wildlife

Our friend and neighbor Clifton found a turtle while he was mowing the lawn and brought it over for Elijah to see. Too bad Elijah was bored of it before he even brought it closer to him. So these were the only shots I could get. One of the turtle and one of Elijah looking at it. They did noteven get close enough to get in the same shot.

'mommy come'

Chad bought Elijah a mini ball pit. Needless to say, all I hear from him from inside the ball pit is 'mommy come'. I cannot fit inside it, so I have to play with half of me in it and half of me out of it. It is a spectacle. But he LOVES it, and that is all that matters.

hands on experience

How cute is my kid? Just a shameless statement on the biased opinion I have on my child.

Last weekend, Nana and Poppy wanted to take Elijah on a trip to the Hands On House while Chad and I enjoyed some time alone. It was the first time anyone has taken Elijah somewhere without us! (insert shocked gasp here) But it went very well and the trip was meticulously documented by Nana herself.

Elijah is in complete love with buttons. He pushes any buttons anywhere. At the grocery store, we go to same lady cashier named Debbie every week because she loves Elijah. He knows her name and screams "Debbie" whenever we pull up in her line. She lets him push the buttons on the credit card keypad and showed him the red and green colors so he knows which is which now. I bet next he'll want his own credit card! Yikes!









Making a sandwich with Poppy.....ah, how Elijah loves to be in the kitchen. He loves to mix, that is his favorite thing to do. He has his own little kitchen and uses it often. I hear plastic pots and pans banging, a little voice saying 'Mommy, cook' and 'cook bacon' all coming from the living room while I am cooking in the kitchen. I hope he becomes a chef one day because I am a terrible cook and then maybe he could for me! :)











"I didn't know I was going that fast, officer, I promise! Look at this face....can't I get off with a warning because of my good looks?"

"Man, this frog has some bad breath!"

Great time had by all! Thanks Nana and Poppy!

child labor

My Mothers In Christ bible study at church has been going through a few chapters in our book about being a good homemaker. This is one area where I think I fall short. I would rather wrestle, tickle, run and just plain play with my son rather than clean. This is not good, as the state of our home is orderly to the naked eye, but when you really look deep, those crumbs sitting for days on the floor can be readily seen. So being convicted in this area, I decided to wake up and clean yesterday. The only way I would do it was to involve Elijah so that we could play AND clean all at the same time!

Here, Elijah is sweeping. And before you ask, yes, he is in peguin clad winter pajamas.....it was cold the previous night!
Here is Elijah, still in the penguin pajamas, waiting for me to tickle him on the bed.
And here, Elijah is helping me put the sheets on the bed. After having flannel sheets all winter, Chad was dying for the regular sheets and he got them....though I love flannel all year long. I want to patent a design for sheets that have regular 'feel' on one half and flannel on the other so a husband and wife can both have what they want!
Here he is cleaning with a wipe that he would rather suck on than clean with. As the day went on, it got warmer, so we ditched the penguins and put on a lighter outfit from last season. He is rocking the floods, or as I like to call them 'capris'. Of course his onesie fits fine because he is the SAME WEIGHT as last season just about. Kid won't gain weight......just like his Dad.

And here he is looking under the bed for anything to clean. Nothing there, but picture albums and things not for Elijah. He knows this, but looks anyway. Ah, the curiosity of a toddler. :)

random

Random shots of Eli.......

.....giving a stone garden cat an eskimo kiss

.....playing dress up with Daddy's shirt

......making a wish at the fountain at the mall

.....being such a joy to my life

ode to snl

Ok, I realize that Saturday Night Live was a juggernaut when it came to comedy back in the days of yore. Lately, it seems to have not had the following it used to and understandably so. Some of the skits are not that funny at all. But there are a few gems that make Chad and I DVR the show every Saturday night, just to see if we can uncover a gem. Being parents of a toddler who wakes up at the crack of dawn and still doesn't sleep through the night explains the need to DVR the show instead of staying up that late watch it.

Most of the skits we enjoy include Kristen Wiig and Andy Samberg. Wiig is such a funny woman and nails comedic timing as well as the characters she plays. Samberg and his Digital Shorts are weird genius. So maybe watching some of the below clips will help in seeing why we still watch this show. But you be the judge, because maybe we are too sleep deprived to know what funny is these days! :)

Mom Jeans (fake commercial)
http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/video/play.shtml?mea=229048

Digital Short: Roy Rules
http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/video/play.shtml?mea=94842

Surprise Party (hang in there to the end, it is funny, a la Chris Farley)
http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/video/play.shtml?mea=237294

Annuale (fake commercial)
http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/video/play.shtml?mea=221774

Digital Short: Iran
http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/video/play.shtml?mea=169811

Googly Eyes (Christpher Walken is awesome!)
http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/video/play.shtml?mea=237389

Digital Short: Punched before Eating
http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/video/play.shtml?mea=166786

explore

Elijah found a leaf yesterday. And about 5 seconds after this picture was taken, he ate it. Leaves have fiber, right? :) The kid won't eat fruit or vegetables, but will eat crunchy dead leaves.

Yesterday was fun. It was a little brisk, but it was nice to test out our new picnic table (thanks to craigslist!) and color outside in God's green pasture! Well, our backyard is not so much a pasture as it is a high grade hill, but it works for the purpose of having fun.

It is crazy to me to look att he below picture because Elijah looks so big. In terms of height, he has always been above 90th percentile, but I mean big in terms of looking more like a boy instead of a toddler. He is growing faster than the blink of an eye.....and I need to appreciate every stage because someday, he will be gone, off to find his own way, with a wife and children of his own. He won't need me anymore, but instead, I will need him.

Here he is relaxing on our hill, watching me kick his 'Go Deigo Go' ball. It is so funny what emotions a cartoon character on a ball will evoke. This is his favorite ball, yet I don't think he has ever seen the show. He can say 'Deigo' too.....go figure.

And this is Elijah's reaction when asked where Mommy is. Even though it was cool, the sun warmed us and protected us from the brisk wind.

busy, busy, busy

Busy weekend to say the least! Too much to type, so I will illustrate with pictures. Enjoy!

31

I am 31 years old today. To some, I am ancient. To others, I am still a child. Here are some good quotes I found about age. Hope you enjoy them!


An archaeologist is the best husband a woman can have. The older she gets the more interested he is in her. -Agatha Christie

I don't feel old. I don't feel anything till noon. That's when it's time for my nap. -Bob Hope

When grace is joined with wrinkles, it is adorable. There is an unspeakable dawn in happy old age. -Victor Hugo

After thirty, a body has a mind of its own. -Bette Midler

Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter. -Mark Twain

How incessant and great are the ills with which a prolonged old age is replete. -C.S. Lewis

And lastly, one of my favorites:

As we grow old…the beauty steals inward. -Ralph Waldo Emerson

bedhead

simon says....

Saturday, Chad and I went out on a date to celebrate my birthday a few days early. We went to a restaurant called On the Brandywine at the Simon Pearce glassblowing facility. This restaurant was very fancy schmancy. Chad was a little nervous being the picky eater that he is, but he tried new food and actually liked it. I wasn't surprised because the food was really incredible. It was very $$, but oh so good.

They had a beautiful display with information about glassblowing. We also watched a short video of how Simon Pearce came to the United States and how he created two glassblowing facilities, on in West Chester and one in Vermont. It also illustrated the process of blowing glass and that was very interesting to me.

Of course the one picture we had the waitress took of us is dim.....but we had a wonderful view of the Brandywine River. But this view and great table was only ours because we got there at senior citizen time: exactly when it opened @ 5:30. :) After dinner, we tried to take a few funny pictures, but of course the one funny picture I am in, I actually look like I am seriously reading a display. I can't be funny in a picture, it is impossible. :(

Now Chad on the other hand.....well, he is little more brave in the funny department. One of the waitresses saw us taking these pictures and was laughing. At us or with us, not too sure. :)

All in all, as my sister in law always says, I highly recommend this restaurant! :)

say what?

The development of a toddler's ever evolving language is fascinating to me. It goes from silence, to babbling, to the beginning/end of words, to whole words, to two words, and then multiple words all in 2 years time. Through all of this, there is the stage that Mommies go through too: 'word deciphering'. In this stage, I hear Elijah say a word and I know it is an actual word he is trying to say and not just babbling because he is repeating it over and over. And I stand there, listening so intently, trying to figure out what it could be.

So I thought I would share some of Elijah's words in which some were tough to decipher. Maybe you will have better luck than I did! Elijah's words, phonetically spelled, are below and the actual words are further down the post. Have fun!

1. owl-whitey

2. hep-peas

3. hot-tee

4. jooj

5. oo-oo-ah-ah

6. mee

7. doh

8. moat

9. noise

10. meths

1. owl-whitey = alrighty
2. hep-peas = help please
3. hottee = hot tea
4. jooj = George (aka Curious George)
5. oo-oo-ah-ah = monkey
6. mee = cat (his attempt at 'meow')
7. doh = dog
8. moat = remote (aka remote control)
9. noise = nose
10. meths = mess

I love my freaking kid. :)

puc

The rocks are still a favorite for Elijah, however, he has taken a new liking to a measuring cup. For the longest time, he would refer to any cup as 'puc'. He has recently said it correctly, but I miss the Elijah way of saying it....... So here he is eating some turkey bacon with the puc in his hand the whole time. :)