Playing in the Leaves

Travis is on vacation this week. It has been great, because we haven't gone anywhere or had to do anything. The four of us have just been playing, hanging out, watching movies, and doing other fun things together. Today we all played outside in the leaves!

Blast-off!

Elijah is saying some really funny things lately. I don't know where he gets some of them. For instance, he has been saying, "4...3...2...1...BLAST-OFF!!!!!" quite a bit. I didn't teach it to him, and I really have no idea where he learned it. Hearing him say it is petty funny though. He has begun to say many phrases as well. He says, "Daddy at work." I am so proud of his language development! This morning I was making breakfast for him and he crawled into the cereal cabinet with his favorite black stuffed kitty. I told him I was going to take a picture and went to get the camera. I returned, and he said," CHEEEEEESE!" I didn't teach him that either. I think he must have gotten that at preschool when they had their school pictures taken on Monday. Anyway, here is the picture from this morning.

Elijah and Grandma invented a game this week. It is called Hmmmmm. Grandma says "Hmmm," while she thinks of questions to ask Elijah. She asks him things like, "Is it your shoes?" "Is it a pumpkin?" "Is it Grandpa?" "Is it Michael Scott from The Office?" or "Is it school?" and Elijah says either "no," or "it is!" Once Grandma has guessed what it is, ELijah says "hmmmm" because he wants to play again...and it starts all over. It is pretty funny. They played Hmmmm for an hour yesterday.

I Love Fall

My favorite time of the year has arrived! It is now the second week of October, and Autumn is just beginning here in the Ozarks. It has been unseasonably hot the past few weeks and gotten into the mid-80's with high humidity every day. It hasn't felt much like fall yet, needless to say. In fact, it has felt like July! However, today it rained a lovely fall rain and the temperatures are in the low-70s. I've had my fall decorations out since the third week in September so the inside of our house looks like fall. I was beginning to wonder if it would ever look and feel like fall outside too! Now that it's here, I've planned lots of things for the boys to do to celebrate during October.

I guess it started on Friday when we went to the birthday party of one of the boys' little friends, Jonas, who was turning one. It was a pumpkin party! The boys (with my help, of course) each decorated a pumpkin that we brought home and which are now proudly displayed in the living room. Here they are!

Later this week is Elijah's preschool Pumpkin Festival! The kids dress like farmers and go for horse-drawn carriage rides, do crafts, play games, and there will be a giant chili supper for the families. We can't wait!

This month we also plan to attend the Spooktacular at the zoo, the Alpha Chi Omega children of alumnae Halloween Party, the October 31st party at James River Assembly, and of course we will be going to the pumpkin patch to choose and cut our own pumpkin and go on a hayride. I also have been getting together crafts and treats (such as a Halloween gingerbread house) that the boys and I can make together. Travis is taking a vacation the last week of October so we can all enjoy these fun activities together. I am so excited! I just love this time of year!

Proud Mommy

When I picked Elijah up from preschool today, his teacher came out to the car and told me that she can't believe how well he is doing with his letters and numbers. I wanted to say, "Yeah, I know. He knows all his shapes and colors too!" but I just thanked her. I was bursting with pride! It is nice that his intelligence gets noticed so much. He is such a smart little boy.

Sidewalk Chalk and Geese

Elijah had a fun day today. He spent quite a while outside on the back porch this morning, coloring with sidewalk chalk. He and I covered the whole porch! We were covered in chalk dust afterwards, but it was well worth it! Elijah is turning into quite the little artist (he's been painting up a storm at preschool too). Also, notice which hand he is using to draw. We have a little lefty (grandpa is going to start teaching him to throw a sinker next week)! After we colored the whole porch, the four of us went to the park. Elijah had a great time feeding the geese with his Daddy! Elijah was not afraid of the geese at all. In fact, he chased them all over the park! At one point he almost followed one into the water. Good thing Daddy is a fast runner! Here are a few pictures of the day's fun activities.

Ethan is 9 Months Old

Here is the latest picture of my beautiful boy. I can't believe that 3 months from today he will be 1 year old! He is my precious baby.

Did I Need Another Reason....

...to love Dave Matthews? He uses cloth diapers on his infant son.

Check out the story HERE.



Rock on, Dave. Rock on.

Happy Birthday Travis!

Today is my dear husband's 29th birthday! He had to work today so the boys and I took him a cake this afternoon. It had a golfer on it, and he loved it! Then for dinner the two of us went downtown to Kai. It was so yummy. Here are a few pictures from the day.
The cake:

The birthday boy:

At dinner:

We cooked meat on an extremely hot rock for our appetizer:


Happy birthday, sweetie! I love you.

I took a quiz...

Your Political Profile:

Overall: 25% Conservative, 75% Liberal Social Issues: 25% Conservative, 75% Liberal Personal Responsibility: 0% Conservative, 100% Liberal Fiscal Issues: 50% Conservative, 50% Liberal Ethics: 25% Conservative, 75% Liberal Defense and Crime: 25% Conservative, 75% Liberal

How Liberal Or Conservative Are You?

My Beautiful Obsession

Here are all our cloth diapers, in all their glory!

GERD and Mommy's Bad Memory

I haven't written for a week. Sorry about that! Here are some updates.

Ethan has GERD, Gastro Esophageal Reflux Disease. He has been projectile vomiting on occasion, been extremely fussy to the point of being unable to calm down, and had a chronic cough and congestion for about a month. At first I just thought he was spitting up like all babies do and that he had a cold, but the "cold" never went away and the spit up was definitely worse than normal. I was thinking it over Thursday evening and had an "AH-HA" moment. I called the pediatrician on Friday morning and they got us right in. Dr. Tulipana confirmed that Ethan does, in fact, have GERD. He gave us some medicine that Ethan is to take twice a day and hopefully that will do the trick. So far it hasn't made much difference. If there is little to no improvement over the course of two weeks Ethan has to go back to the doctor to have an upper GI test. I hope it doesn't come to that, though. I am praying that the medicine works and that Ethan is on the road to recovery. He has just been so miserable.

Now for the update on Elijah. Elijah is loving preschool! He brings home a picture he either colored or painted everyday. Today the picture was entitled, "My new friend," because the children are learning about making friends at their new school. Elijah is quite the artist, and he is definitely left-handed! He only colors and throws with his left hand. He can also count to 20 now, and he understands how to count things if you ask him, "How many?" Today was Elijah's snack day. Each child is in charge of bringing a healthy snack to their classroom once a month. When I went to parent orientation the teachers all said that snack time was the favorite time of the day for all the children. They emphasized writing down one's snack day so as not to forget the snack and let the children go without. For weeks I have been planning the all-imortant snack. I wanted to do pretzel sticks with raisins and Motts juice boxes. I bet you can guess what happened. I FORGOT SNACK DAY. I was driving Elijah to preschool this morning thinking, "September 10th...I know today was something, but what was it?" Then it hit me. SNACK DAY. I dropped Elijah off, appologized profusely to the teacher that came out to get him (who was extremely nice about it, by the way) and told her I would be right back with the snack. Ethan and I made a mad dash to Wal Mart and got snacks for Elijah's class. We got twisty cheese sticks and graham crackers shaped like bugs with Motts Tots juice boxes, and brought them back to Carpenter's Kids. Crisis averted. I felt like the world's worst mother. Ugh.

Potty Time

Big news: Elijah went poo-poo in the potty for the first time on Sunday night! He has gone pee-pee several times, but this was the first time for poo-poo. If you aren't a parent, you won't understand the HUGE deal this is. You also might think it is a little gross or weird that I'm dedicating a blog to this subject. However, it is a big deal, and I am so proud of my little boy! I have a sweet picture of him on the potty:

Carpenter's Kids

The verdict is in: Elijah loves preschool! He went Monday and Wednesday of this week. The first day Travis and I took him, and Travis walked him in. He ran right into his classroom and started playing without even a glance back. When we picked him up, the teacher said he liked the sensory boxes and the building blocks. The second day we waited in the line of cars to drop him off and pick him up, and the teachers came and got him out of the car and took him to his classroom and put him back in his carseat after classtime was over. He drew three pictures that are now hanging on his art wall. He is there for 2.5 hours each day, Monday and Wednesday, and his day follows a routine. First they have circle time, where they sing songs and talk about what they are going to be learning. They go over the Bible verse of the week and the Bible story they are learning. Then they have time to go around to all the different modules that are set up in the classroom. They have the block center, the art center, the puzzle area, the book wall, the painting area, the sensory boxes, and many others. Then they have 20 minutes outside for recess and a snack. That's pretty much their whole day. They visit the library once a week and have a couple of field trips throughout the year. I can't wait until they go to the pumkpin patch this fall! They also have several parties, including a Discovery Night, a Pumpkin Festival, a Harvest Breakfast, and Christmas party and a Valentine tea. I can't wait to help Elijah make a Valentine box! I used to love that when I was little. Anyway, Carpenter's Kids is turning out to be a wonderful blessing for our family, and Elijah is loving every minute of it! Here are some pictures of his first day, before we left for school.

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Another Special Picture

This time it is of Ethan. I am going to get one of each of them to put side-by-side in our house! I especially like that you can see his new little teeth. Isn't grandma a great photographer and photo editor? She's so creative! I think it helps that she loves the boys so much. That love really comes out in her photos.

Preschool

Elijah starts preschool next week. I went to parent orientation on Monday evening and it went great. I visited his classroom and talked with his teacher. Mrs. Harrup could not have been any nicer. She came to our house for a home visit on Tuesday morning. When she rang the doorbell, Elijah went to the door to answer. She smiled and introduced herself to him. He liked her immediately! She brought him a bag of treats, including a notebook with stickers to stick inside. The stickers had school buses and pencils on them! Elijah just loved it. He also go a sucker, which he really liked. She brought two books with her and Elijah and I sat on the couch with her and listened to her read them. He sat still and listened the whole time. Mrs. Harrup told me she was impressed with his attention span. That was the first time I had ever heard that! Then she asked him where his toys were and he took her out to the playroom. He slid down his slide several times for her and did some somersaults. He colored her a picture on his easel, and said his alphabet for her. She told me he had a great head start since he knew all his letters, numbers 1-10, and colors already. He was sad to see her go when she had to leave!

Later that afternoon we went to visit his preschool classroom. He just loved it. I made a photo show about it:

Today we went shopping for several things Elijah needed for school. He picked out a Diego backpack and we got some shoes and clothes. Here are a couple of pictures of him wearing his new backpack and school shoes! He looks like such a big boy!

Like I said before, I know Elijah will love preschool and I know it will be very good for him. It is just hard on poor Mommy's heart to see her baby go to school, even if it is just for a few hours a week.

The Latest on Us

We are back in Springfield after a few days away. The four of us went to Columbia for the weekend to attend my sister-in-law's wedding. It was beautiful. We saw many of Travis's family members whom we had not seen in a great while, which was fun. Megan, the bride, looked stunning. Elijah was the ring bearer and did a fabulous job. I was so proud of him! As soon as I get some of my pictures downloaded I will post a picture of Elijah and Travis in their tuxedos. They were so handsome.

Elijah starts preschool a week from today. He is attending a very good Christian preschool that came with great recommendations. He is in the 2-year-old class and will only be there 2 days a week for 2.5 hours a day. Elijah is so smart and loves to be around other children, so I know he will just love it. However, it is killing me on the inside knowing he won't be home with me 100% of the time anymore. I know it is only 5 hours a week but still. I feel like he is getting so big and grown up already. Wasn't he just born? I will miss him so much, but I know it is going to be great for him. Plus it will give me a chance to spend some quality time with Ethan and run my errands with just one child, which will make it so much easier. I am attending parent orientation tonight so I will have a better idea about things after that. I do know that tomorrow we are going to visit Elijah's classroom, and tomorrow late morning his teacher is making a home visit to get to know him in a familiar environment. I am so glad the preschool does that. His teacher sounded so nice on the phone, and my friend Andrea already had her daughter Isabelle's home visit and she said that the teacher was really nice in person. I am going to get him a school bag and some new Nike Shox for school this week. My little boy is getting so big!

Also, Happy 25th Birthday to my little sister, Elisabeth!

Only Good News

My grandpa is slowly but surely getting better. He had a small setback today, as one of his legs is terribly swollen and sore from something-or-other that ran up to his heart (I'm no doctor, if you can't tell from my lack of medical knowledge!). However, the pacemaker seems to be doing the trick. PRAISE GOD!

Ethan is getting two more teeth! He is getting the other little one on the bottom in the front, and one of the big front top teeth. He is really grumpy and fussy about it. I guess I spoke too soon about him handling teething without incident, although I should have known it would get worse. His gums look so swollen and painful! Poor baby. He is also crawling all over the place. He can go from room to room, crawling, getting whatever he wants, and pulling up. He pulled up on the ottoman in the living room today and ate a bunch of cheerios while standing!

Elijah has so many words now. Today he said "moon" for the first time. He also has learned all his lowercase letters. We have been working with flashcards during mealtimes this week, and he now knows the entire uppercase and lowercase alphabet. He can say all 26 letters now, too. He pointed at my pants today and said "P-I-N-K" (they have the word PINK on them - thanks Victoria's Secret!). He is getting so smart and learning so much! I can't believe how far ahead he is for his age. This week I also taught him the answer to the question, "Who is in your family?" He says, "Mama, Dada, baby, Li-Jah". So cute!

I am pretty excited tonight because the St. Louis Cardinals are gaining a lot of ground in the NL central. They will be 3.5 games out of first after tonight (they're wining vs. Milwaukee 8-2 in the top of the 8th). GO REDBIRDS!!!

Which do you want first?

The good news: Ethan is crawling and pulling up! He started this past weekend and he is already an expert. He is only 7 months old, so I am surprised that he started so soon! Elijah didn't crawl or pull up until he was 9 months, so I thought I had a little while longer. Boy, was I wrong! It is really funny because Ethan can now crawl to get whatever toy he wants, which is usually the one Elijah has. Elijah gets mad, of course, and Ethan thinks it is hilarious, but it nice that they will be able to have more interaction now. Right now Ethan has crawled over to where Elijah was playing with the stack of clean diapers, and now Elijah is putting the cloth prefolds on Ethan's head! Ethan is giggling like crazy! It is so funny.

The bad news: My grandpa is really sick. His heart has stopped beating several times in the past 3 days, and they had to put in a pacemaker. I am praying that the pacemaker works and that he can get back to his normal life. He has been in the ICU at St. John's since the ambulance brought him there on Saturday afternoon. Apparently he was just sitting in his chair, watching the Cardinals game, when he passed out because his heart stopped. How scary this must have been for my grandma, who had to call 911 and watch the EMTs shock his heart back to beating. I will update you all on his status over the next few days, but please be praying for my PaPa!

It's so Hot...Milk was a Bad Choice

The high temperature today is 98, and it is only going up from here. Tuesday the high temperature is forecasted to be 102. It is too hot to play outside and too hot to go anywhere because the car gets terribly hot while we are inside. It is HOT. Ethan decided to do the only acceptable thing given the circumstances:

Milestones

There have been a lot of developmental milestones reached around here lately. Today Ethan got his first tooth! The little tooth in the front on the bottom left is just peeking through and I can feel it! He really hasn't been too fussy about it. He is such a brave boy. Ethan is also sitting from crawling position. He is still army crawling, but now he can sit up and get back down to crawl. When he woke up from his nap yesterday I went into his room to get him and he was sitting up in his crib! I guess it is time to move the crib mattress down. Today Ethan also started clapping. It is so cute! When he does something he is proud of, like getting the kitty, he claps for himself! He has been doing great with babyfood and has started to eat a few Cheerios. He says they are GOOD.

Elijah has been talking up a storm. He can say all 26 letters in order, and can count 1-2-3. He has so many new words everyday that I can't even write them all down. His latest new words are "hello", "fish", and "quack quack". He wants to talk on the phone all the time now. When Daddy calls from work, Elijah will talk and talk to him. He also likes to talk to Grandpa and Grandma on the phone. He has started to interact more when people ask him questions. He can tell people what his name is, how old he is, what color things are, and many other things. He even answers when Moose A. Moose asks questions on TV! He is just so smart, and I am so proud of him. My boys are beautiful, amazing children!

Special

Look what my mom made!
Click on the picture to see the full-size version.

More from last night

Here are a few more pictures of bedtime from last night. Elijah and Ethan love each other!



Just precious. I would like to close with a great quote my mom found.

"There was never a child so lovely but his mother was glad to get him to sleep." ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Bedtime

Just a quick blog before bed. Here are my boys tonight, freshly bathed and wearing their Diego PJ's. This was taken as they watched Elmo for the last time before bed, right before they had their milk and said night-night. My babies are so sweet.

Two Busy Boys

Elijah is finally feeling better. After feeling so awful for a few days, he is back to his normal self. We have had a busy last couple of days! We went to church, drove to Branson to eat on the Landing, went swimming, ate at CiCi's Pizza with our friends, and went shopping at Sam's. The boys have had a great time!

Elijah can now say almost his whole alphabet in order. He can't say K, Q, V, or W, but he gets the rest and I fill those few in for him. I want to find some wooden or plastic alphabet letters to see if he can put them in order that way too. I am so proud of my smart boy! He can put on his own shoes now as well.

Ethan has been "army crawling" all over the place. He can get up on all fours and rock back and forth, but he hasn't been able to move his hands and knees forward together to crawl. No matter! He gets back down on his belly and pulls himself all over the place with his arms while he pushes with his knees. I am sure it is very gratifying for him to finally be able to get something that is out too far in front of him to reach! While we were eating at Piztro's on the Landing, Ethan discovered that he likes cantaloupe. Elijah was given a slice, and Ethan picked it up and went to town eating it. I held it for him and he gummed it down to the rind! Here is a picture of Ethan eating his new favorite treat, and some other pictures of the last couple of days as well:






I also wanted to include a picture of me and my mommy friends from the baby shower we had for Christen on Saturday. This is Jody, Tori, Christen, me, and Andrea. I know it is a terrible picture, but I wanted to share even so.

We got the Britax!

I am so excited because we got two of the best, safest car seats available! It may seem silly to get excited over a couple of car seats, but knowing my kids are as safe and comfortable as they can possibly be in the car is an amazing feeling. We got Britax Boulevards in the Park Avenue print. Britax car seats are the number one rated car seat on Consumer Reports, they fit babies rear facing and forward facing 5-65 lbs, they have side impact protection and a 5-point harness system, and they are soft and comfortable. They are also really cute! The Park Avenue print is a grey, brown, and blue striped pattern on a smooth velvety-type fabric. Yes, they were expensive ($300 each - yikes!) but it was worth every penny for the boys' safety. The boys rode in their new car seats for the first time today, and they enjoyed them very much. Before Travis installed them, I took a picture of Ethan in his. He looks a little confused about why he is in his carseat in the house:

Sick Baby

I haven't written in a few days because Elijah has been very sick! Since I stay at home with the boys, neither one of them gets sick very often. I wonder if this makes it seem worse when they do goet sick every once in a while. Elijah woke up in the very early morning on Monday with a fever of 103.5 and difficulty breathing. He was crying and coughing and it sounded awful! I gave him some baby Motrin and baby Tylenol, and took him to Urgent Care. We got right in, and the doctor told us he had Croup and a sinus infection. He was put on four prescription medicines in addition to his Motrin and Tylenol. There were so many that I had to make a chart in order to make sure he got the right dose of the right medicine at the right time! He is taking Azithromycin, an antibiotic; Prednisolone, a steroid; Albuterol Sulfate, a bronchodialator to help his breathing; and Ceron, for cough and congestion. When we got home from Urgent Care and the pharmacy, I moved Elijah's matress into the playroom so he could watch Elmo and rest. He layed out there all day, and wanted me to lay next to him. Unfortunately Travis had to work, so I was home alone with a very sick toddler and his baby brother. My mom came over to help for a few hours, which was great. Poor Elijah would just cry, cough and wheeze, and say "Ow" over and over. Monday night was rough also. Travis didn't get home until after midnight, and Elijah had just fallen asleep. Travis decided to sleep out in the playrrom to keep an eye on Elijah. Although he had only been asleep for a short time, the poor sick boy woke up at 2 and was awake and crying until 4. Ethan woke right up at 6 so we were all pretty sleep-deprived. Tuesday was still pretty bad. Elijah did stop running a fever, so that was good, though he still felt very sick and his croup sounded awful. The medicine chart was perfectly followed. Tuesday night he went to sleep in his own bed at the normal time and slept for his usual 10 hours. He woke up this morning feeling quite a bit better. He is playing almost like normal right now, though since he hasn't eaten hardly a thing in three days he looks skinny. I hope he starts eating like normal again soon. I just worry about him so much. I hope that by tomorrow he is eating, playing, and sleeping like normal. It may take longer than that, but I hope not. Ethan is still completely well and healthy and being his usual happy self, so that is great. I hope he doesn't get Elijah's illness because that would be awful! Back to my sick boy...

The Mommy Behind the Madness

I thought about it, and I decided that the people who read this blog might like to know a little more about me, the mommy who writes it. The "All About Emily" section to the side is a bit lacking, so I will attempt to explain myself and what I am really like. I expect it will be difficult, but I'm willing to give it a try.
My name is Emily. I am 27 years old, and I still live in the city in which I was born, beautiful Springfield, Missouri. I have never lived anywhere else, and I don't mind at all. Most of my family lives here - my parents, my sister and brother, my grandparents, and many of my aunts, uncles, and cousins. I have made a lot of friends here over the years, and although some have moved away I feel as if I have a great deal of friends who still live here. In fact, I often find out that friends that have moved away have come back to the area to raise their families. My husband and I live in a beautiful home with our children, and we don't plan on leaving.
Anyway, I was going to write about me, not my hometown! The things that matter most to me are my relationships with God and my family. We attend James River Assembly and it had given us so much joy, hope, and opportunity to meet people with similar values. I attend a ladies night Bible study every other Tuesday, and it is really teaching me a lot. We are doing a study about the book of Daniel and talking about how we live in the Babylon of today. It is so interesting, and really makes me think about what is important and what I focus on daily.
As far as things I like to do? I enjoy spending time with my family. I love it when Travis is off work and the four of us can go for a walk up to the local pizza place for dinner. We just put the kids in the wagon and enjoy the summer weather and the beautiful trees and scenery on the way there and back. Lately I have been enjoying cooking, especially making meals for my family. I have been really getting into finding yummy recipes, going shopping for the perfect ingredients, and cooking a meal. I especially enjoy grocery shopping at the local organic and natural food market, Mama Jean's. The other night I made vegetarian chili and a Greek cucumber salad, all with fresh organic ingredients! It was so good, and it was also rewarding to know that I was letting my family eat only the freshest foods with no harmful antibiotics or preservatives. For dessert we had strawberry pound cake with whipped topping...I'm getting hungry just thinking about it! I also enjoy shopping, like any other American girl. I don't go shopping nearly as much as I used to, and when I do it is usually to quickly pick up something one of the kids or Travis needs. I guess I have a weakness for Dooney and Bourke purses, but they are seriously so pretty!
I love the fall, when all the trees change color, the weather is nice, and I can take the kids to the pumpkin patch to pick our pumpkin and go on a hay ride. I like going to my great-grandparents' farm, where my grandparents now live. It is just beautiful there, and I hope I get a chance to go before Thanksgiving when we all enjoy a big meal there together. I love holidays with my family. I actually love anytime I get to just sit and spend time with my parents, siblings, and grandparents. I look forward to those times so much, and I wish we were all a little less busy so it would happen more often.
More about me...I love my friends. Now that I am a mom, I especially enjoy spending time with my other mommy friends. Our children socialize, and I get to have some adult conversation! My friends and I take our kids all over the place - swimming, to the park, to play at each others houses, to gymnastics, to baseball games, you name it. Just recently I got to know some mommies during a "girls night out" without the kids, and that was really fun. We went to a restaurant and just chatted and laughed well into the night. I had the best time. Thanks, Andrea, if you are reading this! I belong to a mommy message board that I enjoy too. It is a place to give and receive advice from other moms, and I have really enjoyed being a part of it. I love my JM girls!
I feel as if I have written a book about myself, so thank you if you are still reading this. I hope that you feel as if you know me a little better!