Letters To Elijah: 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