Vacation 2010 - Days 5 & 6 - Thursday and Friday

Well, I'm posting a week late. A lot happened in the last two days of our vacation. Let's start at the beginning.






Thursday morning was beautiful.



We spent a few hours outside enjoying the beautiful weather... we swam in the ocean, played on the beach, floated in the lazy river, and just enjoyed ourselves. Then the weather changed. We had just finished lunch and a huge storm flew in.









We let Elijah sleep for a few hours and decided to take him to Ripley's Aquarium... we had gotten free tickets from the time-share presentation we had gone to on Monday. We were thinking it would be wonderful and amazing; however, we were sorely disappointed. Either we missed something or it's just not that great.







Then we decided to be really bold. Elijah's sleep patterns were WAY out of whack during vacation. Despite our best efforts to keep him on a fairly normal schedule, he was up way later than normal and then slept a little later than usual. So when we decided to take him to a miniature golf course for the first time, we were taking a huge risk. Anyone who has ever raised a boy through the toddler years (and probably girls, too) knows that when they're sleep deprived they can be real terrors. (Shoot, they can be that way when they're NOT sleep deprived just because they're toddlers.) Anyway... things started out great when we first hit the green. :) However, after about three or four holes, Eli's patience continued to wear thinner and thinner. Needless to say we didn't finish all 18 holes, but we did have a little bit of fun.





We stopped at Angelo's on the way back to the condo... not like the Angelo's steak house in Panama City Beach that we're used to, but it was really good food. The service was slow but the food was tasty. Then it was "home" to bed.





Friday dawned bright and beautiful as well. I think it might have been the most beautiful day of all.
We went to the beach (of course), swam, played in the sand, floated in the lazy river, swam in the pool, and enjoyed our last full day on vacation. We had seen a pizza place earlier in the week called East of Chicago and decided to go there for lunch. It had a very full pizza buffet. I'm not a fan of buffets but this was yummy. Plus they had games, kind of like Chuck E. Cheese, so Elijah loved it even more.

Once we'd all eaten our full, used up all our game tokens, and redeemed Elijah's tickets for cheap prizes, we headed back to the condo for nap time. Traffic was rather frantic. As we were sitting at a red light, a truck rammed us from the rear end. We had only had our car for 5 weeks, so my first response after I knew everyone was okay was, "ARE YOU SERIOUS?!" Jason and I were stiff for a few days but don't appear any worse for the wear. Our car... not so much.

We finally got our naps then went to the outlet mall down the road followed by dinner at Big Daddy's steakhouse. Yummo!

More later.

Vacation 2010 - Day 4

Day 4, Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Elijah and I slept a little later than we had the first few days. While I was clearing the table so we could eat some breakfast, my neck "caught" in the worst cramp/crick I've had in a while. I decided to lay back down after breakfast. Jason rubbed my neck. Eli rubbed my neck. I took ibuprofen. I used a heating pad. Nothing helped. I finally decided to play through the pain. So we went to the beach. Where else?

We played in the sand for a while before Elijah decided he wanted to go to the lazy river with Jason. After a few hours of playing, we went inside and got cleaned up. We'd been hearing about Joe's Crab Shack for years and had never gone. Well, we finally found one and went. The food was really quite good. We let Elijah ride on a carousel after lunch. Then it was back to the condo for (very late) naps. Eli and I slept from about 3:00 to 6:00.

Jason had been craving a buffet; I hate buffets. We went to a buffet. Yuck! I was not impressed w/ the quality or quantity of food on their buffet, sohe c I just got chicken strips from the menu. They were burned!

After dinner, we stopped at CVS for some Advil PM so I could hopefully sleep w/ the crick in my neck. Then it was "home" to the condo.

Vacation 2010 - Day 3

Day 3, today, Tuesday, June 15

Awoke early again thanks to Eli's internal alarm clock that goes off between 7:30 and 7:45 pretty much every day. Looked outside to see that it was in fact another beautiful clear day.

Elijah and I ate a small breakfast, Honey Nut Cheerios and fruit. I showered and got both of us ready for the beach. We were ocean front by 9:30 A.M. Jason didn't join us until approximately an hour later at which point he and Elijah went up to the lazy river and kiddie pool while I enjoyed a little "quiet/me" time on the beach with a few thousand of my closest friends. :)

We headed back in at noon for lunch, showers, and naps. While Elijah slept, I decided to go to Walmart to get us some cheap beach chairs (figured it was cheaper to buy 2 we can keep for $20 than what it would cost to rent chairs for the rest of the week), laundry detergent and fabric softener, and snacks. Evidently, while I was gone, Elijah woke up to find Jason napping with him instead of me. This didn't go well. When I got back hauling all my purchases from the parking lot across the street, through the parking garage, up the elevator and down the hall way, I found Eli sulking in the living room chair while he and Jason watched Dinosaur Train on PBS. "He just threw one of the worst fits I've ever seen," Jason reported. I asked what happened. "He woke up and you weren't here." I asked Eli if that was all it was. He nodded a sulky "yes" and threw his arms around me. Bless his heart. He is his mama's little man.

So I got him to lie back down for a while. As of now, he's been asleep for another hour or so. We'll see how long it lasts. More later.

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Once Elijah woke up we decided to go eat dinner. We chose Friendly's to eat b/c their online menu looked pretty basic and yummy. Elijah had been asking to play mini golf so we went to the one right across the street. What we failed to notice when we bought our tickets was that the line of people in front of us was approximately 20-30 people. We got a rain check to come back at a less congested time. So we went back to the condo and took Eli to the beach in the dark. He thought that was prett cool.

Vacation 2010 - Day 2

Day 2 was Monday, June 14.

We started the day by eating a small breakfast at the condo. Then we went to a "90-minute" time share presentation to get free Ripley's aquarium tickets and $50 "cash." That turned into an almost-three-hour session that ended in us deciding not to buy a time share, three tickets to Ripley's aquarium, and a $50 check. GRRRR! Eli did really well considering that he's only two, but we all have our limits. He was so excited when we finally left, so as soon as we got back to the condo and ate a light lunch I took him to the beach to play. I told him when we left the condo, "Make sure you tell Mommy when you're ready for your nap. I can't take you to the beach if you're going to be fussy and cranky. Okay?"

We played for about an hour and a half. We built sand castles, filled the buckets with water and dumped them out over and over, played in the waves, and floated in the lazy river. Then around 2:00 Eli said, "Okay, Mommy. I think it's time for my nap nap now." So we came inside, I showered all the sand off him, and put him to bed. Life is good.

Jason had stayed inside due to some sunburned shoulders he had acquired on Sunday. :)

After nap time we went back out to the beach for about an hour. Then it was showers for everyone. Since we (aka, I) had forgotten our phone charger at home and both our phones were rapidly losing battery power, we stopped at a Verizon store for a new charger. Jason wanted some new plain white Polo t-shirts so we stopped at the Tanger outlet center. The checkout girl told us about a good seafood place on the beach; however, it was almost 8:00 already, so we went to the Japanese steak house across the street from the outlet mall. Ichiro's was the name, I think. It was pretty good.

Then a quick stop at Food Lion for some aloe gel for Jason's shoulders and we went "home" to the condo for bed. Good night!

Vacation 2010, Day 1

Yesterday was the first official day of our vacation. We left Ringgold on Saturday around 7:45 P.M. after Jason got home from work. We arrived in Myrtle Beach around 3:15 A.M. and immediately took Elijah to the balcony of our condo to look at the ocean. Then we all crashed.

Sunday morning, a few hours later, Eli rolled over in bed and announced that it was time to get up. Jason said, "Well, I guess I can sleep when I'm dead." So we all got up, showered, and went to breakfast at Denny's. Where else? :)

As we left Denny's a man approached Jason about "earning" some free Ripley's aquarium tickets by going to a timeshare preview on Monday morning. Thirty minutes later, we left Denny's with an appointment for a timeshare preview and the promise of 3 tickets to the aquarium and $50.00.

We went to our condo and got ready for THE BEACH! Elijah was so excited. Aw, who am I kidding? So were Jason and I. We stayed at the beach for a while, played in the pool, Jason and Eli rode in the lazy river, we went back to the beach. We were basically beach bums for the a few hours. It was wonderful! Then it was nap time. Jason went to the grocery store for breakfast and lunch foods while Eli took his nap and I watched t.v.

After nap time we decided it was time for dinner. So we went to Godfather's Pizza. (We had looked for one last year on vacation but never found one.) I wasn't overly impressed, but Jason enjoyed it and Elijah got a sticky bouncy ball on a string. So he was happy. He decided he wanted to go to the beach again. I couldn't resist, so Elijah and I changed into our suits and went back to the beach while Daddy stayed on the balcony and took pictures of us. We were using Eli's new beach toys that we bought a few weeks back. Somehow the ocean got ahold of the rake that came with the set and swept it out to sea. I was more interested in keeping track of Elijah and making sure he didn't become shark bait to worry too much about the rake. But Elijah was upset that he lost his "scraper" in the sea.

Then it was back to the condo for Eli's second shower of the day and my third. Then a good night's sleep was had by all.

The Graveyard Shift

Yesterday as Elijah and I were making our way from my parents' house in Lookout Valley back to our house in Ringgold, we decided to make a stop at Bojangle's in Fort Oglethorpe. The thought of fried chicken, mac 'n cheese, and french fries was too much to resist after a long morning of house work. I cut through East Ridge and was driving past the Lakewood Memorial Gardens. Elijah piped up in the back seat: "See all those flowers? I used to work there."

"Really?" I asked. "What did you do there?"

"Well," he said. "There were toys."

I was really curious. "So there were toys at that cemetery?"

"Yep. And yogurt and cheese and computers."

Oddly enough, those are four of his favorite things. I do hope he ends up doing something he loves as a job when he's older. But I can't imagine wanting to work in a cemetery.

Jingle Bells & Old MacDonald

Elijah loves music. This has been evident since early in his life. Even as early as in-utero. He would "dance" in my tummy and use my bladder as his kick drum.

Well, now that he's old enough to memorize lyrics, he loves music even more. We listen to his "Bible songs" in the car pretty much daily. This is helping him increase his singing ability as well as his knowledge of Bible verses. However, the child's musical interests are not limited to the religious.

His newest favorite bedtime ritual includes me, a stuffed Elmo, and a fluffy stuffed dog (appropriately named Sally Fluffy Puppy). I hold Elmo and SFP off to the sides of Elijah's bunk bed, make them peek around the edges at him, and then they enter to sing and dance. A few weeks back Elmo and SFP (aka, Mommy) sang "Jingle Bells" for him. Deciding to be funny, I changed the lyrics to: "Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Granny got a gun. Shot me in the underwear, and boy did I run."

Elijah quickly corrected me and said, "No, Mommy. That's not it. This is how it goes: 'Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells. Jingle all the way. Old MacFarmer had to ride in a one-horse open sleigh."

It took me several "re-sings" before I figured out what he was saying in place of "oh what fun it is to ride in a one-horse open sleigh." Once I did, I told Jason. He said, "You've got to add that to your blog." And now I have.

No Luck

Jason and I took Elijah to Chuck E. Cheese Tuesday of last week. We had fun playing games and spending time together as a family. The next evening it was just Eli and me at home; I asked him what he wanted for dinner. "How 'bout Chuck E. Cheese?" I told him he was out of luck. "Well, Mom, I guess I need more luck."

That Saturday he spent the night at Granny's house. She was talking to him and asking him questions. She asked if he had blue eyes. "Yes." Do you have dogs? "Yes." etc. etc. Then she asked if he had any luck. "No, Granny. Mommy said I'm out of luck."

What a funny little guy.

That's not a Button

This morning, the last official day of Spring Break, Elijah woke up around 7:45 and crawled into our bed. The Newsome Three were cuddling in bed and talking. Jason was trying to tickle Elijah who kept turning to me for protection. Finally, Jason gave up on the tickling and started poking Eli's nose and making a "boop boop" noise. Eli said, "Quit that. It's not a button. It's my nose."

That reminded me of something he said a few weeks ago when he went to the emergency room. He had fallen off the piano bench face first into our concrete basement floor. I took him to the ER to get him checked out because he had a rather large knot above his right eye; furthermore, he kept holding his whole face and crying like he was in major pain. (Normally, when he whacks his noggin, he cries for a few minutes then goes on with his life.) Anyway... we checked into the ER and they came to get us shortly and took us back to a room. The doctor came about an hour later. He checked over Eli and made the comment, "You're probably going to have a black eye for a while." Eli didn't miss a beat. "Uh, uh. I have blue eyes." You really can't get one past this kid.

It's been a while

A lot has happened since my last post. I'll try to remember the highlights.

One evening Elijah and I were playing Nerf hockey on the living room floor. We each had a little plastic paddle that we used to hit a little plastic puck back and forth. We kept losing the puck under Eli's little recliner, so we spread his plastic snake out under the front edge of the chair to act as a "goalie" for us. It worked wonderfully well. When I had to get up to start working on dinner, Eli said he'd play hockey with the snake. He got all set up and got the snake ready. Then all of a sudden I heard him exlaim in consternation, "Uh, Mommy. Him don't have any hands. UGH! Now how do I play?" It struck me as hilarious (as much of what he says does) and I found myself playing hockey again.

For this one you really have to use your imagination. It also helps if you've ever heard Elijah say something with great excitement. Granny (aka, Jason's mom Vonnie) got the Alvin & the Chipmunks: The Squeakuel movie for Elijah for Easter. We watched part of it one night until Elijah announced that it was time for bed. He watched the rest of it the next day on our way home from Murfreesboro where we'd gone to meet my sister and her girls for lunch. Well, that evening at dinner, Jason asked what we were going to do for family fun. I couldn't come up with anything great because I was in the beinning stages of my annual Spring Break Cold/Sinus Crud. Daddy couldn't think of anything either because he'd just worked an 11 or 12 hour day. So Elijah said, "Oh, I know. We can watch Alvin & the Chipmunks... the SQUEEEEEKUELLLLLLL!" He said it with such excitement and conviction that we laughed uproariously and, of course, ended up watching the movie. (It really is quite cute, by the way.)

Speaking of my annual Spring Break Cold/Sinus Crud... I felt pretty bad on Good Friday but drove up to Murfreesboro to see my sister and her girlies any way. By Friday night, I was rough and by Saturday morning, I was downright miserable. Good thing there weren't any swimming lessons that day, huh? Easter Sunday dawned bright and beautiful. I, on the other hand, did not. I was definitely sick. Elijah went with his daddy for some Daddy/Son bonding time since they get to see so little of each other during the week and left me at home to rest. They returned later in the day to check on me and bring me lunch. I rested all day Sunday. At some point, Elijah found some old headphones from my walkman. He decided they looked pretty much like every doctor's stethoscope he'd ever seen. He walked up to me and proclaimed, "I the doctor. You feel sick?"

"Yes, sir, I do. Can you help me?"

"Yes, I can. Open your mouth and say 'ah'. I make you all better." He took a quick (but thorough, I'm sure) look at my mouth, throat, nose, and ears and listened to my heart and my knee for good measure. Then he said with concern, "I go get another doctor. I be right back." He disappeared down the hallway. Pretty soon another doctor (who looked suprisingly like Elijah) came walking into the living room and over to my spot on the love seat. "Hi, I'm the new doctor."

"What's your name, doctor?"

"I Doctor Bebo," he said.

"Well, you sure are the cutest doctor I've ever seen," I told him.

Without missing a beat, Doctor Bebo replied, "Yeah, I know."

When I'm Big

Elijah and I were talking the other day... It was a Friday afternoon and we were on our way home from his babysitter's house.

"What we doin' next?" he asked. I told him we had to do some housework when we got home so we could play. "Okay, I help you."

"Well, thank you," I replied. "I'll clean the bathroom and you can clean your playroom."

"But I wanna help you in the potty," he protested. I tried to explain that he was too little to help clean the bathrooms because of the strong cleaners. "But I a big boy already."

"Yes, honey, you are a big boy. But you have to be much bigger before I let you help in the bathrooms. Okay?" To be honest, I was thrilled he wanted to help clean. This could work out good for me in the future.

"Maybe when I get this big [at which point he held up his hand as high as it would go] I can help you."

"Yes, dear," I said with a grin.

"And I can be a daddy, too, when I get that big."

I told him he could get married and be a daddy when he gets much, MUCH bigger.

He asked me quite seriously, "Do I need a ring first?" I told him that yes he would need a wedding ring. "Can it be a Spider Man ring?"

I laughed and responded, "You can definitely tell your sweetheart that you want your wedding ring to be a Spider Man ring, honey."

"Okay, Mommy."

More of Elijah's Wit

Elijah has said several things in the past several days that have left me laughing.

One night while we were watching tv he said, "Mommy, what's Daddy's name?"

"Jason Bryan Newsome," I replied.

He said, "No. What's him other name?"

I thought for a minute. "Um, Daddy?"

"No, the other one," he argued patiently.

Suddenly, I remembered watching the videos from the hospital when he was born. Jason had been videoing everyone who was there the night before he was born. "There's Papa Don, there's Granny. There's Mommy. What do you wanna be called?"

I said, quite breathlessly since I had no lung capacity, "The Queen!" :)

Jason then turned the camera on himself and said, "And I'm your Daddy but you can call me Dadabooboodadadoo!"

When we watched it, Elijah just cracked up. So I tried it. "You mean Dadabooboodadadoo? That name?"

"Yes. That one." Then he pointed at the lettering on my t-shirt. "Your name is Mommy Bryan Newsome."

"What?!" I asked.

"I Eli Bryan, Daddy is Daddy Bryan, you Mommy Bryan!" We've made such a big deal making sure he knows that his middle name Bryan came from his daddy and his Papa. Guess he thinks ALL the Newsomes have that as their middle name.

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Wednesday morning I let Elijah sleep late since I wasn't going to school but was driving to Nashville for Logan's daddy's funeral. Elijah and I were eating breakfast together. As we were eating, Elijah said, "What's that noise?"

Having not heard anything unusual, I asked, "What noise?"

"That scratching noise," he said.

"I don't know, Eli. What do you think it is?"

"Um," he thought for a minute. "It's a tiger and it wants to eat your bed."

I laughed. "Well, Daddy's still in bed!"

"Uh, oh. We better go wake him up!" he exclaimed.

I lost it!

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Elijah has been asking for a baby brother or sister (sometimes both) since before Christmas. (He even asked Santa.) The other night he mentioned that he wanted a sister. I said, "Well, Mommy's not having one right now. You'll just have to be patient."

"No, I get one now," he said urgently.

"Well, where will you get one?" I asked, not sure I wanted to know the answer.

"At the store." Duh, Mommy. :)

What's the difference?

Yesterday was a long day to end an even longer week of teaching 8th graders. By the time I left school at 3:45 to go pick up ElijahI could barely keep my eyes open. I yawned incessantly and found it very difficult to focus on the job of driving. However, thanks to Elijah telling me "Watch out for that car/truck/mailbox" all the way home and thanks to God's protection, we made it home safely. We let the dogs out, got the mail out of the box, and went upstairs. That's when I decided it was time to make a pot of coffee. I normally don't drink caffeine past noon or at the very latest 2 or 3 because it keeps me awake that night; this, on the other hand, was an emergency. I had to keep Elijah entertained for a few hours until it was time to meet Daddy to do some furniture shopping and eat dinner w/ his parents. Granny (Jason's mom) arrived around 5:30 and I started getting Elijah and myself ready for dinner. I was changing Elijah into some blue jeans and I said, "I'm so sleepy." His response was, "I not sleepy. I just tired." I'm not sure what the difference is but he sure sounded confident.

Today he made another comment that cracked me up. I couldn't laugh at him though. He was experiencing a little bit of "intestinal difficulty" and told me, "Mommy, my poo poo hurting my bottom. You need to spank it!" It took every ounce of self control not to laugh at him because he was in tears. I just rubbed his belly until everything felt better. Then we went and changed a pull up. Good times!

Dinner at the Newsomes' House

Two funny dinner time quotes from my little man:

Several weeks ago Vonnie (aka Granny) brought McDonald's to Elijah and me for dinner because Jason was working late. Elijah was having trouble getting motivated to eat his dinner, so I told him, "There's a cookie over here with your name on it if you'll eat your dinner." Finally, after much coaxing, he finished his chicken nuggets and fries. I handed him his cookie. He looked at it. He turned it over to look at the other side. "Where's my name?" he asked with all sincerity. Granny and I rolled!

Tonight at dinner I asked Jason about his proposed date idea... go to Calhoun or somewhere similar for a mini shopping spree since we missed Valentine's day... I said, "You're talking about clothes shopping, right?" Elijah looked at his daddy and asked, "Yeah, Daddy, you talking close or open?" We both lost it which prompted a case of the giggles in Elijah. It was a fun dinner at our house tonight. I love my two guys!

Once upon a dream

Last spring we decided to take a summer trip to the beach. But first let me backtrack 9 years...

When Jason and I started planning our honeymoon, we asked a few friends to recommend some nice spots in Florida. I had never really had a beach vacation, and Jason had fond memories of going to the beach as a child and teenager. As luck would have it, my best friend from college and her husband had just purchased a vacation home in Panama City Beach, Florida, and were unbelievably generous. They gave us three nights (sandwiched in between two other renters) at the house for free. Another family friend whom I have known since birth gave us a full week at a time share condo in Ormond Beach, Florida.

When Jason and I arrived at the Venture Out resort in PCB the day after our wedding, we were excited to see the little vacation house that awaited us. We were delighted to find a two-bedroom, two-bathroom house with a full kitchen, dining area, and living room. The decor was tasteful and beautiful. There were two pools in the resort, one on the beach and one on a lagoon at the back of the resort. There were tennis courts, shuffle board courts, and a mini putting green. The beach was beautiful until Jason went running into the surf, stepped into a hole, and tore all the ligaments in his ankle. We spent hours in the ER. But that's another story.

That was in July 2000. Two years later we decided to go back to the PCB house. Then again in 2003. That time we were accompanied by my brother Daniel and his first wife Esther. We had a lot of fun spending the week relaxing, swimming, throwing frisbee on the beach, eating at nice restaurants, and just enjoying family. The next few years passed quickly until 2006 when we decided to go back once again. I remember when we arrived home after our week in paradise, I quipped, "Do you realize we just took what might be our last vacation before we have a family?" Sure enough, almost a year to the day later, Elijah Bryan joined our family on 7/21/07.

That brings us up to date for the purposes of this story.

We decided to take Elijah to the beach for the first time in July 2009. We knew he would have a good time, especially if we prepped him for it. So we decided to start talking about it early and often so that he would be pumped about the trip. As soon as we had set our dates, we started talking about the beach, and Florida, and how much fun it was going to be. Then just a few weeks before leaving, we started chanting "We're going to Florida" over and over every day.

Well, when we finally got to Florida, I started a record of our adventures. That last two days. Then I didn't have internet connection, so I just let time get away from me and didn't really record what we did. I just looked back at my narratives of the first two days and I have to say: I'm so excited that we're going back this year.

Just yesterday we reserved "our house" in PCB for a full week. I am so excited! Elijah is pumped! Jason is stoked! A whole week of the Newsome Three.

When Elijah got up from his nap just a while ago, I asked him if he had any dreams.

"Yep," he replied. "I dreamed about the beach."

Fabulous!

Someday

The last several days have been a blur. Elijah had a fever last Sunday morning but it was gone by lunch time. Tuesday afternoon when I picked him up, however, the fever was back. I stayed home with him Wednesday, took him to the doctor, and found out he had strep throat. He's spent a lot of time in bed and in his recliner these last few days. I've noticed the last few nights that he's asked me to rock him and sing to him. I thought it was sweet and was happy to oblige.

Well, I asked him today if he wanted some soup and grilled cheese for lunch. "Sure," he said. So I got to work making some grilled cheese with chicken and vegetable soup. After I burned his sandwich and mine, I started over. Thankfully he was too involved watching PBS kids to notice the stench of burned food. Finally, we made it to the table. As I was eating my soup and sandwich, Elijah was chowing down on apple wedges. I finished my lunch and left him at the table to eat while I took the dogs outside.

When I returned to the kitchen, Elijah said, "Hey, Mommy. You little."

"Well, thank you, son," I said. "And you're getting to be a big boy."

He replied, "No, you not little, you big. I little."

"But you're getting bigger, right?" I asked.

"Yep, and I get as big as daddy someday. And I rock you to sleep. And I put you to bed. And I cover you up. Then you get up and play. Someday."

"Aw, honey, you'd do that for me?" I asked him.

"Yep. That a deal?"

I went and gave him a hug. "That's a deal, sweetheart."

"But tonight you rock me and put me to bed, right?" he asked me with all sincerity.

I assured him that I would rock him tonight if he wanted me to. With pleasure.

"Where him is?" and other recent Elijah-isms

The other night I was holding Elijah as he suffered through another coughing fit. It didn't matter what I did, I couldn't help him quit coughing: propped up on pillows, hold him in my arms, humidifier, cough syrup, warm fluids, nothing worked. I muttered a quick, "Lord, please help my baby."

Elijah said, "You talkin' to Jesus?"

"Yes, baby."

"But I not Jesus."

"I know, sweetheart," I replied. "I'm just praying to ask Jesus to help you quit coughing and feel better."

He promptly asked, "Where him is?"

I told him Jesus was in Heaven.

"No he not. He in here," he said tapping on his chest.

I told him that, yes, Jesus could live in his heart when he got bigger.

"But I big now!" he proclaimed.

I'm so excited that he wants Jesus to live in his heart already. He asks a LOT of questions about Heaven, where Jesus is, where people go when they die. He also asks to see my grandparents who are in Heaven. I told him that as long as Jesus is in his heart when he dies he will get to see everyone else who is in Heaven.

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Vonnie (aka Granny) brought over some Valentine's day gifts for Elijah the other day... a bag of candy, some new tennis shoes, some Veggie Tales toys from Papa Don, and a card with money in it. He grabbed the money and shouted, "MONEY!" He was so excited. He carried something small with him up the stairs to the living room, then turned around and proclaimed, "Hey, where's my stuff?!"

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Yesterday after Elijah's doctor appointment we went to CVS to get his antibiotic prescription filled. We pulled in the parking lot and he said, "What's this?" I told him it was CVS. He looked perplexed. I got him out of his seat and scurried into the store to get out of the freezing cold. "What's this?" he asked again. I told him that it was still CVS. "This not PBS kids," he replied adamantly. After I laughed, I explained that it was C - V - S, not PBS. "Oh, well I like PBS kids." Me, too, buddy.

Religion or Spirituality?

I don't claim to be a very deep person, but an email in my inbox got me thinking. Do I have religion or spirituality?

http://www.dictionary.com/ defines religion as "a specific, fundamental set of beliefs and practices generally agreed upon by a number of persons or sects." The same site defines spiritual as "of or pertaining to the spirit or soul, as distinguished from the phsical nature."

So which am I, religious or spiritual? Do I adhere to a set of beliefs just because that's how I was raised? Or do I have a deeper, more personal relationship with the Holy Spirit?

Most days I'd have to say I'm guilty of being religious, not that that's necessarily a bad thing. But when you compare that to being in tune with the Holy Spirit who was left here on Earth to guide our thoughts and hearts, that is a really bad thing. Why would I want to live my life by a set of rules if there's no meaning to them? Why would I set myself up as an example if all I'm doing is blindly following someone else's idea of what's right and wrong? Shouldn't I want to be following THE EXAMPLE? Shouldn't I strive daily to be more like Christ and less like the rest of the human race, religious or not?

I'm not one for New Year's Resolutions. (I love Carolyn Arends song "Every Day is New Year's Day.") But I am one for changing things in my life that just don't make sense any more. I'm not abandoning my upbringing. I'm not turning my back on religion or church or Bible study. What I hope to turn my back on, however, is the constant nagging feeling I have in the back of my mind that I have to do things to please PEOPLE. I need to worry about pleasing GOD, the Creator of everything. Instead of trying to prove that I love Jesus by forwarding emails of pictures of Jesus or touching stories of miracles and answered prayers I need to prove my LOVE for Him by LIVING for Him. I'm not perfect. I'm 100% positive I will fail daily, sometimes in a small way, others in gigantic, glaring ways. However, the best way to show people how I feel about Christ and what He's done for me is to live for Him daily.

There's an old adage that says, "You may be the only Bible some people ever read." In our day and time, that is more and more true. I hope to be as powerful a testimony as I can possibly be by living each day as I honestly feel Christ would have me live it.

I don't know if any of this makes any sense to any of you. I do know that I want to change how I think about my relationship with Christ. It shouldn't be something I think about once a week when it's time for church or time to pray for dinner. My relationship with Christ should be my first thought in the morning, an ever-present thought throughout the day, and the last thought before I close my eyes at night. All-consuming. That's what HE should be in my life.

More Elijah-isms

Just a few minutes ago...

I had asked Jason a question. He didn't hear me, so I repeated it a little bit louder. He answered and sounded really grumpy. Elijah asked, "What's wrong?"

"Daddy's acting grumpy," I said.

He responded quite concerned, "Him want a paci?"

-----

A little while later, I was sitting here updating facebook. Eli walks over.

"Hey, Baby. Look at your pretty shoes!" he exclaims excitedly! I am loving this age.

Just FYI... my pretty shoes are my 5-year-old brown Birkenstock slip-ons. :) (Side bar here... I ran to Taco Bell a while ago to get our dinner. I had picked Zaxby's for lunch; Jason picked Taco Bell for dinner. Quite the romantic Valentine's Day. Anyway... I thought, "I'll just keep my pj's on, put on my Birkenstocks, and run to Taco Bell. Surely I won't have to get out of the car for anything." Well, I went through the drive-thru, which took forever, got my food, and was sitting there counting all the items. The lovely woman at the window grumbled, I guess she thought I wouldn't hear her, "Aw, come on lady." I pulled forward, continued counting the food, and realized they'd left out the chips to go with the nacho cheese and my order of cinnamon twists. So what did I have to do? Yep. Get out of the car in my black pj pants with neon polka dots, my Heritage Middle School coat, and my brown Birkenstocks with white socks. Hey, maybe the "What Not to Wear" people were watching and will nominate me for a makeover. And at least the girl inside gave me an extra order of cinnamon twists.)

Valentine's Day

Tomorrow's the day that the male of our species, young and old alike, have been dreading for the past 364 days. V-DAY! I feel kinda bad for them. I mean, nobody really makes snide remarks about a woman who doesn't get her man a gift for the day. However, if a man forgets, he better watch out, not only for the slighted love interest but her friends as well. Is it fair? I don't know; I have mixed feelings. The generous side of me says, "No, it's not fair. Couples should plan their Valentine's day together." The side of me that likes to be spoiled, on the other hand, says, "Heck, yes, it's fair. Women do so much for the men in their lives... everything from giving birth to keeping the house running." So which side is going to win? Well, this year the generous side of me is ruling. Jason and I are planning together. Sort of. Every time I ask him what he wants to do (including just over an hour ago) he says, "Whatever you think is best." So does that mean that if I think it's best to take a trip to the beach, it's okay? Or maybe I think a new diamond ring is best. Hmmm.... the possibilities are endless. I could make reservations at Ichiban (one of our favorite restaurants) except that you have to eat with total strangers. Not really romantic, huh? We were gonna eat at the Station House at the Choo-Choo but they're not open on Sundays. Who'd a thought? I am officially stuck. I think I'll call P. F. Chang's and Bonefish, two of our other favorites, and see if they have spots available at a reasonable hour. Then maybe I'll get in touch with my inner poetess. :) Happy Valentine's Day!

Baby, it's cold outside!

Today was a teacher inservice day in Catoosa County... one of my favorite school days. My husband always jokes, "You'd love your job if it wasn't for the kids, wouldn't you?" :) Well, we were told yesterday in faculty meeting that there wouldn't be much heat in the school today due to some maintenance being performed on a problematic water pipe. Turns out there wasn't any heat in the school. Since my desk is directly in front of a large window, I was freezing as I worked in my classroom grading papers and scoring book projects. I was relieved, therefore, when our principal announced via intercom that the heat was being restored to the majority of the building. He then followed that announcement with the announcement that we were encouraged to leave school for the weekend when we left for lunch due to the "inclement weather" (i.e., snow) that was heading our direction. I totally took him up on that offer! You don't have to tell this girl twice.

So I called Eli's babysitter and told her that I would be picking him up earlier than normal. She said that she had put the kids in front of the front window and told them to watch her go get the mail. They were so excited that it was snowing; when she came back in the house, they said, "Did you build a snowman?"

When I picked up Eli to come home, he told me that Santa was coming to his house. I asked him who told him that, "Nannalie." (Nannalie = the almost 3 year old little girl who stays with the same babysitter every day. They've been buddies since Eli started staying there in September 2007.)

"Well, honey," I said, "Santa doesn't come see you every time it snows."

"Yes, he do. And him bring me presents at my house."

How do you tell a two year old that snow doesn't equal Santa? I didn't have the heart to take it any farther, so I just said, "We'll have to wait and see."

One thing I do know... it is COLD outside! I don't remember the last time we had this much bitterly cold weather and snow in one winter season. As cold as it is, though, I intend to enjoy the snow wtih my favorite little boy.

You wanna share an apple?

We finished dinner just a few minutes ago... sloppy joes (which Eli didn't like), french fries, and dill pickles. Eli tried several bites of sloppy joe and decided he really didn't like them, so I made him a ham-n-cheese wrap. When he was done, I asked him if he wanted to share an apple with me. "Yea, and hot cocoa and popcorn and watch a movie. Okaaaay?!" How can you not love two year olds?

I took him to the bathroom for bath time and he opted for a shower... it's quicker than a bath and he wanted to color some pictures before bed time. :) As I was drying him off he says, "I climb that wall and the door and that wall over there. Like Spider Man." I asked him if he wanted to be Spider Man for Halloween this year. "Yea, and Daddy can be a monster." I asked him what I could be. "You be a monster too." I told him I wanted to be something prettier than a monster. "Okay, you can be a ghost, Mommy." Looks like Halloween is covered this year.

Now he's sitting in the recliner with his daddy. He's coloring a picture of Daredevil while Daddy colors Wolverine. Ahhh, life is good.

Elijah-isms

Okay. Let's see. I've got to dig back a ways.

One night Jason was sitting in the recliner with Elijah in his lap. Eli says, "Come sit with us, Mommy." Not sure whether the recliner would support all three of us, I did a hover squat over Jason's knee. Elijah grabs me with one arm and Jason with the other. "I love you guys. We're a little family." That's when I collapsed and hugged the little guy as hard as I could.

One day while Elijah and I were home by ourselves, we were playing in his playroom. "Mommy, I don't wanna play football like this when I grow up." (He imitated a quarterback throwing the ball.) I laughed. He said it again, with more emphasis. I decided to let Jason know so I sent him the heartbreaking news that his 2 1/2 year old son didn't want to play football. I told Elijah that it would be okay... he could play baseball, or basketball, or soccer, or maybe not even play sports. The important thing was to find something he enjoys and is good at. Well later that evening, Jason came home from work. Eli gave him his "welcome home" hug then proceeded to tell him. "Daddy, I don't wanna play football like this (imitated the throwing thing again) when I grow up. I wanna do this." At that point, he began running as fast as his little legs would carry him. So Daddy decided, "Oh, you wanna be a running back instead of a quarterback." Elijah nodded and grinned. Finally, someone understood what he wanted to do.

More will follow. I just have to remember.

UPDATED 2/14/10
I'm importing CD's onto my I-Pod. Elijah is sitting right beside me in the recliner. All of the sudden, he says, "There's an apple. It's almost all gone." I kept wondering what he was talking about. Then I looked at the top of the I-Tunes screen. There, with a bit taken out of one side, is the Apple logo. How observant is he?

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I recently watched the movie Julie and Julia in which a young woman, unsatisfied with her job and living situation, decides to keep a blog of her experiences as she cooks her way through Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking. I thought to myself, "When was the last time I updated my blog?" UUHHH... probably summer break. I remember sitting in the hotel room in Florida this past July crafting witty updates about our first vacation as a family; however, due to technical difficulties, I couldn't get them to post from my word processor into my blog. So they never made the final cut. Then I remembered hearing a family member say how much he enjoys seeing all of Elijah's cute little sayings and "doings" on my facebook status updates. Another family member told me I should start a blog of Elijah's cute moments. So... my new resolution is to spend more time documenting Elijah's life... both here and in his scrap book which is only, oh, about 2 1/2 years behind. :) Enjoy!