The Couch

Elijah LOVES the couch.  He has been obsessed with climbing on (usually at the same time as Miss Bailee).  Recently he has been spending more and more time on the couch but usually he is up and down and up and down and doesn't usually sit still for long enough to get a video. 

Take note:
1. He has assumed position just like his father: with remote in hand
2. He will sit there whether he is wearing clothes or not
3. He likes to bounce around on it, back and forth
4. at about 44 seconds into the video-watch carefully-he does his famous "Scary face"
5. Take notice as I pan to the right-Bailee is in total "ready to move, dash, dive" mode-which you can tell by her ears

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

A thought on dance

Why is it that everyone has a difference in opinion about choice in music? I like so many different kinds but I know a lot of people who are not interested or even disgusted by listening to different genres of music.  I can tap my foot to rock, pop or even light rap, I can sway my hips to music from a musical, an 80's song and I can even sing along to many 60's songs.  I enjoy the light piano or orchestra music and I can enjoy a song for the story behind it as well as liking just the beat.  Some songs are favorites for 3 weeks and then are overplayed at home or on the radio.  Currently a lot of Christmas music is being played a lot at our house.
I can understand and appreciate those who show great loyalty to their favorite musicians and those that refuse to listen to loud rap or country music. 
But me...I like it all.
The best part of music-the way it makes me want to dance. I'm not good at dancing-but I'm good at loving to dance.  Anybody can dance....even if you can't sing along very well.  Regardless if you can walk, run or touch your toes-you can dance. Even if you're in a wheel chair, or are stiff, even if you have no hair, no beat or rhythm, are sober or bored----you can smile and move something to whatever beat you hear or your body feels.
I love to dance.  I often dance around the house and ask Andy to join me.  (He does when he's in a good mood).  Andy is a great dancer.  He is the best wedding date because he will pull anyone on to the floor and within minutes, that person is glowing, smiling, laughing and moving in any way they are comfortable. 
Below is a video that my brother sent me the other day. 
It shows clips from movies and tv shows of people dancing.
My favorite are:
Hugh Grant (and others) shaking it in Love Actually
Phil  (and others)from Modern Family
The Man (or woman HA!) from the movie Labyrinth
and of course Mr. Depp in that famous Pirates movie---RUM!

Enjoy. Let me know your favorite dancers...or your favorite dance move. Or just get up and dance along!

Blogging from bed...

I've dreamed of this day.
To be sitting in bed, online, blogging or checking email or watching YouTube or managing my bank account.

I know I look just like one of those girls in the movies and sitcoms. The pretty girl getting over a breakup, or a death, or a fight with her best friend. A #2 pencil holding my messy ponytail up or clenched between my teeth.  Showing off a big baggy t-shirt that somehow makes me look sexy, hanging off the shoulder or an eluding v-neck.  Writing an email. Hitting erase.  Re-writing. Contemplating sending it or hitting send to early.  Internet chatting with a friend or family member.  Writing a new resume. A letter.

I'm picturing myself as that girl. But let's not kid ourselves.
I'm plain jane.  I'm wearing pink pajama pants with Andy's long sleeved tshirt. A regular pony tail. A dog at my feet.  I just checked on my totally adorable son in his crib and I'm ready for bed. But I'm blogging from bed.  Something I've wanted to do for a long time.
I've been nervous about getting a lap top.  I've wanted one so bad I've thought
1. I don't deserve it.
2. We shouldn't spend the money
3. What if we get the wrong one?
4. What if I don't even use it?
5. What if I don't know how to use it?
6. What if it gets in the way of every day life?
7. What if it makes all my dreams come true?
Sometimes when you want something so bad, you accept that you aren't going to get it. And the thought of actually buying it, getting it, using it-scares the bajeebers out of you.
 Fortunately for me, my husband is so darn supportive, that he has continued to encourage me to pick a lap top out and buy it. He knows it will make me happy.

I'm sure I won' t make the effort to really blog in bed very often. It's not something that is going to make me a better person or get me further in life. 

But it is me, allowing myself to enjoy something that really makes me happy.
And I can confidently say that this makes my husband just as happy as it makes me.  I may look at myself as selfish, but it is not often that I actually allow myself to indulge in something I really want as much as this.  It was just one of those things for me.  (and if you really know me, you would not think I'm a cold, heartless person who only enjoys the "things" in life.  I totally enjoy the moments, the people, the memories, my health etc.  Here I go again, feeling guilty for having a laptop and blogging in bed).
Maybe it was something on my bucket list.  Accomplished.
I feel like I am now initiated into 2010-wireless, laptop, Internet anywhere in the house.
Blogging from bed.

(I can even do pictures!  Man is he handsome!)

Grace in the Small Things: Picture Edition

1. A successful trip up to Mercer provided Eli with some Grandparent and Aunt Monica time.  I was sooooo happy we had good travel weather, good health and lots of good food!! 

2. You know your "Up North" when you see this:

This is the boot line up.  I laughed when I saw it. Andy laughed when I took a picture. These are some heavy duty boots.  These are not fashionable Uggs or moon boots or slip-ons.  These are boots for real men or real "up north" folk to wear when shoveling.  I love that they have them in every size.  We arrived on a clear Friday night. When we woke up at 7 am-it was white outside.  Andy actually needed these boots. Love it!

3. Tonight Eli made himself busy with the pan and lid cupboard.  He took every single pan out and was knee deep!  He kept dropping the lids on the floor or in the pans and it was rather loud. But-he stayed preoccupied so I could make his dinner.  He did crawl in the cupboard and say "door. door. door" until I shut it for him. Then he had some alone time.

4. No picture for this one-but I have been working on "Cheers" with Eli so that at Thanksgiving after the toast-he can participate.  He's got the hang of it.  He says "Du-er" which comes out as "do-ahh" for Cheers. That's the best he can do. And it melts my heart.

5. We met last Saturday for book club and not only did we talk about our last months book-we exchanged cookies. Everyone made a 1/2 dozen cookies for each member.  It was excellent. Here are mine  (and YES I made them all, except Andy put the white chocolate drizzle on!).  We discussed "The Glass Castle" and our next book is titled : Kitchen Confidential. Anyone read that yet? 

6. No picture for this one either-but we live blocks from Candy Cane Lane.  This is a pretty big deal for Milwaukee-lights on every house for blocks to come.  This usually would not excite me, except that it's awesome.  That's all I can really say about that.  No...I can say more.  It's a fundraiser for the Mac Fund and it's HUGE.   It's so close it's within walking distance.  It's fun to see each house try to out-do each other.  Cars literally drive up and down the blocks with their car lights off at a maximum speed of 5 mph.  This year we are excited to share Candy Cane Lane with Grandma Roeder. Hopefully it won't be bitterly cold and we can walk it!

7. Thanksgiving is just days away. I'm working up my appetite as we speak.  It is my favorite holiday of the year. Gobble gobble people!  (Below is the turkey Eli made at Miss Debbie's today. So so so special)

No x 1000

Dear Mr. Elijah Casey,

Oh how many times can I say no to you in one night? I didn't count today but it felt like too many.
I love you!
Sincerely,
Your mama



To the rest of you mom's out there-why is it that "no" becomes the main word in your vocabulary as your sweet lil ones learn the ropes?
I have tried re-wording my sentences and changing the "tone"

-Let's go over here!
-Please keep it closed! 
-Can you try this?
-We should hold on to our toys.
-Please sit on your butt.
-Put it on your tray, not the floor.

There is only so long that I can be "nice mommy" before it turns into threats (FYI-these are things that are said after multiple attempts with wording such as above):
"Do not feed the dog or your done"
"It will be night-night time if you rip the page out of that book before I get over there"
"Sit on your butt or bath time is over"
"No more toys if you throw them"

And I know he is age appropriate. And I know he may not understand everything I'm saying.  Sometimes I even laugh after I've said it thinking it would be hilarious if he DID understand what I just said.

And I'm just not sure what to do.  I've read in parenting books and magazines that it's ok to teach your children in simple sentences when they are Eli's age.  I  read that it's not good to say "No" without trying to indicate why you are saying no.  One of my co-workers said that she feels she says no to her kids all the time as well and was going to work on saying "Yes you may!" at least once a day.  When she said this to me I oh-so-naturally nodded in agreement.  I felt that too!

I think the hard part for me (and possibly other mothers) is that after working  an 8-10 hour day I get home and want to see my little boy smiling, giggling and obeying because that is easier on me.  But being a mom was never supposed to be "easy" and therefore it's a struggle to stay calm, be organized, get out of my work clothes, feed him, bath him, change him, sing and read to him and play with him without saying the dreaded word "no".  I have to remember he has also had a day-good, bad or otherwise.  He also experienced frustrations, fatigue, rules and maybe even counted the minutes until he could be home with his family.  The way he acts at night is different than in the morning as he is tired in the evening and ornery kids are usually a bit more sensitive.  It tests me-oh boy does it test me.  Regardless of the mood I never fail to give him tons of hugs and kisses and thank goodness I do because once he is sleeping I am a big bag of guilt and sadness when I realize that my time with him is done for the night.
I wish he was still awake.
I wish he could snuggle with me for an hour.
I wish I could lay next to him and stare at those precious chubber cheeks, give him as many kisses as I wanted when I can finally relax and un-wind from my day.

That 1-3 hour time frame I have with him at night before he goes to bed is stressful for the whole family and is not what I always want it to be.  I wish I could spend all 1-3 hours on the floor playing, laughing, saying YES, reading books, teaching and singing.  It's something I need to work on-giving him all of me, all my attention.  I know this is what he wants and needs.  Instead it's usually spent trying to make dinner, make phone calls that I can't make while I'm at work, running errands or getting groceries, dealing with the dog, checking the mail, starting the laundry, paying the bills etc (there is NO time to fit in a workout!). The first step for me is identifying that I need to be patient with him.  I'm the grown up-he's the child.  He needs love and I need to give it or I won't sleep.  Looking for some tips...from any mom's who've been in my predicament!


I wonder how many times my mom had to say "No" to me (sorry Grandma Barb!).

Weekend Get Away

Eli and I took a trip this last weekend.  It went FAST. The car ride went SLOWWWW.  But I have to admit, it was successful.  I challenged myself to a trip without Andy.  I wanted to show myself that I could do it.  The trip to my sisters is well over 5 hours.  Maybe 6 if you make a substantial stop along the way.  We arrived by dinnertime on Friday, which was followed by play time and bath time with the cousins.  It was such a special trip for me, because I was one-on-one with Eli the whole weekend.  I worried about things like if he missed his daddy or his dog, how he would nap in Henry's room, why I hadn't thought to pick up some milk, how he would ride in the car and what I would do with him if I had to go to the bathroom during a pit stop.

We both survived and memories were made.
Here are the highlights:

1. Eli slept for 1 hour of the 6 hour ride on the way there.  He took 2 hour long naps on the way home.
2. I loved looking in my rear view mirror into "Eli's mirror" where I could see him during the trip.  He figured out how to pop up his straw in his cup and got so much joy from it!
3. I got a good game of soccer in with Charley!
4. We took the boys to Home Depot and made spice racks. Ed helped Eli with his.  I made mistakes on Charley's.  Ed fixed Charley's.  My sister was a true pregnant woman and stood in the front of the store eating M&M's.  The boys shared a snack on the floor of home depot.
5. My mom, sister, Ed and I enjoyed some gourmet cupcakes.  We voted on the best ones.  The picture below  shows my pregnant sis indulging!

6. My sister made some GREAT meals. YUM.
7. In case you're wondering, Eli stood and held my hands while I used the bathroom-I just didn't want him touching everything!
8. Eli got to hold hands with Aunt Sarah, Cousin Charley and even Uncle Ed!

9. Eli LOVED to play in the yard outside.  He enjoyed the slide, peeking at Grandma at the top of the jungle gym, and running under the deck or to other people's yards.
10. When we got close to home I said to Eli "Do you want to go home and see Daddy?" and he patted his chest SO hard to communicate that "YES PLEASE, I want to see Daddy!".  Melted my heart. Andy was equally as excited to see him.
11. I enjoyed a couple glasses of wine which shows how relaxed I was.
12. I just LOVED watching these boys together!

 (No Ed is NOT watching the tv while in charge of all 3 boys even though it looks like it! haha :))

 13. The boys enjoyed a bath together! 

13. Eli slept really well in Henry's crib!
and....and and and and I feel like the moments could keep going.  I'll leave it at that. Below are more pictures captured from the weekend.

2 E's in a pod ....again

Elliott (left 18 months) and Elijah (right 16 months)

Eli:  Can you believe they are talking about our diaper sizes?

Elliott: I know! For REAL! Would they want US talking about their underwear sizes? I don't think so.

Eli: Well what are you doing tonight?

Elliott: I thought I was hanging with you!  Goin' swimming!

Eli: Oh yeah. Right.  Race ya to the pool?  Wait, I gotta touch your hair first. Love ya cuz!