Pics, Pics and more pics :0)

I bet you can't see the family resemblance here, can you?

Here, Eli is watching closely and helping Papa edge the front beds around the house. Love seeing them work together like this!!


This is Eli riding Papaw's tractor. Boy, does he love this!! If you look closely, you can see he is making all the proper sound effects for the tractor!!

See the smile!!

Papa finished the playset- I love that this is the view from the kitchen window- so he can go out and play while I am working and we both have a blast!! He loves to play on "Eli-ville" especially when someone else can join him!!

We went to COSI for the big machine exhibit the day before we left for DC. Eli LOVED being able to get up into the big machines and pretend to operate them!!

Then- much to his great delight!! we were able to stand in line so he could actually "operate" a bobcat- scooping up a load of sand. He was in 7th heaven making this big piece of machinery operate!!

After checking out a couple more machines...


we headed to the fire department to have pizza and visit with Papa. I found the boys in the bay- after Eli slid down the firepole with Papa.....

Junior firefighter? As you can see, he has some big shoes to fill..... :0)

The expression you see here is him making more fire engine (Dire engine) noises. Whoooooeeeeeeeoooooo!!!! NEEE NAAWW NEEEE NAAAW!

And of course, after the fire engines, he had to ride in the medic!!

Will try to find and upload some DC pics later..... enjoy....

Coming soon...

Wow!! Where does the time go? We had a fabulous week in the DC area visiting with my sister and some friends that live in the area. I do plan on posting about that trip- wow!! Time is just flying by!! I'll have pics and stories soon :0)

Life With a Toddler

It has been challenging trying to find time to keep everything updated recently. Of course, one of the reasons is that we are going through a challenging season- where Eli is pushing as strongly as he can to see how firm our boundaries are. How exhausting. I am thanking God that he feels comfortable with us to push so hard, and also that he is a strong willed child- for these things will carry him far in life. I'm also thanking God for renewed energy, day after day.

Though there have been lows, that seem so low, there are also so many highs that are higher than any I've known. He is developing this amazing personality, and I can't help but fall more in love with him every day. (Usually when he is asleep... hehehe.... just kidding- mostly) Another amazing facet is the love in my heart for Tim. Watching him as he interacts with Eli as they read, or Tim is teaching Eli something makes my heart expand with even more love for my wonderful hubby, too. God is so awesome to continue to expand our ability to love beyond what we'd ever dream possible.

Last weekend, we celebrated Mother's Day with Tim's family. It was a nice gathering, hosted by my SIL, Paula, who lives next door. As I was getting Eli ready to go over to Paula's house, I began telling him what we were going there for, what we were celebrating. I always try to prepare him for what is happening. Our conversation was so profound- I still am amazed- I'll let you listen in.....

"Eli," I said, looking at him closely, "Do you know what we are doing tonight?"

"Uh huh," He said with his cheeky grin.

"We are celebrating Mother's Day with Mamaw, Papaw, Uncle Jeff, Aunt Tammy, Lauren, Aunt Paula, Uncle Scott, Cheyenne and Wesley, Mama, Papa and Eli at Aunt Paula'a house. Aunt Paula made dinner and we are all going to get together to celebrate Mommies."

I paused a moment, as I pondered myself exactly what it meant to celebrate Mother's day. It's one of those rare moments when time seems suspended for just a few seconds.

With a cloud of tears in my eyes, threatening to spill over, I looked lovingly at Eli and said, "Do you know you made me a Mommy? Can you believe that? The first time I met you and held you in my arms, I became a Mommy. Wow. Isn't that amazing???"

He was kinda looking at me a little funny as I ruminated on this amazing fact.

I said, "I am so glad I met you and you made me a Mommy!!" and I gave him a kiss filled with the tenderest of love, or so I thought at the time.

He looked at me and oh so sweetly said, "No, Mommy, I not make you a Mommy. God did!!"

From the mouths of babes!! I looked at him, feeling completely overwhelmed, wrapping him in my arms and I whispered past the emotions clogging my throat, "Yes, Sweetie. You are exactly right. God did make me a Mommy when He placed you in my arms. And I am so very thankful!!"

Thank you God for being so real to Eli. I pray he continues to grow closer to you!!

Sumbirth day fun

Swimming lessons were going strong through all this time in our lives. Eli LOVED them this year. There was no crying like we had last time. After a long talk with my mom the night they stayed over, I started doing "standing in the corner" with Eli when he wouldn't listen or was acting disrespectful toward Tim or I.

Very difficult for a little one to listen to Mommy telling you to listen to the teacher and sit while you are waiting, when 7 other toddlers are not. We spent a few minutes in the corner, but ended up having even more fun. I'm thinking that this is the same cycle we'll hit when he becomes a teenager. He's beginning to reason for himself and develop more concrete thinking- and is pushing any and all boundaries we have ever set to see just how far he can go. Only now, he is young enough that I can put him in the corner and teach him respect. Wow. What would you do with this attitude if they never learned to respect you?

Well, the day of his birthday, Eli and I headed off to Columbus. Papa had to work all day, so my wonderfully romantic notion was for us to go to COSI- the Columbus Science Center- and play in the morning and then drive over to the playground if he was still awake and then to the fire station and have dinner, cake and sing happy birthday with Papa and his second family- the guys on his crew.

We traveled to Columbus, stopping at the fire house to drop off Eli's cake (didn't think it would be edible if it sat in the hot car all day......or at least not very presentable), and caught Papa just as he was coming back from a run. So we said hi for a few minutes and then left for COSI.

He had a blast!! We played in KidZone- an area just for kids under 1st grade. We went from item to item, splashed in water, played in the little houses turning on and off lights and the sink, made sound and noises with electrical currents, played in the little kitchen making at least 2 full meals, slid down the slides, jumped around the tree house, looked at animals, read a book, balanced balls on streams of air and then did it all again. Then, after the first 15 minutes when we did all that..... hehehe just kidding.....

We went outside for a little snack and I got my first damper for the day. (Amazing how hard it is to separate your feeling apart from what you are doing, isn't it?) I had a message on my phone that I had been rescheduled for the next day to work at a different store. So, while he was finishing his snack, I was trying to call the store I was to be working at to see if they could contact all the patients I had lined up to meet with me that day. It was hard not to let the frustration be a little cloud cover on an otherwise sunny, magnificent day.

So, we drove back toward the fire house and Papa. He fell asleep after only a few minutes, so we skipped the park and went to see Papa. I had hoped to be able to lay him on Tim's bunk for a quick nap, but when we arrived, the knowledge that we were at the fire house, a mere minute away from the fire engines and medics, was just too much to contain, and his sleepiness dropped like a dead weight.

Long story shortened, Tim had over 23 runs that day. So we spent more time waiting there by ourselves than we did with Papa. We did take a little trek over to a play ground nearby around supper time and played for a little while- Eli loved that!!

Finally, around 8, we were able to light the candles, and several of the guys sang with us, it was very cool. Eli blew out the candles and then attacked his cake- this time a backhoe loader. If I can figure out how to upload the video, I'll put that segment here.

So, on a beautiful summer day, Eli was able to spend time doing things he loved, in a place where he was loved, anticipating and then being rewarded with Papa there to sing and eat cake with him. We slept well that night- Papa is still trying to catch up on his sleep- with only a little over 2 hours for him.......

Bir-other's Day

My own special name for the day- we celebrated Eli's third birthday with our parents on Mother's Day. My Mom and Dad were passing through town on their way home and had some things to drop off, and the weekend worked better for Tim's Mom and Dad, also.

Tim was singing at both services at church, so he was up and gone at the crack of dawn. Eli and I got up at a more leisurely pace, got ready for church and I made sure everything was ready for the celebrations to come later that day.

We had a terrible morning. Sad, but true. Elisha was just a little stinker all morning- he woke up whining and demanding- which, unfortunately, seems to have become his usual wake up routine over the last few weeks! It escalated so much at church (they stepped out and told me he was spitting on the floor, throwing the toys and not listening to anyone) that I took him from the nursery just after the singing was done (when I was going to go sit next to Tim and enjoy the Mother's Day service :0{)

My MIL laughingly welcomed me to the terrible threes. I immediately rebuked her and said, I'll accept it as the last two weeks of 2- but I wasn't letting anyone claim this behavior for Eli for a whole year..... tremble at the thought!

We ended up having a wonderful day, even with such a rough start. My parents were a few hours late getting here, but we had a lovely meal with Tim's parents. Tim's mom had a few gifts for Eli to open while we were all sitting there, and then were able to visit a little bit with my parents once they arrived.

We got out his cake:

Yes, it is a school bus- he has been loving the school bus stories we've been telling every night. He got so excited when we sang happy birthday to him (and he sang with us :0)) that he couldn't get the candles all blown out. He had us all laughing so hard with him as he sat there trying to blow between chuckles.

Mom and Dad brought a few gifts from Rick and Tara to Eli. Boy did he like those!! It is soooo very hard to get video from our camera to this blog. I will try to attach some here.

Then we gave him our big gift- a back hoe loader bike. Ohhh- the excitement was palpable!! Tim and I had put the bike together during Eli's nap, and I covered it with a big blanket. He still says, "This the blanket that covered the back hoe loader, right Mama?"

We dragged a very reluctant, very sleepy toddler off the back hoe way after his bed time with promises that he could ride it again in the morning. He soooo didn't want to go to sleep! But, soon, the exhaustion won out and he journeyed to dreamland- no doubt driving a real back hoe loader.

Everyone was up and ready to go the next morning quite early. I went up to check on Eli, and found him laying in his crib, staring at the ceiling. When I opened the door and said hi, he jumped up and said, "Now I can play on my backhoe loader?????" Wonder how long he'd lain there..... :0)

Proud Parents of a 3 year old :0)

News flash- short version-

Had a great bday with the grandparents on Mother's day, and then today spent the day in Columbus doing fun things and hanging out at the Fire Station, catching glimpses of Papa as he kept jumping in the medic and taking off to help others.

Another round of swimming lessons- no crying this time :0)

More later on the exciting weeks we've had- and hopefully pics- can you tell it's been busy?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ELI!!!

Friends and love blooming

I had been asked to work today to cover for a meeting another Pharmacist had to attend. I lined up a very good friend of mine to come keep Elisha for the few hours I'd be gone since everyone was out of town on the hill (all Tim's family) Well, the meeting ended up being changed, so I didn't go to work, but my friend, Patty, still came over. She had been looking forward to seeing Eli and me.

It was so wonderful! She had the uncanny ability to include both of us in her conversations, so I didn't feel like she just came to see Eli, and he didn't feel neglected either. After a sad visit with the Doctor yesterday- yes, most likely strep for me AGAIN!! it was nice to have some cheering up!!

Our plan worked wonderfully- Eli didn't want to nap- I had to lay down- so Patty played with him while I rested a little while, and then he went to bed early for me tonight so we can both sleep. What a great plan- and so far, it's working!!

Thank you, Patty, for making us both feel loved so much!! I actually felt like I was at home in PA, and my loving mom was relieving me of responsibilities so I could rest for a little while and get that spring back in my step.

After Patty left, Eli forlornly looked out the window asking when Ms Patty was coming back- and when he could go play at Ms Patty's house.

About a month ago, Tim lovingly jumped in and helped me plant a couple hundred bulbs I had purchased the year before for a bed that we were never able to finish. I didn't think any of them would bloom-but I knew they had little to no chance if I left them in the bag until this fall. They were barely sticking their heads above ground when Tim left on Tuesday.

This is from Wed- I'll have to get another pic in the morning
to catch the vibrant velvety soft beautiful petals
on the tulips that have come up!!

Today- as I gaze in wonder over the area we worked together, I see beautiful little red tulips all over- and I feel as though each one is a hug and a kiss from my sweet love. Thank you, God for your always impeccable timing. You know just when we need those love nudges- first Patty coming over and loving on both of us, and then the flowers, showing me not only the love from Tim, but from you, in having them bloom just when I am missing Tim the most.