Noah has turned into a chatterbox lately. He repeats everything. My Mom watched the kids yesterday because Sophia's birthday is next week and I needed to get her a few things. When my Mom left Noah said, "I dive" (drive). I said, "in what?". "Mimi's car". "Where are you going to go in Mimi's car?" "Mimi's house". Such a little smarty pants. As I was typing just now he handed me his cereal bowl and said, "finished". No, not done, but finished. Then he proceeded to sing the B-I-B-L-E. It's so cute to hear him talk and communicate.
On the other hand, growing up isn't so exciting. I am happy to report that he now plays with toys for 10 minutes at a time. However, he is such a tall little boy that he can reach the countertops. What used to be a safe place away from the baby is no more. Unless I put the taboo items waaayyy on the back of the countertops. Even so, he has learned from his brother and sister and pulls chairs up to the countertops now. He's pretty slow at pushing chairs around, so I usually catch him before he gets to the countertops. Sigh. Thirdborn. The creative one.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
At The Farm
When we were in NJ we went to a really nice farm. It was so much fun. We went on a hayride and stopped to pick blueberries, then corn, then peaches. The kids LOVED it and I loved bringing home fresh fruits and veggies. We had fun with our cousins and Aunties too!
Sophia and Markie
Four cousins
Isn't James a cutie? He has the most handsome dimples.
Auntie Ann, Aunt Debbie, and Markie lookin' just like his Daddy.
The wagon. It was a very nice ride with the top to give us shade from the hot sun. South Jersey is much more humid than PA.
Mmmm, blueberries!
The big boys ate blueberries the whole time. Sophia picked a whole quart of blueberries and downed almost every single one before we got home. Noah, well, he's the thirdborn so I parked him close to the bushes and let him pick and eat ripe blueberries, green blueberries, leaves...you ge the idea. He didn't get a stomach ache, but his clothes did have quite a few stains and he was sitting on more than a few berries...oops. :)
Picking peaches
Grandma with her kids and grandkids. It's hard to get a picture of five children 5 and under!
Now that the yard sale, de-junking madness is mostly over (It's never really over, but is a lifelong process, but nevertheless the worst of it is over), I am starting to do some decorating. Our bedroom is mostly done, but I need to get some candles for the candle holder thingy and sheers for the windows. Today, my most excellent Mom watched the kids so I could go out and get a few things for our foyer. Lord willing this Saturday Graeme will hang my pictures and the foyer will be done. I can't wait. The undone-ness of this house is really getting on my nerves. I don't care if everything is perfect because it never will be, but some pictures and a little decor really make a house homey. I love it when I walk into our bedroom because there are a couple of things on the walls and it is clean and mostly clutter free. It just makes me feel at home.
Sophia and Markie
Four cousins
Isn't James a cutie? He has the most handsome dimples.
Auntie Ann, Aunt Debbie, and Markie lookin' just like his Daddy.The wagon. It was a very nice ride with the top to give us shade from the hot sun. South Jersey is much more humid than PA.
Mmmm, blueberries!
The big boys ate blueberries the whole time. Sophia picked a whole quart of blueberries and downed almost every single one before we got home. Noah, well, he's the thirdborn so I parked him close to the bushes and let him pick and eat ripe blueberries, green blueberries, leaves...you ge the idea. He didn't get a stomach ache, but his clothes did have quite a few stains and he was sitting on more than a few berries...oops. :)
Picking peaches
Grandma with her kids and grandkids. It's hard to get a picture of five children 5 and under!
Now that the yard sale, de-junking madness is mostly over (It's never really over, but is a lifelong process, but nevertheless the worst of it is over), I am starting to do some decorating. Our bedroom is mostly done, but I need to get some candles for the candle holder thingy and sheers for the windows. Today, my most excellent Mom watched the kids so I could go out and get a few things for our foyer. Lord willing this Saturday Graeme will hang my pictures and the foyer will be done. I can't wait. The undone-ness of this house is really getting on my nerves. I don't care if everything is perfect because it never will be, but some pictures and a little decor really make a house homey. I love it when I walk into our bedroom because there are a couple of things on the walls and it is clean and mostly clutter free. It just makes me feel at home.
Lately I've been loving the Nester. It's interesting to read about all the things she does as she decorates. I've gotten a lot of ideas from her site. I love her slogan, "it doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful" and I love the curtain mistreatments. I got two curtains at Ross today for $3.99 each, and I am hoping to "mistreat" our bathroom windows with them. I hope it works and looks nice. So that's what I am up to this week. I also had a banner day at CVS today. I just love me a great bargain. TTFN!
Saturday, July 12, 2008
What is it about boys?
Why are they born with a bent toward the gross? No Ma'am, there's just no girling them up.
Home Again
We just got back from an action packed few days with Graeme's fam. in NJ! One of the many highlights for the kids was riding their cousin's battery powered red mustang. It was so exciting for them. Sophia talked all the way home about how she was going to do chores and save a big bag of money to buy herself a pink car, and that Elijah could save money too so he could buy a..a...red..mustache.
It was non-stop fun for the last three days with non-sleep, but what else is to be expected when siblings are sharing an air mattress at Grandma and Grandpa's house!
In the last few days we....
1. Spent two semi-sleepless nights at G & G's house.\
2. Went to Grandpa's favorite restaurant (and our fav. NJ restaurant too!).
3. Dressed up as cows and went to Chick-fil-a and got free food whilst making fools of ourselves. :)
4. (the kids) Saw the ocean for the very first time. They LOVED the waves and the sand. It was definitely a big hit in their book.
5. Ate pizza twice.
6. Drank coffee, coffee, coffee. I'm starting to like the stuff, but I'm still definitely not an every day drinker.
7. Played at the Mickey D's playland.
8. Fed the ducks. Elijah got his fingers nibbled by the ducks a few times because he didn't feed them fast enough and they wanted his food!
9. Played at G & G's park.
10. Drove 340 miles
11. Picked blueberries, corn, and peaches.
12. Went on a hayride with "Farmer Joe"
13. Not one single nap for the kids until Noah collapsed this evening.
14. Had a birthday party for Sophia
15. Played with James and Markie's Mustang
16. Enjoyed a change of scenery.
18. Spent some great times with the family we love and don't get to see too much.
19. I didn't have to cook for three whole days y'all!
It's so true that going away with kids isn't really relaxing. But I do believe it to be a healthy thing to get away and do something different. For me (and the kids) it can break the boredum of being together all the time. We get to be with Daddy, and even though we don't get to "relax" per se, a change of pace is refreshing to the mind and soul. But for now, I'm going to bed. I am tired.
I hope to post pictures later. I didn't get any at the ocean...wah! But I did take a few others. Nighty-nite!
It was non-stop fun for the last three days with non-sleep, but what else is to be expected when siblings are sharing an air mattress at Grandma and Grandpa's house!
In the last few days we....
1. Spent two semi-sleepless nights at G & G's house.\
2. Went to Grandpa's favorite restaurant (and our fav. NJ restaurant too!).
3. Dressed up as cows and went to Chick-fil-a and got free food whilst making fools of ourselves. :)
4. (the kids) Saw the ocean for the very first time. They LOVED the waves and the sand. It was definitely a big hit in their book.
5. Ate pizza twice.
6. Drank coffee, coffee, coffee. I'm starting to like the stuff, but I'm still definitely not an every day drinker.
7. Played at the Mickey D's playland.
8. Fed the ducks. Elijah got his fingers nibbled by the ducks a few times because he didn't feed them fast enough and they wanted his food!
9. Played at G & G's park.
10. Drove 340 miles
11. Picked blueberries, corn, and peaches.
12. Went on a hayride with "Farmer Joe"
13. Not one single nap for the kids until Noah collapsed this evening.
14. Had a birthday party for Sophia
15. Played with James and Markie's Mustang
16. Enjoyed a change of scenery.
18. Spent some great times with the family we love and don't get to see too much.
19. I didn't have to cook for three whole days y'all!
It's so true that going away with kids isn't really relaxing. But I do believe it to be a healthy thing to get away and do something different. For me (and the kids) it can break the boredum of being together all the time. We get to be with Daddy, and even though we don't get to "relax" per se, a change of pace is refreshing to the mind and soul. But for now, I'm going to bed. I am tired.
I hope to post pictures later. I didn't get any at the ocean...wah! But I did take a few others. Nighty-nite!
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Lost Again
It was silent again. The big kids were playing in the family room and suddenly I noticed...no Noah...again. If you know us well at all, you know that Noah has gone missing many times. Before he could walk we started "losing" him. He's not actually lost, he just wanders off to mischief. In fact, when Elijah had his seizure, Graeme put Noah down to attend to Elijah and promptly forgot about Noah because of the suddenness of Elijah convulsing, etc. A few minutes later, I started to panic once again because, you guessed, Noah was lost! He hadn't wandered far however, he was just at the wheel of a parked golf cart nearby. He loves to "dive a ca" (drive a car), so he seized the moment! The golf cart was actually right next to the train tracks...oops.
When I realized Noah was lost I started the normal "routine" for when he is lost. Check the car in the garage, one of his favorite hiding spots, he loves to "dive". No Noah. I kept calling. School room? nope. Top bunk in Elijah's room, another favorite mischief spot. No fits of giggles when I entered the room, so I knew he wasn't up there. I heard nothing until I came upon the master bath and saw this...
When I entered, he excitedly said, "I bush a tee", I bus a tee".
There sat Noah, perched on the top of our vanity, which both of our toothbrushes, putting them under the faucet, even though he doesn't know how to get the water out yet, brushing his teeth.
I take back any and all preconceived notions of how it was going to be when I was a Mom. For me the third child has been very liberating. Liberating of all former ideas, plans, and opinions. I used to have opinions on how I would labor, deliver, feed my baby, care for my children, what we would and wouldn't do, what my children would and wouldn't do. I knew how I was going to parent and the results of glimmeringly wonderful results of my perfectly primped and poised children. They would always answered perfectly when called, never wrote on walls, never so much as looked crossly at me or each other, never screamed in a store, and were always perfectly respectful and obedient. Of course I would accomplish all of this whilst cooking gourmet meals, and home baked treats for them. Oh, and they would never watch a video or say "boo" to another child. I would be calm and sweet at all times, and so would they, isn't that the way it ought to be?
Enter child number 3. I don't know what it is about my third one. It's not him really. He was a great baby and is a very easy going little guy, albeit he does get into everything. I think he has a natural bent to mischief, but he also isn't watched as closely as the first two, because, "there's only one Mommy" (my kids repeat this phrase to me...I must say it often. :)). My sister says, you only have to halves of your brain and the third one just confuses the brain, or I've heard, you have one hand for each child until the third. I liken the third to the children becoming a little herd that you have to corral. It's like all your pre-conceived notions are out the window when the third little blessing joins the troops. I thought I didn't have any left after the second, but now with Noah, it's all over.
I used to think it a terrible shame when a child fussed in a store, now I feel sorry for the poor Mama. When I heard of a child doing an outlandish thing, I used to wonder why the parents didn't get a handle on that child. Now I just laugh. When a child didn't treat my child right, I used to get offended. Now, I just chalk it up to the fact that they are a sinner just like my child is a sinner. Misbehaving in the nursery, tssk, tssk. Now, the poor baby needs its Mama or it's trying out hair pulling for the first time. I don't do all these things perfectly, but the third child has taught me a lot about acceptance. It's really a liberating thing. You're more free to love your kids and love others. Yes, the thirdborn crazies are a really great lesson in letting go of mantras, opinions, rigidness, and judging others.
I'm so thankful for my little monkey.
When I realized Noah was lost I started the normal "routine" for when he is lost. Check the car in the garage, one of his favorite hiding spots, he loves to "dive". No Noah. I kept calling. School room? nope. Top bunk in Elijah's room, another favorite mischief spot. No fits of giggles when I entered the room, so I knew he wasn't up there. I heard nothing until I came upon the master bath and saw this...
When I entered, he excitedly said, "I bush a tee", I bus a tee".
There sat Noah, perched on the top of our vanity, which both of our toothbrushes, putting them under the faucet, even though he doesn't know how to get the water out yet, brushing his teeth.
I take back any and all preconceived notions of how it was going to be when I was a Mom. For me the third child has been very liberating. Liberating of all former ideas, plans, and opinions. I used to have opinions on how I would labor, deliver, feed my baby, care for my children, what we would and wouldn't do, what my children would and wouldn't do. I knew how I was going to parent and the results of glimmeringly wonderful results of my perfectly primped and poised children. They would always answered perfectly when called, never wrote on walls, never so much as looked crossly at me or each other, never screamed in a store, and were always perfectly respectful and obedient. Of course I would accomplish all of this whilst cooking gourmet meals, and home baked treats for them. Oh, and they would never watch a video or say "boo" to another child. I would be calm and sweet at all times, and so would they, isn't that the way it ought to be?
Enter child number 3. I don't know what it is about my third one. It's not him really. He was a great baby and is a very easy going little guy, albeit he does get into everything. I think he has a natural bent to mischief, but he also isn't watched as closely as the first two, because, "there's only one Mommy" (my kids repeat this phrase to me...I must say it often. :)). My sister says, you only have to halves of your brain and the third one just confuses the brain, or I've heard, you have one hand for each child until the third. I liken the third to the children becoming a little herd that you have to corral. It's like all your pre-conceived notions are out the window when the third little blessing joins the troops. I thought I didn't have any left after the second, but now with Noah, it's all over.
I used to think it a terrible shame when a child fussed in a store, now I feel sorry for the poor Mama. When I heard of a child doing an outlandish thing, I used to wonder why the parents didn't get a handle on that child. Now I just laugh. When a child didn't treat my child right, I used to get offended. Now, I just chalk it up to the fact that they are a sinner just like my child is a sinner. Misbehaving in the nursery, tssk, tssk. Now, the poor baby needs its Mama or it's trying out hair pulling for the first time. I don't do all these things perfectly, but the third child has taught me a lot about acceptance. It's really a liberating thing. You're more free to love your kids and love others. Yes, the thirdborn crazies are a really great lesson in letting go of mantras, opinions, rigidness, and judging others.
I'm so thankful for my little monkey.
Monday, July 7, 2008
Perhaps we should turn our attention to Science instead of Language
I marvel every day and the miracle of speech and how it evolves. Noah is a parrot. He copies everything, and I mean everything we say! From "coupon" to "sandbox" to complete sentences. I thought him so intelligent as he asked for the "boododer" (bulldozer) book, and so amazing when he said, "I no want one more bite", and truly gifted in language and communication when he asked me to not lock his bedroom door. However, although his language skills may be impeccable, we do need to turn our attention to the Sciences.
The other day we were reading a farm book with tactors (tractors) and we got to a page with farm animals on it. Noah skillfully pointed to the cow and said with confidence, "cat!" then he turned his attention to a great big steer and said, "cat!". Graeme had read him some animal books yesterday as they were both home from church because they were sick (can you believe it, again!?). So today I found him in Eli's room trying to climb on the rocking horse proudly proclaiming, "horse-dog", "horse-dog"! Close, but not quite.
The other day we were reading a farm book with tactors (tractors) and we got to a page with farm animals on it. Noah skillfully pointed to the cow and said with confidence, "cat!" then he turned his attention to a great big steer and said, "cat!". Graeme had read him some animal books yesterday as they were both home from church because they were sick (can you believe it, again!?). So today I found him in Eli's room trying to climb on the rocking horse proudly proclaiming, "horse-dog", "horse-dog"! Close, but not quite.
Thursday, July 3, 2008
The last several days...
...have been fraught will illness, summer fun, illness, garage sales, illness, etc. I have wanted to post, but I hadn't even downloaded the pictures from Father's day until today. :) It was fun to finally look at my pictures!
After Graeme got back from Mexico he was sick and sicker, then Noah and Elijah were sick, then Noah, then me.....it goes on an on. It is much nicer being sick in the summertime I have to admit, even though sick is still sick. :)
Two Thursdays ago we went to Day out with Thomas with our good friends. It was a blast! We, being the cheapskate Baptists that we are, actually didn't ride the Thomas train, but instead opted for the regular train = twice as long of a ride, open air car, 1/2 the price. We thought that a good deal! We still got to see the "cheeky little engine" and Sir Top 'em Hat which was the reason we came to the overstimulating mayhem, I mean fun and excitement of thousands upon thousands of pint sized Thomas fans.
Noah LOVED the "too-too" (choo-choo) and love, loved seeing "Tomish". Now he will actually watch a Thomas video for a whole 7 minutes. The engines were load and we noticed Elijah was a bit startled by them. In general he gets overstimulated more easily than the other kids, so we kept an eye on him. However, when lunch came and he didn't eat anything, I started to get a little bit concerned about him. He loves to eat and when he forgoes food, I know something is desperately wrong. :) He seemed to get more clingy as the day went on and didn't say a word except shaking his head yes or no. He isn't a talkative kid, but still, something just wasn't right about him.
The little kids in a giant Thomas made entirely of legos...
Here comes "our favorite little engine, Thomas is his name"...
Taylor and Jordan, ole Thomas pros...
I thought Elijah had a tummyache, so before we got on the train, Tina gave me a plastic bag for "just in case" and we set off on our trek. The train ride was sooo fun! We could barely keep Noah from climbing right out of the train, he was in heaven!
Noah did this...
And this...the whole ride...we had to keep a tight grip on him or he would have been out the window.
After Graeme got back from Mexico he was sick and sicker, then Noah and Elijah were sick, then Noah, then me.....it goes on an on. It is much nicer being sick in the summertime I have to admit, even though sick is still sick. :)
Two Thursdays ago we went to Day out with Thomas with our good friends. It was a blast! We, being the cheapskate Baptists that we are, actually didn't ride the Thomas train, but instead opted for the regular train = twice as long of a ride, open air car, 1/2 the price. We thought that a good deal! We still got to see the "cheeky little engine" and Sir Top 'em Hat which was the reason we came to the overstimulating mayhem, I mean fun and excitement of thousands upon thousands of pint sized Thomas fans.
Noah LOVED the "too-too" (choo-choo) and love, loved seeing "Tomish". Now he will actually watch a Thomas video for a whole 7 minutes. The engines were load and we noticed Elijah was a bit startled by them. In general he gets overstimulated more easily than the other kids, so we kept an eye on him. However, when lunch came and he didn't eat anything, I started to get a little bit concerned about him. He loves to eat and when he forgoes food, I know something is desperately wrong. :) He seemed to get more clingy as the day went on and didn't say a word except shaking his head yes or no. He isn't a talkative kid, but still, something just wasn't right about him.
The little kids in a giant Thomas made entirely of legos...
Here comes "our favorite little engine, Thomas is his name"...
Taylor and Jordan, ole Thomas pros...
I thought Elijah had a tummyache, so before we got on the train, Tina gave me a plastic bag for "just in case" and we set off on our trek. The train ride was sooo fun! We could barely keep Noah from climbing right out of the train, he was in heaven!
Noah did this...
And this...the whole ride...we had to keep a tight grip on him or he would have been out the window.
Sophia did this too...
But Elijah only did this most of the ride...
We got off the train and met Sir Top'em Hat (our kids were afraid of him). Then we decided to do a few of the many other fun activities with the kids. We split up as the kids wanted to do different things. As Elijah and I crossed railroad tracks, he tripped and fell rather stiffly to the tracks. He started to cry and I promised to clean him up as soon as we finished crossing the tracks (Thomas was coming down that tracks so we had to cross).
We got to the other side, met Graeme and Sophia at the snow cone vendor and Elijah started to quietly cry for a snow cone because Sophia had one. We told him it was okay and we'd get him some when all of the sudden he fell on the ground, his eyes, rolled back into his head, and started making jerking movements with his arms and legs. It was as if he was gone and some weird something took over his body. His skin turned dark red/burgundy. I remember Graeme picking him up and the "snow cone guy" telling him to put him back down on the ground. I thought he was having a seizure and knew that febrile seizures are fairly common in children (I had read up on them and was deteremined to not flip out if one of my kids ever had one ). He just kept going on and on with the seizure and "the snow cone guy" started to put their ear to his chest to make sure his heart was beating and then I went into hysterics! I knew in my head that it was most likely a simple seizure, but "Momma Bear" switched on and I screamed over and over for someone to come and help my baby because I had to protect my "cub" and make sure he got help because what if it was something more serious? It was so weird how my instincts took over. It was a sort of out of body experience.
I don't handle gore well at all. I admit, I am a panicker from way back. His seizure lasted over 3 minutes, which, let me tell you, seems like an eternity to an anxious parent. After the seizure was over, he was still unconscious. The medic came and put a little oxygen mask on his face (so sad...he was "fine" just a couple of minutes before), and they called the ambulance and brought over the medic cart (a John Deere Gator...one of Elijah's favorite trucks) and they took him in the gator over to the ambulance. He finally got to ride a gator, he's wanted to ride one forever, but he doesn't remember it because he was still out. Graeme rode to the hospital in the ambulance with him, and the D's and I went over to the hospital together. They were totally awesome! They watched Sophia and Noah and fed them and everything in between and stayed until the end with us. We were so thankful to have them with us. Their son Jordan had a similar situation, so it was realy comforting to have them there. Thanks guys!
After much, poking, prodding, IVing, and a multitude of tests and hours waiting for the results, Elijah was declared to have had a febrile seizure. We were so glad to be going home that night. It ended up being a much longer day than we had expected. I was struck once again at how blessed we are the USA to have hospitals and medical care. Even though we were far from home, he still got the care he needed.
So, we stared the day thinking we were going to have a nice day out with Thomas and we ended with the question: "Elijah, which did you like better? The train ride or the ambulance ride?" Our days are in the Lord's hands, are they not?
The next morning was the first day of our two day garage sale. It was a chaotic week/weekend. We have.never.had.such.a.big.garage.sale. I vowed to never buy anything ever again after it was over.
The next week was sick, sick, sick. Followed by sick, sick, sick. Now we are finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel...until someone else gets sick, but at least that someone will not be me...I hope.
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