asleep

Lately, we at the DeBolt household have been experimenting with not putting Eli down for a nap. You see, it takes him forever and a day to get to sleep at his normal bedtime of 8:00. So instead of moving his bedtime to later in the night, we decided to try this omission of a nap to see how it worked out. Newsflash....it is not working out.

The sleep deprived tantrums are terribly frightening. Just today I was blessed with a tantrum at Walmart that lasted 15 minutes and rivaled that of John McEnroe in his glory days. And, if we get in the car to go anywhere in the afternoon, by mile 2, he is out cold.

Case in point, the other day we drove to the corner store less than 2 miles from our house. He made it there without falling asleep. I picked up a few necessities and let him get a lollipop. When I pulled into the driveway and got out to get him out of the car, this is what I found:

If you look closely, you can see that his lollipop is still in his hand, barely licked. You can even still see the ring around the middle.

After I took these pictures, I got him out of the car and he quietly walked to the door with his cup in hand and sat on the doorstep. I went to get Evie out of the car and saw something that I tried to record. The below is as much as I got, but it basically is Eli falling asleep on the doorstep! Get this kid some sleep, STAT!

updates

-Weight Loss......this is going sloooooooowly. It has been 3 weeks now. Chad's poundage goes down and then up and then down again by a few pounds. Mine has been going down consistently, but super slow. My knee has been hurting again, so the doc told me stop running and to do the elliptical machine for a while instead. I watch movies while I work out and it helps the time go so much faster.

-Great TV Turn Off....this has been going well. It is a bit stressful, as my child has so much energy, it is exhausting! But, it is nice to play together more and even Evangeline gets in on the play. Now that she is bigger, she is a bit more roughhouse-able. Also, I began doing some lessons with Eli. We call them projects. We did the first one and Eli not only was excited for it, he loved doing it! And just ask him what sound an A makes...he will proudly tell you. So all in all, who needs TV???? Wellllll, lets not go that far. :)

-Elijah....is growing up too fast! He turns three years old in less than 2 months!!! AND, he starts preschool next month. My sweet baby is a little boy. He is such a bundle of energy and difficult to keep up with, but he keeps me on my toes. He will start soccer classes again in September (thanks to Nana and Poppy), so he will love that! He still loves all sports and his basket of balls grows bigger by the day. He is making progress on the potty training front, but his stubbornness is really showing itself. True to his age, he is really starting to exert his control. Example:

Daddy: Eli, do you want to go potty?

Eli: No.

Daddy: Ok.

(10 seconds later)

Eli: I want to go POTTY!!

As you can see, it has to be Eli's idea for him to go potty....sounds like my husband.....hates being told what to do. :) And we are probably going to get his hair trimmed because it is getting out of control. But we do like it long.

Evangeline.....chunky monkey! I never thought I could love rolls as much as I love hers. She is such a joy. She is 3 and a half months old. I stare at her every day and just sigh in awe. She is my beauty. I was concerned that I may not have been as enamored with Eli as I am with her, but Chad reassured me that I was, and then some. She loves to be tickled and even just smiled at. She likes movement....we will be in the car at a stoplight and she will cry until we move again. She falls asleep while I rock her vigorously...I am talking whiplash rocking, or while walking around with her. The time between her bowel movements has only increased. It has now been two weeks since she had one and she is fussy as ever. We went to the doctor AGAIN and apparently I have low residue breastmilk and he has very absorbent intestines so between the two of those things, she never goes. All in all, she is a happy baby.

Us....anniversary!! On Friday we will celebrate 5 years of wedded bliss.....ok, wedded bliss is a bit of an exaggeration. :) Chad's parents are coming to watch the kids while we go play and celebrate. Not sure what to do yet based on our monetary situation, but it may include seeing a movie and smuggling food into the theatre from WaWa like the days of yore, yore being 5 years ago. :)

collage

hmmmm

Why can I not get enough of my little Evie Girl?

playdate

This is the aftermath of a wrestling playdate with Foster Weldon.

advice

In these tough economic times, money has been tight around the DeBolt household. My husband, bless his heart, is working so hard and generating so many ideas to come up with ways he can add to our income....his income actually, since I am a stay at home mom.



Being a SAHM, I feel helpless. I want to add to our family's income in a way that doesnt take me away too long from my children. My dear friend Angie sews and creates delectable baby items such as bibs, blankets and burp cloths. Another friend named Stef crafts beautiful hair bows for little darling little girls. Another friend Susan has her own children's photography business.



I have come to find that there are not professional klutz, vice president of worrying, or flakiness representative positions available anywhere. So I decided to take inventory of the things I am both interested in and somewhat good at doing.....the only thing I could come up with is photography.



Photographers need inspiration and mine was (and still is) my son Elijah. Little does he know, he sparked a passion in me. I never really cared too much about taking photos, but when he was born, he unearthed this hidden place in my heart that desired photography! After never really being inspired to do or work at anything in my life as far as hobbies go, photography has changed my life. I am constantly looking for ways to change light on my subjects, ways to edit pictures in different and extraordinary ways, changing perspectives by getting down and dirty under swings, in water from high above. I become like a little girl on Christmas Eve when I snap a good photo. I treasure it, share it and stare at it for so long that it is embarrassing to admit. After all my 32 years on earth, I finally have a passion. And I want to use it for the sake of providing something for my family.



My question is, how? How can I use photography as a means to make money for our family? Here are some thoughts that were swimming around in my head.



-creating a business replicating Anne Geddes-like portraits focusing mainly on photos taken of subjects from birth to 1 year.

-taking photos and selling them online to stock photo places

-frame pictures I take and try to sell them at craft fairs, farmer's markets, etc.



I have not researched any of these ideas yet and am not even sure if they are doable. I do want to learn Photoshop before I start anything, plus Evie needs to get a little bigger as I can't be away from her too long because I am nursing. But I wanted to put these ideas out there in order to show what I am thinking about and hopefully get your imagination going to give me more ideas to use photography as a means to make money.



Any ideas???? Anything at all????? Please post in the comments section or email me!

biased

Isn't she lovely?

storytime

The Fork Fairy

By: Chad and Denise DeBolt

Once upon a time, there was a little boy named Eli. He loved to play with his fork during dinner. But playing with a fork is very dangerous and his Mommy and Daddy told him not to play, but to eat with it. Eli did not listen and continued to play with his fork. He put it down for just a second and then turned to see it was missing!

"Where's my fork?" asked Eli.
"The Fork Fairy took it! Didn't you see her?" said Mommy.
"The Fork Fairy?!!?!?? What's a Fork Fairy?" asked Eli.
Daddy answered, "The Fork Fairy takes forks away from kids that play with their forks. She does this because it is dangerous to play with your fork. You could hurt someone, or yourself."
"Can I have it?" asked Eli.
"When kids say that they won't play with their fork anymore, she gives it back to them. Are you going to play with your fork anymore?" asked Daddy.
"No, I won't Daddy."

Just then, the fork reappeared JUST where it had gone missing!

"MY FORK!", Eli said. "The Fork Fairy gave it back!!!"

And then Eli continued to eat his chicken nuggets. You would think he learned his lesson and never played with his fork again....you would be wrong.

Moral of the story: Crazy stories like the fork fairy don't help your kid behave. :)

television

Experiment: The Great TV Turn Off of 2009

Visiting with a dear friend, who unbeknownst to her always seems to ground me, the subject of television came up. I asked her how much television she lets her daughter watch. She began by saying 30 to 60 minutes.....and I thought, wow, 30 to 60 minutes a day is really good...but then she continued to say it was actually 30 to 60 minutes a WEEK! Wow. She is my hero.

I won't admit how much time our television is actually on and Eli has never sat through an entire show, as he plays the whole time. But nevertheless, I feel that it is on too much. Growing up, the television was always on in our house. And while in college and ever since, the television has a lulling effect for me just as background noise, let alone actually watching it. But with the commercials and their empty promises of the perfect everything, plus the scary images that adults may not think are scary, but Eli does, I have decided to drastically limit his television watching.

This is not to say that televison is from the devil. Any show Eli watches is educational and he has learned a ton (especially from Little Einsteins and their hieroglyphs!). In fact, you are hard pressed to find something for children that does not have educational value....very different from the days of Gummi Bears, Smurfs and Strawberry Shortcake. But I.....myself.....me.....I was feeling convicted about it long before my conversation with my friend. God used the conversation to slap me around a little and it worked.

So The Great TV Turn Off started on Monday and has been going well. Eli gets a smidge of programming in the morning and a smidge at night. There are tough times because Eli wants me to play with him all of the time and I feel a little stressed having to also be with Evie and thus pulled in two different directions. But there are more wonderful times, because Eli and I talk more, laugh more and so far, it is a blessing.

eviegirl

What little talker our Evangeline is becoming! She coos and screams excitedly all of the time! Her cries are even little screams of frustration more than actual crying.

She is grabbing and batting at things like crazy. She grabs onto blankets and falls asleep that way often, when she is not swaddled. She even grabs her dresses and lifts them up, which is a habit I hope she grows out of before long!

Evie doesn't like tummy time for very long. She loves to be held, as most babies do. Chad thinks I am spoiling her, but babies are born to be held, in my opinion. How else can we convey love? :)

She is one chunky monkey and we LOVE every inch of her rolls! Look at these things!!

Smiles are given out easily now, as she loves to smile at even the mundane. I cannot wait to see her grow, communicate more and become a little lady!

,

goofy

beethoven

poolside

slinging

act

How important is love to a child?

This post is dedicated to the most wonderful, giving, creative, smart, funny, loyal friends ever. They are the Weldons: Angie, Clint and their sons Foster and Rowan.


They are friends of Chad and mine and if they were not our friends, Chad and I would never have met, gotten married, or had our two lovely children. We were in each other's wedding parties, our children are great friends and wrestling buddies AND the best part is, we are still friends and very close after many years!

The Weldons are a family of 4 trying to be a family of 5 by adopting a little girl from China. Their passion for China and the people that live there is so inspiring. I remember Angie telling me that as she visited an orphanage there and seeing the dilapidated conditions, plethora of children and too little workers to care for them, that she would one day rescue one of these children and call her her own. Though the cost of adoptions is astronomical, this has not stopped the Weldons from pursuing their rescue, pursuing their dream to have their little girl.

Please, please help our dear friends, bring their little girl home. Please read here to see how: http://clintandangieweldon.blogspot.com/2009/08/home-study-wii-style.html. Follow their journey on their adoption blog Invest Love Invent Hope which can be clicked on to the right of this post.

Love, Denise