Brother or Sister?

Elijah is getting smarter every day, I can't even keep track of all the things he is learning! He's learning many 2 and sometimes 3 word sentences, and can pretty much tell us what he wants all the time. It's very helpful in the sense that we know what he wants and he doesn't have to cry to get our attention. However, since he knows we understand him he has even less patience with us when he doesn't get what he wants right away.

Also, we are well into terrible 2's. Thankfully he hasn't thrown any tantrums in a while, but he is definitely developing some serious attitude. And he loves to use the word "no." With his attitude he's developing independence which is all fine and dandy except now he doesn't need his mommy so much and he decides when it is time to give hugs and kisses and won't be bothered by them if he is too busy. Little stinker...

I need to get a good video of him soon because the things he is starting to say are just too funny. He's also starting to "read" books. He knows "Goodnight Moon" and "Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You?" He'll repeat the words and make all the sounds, it's adorable!

Also, he has decided the sex of the baby already. When I ask him "Elijah, do you want a brother or a sister?" he promptly replies, "sister." Too cute! Obviously he has no idea what a brother or a sister is, but it's still cute to hear it.

Although if he's not in the mood to play that game and I ask him "Elijah, do you want a brother or a sister?" he shakes his head and says "no." Sorry kiddo, you're getting one!

Not for the squeamish...

I know I never update anymore. I keep meaning to, but then I think of the energy it would take to sit at the computer, think of something to write about, type.... *sigh* It's just really not worth it.

Right now I happen to already be sitting at the computer and I'm ok with typing at the moment, but not so much thinking. So this is not going to be exciting.

I can't really do anything else besides go back to bed since I feel so awful right now. I'm in the process of trying to get down a piece of bread with peanut butter on it. My cinnamon toast this morning refused to stay down and it tasted so bad coming back up that I had to switch to something else. I have bread every morning. They say you're supposed to have complex carbs, which are in whole grain breads, so that's what I do. Every morning. Although the thought of eating more bread makes me want to punch someone in the face.

But then again there is nothing else that sounds even slightly appealing to me. I can't do cereal because milk makes me sick, I can't do yogurt because it's a milk product and after vomiting up bright pink yesterday I think I will be avoiding it for a while. I can't do anything sweet (muffins, pancakes, french toast, etc.) because, well, gross!

So I eat bread. At least I'm getting my recommended daily serving of whole grains.

Then there's the thirst problem. I'm soooo thirsty! I'm probably dehydrated, that's unfortunate. I keep water with me wherever I go and try to sip on it constantly, but, like most everything else, water makes me want to puke. And of course, if I puke it all up then I just have to start all over again. So although I want to chug, chug, chug, and chug some more water to quench my thirst, I cannot because I will just hurl it all back up again. Oh the joy.

Well I think that's enough whining for today, I am going to give in and go back to bed for a while. Praying this will end soon...

Preggers

So most everyone who knows me knows by now that I am pregnant with #2! I figured it's about time I write something about it.

It was a HUGE surprise for Chris and me. I mean, HUGE. In fact, if I wasn't so stinking sick and miserable right now I still wouldn't believe it! It's funny to see how God works because Chris and I have always talked about how we want our children to be close together, but we've known that financially we just can't afford to have another child right now. And this last month especially I have been thinking that I want to wait about another year before we start thinking of having more. Well, apparently God has other plans :-P

Chris is super excited about it, which is great. And he is definitely the best husband ever and is taking great care of both me and Elijah. I am very excited to have another baby, but I am also very nervous. I'm sure that it will be hard to have a newborn and a toddler at the same time, but I know we will be able to handle it, especially with God's help :-) I'm more concerned about where we are going to live, what we are going to drive, how we are going to get more baby furniture, etc. Thankfully, I have time to figure those things out and I know God is faithful.

Right now I am just hoping that I will survive the first half of this pregnancy as I am sick as a dog and I have a toddler to take care of and work to do. When I was pregnant with Elijah I was sick from about 6 weeks to 6 months and puked almost every day. So far this pregnancy I haven't puked, but I feel sick to my stomach all day long and just overall weak, dizzy, and exhausted. I haven't eaten a real meal in about a week and I'm not sure when I will be able to again. I'm living primarily on crackers and toast.

We are praying that I will get over the sickness quickly so that I will be able to get back to normal life and that every day activities like showering and brushing my teeth won't make me want to pass out or throw up. Pray for me!!!

The weird thing about Elijah is...

He likes to bang his head against the wall.

He stands with his back to the wall and WAM! throws his head back. Then he looks at us and laughs.

Yep. That is my son.

The weird thing about Elijah is...

(I've decided to start a series in my blog detailing random weird things about Elijah. I don't know how often I will post these, but I do know there are plenty of examples to choose from. Maybe someday I can dig these out and show them to all his girlfriends :-P)

The weird thing about Elijah is...

He loves getting his ears cleaned out! Imagine an 18-month-old toddler sitting still through an ear-cleaning. Not a typical scenario. Not only does Elijah sit still, he enjoys it! Not only does he enjoy it, he asks for it!

Ear cleaning is a ritual done after every bath time. Either daddy or I (usually daddy because he is the best bath giver) scoop him out of the bath and into a towel in our lap. We start to dry him off and he immediately points at the container of Q-tips on the shelf and simply states, "ear" (or more like "eeww"). As we pull one out he turns his head to the side and holds as still as a statue in anticipation of the wondrous event.

It's a good thing, too, that he likes it so much. That kid has some waxy eewws.

"Cheek"

Lately Elijah has had a fascination with lotion. Since he takes after his mommy with eczema troubles we have to lotion him up fairly often, especially his hands and cheeks. Now every time he sees lotion he points to it and says "cheek." I keep trying to tell him, "It's LO-TION, yes we put it on your cheeks, but it is called LO-TION." He doesn't care. To him it is "cheek," or more like "sheek."

So I'm in the bathroom making myself beautiful this morning (yes, it is quite a process) and Elijah walks in holding a little tub of Vaseline (we also put that on his cheeks sometimes). He looks at me, points at the Vaseline, and says, "cheek." I acknowledge him, make sure he knows how brilliant he is, and tell him to go put the Vaseline away.

He goes back into the living room and I continue on with my beautification. He doesn't come back, but I can hear him playing and that is a good sign (it's when I can't hear him that I know he is getting into trouble).

After a few minutes I come into the living room and see Elijah standing at his tool bench, and I assume he is just playing with his tools, so I distract myself with something else. After a little while I meander over to where he is playing and see that he has the lid of the Vaseline off and is about to stick his fingers in there. Mommy instinct takes over and I rush to his side and snatch away the Vaseline. Baby + Vaseline = Huge Mess.

I quickly begin to assess the damage, did he manage to get any out before I snatched it away? He did. He clearly had been digging in it before I happened to walk by. I checked his other hand. There as well. I looked at the tool bench and didn't see any evidence of a mess. With a sigh of relief, I turned back to give him a smooch. That's when I noticed his cheeks.

Apparently, mommy did not understand that when Elijah brought her the Vaseline and clearly stated "cheek" that he was in need of some serious moisturization. Well, if mommy's not going to do it, then he is going to get it done himself! And so he did.

How can I be mad when I have such a smart kid? :-D

Cherish the moments

I think Elijah knows that I am reading a book that is supposed to help me with my strong-willed child.

He has been abnormally good today :-)

The sweetest thing happened. He was taking a nap and he had only slept about half the time he usually does when he woke up crying. I went to check on him and he was just sad (probably because he hadn't slept long enough) so I picked him up and held him for a while. He was content to be in my arms so I sat down in our little glider and started to rock him back to sleep.

I was reminded at this time how incredibly big he has gotten! Not only because my arm was numb after a few minutes, but I haven't held him like a baby, much less rocked him, in a very long time! I had been in the middle of something before I came to check on him but I decided that the moment was too sweet to pass up. He just laid in my arms, eyes open, tears on his cheeks, and thumb in his mouth, and we rocked. He fell back asleep fairly quickly.

As I rocked, I made a point to cherish the feeling of him in my arms, realizing that it was a rare moment and I may not have many more.