Well, now what?

At dinner this evening, I warned Elaina that if she got up from her seat one more time before she was finished, she was going to sit in time out.

To this she replied, "Okay. Momma, I like time out. I'll go now."

Me: (crap. crap. crap.) "Sit down young Lady. You need to finish two more bites before you leave this table. Tell me why you would like time out."

Elaina: "I like time out because it's comfortable and quiet to myself. Mommy, can I go now?"

Me: (crap. crap. crap.) "TWO BITES!"

Custom Made Kids: Ours

For as long as I can remember, I've never wanted any more out of life than to be a wife and a mother. The kind just like my own mom.

And as long as I can remember, I've always wanted 2 kids; my daughter first followed with my son, 2 years apart. And in the most round about way and in a way that I would have never in a million years would have imagined, I got exactly what I wanted. Without flaw, without mistake, but pure perfection wrapped in sweet Elaina and Lincoln packages.


One of Ava's nurses from the NICU once told me that if it weren't for Ava's passing, Elaina would have never been a part of our family. On the same token, we would have never gotten Lincoln if we weren't already prepared for adoption.


It's these reminders that I hold dear when I look at our family dynamics and how our children came to be ours. It's for these reasons that I started blogging in the first place. It's been plenty healing while at the same time, pure and honest. Having adopted both of our children makes our bond of love even a little bit more unique than that of having biological children. Even though this isn't the way that I dreamed our family would be created, this is the family that I've always wanted. From the moment we held our newborns in the hospital rooms, we gazed upon the faces of little strangers. Little people who would change our lives and capture our hearts. With minimal family history at best and hardly a description of their biological fathers, their stories would be unfolding in our homes as they shared our last name. All the while knowing that their lives and their futures were changed from that very moment.
With promises of love, happiness, family, faith and abundant spoiling, our bond was cemented. While I'm not naive enough to believe that raising our kids through the hormonal teenage years won't always be sunshine and rainbows, our kids will always have that extra "circumstance" of being adopted to cause a potential riff in our Fairy Castle Dreamland. I'm using our time right now to capture these pure and celebrated moments to remind our kids that there wasn't a day in their lives that they weren't loved. That there's not a single thing in this world to suggest that they weren't meant for us and us for them.

One of very reasons that I began blogging all those years ago was to have a keepsake to come back to. A time capsule of pure and honest tales of our kids growing up and the happiness they have brought to everyone around them in the process. Memoirs so clear that I can just about hear their throaty, little giggles in the hallway while each of them thinks that the other looks the silliest. While they chase each other from one room to the next until finally realizing that they both want to crash atop mom and dad's bed with the silky comforter to squirm around on.

To remember the tender moments of the eldest convincing her mother that she wants to lay with "Lil'Lincoln in his crib so that he doesn't get lonely." And then laughing and playing with each other for nearly an hour before either lets the other rest.

And at the end of our crazy, long days, finding a mom that is most happy and satisfied with both of the little strangers who have made her life even better than she could have ever dreamed.

Friends and Family

This evening is the first time all week that I've actually been able to breathe in some down time. A big deep breathe of QUIET time. Quiet time for me means kids are in bed (obviously), husband is home, house is clean-ish, and every little preparation I do for the next day has all been squared away. Deep breath. Aahhh.

It's been like one crazy, zippy, fast roller coaster ride for much of this last week. Hence, no blogging which I so much wanted for. Somehow this time of year shoves Eric's work schedule into full swing, however unrelated to weather his job duties are. Our calendar is like a hopscotch pattern of multiple overnights dates that he'll be out of town. And this past week and weekend weren't any different. It's nice to finally have him home.

Speaking of traveling, my parents have returned home from Florida and since we were dog-sitting for them, we were the last stop on their almost 3 week trip. Which, coincidentally panned out beautifully for them to be here when I had to take Elaina to a very structured open-house at preschool (which Lincoln would have never sat through) and I was set to host our monthly girls' Bunco night at my house on Friday. And boy, did grandparents ever come in handy! Eric actually returned home late on Thursday evening, which we took full advantage of my parents being here by asking them to put the kids to bed while we high-tailed our way out the door to have a grocery shopping date at Wal-Mart of all places at 8:30 on a week night! Let it not be said that the romance has died after all these years!

As for girls' night, playing Bunco, it totally rocks! (I'm over 30; not sure if I'm allowed to be using that expression.) I've taken the commitment to hosting our group in our garage since it's plenty large enough and we can be as loud as we want to be. No one has to clean and prep their house, kick out their family, shush their friends for sleeping children or cram 12 people and 3 tables into one room. A garage party it is!

Bunco was initiated by a friend of mine almost a year ago and we've been trying to pull together our (girl) friend group and commit ourselves to one girls' night each month. So far, it's been awesome. It's the one night we hoot and holler, laugh until we cry and eat until we want to burst. And then we walk to the local bar and drink, dance and tell secrets that ought not to be revealed. It's the best night ever! And this time, it was my mom and dad that saved the day by taking care of the kids all day and night and even the next morning while I did a little bit of much needed recuperating. Thanks mom and dad for allowing me a few extra punches on my Mom-Off-the-Clock-Fun-Card. I really needed that!

Girls and Genie's

If the very reason I blog ever slips my mind, it's stuff like this I want to come back to.

As Elaina was going about her business on the potty tonight, she identified a sound and asked if it came from her tongue or from her tongue-butt. Hmmm.... give Mom just a minute here Kid, did you just say 'tongue-butt?"

When I replied that I didn't know what a tongue-butt was, she motioned to her "girl parts." Okay, so I already know that I'm a wimp for not plunging into proper anatomy terms with my 3 year old, but for now, "girl-parts" is working for us. She told me that "it" looks like a butt and a "that thing looks like a little tongue." Although I'm dying a little bit right within my skin at this point, the conversation proceeded.

Mom: "Elaina, that is not called a tongue-butt. Those are your girl-parts and we just call them girl parts."

Elaina: "Mommy, boys have boy parts. And sometimes, they're long. But not always. Girl parts are long too-- but not too long. They just look like butts-- but little butts. And they're fat-- but not too fat. Mommy, we're both girls, right?"

Mom: "Yes Honey, we're both girls and there's a lot of special things that go along with being girls."

Elaina: "I wish that Daddy was Lincoln and that Lincoln was Daddy and that you are Elaina and that I am Mommy and if I had a Genie, I would have lots of wishes and there would be purple clouds and I would be the Princess and Aladdin...."

Comeback

Well, would you lookey there? Darned near 2 weeks since I cut out for a very impromptu blogging hiatus. And the more unusual twist was that it was for no reason at all. Well, unless you count laziness, procrastination and my total, utmost addiction to facebook. Darned friends talking all over there. Actual conversations. Almost.

I think that my sudden lack of blogging was that I simply needed a break. I mostly save my computer time for late at night, after a long day of working, wrangling kids, cooking dinner, looking over my favorite websites and then, and only then, do I try to kick-start some creativity and imagination of what I want to post about that night. And quite frankly, sometimes I have no imagination, no creativity and not even an ounce of energy to give back to the blogoshere. Sorry.

So, in my nearly 2 week blog-cation (vacation from blogging, that is) our world most definitely hasn't been standing still. In fact, the simple act of forfeiting midnight blogging sessions hasn't even afforded me earlier bedtimes. Oh NO!!

Last week I registered Elaina for preschool. I made my very last official Tastefully Simple order, which as you may remember, I was calling that side business QUITS clear back in October, but that's another long story. The paw-licking-stinkering bundle of fur next to my feet is reminding me that we have been dog sitting for my parents while they are visiting my grandparents in Florida. The time of year where Eric has to travel out of town for days at a time is upon us once again. I've taken advantage of some severe bouts of OCD and tackled some nagging projects around the house which have left me with a great sense of accomplishment. I am in desperate need of ONE ENTIRE day to clean out baby clothes from my attic and attempt to resale or pass along mounds of outgrown sizes which we no longer have need for. I scored an autographed print of an OSU football player AND money just by numbering some prints for a friend. Eric and I enjoyed a night out with a group of friends to listen to an 80's rock band that I enjoyed more than I ever thought possible. And finally, FINALLY, I think that it may be safe to say that I am headed to an upswing on my blogging initiative. Really!

That's all I've got Folks. I feel like a severe novice trying to get back in the swing of things over here in my old neighborhood. I hope no one was beginning to think that I had moved out. I'll be back.

The other side of sick

The one (and only) thing I don't mind about our kids being sick is being able to stay home from work to take care of them. So what if I did use up nearly 30 hours of my sick time to be at home with my kids. And so what if I found myself plucking an almost-gone roll of toilet paper from the toilet bowl on a random afternoon at home. And who can blame me for wanting to stay in my pajamas the whole day long when I have no place to be?

By Wednesday afternoon, I could pretty much tell that Lincoln was turning the corner to feeling better. His fever was gone, his appetite was improving and judging from his less-croup sounding cough, the breathing treatments seemed to be doing their job. The only pitfall was that he was still fairly cranky and still possibly contagious. So, we stayed home. The whole week long.

Lucky for all of us, my parents paid us a visit which was actually twofold in their purpose. Of course they wanted to lend a hand in simplifying our week with a sick child but also, they were leaving their dog behind for us to dog sit while they headed to Florida. Elaina and Lincoln were totally beside themselves with having new people around rather than same-old-mom and same-old-dad day in and day out. Grandma and Grandpa even stayed home with them on Friday which allowed for Eric and I both to go to work. Simultaneously.

In juggling all of what last week threw at us, I've become more completely aware of a couple things. First of all, I would be happiest working my day job only part-time. And secondly, stay-at-home moms never really get any kind of break. Nap time hardly constitutes a 'break." Har. That's the time that you clean off the highchair tray for the 37th time of the day, chase millions of loads of laundry through, prepare the next meal, clean up and hide all of the "projects" that you would prefer not to tackle with a 3 year-old and go to the bathroom in peace.

In my days of staying home, I would admit that leisurely sleep-in mornings beat the crap out of our morning rush of dressing and feeding 3 people to leave the house at an exact time. Spending time painting banners, baking cookies and drawing pictures albums with my eldest and reading, singing and holding my youngest on my lap are things all more valuable than a paycheck.

Monkey B

Just one little side effect of being a working out of the home parent is having to leave your child(children) with a day care provider. As for our childcare provider, I've mentioned Nancy before, and we love her. Even better than that, she loves our kids.

The things that we don't love about child care is the occasional parent of a sick child who deems their work day more important than the condition of their sick child. These parents sometimes overlook that when their child has a cough for more than 6 weeks and their appetite and behavior seem slightly altered, maybe it's time to take them to see their doctor rather than day after day, back to the babysitter's house. But instead, wait until said child spikes a drastic fever and acts lethargic and then has no choice but to rush their precious ones to the emergency room upon which urgent test results reveal that the child with the persistent cough and changed behavior patterns does in fact have the RSV virus. And unbeknownst to them, has shared the same virus with the other darling children at the same child care providers home.

Any guesses who currently shares the same diagnoses? Hint, it's prevalent in children under age 2. Four gold stars to anyone who guessed that Lincoln has RSV.

I think that maybe my previous sarcastic remarks may be a little uncalled for, but at the same time, my kid has RSV and the "carrier's" mother was only going to keep her at home for only one day so that she could go back to work. Hello...! This virus is contagious as all heck and since Lincoln's swab test came back positive, we've mapped out our entire week, sharing shifts to stay home with him and Elaina to get him well again.

Again... deep breathes. I'm not angry. I just can't seem to put this story together without acknowledging the ignorant thought process of some other day-care moms. See?!!? There I go again!

Let me take you through chain of events that have brought us to now. On Saturday, Nancy (child care provider) called to let me know that two siblings that she cares for had been diagnosed with bronchitis. Okay. So that would explain why Lincoln, Elaina and I have all had a quick onset of deep, throaty coughing attacks. By Sunday, Lincoln had hardly eaten anything in 2 days and when he did eat, he would soon have a coughing attack which made him throw everything up immediately. (Gross. Sorry.) Other times, he would be coughing so hard that his face would turn beat red and he would have trouble catching his breath. And let's not forget about his fever. Since Saturday night, Lincoln's temperature has been hovering in the 102- 103 range. All courtesy of Monkey B. (Yeah, I do seem kind of hostile don't I?)

When I called Nancy early on Monday morning to let her know that I would be keeping the kids at home, she told me that the bronchitis carrier had since been diagnosed with RSV and that my kids were around them most.

Our pediatrician was able to see Lincoln early Monday morning and deemed it necessary for him to have a nebulizer breathing treatment right there before he went home. We have since had a nebulizer delivered to our home, 2 prescriptions filled, non-stop ibuprofen, worrisome fevers, coughing-into-barfing fits, no appetite and little interest in drinking, wanting only to yell and be held at night, thus not letting the rest of the family sleep and many days of sick time used from our work schedules. Did I mention how cranky that kid is? Apparently, so am I.

What IS new here.

I think that for now I'm not going to bother lamenting on how lazy I've been about blogging and I'm even going to spare myself from trying to catch up on everything that has been occupying our time too. (You're welcome!)

For now though, I did pull out some fun pictures that I've been meaning to share and what better time than now!

A little while back, Elaina pulled out all of her dress up clothes and made up her own original costumes. This would be her rendition of a ladybug fairy. I think.
Isn't she adorable? Sweet and innocent with her sparkly, fresh, 3 year old face?
Then tell me where did THIS come from? As her mother, I did not authorize THIS! She looks like a suggestive barmaid fresh off her shift at the LadyBug Night Club. Eric told me that he told her to pose like a rock star. (She's been in a Hannah Montana phase lately; against my will of course. She's only 3!) I wonder what was going through her mind. It's back to Dora for this kid!

Moving right along... come with me please...hurry. THIS is NEW! Check out this big guy! There is no action to report and I haven't even been the one to coaxing him onto this seat. I think that he sees his big sis and the other kids at the baby sitter's house strike the same pose that he is wondering what magic comes from sitting bare-bottomed on the big potty seat. Although I don't feel that he is especially ready to go full board potty training, we allow him up on the seat whenever he shows an interest and I plan to pull out his little potty seat for his bathroom very soon. I'm just happy that he's showing an interest in this rather than the LadyBug NightClub.And here is my Valentine boy loving his musical card from G&GH. God, they are growing up so fast!

"Da Beach!

I guess that I hadn't realized just how close my grandparents lived to Daytona Beach. It was a lovely kind of "close." Since we didn't come with any pre-conceived ideas about how to fill our time there, we just took each day as it came and made things up as we went along. After all, that's what vacation is all about and the most important part was to spend time with my grandparents.

As a day filler on one particular morning, we set out to do some treasure hunting at the flea market at Daytona Beach followed by a stop at the actual beach. Since it's still early in the year and even though Florida's winter means jackets and jeans versus shorts and flip flops, the air was still a slight bit brisk and just in the low to mid-70's that day. We wanted to take the kids to the beach just for the experience of being there. And when our day was said and done, it was totally worth every minute of it! Just see for yourself:

Elaina first went in with excitement, only expecting to get her feet and legs wet. (notice: clothes still on) VERY soon, her clothes were completely soaked and we gave in to letting her put on her brand new princess "babing suit" for her to drench herself however she felt necessary.

When we first arrived, Lincoln was fast asleep in his car seat but woke soon after to develop his sea legs. He was unwilling to unbend his little legs in the beginning until......

...until he discovered how cool the sand was and how much stuff he could get into by exploring on his own.

And then... he LOVED IT!! As he lay on his little tummy, his chin shivered and his teeth chattered but the smile never left his face! And his little giggles were more than contagious!

I'm pretty sure that a summer beach vacation will definitely be in our near future!

Beach Babes? Maybe not. Did we have a great time. Definitely so!

Manatees are not playgrounds!

One of our first day trips on vacation was to a nearby park which is home to a great number of Florida manatees. Knowing that that these gentle sea cows are endangered, it's a neat experience to see them and have the kids gaze out upon them even if the pictures will be their only reminders that they were there. What Elaina did remember about being there once before is the awesome playground that this State Park has to offer. I think that her shirt says it all:

A perfect afternoon for a little ring-around-the-rosey! How many other almost-80 year old, great-grandma's prompt their grandkids to race them through the park? Ours of course!I can't even begin to express how nice it was to feel the sunshine on our bare skin and be free from the weight of our winter coats! Tell me why we're still living in Ohio when we can have this in February! Don't you love it?

Florida: We have arrived!

We have all been so ready for a winter vacation! And I mean SOO READY! And when a vacation means sunny skies and grandparents? Well, it just doesn't get much better than that now does it?

It's been a while since we've visited my grandma and grandpa in Florida, so long in fact, that they hadn't ever met Lincoln. Elaina and I went down when Lincoln was only a few months old and the boys stayed at home and let us enjoy some special time traveling by ourselves.

We couldn't have asked for an easier flight with both of our kids and with my parents shutteling us to and from the airport, we may just as well been royalty. Elaina seemed to remember her great-grandparents with ease and flung her arms around them with joy. Lincoln, meh. He's just Lincoln.

Riding in grandpa's golf cart was easily one of Elaina's favorite memories and this year she was even big enough to steer the wheel all by herself.
Even though Lincoln carried himself with a independent, little cranky attitude much of the time we were there, listening to Grandpa sing and play his guitar was something that caught his attention if even for a moment.

Eric is still Lincoln's top idol and hanging out with him and his blanket while watching Noggin pretty much constitutes a good vacation in the eyes of this one year old.

Black and Gold Forever

Have I ever mentioned that we are a black and gold kind of family?
(Lincoln will get there.)(This was about 2 hours past his bedtime and we all know how important bedtime is to Lincoln)
You know the kind of family who roots for Champion Football teams like the Pittsburgh Steelers? And with all of these fancy cheerleaders, how could the Steelers not have won?

Eric favorite football team in the land and their second Superbowl win in 2 years; I can't even tell you how happy this man was!

(Photo Courtesy of Elaina)

Ice Princess

Even though this happened a dandy long time ago, in my opinion and the valued opinion of Holly:-)) I present to you, Elaina on ICE!

In the months leading up to Christmas, Elaina had been asking for ice skates. Not a fleeting request, but over and over and over. I felt bad that Santa never made good on her request and I told her that I'm sure it's because she never sat on his lap to tell him what she wanted. BUT! Her Daddy brought this little girl's dream to life when he took her out on the ice at an actual ice rink. Since we were only days away from leaving on vacation, I parked my broken down old self on the bleachers. Eric did a great job of leading and balancing her around on the ice and even though she fell more than a few times, she loved it! Towards the end of our time there, she even tried out skating by herself. I probably don't have to tell you how that turned out for her...I loved seeing the kids as young as 6 and 7 whip around the rink and people of every age and every speed giving it a go around the ice with such ease. But I was most impressed with my own little girl and her excited 3 year old self, holding onto her dad for all of the joy and safety he was worth and loving every minute of it!

If I still have membership here...

Disgraceful is one word I could use to describe my commitment to blogging last month. What a stinky way to kick off 2009. And to think what this blog means to me and how much I rely on it for posterity and marking milestones and cute baby faces. I'm a traitor. I'm a cheater. I disappoint, if only myself.

And the truth of the matter is, I don't foresee much free time coming my way anytime soon. With these being my circumstances, let's recap what has been contributing to my delinquent blogging habits shall we?

Well let's just see now... I can't even begin to account for January as a whole. However, one special day included celebrating Elaina's "Got-Me-Day" by taking her to the mall (exciting, I know) to play in the great play area. What else do you do with a 1 and a 3 year old in 15 degree temperatures to make a day special? That was her request, along with dinner at a restaurant. All in all, the whole point of Got-Me-Day is to spend a special day with our family to recognize the joy of just being together so our purpose was fulfilled.

In January, I also hosted Bunco night with my girlfriends. Each month, a group of friends and myself have been trying to steal away just one night together to eat, drink, gossip and laugh until we cry. Mission accomplished. We're already looking forward to our February date!

Most recently, we spent last weekend on our three city tour visiting our family and friends. Friday night was spent at Eric's parent's house celebrating Eric's mom's birthday. On Saturday, we took Elaina ice skating. She has been talking about ice skating for about the past 4 months and even wanted ice skates for Christmas. (Unfortunately, she forgot to ask Santa for skates and none were left under our tree.) Eric decided that since his parents were able to tend to Lincoln and there was a skating rink nearby, this was our chance to indulge her. Very soon, I will post some pictures of Elaina "skating" and report on how she did.

The same day, we joined our niece in celebrating her sweet 16th birthday before going to my parent's house to stay the night. And everyone knows what Sunday brought... none other than Super Bowl Sunday. Eric and his best friend Derek have been Steelers fans together since the beginning of time. And since their beloved Steelers had made it to the Super Bowl, they had to share in their victory by watching it together. Even though we live 2 1/2 hours from them. We had a great time visiting with their family and cheering the Steelers on to their big win, but that meant driving home afterward and unloading our truck and our children at 1:30 a.m. A long night and an even longer Monday.

And finally, today. This evening we are back at my parent's house with our suitcases loaded with summer clothes and sandals. We are leaving for Florida in the morning to visit my grandparents. They are desperately in love with their only great-granddaughter (Elaina!) but have yet had the opportunity to meet our sweet Lincoln. That will all change tomorrow when we arrive at the airport at 2:00 and they can load up on all of the hugs, kisses, chatter and busy-ness that a 1 and 3 year old bring. We couldn't be more excited!

Finally I have an actual, legitimate excuse for taking the next couple days off from blogging. (Just in case any of you have stuck around, that is!) And when we return home, I plan to bombard you with pictures and get back in a better routine which doesn't involve severe neglect to my old friend, Blog.

Elaina and "25"

Even at 3 1/2, Elaina gets her very own list of "25 Random Things"

1. Up to this point, Elaina hasn't really latched on to any certain type of toy or themed-type of toy. One thing that has been unwavering since she was very young is her love of books and reading stories.

2. Elaina sometimes pretends to be someone else and the pseudo name she has begun using is "Carasell RockStar" or just simply "Carasell." Ever heard of her?

3. She is a pretty scheduled kinda girl. For nearly the past 2 years, her bedtime has been right around 8:00 - 8:30 and she is generally awake by 7:00 a.m.

4. In the world of 3 year-olds, she thinks that her joke telling is superb.

5. She has an incredible vocabulary and imagination.

6. Elaina can't wait to begin school. She will be starting pre-school in the fall but in the meantime, we've been telling her that she needs to begin eating new foods like the kids that go to school do.

7. When her hair is long and straight, it hangs right at her waist. Pretty impressive for a 3 year old. She's usually pretty patient with having me brush and put her hair up except for the occasional moments when she is especially "fragile" and "tender."

8. Her current favorite movie is Cars. It has finally won out over Land Before Time and Lion King.

9. When she was just a year old, her Uncle Tim and Aunt Teri had bought her a warming teddy bear (similar to this one) for Christmas. He came with the name "Buddy Bear," but in time Elaina renamed him to "Teddy." She never plays with Teddy but she always requests him at bedtime.

10. She continues to be a horribly picky eater. Her current menu consist of only about 10 items.

11. Some of Elaina's nicknames include: "LuluBelle, LuLee, Laina, Bootie, Sweetsie, Love, Angel and Baby Girl."

12. Within the past few months, Elaina has become proficient at playing games on the computer. She has mostly figured how to play them on her own. For not knowing how to read, she navigates her way around pretty impressively.

13. She can now spell her own name. She knows her address and phone number too.

14. Elaina has the best sense of humor of any 3 year old I know.

15. She loves her little brother to pieces. In fact, there has never been a time that she was less than accepting of this new little yell-machine that we introduced into our home. It was like she was meant to be a big sister.

16. Though I'm not sure to what extent she knows about angels, she knows that her sisters, Ella and Ava, are angels in heaven. She will sometimes ask to see Ava's plaster hand and foot prints and seems unusually mature about the significance of them.

17. Elaina is tender.

18. Right now, we both share the same shoe size. Size 9.

19. She is just as much a Mommy's Girl as she is a Daddy's Girl. However, sometimes our popularity depends upon the hour.

20. She knows her alphabet, she can count numbers alternately to the number 100. She can identify shapes and colors too.

21. I think that she is working on a singing career. She has recently started making up her own words to songs and tries so hard to learn the words to the songs she hears on Noggin and on our CD's.

22. She is nothing short of a miracle in our lives.

23. God knew exactly what he was doing when he created her life. Her life was meant for us and ours for her.

24. Elaina will probably never know what a strong and fierce love that we have for her. No one could ever love her more.

25. Elaina is all of my love in a sweet, little package.

Eric meets "25"

So I'm crossing my fingers on this one. Eric and I have known each other for about 14 years now, let's see how long it takes me to begin to struggle on his list of 25.

1. Eric's middle name is Todd. Same as Lincoln's. Not a coincidence. "Lincoln Eric" just didn't sound as good as "Lincoln Todd."

2. Eric's parents had originally spelled his name with a "k" at the end. Erick. With too many misspellings and questions, his mom decided it would be better off to drop the "k" after all.

3. Eric is a member of the NRA.

4. Eric owns more guns than I own purses.

5. If he could live anywhere in the U.S., he would probably pick West Virginia or Alaska.

6. He is an avid fisherman, hunter and bowler.

7. His highest bowling score has been 288.

8. Although he loves tuna steak, he exaggerates puke noises when I open a can of tuna.

9. Even before I met him, his clothes hung in his closet according to color and family. (Short sleeves, long sleeves, jeans, slacks)

10. He can fix most anything in our house and his carpentry skills impress even himself.

11. When our kids need help with science and math, Eric will be the go-to man for those subjects.

12. When it comes to remembering peoples names, well, no... that just doesn't happen.

13. Eric is employed as a safety consultant for the state.

14. He is also a volunteer firefighter for our town's fire department.

15. Eric has an older brother and an older sister.

16. We grew up in the same town, but Eric moved away when he was in junior high school. We never met until college.

17. We both fall under the Sagittarius sign. He is three years older than me.

18. Eric didn't think he ever wanted to go to college. Turns out that he did much better in college than he did in high school.

19. He has been a Pittsburgh Steelers fan since he was in elementary school. (Go Steelers! -SuperBowl 2008!)

20. Eric helps me out tremendously around the house. On most occasions, he does the dishes after dinner, vacuums and helps to get the kids bathed and in bed.

21. He is the best dad to our kids and turns into Jell-O when it comes to his sweet, little girl.

22. After college, he applied for jobs in Hawaii. Even though he got a few bites on his resume, no job offered a substantial salary to meet the cost of living there. (Too bad!)

23. Eric is a steadfast advocate of driving American made cars. He scoffs at people who buy foreign made, even if they are family.

24. He is one of the most hot-blooded people I know. It can be 40 degrees and he'll be wearing shorts and a tee shirt.

25. His wife still thinks he is handsome after all of these years. (Except when he decides to buzz cut his hair)(even his mother comments about that!)

** Hey! That wasn't too bad at all! I think I could even dish out about 25 more! But I won't. And you're welcome!

Laura's 25

Yeah, right! I'M not 25, but I have been tagged through facebook to do a 25 Random Things List about myself. I begin to think to myself, "I like lists!" "I can do this on my blog and facebook and cover 2 bases for the price of one!"

Even better, my Dear Readers, you are getting a list of 25 not only about me BUT! Elaina, Lincoln and Eric! Yes! This is a family style blog and since I write this mostly for the sake of posterity, I'm pinning the whole family into this little exercise.

I'm choosing to let myself go first since I've known myself the longest.
Without further ado:

25 Things!

1. I consider myself to have thin blood. I don't specifically know if that is actually a term, but it seems to make sense because I am desperately cold in the winter and I absolutely can't take the heat more than 85 degrees in the summer.

2. While I'm trying to curb my "neat-freak-germaphobe-hypochondriac" tendencies, I still get very much bothered by things being out of place and I don't touch handles when I'm out in public.

3. I really like to shop but I never pay full price. Getting a good deal on something makes me very happy. Even if I had more money than I knew what to do with, I would probably still use coupons at the grocery store.

4. I've always wanted to be a mom. Growing up, I never really had any career aspirations, but I've always wanted a family. I knew I would always have a job, but I would be a mom first and foremost.

5. I'm pretty much late, pretty much always.

6. I'm not very coordinated. I don't have any specific talent. But I have pretty decent handwriting.

7. Although I can eat a lot, I'm a pretty slow eater. When I go to lunch with friends, they make me order first and ask the waiter to bring my food first.

8. I don't consider myself to be too fat nor too thin. I'm fortunate that my weight has never really been an issue (cause I have plenty of others!) but I can pretty much eat anything I want without much worry. With that said, I'd probably look really good if I actually made an effort to drop about 15 pounds. Meh, who cares though?

9. I knew I was going to marry Eric even before we went on our first date. It was only the second time I had talked to him at a party and I told my then-roommate that I didn't even need to date him, I was going to marry him.

10. Early this winter season, I've discovered that I've developed severe ice-anxiety. I just about tremble when the temperature drops below 32 and there is precipitation on the ground. I would rather eat dirt (remember: germaphobe!) than be in a car on the icy roads.

11. My parents named me Laura but had always called me Laurie when I was younger. It was my 4th grade teacher who determined that 2 Lori's in my class would be better balanced with 2 Laura's, (imagine 4 Lori/ Laura's out of a class of 40 kids!) and would only refer to me as my formal name. To this day, I really can't think of myself as "Laurie."

12. I really like to cook and bake. I wish that I had a bigger kitchen with more counter space to take on some more complicated recipes.

13. I am really good at remembering names. I don't even need a class list of people that I went to grade school with to recall their names. Even the kids who only attended a single year in another class, I know their names.

14. I fake interest in sports. I'm a Steelers fan and a Buckeyes fan by default. I'm just happy that I like the team colors and they are both pretty successful teams so I can trash talk their rivals!

15. I'm not afraid of death. I think that I may be jaded by dealing with the passing of people I loved more than life itself. For this reason, I feel that death is a natural step which leads to ultimate peace and comfort. Life is hard. Eternity is a blessing.

16. I'm not very technically-inclined. I'm a novice on computer functions and intimidated by my own cell phone.

17. I take things way too personally. I analyze people, situations and things that cause me stress over and over until they consume me and make me feel all crazy inside. And since I don't like confronting my problems, I let them just eat away at me.

18. I don't like pie. I may choke down a piece of pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving just to appease my Mom, but I'm not a fan.

19. My body is pretty much in pain all day, every day. I neglected a sprain in my back a few years ago which has led to my back muscles being tight, my leg muscles being short and arthritis surely to make a debut before I'm 40. If not already. I broke up with my chiropractor after 3 years of him being unable to provide any long term relief.

20. I really should start doing yoga and stretching but I always come up with too many reasons to postpone it until tomorrow.

21. Genuine people are like treasures to me. If a circumstance should arise which would raise question to a person's credibility, it takes me a long time to put back the trust, faith and respect I once had in them.

22. I'm not very good about e-mailing. (Yes, didn't I just say how much I love my friends?) It has a little something to do with me trying to be a perfectionist. If I don't have time to make it "perfect," I don't do it at all. I know, it doesn't make sense does it?

23. My graduating class consisted of about 52 students.

24. I feel that I am the luckiest mom in the whole world to have such awesome kids to call my own.

25. I still get a lump in the back of my throat when I think of what incredible miracles my kids are.

Burnin' Baby

I'm glad this past week is behind us. As a county worker, we were off on Monday (thank you Mr. King) which made for an ideal appointment time to take Lincoln to the pediatrician to get caught up on his vaccines. It seems like every time he is due for shots, he comes down with a cold and I then cancel his appointment, thus not making matters worse for my little guy.

As it stood, last Friday, Lincoln was a slight bit fevered and also had random bouts with a high temperature throughout last weekend too. Monday morning rolled around and Lincoln was still keeping his appointment whether it be to get his (4) shots or to discuss his random fevers. The doctor didn't feel that a fever would compromise his health and we both agreed to get the shots out of the way once and for all. These are his 18 month inoculations by the way. He's almost 21 months old. Behind much?

As expected, Lincoln was especially cranky throughout the day on Monday and we had given him some pain reliever meds to help ease his discomfort. Tuesday thru Thursday though, he was still experiencing high fevers (highest with meds was 103.8), diarrhea, loss of appetite and just generally not feeling well. By this point, we had all had enough. The doctor's office got us in for an appointment on Friday and sure enough, Lincoln presented with a flaming red, irritated throat. His ear tubes looked good, his nose wasn't runny, his throat seemed to be the culprit of his discomfort.

So, here we are on Saturday. I have worn myself out with worry over my favorite little boy in the whole world. Eric had spent a few days out of town this past week leaving me to do all the holding, hugging, comforting, we have both woke up in the middle of the night to give Lincoln a dose of medicine to keep his fever under control and today we are all just plain old exhausted.

Today was the first full day of his antibiotic and I'm crossing my fingers that he starts feeling better soon. We're leaving for a family trip to Florida in exactly 10 days and germs and infections are not invited!

The Big FREEZE

Top ten reasons that I am DONE with winter:

10. Keegan is knee deep (for a lab anyhow) in the snow drifts and keeps doing his "yard business" on the edge of the yard because he can no longer distinguish yard from driveway.

9. There's really nothing like rushing into work (walking 2 blocks) in 5 degree temps. and your nose begins to run but because your face is so frozen, you can't feel the "run" until you've actually arrived at your desk after taking 2 elevator rides with at least a dozen people who have seen your run-freeze in the meantime. (I just love it when that happens!)

8. No joke: I've seen icicles on houses around here that are bigger and longer than a surf board! (Okay, maybe a boogie board, but they could fatally stab someone if they landed on an unsuspecting person.)

7. Because we had that fantastic idea to have our patio done in stamped concrete, we can't spread any type of ice melt granules or salt on our main walkway in and out of our house. Any type of salt would corrode the surface of the concrete and therefore ruin the finish. This means we strap on ice skates and kneepads anytime we want to go out the backdoor.

6. The morning radio stations hardly play music in the morning. Between reports of traffic accidents, school cancellations and commercials, I'm lucky to hear one song during my 30 minute morning commute.

5. How do you explain to a 3 year old the difference between 5 degrees and 30 degrees and why she can't play outside when it's 5 degrees even if she is wearing 4 coats, 6 hats and 3 pairs of pants? "Dangerous cold" seems to be lost on the mind of my cold blooded child. 4. It's too cold to shop. Seriously. With our run of single digit temperatures and continuous snowfall, I've made due with the local grocery stores just buying up basic items to get through the week. When it's dark and cold outside, getting home from work seems to be just a feat in and of itself these days.

3. Damn 4- wheel drive doesn't mean squat on the ice. Enough said. 2. Our pilot light in our furnace blew itself out (repeatedly) on Friday and Saturday. Our inside temperature quickly dropped to a freezy 55 degrees. Luckily, Eric had come home from being out of town that same day and was the first one to recognize and fix the problem.

1. Three straight weeks of negative degree nights and single digit mornings is making me want to quit my job, stay home, eat bon bons, cuddle with my kids and sleep 24/7. Curse you blasted winter for tempting me... I teeter every day.

the adventures of Solo Mom

Single mom work day:

6:00 a.m. -- alarm goes off; take advantage of the sleep timer for 15 minutes longer minus another body next to me kicking my legs to really get up already!

7:00 -- be completely ready to begin the day, Elaina is probably up by now and watching her shows in my bed or asking to put on my jewelry or chap stick

7:15 - 8:00 -- peel my sweet boy from his warm crib, feed both children breakfast, dress kids, Keegan goes outside, warm up truck, make a steamy cup of cappuccino for my travel mug

8:00 -- goal to be out of the house and en route to the babysitter's house

8:30 - 5:00 -- work day, 30 minute commute, pick up kids from babysitter

5:00 - 6:00-- feed Keegan, change out of my work clothes, half-watch children as I try to prepare dinner

6:00 -- MUST eat! Lincoln came equipped with a belly timer which emits a squawking alarm if his belly has not made contact with food at precisely 6 p.m.

6:30 - 7:00 -- clean up dinner table, let kids play, enjoy a 10 minute brain break by checking blogs or facebook for entertainment

7:00 - 8:00 -- bathe kids together (every other night), jammies, dry hair, kids play

8:00 - 8:15 -- read books to Lincoln, gamble on if he will give me kisses before I lay him down or not, he's sometimes fickle and sometimes just wants to be asleep

8:15 - 9:00 -- pull Elaina from her tv show that I asked her to occupy her time while I had quiet time with Lincoln, brush teeth, tinkle time, she picks out 2 books, we read, say prayers, she stalls, asks me to lay with her, I can't refuse, I fall asleep

9:00 -- wake up, if I'm lucky

9:00 - 10:00 -- really clean up the kitchen, pack my lunch for the next day, figure out what's for dinner the following night, sort mail, do laundry in some aspect, clean up toys, maybe make a phone call

10:00 - 11:00 -- my time! read blogs, check e-mail, feel too tired, too uninteresting and too lazy to write a blog entry of my own, go back and hope someone has updated their facebook page or blog, shop for things I clearly don't need but the e-mail said there is a big sale, etc.

11:00 - 12:00 -- some aspect of laundry, get kids clothes and my clothes ready for the next day, let the dog out, clean up my room as Elaina did her own "redecorating" as she occupied herself in there, check on sleeping children, take off make up, curse at gray hairs, curse at the clock which now reads 12:15 and I'm JUST climbing into bed, remind myself to hurry up and sleep because tomorrow is already here and I'm performing the lead role in an encore of the same act, different day.