Congrats Little E!

Dear Little E,
Welcome to the wide, wonderful world of mobile exploration! Yesterday marks your first official rock, scoot, and crawl of a few feet. That second bottom tooth of yours popped through last week and I saw you eyeing the car keys again - hold up a bit will you? I want to smother your chubby little bare legs in kisses for awhile longer. I want you to keep burying your head into my neck for snuggles and to hear your belly laugh when we tickle you.
"I'll love you forever, I'll love you for always. Forever my baby you'll be."
Love,
Momma

Roar! Did I scare you?

Just a quick summary of H's most recent quotes:

"God's a rescue hero mom!"

"Roar! Did I scare you?" over and over and over again . . .

"I need some salad mom, my muscles are all gone!"

"Mom, you look handsome."

and just this morning before our outing with the cousins and G-ma L:
" . . . and Jesus give us wisdom at Chucky Cheeses."

Life Spoken

For the past year or two I have been thinking more seriously about my health. If I believed in luck, I'd have said that the cards have been stacked against me. It seems everywhere you look in my history there's a record of cancer. I've had this feeling to rush and have babies soon so that they can be older when I get the diagnosis. It hasn't been a fearful thing, I don't fear death, but I also want to spend as much time with my children as possible, and certainly my husband whom I hope to grow old with. I've heard before about how genetics really has so little to do with cancer and that it's mostly environment/habits but it didn't sink in. That is until last week, my mom sternly spoke words of life into my life. I feel like I no longer have a death (or life of illness) sentence over my head. While there is still the possibility that it will be something that I have to struggle with, I no longer expect it. We'll continue to avoid as many of the pesticides, chemical hormones, GMOs, man-mutilated foods and environmental hazards as possible, but then there is still LIFE.

"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." -John 10:10

Thanks for life mom, again!

H is on a roll . . .

H seems to be rattling off the greatest questions and comments these days. Here are a few:

"What does gum grow from?"

Today in the car he had a huge smile on his face as he bent and unbent his arm saying "Elbow! Arm! Elbow! Arm!" - such a great revelation!

And my favorite of the week is where he and I are coloring a jungle picture (that was our preschool theme for the week, by the way, packaged coconut milk is not the most appetizing jungle treat!), he handed me the hot pink to color with and I said the name of the color out loud and he gave me a funny look and watched me color with it. Pretty soon he reached out and touched the spot where I had colored and said, "but Ma, it's not hot!"

I love this boy!

Give Blood

Today little E & H joined me at a local church for a blood drive. Part of me was sure I was crazy for attempting to donate and maintain the care and management of two small children, but having declared to my mom that it would be "no big deal", I was out to prove it. I could see the nurses cringing as I walked in pushing my diaper bag laden stroller, infant and toddler in tow. By the end of the "private" little meeting about what I have and have-not been doing for the past 6 months, I think the nurse was pleasantly surprised by my boys - that is until H knocked over the partition. Oops, anybody could have done that! On to the next stop, I could hear the man's thoughts through his eyeballs as I approached - they weren't pleasant. I had this feeling the nurses were quietly whispering who would get stuck with me and my boys. Soon we were settled and before I knew it my little boys had all those skeptical nurses wrapped around their little fingers. H awed them all with his use of the word "stabilize" - I asked him not to climb on the bed while the needle was being inserted into my arm (sounded like a good idea) and he said "but mom, I'm just stabilizing it!" Little E dazzled them all with his amazing ability to hold fast to a dangling stethoscope. We were the hot spot to visit. At the conclusion, I heard the nurses discussing how well behaved the boys were and what a relief it was to them. Ah, that was honey to my soul, cause of course I know how it COULD have gone. Thank you Lord for moments when everything goes right!

P.S. I just have to add that today H requested a pet dog, a pet cat, and a pet fish . . . I was hoping a pet baby brother would work for a little longer!

Nap time bliss

The boys are snuggled into their beds happily napping. One dreaming of fire engines, the other of a cutting block where he can gnaw those teeth the rest of the way in (last night I felt the actual edge of the tooth - hooray little E!).

Where to begin today. . . well about two hours ago I was happily hanging E's nappies out on the line in the warm sunshine (diapers flapping in the breeze is one of my favorite sights and I have to relish it while the weather is nice because no matter how much I love being "natural", I'm NOT going out in the middle of winter to hang wet laundry - that's when gas dryers have a slightly "natural" ring to them). Ah well, as I was so happily engaged, my mind wondered over the lovely things I'd love to share.



Probably the top of the list would have to be that today was H's first day of preschool at home. I found a program that has it spelled out for me - just the way I like it (it doesn't hurt that it was also free!). We made a "Learning Poster" where we post ABCs, 123s, a theme, a verse, colors, shapes, etc. He knows most of this stuff already but I thought it would be good review so he has a solid foundation. He loved all 20 minutes of our "school" and came up with games of his own. I think he had almost my entire lazy susan emptied out onto the kitchen table so we could play store with pennies. Reminds me of the day when my dear mom would save cereal boxes and beef jerky cans so I could play store up in the loft (any of you remember doing that with me?)

Both of the boys are snoozing at different elevations these days. E finished sanding, staining, varnishing, sanding, varnishing, sanding and . . , you get the picture, h's bed yesterday. So H has an official bed, only now he looks like the prince and the pea! His bed is so high I don't think I have to even bend over to tuck him in! We've had to lay down firm "no jumping off the bed" rules. I'm having my own personal flashbacks to my days of saving humankind as wonderwoman - those days were rudely interrupted by a broken leg.

Little E on the other hand has had his crib mattress dropped to the lowest position. He's anxious to pull himself up on the rail and topple out after his big hermano (sp? my days of Espanol have long since past!). Ack! I think little E heard me typing about him, I can hear him humming to himself - stay sleeping just a little longer sweet bug (the prayer of many a mother!).

Ah well, my time has come and gone. I'll go blissfully stare at my flapping diapers for a moment before I go off to answer the call of motherhood.

My Hero

I had a pretty good day yesterday (with the satisfaction of a quilt project complete still corsing through me!). EH had the car so the boys and I stuck to home and our schedule. To top off a very nice day, as I was finishing dinner, EH walked in from his long day at his grindstone, he swept up the boys and hauled them off to "train world", AKA our basement, since H's beloved auntie and cousin on the other side of the St. Croix River passed on bins and bins of trains, tracks, bridges, cranes and more (Thank you!). Before leaving, EH hooked up the iPod and soon I was surrounded by Andrea Bocelli's serenades. So I peeled carrots with the soon-to-be-fall breezes streaming through the window and heaven playing on the stereo. EH, you are my delight and my hero! Thank you.