"Outside Time"

Eli loves to be outside, and these days whenever he wants to go outside he asks, "Is it outside time, Mommy?"  I guess they use the words outside time at school because I'm not sure where else he would get that from.  (And yes, he is calling me Mommy now.  I've been waiting for this day for over two years.....and I'm already tired of it and ready to change my name!!!)

Yesterday afternoon was beautiful, but I'm still recovering from the flu so I decided just to hang out in the front yard so the kids could play, and I could sit on Grandpa's bench.......but once we were out there I knew the lighting was perfect for pictures so of course I got the camera and started snapping away.

(These are all straight out of the camera, on manual mode.)

The kids decided it would be a grand idea to climb the tree.  I wasn't too concerned since there are no branches low enough for them to climb actually up into the tree.

I said, "Hannah give me some attitude."  And this is what I got......

She's bad ass!

We were having great fun, laughing and playing, until Eli decided to slide/fall out of the tree, and he scraped his stomach up pretty badly.  That pretty much ended the beautiful afternoon.

No worries though....nothing much can keep that boy down or still for very long.  He was fine after a short time, that is until he decided to turn the whirlpool on in the bathtub and scare himself to death.  I'm laughing about it today, but last night I was just emotionally drained from the scratches from the tree, and then the bump on his head from him trying to get out of the tub so quickly.  It was an exhausting evening.

But at least I can smile about it today since The Boy headed to school in high spirits, laughing, and smiling.

That is one of my favorite things about Eli......He moves on quickly, forgives and forgets.

Enjoying the peaceful house,
Mandy

The Boy's First "Real" Parade

The post title, The Boy's First "Real" Parade, has the word real in quotes because he's actually been to a couple of other parades, but this was the first one he enjoyed.....well, enjoyed as much as Eli can enjoy anything.  Last year when we took him to a parade he cried and screamed as soon as a marching band walked by (the noise was too much for him) and Ben ended up taking him home early.  I was hoping for a better out come this go round.  The Boy is older, wiser, and braver.

Of course, I set myself up for failure from the get go because Hannah's been fighting off a fever all weekend, but since she didn't have any other symptoms, and the weather was so nice, I decided to take the kids to the parade anyway.

What can I say, I'm brave too, and a tad bit nuts at times.

We invited Grandpa Rick, Sara, and Jennifer to come along just in case I needed back up.

Have you ever seen four children more excited to be at a parade???

I said those exact words to them so they cheered up a bit for another picture.

That was sarcasm, just to clarify.

So the waiting for the parade part was a little daunting, but eventually, once they saw the lights from the police cars, the kiddos began to cheer up a bit.

Well, most of the kiddos.  Eli resorted to watching Monsters, Inc. on my IPhone.

Just a side note here....the ability to have portable movies on my phone is the absolute best invention EVER!!!  It has saved my sanity on more than 50 occasions at least.

Thank you Apple.

Well, the parade arrived, (I'm not posting pictures of the actual parade since I don't the people in the parade and therefore don't know their feelings about having their pictures posted on my website....so just imagine you can see the parade, k?), and Eli caught, well picked up, a "necklace" right off the get go.

And he was content and happy.  He sat on the street, playing with his necklace and his rocks, and never made a peep the rest of the time.

Seriously.

I guess the necklace and rocks replaced the IPhone for a bit.

Of course Hannah used her fever as an excuse to torture her Grandpa as much as possible.  Grandpa Rick is sucker to her powers just like all the other adults on the planet.

Slowly, but surely Eli started to notice the parade more and more.

He especially noticed the noise factor and spent much of the hour covering up his ears.

I was impressed because he never cried or complained, just covered up his ears and went about his business.

Catching necklaces, and playing with rocks.

Of course, Hannah is an old pro at this whole parade thing and caught lots of great beads.

My niece Sara made out with just as many.

Eli was content with his 5 or 6 "necklaces."  He's easy to please.

I just liked this photo of Hannah.

Everyone tried to get Eli to wear his beads.  He would put them on to appease whoever was bugging him, then as soon as they turned around he would take them off again.

Hannah caught the longest set of beads I've ever seen.  They drag the ground when she puts them on.  Crazy!

Eventually Eli lost interest and resorted back to Monsters on the IPhone....thanks again Apple!

Attending the parade was a success.  Hannah passed out on the way home, but gained her energy back after a short 45 minute nap.  She still has a low grade fever this morning, so we're headed to the doctor shortly.

At least we were able to have some fun over this sickness filled weekend.

Not feeling so hot myself,
Mandy

Memories.....The First Time Eli Felt Grass

This series of pictures always brings a smile to my face.

Eli was about 9 months old and this was the first time he had ever felt grass.

He wasn't very impressed with the feeling at all.  He tried to keep all bare skin from touching the grass.  It was very funny to watch.

His Daddy cheered him on and tried to show him that the grass was harmless.

It took some time, and a lot of coaxing.....

But eventually he just gave in and went with it.

Such a nice memory, thinking of a mile stone your child plowed through.

And it makes me wonder.....why is it so hard to recall good memories??  I can recall bad memories without even a thought, but good memories require some concentration.  Perhaps it's human nature, or perhaps it's the "busyness" of our lives, or perhaps it's just me and my crazy brain. 

But whatever the reason, I have really loved looking through all of these old pictures.  I think I'll keep it up for a few more posts.

Reminiscing,

Mandy

A forgotten talent

As I was looking through my vault of old pictures I found this gem of Super Girl. 

According to the date stamp, she was three and a half years old when this was taken.  I had forgotten about her strange talent of being able to touch her nose with her tongue.  So of course I showed her the picture and asked if she could still do it.

Well thank goodness!  I was worried for a minute there that she might have lost this precious talent.  (That's sarcasm, just to make sure you know.)  And the years have been good to her, don't you think?  I mean, there is hardly a wrinkle on that face!  Amazing.

Still digging through old photos,
Mandy

More Memories....

As I mentioned before, while going through old pictures looking for shots of the kids as babies, I found quite a few pictures that brought a smile to my face and some that even made me laugh out loud.

See....I have a very bad memory.  Very bad.  So many of the moments captured in the pictures I don't remember, but a few are VERY unforgettable.

Like this series of photos.......

 This was taken the day before Eli was born.  I really wanted Christmas lights on the house, and Ben, I guess trying to cheer me up, went to Wal-Mart, bought lots of Christmas decor and then proceeded to climb onto the roof of our two story house to put lights onto the second floor.

No big deal you might say.

What's so funny about that, you might say.

Well.....our two story house was higher than most because it was built a few feet off the ground with a crawl space beneath.  Then you add in the very steep peek on the side over the kitchen, and it was a recipe for disaster.

Not to worry.  Ben and Kevin had a plan.  (Kevin being our very good friend, and Hannah's Boo Boo.)

They decided to tie one end of a rope around Ben's waist, and then tie the other end around Kevin's waste, and then let Kevin REPEL down the steep side of the roof and hang the lights.

 And yes I'm serious.  And yes, these are grown Men.

 And No they wouldn't listen to reason.

"It's perfectly safe."  They said.  "We do this all the time at work."  They said.

 My heart hammered in my chest as I watched this unfold.

 I mean.....look at the roof!!!  The ladder on the right is a 6 foot ladder!!!!

 This sight almost made me deliver Eli on the spot.

 And this was Hannah's face, watching her Daddy hang her Boo Boo from the side of the roof by a rope.

In the end, everyone survived unharmed, and the Christmas lights looked beautiful.

I guess Army guys do get the job done regardless of conditions and tools that might be available.

Heart still beating fast,
Mandy

Memories......Eli

Eli came into this world abruptly.

I had been on bed rest since late September trying to delay The Boy's arrival, and as my Mother loves to point out, at 32 weeks when the doctor gave me a little free reign to move from the bed to the couch and so on, I pushed a little too much.

I woke up early in the morning with some pain.  I didn't think anything of it because Eli had been feet down the entire pregnancy so I just thought it was him kicking down on me as usual.  I had an appointment that morning with my OBGYN, so I just decided to wait it out and mention it to the doctor.

At the appointment the doctor did a brief exam, checking Eli's heart rate, etc., we then went into his office and the doctor just kept looking at me.  Finally he told Ben, "You need to take her to the hospital.....she just doesn't look right."

So off to the hospital we went.  I had one pretty bad pain on the way there, but nothing that made me think I was in labor.  After arriving at the hospital they put all the monitors on me and we waited for the doctor to arrive.  After about maybe thirty minutes, the doctor walked in, checked me.....then he stood up, walked over to me head, gently padded my arm and said, "You're about 8 cm dilated and I can feel the bag and the baby's feet.  We have to take the baby now."  At that moment I am positive my heart stopped beating.  I was in shock, but there was no time for any of that because the entire staff surrounded me like a nascar pit crew preparing everything for my c-section.  I don't remember a lot about those moments, but my husband says it was the worst 15 minutes of his life.  And that's all it took.  They had Eli out in about 15 minutes.

The rest of the day is a blur since I was recovering from the drugs.  I don't remember seeing Eli until the next day.

He was so tiny.  He weighed in at 4 lbs 9 oz, and was actually pretty healthy considering he was a 7 weeks premature white boy.  He didn't even need oxygen.

Eli was the sweetest baby.  He slept...a lot.  He rarely opened his eyes, and barely cried.

He lost a bit of weight while in the NICU.  His biggest issue was that he wouldn't demand he was hungry.  He never cried to let the nurses know he needed to be fed, so they continued feeding him on a regular schedule.

He was in the NICU for 15 days.

And when he came home he was eating every 3 hours.....let's just say it was exhausting.

For the first few months of his life, well, probably about the first 4 months.  He slept and ate.  That was it.  There was very little opening of his eyes, and he never looked at your face.

It worried me.  Badly.

But eventually, around 5 months, I started to see some "normal baby" behavior.

It seemed that once he got some meat on his bones, he was good to go.  My heart felt so much lighter.

And let me tell you....that boy is a blessing.  He's sweet and lovable, and no one loves me like my Boy.

Going through all of these old pictures has brought back so many happy memories.  I may have to do a few more Memories posts.

Till then,

Mandy