Cheese? No? Cheese? Yes? What!?

Dear Elijah,
OH MY goodness... You are for sure showing us a great deal of what we are in for. There have been more tantrums, and more signs of how strong willed you truly are. Haha! Funny little story..

Me- (calmly making a sandwich in the kitchen) "Would you like some cheese Eli."
You- "cheese!" (reaching for a piece, and then running out of the kitchen happy)
Me- (cut two extra pieces of cheese in case you would want more, so I could put the cheese away)
You- (saw me putting away cheese... Came running to kitchen... dropped to your knees... screamed out with all of your might, "cheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeese!" began to cry and point to the refrigerator.
Me- "Here Elijah, it's alright, I have cheese here for you." (Held out a piece of cheese for you)
You- (Falling to the floor again) "No! sniff, sniff... No... Sniff" Pointing to fridge.
Me- (Picking you up, and opening the fridge) "what would you like to have Eli, What do you want?"
You-(Points to package of cheese)
Me- (Pulls out package of cheese) "Cheese? Do you want this?"
You- (throwing head back, and grabbing face) "Cheese!"
Me- "ok, here you are, here is some cheese."
You- (thinking it was the same ones I was trying to give you before began to cry again) "No" (pushing cheese away.)
Me- confused.... tired..... hungry.... "Elijah, calm down... What would you like? peaches?"
You- BIG SMILE "peaches!" (shakes head yes) "please."
Me- "ok, I will get you some peaches."
You- Big Smile "peach!" ( then ate them very happily)

Here is the thing... The whole time, I knew exactly why you were crying, and I knew why you did not want the cheese I had already cut. It was probably because you had caused such a fuss and scene about me putting away the cheese, thinking I had forgotten you completely, and then when you saw that I had some for you, you got a bit embarrassed and couldn't just shut it off! You were already there, and had to go with it. I understand that because I used to do it. I mean, hey, I could be wrong, but in any case, could understand that you had reasons. I have stories of my own Eli... Man do I have stories! I was/am very strong willed and I found it very hard to control my passion/feelings/emotions. I know frustration. I know what it's like to become ever so frustrated from a situation that I created. I wasn't a bad kid, I cared for people, I loved others, I felt that I had empathy, and was able to sympathize with others as well. I wanted to do good, I wanted to serve, and I had the desire to be kind. I just struggled with my stubbornness. I guess now, I can take what I know, and how I used to feel and have empathy for you, knowing that at times, as much as you want to, you can't control your emotions, especially at this age when you are still learning so many basics. There are times between you and I when I want to pull my hair out, but then I realize that patients goes a long way. It's hard sometimes man!!! hahahaha. I can also see the humor in these situations, where both of us are trying to communicate, and both of us get frustrated, and then both of us end up just fine in the end anyway. You know what else I see in you Eli, not only do you have a will of iron (which I am proud of in you), you have a tender heart, a caring heart, an affectionate way, a calm spirit, a brave spirit, and a great sense of humor! You can laugh at yourself when you trip. You laugh at us when we trip. You laugh at times when you basically eat it, falling off of a piece of furniture. Your laugh is just the best sound ever. You take care of your sister like a pro, giving her a binky, covering her with blankets, giving her your stuffed animals, and kissed her cheek. You rub her head and cheeks, and snuggle up next to her while putting your arm around her. You come give your daddy and I hugs and kisses all the time, and enjoy snuggling with us. Yes, you have been having more outbursts of tantrums, but everything else that you are make experiencing your tantrums a bit easier. Yes, there are times I don't appreciate picking up a crying baby in the middle of the store isle, or carrying a kicking, screaming little guy out of Target, but the wonderful far outweighs the difficult ;) I was thinking after the whole cheese situation that when I was young, but able to talk, I would have appreciated someone coming down to my level, looking me in the eyes, and asking me why I was sad, and why I was crying. Even if I couldn't have come up with an answer, someone cared about my feelings. I thought about being a little girl, and in those explosive moments, I wanted to be heard, I needed to be taken seriously, and then told maybe that I was not being fair and why. I think that would have defused the situation . So here I go! I want you to always feel like you can talk to me, and I will listen. I want you to know I will tell you the truth regardless. If you are being impractical, I will tell you. If you are being unfair in your outbursts, I will tell you the reasons, and act accordingly. I feel like you have a right to know why mommy is upset or feeling angry when you hit, scream, or do something your dad and I feel is wrong. I was sitting here thinking, and then voiced to your daddy that when I was a kid I can remember times when I would be throwing a tantrum, and would be ignored or told to go elswhere. That's fine and all, and although it may work behavioraly, what it taught me to do was get it together to not get in trouble, but store up the anger that I was feeling. I would store up my anger, and was able to act right, but inside I was hurting, and holding grudges. I just needed a proper outlet is all. But I know it must have been shocking, or hard to listen to. I know my mom wouldn't mind me sharing that with you because she knows how much we appreciate her. She knows she was a great mom, and very much loved by all of her blessed children ;) and we get to talk now about things like parenting now. I love that we have that openess now. Whats funny is that I have told your dad before that sometimes all I need is a hug or someone to hold me. Tonight when you were flipping out, I finally extended my arms to you, and you reached up, grabbed onto me tight, and hugged me for a long time. You wanted physical love to calm you down this time. Sometimes you need your space too, and I can understand that as well. This is fun Eli... I can honestly say that I am learning something new every day! I am never going to be a perfect mom, or get everything right, but at least I'm enjoying the process. I Love this! I love learning with you, and being your mommy!

Sometimes when you whine for no good reason at all, and are doing it just to get a rise out of me, I can tell, and I usually nudge or push you, and you can not stop laughing! You see, some parents would have a cow if I told them that, but you and I think it's hilarious! I'm gentle, if I choose to push you into something, which you think is extra hilarious, I make sure to push you into something soft! hahahahahaha! I use a humorous tone of voice, and make sure you know I can see right through that fake whining! Hahaha! You always think it's funny when I call you out on your fake cry. You laugh every time! I love it! Ok little guy... I must go now. I love you... I hope that tomorrow we can agree on cheese ;) haha. Love you!

Happy For Each Other

Dear Elijah,
Hi! You just had your second Halloween, and we all dressed up as the Rubbles from the cartoon, The Flintstones!!! You were Bam Bam ;) You were the cutest Bam Bam I've ever seen! It was fun this year watching you try to play the games at the Harvest Festival. You were interested in at least trying most of them! Far different from last year when you couldn't walk yet, and weren't sure about it. Haha. We had so much fun at the church harvest festival, and were so glad to have a great group of people to spend the evening with. We played games, ate pop-corn, roasted marshmallows, and walked around talking and playing with everyone. You weren't quite ready for the jumper ;) We are so thankful for our church and the fellowship we have there.

Today when you were eating your dinner, I was sitting on the couch with Emma talking to her to get her to smile. We were talking about all sorts of things, and then I mentioned to her that you were in the kitchen eating your dinner. You overheard your name, and lit up! So I continued telling her how you looked very cute over there eating your dinner, and that you were doing such a great job, and she was smiling. You smiled SO BIG and started eating even faster! Haha, not my intention to get you to eat better or quicker, but you loved that I was telling your sister all about you. It made you happy. I thought that was so cute and I do love that you try to impress her. I guess it got me thinking that I hope someday you guys will have a good relationship and always be happy for each other in times of joy! I know all about siblings fighting and all that, but all in all, I have ALWAYS wanted the very best for all of my siblings because I love them so much! Even as kids we would get so happy for each other, and want to celebrate with each other. My mom was very good about never setting us up against each other, and taught us to care for each other. I appreciate how my mom would never compare us. We are all good at different things. I remember telling my friends about what a great artist my sister was, and how fast my brother could run, and being so proud of them!

Right now you are jumping off the couch over and over and over again! You love climbing up onto things and jumping off! You have had a few falls, and a few bumps on your head, but you are getting pretty good at it. I get so nervous sometimes though! Hahaha, I am always holding my breath hoping you land it! Oh the joys of having an active little boy :) You love running, jumping, playing with cars, building blocks, stacking anything you can find and playing hide and seek. You have recently picked up the habit of hiding from us, and sometimes it freaks us out! But thankfully we have figured out your main hiding spots, so we know where to look now. You like potato soup, sour dough toast, and peaches the best right now. You love taking showers, and haven;'t taken a bath for more than a month now! Just showers! So funny, you just stopped liking baths, so now whenever we are getting in the shower, we switch off taking you with us. The other day all three of us got in there and were singing so loud, and splashing each other! It was so much fun, and you were laughing the whole time!

Something I've been enjoying lately is waking up to feed Emma, and I hear that you and daddy are already up snuggling on the couch with the turquoise blanket, sharing cereal and watching MacGyver!!! Hahahaha, it's so cute! Then Emma and I come to join you guys for a bit. We take you to the park pretty much every day and you have been getting so good at climbing on the bigger stuff and trying new things! It's fun to watch :) We sing every day, wrestle every day, play together, and pray together every day! I am loving being yours and Emma's mommy :) It's great! Oh boy do we have our crazy times, but always followed by love and laughter. Eventually... haha! Love you!

Joy, Chaos, and Pumpkin Love

Dear Elijah,

Sometimes I wish I could take a snap shot of life. Like the times when Emma is crying, You are crying, your dad stubs his toe, and I'm just trying to shove a spoon full of cereal in my mouth! Or when I'm holding Emma, you are pulling at my shirt, and I'm trying to pour you some juice and drop the entire container of juice all over the floor as it gushes out! Or when I'm dancing around the kitchen like a crazy woman trying to get you to laugh in your high chair so you will be more willing to eat, while your daddy is cleaning a poopy mess using like 20 wipes! Hahahahaha! Or when I'm nursing Emma on the couch, and trying to eat breakfast, and you come running up, steel my spoon, and my cereal somehow spills all over the couch... HAHAHA! Oh man, these are the moments ;)

I made my very first pumpkin pie the other night!!! I made it from scratch out of the pumpkin you picked out at the pumpkin patch! I was so happy and excited to try something new. You and your sister did not make it easy either ;) haha... Right when I picked up the knife to slice up the pumpkin, you both very much needed me. haha, so between nursing, changing diapers, kissing booboo's and hushing cries, I finished! It came out great and you and daddy LOVED it. Success... ;)

So filled with joy I have been, watching you grow, dance, jump, sing, laugh, and smile. You have a very funny personality. You are so very strong willed and ever so stubborn! Both your daddy and I see some of ourselves in you ;) You test us every single day, multiple times a day. If we tell you not to hit, you hit once more to see what reaction you will get, then try once more, and then with each hit, you apply less pressure trying to see what level of hitting you can get away with. Babies are smart, and you pick up on things pretty quickly. If you have something you know you are not supposed to have, you run to one of three little hiding places you have. One of your hiding places in behind the bookshelf in our living room, another is under the bar in the very corner of the kitchen, and the last is in your bedroom on the side of the changing table. You stand there holding your prize timidly, and wait for us to find you! Hahahaha, you crack me up! You think that by being very quite, you can get away with things, but in fact it is the complete opposite! When you are very quiet, we go looking for you! haha! You have officially entered the world of throwing tantrums, and although I do not condone this behavior, I also find it ever so cute. You pout your lips out, wave your hands around in the air, and make your body go limp if you are on the floor, or stiff if you are in my arms. You know how to make it very difficult for mommy and daddy to hold you. You really don't throw tantrums that often, but when you do, you make sure there are lots of people around, we are in a public place, and we have our hands full. ;) I have learned since having children, that there are many very good parents out there whose kids will cry and throw fits in public... Yes, no matter how great you are, it's bound to happen, and it does not mean that you are not doing your job as a parent. It means that your child is learning, testing social boundaries, and has feelings that they are expressing... Loudly and in front of people... hahahaha! I have just gained a whole other perspective ;) Now if you were 15 and doing this, well then we have a real problem ;)

I really like you Elijah... You are fun! You make me laugh with your little conversations that I can not understand. You will say the longest sentence that I can't seem to translate, and then burst out laughing! So, I just laugh right along with you, and answer you when you pause. I do my best to understand you these days, but you are still very hard to understand. I know what you say sometimes, and then other times I just smile and nod. Even thought I don't understand you much right now, I am so glad that you are not shy to try talking to us every day, and that you are listening and trying to say things as well as you can for the time being. My favorite words you say VERY clear are, cheese, juice, mama, dada, thank you, please, hi, and dog. Those are the ones you have mastered ;) You love to dance and when you dance, my heart just fills with joy. I love seeing you enjoy yourself, and goof off. You are such a sunshine boy. You hug us so much, kiss us lots and snuggle with both of us. We always say we are so lucky to have a baby that loves on us.

This morning you woke up earlier than usual, and daddy, Emma, and I were all still in bed! So you came and snuggled up to daddy while I nursed Emma, and then I put Emma right next to you and daddy and layed down too! I loved giggling, and snuggling with all of you this morning. That was all I needed to start the day off right ;) After that, we took you to the park, then took you to run around at the pumpkin patch where we saw chickens and pigs. They let the chickens out of the coop since we were the only family there.

Your nina just got a dog, and you have loved going on the back yard and playing with the "doggy." You will walk to the back door and bang on it saying, "doggy! doggy!" It's so funny!

Tonight your daddy took you and Emma to his parents (your grandparents) house, and I was able to take a long hot bath, paint my nails, and watch a super girly movie ;) haha! Although it was nice to relax and do girly stuff, I super missed you, your sister and your daddy! I can't wait till you guys come home now! Haha

So, the big question everyone has for us now is, "so..... How are you guys doing now with TWO babies." Let me think........ It's hard to answer that questions. Because if I was going to be honest, it's been nice! Yes, we have our times of craziness, but we had those times with one baby! well, maybe not as often ;) I know the first few nights we brought Emma home, we didn't sleep much AT ALL! I remember thinking to myself... "Yes, this is indeed a full plate!!!" Hahaha, but then things started to become easier if you will, and basically just part of our lives. We wanted this, we wanted you guys, and we were in the mind set of starting our family! We are just so happy to be blessed with you both! Things change from week to week with you both being so young, so our weeks will go from super easy, breezy to weeks of exhaustion, and needing help! Hahaha... I wouldn't change it. In all, I'm glad we have two babies, and I love watching you interact with Emma. It's to funny! I have enjoyed seeing you go from wondering, who is this baby? Does she live here? to knowing she is here now, and looking for her when you don't see her. You like to give her kisses and hugs, and rub her tummy and head. Your a great big brother Elijah.

Love you,

Mommy

I took these pictures two days ago ;) You both are my favorite people to take photos of ;)

So far we have gone to the pumpkin patch 4 times this year ;)

This is Jase and you. Nina's new dog ;)

I took these pictures today ;) 18 months, my big boy ;)

The Beautiful Facts...

The line down the middle of my tummy first appeared when I was pregnant of you Eli, and then it actually faded...
Then it came back when I was pregnant of you Emma! That was a change ;) a mark of my pregnancies :) heehee.

This is the verse that our pastor read to us after you guys were born.
Never forget it ;) You guys are wonderfully made!

Hahaha! This picture made me laugh. It's blurry, but perfect!



I love you both so very much! I'm so excited about what I have learned, how God has changed me, and how this family has been a blessing to me from God. Both of you babies have given me so much, helped me recognize strengths and weaknesses, and helped me to see that the world does not revolve around ME! hahaha! Love you.

Sick Day...

Dear Elijah,
I feel so bad for you! You have been pretty darn sick yesterday and today. It started the night before last, when you woke up after we put you to bed. You never cry or wake up during the night, and you always sleep very good, so we went in to see what was the matter, and saw that you had thrown up :( It was so sad! You were wanting mommy to hold you right away, and were kind of shaking a bit. So I held you, throw up and all. I waited to clean and change you until you were calmed. Daddy made you a fresh new bed, and put new, clean friends in your crib for you. I cleaned you, changed you, and then held you till you wanted to go back into your crib. You slept for a while, and them we heard you cry again! I walked in there and you were half awake, sitting up, crying a bit. I picked you up and noticed you had thrown up just a tiny bit on one of your stuffed animals. It wasn't very much, but enough to make you uncomfortable. We decided to put you in bed with us. Daddy laid you next to me in bed, and you turned towards me, put your arm around me, and fell right to sleep. You slept through the night with us, and even slept through me moving you off of me to feed Emma twice! I usually can't sleep when you join us. You kick and move so much, and I get crowded, but that night, I was so tired, and also felt super peaceful having you in bed with us so I didn't have to worry, that I slept so great! It was wonderful waking up next to my precious baby.
Yesterday you seemed fine! you were running, playing, and acting like you were just great! Your dad and I just figured you had a sour tummy that night, and that was it. It all started up again later that evening. Last night was TERRIBLE!!! We noticed that you were a bit cranky and tired in the later afternoon. You went to bed just wonderful, but then woke up around 11pm and you were so miserable! You were throwing up mucus, had a stuffy, runny nose, were coughing, and your eyes were weepy. You just wanted to be held. I cuddled you with me on the couch for a while, and then your daddy held you for a while in your room. Even when you fell asleep in our arms, you didn't want to be put back into your crib. Again, we decided to put you in bed with us. I was happy :) If we hadn't, I would have been up ALL night checking on you. This time you gravitated towards your daddy, and I was able to move around more, and get up to get Emma when she cried. Emma refused to go back into her bed, and ended up joining the party with all of us. She slept with mommy, while you slept closer to daddy. Before I was woken by Emma and before she came into bed with all of us, something crazy happened. You move a lot in your sleep. On a regular night, every time I check on you, you are in another position facing the complete opposite way! Last night I woke up to me holding onto your leg very tight. IN MY SLEEP I grabbed your leg because you dove over me and and you were hanging off the edge of the bed by one leg! The leg that I was holding!!! Your daddy also sprung up and grabbed hold of your shirt when he realized what was going on. I was confused, but when I woke up to that, I gasped and pulled you back into bed with us! You were asleep the entire time! So scary, but also quite funny! Although we have pillows surrounding our bed for an occasion such as this, it's still not ideal...
We all woke up this morning at 6am! You were our wake up call. You wanted to get out of bed and play, and not only did you want to play, you wanted to go outside and play. I fell back asleep with Emma for another hour since your daddy got up with you. When I woke up, I walked into the living room, looked out the window, and saw you and daddy all bundled up playing outside! Hahahaha! I couldn't believe you were the same sick little guy from last night. You are are still throwing up, and not as energetic as you usually are, but you are playing and singing. You took a great nap, snuggled with me for a while on the couch while you drank two bottles of water, and are now playing with your toys. I'm hoping for a better night for you although your nose is running like a faucet! :( I know how annoying that can be...
Oh my goodness, yesterday you were walking around the house playing, and then I heard you yell out for us. I ran into your room and you were standing in your crib!!!!! Your daddy was right behind me, and I looked at him confused and said, "did you put him in there?" and he said no! We both started laughing because you had figured out how to climb into your crib from the couch! At least we know you can't get out on your own yet, but I'm waiting for that morning you come walking into our room! Hahahahahaha... I think you will soon figure out how to climb out of there.

Ok, well I love you, I'm taking good care of you, and I hope you get better my love!

enjoying your first cookie all your own!

You loved it :)

You had to eat your spinach and blueberries first ;) but you LOVED your cookie :)

You have been very interested in stacking things. Anything! You are very good at stacking blocks! :)

Funny Little Eli :)

Dear Elijah,
YOU MAKE ME MELT!!! I love you so much, and your sweet disposition, and your sense of humor ;) You are so fun to watch! Here are some fun things you do that make me and your dad laugh, or just look at each other and say "awwwwww." haha...

Whenever we say, would you like to take your nap now, you immediately go around collecting your "friends," (stuffed animals) and once you have them all in your arms, you stand in front of us so that we can pick you up and put you in your crib! It's so cute! When you wake up in the morning, or from your naps, you gather all your "friends" into your arms, or hand them off to me or daddy, and then are ready to come out. But all your stuffed animals go in and out of the crib with you! It's so funny! This is stuff we never taught you, you just started doing. Another thing you do is when you hear the phrase, "I love you," You usually blow a kiss! It's so funny! The other day I was straightening my hair in the bathroom, and you usually like to be in there when I am, so you were standing behind me, talking to me. I started singing, "boogy, boogy, boogy, shake it, shake it, shake it," and you grabbed the bath tub and started shaking your butt and twisting your hips back and forth! It was hilarious! I called out to your daddy, and when he came it, you turned around and started shaking your shoulders! You LOVE to dance; especially when mommy sings silly songs. Hahaha
Your daddy and you wrestle and rough house ALL THE TIME! I usually don't watch because you guys get so crazy, and I find myself constantly saying, "be careful... Yikes! watch his head!" etc. Haha, so I just glance over here and there and trust that your daddy will take good care of you! Haha But last night your daddy said, "watch babe, look what we can do!" so I looked over to see you running at your daddy from across the room, and you dove into a pillow he was holding up in the air, and then he would fly backwards and lift you up over his head!!!!! All I said was... "No!" Hahahahaha... But you guys were both laughing hysterically... Oh gosh... I have seen you run and dive on your daddy's stomach while he is lying on the floor! You two are seriously funny.
The other day I was sitting in the back seat between you and Emma, and she needed to eat while daddy was in the store. So I got her out of her seat and started to nurse her... You looked at us, then you got a very serious expression on your face, and said, "Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooh." Then you pointed at Emma eating, and shook your head no. You get very protective over me if you think someone is hurting me, and so I think you thought Emma was hurting me. I had to try and explain to you that this was how Emma drinks her milk, and it doesn't hurt mommy. Hahaha. You were finally ok with it, and smiled. But I thought it was so funny!
We were all playing in the sprinklers yesterday, and your daddy started splashing me with water and getting me super soaked! I was screaming and we were playing, but I told your daddy to stop in a playful way, but you didn't like it to much. You got mad at daddy, and started crying because you thought he was being mean to mommy. Hahahahahaha! I picked you up, and again, had to explain to you that I was fine, and that daddy was just playing. Then we all three had a blast running through the sprinklers, and cooling off. You are such a caring little guy. I love it! I was the same way with my mom. I remember one time when people were trying to throw her in the church pool, I grabbed her leg and started crying! I was protective of my mommy that's for sure! I think all kids are to an extent. You also got upset the other day at auntie Jessica and uncle C.J.'s house because Nic and your nina were rough housing. You didn't care at all until it appeared to you that nina was getting hurt, then you walked up to them, put your hands over your face saying, "Ooooooooooh," and then started to cry a little. You thought Nic was beating up your nina, but when you realized it was not the case, you were fine, and wanted in on the playing. Hahaha. You got protective over Nic once too when someone was pretending to hurt him while wrestling. Sometimes you can't tell if it's play or for real, but once you figure it out and see that they are laughing, you calm down and usually want to jump in yourself ;)
Gosh you do so many things that make us smile or laugh or melt from the cuteness, but I can never write about ALL of them. There are to many! I am so blessed to be your mommy. I love you Eli. Hope you are having a great nap.

Lovin' on your daddy :)

LOVE

so sweet

Eating your fruit salad I made for you yesterday :)

You love playing outside with the hose and your truck :)

Sprinklers!

You and Emma :)

Adjusting to a New Little Blessing!

Dear Elijah,
You are taking a nap right now, and I am resting with your sister on the couch. You have been such an amazing big brother to Emma! I am so proud of you. You are so sweet giving her hugs and kisses, and being gentle with her. I can't believe how great you are adjusting considering you are still a baby yourself! You are not even 1 1/2 yet! I have noticed a few things that are different in you, but nothing to major. You still get lots of attention and love, so I think you will continue adjusting just fine :)

The other morning we left Emma in our bedroom sleeping, and you, mommy and daddy were out in the living room playing. You all of a sudden looked up at where Emma would usually be if she was in the living room, and went running over pointing, and shouting her name! You looked and she wasn't there, and then looked at daddy with big, wide open eyes! Then you proceeded to pull all the blankets away, and feel around, but you still couldn't find your sister! We were laughing and then we took you into the bedroom to let you see where she was, and you gave her a kiss and ran back into the living room to play. Hahaha... You used to go on with life kind of forgetting that Emma was even here, and then you would see her, look surprised and remember that she was around! Hahaha, it was funny. You are now at the point where you know who she is, and you know she lives with us. You play with her for longer periods of time now, and are always trying to give her her binky, and feed her your bottle! Haha. You steel her binky a lot too ;)

So you have picked up somewhere, I have no idea where, how to pinch! You think it's a fun little game, but we have to tell you it's not! We don't want you to go around pinching other people, but for now you restrict your pinching to mommy and daddy. We are taking it one day at a time trying to teach you that it's not kind to pinch and that it hurts us when you do. This is not an easy task considering the fact that we want to laugh every time it happens. We refrain from laughing, but it is difficult. You don't do it maliciously, you do it with a smile on your face and want to play. I think it's kind of your way of picking a play fight with us so we will wrestle with you.

You have a pretty shy nature about you when you are first around other people. You cling to me or your daddy, until you feel comfortable enough to break away. Once you break away, you are usually running all over the place, flirting with other people, and no longer need us close by. It takes you about a good half hour to warm up to people. You have a very select few that you will immediately go to, and those are people who you see all the time, and who have been pretty intentional in winning you over. haha... Your nina is one of those people. She always makes it a point to call me and ask me to go to coffee, or ask if I need her to come with me to the store. It's nice having someone who can hang out with you even when you are doing daily, boring things like grocery shopping. She is so helpful with you guys, and when we do go to coffee it's not stressful because she just jumps right in there and helps me entertain you, and keep you happy :) Every body needs someone like this in their lives, and I'm pretty blessed to have such a down to earth, helpful older sister :) In fact just two days ago, I called her and asked if she would mind coming over for just 15 minutes to watch you and your sister while I jumped in the shower. She was over here in like 2 seconds, and was so happy I asked. That felt nice... The shower felt nice too! Haha...

Ok, I better go now. I love you little guy!

We had lots of fun celebrating your grandmas 60th birthday!

Raising a Vegetarian!?!? haha

Dear Elijah,
 Tonight you decided for dinner you would have a peach, cheese, a baked yam, pear, and grapes! Luckily I got you to eat spinach and broccoli earlier. It's like a war zone in here at dinner time! You  only ate what you personally pointed at, and tonight that happened to be mostly fruit! ;) I think I may be raising a vegetarian?!?! You don't really like meat, and will only eat chicken and turkey once in a while! I keep trying though, but you are mostly a veggies, fruit and pasta kind of guy! I always choose what you eat, and I always get you to eat it, but tonight I decided to let you pick out what you ate because you were in pain, and pretty cranky and I didn't want to fight with you. You chose all good things, just pretty funny together ;) I just held different things up and asked you what you would like to eat tonight, and you would shake your head no at some things, and then smile really big at others. Oh gosh, I remember when your daddy and I tried giving you Gerber food for the first time about a month and a half ago, and you gagged, and almost threw up, then you had the worst look on your face, and your eyes teared up! We felt so bad! Nothing against Gerber, but you were used to eating either homemade food, fresh fruit and veggies or occasionally organic food packs. I didn't realize how different tasting that would be for you, and so we had to stop trying Gerber food. It's just so handy when you are in a hurry or out and about! Luckily you do like the organic packaged food though. ;) Hahaha... You are so funny! Eating is still a bot of a challenge, but your daddy and I are also very patient with you when it comes to meal times. We realize this is just a phase, and it's so important to us to get good nutrition in you. So we just learn to be creative, choose our battles, and make silly faces and funny sounds when feeding you! Hahahaha... You do enjoy feeding yourself, and we let you most of the time, but the foods that aren't your favorite, we usually have to supervise whether it me feeding it to you ourselves, or watching you and telling you to put the bites in your mouth. You do alright with spoons and forks, but you still try to twist the utensil upside down, and sometimes the food falls right off! We are working on that ;) I love you, I love you, I love you!!! You are such a sweet boy, and you are such a joy to be around. Your laugh, your smile, and your sweet voice brighten our days. You are such a blessing to us Elijah.

Things you love- You LOVE your Jana dance video, especially the song, "Play From Your Heart." You LOVE "Praise Baby" which is a video that plays worship music while showing images of nature, shapes, colors, babies, and all kinds of fun stuff. You LOVE running in the sand at the park, and get excited over the challenge of it. You LOVE running across the bridge at the park back and forth and back and forth! You LOVE singing and dancing. You LOVE wrestling with us (mostly daddy right now). You LOVE reading your books. You LOVE playing with all your different toys and have quite the imagination. You LOVE going to church and flirting with the people behind us ;) You LOVE snuggle time, hugs and kisses ;) You LOVE painting with your food before you eat it. You Love coloring. You LOVE playing with cousins. and you LOVE so many things that I will think of later ;) Hahaha... You are learning so much, at your own little pace, and I love being a part of it! Love ya!

So Tired! and You are Sick :(

Dear Elijah,
Well baby boy... You are sick, Mommy is sick too, and one set of your grandparents are out of town for a week, and another set of your grandparents are at the hospital! Your grandpa Jim just got his knee surgery yesterday, so they have been at the hospital. Everything went well, and I hear your grandpa is doing well :) Good news!
          I feel so bad for you... You have a very runny nose, are all teary eyed, and also you are cutting TWO teeth right now! So painful! You are still trying to run around and play, but I can see that you are also pretty miserable, and feel cloudy. Good news is that you do not have a fever.
           This has been such an emotional week for me, and had it not been for your daddy being strong for me, my own dad helping us out with odds and ends of moving with his trailer and muscles, and my sister helping me clean the new house, I think I would have had a mental break down! We also had my cousins Oscar and Erica come help us, plus your uncle CJ, and Auntie Meg! They all showed up last Saturday and helped us move all our stuff into the new place :) That was so nice of all of them, and we could not have done any of it without them! But now is the tough part of having to wait till the house is all clean, and painted. It's hard to get over there to do these things because one of us always has to stay behind with you. You need so much attention, and I hate when you have to tag along with us to the new house while we clean and paint! It's sooooooooooooooooooooooooooo boring for you :( But you are such a good boy, and usually let us get a couple hours of work in. It's just a lot harder when you and I are both sick!!! Last night I had a good cry, and had to let out some of my frustration of not being able to do everything I need/want to do because I'm 9 1/2 months pregnant with your sweet little sister Emma. I have been having severe lower back pain, and also leg pains that shoot down. It's weird! Sometimes it feels like my legs and hips get dislocated! haha, I told your dad last night it feels like if I move wrong that my butt is going to break off of my hips! Hahahaha!
          I went to the doctor yesterday and she told me that I already have pretty good signs of labor, which was SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO exciting, but also stressful since I feel like we now are trying to hurry hurry hurry JUST in case someone special decides to come and join us early ;)
          I cleaned the kitchen for 4 hours today with your nina, and your dad helped clean, and played with you. He wanted to do all the cleaning, but I am so picky about cleaning, and I also can't pick you up very good right now since my back is not so good, so cleaning was actually the easiest choice for me. It's just that the days are so long and tiring right now, and when I get home I have nothing left! No energy at all... Your daddy has been working on top of all the house stuff, so he is pretty tired too! We still play with you, and snuggle with you, and give you everything we have until you fall asleep... Then... and only then do we KNOCK OUT!!! hahahahahaha... Once you fall asleep, we crawl into bed too. I can't wait till we are in ONE place, have our own space to let you run around and tear apart, and are settled. That will feel so nice :) We of course will miss it here at your grandparents place ;) but it's time...
          I sure do hope you feel better soon baby boy, and I hope I get over this cold soon too. You have been such a great trooper during this whole time. You are so sweet, and we are blessed to have such a easy going little guy. Soon things will be more regular. We have still been able to keep you on your sleep schedule during all of this! So that's been good. I love you babe! You are the sunshine that keeps us laughing in rougher times! God has been so good in giving us perseverance, and we are thankful for the help He has provided us with so far ;)

All Sorts of New Fun

Dear Elijah,
I can't sleep!!! I've been up since 4am, and now it's 5am, and I decided to write to you since my mind keeps racing and won;t let me go back to sleep! Well, the 4th of July was fun :) We had a bbq at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Your daddy and I made a red white ad blue cheesecake, and your great aunt Teresa made a red, white, and blue carrot cake! Grandma cut up watermelon, and made corn on the cob, hamburgers, and all kinds of other yummy stuff! Then later that evening we all drove to Malaga Cove, (the cliffs) and watched the firework show that they had going on there! It was so much fun! At the bbq you warmed up to mostly everyone, and started rough housing (wrestling) with your uncle C.J. It was hilarious! When you get in that mood, you want to keep on wrestling, and you start to pick a fight with whoever will get down on the floor and roll around with you! It so cute! You went up to your cousin Nic, but he didn't want to play fight because he was busy playing a video game. You kept on tickling him, and them tried to bear hug him. You wanted to wrestle with him so bad, but he wasn't having it at that moment, so you went onto the next person who was your auntie Erica. Hahaha... You walked up to her and basically squealed at her, and pushed her playfully as if to say, "Ok, come on, try to get me!" haha... So she was a good sport and started playing with you. She was even in a dress and was keeping up with you  just fine. Hahaha... Then you picked a fight with mommy. I was sitting on the floor and you ran up to me and bear hugged me trying to tackle me to the floor. There is only so much wrestling mommy can do now though since I'm 9 months pregnant with your little sister! Hahahaha... But I do enjoy it ;)I like how fun you are! I love how you play...

You are starting to venture off on your own more these days, and are getting a bit more independent. It takes you a shorter time to warm up to places and people now, and then when you do, you stop clinging to mommy and daddy like you used to do, and you have started to roam around and explore other areas and people. It's pretty fun to watch, and notice the changes you are going through. The other night at our home group, you were roaming around, kind of following one of the little girls in our group, and you were holding two maracas... Lydia wanted to play with one of them, and you were holding tight to both of them! It was the first time I ever witnessed you not wanting to share! Hahahahaha, and I don;t know why I found it so funny! You r reaction to sharing one of your maracas was first, holding on tightly and shaking your head "no," and then letting out a loud scream when Lydia was trying to obtain the other one. Hahahaha. THEN, when her mommy and I were trying to talk you through the concept of "sharing," you growled at us! You have learned to growl from the doggie you are always around. He growls at you when you are trying to snuggle with him, so you do it too. It was quite funny, and eventually you parted with one of your moroccas... I just thought it was a funny little change I witnessed. We may have entered a whole new stage where sharing is not your strong point anymore. You have developed a mind of your own ;) heehee

For the past two weeks or so you have been giving us a hard time about eating! This has never been a problem for you, but now getting you to eat is one of the hardest things! You cry through most of it, and we have to sit there with you for a long time trying to get you to open your mouth. You usually do open up for us, and you rarely spit stuff out, (although you do that sometimes), once we get it in your mouth, you are good about chewing and swallowing. It's just sad because you cry through the whole thing. You would seriously LIVE off of berries and cheese if we let you, but we are trying to make sure you are getting everything your little body needs to be a healthy boy. You fight us on oatmeal, sweet potatoes, beans, most veggies and things of that nature, but will happily, on your own eat strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, watermelon, and cheese! You really like berries and cheese! It's crazy to see this because you have grown up on my homemade baby food, and would eat spinach, carrots, broccoli, avocado, zucchini, and much more. I would think you would get used to the tastes. But it's almost like the taste is the least of the problem. I think you may just not want to give up play time to eat, You would always rather be doing something else. Oh well, we'll see how things progress :)

I woke up last night as well, but that was more because I feel like I was supposed to be praying for people God was putting on my heart. So I prayed for a solid hour for you, your daddy, Emma, our housing situation, a random girl I came in contact with a few times when I was volunteering at a church, and some others. I do like when I wake up with specific things and people to pray for, but also, the lack of sleep left me pretty wiped out today, and now again this morning I know this day holds a lot of tiredness for me too! I have to wake up more these days to go to the bathroom since your little sister is in my tummy, and since I'm up so often, my mind will just start to race about all kinds of things and I can't seem to shut it off! So here I am, not sleeping, and yes, I will be very tired today, but at least I got to write you a letter :) That's a big plus! I love you more than words can express. I enjoy watching you, playing with you, kissing you, hugging you, and just being your mommy! It's the best fun ever getting to take care of you and watch you grow and change. You are the sweetest, cutest, so brave, ultra smart, most fun little guy I have ever had the pleasure of loving! You have such a tenderness matched with your rough and tough ways. You always have time for hugging and kissing and snuggling in between your running, jumping, wrestling, and growling! haha! I love you baby boy! You are my sunshine! :)

Giving daddy kisses :)

Morning snuggle time with your daddy :)

One of my favorites right now. This was about a week ago when we set up the pool for you out on the balcony :)

Yelling!!! Ugh...

Dear Elijah,
I yelled at you for the very first time Ever the other day, and let me tell you... It was so lame! I was overwhelmed, and super stressed out about something that was going on other than what you were doing, and so when you were just being a normal baby boy, I snapped and yelled at you. I could not shake the terrible feeling it gave me for the rest of the day. That night your dad put on a movie and we were lying in bed, and I paused the movie and said, "babe, I seriously feel so sad about yelling at Eli today," then I burst into tears! Your daddy was so sweet, rubbed my head and told me what a great mommy I am. It was just so hard to realize that I hurt your feelings by yelling at you, when you had never experienced mommy doing that before. I know it jolted you, and that's never what I want to do! I could not get the feeling to go away, so we prayed together and talked it out until I felt sure that mommies make mistakes, and I need to take a mental note and move on. It was hard for both you and I, and I know now ESPECIALLY, that I do not ever wish to yell at you, even when I am frustrated, it creates even more stress for the both of us! I always said from the beginning that I plan on never raising my voice to my kids, but yes, as mommies we mess up sometimes and go directly against what we believe is right. I know I can't say it will NEVER happen again, but I do know the consequences are harsh. But yes, I am human, and I will mess up time and time again, but I have the ability to learn from my mistakes as well, and also, most importantly, I have God to help me along the way. I need His grace so much! Man though!!!!!!!!!! Worst night ever! I believe it was a mix of me being super emotional being pregnant with your sister and all, but those feelings were real nevertheless. There are so many opinions, blogs, articles, and teachings on what parenting is the best parenting, and these days we over think parenting sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much that at times it becomes ridiculous! I've seen so many parenting styles and have seen many parents who used different techniques, successfully raise wonderful children :) So I have learned in this short amount of time to research, try things, do what works for me and my baby specifically, and go with my inner (gut) feeling. If it brings me and my household peace, it must be right for us! I have to tell you, I gather from all kinds of information, and my favorite thing to do it think it out, try it out, and then see what works for us. :) It gives me a sense of peace knowing that I am actively responding to you in different ways to figure out what works the best for us. So Eli, when you are older, you can tell me what you didn't agree with and will not be using with your own children ;) haha Yelling makes us all feel bad, therefore, I'm going to try my hardest to keep that away... Now when you are older and reading this letter, please don't show it to me with a tally at the bottom of how many times I have yelled at you!!! hahahahaha! At least you know that I care about your feelings, and would feel bad after ;) haha... I love you so much Elijah! You are such a sunshine, sweet pea, baby face, cute head! I love your kisses, your hugs, your snuggles, and your love.
By the way, you LOVE trash cans. It's so funny! Every time we go for a walk, I have to let you walk up to every trash can along the way. You point to it with a HUGE smile, and say in a very sweet high pitch voice, "trash can!" It's so cute, and whenever you spot one anywhere, you get so excited and say trash can loudly. We brought you to see the seals the other day, and you liked them enough, but then you spotted a trash can there, and your excitement escalated 10 times! Hahahaha...

SLUGGER!

Dear Elijah,
You little slugger! You got mommy and daddy good tonight! We were at our bible study group and it was getting late so we decided to leave and get you to bed. I had to put you down outside on the sidewalk to look for our car keys, and when I went to pick you back up, you looked like you were reaching for something, and you actually got mad at me for picking you up. I turned you towards me, you hugged me around the neck, and then I handed you off to daddy. Your dad and I were driving down the street we are going to be living on soon, and I thought I spotted something outside the house, so your dad decided to do a U turn to make sure all was well. Meanwhile I felt something slimy and wet fall onto my arm, and I immediately thought it was banana since you were eating it earlier. I wasn't sure, but I was assuming that was the only logical thing. So I said to your dad, "eew, something wet and slimy is on my arm, and I can't see because it's dark..." So I proceeded to wipe it off and I for some strange reason of my own, I put it on your daddy's hand so that he might determine what it was. Really I was being facetious, because I thought it was banana, and thought it was funny to wipe it on him. I happened to flash the cell phone light in his direction and we both saw a slimy SLUG just chillin' on your dad's hand!!!! He was in the middle of a U turn, and almost crashed our new car trying to get it off... He called me by my first name, which made me laugh hysterically to tears! I laughed so hard, and he exclaimed, "Honey! I was making a U turn! That's like the most dangerous time to put a slug on somebody!!!" Looking back I can see how you may have been reaching for the slug when I put you down, and then when you hugged me, you got it in my hair! That's the only way I can figure it getting into my hair to suddenly drop onto my arm in the car! Oh Elijah, you bring so much laughter and excitement to our lives. We love you slugger ;) heehee

I'm a Mommy! That's Pretty Sweet!

Dear Elijah,
Tomorrow is Mothers Day... All I can think about is how much I love and adore you! You are a ray of sunshine in our lives and I couldn't picture my life without you. I watch you grow every day, and see what a sweet hearted little baby boy you are. You wave at people we walk by, you smile, you kiss and you hug. You are such a shy guy until you warm up, and then your personality just pops! I love how shy you act sometimes because it's just too cute :) When I look at you I see an innocent, sweet, loving, fun, active little boy who thinks everyone is here to play with him. haha! It's crazy to me how much you are your own person, and have your own ways and quirks that you did not learn from daddy or me. I can't wait to see the man you grow up to be. We are super in love with you, and we tear up at everything! If you do new things, or show a softer side your dad and I just melt. It's hard for me sometimes to imagine you grown up, so I just don't do it often, because I am enjoying this time right now. This sweet baby time where you are so vulnerable and need lots of love and care. I pray all mommies get to experience the joys of motherhood, I pray that all mommies get to see their little miracles grow, I pray that all mommies would find the energy they need to enjoy even the tougher times, and I pray that all mommies would see their babies as thee most wonderful gifts from God. All babies are special, priceless gifts from God and deserve the best kind of care and love that we are able to give as parents. It's so great to have a God who loves you more than I do, and who is always watching over us, and filling our lives with His goodness and grace. I personally need His grace and mercy on a day to day basis. Just as our Father in heaven wants us to give us blessings and good gifts and wants the best for us, I also want my precious baby boy to to be filled with joy, and love everyday! I want the best for you, and I want you to feel completely loved by God, by us and by the people we bring into your life. You are blessed with a wonderful family who loves you very much. I am so humbled by Gods faithfulness, and I know that God has given so many great blessing to those around us as well. I love to see other people around us experiencing God's blessings. I love to see joyful families who love their gifts from God. It brings me so much joy to see a sparkle in another mommies eye when she looks at her baby! It's just good to know that there are babies around us receiving so much love. Us mommies are pretty blessed. I am so humbled and blessed to get to have this roll in life. I LOVE YOU AND EMMA SO MUCH! Thanks for making me a proud mama!

So Fun!

Dear Elijah,
Man, I'm so sorry I have been slacking on your letters. You have been keeping me busy along with so many other things! I love you, and I NEED to share with you what you have been doing the past few weeks!
First, you said, "I love you," on April 27th I believe, or at least a day before or after that ;) Haha, and you say mama and dada ,baba, and these past two days have been really trying to say what you hear me say. I sang, "pop goes the Wiesel," and you tried to mimic that, which was so cute! So basically you have just entered the stage of mimicking what we are saying. You get shy about it, and hide your face, or smile and turn away. It's pretty funny! You give kisses WAY better now, and you are officially a climber! You will grab me by the back of the neck and kiss me over and over and over again with your very serious "kiss face." I eat it up, and love those moments. If we ask you for a kiss now, you know exactly what we mean. Now about your being a climber, I walked out of the room a few days ago, and when I walked back in, you were standing on top of your firetruck just smiling. You didn't know how to get down, but you did know how to climb up. You have tried to climb over the gates we have up to keep you out of unsafe (un-baby proofed) area's, and you are getting really brave with trying to climb on just about anything now. I knew this was coming because I have been trying to teach you how to safely climb on and off the couch, but you had never attempted that without me until the past week or so. Lot's of falls lately, and bumping your head. You are getting hurt a lot more now since you are venturing off to try new things :) You say bye bye now when you wave sometimes, and today you said grandpa pretty clearly. :) You LOVE to wrestle, and when me or daddy get on the floor with you, you get this twinkle in your eye, and then start to want to wrestle with us. It's too funny! You jump on us, grab up, climb on us, and it's all so much fun! You REALLY like to stand behind me while holding onto my hair, and laugh while I turn to try and see you, and you move just enough behind me so that I can't fully see you. It's like your favorite game with mommy! Hahaha... You hide behind me essentially, and think it's funny when I try to turn and see you! With daddy, you will walk up behind him, and he quickly turns around and says, "I'm gonna get you," and then you scream and run as fast as you can in the other direction. So cute! You are still sleeping through the night, and waking happy. You like to point to everything right when we take you out of your crib. You point first to the eagle on grandpa's safe, then to the lock, then to the deer on the wall, then to anything and everything that you can see. It's so funny! When you point at something, it means you want us to say what it is.

So your daddy and I had planned a trip for our TWO YEAR wedding anniversary, and the trip was this last weekend! It was SO MUCH FUN! What is so funny to me is that we planned on going up to Palm Springs the first day and night alone (meaning without you) and having you stay with grandma and grandpa. The next day Auntie Melissa and Megan would drive you up to us, and stay the next night with us. Great plan until it got closer to that actual moment when I realized I was going to have to leave you over night!!! I mean it sounded nice from afar that your daddy and I would spend some time alone first and then have you join us, but when it got closer, I panicked and almost changed our plans completely! Hahahaha... I just could not imagine leaving you that long, and being that far away from you as well!!! So I told your dad, I didn't know if I could do it, and he was very understanding and just said, "Ok babe, we'll pray about it, and when the time comes, if we don;t feel comfortable, we'll just take him with us the first night, but still have your sister and Megan come up the next day!" I was so relieved that there was no pressure in leaving you the first night, and after praying for days, and then talking to your auntie, I decided I would be ok :) I think it was because everyone was so understanding and put no pressure on me, that I felt like I could be at peace with it. So your daddy and I took off as planned on Friday, and you came to us Saturday afternoon around 1pm. Your dad and I really did have a blessed time together. We did so many fun things, and it makes me all giggly just thinking about the time we had together. We hung out, talked, swam, went to dinner, had hot cocoa and coffee by the fireplace, watched a movie late at night, and just enjoyed each other's company! Funny thing was that we talked about you a lot, and both missed you! We kept say things like, "Oh Eli would just love that!" Hahaha... Saturday morning I text my sister super early telling her how excited I was that she was bringing you to us that day! I was so excited to get to see you! I called Megan around the time I thought you guys might be semi close, and she said you guys were 13 minutes away, and I started crying! Hahahahahahahahaha! I totally teared up, and then told her, "Don't make fun of me for crying when I see him!" And she said, "I'll probably be crying right along with you just from seeing you cry!" Hahahahaha... Then I hung up and your daddy was looking at me smiling, and I said, "Babe! I can't help it! Why aren't you crying???!" and he replied, "Because I get to see him very soon!" Haha... At least one of us can hold it together. When you arrived at 1pm, I walked outside to greet you! Nina was holding you, and you had just woken up. You smiled when you saw me, and I grabbed you up and hugged and kissed you! It was the best moment! We immediately got you all geared up and in the pool and you had the best time! You loved the water, and wanted to be in the pool the whole time! The shower there was so huge and really cool, so before we all went out to dinner that night, your daddy, you and I all took a shower together. You were splashing around in the huge bath tub, and we were singing your favorite song while you stomped your little feet splashing in the water! It was thee cutest thing I had ever experienced! Since the bath tub was filled with about 2 inches of water from the shower running, it was perfect for you to splash in. We are talking, this was like a four foot wide, and 10 feet deep shower/bath, so it was basically a wet playground for you! Haha. Can't wait to go back someday when you are a bit older and Emma is here! Sooooooo, the entire trip was amazing, and such a fun time for all of us. It came time to leave, and your daddy and I decided after check out, we would hang out on the Palm Springs strip for a while before leaving to go home. We got to Starbucks, and were hanging out there with our drinks while you walked around saying hi to everyone :) Then as we took off to walk the strip, you became interested in the marble tiles along the sidewalk. You kept pointing to them as we passed every single one. It was so cute. I walked ahead for a moment to capture pictures of you and daddy walking side by side on the strip, and then you fell on one of the marble tiles, and when you touched down to get up, it was so hot that it burned your hands!!! It also burned one of your legs a bit. I was far, but your daddy grabbed you up as fast as he could, and your hands were already burned and starting to turn red! We didn;t know how bad it was until you started crying uncontrollably, and there was NOTHING we could do to calm you down. You were crying so hard that it scared me! You were not breathing right, and your face was completely red. We poured water on your hands, and grabbed an ice cube from our ice chest. As we sat in the air-conditioned car, we finally decided that there was nothing we could do to get you to stop screaming, so your dad decided that we had to go to the ER. If only to get you some sort of relief! We got there and you were still screaming and beside yourself. They got you in right away to evaluate your burns, and by then they had blistered. Thankfully they said they were minor, and we didn't have to worry. They took your temp, and all that jazz and then sent us to the waiting room to await a room visit. They finally called us in and by this time your nina had rushed over. We all went it, and as they looked at your blisters they decided not to wrap them, but just to give you an ice pack and some Motrin for the pain! I was fine with that. Anything to ease the pain, and get you to calm down. They gave you medicine, and soon after that, you stopped crying, and feel asleep in my arms. I was crying for a lot of the time just because I was so overwhelmed with everything! I hated to see you in pain, I felt bad that it happened in the first place, and I was feeling defeated since I was so helpless to bring you comfort! So all of our tears stopped and we were able to get on the road back home. Today one of your big blisters burst, and you didn;t seem to mind. You have been very good about the whole healing process, and they don;t seem to be bothering you much! Thank Jesus! We had lots of people praying for you :) Love you!