Eli's Latest Picks

Here's a couple of Eli's favorite books right now! He is really enjoying longer stories and I love how he picks the same stories over and over again ... even from the library. Eli knows all the modes of transportation because of Choo Choo Clickety-Clack. He loves finding each vehicle in the big picture of the city on the last page.

He's really been taken by Elmer and the Lost Teddy. After his pacifier i.e. "pah-pah" got lost, he hadn't really replaced it with anything. He was given a glowing seahorse for Christmas and it's become his sleeping security item, not that he really needed one. He told me today that if it gets lost, we're going to have to find it. He's planning to take it to Mimie's house this weekend for a sleepover with his cousin. Also, Elmer helps find his friend's lost teddy with the help of his cousin, Wilbur. As Eli's relationship with his younger cousin Clay deepens, it's fun to read a story about cousins adventuring together. Eli declared that Clay is Elmer and he is Wilbur in the story. I love children's books.

Dancing Feet! is a great book for guessing animals on the next page, much like Whose Nose and Toes? by John Butler. While Butler's book can be read to a young baby, Craig's is like one more step in the journey to literacy with rhyming lyrics. Of course, for my movin and groovin littlest man, he loves to think of his feet as "dancing" always.

Anyone have a couple favs to share for pre-readers or early readers?

Celebrating a "last"

For some apparent reason, I felt compelled to take a pic of Eli napping on Friday afternoon. Yesterday morning, he misplaced his beloved pah-pah (pacifier). So, it was off to nap w/o it. Great sleep. Then we still couldn't find it before nighttime sleep. Only two half wakes, some extra cuddles and "tuck-tuck's" from me, and he was sound asleep again.

And then we found it. In our bed under the covers.

It will stay "lost".

I'm hangin on ... he's recovering from viral pneumonia (notice proud hospital armband from chest xray taken) and we're travelling this week for the holiday with family ... not exactly the timing I would have chosen to transition. However, he was not excited about giving it away "to a baby who needs it" at all when we repeatedly suggested it several weeks ago. He even reverted in his potty habits for a bit at the same time. He embraces the role of being our baby with gusto. Wink. We will celebrate his new independence soon ... with something extra special, but it is pretty ironic that I picked up "footie jamas" for him at the thrift store yesterday so he could be like his older brothers. He was so excited to join the club. Maybe another pair of footies will seal the deal.

He's growing up. We love him. A lot.

Eli's bday in LR

We celebrated in NOLA a week early with family, and again in LR with friends on his actual special day. Cars and balls are what he loves most. He usually has a ball in hand during most of the day. He loves the small basketball hoop we've had on our patio. His latest joy is to kick the pinecones (always the left foot) from the sidewalk to the street in front of our apartment. He's got a good arm already so we are quickly teaching him where to throw and what ball not to throw. We can't help but wonder if he's going to be our athlete. He is a pretty good tackle too and holds his own among his brothers.

Eli and the potty

For all those interested in the potty habits of the littlest in our family, keep reading. If "brown" and "yellow" turn you green, stop and proceed to another online activity.

After almost two months since this, I've come to some conclusions.
1. Cloth diapers are proving even more of their worth.
2. Having four people using the potty in a household can create some positive peer pressure.
3. A boy, a book, and "brown" go together.
4. Green M&Ms are a sweet reward.

He is doing remarkably well. For awhile we went full-blast and had him visit the potty every 30 minutes. He was about 50% successful, actually showing more success in public restrooms than when we were at home. About that time I realized that he was "brown-trained", but not yellow. He usually always agrees to go potty after every meal and makes brown while reading a book alone in the bathroom. He completely understands this art and has even taken me to a public restroom to "toot" on the toilet. Of course, this all comes with huge proud grins whether it's air or not. The yellow, however, is still a mystery to him, I think. We do a potty visit in the morning and before bath/bed and sometimes there's success and sometimes there isn't. Since he's in childcare three mornings a week plus church on Sundays, it's hard to stay consistent. Because he's still so young, I'm happy to be halfway. If he could grow a quick couple inches and do it standing up like the rest of the menfolk in the house, then I think he'd get it in a flash. But, alas, we wait. And, all the while, it would be nice and more helpful if he could communicate with more words so that we could know his needs. But, again, we wait. Oh well. It is definitely not the only thing we are waiting for.

Best books for almost 2s

Since Doug is out of town for awhile, I'm on my own for bedtime (usually he does most of it and I read to Eli while he reads to the older two). My challenge is to find books that all three can enjoy and sit through together. Here are some of our latest finds. I like when I pick something from the library for Eli but one of the other two ends up choosing it for their "pick" at bedtime. Eli can sit through anything that rhymes and the pages move quickly. But, when he gets to be with the big boys, he doesn't mind sitting through a Miss Bindergarten book either (we have read the 100th day one a lot lately since Sam celebrated his 100th day of kindergarten not that long ago). I love seeing what Eli can enjoy right now and he's really loved some of our previous favorites for this age (anything by authors John Butler or Jez Alborough), while we've also discovered some new favorites like "Bears on Chairs"  by Shirley Parenteau and "Hickory Dickory Dock" by Keith Baker. I save the board books that end up being "point at this" for the bathroom (you can wipe them off!) and those are the ones I throw in my purse if we're going to be waiting somewhere. Let me know if you have any other authors or favorites to try with Eli in this stage.

A big smile

I recognized his need. He toddled right to the seat. He did it! Are we really ready to start this? Ready or not, here we go.

What a day!

About 20 minutes before my alarm was to go off, I heard a little "pad pad pad" to my side of the bed and a quick "Mom, can I sleep with you?". This one had been coughing most of the night. Not long after, I hear the bedroom door open and close and more "pad pad pad-ing" and boy #2 jumps over in between Doug and I. No chance for dozing anymore. This one hasn't mastered the art of whispering and insightfully declared that our bed wasn't big enough. No joke, dude. But, this scenario doesn't happen often. I embrace it and am thankful for the extra early morning snuggles, not realizing that I needed those in order to keep my mind focused for what was to come.

Thirty minutes later, the two big boys are getting dressed fairly happily and are thinking about breakfast. Blowing off "macho nacho" on the school cafeteria menu, I assume the task of making "lunchboxes" while getting myself dressed and ready for the day. The phone rings. It's my sister. I know that my sister doesn't typically call me at 7am to chat. She quickly fills me in on the events that led to Dad being taken to the hospital in the wee hours of this morning. My heart drops and I quickly wish I could be in many places at one time. Several tests had been taken and no answers were clear, but Dad's symptoms remained. I am thankful for my siblings who could and no doubt would drop everything and be with my parents. Honestly, their proximity to Mom and Dad gives us the freedom to be so far away.

Distance from those I love often causes me to quickly conjure the worst case scenario in my mind. I hate that. But, as I quickly assessed the "worst", my heart was flooded with the truth of God's faithfulness. God knew what today would hold. It was no surprise. As I'm wondering what the next days will look like if the unknown about Dad drags on, Doug is packing for a quick trip to New Orleans. I am already anticipating hearing the worst w/o the strength of my husband. Wasted energy.

I finish the "lunchboxes" (complete with two candy corns for "morning energy") as the clock says it's time for the boys to meet their ride for school outside. The three of us hold hands outside and pray for Grandpa Moyer, Grandma, and the doctors as we wait for our friends. Back inside, Eli has woke and Doug is preparing for his morning run. I retrieve Eli from his crib, and he feels super hot. The ear thermometer reads 103.1. It's now going on 48 hours of fever, runny nose, cough. Lovely. No Bible study finale brunch for us this morning. I call the pediatrician as soon as they open and secure an appointment for 8:50am.

Starting to feel overwhelmed by all these circumstances colliding, I send a couple emails to faithful friends and family to beg them to pray. Within the hour, Eli and I are in the doctor's office (a new doc for us). In light of his symptoms, he suggests we get tested for H1N1. I wonder for a second if I should freak out. I refuse. And keep praying while reading books to Eli and wander behind him down the hall as we wait for the test results. Test is negative but one-third of people who get negative result still could have it. He's in the high-risk because he's under 2. Round of Tamiflu. We're doing it. I'm smiling and thanking God as we walk out the door.

Eli falls asleep in the car at 10am as I head to church to drop off my stuff for the brunch even though I don't stay. A quick whisper to a friend in my small group to pray for Dad gives me more strength. Oh, I know those ladies pray. We have watched Him speak into many situations this semester. Now, back to the Jacobs' apartment (fellow resident family in our complex) to drop off Eli to nap while I volunteer at Grandparents' Day at Terry Elementary. He's already sleeping in the car, so I'm praying that he'll stay asleep in the transport and rest well.

Grandparents Day is for 2nd and 3rd graders only today ... three days of Grandparents Days. First day hosted 86 guests; today held 70; expecting 50 tomorrow. This is the PTA event I had chosen to pour some time into this year, so a retired teacher and myself co-chaired the committee. It turns out the two of us were half of our volunteers for the three days, so it was God at work in those circumstances that allowed me to be there for all three days this week. Not the original plan at all. In between checking-in grandparents, I'm texting, forwarding texts, etc. to my sisters to stay in the loop about Dad.

It was in one of those texts that I learned that Dad was diagnosed with Meniere's disease which is most possibly the best case scenario for what "could" have been the outcome. I couldn't help but be thankful for a run-in with the hospital with either Mom or Dad that wasn't horrific. I prayed that our family's faith would be strengthened today and asked others to pray that for us. I don't know about anyone else, but my faith was strengthened.

Meanwhile, Eli slept until 2:30pm. How glorious is that? Our afternoon and evening was quiet and peaceful (for the most part, I mean, we do have 3 boys). I made an easy dinner with Eli on my hip (completely unusual), and I'm sure he knows how to make mac n cheese now. Wink. Doug arrived safely in NOLA and met his friend (who currently lives in Great Britian) for dinner. Beautiful.

I'm so grateful today. Prayers were prayed. Prayers were felt. Prayers were answered. God is trustworthy. He is faithful. It doesn't always turn out like today did, but I still trust Him. Honestly, I am weary of allowing my mind to wander about what could happen and feeling the exhaustion of the mental preparation for it. A lack of faith? It really becomes all about me instead of God's glory. Do I really believe that He is trustworthy? Feel free to weigh in ... still processing ...

Creating new habits

When Zach saw the eye doctor here in Little Rock in August, he "prescribed" patching Zach's good eye for 45 minutes a day. Because Zach was having a hard time at school and generally with the adjustment to Little Rock, this new routine had to wait until life got a little bit better for Zach. Since our New Orleans pediatric ophthalmologist didn't seem to think it made much of a difference and we haven't been patching for several years, I figured a couple more months wouldn't matter. At our visit this past spring with Dr. Balkan, he warned us that within the year it would be time to do a little plastic surgery on Zach's eyelid. His biggest concern was not his eyesight but that he was adjusting his neck and head to see more level. We figure it's nice to get a second opinion so we moved to Little Rock. Wink. Our next appointment is with the Little Rock Children's Hospital in early December. We'll see what happens then. At both doctors and the school vision screening, Zach showed signs that he couldn't see the images they showed him. I'm not sure if he recognized the rotary telephone in the picture or if he really was cooperating at school, but we're told that he needs some corrective lenses soon. Knowing what to do with his lazy eye is the step before that. When we ask him to see things far away, he says he can see them, so we're simply unsure about how his vision is affected. Answers will come soon.

Anyway, all that to say, we're patching again. And, we have a little pirate. We've started at 30 minutes a day and created a chart so that he can pick out something fun at the toy store when he fills the squares. I was surprised at how well he did with it today. It definitely took some self-discipline not to rip that thing off. I could tell it was aggravating him but he's doesn't complain about much. He colored, played a little, looked at some books, and ate dinner with the patch on.

Not to be left out, Sam has a chart too. He's learning so fast and so well in kindergarten. He's read several small books with mostly sight words and pictures since the first week, but recently he's been put in a reading group (with a workbook! Big deal for him.) and has been learning to sound out words using the sounds he knows. It's harder for him and he keeps forgetting to bring his book home to read to us for homework. The teacher in me wants him to learn responsibility for homework right away, so we figured a bigger reward than a lollipop is maybe what he needs to develop his "homework habit".

We haven't done sticker charts since the potty training days, so it may be just what they need for this stuff. Thanks, Renee, for reminding me about them. No chart for Eli yet. That kid is so darn smart, though, he might be pottying sooner than I'm ready for. He definitely knows how to produce on the potty if I catch him in the act. You should see the faces he makes. Oh, and how about he's the first of the boys to know how to blow his nose. Seriously. How crazy is that? He doesn't dislike me wiping it (yes, he's 18 months old) and he will literally blow, when I say, "blow". I'm fascinated with what he can do in comparison to the others at this age.

Our baby is 1

It's hard to believe that last year at this time we were meeting our third son for the first time and beginning our life as a family of five. Today, I've enjoyed the memories of that day. Two nights ago we invited the local immediate fam to celebrate Eli's first birthday. He's a special little guy who has eased into our family in a beautiful way. We all love him so much that it's hard to imagine life before he arrived. Earlier in March, he kept trying his walking techniques. He continued practicing while we were in Pennsylvania. However, it seemed that as soon as we arrived back home on the 24th, he became a little walkin' dude. He has transitioned easily to cow's milk from a sippy cup, which makes me feel proud and a tad bit nostalgic all at the same time. Lately, it's been fun to watch him try hard to communicate with us as he loves the moments when he can respond to what we ask him. His big brothers are sweet to him in their own ways. Sam loves to play with him and make him laugh, while Zach has bonded with him while sharing food. I can only imagine how they'll all relate to each other in another year, let alone five or ten. It makes me smile to anticipate it.

And, yes, I have to admit that he had a little strange birthday cake. I'm calling it resourceful, as I used Amish friendship bread for his cake. Unbeknownst to me at the time, I gave away the cookbook that held the official first birthday applesauce cake for our kids. Life is too short to fret over such circumstances, however, we missed the cream cheese frosting messy face that we've enjoyed with the first two. He's already had more sweets than the other two at this age, so don't think that he's gotten the short end of the stick. Happy birthday, Eli. We love you, little brother!

Weekend at the beach

Once we returned home from the wedding hoopla, we switched gears and did the final prep for a youth retreat at the beach the following weekend. We stayed at Gulf Shores Beach Retreat, and I'd recommend this place for any other church groups that want to do a beach outing. The facilities, location, and staff were excellent. The weather wasn't exactly ideal, but the sun showed its face for a decent portion of our time. It's amazing how much bigger our kids looked and acted at the beach from last year. Here's a couple of my favorite snaps of them. Although Eli started walking earlier in the week, he gave up trying his new steps at the beach and just took off crawling. He liked the sand but kept putting sandy toys in his mouth so we let him have his paci the whole time we were on the beach. Zach thought that being buried was great fun. He didn't stay buried very long, but he thought it was the coolest thing. Sam really understood his dad's role in the weekend. He still gets a little intimidated when Doug is around all the youth, but he sure enjoyed watching everything go down the whole weekend. It's so nice to be able to take the boys along on a weekend like this. It always ends up being more crazy than I think it will be. Between preparing meals and keeping track of three little boys it's hard to have real conversation at any point which is always frustrating to me. However, it goes with the territory and I'm thankful for what I can do to partner with Doug in youth ministry even if it doesn't look like I'd prefer.

Littlest on the move

It's Mardi Gras time!

Look who showed up ... to catch some beads at a parade! My Uncle Glenn and Aunt Sylvia were nearby in New Iberia, LA with MDS for a week, and then came "over" to visit us and New Orleans last weekend. It's always fun to visit local sights with family from seemingly another world. Thanks for coming to visit! Here's a couple shots of the parade we hit in Metairie on Sunday night. It was Eli's first parade too. He even imitated us a couple times putting his hand up to show the float riders that he was ready to catch something. The catch of the night was a brand-new (yes, sometimes they are used) plush stuffed lion that was thrown at my direction while holding Eli. We'll do one more parade on MG Day. The Johnsons moved into their own place not far from the parade route in Metairie, so it will be a family cook-out for lunch followed by a parade in the afternoon.

An addition to the tradition

Related to previous post ... I now find the boys like this after their morning romp in Eli's bed. Silliness. Sam gets Eli out of his pajamas. I like the extra help. And, Zach doesn't complain when it's a group activity (he's notorious for not wanting to change clothes, esp. in the morning). He could stay in his pajamas and eat breakfast all day long. Not surprising, Eli likes to be "one of the boys". It's a great way to start the day.

Hold that tiger!

A fun little clip from the other day ... silly antics from everyone. Don't miss Eli crawling ...

First family fish

Sam and Zach LOVE animals. They love reading books about them. They love playing imaginatively with their toy animals of all sizes. They love visiting the zoo or aquarium to see them. However, they don't like typical pets, like dogs and cats. In fact, whenever we go to a new house, they ask if they have a dog and then proceed to have a conversation about how they don't want to go or begin reassuring each other that they don't have to be scared (usually Zach to Sam).

Doug and I agreed to purchase a small fish tank for Sam for his birthday with the hope that he could learn some responsibility in caring for something live and all of us would enjoy having a critter in our house. A couple days after his birthday, he and Doug picked out the fish together (one for Zach too, of course) and brought them home. Not surprisingly, Zach's was yellow and Sam's was orange (their favorite colors). Within a couple hours, Zach's was dubbed Hamster and Sam's became Bamster. We kept the fish in their bookshelf in their room. The picture of Eli is from the first time we found him standing up in his crib. No doubt, he was peeking at the fish after he woke up from his nap. Nearly every day, Sam assured me that the fish distracted them from napping.

However, sadly, within a week they both were no longer swimming. ;) Since it was right before Christmas, we decided to wait until the new year to find some new friends to care for. It was a fun week!

Pumpkins and puree

While in PA, we picked two pumpkins from the orchard that we visited and brought them back home with us. I didn't have much plan for them, until I realized they might actually last until Halloween. Since we're not at the pumpkin carving stage with our kids yet, the picked pumpkins have simply set on our front porch. We used them for decorations at two church events over the weekend, and they came home with us again. Yesterday, I decided to cut one up, bake it, puree it, and I even toasted the seeds (now that will be a tradition-yum!). Our family really digs pumpkin pie and with Eli eating baby food, I figured it was worth it.

Now, what to do with the six cups of pumpkin puree. Well, first on my list was to make these fabulous-looking pumpkin chocolate chip muffins this afternoon, which were declared "delicious" by all three of my tasters. The rest will be for other pumpkin recipes. I'll make a pumpkin pie, but it will be curious to see if it's enjoyed as much as Libby's pumpkin pie.

And, since I was in the kitchen a lot yesterday, I pureed more foods for Eli. Now I've got cubes of sweet potatoes, peaches, pears, apples, green beans, and pumpkin in my freezer. The next ones on my list are carrots, broccoli, and squash. And, I guess I need to figure out how to make prunes. Smile.

Cutting teeth and Constipation

Ok, so those two are just not good together. Um, not me ... the baby. Eli just poked out his first tooth within the last week. Sleeping through the night has been a dream (love the pun) that I haven't enjoyed lately. Tylenol works for awhile. I guess I need to get some of that numbing teething gel goo. And, since we started solid foods about a month ago, I'm still trying to find the best diet so that it won't be painful for him to poop. Nothing soft about this boy's stools. Prunes have helped him actually go, but it's a cry fest until it's out. I've avoided bananas (and will add rice cereal to that too as I just read that it may be a cause today). I'm diluting with apple juice and have begun to offer a cup with water regularly. We've bicycled his legs, rubbed his tummy. Hmmm. This is a whole new adventure for me, so if anyone has some ideas that worked for you -- I'm all ears.

And this whole third kid thing goes so fast ... seriously, he's already 7 months old. How can that be?

Hello, I'm here.

Crazy days. Here's what I've been up to ...

MOPS convention in Grapevine, Texas ... incredible time to get away and hear from God personally! (another post to write, hopefully)

Feeding Eli his first solid foods (doing great!), bathing three boys at one time (E is sitting up), and moving Eli's wardrobe up to 6-9mo. clothes.

Researching vacation homes on the East coast for Mom and Dad's 50th Anniversary Vacation Shabang with the whole 35 of us ... lots of communication with the siblings ... final steps of securing an amazing location beyond my wildest dreams.

Assembling a shoebox gift for Operation Christmas Child (yes, I'm a bit early but ours will be a sample to show our MOPS group as an encouragment for them to participate).

Securing items in order to assemble Disaster Relief Kits for Operation Blessing ... again, for MOPS. Next meeting is one big outreach opportunity!

Organizing a Celebration Dinner to honor and kick-off the opening of Charis House, a new foster home hosted by Berean's very own Worship Pastor & wife ... the Christian family.

Watching the Phillies win ... most of the time.

Jumping back into ladies' Bible study at Berean ... Damsels in Distress by Martha Peace.

Restarting our community group that meets twice a month ... so excited about Grace Based Parenting by Tim and Darcy Kimmel.

Hanging out with volunteers from Tulsa, OK during the peak of the fall hurricane recovery ministry.

Attempting some fall crafts and preschoolish activities with Sam and Zach. They love it!

Whew! Sweet dreams.

A spot of laughter

Here's how I found Eli one day ... the work of his 3 year old brother, no doubt. I guess he didn't like being "ringed".

Not so much alike

These three were interesting to put aside each other ...
and made me thankful that they're not triplets.
Here's my response to all those comments
about Eli looking like either of his big brothers. Smile.

Four months old is such a fun age ...
The one thing in common is happy baby-ness.
Yep, I'm the mom. This is my work.