Single Motherhood...

Don't worry, Brandon and I aren't separated or fighting, but I did get a taste of single motherhood the last three days. Brandon went down to be with his family in Texas for a few days, so it was just Eli and I holding the fort down. We survived! My brother did come in the evenings and spent the night in case I went into labor or something (I only have one month left). I love having him here in Wichita! I feel really good about the fact I managed to cook good meals, clean, and do lots of fun activities with Eli on my own. I tried to do some fun outings (mall play place, playground, shopping) in the mornings while it was still chilly, and then we spent the afternoons and evenings outside. We had a great time but definitely missed Brandon! It's been beautiful the past week, so Eli's been out "helping" me water the plants. He carries around his little watering can watering all the plants, rocks, flowers, and anything in sight. He does go up and water specific things he sees me do (like the strawberries, or day lily transplants), which is so adorable. He was thrilled (as you can tell in the above picture) to get to go barefoot for the first time this season! Oh, what joy I receive from watching him experience new and wonderful things! This afternoon starts my weekly doctor's appointments. I can't believe I'm ONE MONTH away from my c-section. Praise God!

Visions of a fun weekend!

MOO!

Eli loves cows! He mentions them all the time and loves to play pretend and "feed" the cows. My mom stopped by on her way home from Tulsa the other day and she had him "feeding" cows dandelion leaves in the back yard FOREVER! Every time my parents leave he says they are going home to feed the cows. I was laughing so hard the other day when my mom left and at first he said she was going to the farm to take care of the cows, and then he said she was going home to play hide and seek with Bum. So cute!

He's come down with a cruddy cold, so I've been grateful that the weather has been nice enough he can still play outside and be distracted. The hit of the week has been his new slide that we put in the grass in the back yard. He likes for Rica to attack him when he gets to the bottom. If she is off doing something else he'll gesture for me to call her over, so he can play with her. They are best buds. For the most part Eli is gentle with her. Once in a while he'll try to hug or snuggle her and I have to remind him to just pet her GENTLE.

He's been having another language burst. I'm so excited! All this week he's been jabbering away in little sentences (that don't make sense). It's adorable. Sometimes he'll combine a bunch of words that don't go together in a sing song voice. Today he tried to say "yellow" and "lasagna". Even Brandon has been commenting every evening about Eli's little sing song sentences. It's just been so amazing to watch his development over the past two years.

I have to share a funny story. With Eli, every day is an adventure! We were eating lunch and I went to grab some fruit out of the fridge. I heard Eli let out an ornery giggle. Curious I went back to see what he was up to. He was just sitting with this huge grin on his face pointing at my glass and giggling. I peaked inside.....there was a green bean floating in it. He was quite pleased with his little joke. There are just times I can't help but laugh. It happens a little too often I'm afraid. I love him so much! I love sharing every day with him and creating new adventures and experiences for him!

Nesting

After two inches of snow this weekend (seriously!), Spring should be returning this week, thank God! I bought twelve broccoli plants to plant today, and can't wait for Eli to get to pick and eat one of his favorite veggies later this summer. We've spent the past week finishing up baby projects. Brandon has been working on fixing all the damage from the leaks and is ready to paint tonight. I dusted and vacuumed out both cars, finished washing all of Cora's clothes, and organized everything into her closet. Hanging up those little dresses was a joy! Eli and I hit up Target for some pink bins to keep things even more organized. It looks great and feels great to be ready! We also added a little algae eating catfish to our fish tank. Eli named it "Boy". Eli has been babbling and saying funny things a lot now. While Becca was here he started saying her dog's name "Tina" and would clap for himself after he said it. He has a few words that we keep trying to figure out and he laughs at all our ideas for what it could mean. Who knows! He keeps calling me "Mamba" and thinks that's funny.

Potty practice!

Today we had a sonogram! Cora is doing great and everything looks wonderful. She is positioned head down (that's a first for me) with feet to my right side. According to measurements, she weighs around 4 lbs 12 oz. WOW! That was a lot bigger than I expected. We got to watch her open her eyes and could see her eyeballs looking around. Amazing! I can't wait to see if she looks like Eli or looks more like a Judson. I'm so excited! Her heartbeat was 140 (still low compared to Eli). I'm extremely relieved to get one last look at her before she's born and to have double checked she's doing well.

My mom came down yesterday afternoon on a whim to babysit for us so we could go on a date. We have limited time left for these excursions before I'll have a baby attached to me at all hours of the day. We went out to eat at Olive Garden, shopping at Target, Old Navy, and hit up Starbucks to relax and talk. It was wonderful and we were still able to get home to put Eli to bed. Today my mom spent all day cooking bierocks and empanadas to freeze for my recovery after Cora's born. What a blessing! Our freezer is stocked! I'm going to make a double recipe lasagna this week and freeze one of them, and I think that might be all we have room for. She also transplanted some day lilies for me. She is the BEST MOTHER EVER!

Eli has been using the potty every night before and during his shower for almost 2 weeks. He does it on his own now. I just take off his clothes and diaper and he goes directly to his potty and pees standing up before getting in the shower. Then, during the shower, without prompting whenever he has to pee he just walks over and uses it! He probably pees in it about 3 or 4 times a night now. Even last night when my mom was babysitting he walked over to the potty by our bathtub and went before his bath. We're still going with the method of waiting for full potty training until he's closer to 3, but letting him use it when he wants to. Every time he pees he claps for himself and is so proud. It's encouraging to me that maybe it will be easy when the time comes to do a full out potty training...or he could lose interest. Either way, I've seen that he gets it and can feel when he's going to pee and is proud of himself. Score!

After our walk this evening, I ran out and planted the potatoes. I'm trying two different red varieties this year, an early and mid. It feels great to plant them on St. Patricks Day!

Princesses

We have enjoyed a whirlwind of family time this past week! Saturday we went out to breakfast at our favorite Riverside joing, Copper Oven, then hit up the St. Pats parade by our house. We've never laughed so hard in all of our lives. There were the weirdest most interesting people in it. Eli had a blast! He got some candy, stickers, and beads. My mom surprised my sister and I with a girl's night out at a fancy restaurant Bel Ami and then staying the night at the Castle Inn (which is located at the end of our street). It's this beautiful castle they've turned into a bed and breakfast. I've never seen the inside, so it was a blast. We had hor dourves, desserts and coffee, and a great breakfast. We also enjoyed triple solitaire until bed! So much fun and a much needed get away. My sister had an interview in Wichita yesterday, so I'm praying she's offered the job and enough money to move here! It would be so much fun to have both my siblings here. We tilled the garden last night after our walk. I need to get my potatoes and broccoli planted this week!

Night crawler anyone?

We found the biggest night crawler ever while playing outside after the rain. It was the size of a small snake. Eli loved playing with it. Poor worm. I think it might have gone to worm heaven after about the 10th time he dropped it. We finally said "Bye bye" to the worm and put it in the garden so it could go down in the dirt to its worm hole home :-). Brandon's mom is here (they are at the Bon Jovi concert right now), so Eli has been soaking up the attention. He calls her "Donna" because he can't say Grams. It's hilariously cute. We went up to Cessna for lunch so Brandon could show his mom his office etc. Eli enjoyed the planes as usual and the chocolate from his coworkers. One more rainy day and we should be back to our Spring outside routine. Wish me luck as we have to adjust to a time change this weekend!

Welcome beautiful weather!

I have spent the past week in heaven...well actually just outside in the glorious weather. I realized this week that it's difficult to get all the housework done when Eli and I are outside 7 hours a day ;-) I spend the first couple hours of the morning (while it's still dark and cool) cramming in as much housework as possible. I'm also trying to figure out how to get supper made, since the second he wakes ups from his nap he's asking for his shoes to go back outside! I just figure we'll be eating a little later on these nice days. Yesterday it rained all day, so this morning we went out and played in the mud, puddles, and grime. It was a blast. We even found a couple of worms. Eli was a brave soul and held the wiggling worms. He was apprehensive at first, but loved it! I love showing him new things and teaching him about them!

My parents dropped by Sunday on their way home from Florida and my brother joined us for dinner. Brandon grilled us some delicious chicken and steaks. He loves grilling and had been dying to start up again! I love it because I just make some veggies/sides/dessert and he does the hard part! Eli, as usual, treasured every second of attention from his grandparents. They both got in bed with him and snuggled him when he woke up in the morning, and then he wanted me in there too...so I crammed in! Eli showed off his singing skills with his new song he likes to sing that my mom taught him...let's just say it goes, "Oompa, loompa, oompa, loompa". So cute!

We are getting closer and closer to this little baby being born. I'm praising God that I still feel so good. Of course I have my moments, but for the most part I feel great! A little bit of back pain here and there etc. but nothing major. It's been wonderful to get back into our walking every day. I think it's really helping me! Speaking of walking, our double stroller came in the mail. Eli loves it! He's been wanting me to wheel him around the house in it. So far I love it. I even put Cora's car seat on it with Eli just to make sure it would work and pushed it around. So far so good! It's going to be a great workout pushing both of them for walks.

Brandon finished up several outside projects over the past week. I came home on Saturday to find him and Eli building a fence to seal in our privacy fence (eliminating the small gate to make it safer). Eli was putting the screws in the holes and helping Brandon drill them in. He loved it and will show off to anyone who asks the exact piece on the fence he helped with!

Spring is coming!

Eli and I are in heaven....we actually are having beautiful sunny weather for once! I have crocus blooming in the front yard, which is always a great sign. Eli went around smelling them yesterday. It cracks me up. Today we've already started in on the chalk, basketball in the garage (where his old goal is), sandbox, etc. He didn't even throw a huge fit (which I was expecting), when he had to come back in to take a nap. Probably the promise that we would head back outside the second he wakes up helped! Eli had a canker sore yesterday and was miserable and spent most of the day whining etc. Brandon took him on a "man date" last night just to give me a break. I asked Eli when they got back what they did and this was his response, "Guitar, drums, and HOT!" I translated this to mean they went to the music store and played the instruments and went to the Keeper of the Planes monument by our house to see the big fire pits going. So cute!

Eli had his 2 year appointment on Tuesday morning. He absolutely loves our doctor now. She always gives him a baggy of homemade cookies (seriously) or treats after his appointments and takes the time to play catch with him when we go. She also gives him a new book when he goes. It's wonderful that he's old enough to understand that a shot just hurts for a second etc. He had to get his LAST "baby" vaccination and didn't even cry. We also had to go to the lab and have his finger pricked to test for anemia etc. He didn't even cry then either! What a brave little guy. I was so proud of him. He was charming the socks off of everyone in the waiting room....waving at everyone and showing off with his ball. Every where I go people just rave about how cute he is. Of course! Eli weighs 26 lbs now (which is the 25th percentile) and is 33 inches tall (11th percentile). He is moving up in the world!

Brandon and I had a date to see Rain the other night, which is a Beatle's tribute. It was great to have a date night and we really enjoyed the wonderful music of the Beatles, as well as the news/tv footage from the 60's.

I had a doctor's appointment yesterday to check on Cora. Everything is still going great. I am back to having a lot of fatigue again like the first trimester, but it's here and there so it's easier to deal with. Cora's heartbeat was 138 again and he thinks she's positioned at an angle (sort of transverse) but possibly head down instead of head up like Eli was. For some reason my babies don't ever want to enter into the birth canal...probably from the shape of my uterus/pelvis. I'll be having a sonogram on the 17th (yay for St. Pat's Day), so I'm super excited for that! Can't wait to see my baby girl!

P.S.-they are repairing our roof finally this week! What a mess that has been, but I'm looking forward and appreciating having a GREAT company helping us this time. I'm super excited to have this done before Cora's born and have time to repaint/fix the damaged interior!