Making a Comeback

So, no new post since Monday? Wow! Where has this week gone?

Oh yeah... we have a baby!!

At this point, I really don't even know where to begin to fill in what has been our whirlwind week, so I'll just give you a rundown of the highlights of the week day by day.

Monday-
-Eric and I arrived at the hospital at 6:30 a.m. anxious to meet our son
- I had the honor of being requested to be in the delivery room as Lincoln was born at 7:18 a.m.

- Lincoln is amazing- healthy and perfect and beautiful!
- My parents brought Elaina up to the hospital to meet her new brother and see their newest grandson

Tuesday-
- Elaina spent the day at the baby sitter's house while Eric and I spent our day with Lincoln at the hospital
- We arrived home at 4:30 to balance out Elaina's normal daily routine and maintain some consistency for her
- My friend Jessica and her 7 month old son, Cole came to meet Lincoln (Lincoln's first friend! They will be in the same class.)
- My friends Bevin, Patti and Cathey came for a planned visit at lunchtime, 5 minutes later, Nicole and Kristen stopped by unexpectedly and an old friend from my previous employer just happened to be on the floor, making our 10x10' room almost claustrophobic with 8 adults and a tiny, little Lincoln squeezed in. Impromptu party in room #247!
- Spent the evening putting the final touches on the house in preparation for baby; cleaning, putting bassinet together, filling dresser drawers with sweet, little boy clothes

Wednesday-
- Elaina spent the day at the baby sitter's house again
- Spent the morning visiting with "Elle" (In respect for her privacy I won't be naming her, however, "birth mom" is entirely too impersonal. For all future references, the woman who gifted us with our son will be referred to as, "Elle." )
- Lincoln got circumcised
- Upon Elle's discharge from the hospital, she requested, very specifically that Lincoln be discharged to us as soon as possible so that we could begin to be a family. Proper paperwork was set in place and our pediatrician gave us a thumbs-up for discharge for Lincoln.
- Approximately 3:15, we got the green light to be able to take our son home
- We skipped out of the hospital and picked up Elaina at Nancy's house, allowing Nancy to meet her newest love also (she is thrilled that Lincoln has joined our family and is anxious to care for him)
- Lincoln had a very good night, although he thought it would be fun to stay awake after his 4 a.m. feeding just to see what all goes on in his new house at that time (nothing but sleepy parents)
- I was worried that Lincoln hadn't had a wet diaper since hours before being discharged from the hospital and no wet diapers most of the evening. Eric informed me that he had a wet diaper at his midnight feed and I rested more easily. When his hungry belly-timer went off at 4a.m. (right on cue) he had soaked through his diaper, his clothes, his blanket- everything! I've never been so relieved to clean up pee ever! (I was just on the line between concern and worry- he relieved both of us!)

Thursday-
- Took Elaina to Nancy's house one more time to be able to spend the day getting to know and learn about our new son.
- Due to some last minute paperwork from our attorney, we made a quick trip into town to sign some more paperwork and then went to celebrate with ice cream. (Lincoln just got a hot dog and fries.)
- Our friend Jessica (a different one) stopped over to meet Lincoln and brought lovely gifts for each of the kids. Lincoln received some sweet sleep gowns and onesies while Elaina got a fun bubble ball and a shirt that says, "I'm the Big Sister!" Too cute!
- The word has gotten out that we are finally home and Eric and I were on the phone separately with happy friends and family giving their best and exited about Lincoln's arrival
- Lincoln woke on time for his middle of the night feed and easily went back down immediately following. This kid lo-oves to sleep!

Friday-
- Experienced my first mom-of-two-morning by myself as Eric was out hunting first thing in the morning. All was well; Elaina woke at her usual time and I had to wake up Lincoln to keep him even close to his feeding schedule.
- Elaina had her first bout of jealousy with Lincoln. Scene: Mommy lies Lincoln on a blanket safely across Elaina's beanbag chair while I attempted to put some of Elaina's clothes in her closet. A 3 minute job, mind you. Elaina came from our bedroom after watching cartoons and spotted Lincoln on her chair. She hollered, "My chair! My chair!" over and over while jumping up and down. After ignoring my instructions about sharing in this house, her fit continued and she found herself promptly in her bed. Her crying jag lasted only minutes before she recovered and I made her apologize to Lincoln. Incidentally, this is the same girl who patted the floor next to her butt on the top step, inviting Lincoln to come down the stairs with her this morning.
- Eric's parents came around 1:00 to meet their newest grandson and spoil him with what amounted to practically a new wardrobe with gifts from them and from friends from our hometown. They even brought the "Big Sister" a folding Dora chair to sit on the patio. Our special guest with them for the weekend was our nephew, Evan who is 4. He was excited to spend the weekend with "Ewaina."
- In the evening, our backyard neighbors stopped over to meet Lincoln as well. Do you see a pattern here? The kid already has his own fan club!

How about this pair? Partners in crime! Elaina has so much to teach her baby brother, as you can see.

Introducing...

It is with great pleasure that we introduce you to-

Lincoln Todd W.
Born May 7, 2007 at 7:18am
6 lb. 10 oz., 18" length

This would only have to be my favorite picture yet-
Amazing, isn't he?

Elaina is exceedingly willing to help, yet still had some ambivalent feelings toward her new brother.

Grandma and Grandpa H. have been in town since Friday night to help out and enjoy the last days of our family of three. They stayed with Elaina this morning and brought her to the hospital to meet her new brother. They were also so kind to pick out a special big-sister gift just for Elaina. She got her first Cabbage Patch Kid today. (Not terribly impressed, by the way.)

I could save my family from the embarrassment of this being our first family picture, but nope, you get it all. What do you think? (Good thing my mom doesn't rely on her photography skills to earn her living!)

Or would you say this is your favorite? Again... not much sleep last night and I'm really surprising myself that I am actually posting these haphazard poses. You just gotta love 'em!

So what if our first family pictures are (much) less than flattering, we have an incredibly healthy and gorgeous baby boy that has become part of our family and we couldn't be happier. The pictures nearly speak for themselves! That's truly Elaina's opinion of her brother so far!

Awaiting Our Delivery

A Newborn's Conversation with God-

A baby asked God, "They tell me you are sending me to earth tomorrow, but how am I going to live there being so small and helpless?" God said, "Your angel will be waiting for you and will take care of you."

The child further inquired,"But tell me, here in heaven I don't have to do anything but sing and smile to be happy." God said,"Your angel will sing for you and will also smile for you. And you will feel your angel's love and be very happy."

Again the child asked, "And how am I going to be able to understand when people talk to me if I don't know the language?" God said,"Your angel will tell you the most beautiful and sweet words you will ever hear, and with much patience and care, your angel will teach you how to speak."

"And what am I going to do when I want to talk to you?" God said,"Your angel will place your hands together and will teach you how to pray." "Who will protect me?" God said,"Your angel will defend you even if it means risking its life."

"But I will always be sad because I will not see you any more." God said,"Your angel will always talk to you about Me and will teach you the way to come back to Me, even though I will always be next to you."

At that moment there was much peace in Heaven, but voices from Earth could be heard and the child hurriedly asked, "God, if I am to leave now, please tell me my angel's name."God said,"You will simply call her, "Mom."

To Our Son

To Our Baby Boy,

Here I am. Wanting more than anything to write the most amazing letter for you to hold dear to your heart for the rest of your life and for once, I don't even know where to begin. I can assure you that it won't be long until that letter comes though.

Right now, my heart is skipping a few beats just thinking about you. The only thing I really can promise to you is that you will be loved beyond loved. And not just by your Mommy and Daddy. I couldn't even begin to tell you how many people cried tears of joy when they heard that you would be joining our family. That would be double for your Mommy, by the way.

I couldn't possibly have enough words to tell you what having a son means to us. A son! A little boy and little brother! There goes my heart just one more time. Your entire family is waiting anxiously to meet you and see what you have in store for us.

Since we haven't met yet, I can only provide you with this promise. You are about to join a family who can't wait to love you and provide you with the most happiness and great experiences you will ever know. Elaina is going to be the best big sister to you and an incredible example of the love in our family. While your Mommy and Daddy have never had 2 children to care for before, I can assure you that you will never get overlooked, your needs will always be met and you will always have your own special place in our hearts. You are about to join a family who wants to give you the world and the most warm and tender hugs and kisses ever made. I want to carve a special place in the world for you to become the best at whatever you want to be. You will be entitled to abundant love and excessive happiness as our son.

The countdown is on. This Mommy and Daddy will be up at 5 a.m tomorrow to await your arrival at 7:00. I want nothing more to hold you in my arms and look into your eyes, knowing that your Daddy and I are prepared to keep every promise to you for the rest of your life.

My dear son, I'm already in love with you.

Love,
Mommy

Big Sister To - Be

To My Sweet Love Elaina,

In less than 12 hours from now, our lives will be changed forever. We've received an invitation to accept a baby brother into our family and love him as our own. We are thrilled to grow our family and provide you with a brother.

I have to admit that it's a little bit scary for me already to wrap my mind around all of the changes that will be coming our way very soon. As it stands, you have been the center of our world for exactly 22 months and four days. (Actually, a little bit longer because we were waiting for you much sooner than that.) So you see, you have pretty much spoiled us. It's true that we are pretty much convinced that the sun sets and the moon rises around you and truthfully, we wouldn't have it any other way. By the time you read this, you may have already heard someone say, "Enjoy them while they are little, because they grow up way too fast." I couldn't agree more. But you know what? I have made a concerted effort to thoroughly enjoy every minute I have had with you. You and your Daddy are every bit of my joy and reason to smile every single day. You alone have touched the lives of so many people as you became a part of our family at a most critical time. God sent you down from heaven to heal our broken hearts and give us comfort. Through you, people have witnessed a miracle. The most beautiful, loving and sweet miracle I have ever known. At times, I find myself wondering what I did to deserve you and all I can do in return is provide you with the most love and care humanly possible. That's the promise your Daddy and I made to God in return for delivering you to us.

Since you came along, I have seen my entire world in a whole new light. I love watching you grow and develop, learn and explore and "hold on tight" to my hand through it all. ( You say hold on tight quite frequently; something you learned from swinging on the big playground swings.) I tell you everyday that you are the most incredible little person ever made and that mommy loves you more than you'll ever know. That will always be true. While you are not of my flesh, you are everything I have ever wanted in a daughter and more. If I were to send my wish list to heaven asking the Lord for the "perfect" daughter, I never would have expected the finished product to be as exceptional as you. For these reasons, I know that you will be the most incredible big sister ever. You have proven to be full of compassion and strength and it's evident that you have knowledge beyond what I could ever imagine for a 22 month-old. You are amazing!

Your baby brother is going to be born tomorrow morning at 7:00 a.m. (Take a deep breath Mommy.) Our little family will become a family of four. What a gift! I can pretty much guarantee that it will take some time for us to adjust to all of the changes, but I know that you will never be less important to anyone of us. Ever.

Elaina, you are all of my love. Even the mere thought of you evokes tears of joy in my eyes. You are all of my heart and pure and utter joy for your parents. Our lives would have been complete and full with you alone, but I have always dreamed of having a son and daughter to share in our lives. I am certain beyond a shadow of a doubt that this is God's plan that is taking place before our very eyes. You are meant to be a big sister and I can assure you that He is sending us the most incredible baby brother to share all of our days ahead.

Our love for you will never change, we'll just be able to embrace a new experience for all of us at the same time.

Hold On Tight, My Love!! We're in for an incredible ride!

Love,
Mommy

Smiley Face

I know, I know, I know... it's been a long time since I posted pictures of Stinkerbell.

What's wrong with me? I used to be so good about taking pictures nearly every night and posting them dutifully within the same week. What happened?

Here is my offering for a quick fix of Elaina sightings.

These pics were taken just before bedtime tonight while Elaina was enjoying a snack ( since she ate zero for dinner) and talking to her dad.

Knowing Eric had a little sit-down-time until Elaina finished her food, I ran upstairs to grab Elaina's crib aquarium/ music box for Eric to put new batteries into. Once her prized possession was functioning up to par, Daddy helped Elaina to identify each of the sounds he selected. I must be a complete idiot or I never really paid attention, but this little aquarium of hers plays sounds of the ocean, a running river along with several other little diddies. Hmmm... I was really growing quite bored with the same tunes night after night. Lucky day!

The funnier part about this is that Elaina loves to turn her aquarium music box on just before falling into a good sleep. The last time Daddy changed the batteries, I explained to Elaina that Daddy fixed it. Ever since that time, every. single. night. before bed, Elaina presses the button happily proclaiming, "Daddy! Fixd -dit!" All of this time and a whole new round of 4 - D batteries later, Elaina is even more impressed that Daddy fixd-dit and has been smiles ever since. (At least up until her familiar tunes lulled her to sleep.) Talk about easy to please!

Elaina's New Role

Just in case anyone is wondering what Elaina thinks of becoming a big sister, here I am to fill you in.

For weeks now, we have been telling Elaina that she is going to be a big sister and she's going to have a little brother. Most of the time she just repeats, "brudder," in reference to her brother. I've sat her down on the floor and we've looked at her brother's new clothes together and sorted through baby toys, all the while explaining how a baby boy will be joining our family soon. I'm always sure to tell her that Mommy and Daddy will have to take care of the baby because he'll just be little, but we won't ever stop being her Mommy and Daddy and loving her just the same. Then I ask her if she knows that she is the most special girl in the entire world to which she replies with a smiley, high-pitched, "YE-ah!"

The fact is, being all of 22 months-old today, I'm not even sure if she gets the fact that we're going to the hospital to visit with a baby and then end up bringing him home. Likewise, does any kid under 2 totally get the fact that the big bump on mommy's belly eventually becomes the same thing that squirms and cries in the bassinet? I would have to believe that she understands that a baby is coming to our house and that we're all going to be happy because we're lucky. ( We say "lucky" when good things happen like finding her missing binky or when there's an empty swing at the playground. Lucky. I'm not sure if she understands the whole concept of being blessed, but we'll get there gradually.)

So, does Elaina know that her life is going to be changed forever? That she'll never again be an only child? That she'll have to share her toys, her attention and her Mommy and Daddy? I don't know. I do know, however, that Eric and I both have plenty of love to give to another baby and we can't wait to watch the new relationship between Elaina and her new brother as they blossom and grow as siblings. It's just a new chapter in her life story and we're anxious to get our hands on the newest addition!

End of the Famine

You won't believe this! Hold onto your seat and brace yourself!

My daughter was hungry tonight!

Not jumping up and down with joy? I sure am!

Let me refresh your memory of Picky Pickerson and how she eats like a bird. A little bird. Her standard diet is much of the same old thing, day after day. Chicken nuggets, french fries, eggs, applesauce, string cheese, pudding, bread, bananas, pears, yogurt, snacks and dessert. Not much variety by any stretch of the imagination. She hardly ventures beyond her realm of food groups and it's nearly impossible to entice her to ever try something new. Usually, when she does eat, it's minimal and not particularly nutritious. I try not to have issues with her lack of healthy food in her diet as I cross my fingers for the day she might try something new while I feed her her Flintstones vitamin.

With this said, can you understand why I was thrilled when Elaina ate a big meal tonight at dinnertime? She started out with Goldfish crackers as an appetizer followed by Fruity Pebbles in milk for her soup, her main entree consisted of 2 chicken nuggets and a scrambled egg with a side of string cheese and a slight portion of applesauce for dessert. Holy smokes alive! I couldn't believe the bottomless pit of a girl I fed tonight! I think that all of her daytime recreation is making her more hungry in the evening compiled with the fact that she is getting older are two major components to her hungry tummy tonight.

Now, if we could just move beyond her limited food groups.
You think I'm excited now...?

Anxiety What?

From the minute I woke up this morning, I have carried with me a slight tinge of excitement throughout the day just thinking about meeting our son in exactly one week from today.

This morning at 7 a.m. I began to think about what next Monday morning at 7 a.m. will have in store for us. How long a c-section delivery will take. The thoughts and feelings of the birth-mom and her recovery. If I will cry with tears of joy or pass out from emotion/ delivery overload. How I need to remember not to squeeze him as tight as I really want to, knowing that he'll feel all of my love with the same gentle embrace. How I need to remember to share him with Eric and Elaina. Newborn vs. circumcision. (Ow!) Will he like his formula right away? Will he be a good eater? Which outfit should be his coming home clothes? Is my fill-in at work going to be adequately prepared to cover my work for 2 months? Why am I thinking about work? When are which grandparents coming? Do we have any food in the house? Will Elaina accept the fact that he's going to spend the rest of his life with us? What will he look like? How am I ever going to get through one more week of waiting?

Is that sufficient? If not, e-mail me- there's plenty more just rolling off the tip of my tongue at this point.

Do you suppose this is enough to warrant my very first case of heartburn ever and I feel like my chest could cave in any minute and my whole body may just collapse if I don't pop another Tums within the next 2 seconds?

Deep breaths... ooohhh.... ahhh... We're having a son!

We're ready. Just seven extra days to send our thanks to the Lord and pray that anxiety doesn't overcome any one of us. Just keep the Tums in sight.

Dizzy

To my fellow Noggin comrades: Could someone please hit the "pause" button on your imaginary remote?

Oh, despite my intense dislike for the "Upside Down Show" which I just made reference to, I really wish that I did, in fact, have a secret remote control that I could pause and stop and fast forward my life at my own choosing. If I had my way, I would still have about 6 hours left in my evening, Elaina would already be asleep, and I would never get tired. Like a machine. I just get weak thinking of all of the projects I could finish. And, if I had my own remote control, if I did get tired, I would have an automatic 10 hours built into my day for sleep. Who's with me on this one folks?

As it stands, I don't have a single legitimate complaint about our lives at the moment. (With the exclusion of my sore throat and swollen glands.) We had a great week, a wonderful, fun filled weekend and at almost 11:00, our house is pretty clean. The only thing I've left by the wayside is a lot of blog updates for the bulk of last week. For this reason and for the sake of record keeping, I will recap some highlights of our previous week.

Monday: family night, no plans, dinner together
Tuesday: final tumbling class until May 22nd
Wednesday: had a babysitter come over to watch Elaina while we went to Eric's bowling banquet and ate too much food and greedily ran away with some prize money
Thursday: Eric went to Haz-Mat training class (which he has blown off most of the year already) mommy and Elaina had a girls' night together
Friday: dinner with some friends, Mommy went to a jewelry party in the evening
Saturday: Mommy enjoyed an afternoon out shopping for great little boy items and sustenance to fill our cupboards; had yet another babysitter over to watch Elaina while we ate dinner out and went bowling with a fun group of friends, came home, picked up Elaina and went to a bonfire with the same group.
Sunday-took Elaina to the park, pulled down newborn baby accessories from the attic to prepare for our latest, greatest arrival next week!

And here I sit, dizzy from a whirlwind of all-things-busy. Yet, please don't mistake this for complaining... I wouldn't have it any other way. Oh, except for pausing my night to accommodate 10 hours of sleep!
(And I could also do without the sore throat, thankyouverymuch.)

"Just Call It a Miracle"

"Just Call It a Miracle"

The most appropriate title as I'm about to spill our secret that is going to change our lives.

We're expecting a baby boy!

Hooray! Hooray! I think I feel as if I'm still floating on a cloud since we first learned about him. I still find it hard to contain myself! The best way to describe my excitement is as if I could jump out of my skin with exuberant joy as we are about to become a family of four!

I'm finding that my attempt to share this news is harder than I had initially suspected since I hardly know where to begin. I don't believe that I even have enough words to be able to begin to express our excitement, anticipation, and longing for this little boy to join our family. Seriously, how can I possibly put into words the fact that all of our prayers have been answered, that we'll be holding onto our deepest heart's desire in just a few days time, and that we feel like the most blessed and humble parents to have such an incredible gift bestowed upon us. All I can really profess is that God is GOOD! He has granted us yet another miracle to love, squeeze and fill our days with happiness and smiles. Where can I even begin?

1. We're adopting.
2. We're going to be the proud parents to a newborn son.
3. It's a private adoption.
4. We learned of this child through a friend of mine who made the connection for us very quickly.
5. We have met the birth mom and she has chosen Eric and myself to be the parents to her child.
6. The birth mom is amazing, selfless, and certain of her decision.
7. We've only known about this for approximatly 5 weeks. This isn't the only thing that took place this day. (double click pink to link) We were also busy finding out that we were chosen as adoptive parents.
8. We don't have a name picked out yet.
9. I have been shopping like a fiend for all-things-blue.
10. Our son is scheduled to be born on Monday, May 7 at 7 a.m. --( It's not to soon to send up the prayers asking many blessings upon the birth mom and our son. It's easy to see that this is all God!)

Wow... what else can I tell you? We're having a BOY!!

Just call it a miracle! Thank God!

Reader's Choice

Here's something new...

I'm asking your input to help decide the title for my next blog.

Your choices are:

A.) Seeing Blue
B.) Just Call It a Miracle
C.) Family of Four
D.) Jumping With Excitement
E.) Elaina's New Role
F.) The Secret is Out

So, what do you think? I can assure you that all titles will facilitate the same information, I just want to be sure that I have chosen the best title as voted on by our friends.

Let me feel the love people... send me your suggestions! I'm really anxious to begin my next post, but I'm going to have to wait until I've received ample input from all of you!

I'm waiting...

Feeding the Hungry

5:00 a.m. : Baby Girl desperately cries out from her bedroom,"Mommy, Mommy, HELP!!"

5:00 (9 seconds later) : Mommy jumps into action from a nearly comatose state to answer her baby's plea for help

After a quick assessment seeing all things in place (baby in bed, bed in room, no monsters, no vomit, no poo) I ask Said Baby what the matter is. Said Baby replies to Mommy, "Eat."

Oh. Dear. Lord.

As I recall, this would be the same child who didn't want anything to do with eating a dinner last night. I offered everything under the sun, including a knuckle sandwich- all of which were declined. As she hasn't been feeling well, and the cold, hard fact that she is still a very picky eater, I had to let this one meal go by the wayside and didn't force any food upon her.

And now this. At 5 in the morning, the hungry, little girl's stomach was beginning to eat away at her backbone. Couldn't "stomach" have thought about that, oh let's say, like 9 hours sooner?

This fortunate, little tyke earned herself a picnic in mommy's bed with a snack trap full of oyster crackers and a leak-proof sippy. Soon after, we both returned to Dreamland.

Learning from past performance, I gave Elaina some cookies and a drink before bedtime tonight. She wasn't so much into the cookies and thought they would be better suited for the birds. She even offered to share her drink. ** Just so you know, the bird from our basement is currently M.I.A. Don't know if he's there, or if he's out or if he's just lying in wait to scare the crap out of me again. Don't know. I'm guessing we'll be smelling him soon enough if he hasn't already found an exit. There's no continental breakfast here, birdie.

Editor in Chief

That's me! That's the beauty of having your own blog.

Am I the only one who thinks this way?

The good part about holding such authority over this little, old web page of mine is that I can write about any old thing I choose and having any loyal readers along for the ride is just a happy bonus!

The down side about making this blog a part of my life is that I sometimes feel that I can't possibly let a day slip by without even a tiny, little post makes me feel like I let that day pass as if it weren't significant enough to hold a worthwhile spot to occupy all of 5 sentences to make an actual post.

And sometimes, (follow me if you will) if I don't post for a day or two, I get spoiled by the luxury called "free time" and cut anywhere between 20- 60 minutes out of my day by not being glued to my keyboard. If I feel like really spoiling myself and take a little hiatus from blogging, I feel like I'm sinking faster than a midget in quicksand, trying to catch up.

Now, I'm not quite sure what sparked all of that, except leading me into what events I should try to recap from this fine day.

For starters, I could tell you about this bird that somehow trapped himself in our basement and scared the crap out of me and has been causing ruckus downstairs ever since. And how a friend of ours came over to "catch" it and ended up barricading it into a very unfinished portion of our basement beneath our kitchen floor planks.

Or I could tell you about after the greatly unsuccessful bird-chasing, our friend proceeded to tell me that he has grown to a deeper level of faith through witnessing our experiences trying to have a family of our own. How the miracle of Elaina's birth and adoption into our family proved to him that there is a God and that he feels that he is witness to God's power through our testament.

I might divulge that I found a new place to swing. A swing set that is. For Elaina. Peaceful and quiet and all of the beauty that comes with mom and daughter time alone without any schedule, no interruptions and no other noise. Just looking at each other's smiles and knowing that she is every bit of my heart.

Also, I could relay that Elaina's memory is proving to be sharper than ever. I dressed her in her Pittsburgh Steelers t-shirt this morning and told her that it was her Daddy's favorite team. Oh let's see... maybe 10 hours passed without further mention of the same before she stood in the kitchen, tugging on her shirt saying, "Daddy, fa-vit." I was the one trying to recall our previous conversation from so long ago.

So with all of these story topics swimming around in my head, I think I'll just summarize our day's events into a compact, little run-down:

* Elaina developed a cold overnight. Much snot, Fragile temperament at times.
* We hit a great kid's clothes sale and got lots and lots of yummy little outfits.
* Despite being sick, Elaina only napped for approximately 30 minutes (combined) and was still tolerable.
* I have convinced myself that spring is here and am looking forward to packing away winter once and for all. (At least for the next 6 months or so! Come on, it's Ohio!)

With that, I'll be calling it a day!

Legitimate Hooky

Have you ever heard of such a thing?

"Legitimate Hooky."

Let me explain how my day panned out. Eric left for a gun show at the ungodly hour of 5 a.m., (of which I'm barely conscious) as I finally fall back asleep, the ringing phone sends me into a quick panic as I jolt to answer it before Elaina wakes. The 6 a.m. phone call was from none other than the baby sitter's husband letting me know that Nancy is ill with the flu. I offered my most sincere get-well wishes that I could muster being only half awake and immediately called off work myself. We've had offers of friends to be back-up baby sitter's, however, in almost 20 months and the most reliable sitter ever, Elaina hasn't really come to know anyone so well that I would be able to leave her in good conscience for longer than a few hours. The fact that Eric was already out of town (not being able to share the day off in shifts) compiled with the fact that today's forecast was calling for sunshine and blue skies, my decision to take the day off was made with little hesitation.

Elaina slept just a little past 7 (as usual) and we began our day. We played inside, we played outside, we blew bubbles, played chase, and read books. We occupied a large chunk of our day with playing at the playground. Most often, we have the place to ourselves with the exception of a random kid or two, whom we typically outlast, but today was an exception to the norm. If I had to guess, I'd say there were at least a dozen kids running around with a few parents in tow. Is this a typical Friday afternoon for them? I thought I was the lucky one for being able to enjoy a weekday afternoon out with my kid. They're the lucky ones.

To top off our day of play, Elaina requested to go to the potty and made her very first tinkle in the little potty. Wow!! I wouldn't say that we have official begun "real" potty training up to this point, meaning that I don't ask her to go every 20 minutes and I don't have her wearing pull-ups day in and day out. We've just made the potties accessible and have been talking about "excrement" more and more in regular conversation. So far, she likes setting her tiny-hiney upon each throne as if she were playing musical chairs and she loves to see how fast she can reel out the toilet paper in a puddle onto the floor. (Mom loves this! - NOT!) Today's tinkle was impressive since she asked to go and she produced. Potty training boot camp will be starting soon enough.

All in all, we enjoyed an impromptu day off together and looking forward to the rest of our girls' weekend to hang out. Gun show season is coming to a close soon and Eric will be home more to enjoy the same. Can't wait!

Victorious

Just a quick note to let everyone know that I'm going to bed with a bowling champion tonight.

Same guy; Eric's his name, he just happened to earn himself a fancy title after his name since his team swept the roll-off bowling tournament tonight in a victory.

Way to go Honey!

Quick Comeback

Tonight was supposed to be Eric's last night of bowling for the season and I thought it might be nice for Elaina and I drop by for a surprise visit and cheer him on. Eric was especially happy to see us as was the rest of his team. In fact, most of the men turned into melty, mushy fragments of their former selves as they smiled and waved to Elaina, talking in their softest high-pitched voices. So funny!

One man from another team walked by admiring Elaina and jokingly asked Eric where Elaina got her good looks. Without skipping a beat, Eric replied, "Not from me!"

We were both taken a little off guard by such an innocent question from someone who hadn't a clue that she wasn't born from our gene pool. I was impressed with Eric's response; so quick, so natural and honest to boot! Nice job!

[Additional note on our evening: Elaina and I may have been the lucky charm that Eric's team needed to tonight as they won the second half of the season and now face a roll-off with the first-half winners. Oh... the suspense!]

Second Tumbling Class

Elaina loved her tumbling class so much the first time, that we were disappointed to learn that the end of the session was quickly drawing near. Last week, it was cancelled due to spring break. What the local school district's spring break has to do with a private facility toddler tumbling class, I'll never know.

Regardless, after tonight there will only be one more class until the start of the next 8 week session. For a young, little beginner, Elaina has been doing pretty well. The instructors are great and amazingly patient as they repeatedly herd the little ones back to the rest class and help to keep their attention focused. Keeping in mind that this is a class filled with approximately eight 2-4 year-olds, the mom's table in the back of the room is frequently visited by timid toddlers making sure the mommy is just where she's supposed to be until they're ushered off once again. At one point, Elaina was slightly distracted by a mess she recognized on the floor. Opting to ignore the current activity, she began picking up the rubber placemats that the instructors use on the floor as a flow pattern for the kids to follow to each station. No stepping-stone-flow-pattern tonight, courtesy of Elaina. She picked them all up and stacked them upon one another. (Editor's note: do not be fooled, she is NOT this diligent at home when it comes to picking her things up, but it's nice to see that some of my DNA may be seeping into her pores after all.)

(Check out Elaina's friend, Ali, at the end of the beam. Oh yeah... they have on the same outfit! I spotted these adorable little leotards with the velvety bodice and chiffon tutu and couldn't resist picking up a matching set for the girls! Had Ali stayed just a little longer after class, I would have gotten a much better picture of the cuties together. Definitely next class!)

Tell It Like It Is

Ahh... the fantastic age of toddler hood; just enough evidence of a baby within this independent, little being, yet growing by leaps and bounds at the very same time. Such is the case with Little Miss Elaina anyhow.

Here are some random funny things that are just too cute not to share.

Over the weekend, Elaina became an instant stand-up comic. When she had our attention, she knocked on the bathroom door in the hotel room and says the following, "Knock-knock. Who is it? Me!" Too funny! I just adore the fact that she recognizes humor (toddler humor, that is) and holds her hands up to her face, giggling, while delivering the punch line to her joke!

On our way to pick up Keegan from the kennel, Elaina had requested that her baby doll be able to join us for the trip. In making conversation with her, I brought to Elaina's attention that her baby doll that she received from G&GW for her birthday, had never gotten an official name. Upon asking Elaina what she thought we should call "Baby" she quickly suggested, "Granma Cakes." Laughing, I wondered if that name would actually stick and that Granma Cakes would have to be introduced to the family as such. The story behind Granma Cakes is when my parents were visiting over Easter weekend, my mom had brought along some rice cakes in order to insure some low-cal snacks while at my junk-food haven. Upon leaving, she forgot to take them with her and offered them for us. When I introduced a rice cake to Elaina for the first time, I explained that these were "Grandma's very special rice cakes just for her to eat." From that, Elaina condensed it to "Granma Cakes." Apparently rice cakes and baby dolls are much of the same thing to her.

Last but not least, when we arrived home from our trip to PA, I was getting Elaina ready for her bath and asked if she would sit on the potty. (We have a little potty chair and a Sesame Street potty seat on the "big potty." Elaina always gets to choose.) Immediately, the Sesame Street seat with Big Bird and Elmo caught her eye and she yelled out "Dis one! Dis one!" My darling child ran over to the big potty and gave Big Bird a kiss on the vinyl covered ring which has embraced her tiny-hiney many a time. Kissed the potty seat for God's sake! Goofball!

This is an incredible, amazing age and we're loving every minute of her! She just keeps on getting better and better and the smiles on our faces are never ending!

Good Excuse for a Weekend!

A weekend getaway that is!

This weekend Eric worked a gun show only a few hours from home and invited Elaina and me along for the ride. It sounded like a great idea to me! Since the shows are generally from 8-5 on both Saturday and Sunday, I had visions of lounging around at the hotel room in jammies until noon, taking in some playtime at the hotel pool, long afternoon naps with my favorite girl and some shopping to fill the gaps. Beautiful thought wasn't it?

Unbelievably, my weekend agenda didn't follow the blueprints exactly, but was even better!

Eric drove out early Friday morning and I worked only until noon the same day to arrive with Elaina at our destination before dark. The hotel was newly built approximately 2 months ago and was simply gorgeous. I had been looking forward to taking Elaina swimming at the pool and had been psyching her up for days prior to our trip. All she would talk about is "swemming poo." Oh yeah... we were going to the swimming pool! Last summer, she wasn't a big fan of the water or even getting wet. I had my fingers crossed that she would get much more enjoyment from the pool this time around without any fear or hesitation. After dinner, we came back to suit up the girl and her dad.
She loved her new bathing suit and matching cover up. Notice the bucket she's toting along? That would only have to be the single best bath accessory ever invented. It is a hair rinsing bucket. There's a flexible rubber piece on one side which wraps around your child's forehead and two separate sections for water to pour out, rinsing the shampoo from your kid's hair without getting soap in their eyes.. For under $4 - I fell in love! Now back to the story...



This is the face that Elaina made every last time she or Eric kicked and splashed water in the pool. Surprised indeed that it had the same effect every last time! Splashing! Rippling! Water-in-the-eyes! And she didn't even mind!


She only dared to creep her hiney a mere one step further, but enjoyed having the pool almost entirely to herself and her daddy.



Just prior to us packing our things to head up to our room, Elaina made friends with a 7 year-old and 10 year-old girl from Chicago. They were jumping off the edge of the pool into the water. Of course, our big one-year-old-do-it-yourselfer decided that she wanted to do the same. She got up from her seat to take her place by the pool's edge. I don't think she had any intentions on jumping in alone, but was more than ready for mommy to hoist her into daddy's outstretched arms in the water. Good thing mommy decided against getting wet tonight; I don't know if I would have been able to keep up.

Here's a good excuse for the weekend: snuggling in bed with my favorite girl. We didn't bring the pack 'n play on purpose, rather knowing there were two queen beds in our room, Elaina could sleep alone or with a snuggly parent. I opted to join Elaina as we cuddled down for the night. We don't make a habit of co-sleeping and Elaina doesn't expect it, but we'll often lay down together for afternoon naps on the weekends or rare occasions such as this being away from home. Tonight, little girl was so wiped out from a long day, she was asleep before I could even unpack my own pajamas!

Saturday morning Eric headed out to work early in the morning and Elaina and I were ready to start our day. We had a lovely continental breakfast together and then hit the pool for some playtime before a late morning nap. I tried to be very meticulous about planning our activities of the day in attempt to keep both of us happy. There's rarely a chance that Elaina will be happy for long stretches of time if she goes without a nap. Her nap time gave me ample time to clean up the room, take a shower and get ready for our day on the town. Perfect timing!

The mall--- make that, the most incredible mall ever, was just about 2 minutes from our hotel. In fact the parking lots looped together. It was awesome. I've since learned that the mall itself is relatively new, having it's doors open for only about 2 years now.

Ummm... how shall I put this? We were at the mall all day long! I'm not just talking about wandering around, dumping cash into each store in return for unnecessary items, I'm talking about walking miles around the mall and landing in the greatest kids play area ever. Elaina would have been content to divide her time equally between the hotel pool and the mall playland easily. It was a PBS Kids Land that offered 3 separate play areas for different age groups. Again, being all of 1 year old, creeping close to the magical age of 2, she was able to enjoy all that each had to offer.

She worried me to death when she decided to tackle the flexible bendy ladder that took her to the highest plateau until about her fourth go around, when she was able to climb it effortlessly.

I wish I had taken more pictures of the layout of this magnificent play yard, but it seems as though I only have eyes for my girl. Elaina made a few friends on the three separate occasions that we were there. We spent about 2 hours there on Saturday afternoon, went to a nice restaurant for dinner with daddy and dragged him back to the mall to see his little girl in all of her glory. Oh yeah... mom was able to run wild throughout the mall and drop her cash for unnecessary items then.

And for the grand finale..... I give you Big Bird.

That's all Elaina talked about Saturday night and until we arrived to see him again on Sunday.

Sunday morning, Eric of course, headed off to work and I took Elaina back to the play land/mall to run off some energy. Also, I had to pick up the last final items I had talked myself into buying. (Did I need to mention that?) Thinking that the mall would open at 10:00, Elaina and I arrived at 9:57 sharp. To our surprise, the stores didn't open until 11:00. A lucky accident turned out great as Elaina had Big Bird (and the entire kids area) all to herself for about 15 minutes before the other munchkins began to pour in. Soon after, we scooped up mommy's deals and some lunch for dad and headed to the gun show. Eric was glad to see us and share part of his work with his 2 favorite girls.

Soon after, Elaina and I hit the road heading for home. We had an incredible weekend together and enjoyed seeing Elaina play in an entirely new environment. While it stinks that Eric had to work, he was still home in time to read books with his baby girl and tuck her into bed as she was still mumbling about "swemming poo" and "BigBerd."

So Big

I just wanted to pass along some cutie pictures of Elaina that made me laugh.

In the first photo, our model is wearing an exquisite set of genuine plastic jewels showcasing the Easter Bunny emblem atop the bold, bright colors from our Spring collection. Notice her clip on earrings which compliment her stretchy, plastic necklace- all in the bunny theme.

(Not shown: Easter Bunny ring and stretchy bracelet.)

*** Hairstyle compliments of

the banana Elaina had for dinner

and used as mousse for her hair.

(What can I say, she's resourceful!)

Next up is Elaina's baby doll she presented atop her changing table when she realized that baby doll didn't have a diaper on. She reached and pushed her doll to the top and proceeded to pull out a diaper for her and pointing to her doll, said, "Diaper. Butt-cream."

God forbid the baby doll go to bed without a diaper or butt cream.

(Although Elaina has expressed minimal interest in the potty, she always asks for butt cream for herself with every fresh diaper. Good thing she's looking out for what's in the best interest for her doll. Cute!)

Ain't Nothin' Wrong About Holidays!

Top 10 Great Reasons to Love Holidays!

1. Family
2. Food
3. Never knowing what you'll be going home with, but unless it's flu season, it's always going to be something good!
4. Fridge full of leftovers
5. Filling up all of your camera's memory space with sweet photos
6. 50% off holiday merchandise the following day! (I'll never miss that $35 I spent today!)
7. Seeing magic and wonderment in the eyes of my child
8. Creating memories
9. Starting traditions
10. Too little sleep, too much laundry and too much housework to tend to when company leaves because it was all worth the time spent together having fun!

Easter Joy

"Easter Joy" seems the very best way to sum up the very best weekend!

Here's hoping everyone had a joyous Easter weekend also!

For our family's celebration this year, my parents and brother and his family traveled to spend the weekend here. You wanna know what that means? Lots of eating, fun and spoiling! Maybe not so much eating on the kids behalf, unless you count candy necklaces for lunch and jellybeans for dinner. With this in mind, Colin and Elaina couldn't have asked for a better weekend! The good and the bad of the weekend was that we were able to help my sister-in-law, Kate celebrate her birthday with cake and ice cream. Unfortunately, the bad part was that Eric's parents weren't able to join us for the weekend as we had hoped.

Since my parents arrived Friday night, we were able to enjoy somewhat of a normal routine before a whirlwind of activity overtook our house on Saturday when what is to become known as the "Toddler Tornado" touched down at our house. I'm only exaggerating a lot. Elaina and Colin were as thick as thieves this weekend. They were so good and played so well together as if they see each other everyday. In all actuality, we only really get together about once every 4 months or so. (We need to work on that! *smile* ). When Colin arrived at Elaina's house on Saturday afternoon, Elaina showed little hesitation in greeting him with a hug and soon after, led him by his arm to show him her toys. The rest of us stood in the kitchen melting by how sweet they were to take to one another so quickly. Unbelievably, no one had a camera handy at that precise moment. We learned our lesson and had the flashbulbs ready from then on. (You'll see what I mean soon enough!)

The best and only way to even give you a slight hint of the fun we had is through narrating some of my favorite pictures! (of course!)
(captions below each photo)

After much chasing and romping about the house, the little Munchkins took it upon themselves to cozy up to one another long enough to catch the end of their favorite show, Go Diego!Go! and provide the rest of us a sweetly, excellent blackmail picture for they get older! What do you think of our new living room furniture? Should we keep it here? Or maybe turn it to the face the other way? Hah! I would have never believed that one day we would have an 8x8 foot bounce house in our living room! Enter: Greg and Kate to provide just what we needed to fill that empty corner! Since becoming a mommy, these are the types of gifts that Aunt Kate buys for herself for her birthday to see so much joy and exhaustion overtake her little boy! I believe that she once made reference to it as " a good-night's-sleep-in-a-bag!" The kids loved it! Isn't this slightly ridiculous? Guilty. And how many kids are going to wake up at my house in the morning? 47? Um, no. The answer is 2. Two spoiled-rotten-but-so-much-worth-it-kiddos. It looks like Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny are in cahoots to fill our homes with toys and rot our children's teeth. Lovely. (Inset: Aunt Kate following the Easter Bunny's instructions to make all of this loot fit into two little baskets. That Easter Bunny must have some kind of magic!)
Colin and Elaina did a great job of finding all of the eggs that the Easter Bunny hid around the house. That bunny was good to both of them! They woke to find that there were Easter baskets awaiting them just outside their bedroom doors and that the bunny had hidden Goldfish crackers in about 3 dozen brightly colored eggs. Let's not forget to mention the fact that Elaina's Grandma and Grandpa W. had mailed out some fun Easter goodies and bunny purse for her basket and Elaina's babysitter jammed loads of goodies and a sweet outfit into yet another basket for her. I think that she got only two baskets this year compared to the three she received last year. Poor thing.
With a little help from Grandma, Elaina was able to reach clear to the top of the clock for her favorite colored egg. Orange. ( Everything is "orr-anj.")"How did that bunny know that my Daddy can't wait to take me hunting in the woods? Now I have my own pink, camouflage hat! It goes nicely paired it with my bunny necklace! I really am a girly-girl!"
Colin's trying on bunny ears for size while Elaina is trying to blow bubbles from the best bubble-blowing cup and wand ever made. It fits little hands perfectly and it never leaks a drop when tipped upside down and the soap doesn't stain, or discolor fabric! Available only in EasterBunnyLand. After all of our company left, we still had plans to go to Cleveland to attend calling hours for a very dear family to us. That would explain our 3 outfit change of the day. When we arrived home, much later in the evening, Elaina still had presents she had to open from the Easter bunny. He must know that Elaina is almost ready to begin potty training. He brought her a Sesame Street potty seat! Finally..... me and my girl! Could I possibly love her any more?

As promised...

Allow me to present, Elaina's Easter photo shoot '07! Featuring special guest appearance by Thumper, the Easter Bunny!

In Which She Chooses Her Own Clothes

This would be the lovely plastic rain coat and rubber boots that Elaina chose to wear to bed a few weeks back for her afternoon nap.

It looks like she may be cooking up something good!

This would be the surprised face she makes every time the phone rings, just before shouting, "Te-e-fone!"

Hey, and whatever happened to "April Showers Bring May Flowers?"

We had a brief little ice storm this morning followed by a dusting of snow everywhere. Aack! All of this just 2 days after we bared our arms and legs and basked in the warmth of 82 degrees on Monday!

Can you say, "S T I N K Y?"

Word For Word

Would I be overstating the obvious if I mentioned how much I enjoy being Elaina's mom? Umm... more to the point; I love being Elaina's mom.

With each passing month, she gets even more fun than I thought possible. I can honestly say that I have loved every single stage of her life and she just keeps getting better.

In all of her 21 month-old humor, Elaina is an incredible chatterbox and will say things that are just completely, innocently cute. For instance, the other day I was making her lunch and trying to explain to her that her "nuggies" were in the oven baking. She is familiar with the big white thing that mommy stands in front of daily is the thing we call the oven and knows that it is often hot. When I went to pull out her chicken nuggets, she yelled, "Mom-mee! Ca-ful. Hot." Good thing she told me!

It is refreshing that we're able to carry on an actual conversation of sorts with our daughter and not have to dumb-it-down for her benefit. With the exception of calling socks, "sockies"; eggs, "eggies"; Noggin, "Noggie"; and chicken nuggets, "nuggies-" we've never really talked baby talk to her. The majority of our slang has come about, in fact, by Elaina's use of these words. Unfortunately, neither Eric nor myself can resist how cute she is when she throws a random
"-ie" ending onto her words, that we tend to follow suit. She is beginning to string three and four words together gradually and gets her message across rather clearly. It's just amazing how at 21 months, she presents so much knowledge folded within the confines of a little body that still instinctively cries when she doesn't get her way. I guess I just stand in awe of how her mind is developing and forming ideas and processing so much information by the minute. It's as if she has opened my eyes to seeing things around me for the first time.

I hope that she will forever hold onto her ability to think and feel things so freely and so innocently and that she never loses her appreciation for the little things in life. What a beautiful gift!

First "Tumb-bing" Class

Finally! After 5 attempts to get Elaina enrolled in a tumbling class, we made it tonight!

(or as Elaina calls it, "tumb-bing.)

Why did it take 5 attempts? Let's see... for 2 consecutive weeks, class was cancelled due to the weather (school cancels=tumbling cancelled). The third attempt was in between sessions and no one was there, the fourth time; the instructor had told me the wrong date, and the fifth being last week when we all went to the dentsit. Seriously people! I just wanted to get my kid into a stinkin' tumbling class, not schedule her doctorate program!

The thought of tumbling class first crossed my mind when Elaina discovered a new favorite activity which involved her scaling Eric's hard gun case for his rifle that had been left on the floor. ( Editor's note: No, we don't make a habit of leaving "guns" just lying around the house. This was during hunting season and the case was empty!) Elaina would run into the spare bedroom and say, "Mommy! Watch!" as she walked the length of the case time after time as she beamed with pride over her new skill.

Tonight's toddler class had a minimal attendance of 4 kids versus nearly 10 that can typically be expected. Elaina and her friend, Allison are both close to 2 and the actual "toddlers" of the class. There were only 2 other little girls and they were both 4 year old veterans of the routines. I was impressed to see my little girl showing independence as she following the instructions of a complete stranger while mommy looked on from across the room. Given the fact that she had to check on me sporadically through the session, she did great and required mimimal coaxing to re-join the group. I think that this will soon become one of her favorite activities and hope that she will enjoy this type of organized recreation for years to come.

Here are just a few pictures from class. Elaina is in the hot pink track suit (which she refused to take off her matching jacket!) and her friend, Allison is wearing the light pink leotard. They were utterly adorable!

The bunny named "Thumper"

Can you even believe that Easter is just around the corner?

Can you believe that I was so excited to take Elaina to get her picture taken with a real, live bunny?

Can you believe that Elaina really could have cared less about the real, live bunny?

Sadly, all of this is fact.

Saturday, I took Elaina to a portrait studio that offers appointments at Easter time with live bunnies. I had hoped that she would have been thrilled with the experience and that she would give us loads of smiles that just sang out "Ooohh, Ahhh." Nope. The kid could have cared less. "Yep, it's a bunny alright," is what her reaction seemed to be.

Regardless, her pictures turned out simply adorable! As I'm writing this, I'm realizing that I don't have any photos downloaded to share. And as I'm thinking this, I'm wondering who will come back to check this same post to see them. Just remember, Okay?

And now, back to the story.... so, we hadn't been to this particular studio before and I just really can't say enough good things about them. Their prints were somewhat pricey, but the service was top notch. I was terribly impressed and couldn't have asked for a better experience. This will most definitely be the place that we book her 2 year-old pictures for a splurge.

As soon as we have an opportunity to scan some pictures or pull them from their site, you'll see them here first. In the meantime, just take my word for Elaina looking like the little doll that she is!

Writer's Hiatus

Wow! From Thursday to Monday and no new stories!

I could well be fired for an offense of such great proportion!

Oh, who am I fooling? Within the next few days, I shackle myself to this very keyboard, try to recall some worthwhile stories of our weekend, finally catch up to date by this Thursday and then have another busy weekend smack me in the face! Show me some mercy people!

For tonight, however, I'm writing with the sole intention to provide my dedicated readers with a little something new than my last post you've been clicking to over to see the same thing 5 days in a row, and to intrigue you to stop back soon by eluding to upcoming stories about bunnies, Easter pictures and the playground that rules!

Until then... I'll leave you with this sweet picture of Elaina just one year ago. Sweetsie was just beginning to learn to crawl and get into just about everything!