To Sum It All Up

Where do I begin? My energy is low and responsibilities high these days so I'd better get as much info down as quickly as I can.

Summary:

Me: 9 weeks pregnant. Feeling very tired and intermittently nauseated. I am amazed at the power of amnesia that made me forget just how long 13 weeks of 1rst trimester ickiness feels.

Elise: Reading everything she can get her hands on. Story time is twice as long now because she is constantly interrupting to point out the words that she knows and read things herself. She is also brimming with, "why" questions these days. Some are interesting, some are bizarre, and some are impossible to answer. Telling stories is also an obsession at the moment. We take turns coming up with the next action in a story. She is much more creative than I am. Someday I will video tape one of her stories just for the record. But it could very well be a story that lasts over an hour long.

Zion: Sweet, easy-going little guy . . . until his friend Benson came for a visit. Our friends Ryan and Sharlene Hayton visited us for a few days with their 1.5 year old son Benson. I think that Zion spent the entire visit with his hands full of toys and saying, "mine!" He knows that in our house, you aren't allowed to take things out of other peoples hands. He took full advantage of this rule and loaded himself up with all of the toys he could hold. On the positive side, he is putting two words together now, "my train!", "my chair!", "my ball!" =)

Jeffrey: Working hard as always. On the weekend of April 25/26, he has a paper due, has to make a presentation at a conference, and has his big yearly ophthalmology exam. Oh, and that weekend I'll turn 13 weeks pregnant and finally be feeling better again. While I can hardly wait for the weeks to pass to get us past there, he has way too much to do between now and then.

Our house: Listed on March 14. We've had 4 showings so far. I am very tired of having to leave the house show ready whenever we go on an outing. It is hard enough to find the energy to go anywhere with 2 toddlers, then add pregnancy to that, and then top it off with a thorough house cleaning before getting out the door. I haven't left the house very much.

Oh, and did I mention that a car crashed into our house? While we were gone because someone wanted to see our house? Yep. True story.


The driver lost control coming down the hill next to our home. She lost traction due to the rain, veered off of the road and plowed into our pine tree. The car then spun around the tree and rolled back into our house. The driver and the passenger are both fine, thanks to airbags. And we think the damage is limited to the siding and not the structure of our home. All I can say is thank God for the airbags that protected them, and the pine tree that protected our home.

A Heartbeat

Dear Tatu,

My little number three. You are currently a conglomerate of essential parts - a heart and the beginnings of all of the organs that will carry you through your life. But you won't stay looking like a peanut for long. I've been down this road before. You will grow big enough to kick my insides and turn a somersault or two. And then just when you are running out of room to move, you will leave my womb and greet the world. I can already almost feel the smallness of your head curled up under my chin and the soft lump of your swaddled body in my arms. I can almost see the funny faces you will make as you try to nurse on a blanket or anything that touches your cheek when you get hungry. And I can almost hear the sound of your sighs. I wonder what noises you will choose as your mantra as you discover your voice. The very beginnings of your body are only just starting to form, but my mind and heart are full of anticipation.

My littlest one, I just wanted you to know someday how deeply loved, wanted, and cherished you are - even at only eights weeks in the womb.

Much love,

- Mommy

Reading?

She sounds out letters into words (cat, hat, bat).

She picks out words from boxes and such (up, off).

Is this reading?

Maybe. If so, it seems that a blog should document the beginnings of Elise's long journey with the written word. Congratulations kiddo.

And thank you starfall.com for teaching her how =)

And the Day Begins

In my previous post, I wrote about the magic of our morning snuggle/book time. I stretch it out each morning as I am reluctant to assume the work and responsibilities of the day. Because sometimes just getting through breakfast can be a hassle, like this morning . . .

Me: "Elise, do you want Cheerios or raisin bran for breakfast?"
Elise: "Cheerios."

I am surprised at her choice, but I pour her a bowl of Cheerios.

Elise, facing a bowl of Cheerios, tears rolling down her face: "I don't want Cheerios! I want raisin bran!"
Me: "You asked for Cheerios, you don't have to eat it if you don't want to, but I'm not going to pour a bowl full of raisin bran."

Elise, through her tears: "I didn't say Cheerios, I said raisin bran. How about raisin bran on top?"
Me, willing to compromise: "Okay, a little on top."

I pour a little raisin bran on top.

Elise, looking at her bowl of layered cereal: "I don't want raisin bran on top!"
Her crying has reached the hiccup stage by now. I am hoping her crankiness is due to her current illness and not a new stage. I send her to her room to pull herself together.

In a little while I join her in her room for a little talk and TLC. She heads out with a better attitude to restart breakfast. As I enter the kitchen, I hear the sound of falling water. Zion has dumped his whole bowl of cereal all over his highchair and the floor.

I clean up the mess.

Elise eats. Zion harasses Elise while she eats. I start to empty the dishwasher. Zion touches the dishes in the dishwasher. That is a no-no for him and an automatic time-out.

I give Zion a time-out. As I return to the kitchen, Elise proudly tells me that she is all done so she helped out and put her dishes in the dishwasher -- my clean dishwasher. My clean dishes are now splattered with milk and soggy Cheerios and raisin bran.

Once again I start to clean up a mess.

Then I notice Zion on the floor. Some of Elise's soggy cereal missed my clean dishes and splattered on the linoleum. Zion is picking up mushy bran flakes of the floor and eating them. Yuck.

And that is the start of my real day. The stuff of life that fills in between our morning snuggles and the relief of nap time.

My Mornings

My mornings begin through a sleepy fog as my husband wakes me enough for a kiss goodbye. A few minutes later, Elise climbs into his vacated spot in bed. She sucks her thumb, rubs Lambie, and sometimes dozes. Other times I'm peppered with requests for milk and told that the sun is awake so we are all done sleeping. I put her off and try to catch a bit more sleep and remember what is was that I was dreaming about.

Zion's first whimpers or babbles are transmitted to the monitor by my bed, and I hop out of bed in an attempt to shower before he grows too impatient.

Later, showered and dressed, I head into the kitchen for two sippies of milk to feed my kids during our, "milky snuggle time". In Zion's room, I settle him in my lap, his hands trying to hold the sippy cup without loosing his grip on his teddy bear. Sometime Elise squeezes in next to me on the glider. Sometimes she spreads a blanket over my legs to make a bed for her while we rock. And other days she darts around the room while downing her milk.

And I sing. I sing little lullabies or Christian songs. Whatever I want. Their mouths are busy drinking milk and so I don't have to contend with Elise's critique of my song choice or Zion's request for books. But all too soon they are done drinking, I am done singing, and the book reading begins.

I read book and after book after book. It is a stolen bit of time. Sleep is over and yet the work of the day hasn't really begun yet. I'm sitting in the most comfortable chair in the house, rocking away, and snuggling with my kids who don't yet want anything more than milk, a lap, and a book.