaina and then Lincoln. The plan was to buy two (one per vehicle) new seats for Elaina and move Lincoln into her old seats. We set aside Saturday as the day that we were buying. With a hot tip from a friend, we got 2 awesome seats, a great buy and won't have to make another seat purchase until Elaina is probably 5 or 6. We did it!

I was looking forward to this morning since it was our first ride with Lincoln facing forward (he's 3 weeks from turning the magic age of 1 and he's already over the weight restriction) and with Elaina in her new seat. Oh how I love to see both of my munchkins sweet little faces when I look in the back seat. Lincoln was so cute as he just sat for the whole 4 minute drive to the sitter's house, sucking his thumb and looking out the window. Although that's probably what he always did, I got to see him. Hey, it doesn't take much to thrill me, what can I tell you?

Also over this weekend, Lincoln began to take unassisted, un-coaxed steps all by himself! He's been cruising along the furniture for months now, but recently began to take steps from point A to Point B. I love watching his pride in his short, quick little three step endeavor. He is so happy with himself.

And since you're already here, I thought you might enjoy some pictures that I finally uploaded from my camera. I think it's apparent what a good weekend we had... no explanations necessary.

Stick around, tomorrow night is video posting night! Bring the cracker jack and your catcher's mitt... it's time to play ball!

From the mouths of Babes

It was all of yesterday that I announced to Elaina that Mommy and Daddy have had enough of the food battles at each and every mealtime. Her Elaina- approved menu choices continue to be minimal to say the least and it's hard to feel good about serving her grilled cheese and pizza bites day after day.

Over dinner last night, there were no dinner battles because there was no change. Totally off the cuff, I mentioned to her that once she turns 3, there will be no more Elaina-exclusive menu options and that she will have to eat what Mommy and Daddy are eating because she needs to eat like big kids do. Pretty clever if I do say. Having a pre-established date of when something new is going to go into effect seems to work with Elaina and we plan to take full advantage of the magical 3rd birthday while we're at it.

And there we were at dinner tonight when Elaina chided in about how her pizza bites were so yummy for her tummy. I told her that my green beans were even yummier for tummies. With that, she said "But Mommy, I'm only 2. I'm not 3 yet." Little stinker. The good thing is that at least I know that turning 3 actually has some bearing in her mind of taking on a new challenge of eating different food. I guess I'll be eating green beans on my own for another 2 months.

But the joy of having two kids is that Lincoln ate loads of green beans and has a healthy appetite for whatever we're eating. Just don't serve that kid baby food. He's recently adjusted to drinking regular milk and water from a sippy cup and always wants to hold his own spoon. Not so much on the sippy. What gives?

And the best for last, Lincoln learned to say hi tonight. During his bath, he would climb onto his feet, pop his head over the side of the tub and say "hiiii." Oh. So. CUTE! Since you couldn't be there, let me just tell you that Lincoln's current pronunciation is rather flamboyant, like a short and high pitched "Hh-iee." Oh does he make me laugh! How I wish every night could be like this.

Profiles in the art of remembering

The downfall about blogging about 2 kids is sometimes getting the feeling that I'm giving one kid more blog time stories more than the other. Since I'm not keeping tally marks next to my keyboard, I just have to write about what's current and act on giving them individual attention in real life. As of late, I've been having those kind of days that I just wish I had a little video recorder or tape player in my head that I could just turn on to remember what super cute thing that Lincoln did or the goofy little ideas that Elaina comes up with. Once the kids are in bed, a reasonable amount of housework has been accounted for and my lunch is packed for the next day, I finally get myself to the computer and my mind is

Yeah.

Blank.

So, while I can't recount the very most specific funnies of my day, I do think that's it's time for a little profile refresher for Elaina and the first profile of Lincoln.

Here we go:

Name: Elaina

Alias: LuluBelle, Lu, LuLee, Laina, Angel, Sweetheart, Baby, Bootie

Strengths: good conversationalist, potty trained, loving big sister, especially charming and sensitive, outstanding memory

Could Use a Little Work: just eat ALREADY!, no more clobbering little brother, listen to parents the first time rather than ignoring, ignoring, ignoring

Talents: can curl her tongue, can wink with one eye, can play acrobat by teetering between two pieces of furniture, can turn on the charm at the bat of an eye

General characteristics: smart, funny, sensitive, loving, caring

Funniest Saying: " I get two. Because I'm two."

Aspirations: wants to go to school

Biggest Fans: Mommy and Daddy

Name: Lincoln

Alias: Angel Boy, Turdlette, Linky, My Baby Boy

Alias as dubbed by the Big Sister: Lincoln-Doo, LincolnDeeDee, Baby

Strengths: professional crawler, loves to be loved, will crawl across the room for a hug, will eat anything, sleeps through the night, will entertain himself by playing with toys for long periods of time ( for a baby, that is)

Could Use a Little Work: be a little less stingy with those sweet smiles, stop throwing food from highchair, eliminate the occasional 4 a.m. wake up time for a bottle, crying at the top of your lungs is not necessary

Talents: blowing raspberries, learned to clap hands, can hold bottle (although prefers not to) stands alone, can take two steps unassisted

General characteristics: cautious, serious, toy boy, loves to be held, healthy appetite, mostly contented

Words: MammaMammaMamma, DaddaDaddaDadda, Uh-Oh

Aspirations: wants to break those pesky one year molars in and his eye tooth in without incident, hopeful member of Hair Club for Tots

Biggest Fans: Mommy and Daddy

Husband Prote'ge'

So if you've been a reader of this little 'ol blog of mine, you could be pretty accurate in guessing that my husband easily has the busiest schedule of the two of us. Just in case you wondered (yeah right) Eric was scheduled to work out of town again this week. Uh, I think this makes 3 out of 4 weeks he's had to travel for work. The only redeeming fact that made this week different is that he was only driving to Cleveland and he commuted each day to be able to spend more time here than alone in a hotel room. Good Daddy!

Needless to say, busy weeks very much affect my blogging time. Which I hate. And since I made the decision to sleep versus blog most nights, you get the weekend recap.

Eric's busy week concluded on Thursday just in time to pick up the kids from the sitter's house and I was able to attend my monthly Tastefully Simple meeting. Consultant meetings are not required but encouraged to build support, encouragement and exchange information and training. I look forward to them since I have a little time to squeeze in some kid free shopping between work and meeting time. Plus, I have found the meetings to be enjoyable and fulfilling. Bonus! A good night indeed.

Remember how my friends and I launched our monthly Bunco girls' night last month? This month was my turn to host 11 other girls at our house on Friday night. I can't even begin to tell you what an enjoyable time we had together. Everyone made snacky-junk food and we sipped whiskey sour slushes and laughed and ate and laughed some more. Oh, and we played Bunco too. Great fun! And since Bunco actually doesn't take that long to play, (especially if you skip the practice rounds for the new girls and skip the half hour eating intermission) everyone was out the door at a reasonable hour and my guests were kind enough to clean up AND leave me some snackies. Makes me want to host every month!!

By the way, is everyone following me here? Two Laura-nights in a row!!! And wait, there's more!

I had been looking forward to Saturday morning to hit up a kid's consignment sale (actually 2 of them) to scrounge up some good deals on clothes for my ever- growing kids. I wouldn't say I hit the jackpot of luck, but walked away with some cute clothes without dumping a lot of money. Definitely worth my time. More Laura time!

By the time I finished my shopping, I had enough time to sit down and eat lunch with my family before I had to roll on out to work a Tastefully Simple party. I was going to a host's house of whom I briefly met at an expo I did and didn't really know what to expect. I am pleased to report that the host and her guests were so much fun, so nice and made my whole experience utterly delightful. Really! The best part is that I felt so comfortable and actually felt like I was doing a good job. That was my biggest reward of the day. And even though the show total wasn't good, I've established a nice little branch of new customers who have lined up 3 more shows for me. Not bad for a fun afternoon and earning some cash on the side.

In all of my rush and my busy schedule, guess who stayed at home with the kids? You got it! Daddy! It was as if Eric and I had switched roles for a few days. Usually, I'm the one cramming my weekends with housework and kid time while Eric is doing his who-knows-what Eric-stuff, but not this time. Trust me, by the time this evening rolled around, Eric was itching to get out of the house before cabin fever set in. I loved that we did a little role reversal in allowing me the busy weekend while he played Mr. Mom. Although these weekends are rare, I welcomed the independence of going and doing, but really missed squeezing my kids and pressing my kisses into their heads. All said, I'll continue complaining about Eric being gone and the mounting laundry and unswept floors but wouldn't trade my time with my kids for much of anything in this world.

As Good as it Gets?

Let the northerners curse my name for what I'm about to say.

I think I want our cold, murky, winter weather back.

Blasphemy. I know.

The weather yesterday and today was simply gorgeous. Gorgeous for Ohio in April anyhow. The temperatures hovered around 65 and the sun was shining. Beautiful right? So, what in the world would possess me to say I want 40 degree days back again?

Here's a hint:Yep. That one.

Tonight Elaina was out playing with the neighbor kids (how cute! I know! squeal!:-)) and I gave her 2 warnings that dinner was going to be ready soon and she would have to stop playing. When dinner time rolled around, as promised, Eric had to carry her in screaming and crying. She didn't want to eat. She wanted to whine and play at the table and seemed basically incapable of sitting still. [Translate: butt hardly touched the seat.] So.... Mommy and Daddy laid down the law and carried her up to bed. No dinner, no books and no smiles. Definitely no smiles. Will this really be the end result of each day this summer? The child needs to eat, right?

Can I just tell you how much I hate dinnertime already? When she actually will eat food, Elaina has been on a steady diet of only wanting grilled cheese sandwiches. Lunch and dinner. Grilled cheese. Since she's not opposed to pepperoni (right now) so I throw a few slices in her sandwich to cover her meat food group for the day. Healthy, right? Did I mention that I hate dinner time? Oh and Lincoln has boycotted baby food and eats just about anything that we're having. With one exception. He is learning to feed himself while at the same time, practicing his curve ball with his pitching arm. Little morsels of food cover my baby, my floor and the high chair seat like it's his job.

So, back to Elaina the Drama Queen. After 15 minutes of sobbing, yelling and whining, a sweetly innocent young girl appeared at the bottom of the stairs. She said that she needed to go potty. Once her potty break was over, she begged her father into laying down with her for a little bit in her bed.

Eric relayed parts of their conversation to me that went something like this:

Daddy: Elaina, you got into trouble tonight because you didn't eat your dinner.

Elaina: But Daddy, we're family.

Daddy: I know and you don't treat family that way.

Elaina: But you're so cute.

This is the exchange that happened all while Elaina was brushing her little hand next to Eric's cheek and speaking in her most polite can't-resist-me-Elaina voice.

What are we going to do with these kids of ours?

The Picture Flood

It's been too long since I've posted any pictures of the kids so you know what that means?

Oh yeah... roll of your sleeves, we're having a picture flood over here.

Narration above. Enjoy the flood!

Warning: This is what too much Easter candy will do to your kid.

The first nice day of spring which may actually be enough to make me think that winter really is coming to an end.

Although it looks like Lincoln is hitching a ride with his big sis, it's really just a clever angled shot. She wasn't about to let that baby on her bike anyhow. My son-shine! I didn't think it could have been possible for Eric to love Elaina any more than he does until he discovered that she likes to play in the dirt. And pick up rocks. And be outside. Aaah! Ain't love grand? I just love that she's wearing her sparkley glitter shirt to play in the dirt. Atta' Girl! Any time now Baby Lincoln. He is going to be walking before we know it! Oh, and he looks so cute pushing his Tonka truck!Here are the kids watching the Max and Ruby on the Dinosaur (t.v.). Those were the olden days. Literally. And why does every kid feel the necessity to sit approximately 5.5 inches from the screen? Not any more!!! Now they get to stand 5.5 inches from the big screen! We went from having a dinosaur molding into the corner of our living room to Godzilla towering over our heads with intimidation. Wow!

The Longest Week Ever

On Monday morning, Eric left to go out of town for work once again. Traveling for his job is nothing particularly new, however, the current frequency is not usual. He's expected to do training seminars and teach some classes and attend conferences from time to time, but some brilliant person within the state decided to clump all of this training time together and do it within a span of 2 months versus over a a typical 6 month period.

So, here we are. The kids and myself. I hope if you're reading my blog with frequency, you know that there will never be a time that I have a single valid complaint about my kids in a non-joking manner. I hope this doesn't come across as complaining about being with them by myself, rather that I just appreciate the role of 2 parents in a 2 child home. Simple as that.

When Eric is gone, I try to run a fairly tight ship and anticipate and take precautions for any pitfalls that may pop up along the way. I just like to be prepared and keep everyone happy. On Monday night, I took a gamble and took the kids along to my chiropractor appointment. The promise of impending McDonald's playland across the street was enough incentive for Elaina to behave. I was beaming that both kids were happy, content and good all night from beginning to end and that I did it myself.

Tally: Success for Monday night!

On Tuesday night Lincoln was beyond tired and cranky and could not put himself to sleep. At all. After 45 minutes of him screaming and crying in my face and trying most everything I know of to soothe him, I strapped him safely into his car seat and put him in the bathroom downstairs where it was quiet and dark and he could yell himself to sleep without waking Elaina at 11:00. Within 5 minutes of crying, he began to snore. Put me down for another check mark because I totally earned this night.

Wednesday morning I don't even remember sleeping which is a sure guarantee for a long day. By the time I got home I was still plugging along and had the kids fed and happy and had finished washing Lincoln's hands when I went in the other room to check on Elaina. Within 3 minutes of her being by herself (seriously: 3 !!) she had colored a crayon masterpiece that she was anxious to show to me. It was on the floor. More specifically, on the carpet. 3 colors of crayon. My proud little artist got a sorrowful time out followed by a magic eraser to help me scrub out the color. The verdict, the magic eraser actual works on carpet and Elaina learned consequence of bad judgement. We made it through calm and unscathed.

And the grand finale, my husband, my love, my rock was waiting for me when I came home from work today. Yay! He's home! My week of too-long nights, too-early mornings and trying to be 10 steps ahead of my kids can take a back seat for a little while. At least at this point, I'm learning the game and having some luck at winning.

Posers

Have you ever the slang term "poser?"

Well, we were all posers in our own right this weekend. On Saturday, we took the kids to get their very first professional picture taken together. I had intended for Easter poses, but then decided against anything to dressed up and "Eastery." Oh yeah, and I ran out of time to get their pictures done before Easter so it didn't really matter. I just wanted my kids touching in the same photo.

Elaina was the first Poser. All morning long she asked if we could go to the picture place yet. Get it? My child posing like she was going to know what to do at the portrait studio. Like she liked going there. Poser. Their appointment time finally rolled around after their nap time and Elaina did pretty good. Mostly good. Ummm... not so bad. By the sheer stroke of luck, there were a few pics of her alone that were absolutely adorable.

Lincoln posed as a race horse trying to break stride at the finish line of a race. Eric had bounced Lincoln's spare t-shirt in his face to play peek-a-boo while at the same time, wiping his face of smiley baby slobber. When Lincoln was getting in photographer-approved-posing-position, Eric would swipe the shirt in front of his face and snag it away quickly with Lincoln revealing the most happy baby smile ever. Which only lasted for approximately 15.8 seconds before Lincoln tried to crawl to his Daddy for some more. Darn that slow photographer.

Final score of picture posers:
Elaina - good
Lincoln- justifyably good
together: potential winners of the most awkward smile photo contest

And the biggest poser of all, introducing; my husband. While I ordered the pictures, he browsed around the store in the neighboring furniture department. He reported to me in his most nonchalant way that some entertainment centers were on sale. Huh? Was he really looking at entertainment centers? For like a new tv or something? The same guy who sounds like a broken record saying, "There's nothing wrong with the one we have." Really? Poser.

Long story short, we bought an entertainment center. Although it is listed to hold a 50" television, under no uncertain terms will the console-dinosaur even be considered lifted into the newly purchased television nest. No. No. No. Even if it is 5o".

As for me. I'm only a poser as I write this post multiple days later and have pictures of the new PLASMA tv that did find a home! HeeHeeHee.

The Happy Dance!

Every parent who has raised a child through the potty training stage can attest to knowing all about the potty song and dance hoopla that goes along with potty training. We've been doing this for almost a year now. Well, mostly on and off and mainly with ongoing encouragement. With Elaina we used bribes of chocolate, candy and stickers. The candy worked pretty well as she got a jelly bean or M&M for telling us and another for the actual tinkle. The sticker reward chart worked pretty well too and when she wet her pull up, a sticker was peeled from her chart while the tears ensued. Seriously you would have thought we were cutting skin from her toes. Thank God those usual bouts only lasted a couple minutes before she realized that mommy and daddy were moving on from her drama.

And so the learning process.

For the past few months Elaina had reached a plateau of sorts. She was wearing pull ups during the day and excited about the big girl status that went with the new Disney Princess patterns that displayed on her new butt covers. Yet she still had accidents. Like any kid, stopping what she was doing to go potty was not on her schedule.

As far as I was concerned, she needed to get over this hump. I know that she is smart enough to know when she has to potty and she was just riding out the pull up phase without consequence. (Because it wasn't her $13 for 48 pull ups!) I had enough. It was full fledged potty training boot camp all of last week for my darling daughter. Our sitter (who we L O V E ) was going to have only a few kids this past week ( because most of their parents are teachers on spring break) agreed to go full board on helping to get Elaina over her hump of potty training.

I arrived Monday morning with a bag filled with 5 extra pairs of pants, 7 pair of big-girl-panties and loads of encouragement that I had pumped into Elaina about what was expected of her. She had her share of accidents early on in the week, but by Thursday, she had a full dry day and has only had 2 accidents since. Hooray! So, we've moved on from the potty dance to the shouting-with-joy-'cause-I-only-have-one-kid-in-diapers-happy-dance!!! She's done it!!

I am still a little taken back by her latest milestone and that she's taken another step closer to becoming a big kid. I was planning on giving her plenty of time to work on dry nap times and bedtimes, but I think she's already handled that herself. She's been waking up dry at 6:00 in the morning telling us that she has to potty. Aaack! 6 in the morning, but sooo not complaining. Pretty soon, we'll phase out the overnight diaper entirely and Elaina will be the "big girl" we've been talking so much about. My big girl! It's really finally happened!

Earily Familiar

For the past few days Lincoln has been more cranky than usual, pulling at his ears and his eating habits have been noticeably different. Sounds like all of the familiar signs of an ear ache to me.

Not again.

I took Lincoln to see the doctor in hopes that I may have been wasting my time, but no. Lincoln is on his way to getting another ear infection. Our family doctor/ pediatrician is great. Elaina loves her and talks about Dr. Joni all of the time. Dr. Joni in turn, loves our kids (she sees them often enough it seems) and has a particular fondness for Lincoln who jokingly refers to as "Moosie" because he is as big as a moose and makes grunty-growly noises like a wild beast.



As Dr. Joni and I were in the midst of our conversation about Lincoln's prescription, she stopped on a dime, interrupting her own sentence and commented on how much Lincoln looks like Eric. She was struck by the resemblance and even the similarities between Elaina and Lincoln.

In the evening, we joined some friends at our favorite pizza place (as usual) and my friend Rebekah was in awe in how much Lincoln is looks like Eric. Wow! I know I have two handsome men in my life, but this confirms that Lincoln was just meant to be ours. Same with his big sis. Just another perfect example of a perfect miracle.

Too bad Lincoln seemed to get my misery and woe of ear infections. He's my kid too!

Like who?

Tonight Elaina stated to me that when she gets bigger she wants to play baseball. Just like Daddy. She told me that she wanted to be a "Stuper-star" just like Daddy too. While I can kinda see her point about Daddy being a Stuper-star, she came from left field with her wannabe aspirations. It's true that Eric played baseball in high school, but as far as either of us were concerned, Elaina has no knowledge of that.

So okay, Elaina, give it your best shot. You're sure to be a Superstar no matter what you choose. Leave the Stuper-star stuff to the guys.

On my calendar

If you could see my wall calendar hanging in my kitchen you would know that it's jammed packed with colorful scribbled appointments and dates to remember. One such date that is highlighted and bold is March 24. It's not anyone's birthday that I know, it's not a holiday and it's unfortunately not another day off work. Hmmph. It is however, a day that will always be very special to Eric and myself. Exactly one year ago on a sunny, brisk Saturday afternoon, we met with Lincoln's birth mother. On March 24, we came to know a beautiful, intelligent young lady who ultimately confirmed her decision of choosing us to become her baby's family.

The day still seems so fresh and clear in my mind and I'll never forget my exact words to her, "Are you telling me that we're it? As in, we should start buying everything blue, picking out names and getting ready for our boy?" She offered an assured and confident "yes" with a smile on her face. It was that moment that feelings inside of me began to shift as I began to consider myself a mother of two. Just like I had always wanted and planned. We were about to become new parents of a baby boy. A BOY! For US!! I don't remember my feet even touching the ground that day.

Throughout our journey to becoming parents, there is so much I can say now, that I never thought my heart had the capacity to feel. I still cry and my heart still aches for our daughters, but God has a way of healing in such a way that I'm not bitter or angry. Even though I feel sadness, I remind myself that if it weren't for Ella and Ava, we would have never been blessed with Elaina and Lincoln. And since they are my whole world, I know this is and always was God's plan for us all. And isn't God good?

Who the Easter Bunny brought to town...

Family.
Fun-filled.
Joyous.

Laughter.

Togetherness.

Smiles.

Memories.

Happiness.

Easter.

And so it was all of the above which made our Easter one of a kind. Even more special is that it served as Lincoln's first Easter. Judging by his special treats and toys brought by the Easter Bunny, I'd have to guess that he liked it.

For our fourth year family tradition, my family traveled to our house to celebrate the holiday weekend. I would be remiss if I didn't recollect the first year of our family starting this tradition stemming from when Ava was in the NICU. To this day, I'll never forget the flood of emotions that pulsed through my heart and my mind spending such a joyous, religious holiday heartsick over our beloved little angel. From that experience, I believe that my feelings toward Easter have been forever changed. Now, I hug my kids even tighter and longer. My heart wants to burst from my chest to hear their laughter. And their smiles make my whole world happy and right. But most of all, I want to fall to my knees and praise God beyond words for creating our beautiful children and making us a family. The Lord is good indeed.

So, as I wipe my tears... let me share some of our weekend where we stayed busy spoiling our kids and making memories.

My parents arrived on Friday as to get an early start jumping right into the weekend. Greg, Kate and Colin arrived strategically after nap time and I don't remember hearing silence in our house since. Colin was given the star treatment as he was welcomed at the back door by a very excited cousin who was bouncing up and down with anticipation. For only seeing each other a handful of times throughout the year, they are each others biggest fans. Colin was given free reign of Elaina's toys and just happened to choose the two most questionable ones in the house. A scooter and handcuffs, what else? Since I'm only joking, I'll say that he played really well and passed his toddler- scooter-driving test with flying colors. As for the handcuffs, eh, they didn't stick. We've already tried that on another certain toddler. Our Saturday evening dinner consisted of a trip to our favorite local pizza joint which we frequent (almost) weekly. I wanted to give my foodie brother and S-I-L a taste of quality small town dining and was thrilled when they awarded it an enthusiastic thumbs up. Stop on over to Kate's blog to see our dinner crew and see if you can guess who is the hungriest of all.

In my Dad's opinion, despite our two little lovables (and his only daughter!) a trip to our house wouldn't be complete without a trip to the ice cream place. Again, Kate has some great pics over at her blog since my mom and I stayed home with Lincoln to get a jump on some cooking and baking preparations for Easter dinner the next day. Somehow, we found it just a little bit easier to cook without 6 other bodies in the house. After some unusual sleeping arrangements to get everyone bedded down for the night, the Easter Bunny found his way into our house and left loads and loads of goodies all over. He even took a giant bite out of cake we had baked for dessert the following day. I never would have guessed that bunnies liked chocolate cake so much. Mmm... Also, when the kids woke they were both somehow blindsided to the very obvious and very full Easter baskets left outside of their doors. Elaina and Colin both received two loaded baskets of goodies to Lincoln's very special one. Lincoln didn't particularly mind that some surprises just happened to land in his room already.

Easter morning has found the whole family loaded into our upstairs hallway as the kids unload their baskets of goodies and load their mouths with sweet confections. It's just funny to me that our hallway receives such fanfare one time a year. After the best egg hunt on record for Elaina and Colin, both kids resumed their unofficial candy eating contest. Neither was declared the winner since both of them conceded to a mid-morning nap. Did you hear the Hallelujah like I did? I have to say that our dinner was a team effort of fabulous-ness. The food, the help and the company. Most unfortunate is that Elaina didn't join us since she had just woken from her nap and wasn't in the eating kind of mood. Most times, Eric and I would be more persitent in trying to coerce her, but on a non-typical day like this day, we were in no position of winning. I guess that was lucky for Colin who got first dibs on dessert. As for Lincoln's first Easter and our fourth annual family tradition, this holiday was as joyous and abundant as ever. Celebrating with our baby boy and the magic of the Easter bunny through the eyes of our children made it the best of all!

I hope yours was just as good!

While you wait...

Since I can't even begin to tell you what a lovely Easter we celebrated this weekend, I'm not going to even try just yet. I'm a little tired, a little bit not feeling well and a lot overwhelmed with cutie-cute kid pictures to rummage through.

Instead, I'll leave you with these sweet faces to smile back to until I come across 27 hours in a day or some kind of concoction which provides unlimited energy, brainpower and wit all in one. Without killing me. Until then...
My little weirdos... Elaina is modeling her warmest footie jammies showcased by her purple satin tutu and outdoor bike helmet. My handsome Lincoln is donning his Pittsburgh Steelers jammies accented with a pink satin princess cone hat with purple streaming lace with accompanying Froot Loops glued to his bottom lip. It doesn't get much better than this. Me, I just need to work on learning a more natural un-stone like smile.

Raincheck

I'm going to have to believe that none of you have been on the edge of your seat eagerly awaiting my drill-sergeant method of single parent bedtime. If you were by chance, there just may be some underlying issues that you may want to address first. My apologies anyway.

Last week got away from me faster than a fart in a wind storm. (A favorite expression used by a former co-worker.) It's a good thing I'm choosing not to bore you with our bedtime routine because last Wednesday turned into a big disaster with Thursday bringing the tired-toddler-tantrum. Let's just suffice to say that Elaina and Lincoln both have very specific windows of opportunity for going to bed. It is crucial to their temperament and their mother's sanity to satisfy their timing and not let that all-important window close before the child is horizontal in bed. Eric's arrival home on Thursday night was impeccable.

Thursday into Friday found me cleaning the house, catching up on laundry and preparing for my family to visit over Easter weekend. Can you believe it; a snow covered Easter in March. I'm trying to wrap my mind around the fact that Spring is actually coming (so they say) and that we get another holiday so early in the year. Okay by me, minus the snow of course.

Did you know that this year is the earliest that Easter has ever been in over 200 years? And, did you know that none of us will be alive to experience an Easter so early in the year? Unless one of you plan on living another 200 years, that is. And if you do, who are you going to tell about it?

Wake-Up Call

Okay, I really don't intend for this post to be all complainy but...

Eric headed out of town for work this evening and won't return until late Thursday. While I'm well aware that is only 2 full days (cumulative) of being a single parent, I tend to stress. When I am running the show single- handedly I like to balance our days and nights like clockwork. I like to ensure that everyone (except for me) (unfortunately) gets to bed on time so we don't have to deal with the a case of the grumpies in the morning. Right now, I have everyone's clothing laying out including diapers, socks and shoes (except for me.) I have breakfast fixings layed out including full sippy cups, bibs and breakfast options for the Picky One. My instant cappuccino is waiting next to my travel mug and my lunch is packed. Now, I just have to NOT turn off my alarm when it goes off at the tender hour of 6:00. I am so much not a morning person. My objective is to ready myself completely before the kids wake and then save the last hour for getting them dressed, fed, packed and out the door. That's my plan anyhow.

It's not very often that Eric has to be out of town during the week, but about every other month, it's a must. I know I shouldn't complain because I have it rather good. The problem is that Eric helps so much in the mornings that I have to challenge myself to be able to do it alone. So, the race is on. Stay tuned to hear more about my compulsive bedtime routine . I never said I wasn't riding the fence of OCD. I so much am.

Potty Police

Why can I remember to haul my camera along to the playground for kid pictures, or have it handy at the dinner table when Elaina decides to paint her face with chocolate pudding, but I didn't think to lay a finger on it this weekend when Grandma and Grandpa W. came to visit?
Why? Why? Why?

Eric's parents came for an overnight visit on Friday night until Saturday. Unfortunately, I had a previous commitment for Friday night for my first ever girls' Bunco Night. (Great fun, by the way!) Grandma and Grandpa were impressed how big Lincoln had gotten and how fast that little guy can crawl. And like usual, Grandma and Elaina baked cookies together. And, um, thanks for leaving them all with us. Yum! Elaina has the best grandmas: Grandma W. being the cookie-baking, finger-nail painting grandma and Grandma H. being cinnamon roll, chocolate milk grandma. Lucky for all of us and our sweet tooth!

We enjoyed lunch at a local restaurant before they had to move on to their next destination. Since there was plenty of day still left and the temperature was still mild, Elaina and I packed up and enjoyed a girls' day out. The abbreviated version that you do with a 2 year-old in 4 hours before bedtime, that is.

I had to make some returns and I was longing to use my 30% savings coupon at Kohl's. We ended up going to several stores and she even tinkled while stopping at the stores for a potty break. [Just an intermission in this story; Elaina had a dry pull-up all weekend long and even woke up dry on Saturday. WOW!] I was so impressed and happy with my big girl, until.... We were taking a potty stop at our last store and she went first and then it was my turn. Usually I play "Simon Says" with her while I go about my business so that she doesn't get distracted and want to touch everything-germ-infested in the bathroom. Good idea, right? Eye contact, keeping her hands to herself, etc. This particular time, the distraction of the lock on the door was more than she could take and she opened the door while I was still sitting and she ran down the hall! Brat! And there I sit, yelling from my throne, door flung wide open and crazy child about to get in trouble on the loose. Thankfully, the location of the ladies room is somewhat remote and a key is necessary to access the 2 restrooms so there wasn't an audience at this point. At the time though, I didn't know which direction she went and if she made it back into the busy store. Alone. However, the employee offices and break room were in this corridor which is where I found the little girl who about to get spanked. When I happened upon her, she was smiling like she had won a sack race. And without a word, I snatched her up back into the restroom which my purse and coats were left and swatted her hiney, washed our hands, put on her coat and hauled her past our loaded cart and the toys I promised her she could play with and out the car. Yes, she was in trouble. With Elaina, just not speaking to her for a short period of time following an incident hurts her feelings the most because of the uncertainty of what is next and provides a minute for me to calm down. Once she was secured in her car seat and her tears were still flooding from her face, I told her exactly why her behavior was unacceptable and she offered a sorrowful apology. We kissed and made up and I sprung for a happy meal which can right any wrong when you're two.

Snow Party

This is how it all started...

All ready for the first sled ride with Daddy.
Check out that snow flying in the air!
Coming back after one brave stint on the big hill.
Note, that isn't Daddy behind her. Apparently he got left in the snow drift.

The wiped out sled crew opted for a much more tame evening of vegging out to Noggin on our antique television.

This is Baby Cole. Baby Cole is only 9 months younger than Elaina, but will probably remain "Baby Cole" throughout high school. Or until they are married.

Don't I love 24 hour Noggin? YES!!

Yes Lincoln, you can pay your sister back some day for doing this to you. (Except I think you looked really cu-ute!)

And if this isn't a happy crew tucked in their house.

This group was pretty content too.

I guess if you have to be stranded inside, it's best to have friends with four wheel drive to join you for a come-as-you-are party. This was one day I didn't mind being snowed in.

Burning a Hole

Remember back in October when I took a leap of faith and signed up to be a Tastefully Simple consultant? Well, I just wanted to report that it’s doing pretty well.

The best thing about being a home-party consultant is that I’m able to create my own schedule, it’s relatively hassle and problem free and I’m directly responsible for my own job satisfaction. Also, there is unlimited money making opportunity; it’s all about the effort I care to put forward.

I consider this little part time job exactly that. Part time. I have the flexibility to work around my schedule and my priorities. There won’t come a time when my family is put out because Mommy is too busy with a second job. Actually I consider this my third job. My family is my obvious and top priority with my full time job in second place.

I guess the whole point of this is that I was checking out my TS checking account last night and actually seeing profit. Real money that I’ve earned on the side that I never had before. While I haven’t exactly decided what I plan to do with my mad-money, I do know that I feel proud to have earned it and that it is a direct result of me being willing to try something new and take a plunge into something completely out of my comfort level.

So now I get to decide if I want to go all nutsy on frivolous, little indulgences or if I should continue to save for let’s say a weekend getaway or vacation.

What would you do with an amount of money between $500 and $1000? Spend? Save? Indulge? Hmmm....

Some Party

So have you heard about the blizzard of a snow storm that dumped all over Ohio in the past 72 hours? It’s here. And it’s there. The snow, people, is everywhere.

The weather and road conditions worsened in such a short amount of time that our county office building even closed it’s doors and sent employees home 3 hours early. Closing government offices is nearly as unheard of as what I’m going to call an almost-blizzard in March. But there we had it.

On Saturday afternoon, we received a phone call from our neighbors down the street inviting us to come sledding down their massive side yard hill. Since Eric was already planning on taking Elaina on a sled ride after her nap, we all decided to bundle up and join in the sled fest already in progress.

I had had enough cold just from going in and out of the houses that Lincoln and I stayed inside and sipped on tea and played with toys. You can guess who enjoyed which activity. Eric and Elaina had made only one trip down the hill before Elaina announced that she’d had enough. Soon enough, the whole sledding crew had rendered themselves from their inner tubes and sleds to come inside. Somewhere between stripping off snow suits and assessing their age by the number of sore body parts, the guys decided to come to our house for a pool party. To shoot pool, that is. So we had a party. With 5 minutes notice.

With 9 adults and 5 kids all still a little grungy from sweating while sledding and this hostess still not showered from my earlier plan of not having any plans, we were about as casual and kicked back as ever. That’s the beauty of friendship right there. With only one pizza shop in town (not closed due to the weather) everyone was content with ordering pizza and grazing on the fine assortment of anything-edible-I-could-pull-from-my-cupboards.

The guys played pool, the girls talked about girl-stuff and the kids played and chased and did kid things. This was one of the greatest and most memorable neighborhood parties we’ve ever had. Being snowed in wasn’t so bad after all. I wonder what the forecast will bring us next weekend?

Because you haven't missed anything...

That’s exactly how it’s been. Nothing noteworthy has been going on in our home for over a week. See, you haven’t missed much.

I have to admit that a vacation from blogging is necessary from time. It’s not that I don’t like to blog and it’s not like I don’t like reading the occasional comments from all of you, it’s just that this past week has slipped by and I haven’t been able to squeeze in a single hour more into my day to blog. Darn it, anyway.

So, let’s say that if I would have forfeited sleep to talk to you all. Here’s a sampling of what I might have been sharing with you.

Lincoln: Has the cutest five-tooth smile you’d ever want to see. Two pearly whites gleam at the top, while three littles rest on the bottom. All of last weekend, he suffered yet another bout of croup and congestion and barely an appetite as a result. I thought my heart might crumble into tiny pieces as it hurt to hear his barking seal cough and crackling wheezing sound with each breath. With a round of antibiotics and much rest, the Mighty Lincoln is back to being my full time charmer. He’s pulling himself up onto anything that is the least bit stationery and crawls around everywhere. Oh, and he’s actually beginning to drink from a sippy cup without acting like he’s going to gag up a lung or look like he’s choking. My baby boy is really growing up.

Elaina: Although she’s never had croup, she did present with a random fever for a few days in a row. The strange part is that it wasn’t persistent and she didn’t really have any other symptoms. I don’t even know that she felt bad. Weird. But okay. Other than that, I’ve seen glimpses of her behavior which are mirror images of me in her attitude and her strong will. Good God. That will make for a posting of it's own.

Me: Oh, why oh, why do germs love me so? In caring for Lincoln and going to work in what-should-be- a dilapidated building in which mold and a pinch of heat flow through the vents, I am sick. What a surprise. I’m allergic to the mold and topped with Lincoln’s germs, my immune system crashed in a mess of a sinus infection. In fact, one night, my temperature was just under 103 F and this Momma went to bed before 10:00 without even considering blogging or cleaning up the day. For my OCD-self, that is rare.

Eric: I love my consistently healthy husband. No germs, no sickness or ailments to report with my stellar fella. In fact, my husband who is hardly romantic, surprised me with a new little sized camera that is more portable than our other and also records video and sound. I love them both!

And I ask myself what can be better than a surprise little camera that I’ve been lusting for; having an at-home husband on Wednesday nights. Earth-shattering news hit when Eric announced (with his arm bent in a strong hold behind his back) that he has conceded to Wednesday night bowling night for next season. Risking sounding like a nagging wife, you first have to know that Eric also has a Tuesday night commitment to the fire department for their weekly meeting and bowling season is forever long in 32 consecutive weeks. Like anyone else, there’s also the sporadic little pop-up events that consume my husband’s so-called free-time. I can’t wait to have an additional night with him throughout the week. This is such good news, you don’t even know!

If you’ve read this far, are you really thinking that you’re glad I didn’t report every snot, cough and fever that has consumed our world in the past week? Yeah, I thought so too.