Easter Weekend!

What a wonderful Easter! We had a big Corman family party on Saturday night at our house, which was a blast. Eli got to play with his cousin Jadyn for the first time in months and had a great time. We Cormans like to TALK TALK and TALK some more, so it's always a fun time. We enjoyed a wonderful church service and Eli got to partake in all the Easter festivities and traditions. He got his Easter basket in the morning with a book and some new sand box toys (that he loved). He also got to dye Easter eggs for the first time and do an egg hunt in the back yard. He loved everything! He sort of threw the eggs into the dye, which was hilarious and ended up throwing all the eggs up against the fence at the end of the egg hunts. What a kid!

He is RISEN!

I am really feeling the Easter spirit right now and humbled and thankful for what Jesus did for us. I've been talking to Eli about it, so if I ask him, "What did Jesus do on Easter?" he responds by putting his arms up in the sky waiting for me to say, "He ROSE from the DEAD!" I'm looking forward to all things Easter this weekend. Unfortunately, my sister is really sick with the flu so they aren't going to be able to make it but the rest of my family is coming for the weekend. I baked a raspberry cream cheese cake today and am going to make Amish potato salad tonight in preparation for tomorrow's barbecue. We're going to dye eggs and do an Easter egg hunt in the yard with Eli. Of course, we'll also do the traditional baskets on Sunday, as well as church and brunch. We should all take bets as to whether Eli will let me put a dress shirt on him Sunday. He's getting more picky about shirts with buttons. Little stinker!

With the weather being nice and doing more time outside we are having a lot more injuries! In one day, he got a fat lip/bloody gums, goose egg on his forehead, rug burns on his arms, skinned knee, and more. Yesterday, he cut his toe. I told Brandon I'm just praying for ONE day without an injury. What do I expect having a rugged little boy? We went kite flying last night at Sim Park (right next to our house). Eli loved it! He ran around in that open field just full of joy! He's been making sure to smell each and every flower that opens up. I love all the bulbs I planted last Fall!

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!