two girls, a guy and a tornado chaser

roller coaster

2012-02-19T20:58:00.001-05:00

Ah, the joys of being a parent. This is me most nights.

I am the mom of two small children. But my two keep me busy, that is for sure. There have been some rough days and nights. A baby awake 5-10 times a night to nurse for months? I will quote the Staples commercial and say....yeah, we got that. Monumentus, severely embarrassing tantrums?   You bet your bippy. Being pregnant and in the middle of trying on clothes when my two year old escapes the dressing room and runs away? Yep.  Having two children at my feet crying and hanging on me while I am trying to fix dinner? Of course. Seeing my two year old yell "NO!" at my me when I tell her to sit in time out? Oh yessiree. I could go on for days.

Then there are good days. Dance parties in the family room. Screaming with excitement when my son scores a goal. More trips to Longwood Gardens than you can count on both hands and both feet. Family book reading nights in bed. Child prayers. Preschool teacher praising my child's great knowledge of God and faith. Weeks at the beach playing and swimming. This list could go on more than days.

But I do struggle with two children to raise. It is hard. A few months ago, I went into a depression, a funk. I got some counseling from an AMAZING Christian woman at my church. She taught me that life is all about perspective. Easy enough, right? If I dwell on the things on earth that cause me to struggle, it will sink me fast. Worry about my kids' futures, condemning myself as a mother, wife, human being. If I dwell on those bad things, it will cause my heart and mind to go into a deep, dark, hopeless place. For example, there was a time when I watched the show "I Survived' on the Biography channel. Crazy real life show about people telling stories about the crazy stuff that happened to them when they almost died.....think of the most terrible fear you have (home invasions, shootings, abductions, etc.) and these people lived through it and for some reason it was fascinating to me. Because of watching this show, I noticed that I started to become more fearful, worried and tense. Chad had to make me stop watching it. I was filling my mind with these stories of terrible things and my mind became consumed with it and I became fearful.  switch the topic to Pinterest. It is cool, but I do not pin anything having to do with crazy cool gigantic houses or crafts I can't do because I will covet, not be content and beat myself up that I am not as crafty as I should be. I see families of more than four and it makes me a little sad because I want one more child, even though I cannot handle the two I've got! But another child isn't in the cards for us. The point is, be careful what you fill your mind with, what you are looking at on television and online. This is when faith needs to step in.

"Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb is a reward." -Psalm 127:3

I have two AMAZING children. I am bias, of course, but I still feel that way. These children of mine are a reward. I don't have to raise them, I get to raise them. I have a boy and a girl, they are healthy and happy (and adorably cute!). The above verse is hope for me. Tough days, shmough days. My perspective shouldn't be worldly, comparing myself and family to others. My children are awesome and a incomparable gift from God. I am thankful EVERY DAY for them. Constantly in fact. God gave them to me and He doesn't make mistakes so I am meant to have them and to raise them.

"And He said unto me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness..." -2 Corinthians 12:9a

If I turn my perspective to Jesus, He will be my strength when I am weak. A few months ago, boy was I weak. But I learned if I keep filling my mind with God's promises to me and praying to Him for strength, He will give it to me and he has. The bible is filled with God's promises to us and it sits there, waiting to be opened...devoured. Instead of filling my mind with things that will make me fearful, I needed to fill it with things that make me hopeful!

After all that craziness, I have one last thing to share: children are a roller coaster. Some people don't have children nor want them.  I know a few people in that category. But however you choose to live, children are a wild ride and we need to enjoy it! There are days when I feel like I have to step back and remind myself to enjoy it. But I know I will be one of those old ladies that stops a young mom and tells her to enjoy every minute because those days will be gone forever in a heartbeat, a blink. I am sitting here with tears in my eyes just thinking about it because I don't want my kids to grow up. But they will and they do. Some of the hardest days of my life so far have been because of or with my children and those days have challenged me, taught me a lot about myself and how selfish I am. Before kids, I judged that mom in the store with her tantrum throwing kid. After kids, I feel for her. My heart breaks for her. Because I am her. Hair disheveled, wearing sweats, no make up, bags under my eyes. But I wouldn't have it ANY OTHER WAY.

Here is a clip from a movie called Parenthood. It was made in the 80's and now that I am parent, I now get a lot of the humor and heart. But my favorite scene is this one at the end of the movie. Sums up parenthood pretty nicely....and wait for the end, because it is funny.

glow sticks + bathtub

2012-01-04T19:42:00.000-05:00

Thank you Pinterest for the idea of glow sticks in the bathtub. Instant hit with the kids and I had a blast photographing! Still want to photograph more and experiment more. :)

oozing joy

2012-01-04T19:34:00.000-05:00

hmmm...kinda wondering if she likes her new music box. :)

fuzzy bear

2012-01-01T19:30:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago, it was Eli's turn to take Fuzzy Bear home from his preschool class. Fuzzy Bear, or FB as his friends call him, is very cool. We took him everywhere we went and documented the great times we had. Eli took him to his soccer game and FB watched from the sidelines and cheered him on.

FB likes to snuggle so when Eli was playing his game, Evie held him and kept him company. We had some good times with FB.

He told the funniest jokes! But people aren't perfect and neither are bears, apparently.

FB had to sit in many time outs for getting to rough. But he always said sorry and Eli always forgave him. When FB wasn't in a time out, we played a game of hide and seek too!

FB was a great hider...we could never find him! And when we did find him, he was sooooo popular that Eli and Evie both wanted to play with him and we almost lost FB to a nasty tug of war injury!

But FB was a tough bear and we said goodbye to him until he could get a washing from Mrs. Ruth and then to his next friend's house!

*Can you tell a tornado of toys ripped through our house while we were simultaneously watching an Eagles game? :)

oh the places we go...nov and dec

2012-01-01T19:19:00.000-05:00

Thanksgiving class concert at Eli's preschool.

Last day of soccer as a Purple Dragon!

We witnessed the marriage of Chad's friend of tens of years Chris and his bride Rachel.

Crazy fun wedding!

The Stare at Longwood Gardens.

Lots of friend birthdays in the fall, this one including adults getting beat up the kids who liked it!

Hurricane machine, hoooooooo!!!

Eli and one of his best buds Brody.

Eli and one of his other best buds Ryder.

Glenn's birthday party...after bouncing nonstop for two hours, they look exhausted, but they rocked it.

The kids got to hold Percy and Thomas at Longwood and were thrilled! Thomas is to our kids as Justin Beiber is to a prepubescent girl.

Longwood love.

Can you see me taking the photo?

Christmas concert at Hopewell. These three have known each other since they were 15 months old!

Some cookie action after the concert.

oh the places we go....october

2011-12-20T20:37:00.000-05:00

complete and utter ramblings of a strung out woman

2011-12-07T20:08:00.000-05:00

angel tree....what an awesome idea! give gifts to kids who have parents in prison. they must have it hard and the tag from the angel tree instructions says that they wouldn't have a christmas if it weren't for us giving. so i took a tag off the tree and it was from patricia who was 12 years old and asked for a bible and a concordance. not an ipod, not a toy...a bible. amazing. puts things in perspective. know what else puts things in perspective? when i think the date to hand in the gifts is on dec 9th when it is actually dec 4th and on dec 5th, i realize this and have no gift yet. i was racked with guilt and sadness and my stomach was in knots...little patricia is going to have no christmas because i am a freaking bonehead. luckily there were other boneheads that forgot too so i rushed out and got little patricia her gifts.

facebook.....lordy lordy i have a love.hate relationship with it. i love hearing updates on friends and family and it has connected me with so many people i wouldn't ordinarily see or be in contact with. plus, it is a means of communication for me and friends. BUT, i feel like i get sucked into a trap....the trap of who is better than me...at mothering, at wifedom, at being a human being. i compare myself to everyone and leave facebook daily thinking i suck at life. my fault completely, but a trap i fall into and i want to leave facebook behind.

clothes....just to tell everyone i know who has seen me multiple times in the last few months, yes....i do know i wear the same black yoga pants pretty much every day (i have multiple pairs). it is because i no longer fit in my jeans and pants (they fall off my flat butt) and i refuse to buy any that are my current size because my current size will be bigger come the holidays. i have a weakness for holiday cookies....i admit it. give me some snowball cookies and i have ZERO self control. i don't even remember eating them or who i am afterwards. it is a sin...literally, it is called gluttony and admit fully to it.

age....when the heck did i get to be 34? how in the world did that possibly happen? and how in the world did it become uncool to dance the night away to 'footloose' at a wedding? 34 years old. the sad part is, when i see old people try to do stuff they can't do anymore because of their oldness, i realize that is me! i laugh when chad tries to fit into tiny hiding places when we play hide and seek with the kids, but really...in my head, i still feel 18 years old too! i just need to embrace the wrinkles, the mom jeans, the awkward dancing....all of it.

evolution....i don't believe in it. call me crazy. evolutionists say that we came from a big bang in space. by chance. a tiny single cell organism came to be human beings over millions of years. that would mean there is no creator. matter must be eternal. there is not purpose to life, only coincidences. i just can't buy into that. i believe there is a creator, and that is God. i believe God does have a purpose for my life, for every one's life. i believe that He gave us His only Son to die on the cross for our sins and that leads us to heaven to be with God and Jesus. I believe that God protected eli when i was pregnant and almost lost him. i believe that God wants to me to be home with my children even if that means being poor. i believe that i want His plan for my life because He sees all and knows all and knows what is best for me. i believe i was created and knit together in my mother's womb for a purpose, not by chance, not by coincidence and not my mistake. call me crazy.

ok, enough of my ramblings....

Photography: The Mazurick Family

2011-11-08T20:23:00.000-05:00

My parents have WONDERFUL friends and one of the many are the Traub's. They are the kind of people that would drop anything and everything to come help if you said you needed something. Their daughter, Kelly and her family just moved to the area and asked me to photograph them so naturally I was delighted to oblige! Their two children were most happy frolicking in the grass, throwing leaves, admiring the animals and loving the outdoors. Mazurick family, hope you enjoy the preview! Hope to see you again soon!

Photography: Declan

2011-10-19T21:31:00.000-04:00

I have a 5 year old and a 2.5 year old, so I know what it is like to run around after them. But it is different when a child has just turned 1 year old and walking/running is your newest skill! Declan was curious and fast so I had to be on my toes. But seriously...his face loves the camera. Not only is he handsome, he smiles at my camera as if it was at his mama. Hope you enjoy your preview, O'Connor family!

5 years flies by

2011-10-13T20:53:00.000-04:00

Photography: The Ratcliffe Family

2011-10-10T21:20:00.000-04:00

I met this woman almost 3 years ago. We dropped our firstborn boys off in their preschool for the first time and we wept and stayed outside the classroom for while... We also would come early to pick up our sons and peep through the crack in the door to see how they were doing....can you imagine walking into the building and seeing two moms, side by side, peering into the crack of a door while holding our squirming daughters? Felt a little a crazy, but we didn't care. Fast forward to now and Jen and I still talk and laugh about those days. Now our boys run into class, sometimes together and love each other and their friends. Jen is an amazing mother and wife (and decorator!), but she is one of the most modest and humble people I have ever known. And if you know me, I love to laugh and boy, does she make me laugh! Jen, you are truly a friend that I can see growing old with, laughing together and supporting one another. I hope you enjoy these photos! P.S. Your family ROCKS! Love each and every one of them!

So it started with these two crazy kids....

...plus this superhero loving boy...

...plus this rough and tumble girl...

...plus this constantly happy cutie...

...and you get this amazing family.

back in the saddle...or cleats.

2011-09-26T20:57:00.000-04:00

When Eli broke his arm, he was sad about many things and one of which was missing soccer. He really loves to play soccer...I mean REALLY. So for the first game, he donned his purple jersey and cheered his team on from the sidelines. He got to participate in the huddle, snacks and high fiving the opposing team, so that made him happy. When he got half of his cast cut off last week, he was pumped to play in his first game.
It was very comical (and a little cringe inducing) listening to Chad and I try to figure out how the bubble wrap should go around and how tight to pull it. And oh the deicisons about which kind to get...the small bubbles, the large bubbles, etc. As you can see below, it is wrapped tight!

I took the kids to the game and we were of course late and the gas light had been on for a while, but I ignored it as I typically do. (side note: I despise getting gas...it is such a interruption to me and my day....haha). As soon as we arrived, the coach pulled him right into the game and boy, was he ready!

However within 5 minutes, he took a fall right onto his broken arm (see video below). If you listen, you can hear the bubble tape pop....so the bubble tape not only helps to soften the blow of a forearm ot the face, but also cushions a crazy kid's fall on his broken arm. :)

He came out of the game in tears, but within a minute he wanted back in the game. Other than that, he had a BLAST! Always wanting to get in the game. After the first goal he scored, he ran around, arms outstretched yelling, "GOOOOOOOAL!!!". The coach's husband leans over to me and says sarcastically "Oh he doesn't watch professional soccer at all, does he?" :)

He is so glad to be back in his cleats and out there doing something that broken arm had kept him from, but not anymore! And we really love EBYA! They have been really understanding of Eli's broken arm.

And who can forget about Eviegirl. She cheered Eli on, as she is very supportive of her big bro. She wanted to rock her new rain boots, thanks to Nana.

Here is a goal that Eli shot below. Can't wait to see the joy on his face this weekend again!

Photography: The Amos Family

2011-09-21T20:20:00.000-04:00

On Saturday, I was BLESSED to be able to meet the Amos family. A few months ago, they brought home their new daughter from China and she is the epitome of sweetness. This family was the most joyful, sweet, patient and gorgeous family. God has blessed them immensely and I was privledged to not only have met them, but also to have photographed them. Hope you enjoy the sneak peek of your photos, Amos family!

in the life of a broken armed kid

2011-09-19T16:19:00.000-04:00

So it has been almost 17 days since Eli broke his arm. It took about 2 days for Eli to go from in-too-much-pain-to-move to forgetting he even has a cast. The doctor told us this would happen. In most ways, we are thrilled that he isn't letting his cast get him down.

He can't ride his bike.
He can't jump off of the coffee table, stairs.
He can't bounce on his bed.
He can't do the monkey bars.
He can't use the bathroom without help.
He can't even climb a ladder or wrestle with Daddy like he used to.

These are things that may get a kid down, but not Eli. Random people ask all of the time how he broke his arm. His answer: "I fell off of a toy hippopotamus.". He sees the humor in it all.

Speaking of humor, at Chick Fil A last week Eli had to use the bathroom so Chad assisted. And on their way back to the play area, two elderly ladies remarked to each other about Eli's broken arm and wondering how it happened. At that same moment, Eli tripped over his own feet and almost wiped out completely and at this one of the ladies said "Oh, now I see!" Eli's teacher has told me he has fallen on his cast numerous times...the kid is a wild man...a klutzy one, but a wild one.

Soccer started with his first game this past Saturday. Chad took the kids (I had a photo session) and Eli donned his purple (yes, purple...like he isn't mistaken for a girl enough!) soccer jersey and cheered his team on excitedly from the sidelines. Thursday he gets his cast cut down and then he can play...but it needs to be wrapped up in something soft lest a unknowing opposite team member gets knocked out during the game. As our friend Clint suggested, we are trying on oven mits. If that doesn't work, we'll do bubble wrap.

But as we are going through all of this, it really puts things in perspective. That is what it is all about: perspective. It is an arm. It could have been a leg...much worse than an arm. But it was an arm. Someone I didn't even know, but through Facebook got to read about and follow, had his daughter die of a brain tumor last week. She was 4. I couldn't help, but to put myself in that family's shoes. But it was an arm. And I am thankful it was just an arm.

Putting things in perspective helps me to not mind so much when I have to lift Eli into the car and my back gives out. Or when he climbs into bed with us in the wee hours of the morning and his cast knocks me in the face. Or when I have to clean up the one handed soap mess after he washes his one good hand. All of that means he is still here, the cast is temporary and it is only a season of life. :)

prayer

2011-09-19T15:44:00.000-04:00

Eli's prayer from a while back that I had to post....

I have been trying to teach Eli to appreciate things and people and to be humble. I explained and try to model through prayer how thankful and content we should be for what we have because many people have much less. And this is Eli's prayer:

"God, thank you for Mommy. She is so beautiful, so nice, so caring, fantastic, so graceful. Thank you for Daddy. He is so handsome and so fun. Thank you for our house because most people in live in cars....right mommy??"

summer videos...just the cute or funny ones

2011-09-12T21:41:00.001-04:00

Here are a few videos that I thought were either cute or funny. This first one is from Longwood Gardens. We were waiting for the fountain show and the kids were just playing around when they got a bit of a scare. :)

This video melts my heart!!! Eli went to Vacation Bible School at our church for the first time and I have never seen him more excited about something ever. They sang the same songs all week and also gave out a CD of the songs. Saying that this CD is on heavy rotation in our car even still is an understatement. But Eli lip syncing and doing the motions is priceless. My favorite part is when he does 'store your treasures in heaven...' and he puts his little hands in his heart!!! Are you kidding me!?! Makes me cry every time.

So since the songs are forever playing in our car, Evie watches Eli do the movements and she has learned some of them too!! She loves the songs just as much as Eli and here she is doing her movements to the song too! I especially love her trying to lip sync as well. She is treasure for me!

This last one is of Chad suprising Eli with the fact that he was bringing him to his first Philadelphia Unioin soccer game. We didn't tell him until right before they had to leave and needless to say, he was happy!

wild and crazy summer

2011-09-12T21:28:00.000-04:00

Our summer....I basically blogged about nothing because we were so busy and...well....I was so tired. :( But I do have photographic evidence that we did a lot of fun stuff. See below for the shenanigans. :)

This is from our dear friend Foster's AWESOME birthday party! Sports were involved and that is always an automatic winner as far as Eli is concerned. Foster's grandmother taught a mini tennis clinic and the kids were all about it.

Best buds.

Look at that concentration!

Even Evie got in on the party when painting was involved.

For a week, Eli did a sports camp. Every day they would do different sports and again, Eli was in his GLORY! On either end of this line were sibling camp crashers Addelyn and Evie. They just wanted to be a part of the fun.

Eli got his certificate and an award for being Best Listener...which I was highly suspect of since oddly enough he never gets that award at home. :)

Eli also was able to attend his first Philadelphia Union soccer game with Daddy.

According to Chad, he loved it, but he did get bored after the popcorn ran out....takes after Mommy in that regard. No food, no fun. :)

We also got out to the Elmwood Park Zoo with friends. I like this zoo because it isn't in Philly and I don't have to brave the highly trafficked roads like 76/476/95/0358-358...I have no idea how to even to get to Philly and that is fine with me.

See? They do love each other at times....even when those times are coached and posed by yours truly.

We went to the United Sports Training Center for the 4th of July. They had a golf clinic, moonbounces, games, etc.

We watched the fireworks from the back of our car and had perfect seats. See if you can spot Eli in this photo and also notice how they are in their PJ's already. I am THAT mom. :)

Be amazed.

We also did a ton of swimming at swim lessons and in my parents' pool. Evie just launches off the side with no dear whatsoever. It is remarkable.

Water fight...Chad is so in trouble and had NO idea what is going to hit him.

I went to my first ever baseball game! My in laws (thanks!!!!) graciously paid for and sent Chad and I with Chad's sister to a game and it was fun, though it was insanely hot. The Phillies destroyed whatever team they played!

Brother and sister.

Then it was BEACH TIME! We had a great week at Sea Isle City, again thanks to my Mom and Dad!

Nathan and Eli did the tilt a whirl......

...and all Eli wanted to do was hurl.

This happened organically! I didn't even make them hold hands! :)

Family fun at a park in Sea Isle!

The boys/men like to play on the diving board....this is the 'side leg lift' pose.

This is the
'stink bug on it's back' pose

This is the 'belly button' pose.

I got a coupon through Living Social for the Franklin Institute so we ventured there. They were playing a Storm Chasers movie on the Imax so we HAD to see that!

Evie liked the watch the perpetual golf balls going through tunnels and ramps.

One of Eli's favorite Union players, Danny Mwanga, stopped by and posed for a photo...he likes to stay in soccer player character in dress and in pose. :)

And watch out for the Eagles player there that likes to douse 2 year olds with gatorade.

Lots of bubble blowing at Longwood Gardens and lots of Evie popping every one.

Visiting with Nanny...Eli my cuddler was loving her.

Lots of baby feeding....

And I will leave you with a magic act performed by Chad the Great! The leaf is suspended in mid air...or is it?!?!? :)

it was only a matter of time....

2011-09-08T21:07:00.000-04:00

On Thursday, exactly a week ago, Chad and I were talking about our crazy, awesome Eli. Chad said that he was surprised that Eli hadn't broken a bone yet with the crazy ways he moves and how active he is. Boys are active and crazy and Eli is no exception. Little did we know...

The next day, I met my friend Christine at Kerr park and our kids were playing, as usual. We've been to Kerr park numerous times and it is one our favorites. I happened to look over to see Eli sliding halfway down a curvy slide only to jump off and hold onto the side of the slide, yelling something and then dropping to the ground. I didn't flinch at all because that is typical Eli. He ran off, played with his buddy, met a new kid and they were all playing together as I talked to my friend. It was a great morning.

Then I heard a scream from Eli. When I turned around, he was on the ground next to the plastic hippo climber they have there that is no more than 3 feet from the ground. FYI, Eli is my dramatic, emotional one that screams the same when he is in serious danger or when he stubs his toe. So I walked over to him thinking it would be an easy consoling and when he got up, I breathed out heavily the words 'oh my goodness', eyes bulging, stomach turned. His arm was good from his shoulder to the middle of his forearm, but the middle is where it jutted up (yes, I said up!) by a 45 degree angle. I knew in the split second that I looked at it that it was broken. Typically I would have flipped the freak out! But I was calm, for Eli because if I was a frantic madwoman like I felt inside, he would react the same. I used my hand to try the best I could to splint his arm, scooped him up, asked my dear friend to get Evie for me and we walked calmly to the car. Eli wasn't screaming, but he was crying and he knew something was very wrong.

The drive to the hospital was excruciating for Eli, but he didn't scream. He complained and cried, which broke my heart, but I was able to talk to him and pray with him and ask him what color cast he would want. I couldn't get my bearings enough to figure out the quickest route to the hospital so I just drove in that general direction. When we got there, I actually found a close spot near the ER...unimaginable at CCH, so that was God taking care of us for sure. So walking in, I was holding Eli's arm in one hand, holding him in the other and Evie was holding my pinky. I calmly breathed out the words, "I think my son broke his arm...." and the nurse who saw me coming before I even said a word told me, "Yes, you are correct."

Eli was a mess, scared and in pain. It was tough for a mom to see him like that. When he got the pain meds through an IV line, it was smooth sailing for a few hours! When they did the first X-ray, it showed the below....

....this is the side view, thumb up on his right arm. Can you imagine the pain of that for a little dude?? Can you imagine seeing your arm like that? If you look very carefully, you can see the skin and how it must have looked to us. Yikes.

So the lovely, awesome ortho surgeon, Dr. Towsen came in and she said that they would have to do a closed reduction. Chad and I of course were like, huh? She said she had to put him under anesthesia in the operating room and reset the arm and then cast it. When we explained to Eli, he flipped out saying he didn't want to go to sleep, he wanted to stay with us. I was scared too...all the forms we had to sign if something went wrong.....he's just a little dude!! :( But we prayed with Eli numerous times and explained that even though Mommy and Daddy wouldn't be there with him, Jesus would be right next to him. The nurses before the operation were great, even the one that said Eli was beautiful and kept referring to him as a she. I had to let her know that she was actually a he....she felt terrible, but I told her he gets that a lot because of the hair. :) The nurse downstairs had given him a little bear that was donated to the hospital for kids are scared and need a lovey. He was holding onto that thing tight!

We got to see him go partially under the anesthesia and the last thing I saw was him waving his hand in front of his face with a look of amazement...so the drugs were kicking in big time. :)

20 minutes later, he was in recovery, still with his new bear lovey. They woke him up and after being groggy for about 10 minutes, he went into "Denise" mode, asking all kinds of his usual questions about what everything is and does. Then we went up to pediatrics and stayed there for a bit.

One of his nurses up in Peds (I can call it that because I've been there....haha) was the mom of one his Hopewell Christian Preschool friends from last year so that was a nice surprise. Eli likes to tell people how he broke his arm falling off of a hippopotamus. You don't hear that one every day. And you know what you don't get TO DO every day?

That was the highlight of the trip for sure! And all day we had been promising him all this crazy stuff he rarely gets, one of which was McDonalds sweet tea. He wasn't allowed to eat so he hadn't eaten or drank in 9 hours! So we got him McDonalds for dinner and a big old sweet tea. He LOVED it!

When we got the kids to bed, we were exhausted. As I was going through the hospital stuff, I noticed the little bear lovey that Eli brought home.

I happened to see the tag on it said Hopewell, where Eli goes to preschool.

So I read the other tag and it said this:

AMAZING! Brought me to tears. What a great prayer, a great way to show children they are loved by Jesus in their time of need and oh how we did see that during that whole day!! And I cannot say enough incredible things about Hopewell Christian Preschool. Eli has had the most amazing experience there educationally and spiritually. God is good!

So first day after the arm breaking of 2011 wasn't too fun.

We were given by my parents neighbors (who ROCK!) this little arm slip on thing for the bath that has worked wonders!

By Sunday afternoon and Monday, he was back to his normal self. We even went to Longwood Gardens! Now the tough part is telling him he can't do things he thinks he can do because he forgets he has a cast. But we went to the orthopedic surgeon tonight that did his reset and cast for a one week visit and she said he was doing great! They did an x-ray again, too:

She even brought in a colleague to show her what a wonderful kid Eli was. Proud mama alert. :) She also said that Eli can go down to just a forearm cast in two weeks! Then two more weeks after that, he'll get his cast off!

All in all, it could have been worse, but Eli is soldiering through! I know I was updating Facebook throughout this whole ordeal and I want to thank everyone who thought about him, prayed for him or even just felt the least bit bad for him. Facebook is amazing in the fact that you can get an insane amount of people mobilized and praying with the push of a button when you need it. Thanks friends, I am very grateful for each you! And thanks for caring enough about us to read this novella.... :)

too much information

2011-08-22T21:47:00.001-04:00

It started about 2 months ago. I started to feel tired and fatigued no matter how much I sleep I got the night before. 9 hours of sleep should be enough for any human being...even a large animal perhaps. But for me, it felt like it wasn't enough. Then it went from tiredness to extreme fatigue. I felt like moving my body took every cell of energy in me just to move an inch. My arms and legs had to have weighed 50 pounds each, for sure I thought. I would plan things for the kids and I to do each morning because it kept my mind off of the fatigue, but then the afternoons came and my energy was zapped and zombie mommy appeared. And this zombie mommy was not nice. The littlest things set me off and I would snap at my children so often, I was constantly asking their and God's forgiveness for my actions.

It was also then that I couldn't make decisions. Normally I cannot make a decision to save my life so anything worse than that is paralyzing to say the least and that is what it was. Just grocery shopping took amazing concentration that was difficult to muster. For example, I scoured our local market up the street which basically is the size of two rooms for over 15 minutes looking for shake and bake. I was skimming, but couldn't concentrate enough to observe and retain what was on the shelves for my brain to deduce whether each item was shake and bake or not. Crazy, right?

That is how I felt....crazy. I tried my best to seem fine to everyone else, kept up my facebook presence, photographing dates, playdates, etc. It is hard to keep up pretenses when you feel like you are falling apart at the seams. I really knew something was indeed wrong with me when the crying became a regular occurrence. A worship song, a commercial, just the thoughts in my crazy head would make me cry...not just tears coming down, but sobbing. And I couldn't stop! The thoughts....oh the thoughts...that I am ruining my children and a terrible wife, ungrateful daughter and most of all disappointing God by the second. All these thoughts just tearing me down little by little. A grocery shopping trip ended in me coming home and sobbing into Chad's shoulder for a good 15 minutes, just whining that I can't feel like this anymore, that it has to stop because I feel like I am losing my mind.

Chad convinced me to go get checked out by my doctor.  My amazing doctor was asking all kinds of questions. When I was explaining what I was feeling, the word despair came out of my mouth. It felt invigorating to finally find a word that matched for the most part what I was feeling. Despair. Then she began poking and pushing on my neck and stomach...her cold stethoscope on my back, asking me to breathe in and out.  She said she would do blood work to rule out any physical health problems. Then she said, if it came back that nothing was wrong, we will need to talk about possible depression.

Huh? Hmm... Really?  The days it took for the blood work results to come back, I was actually hoping that they would find something. Depression?  What do I have to be depressed about?  Our debt and money issues have not changed at all. We have been praying about some big decisions, but those decisions have been made. My kids are more independent now, so life isn't as difficult as it has been in the past. I have a home, a car, we are paying our bills each month (barely, but thank you Lord we are!), two awesome kids, a husband that supports me no matter what I do. What could I have to be depressed about? But it was the thoughts....oh the thoughts: that I am ruining my children, a terrible wife, ungrateful daughter and most of all disappointing God by the second. Oh yeah....those thoughts.

The blood work came back and it was, as my doctor described: perfect. Crap.  Prozac was prescribed, but I haven't even picked it up from the pharmacy. Maybe I am in denial, maybe I am afraid to take meds.  Maybe I am going crazy because that is sincerely what it feels like. Whatever is happening to me is an out of body experience for sure. I want to slap myself and yell "Snap out of it!"

I reached out to my church for guidance, for a counselor that could help me. I met with this angel counselor last week and I felt my spirit be uplifted. She thoughtfully and supportively reminded me that everything is about perspective. I was focusing on myself: I am a bad mother, bad wife, etc. I needed to change my perspective from looking inward to looking above to Jesus. He is who I need to be fixing my gaze upon. In Galatians 5: 22-23 it says:

"But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control."

When Jesus takes root in my heart and my focus is on Him and how He lived, how He died for my sins, how he demonstrated each of these traits, then each of these traits will be the fruit in my life. My gaze has fallen in the last few months and I need to stop focusing on the bad thoughts I have about myself and put my focus back on Jesus. I needed to be reminded that He died for me so that I can be in heaven with Him and He didn't die in vain. He didn't die for a loser. To Him, I am worth dying for. That right there is a bold statement and I am not even sure I believe it, but I am getting there.

The fatigue and the foggy mind are still around. I have good days and bad days. So suffice it to say, if I have been slow to respond, acting odd or forgetful, looking literally haggard, this is why. I am still trying to work through things and I know this is a great learning experience for me because at a time when I feel like my body and mind are out of my control, I lean on the person in which it is in control: God. I have prayed to Him through slobbering tears, prayed to Him in with shampoo in my hair, prayed to Him while driving my car, prayed to Him with my children, with my husband, with my friends. Prayer is what I am holding onto. My phone call to the Man upstairs. My lifeline to the One who gave me life. And He has answered in many ways, one of which is through His word:

"Come to me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest." -Matthew 11:28

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord; plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future." -Jeremiah 29:11

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."   -Philippians 4:13

"The Lord is the strength of my life." -Psalm 27:1

"God always causes me to triumph in Jesus Christ." -2 Corinthians 2:14

"Cast your cares upon the Lord for He cares for you." -1 Peter 5:7

Photography: The Boyd Family

2011-08-13T20:57:00.000-04:00

I got to see one of my old friends from middle school last Saturday. Stephanie is just gorgeous (see second to last photo if you want to be wowed by her beauty!) and so is her family. They are the kind of people that after you have only known them for 5 minutes, you want tell them everything, like you've known them for years. Their girls just smiled away the whole time and were so charming. Steph, thanks for letting me photograph you all and I hope you enjoy the photos!!

Stephanie and a friend are making women's and girls' jewelry (see below) so look out for information on that in the future! I will for sure promote their webpage when it is up and running!

beach trip 2011 - Portraits

2011-08-08T20:57:00.001-04:00

Ah, the beach... Every year my Dad takes his kids, their spouses and their kids away to Sea Isle City, NJ for some beach fun (and chaos, but mostly fun!) Here are some of my favorite portrait shots. The lighting wasn't the best, but we had fun with the photos. :)

Photography: Longwood with Family

2011-08-03T20:03:00.000-04:00

We went to Longwood with Chad's sister and her two kids while they were in town. They live in West Virginia so we only get to see them about twice a year. It is sad because I just LOVE Chad's sister Bridget and can see myself having coffee with her and chatting A LOT! She and her husband Chris are awesome and we have so much fun with them. Here are just a few of the photos that I snapped of their kids, Molly and Brady. Molly has these eyes that are just gorgeously blue and mesmerizing so don't look too long or you will be hypnotized! :)

Photography: The DeBlasio Family

2011-07-25T21:39:00.000-04:00

My dear friend Molly won a free session from me last year and we JUST were able to do our session. This is the second time I have photographed her fun, gorgeous family and as always I had a great time. I love everything about Molly and her family, their vivaciousness, their sincerity, their love for one another, just everything. Molly, you are so sweet and I love you more than you know. Hope you enjoy the photos!

accomplishments in swimming

2011-07-11T20:44:00.000-04:00

Eli and Evie have been swimming A LOT this summer. Eli has been in swim lessons for a long time and though he has a lot of fear (hm, wonder where he gets that from?), I know he can do more than he thinks he can. But since our little guy is so sensitive, we are going with his pace. Evie has been swimming in the baby pool while Eli does his lessons and she has come leaps and bounds! She watches Eli and just wants to do everything he does and more. It is wonderful to see your kids progress in something! The progression is in their own timing, but it is progression.

The video below shows Evie's new trick. She can jump in the water, go completely under and come up all by herself. She only turned 2 in May so I feel like this is a big accomplishment for her, but it probably is something all kids her age can do. But I am still proud of her!

In this video, Eli demonstrates his new trick. He does a flip off the diving board....three quarters of a flip, but a flip nonetheless. I am very proud of him too. Unlike Evie who will try anything, Eli does his own thing in his own timing. So the fact that he even attempted this was an accomplishment for him. :)

Photography: The Lefever Family

2011-06-23T21:18:00.000-04:00

This woman is simply amazing. Aimee is one of those people that pull me out of my shy shell, encourages me to do things I ordinarily would hem and haw about, can talk anyone into giving her the deal of a lifetime on any major appliance and simply put..she is beautiful. She is also a great photographer (click here to see her work or book a session!) and so I was very nervous photographing a fellow photographer. But of course she was so patient and her two daughters held up well under the humid and buggy conditions. And her husband....so doting, so attentive to her. And now she is expecting her third baby girl and I cannot be more excited for her. So here is your little preview, Aimee...you are so blessed and I am blessed to know and love you.

2011-06-15T21:19:00.000-04:00

A girl I know does Awkward and Awesome Thursdays so I thought I would join in...

Awkward:

-running...because of my scoliosis, i run with a limp and add on the accompanying little hump on my back, just call me the humpback of notre dame. parents, hide your kids...it is scary.

-again, running...tripping over people's dogs while running because a) unleashed, they run right into me, right in front of my ever flailing legs so i almost trip over them and just plain look an idiot and 2) even leashed, their owner STILL does not pull them away from me even if i run off the path! newsflash: if you see a humpback woman running at you, you just may want to pull yourself, your dog and any other loved ones aside, even just in sheer fright.

-again going with the running theme...my toenail fell the heck off! the second one in, always been an overachiever and longer than the big toe. apparently this can happen when you run and your running shoes are too small. so here i am too poor to afford $100 running shoes to support my scoliosis that are pure white and look like orthopedic shoes, so i run through the pain only to lose a toenail in the process. i just may get a press on nail (remember those?!!) and glue it on there somehow...or maybe i can come up with some cool thing that happened to me that made me lose the nail...crocodile bite, saving the life of a stranger by using only my toe to stave off a wild beast...i can get creative, you just watch me.

-being scared to death to ride on an enclosed black water slide because you can't see a blessed thing... at a water park for kids under the age of 4! evie, who just turned two was allowed on it and i was scared of it. scared out of my mind and showing it by my face while my kids were loving it? i have some deep rooted issues.

-talking on cell phones...i strongly dislike it. there are so many pauses, talking over each other, talking loudly, being rude to the people around you...it is just not for me. there is something just invented called email and something else called texting. utilize it when it comes to communicating with me. or, let's hang out! :)

-my gray hair...some strands on one side of my head. what do i do? cover it up? have gray pride? it is all kinky and dry and since it is all in one place on the side of my head, i really couldn't pull off the salt and pepper gray look. pluck them out? dye my whole head? these are tough decisions that are way more important than whether or not to sell our house or homeschool eli. i need to start praying about this gray problem stat!

-this post....sometimes i don't know why i say things.

Awesome:

-Jesus....just that simple. He loves my toenailess toe, He loves my curved spine, He loves my weirdness, He loves my awkward pause filled cell phone convos, He loves my gray hair. that is all i need. :)

feeling gloomy and need some cuteness?

2011-06-11T18:50:00.002-04:00

Photography: The Walls Family

2011-06-07T20:22:00.000-04:00

One of the benefits of having a hobby is that when you are strapped for cash, you can give it away as a gift. :) At Christmas, my bible study had a gift exchange and I gave a session away. The Walls family were the recipient of this session. Sarah and I went to high school together, two years apart and now we go to the same church. Small world! Sarah and Mike have three beautiful and fun loving children. When kids beg you take photos of them the whole time, they become your new best friends. It was nice afternoon of walking and catching up on life!

...and we don't stop

2011-06-05T21:26:00.000-04:00

This spring and summer have been BUSY!!! And in case you doubt it, here is photographic evidence.... WARNING: my memory card just threw up on this blog. Beware of obscene amount of photos.

This first set is from Messy Day at Eli's school. Chad was a parent helper and after I threatened his life if he didn't, he took photos for me.

These are from my parents' house at their pool. Eli is getting to be very brave when it comes to the water which is a big difference from last year. Ever have your kid in swim lessons and there is this other kid crying, screaming, trying to climb out of the pool to the door to release him from his watery hell in earth? Yeah, that was Eli last year. Not so anymore.

Evie on the other hand....she leaps in the pool and goes completely under before we pull her up. She is our adventurer.

And Chad...well if it was ever in question whether he still had it...it being skills...he still does.

Here we are at our second home, Longwood Gardens.

Those poor geese...never knew what hit them. Eli the predator strikes again.

Best way to end the day....eating a pink flower cookie that happens to be the size of your face.

Here we are at Dutch Wonderland...best place on earth! Evie had a lot of firsts here....

First ride alone with her bro....

I think she is seriously crushing him....

Eli's friends for 2 and a half years now.

Evie's first log flume ride!

Hitting up the water park at DW.

Someone cross off fish wrangling from Evie's bucket list.

Evie's first ice cream cone! It took her FOREVER and a day to eat it, but she is cutest licker ever!

Gotta love this ice cream grin!

Went to the Strawberry Festival today.

So here is Eli on this super tall ride that takes you up slowly and then drops you fast! He just made the height requirement, so when he begged to go on it....I of course did not want him to go, but relented when Chad said he could handle it. Just so you know, the below picture is what it looked like from afar....

YIKES! He did it and I videotaped it. He cried a little at the end, but recovered quickly and was all smiles. I guess we'll see if it scarred him when we go to our next ride excursion. :)

Photography: The Daltry Family

2011-05-25T21:01:00.000-04:00

Being out of the photography business is nice. I get to do something I have a passion for as a gift to sweet, dear friends. It makes my heart all warm and fuzzy. I was able to meet up with the Daltry family on Sunday. Nate and Erica have been friends with Chad and I for a few years now. We don't see them NEARLY as often as we would like, but when we do see them, it is wonderful. We ventured out to Valley Forge Park and as you can see from the photos, the grass was long! Plus, it was a cool and cloudy day. But none of that deterred their 8 month old twin girls, Emily and Allison, from smiling big for the camera. Nate and Erica, I hope you enjoy your gift as much as I enjoyed photographing yours!

princess for a day

2011-05-16T21:12:00.002-04:00

evangeline is two!

2011-05-06T08:20:00.000-04:00

easter 2011

2011-04-30T20:50:00.000-04:00

Easter portraits...not a lot, but they pack a punch.

jokester

2011-04-17T21:42:00.000-04:00

Evie has learned to tell jokes and he fun big bro taught her how. Listen for the fake laugh, it is too cute!

GOOOOOOOAAAAAALLLLLLL!!!!!

2011-04-17T21:17:00.003-04:00

On wet, dreary, very cold yesterday, Eli had his first soccer game. He was decked out in his new cleats, shin guards and of course a headband....something has to keep that hair of his in check.

He has been over the moon excited every day this week. He couldn't wait to get his soccer gear on and get his official team shirt. When we got to the field, it was misting rain and very cold. Even though Evie had three layers on, one of which was her winter coat, she was still shivering so I took her to the car while Chad videotaped.

When we came out of the car, hoping to catch the last of the game, Chad informed me that Eli scored two goals and luckily I was there to see and record his 3rd! He is the one in the bright red shirt and white headband.

Have you ever seen the movie Parenthood? In that movie, Steve Martin is a dad who reacts to his kid's game winning baseball catch in such a crazy, jubilant off the wall way. When Eli scored, we cheered and cheered and I was so excited for him! His first official game and he scores 3 goals! This is a kid who watches soccer on television while simultaneously plays his own game in our living room complete with soccer goal and everything. I finally felt a smidge of what Steve Martin was trying to convey. We as parents not only live vicariously through our kids, but we also have this unique ability to feel what our children feel, sometimes more than they actually do. It is like a heightened sense of empathy to the millionth degree. When they hurt, we hurt, when they laugh, we laugh, when they are angry, we are angry...when they have adrenaline pumping and heart racing from the goal they just scored, so do we!!! I remember watching old home movies of when we were kids and playing in our own soccer games. The voice I remember the most cheering us on was my Mom's. The loudest one there, screaming and flipping out while cheering and encouraging. I am her now!

After the game, we did emphasize that even if he scored no goals, it would still be fun. Fun is the reason why he plays and I never want to him forget that. Once a kid gets sucked into the competition of the sport and loses sight of the fun of it, it can be a sad thing. But we do want to celebrate him and we are proud of our little guy. :)

girls just wanna have fun

2011-04-07T19:57:00.000-04:00

Hot moms. :) Between us, we have 12 children and one on the way. Crazy!!!! This was the first weekend away from my kids ever and I had my reservations. Would my kids survive with just my husband taking care of them? Of course they did and everyone did awesome, which was a relief to me because...well....no offense to the Chad, but I worry.

Though I missed my kids terribly and came back Satrday night with heart that missed them even more, I had a fabulous time! Just sitting, chatting, getting deep in each other's lives, relaxing, sleeping through the night! It was a great time and I love these women.

We were at the beach and it was a cool day, but sunny and nice! We took advantage of little travel camera's timer and had a blast taking all kinds of crazy photos, like the one below.

Me and Molly are the bookends and we took our jumping seriously.

We took our skills so seriously, we even had to jump together, just us. You know girls....they just wanna have fun. :)

getting out of dodge

2011-03-27T20:27:00.000-04:00

A gift of a night away from it all. One night. The first night away from my children ever. One night to spend with my husband of almost 6 years. You get an offer like that and it is a no brainer.

Chad and I went to Lancaster to a little place called Willow Valley. The rooms were lovely. Our room had a little living room, as you can see below, but we weren't in there much.

Is that a little troll door in the corner? We weren't sure and we weren't finding out.

This is the place where the magic happened.....

....and by magic, I mean the death of a little person that seems to have just been folded up in our bed.

And what is that thing on the dresser?? I had to call the front desk to find out. It is a television. Do you believe they make them that flat and skinny? I guess we are still living in the 90's with our 500 pound, bootylicious boob tube at home. What can I say, my husband is a butt man.

And this confectionery delight was waiting for us upon arrival. Two warm and gooey walnut chocolate chip cookies. This was the most decadent thing I ate the whole time...and I ate a LOT of food.

So of course we check out all of the fun stuff in the hotel and we find what else....the gym! Is it weird that Chad and I spent the most time during our tour in this place, just trying the machinery? My favorite thing was the treadmill with the television attached and free headphones to use! A television attached to the machine!!! What will thy think of next?! I love it!

This place was for the kids and it was awesome. Chad and I said that since the pool area closed at 10, we would wait until 9:45 and go crazy in the kids pool! But alas, there was a family in there and we didn't want to be two adult bullies. Next time, kid pool....next time.

This was the adult pool and we swam in it a little. Notice the gym in the back and how you can watch the swimmers while running on the treadmill. I guess they were smart in that building schematic. The men can stay motivated to keep building muscle by watching women in swimsuits and the women can get their motivation to burn fat by comparing themselves to the women in said swimsuits. Win/win.

This was my favorite room. It would be nice to have a reception here. Although it looked like France circa a long time ago...I would constantly be looking up and being on the lookout for feces and pee to be dumped out of the windows and onto the streets.

So we were perusing the magazine that was in the hotel room of things to do in Lancaster.....can someone tell me what a dog has to do with selling beer? Poor thing looks drunk himself. Must be a Lancaster thing.

And one more thing....what the heck is a cloister? All I know is there are many in Lancaster and the word just sounds dirty.

This was the view from the outside of our sister hotel at around sunset.

Here we are, the happy couple. Little do you know this is the third shot because in the previous two, Chad is making faces at me....I adore my husband.

Here I am showing off my acrobatic ability....

....and here is Chad showing off is lack of acrobatic ability.

Do not be alarmed. This is in fact another sighting of my man feet. Not unlike the sun during an eclipse, do not look directly at them or you will fry your eyeballs.... :) Can you guess which ones are mine?

Quotes from our night away:

"I am going to eat my face off at this buffet!" - Chad

"Isn't it a little odd that a horse and buggy is parked outside of a 7-11?" - Me

On our way back to our room after our dinner buffet "Is there a Dairy Queen near here? I refuse to be done eating for the night." - Me

"You are a lot more fun when you are away from the kids!" - Chad to me

Bye bye, Lancaster. It was fun while it lasted.

blooms already?

2011-03-07T21:01:00.000-05:00

There actually are flowers blooming...inside a greenhouse, that is. Here are some photos I snapped during our family Longwood Gardens day this past Saturday. Although the last photo was from the mulch in the parking lot so there actually are blooms outside!! Spring, we're coming! :)

inappropriately dressed

2011-03-06T22:08:00.000-05:00

Last week, Evie and I dropped Eli off at preschool and we went for a midday jaunt. I wasn't sure where we were going to go, but I had my trusty Canon with me. I drove to a place where I just love to go and let my kids run free, pet animals, feed horses and jump off of rocks: Springton Manor.

The weather was cool, but was even cooler because of the wind. And the place was filled with squishy grass.

But we were lucky to be there to see many pregnant animals, one of which I thought was this goat. I thought this particular goat was pregnant because we were told two goats were pregnant and could give birth any day. The other reason was that this goat didn't move the whole time we were there, no matter how close we came to it. Ah, the days when I was 9 months pregnant and not wanting to move no matter who came near me or how close they came. Just wasn't worth the effort. I understand you goat. Say hi to your motha for me. (random SNL skit reference)

It was interesting how Evie has changed even from less than 6 months ago. She loves to walk and prefers it over the stroller. I can just let her go and explore and exclaim 'Cat! Cat!' over and over again. I let her pet the animals and just be curious and free.

...except when squishy grass was involved. The shoes she was wearing and even the clothes showed that this jaunt to Springton wasn't planned and I did have to run interference at times. I mean, wouldn't you if your adorable daughter was wearing these adorable shoes?? :)

The horses didn't come over so we could feed them grass. But Evie sure did enjoy gazing at them grazing.

When we were on our way out, one of the caretakers took us and ushered us into a barn. We weren't sure what we were going to see, but lo and behold...a mere hours old lamb. The mommy gave birth that morning. What a treat to see! And every time they made any sheep sounds, Evie would squeal with laughter. So we weren't dressed for the weather or the conditions, but what we saw was amazing! :)

dear picasso...

2011-02-28T09:29:00.000-05:00

For Evie, her body is her canvas and she likes it that way. She even tasted the paint...wasn't for her.

Phin

2011-02-27T19:36:00.001-05:00

circus surprise

2011-02-17T20:44:00.002-05:00

In an effort to surprise Eli, we went to the circus today not telling Eli where we were going until we got there. I decided to videotape his reaction because he had never been before. And this is not the reaction we wanted, but priceless for sure.

waiting....

2011-02-14T20:29:00.000-05:00

....for summer.

yes, he's single....

2011-02-10T16:17:00.000-05:00

...and ready to mingle.

to wegmans or not to wegmans....

2011-02-06T15:27:00.002-05:00

VS.

I decided to do an experiment. I am no scientist and I know that my experiment probably has some inconsistencies and maybe even some errors. But here we go.

Our family grocery shops at our Thorndale Giant. We even go to the same checkout lady, Miss Debbie. She has watched Eli grow up for 3 years, lets him bag groceries and gives him gifts for holidays. We love Giant, but there are some things we don't like. It isn't the cleanest establishment, especially the bathrooms. It also doesn't have the best looking fruits and vegetables. Many times there are lines that can be quite long. And most importantly, at least to my two children, their car carts are broken and dirty. But since it was the cheapest in the area, we shopped there, got used to the shortcomings, but loved Miss Debbie and seeing other Coatesville friends. :)

I have been to the almighty Wegmans before and can I just say I feel like a rich person in that place? The bathrooms?? Spotless, have toilet seat wipes and are just beautiful. You may think "who uses the bathroom at grocery stores?"...if you have children, you know that is important. There is a full-on buffet restaurant in there that offers Chinese, pizza, subs, sushi, coffee (ah, my love) and more! Check out lanes?? A million. And the tellers stand at the entrance and are apparently trained to usher people to use their lines whenever anyone is waiting. Basically, this place is pampering and who doesn't like pampering?

But having shopped there, I felt that it has to be more expensive than any other place in the area. You don't get that treatment at a discount store. However, friends of mine would swear that Wegmans has great prices and is as cheap if not cheaper than Giant. Of course I scoffed....however it got me thinking.

I made a list of a sample of staples that we shop for each week when we trek to the store. This list isn't all of our weekly staples, but I thought it would make for a good comparison. So I went to Wegmans and wrote down their prices for each item. Then I went to Giant and wrote down their prices for each item. Then I compared them and here is what I came up with.

Basically, Wegmans would have been only $0.02 more than Giant (Wegmans: $57.57 and Giant: $57.55). The calculations were based on the sale price that week although I did provide the regular price as well. Again, this is just a sample of things we purchase each week and meats and more expensive items may vary. Overall, Wegmans did have more items that were less expensive than Giant, however there were just as many that were the same price for both stores as well.

Let me know your thoughts in the comments section.

house arrest

2011-02-02T20:43:00.005-05:00

The last few weeks have been a roller coaster, but lets go back to the beginning of January. 2011 was looking really good. I was the thinnest I have been in years, the seasonal depression hadn't hit yet, the kids were behaving awesome and I was feeling really good. I was doing well with spending time with God and we were talking frequently. :)

One day, the kids and I went to BounceU and played on the moonbounces there. Evie was too small to get up on the bouncy slide so I went with her a few times and slid her down first and then followed behind. At the end of the morning, we did our last slide down and I stupidly put my leg under me and slid down in a more relaxed way, I guess. Well, when my body was going forward, the slide was pulling my leg and foot the opposite direction. Instant nausea and pain. Flash forward to the podiatrist...foot fracture...4-6 weeks no exercise.....have to wear a special boot.....no driving until TBD.....

(please disregard the ugly man feet...unfortunately they are mine)

CRAP!!!!!!!!! A freaking moonbounce slide! Are you kidding me? When people ask me what happened, I would love to say that I rescued a cat from a burning building or even just slid down the stairs to keep one of my kids from falling....something the least bit heroic. Nope. Not klutzy me. Typical. On our way home from the appointment, I told Chad that I was going to pray that God would heal my foot enough to be able to be allowed to drive by my next appointment. My wise husband then gently told me that maybe I should pray for God to show me what He wants me to learn from this situation. Ah, wise man he is.

I believe God just wanted us to slow down. We were going at a breakneck pace and I think this was something God allowed to help me to stop and smell the roses. So I am smelling and they actually smell nice. We have been doing lots of things to pass the time....dishwasher soap + water + plate + straw = bubbles!

This kept Eli entertained for more than I would have thought it would.

We also played "Find the Cat" which had Eli going nuts with excitement. We would take turns hiding a cat in somewhat visible places. He would hide it in places that were not visible and then say "You're getting warmer, you're hot, you're hot!!"...that is Eli, always making his own rules. It was still fun.

Can you find the cat??? :)

We also found that Evie LOVES to paint....herself. It started nice and using paint brushes...civilized if you will. Then fingers were used and that was cool too. Then I decided to throw caution to the wind and put a little paint on Eli's nose for fun.....

Yikes! Poor kid was not happy at all, but he didn't remove it either.

Evie likes to paint herself, her fingers, her arms and her belly. Her body was her canvas and she delighted in colorfying it. :)

We also did a LOT of sink play....coffee carafe, coffee cups, tupperware, tiny plastic cups for pretend tea, measuring spoons, the works.

Raspberry iced tea, anyone?

My foot troubles disallowed me from going outside in the snow with the kids (although I tried with a bag over my foot AND went out another time without the boot...sshh, don't tell!). So I brought the snow inside.

We made mini snowmen, mixed pretend cake batter.

Soon I started to just get really stir crazy so I brought outside stuff inside. Eli rode his bike around the house....notice the emphasis on safety wearing the helmet inside.

It was difficult to ride on the carpet, but he did it.

Even Evie got in on the action.

The last snowstorm, I did just put my fuggs on and went out and shoveled a little. The kids and I just HAD to play and I wasn't going to let my klutziness hold them back. So they enjoyed it. Eli and I had snowball fights and he climbed mountains of snow. Evie tried to help me shovel with her little sand shovel that she could barely hold. Someone needs to invent waterproof, warm, thin, small gloves for 20 month olds...I'll get on that.

Upside down on snow mountains!

Our first snowman...it was pretty sad. We were the blind leading the blind and I have realized that I am a terrible, terrible snowman maker. Eli wasn't really interested posing for the camera, but instead was interested in getting his tongue stuck on the snowman.

And this is the best I could get with our first sad snowman. I asked Eli what it was that he had in his mouth and he said it was the snowman's breathing thing.

Now I can drive, but we still take things slower and I am still healing. But I am also gaining weight and can't fit into my jeans anymore. :( Now I have to go into my 'fat' drawer and wear my bigger jeans....double :( :(

Spring, get here NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ponytails

2011-01-14T10:18:00.003-05:00

different

2011-01-09T21:13:00.004-05:00

The other day we had a play date with some friends. When Eli's friends got here, Eli immediately said to them "Hey guys, let's be tornado chasers! We can use our computers in our tornado chasing car and find the tornadoes and videotape them!" His friends looked at him in utter confusion. Noticing this look, Eli then said "How about we play zoo and we can be tamarins while people come to see us!" Again, looks of confusion.

These times happen more and more. I wonder if he is different than most kids....no, I know....Eli is different.

He would rather use furniture for spatial boundaries than play with toys from the toy store. Cases in point:

-uses the coffee table, couch and toy bins to create a cage for him to be a tamarin at the zoo'

-uses the inside of an easel as an elevator or a bank

-empties toys out of our toy bins so he can get in with his toy laptop and pretend to chase tornadoes

-has me lay on the edge of the couch while he is on the inside and he pretends he is in a boat

And did you know that Eli has brothers? They differ in number every time he tells you about them and they almost always do something better then what you just talked about.

"Eli, did you know that it is going to snow 4 inches today?"

"Well my brothers live in Duckytown and Duckytown has 36 90 inches of snow."

Eli cries at slow songs because he says they makes him sad. He is afraid of being alone and sleeps with a pillow against his back to protect him. Eli loves to cuddle and wrestle and touch people's noses because it calms him.

Eli knows every state in tornado alley. He knows a ridiculous amount about tornadoes when most kids are obsessed with Diego or Dora. We went to Barnes and Noble and while playing with the trains, he asked a mom who was there with her kids if she liked tornadoes. Her response? "No, they are dangerous and deadly." You should have seen Eli's face. My heart broke for him.

It was then that I thought to myself "You know what? I don't want him to be like everyone else. I love his special interests and qualities." I would rather have a son that is unique than one that follows the crowd and just wants to fit in. I was one of those. I did not want to stick out. I was tall, but slouched because I hated being tall. I had no self esteem and wanted to fit in with crowd, be accepted. But trying to be like them led to doing things I am not proud of JUST to be accepted. So if Eli wants to go his own way and be unique, I support that because it is who he is and I want him to be confident in that. I want him to know that being different is being special and God made him special for a purpose.

There is a book we read to Eli that he calls the puppet book, but it is called You Are Special by Max Lucado. It is about these wooden puppets that give each other dots for bad characteristics and stars for good ones. One of them, Punchinello, got only dots and no stars and was sad about it, until he met a girl named Lucia who had no dots OR stars. That is the way Punchinello wanted to be, judgementless and free. Lucia told him to go to Eli up on the hill and He will help him to be dot and starless. So he goes up to meet Eli, who was the maker of all of the puppets. Eli said that the dots and stars only stick if you let them. Eli told Punchinello that it didn't matter what others thought of him, it only matters what He thinks of him and when he believes that, the dots will fall off. And Eli told Punchinello that He not only made him, but made him perfect and loved him no matter what. Punchinello didn't feel worthy or believed it, but after more talking and as he was leaving Eli's home, a dot fell off of him.

If my son is happiest pretending to chase tornadoes, then I want to not only support it, I want to chase them with him! I want any dots that people may put on him to not stick and just fall right off.

So if a little boy comes up to you and asks if you like tornadoes, tells you about his 'brothers' doing something better than you and asks you to chase said tornadoes with him, that's my boy and I am proud of his uniqueness and will raise him to be proud of it too.

quotes

2010-12-29T20:19:00.002-05:00

Since the end of the year is approaching, I thought I would gather up some memorable quotes uttered by my dear son Eli this year. I just love my son.

"Mommy, I have to go poopy now and I am going to go a huuuge one, bigger than YOU!"

Eli: "Mom Mom has a big house..."
Me: "Yes, she does."
Eli: "How did she get that house?"
Me: "Money."
Eli: "We don't have money..."
Me: "No, we don't."

Eli: (on the potty) "Mommy, they are talking."
Me: "Who is talking?"
Eli: "The poopies in my hiney."

Eli: (poking my love handles) "Mommy, why is this squishy?"

Me: "Wow Eli, a year ago today Evie came out of me."
Eli: "But how did she come out?"
Me: "God made her come out."
Eli: "Yes, but HOW did she come out?"
Me: "Want some more goldfish?"

Eli: "Mommy, I want to say something to God!"
Me: "Ok, what do you want to say?"
Eli: "GOD, I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Eli: (yelling from the bathroom) "Ah, this is the most terrible day!! I peed on the wall, I peed on the floor and I peed on the toilet!!"

Eli: "Mommy, I want to see God for real."

Eli: (after hitting his head on the ceiling of the car) "Ow!!"
Me: "Aw Eli, I know that hurt, but you are a tough cookie."
Eli: (serious as can be) "Mommy, I am not a tough cookie, I don't have chocolate chips in me!"

Eli: (playing with his stuffed Mickey Mouse) "Mommy look, Mickey is popping and locking!"

Eli: (after being told that the president makes the rules) "...like not being allowed to say 'butt'"?

Eli: (dancing, after being told not to pick his nose) "No Mommy, it is a new dance called the finger in the nose dance!"

Eli: (after seeing me look at my dog bite wound) "No Mommy, don't touch it! God will fix it."

Eli: (on our way to Mom Mom's house with donuts) "Mommy, I will share my donut with Mom Mom....but do you now what my favorite thing to share is? Love."

Eli: "Mommy, what did the bear say when he lost his socks? I lost my socks! Get it?? Socks!! Get it??? Hahaha!"

Eli: "Daddy, what does pee and spit mixed together make?"

lovely

2010-12-01T20:49:00.003-05:00

Evangeline....we don't know her as Evengeline...just Evie. She is almost 19 months old. She has gone 18 months with only 2 words: her first word, 'Eli' and her second, 'up'. At her 18 month appointment, the doctor said in two months if she is still not saying anymore words, we would have to involve speech therapists. So I had my prayer warriors, aka my women's bible study, pray for Evie to speak to us. Over the last 2 weeks she is talking up a storm! Most of it is crazy babbles, screams and delightful banter. But she now says 'mee' for meow, 'hop' for rabbit, 'pwissss' for please, 'puh' for pooh bear, 'cup' and a few other words. This communication is so special because it just brings us all closer!

Evie loves giving zerberts to our bellies and wrestling with Daddy....but she is really all about her big brother. Not only was Eli her first word, but every morning when she wakes up I will hear in the monitor "ella, ella, ella!' which is how she says Eli. He makes her laugh constantly and also makes her angry a lot too. But she truly is enamored with him and it is so heart warming to see.

Evie delights in making funny faces. She can make a scared face and a surprised face when asked to. But it is her faces she just normally makes just to be funny that is hysterical.

He takes such good care of her too. She likes to so somersaults, but it takes her a bit to get all the way over. When she gets in position, Eli always goes over and helps her roll over. He keeps her safe by saying "Evie no, don't do that!!!" when she wants to go behind the television or any other places she isn't allowed. He loves her.

This little gem is such a joy and I love her dearly. She is so fun that I cannot wait to see how her personality develops!

tornado tim!

2010-11-04T22:01:00.003-04:00

Eli is obsessed with tornadoes. It is a crazy obsession. He has checked out every tornado book out of the library that they have...multiple times! He was a tornado for Halloween. He loves to watch videos on the computer of a certain tornado chaser named Tornado Tim. He LOVES him and wants to be him so badly. We even play TT (as I like to call him...'cause I'm cool like that) with one of his Diego Jeeps and he has a matchbox car inside the jeep who is TT and he drives around looking for tornadoes. He often asks to pull the car over so that we can pretend to watch and videotape a tornado. Whenever he has a crayon in his hand, he draws tornadoes every time. Ummm, so do you believe this is an obsession yet??? :)

So more than a month ago, I sent TT an email and told him of Eli's love for tornadoes. He wrote back and said he would try to send him something. After a few weeks went by and I didn't get anything, I was happy I decided not to tell Eli that I contacted him. BUT.....last week, there was an envelope with Eli's name on it! When I saw it was from Tim Baker, I started to scream! Eli was so excited and we opened it right away! He sent Eli photos of his tornado chaser car and him on film because he is on a show called Tornado Road on the Weather Channel. He also sent a tornado chaser book. This little boy is in HEAVEN!

birthday 2 and 3

2010-11-04T21:21:00.006-04:00

Eli had 3 birthdays this month....one with his friends, one with my side of the family and one with Chad's parents. Now, you may think I did it that way so that I wouldn't have to host and you would be correct.....just kidding. Anyway, Eli is a lucky kid to have so many friends and family that love him.

tornado cake as requested

devouring said tornado cake

eli's expression when he saw that nana and poppy got him a bike!

who knew desean jackson liked bikes with training wheels....

the days was crazy for evie too and during dinner she just passed out. it was cute.

celebrating at my parents' house....eli loves his 'neminems...and consequently, so does mommy.

more cake....

the ultimate....real golf clubs! goodbye plastic taped up cheapo clubs!

evie doing what she does best....bite and eat EVERYTHING!

eli strutting his stuff

i am sorry, but this 4 year old kid is awesome.

giggles

2010-11-03T22:48:00.001-04:00

The belly laughs that come from this girl are just mesmerizing!

birthday 1

2010-10-31T21:37:00.004-04:00

Eli had his 4th birthday party with his awesome friends at the United Sports Training Center. We LOVE it there! This was a run and fun theme where the kids playted running games, did a parachute, tag and more. I was so thankful to have almost everyone we invited actually come. Eli was very happy to have all of his friends in one place. :)

some running fun

class list of eli's 4th birthday attendees

balloons!

balloons on the parachute!

i made this cake...in case you can't tell (as most people can't anyway), it is in the shape of a tornado. just in case you were wondering, yes that is chad on the cake.

friends enjoying the spread

eli wating only the icing, as usual.

the fam! happy birthday, eli! evie's thinking, 'this party is lame, i want to take a nap'

bite

2010-10-31T21:11:00.006-04:00

Me and the fam go to the park up the street. The kids and Chad will play and I will go for my run. It was a typical Friday evening and as I was coming around the loop there was a dog leashed to a woman who I took to be the owner. As I was running up to them to pass, I noticed that the woman was not pulling the dog over and the dog was taking up the whole path so as I passed, I went up on the grass a little. As I did this, the dog jumped up on me. And I thought, 'wow, his claws must be sharp because this hurts'....then I screamed two times because of the pain. I looked down and saw the dog (a medium sized dog) still attached to me! I fell back and it let go. I assessed the injuries and then looked at the woman, who was profusely apologizing. I stupidly was like, 'no biggie' and walked away. I was in shock a bit. Luckily Chad and two friends of mine were at the playground and the two friends saw what happened. They asked if I got her info, if the dog was up on its shots, etc....of course I was too in shock to even ask so I had to run up to her and get the info. Turns out she was the dog sitter and the owner was away. I felt bad because she was crying and I am sure just as traumatized as I was. I went to the doctor the next day and he said there was some tissue damage, but it would heal fine with antibiotics. The below photos show the damage....so don't look if you get queasy easily or happen to be eating something while reading this post. Problem is, now when I run I am super scared of dogs and don't want my kids touching any we don't know anymore. This experience has taught me that with any kind of animal, you just don't know what will set them off.

This was on my hip...you can see my hip bone a little on the right. This was the bloodier one.

This was on my left thigh. This is the one that had tissue damage.

And this is the bite a week later actually getting better. I bruise easily.

famous!

2010-10-31T20:47:00.004-04:00

In September, Eli got the chance to be on a Philadelphia news show called Good Day Philadelphia. A friend of mine and her daughter who is just like Eli was going on the show to help play with toys and promote Discovery Toys, a distributor that sells GREAT learning toys. They were doing a demonstration and needed a boy with brown hair. We got there early so we walked around the city a little which we never get to do, but we need to do more because it was wonderful! We saw the liberty bell and we told Eli that the constitution was signed there. He asked what the constitution was and said it was a list of rules....so he responds "Like not being allowed to say 'butt'?" Here are photos from our adventure. Thanks Cathy and Ella for thinking of us and inviting us! We had a great time!

Yes, they do match and yes, they did it on purpose.

Evie and The Signer

family love in the green room....yes, it really was painted green!

behind the scenes!

both of them pooped from getting up at 5:00am....

apples

2010-09-25T20:03:00.006-04:00

I mean well. I really do. I want my children to have many experiences. I feel like experiences are more remembered and cherished over material things. Last week, Highland Orchards was our experience: farm animals, swings, a faster-than-the-speed-of-light slide, mums, pumpkins, apple picking and cider doughnuts were all on the list to be experienced. We were ready to have some fun adventures. It was a wonderful morning until the apple picking. First problem: the apples were picked from most of the nearby trees so I had Eli on my hip and Evie walking with me for ooohhhh, about 5 miles! Ok, maybe not 5 miles, but it felt like it! But there Eli was, holding his little apple bag and ready to pick some apples so I could deal with the walking.

Then we finally found some there were pickable, but they were up high. So I had lift Eli up. He couldn't for the life of him pick an apple off of the tree. Each time, it fell out of his hands then he would fall into hysterics. What were these apples coated with, Crisco? Then Evie would be down for two seconds while this was going on and I would look down at her only to see a rotten apple in her mouth. Lovely. This was the trend, back and forth: Eli in hysterics, Evie with rotten, dirty apples in her mouth. Then, Eli wanted to leave with only 3 apples in our bag. No way, I thought...we were getting our money's worth. I had plans....important plans for these apples. But the meltdown already was hitting astronomical proportions. So I quickly picked a bunch myself and started back with my brood. My lovely OCD son wanted me to pick him AND Evie up so that he could not step on bad apples that had fallen off of the tree. I admit, I had a few squish under my feet which is not the best feeling....but I could not hold both.

So here we came, back to our car with Eli crying, Evie falling off of my hip, barely holding onto my bag of apples. So after all this trauma and drama.....I decided to go back and get some cider doughnuts from the bakery there and we ate them outside. No more meltdowns, no more tears, just the three of us, happy as clams. Those doughnuts are fat laden pieces of heaven. So suffice it to say, I had my camera with me the whole time, but only got a few shots. And for the money shot....i.e. the three of us eating doughnuts...well I gave up on my camera b that point and will have to just remember in my mind and my heart.

photography

2010-09-19T21:08:00.002-04:00

for all of you non-facebook people, please click here to see my new website! be sure to check the blog for recent photos and also please pass along my info to any friends and family! i am currently booked until the beginning of december, then i will only be taking maternity and newborn sessions until march 2011.

running

2010-09-13T19:52:00.002-04:00

I ran in my first race on Friday night. It was my frirst official race. Of course I don't count the races we had when we were kids. You know the ones...when you run and run and feel like your legs are going to fall off, arms flailing in the air, heart pumping so hard you thought it just might beat out of your chest because you had to beat your friend. And I don't count the runs in high school sports either. For field hockey, we had to run 2 miles (I believe) and I came in second a lot of the time, only to see my lovely friend Christiana come in first every time. One time I was beating her and was so bent on coming in first for once that I smashed my knee into the guardrail and only stopped running because people were telling me I was bleeding.

Even though I don't count those races, they hold one important factor: I am actually a bit competitive. In board games, I am all about fairness and hate trash talkers like my husband. In life, I am always about sharing. But running...I am feel the competitive spirit boiling up in me.

So back to the 5k....all the runners are standing there, huddled together, waiting for the official start. I look around and there are runners from all walks of life: older and younger, tone and not so tone, some listened to music, others preferred to listen to their own breathing and the cheers from the crowd. I wasn't nervous at all, which is not like me. I run 3.5 miles almost every day....BUT, it is a slower run...may even be classifed as a jog. But at the time, I wasn't even worried about how I would place in the race. I just didn't want to be last.

And then the race started......FAST! Everyone just jumped out of their shoes practically and started booking down the street! I was winded after the first 2 minutes! I had two friends ahead of me and one behind. But then as everyone found their stride and settled in, I did as well. And then I was on fire. My competiveness just took over and I ran at a steady pace the whole time. None of this jogging I do during my normal runs. I took long strides, let my music push my pace and let my mind push myself. It was exhilirating seeing the families that came to cheer on their loved ones. I felt so cool when there was a water tent and the people would hold out a cup of water for you. Not for me, thanks! I am on a roll! Most runners who did take the cup threw it in their own faces anyway. I was passing people left and right, it was awesome!

It was two laps to the finish and as I was completing the first lap, I was thinking I could be in the top 20 in this race. And then I saw it. About a minute after I finished my first lap, I saw runners passing me on their way to the finish line....THE FINISH LINE! I was JUST starting my second lap out of two laps and they were finishing! Sooooo, then my thinking changed. Ok, mayyyyybe I was not in the top 20....I was then trying not to be in the bottom 50!

I ended up coming in 120th out of 321 with a time of 23:50. I was happy with that. The best time was 14 minutes! I cannot even fathom how fast he had to run to get that time. But now I have caught a bug...they were handing out fliers for the Turkey Trot, a 5k on Thanksgiving morning around the Downingtown Golf course. I like it. Anyone want to join me? :)

jumper

2010-09-08T20:40:00.002-04:00

small house + active kid = the need to use our noggins to come up with energy releases. please note that there were couch cushions at the bottom of the stairs 8 stairs he jumped and no child was hurt during this stunt. :)

2010-09-06T21:01:00.002-04:00

6 years ago, on august 28th, 2004....chad and i were married. it has been a tough road, i am not going to lie. it still is tough at times. lots of roller coaster ups and downs, twists and turns. scared, worried, laughing, excited, joyful, frustrated, carefree. to celebrate the roller coaster ride we are on, we went to longwood gardens on our anniversary and just had fun. no kids, no time constraints, no fear of looking stupid. we let go and actually had the most fun we have had in a long time. it was a gorgeous day and we reconnected. loveliness.

tornadoes

2010-08-05T21:42:00.004-04:00

tornadoes
obsession
eli

library books
tornado in a bottle craft
tornado videos

questions after question
challenging my brain
now, a rogue scholar

are you ready to get schooled by the cutest 3.5 year old in the planet?

sunglasses

2010-07-28T21:21:00.002-04:00

2010-07-16T06:25:00.001-04:00

swim

2010-06-23T21:16:00.003-04:00

Eli started swim lessons yesterday. They are not going well so far. He cries basically the entire time which breaks both Chad's and my hearts watching him. Eli, Chad and I have prayed that God will Eli bravery. He says he wants to be like David and defeat the giant. I have faith he will. I have hope things will look up....literally. :) I will keep you posted. In the meantime, the above photo is Eli in happier, backyard-foot-high-water-in-the-blow-up-swim-pool times.

touch

2010-06-20T21:05:00.002-04:00

A day in the life of us with Eli....this is long, but if you are a parent it is worth the read.

If you are anywhere near the floor, you are completely vulnerable and unsafe. Eli will pounce like a lion playing with its food. He jumps right onto you with no notice or warning of any kind. He gives zerbert after zerbert on your belly, he will suck on your arm until you get a hickey. He will jump on your back, cover your eyes and propel himself over your head and onto your lap. And all of this occurs within the first minute you decide to pleasantly sit on the floor.

With Evie, he will try to gently put her on the ground (unsuccessfully gentle most of the time) and poke her in the nose. He will lay on top her and give her zerberts galore. He will put his arms around her and squeeze her tight. He likes to suck on her ears.

Eli needs to have someone in the room with him at all times, most importantly sitting next to him. And sitting next to Eli isn't in the form of him on one cushion of the couch and me on another. It is Eli and I both on half a cushion. His legs are intertwined with mine, he insists on a blanket to cover us and his hand is almost always on my nose.

Around 5 months old, I would nurse Eli to sleep and he would reach up and touch my nose. My nose was his 'lovey' to help him to fall asleep. To this day, we lay with him for him to go to sleep and he STILL touches our nose to fall asleep. He loves us to lay next to him and his face is so close to ours that we are breathing each other's carbon dioxide.

At any store, he feels compelled to touch EVERYTHING, as most children do. A dear friend of mine told me about the idea of having him only touch with one finger. I thought it was genius and it works for about 2 minutes. I know kids like to explore with their hands, but Eli is more unique. He stacks soup cans, butter, cheese; he takes the bottom apple holding the other 50 or so apples up and of course they all fall to the ground.

What is the common denominator in all of these stories? It would seem that Eli feels compelled to touch. Like it is ingrained in him. Like God made him that way. It is as if God graces us with a specific, strong desire/trait in which we give and receive love.

I am reading this book: The 5 Love Languages of Children. It is a MUST READ for parents. There are five main ways that children (and adults): physical touch, quality time, words of affirmation, acts of service and gift giving. This book has helped me understand that Eli's love language is (you guessed it): physical touch. He needs to be touched to feel the most loved. Of course we tell him we love him, spend quality time with him, etc., but he feels MOST loved AND gives love in these ways: hugs, kisses, wrestling, snuggling on the couch, touching our noses, wrestling and pestering Evie and tackling anyone brave enough to be on our floor.

The book also mentions something called a child's emotional tank or love tank. Here, the authors explain: "By speaking your child's love language, you can fill his emotional tank with love. When your child feels loved, he is much easier to discipline and train than when his emotional tank is running near empty. Every child has an emotional tank, a place of emotional strength that can fuel him through the challenging days of childhood and adolescence. Just as cars are powered by reserves in the gas tank, our children are fueled from their emotional tanks. We must fill our children's emotional tanks for them to operate as they should and reach their potential." The Five Love Languages of Children by Gary Chapman, M.D. and Ross Campbell, Ph.D

It also talks about how to discipline with your child's love language in mind, how to unconditionally love your children (unruly or not) and how to discover your child's love language to begin with. I am not even half way through this book and I have instituted a few of its methods. Eli seems to be really responding to these methods in certain areas, for example trying new things (namely food). Please read this book.

faces

2010-06-17T21:17:00.004-04:00

The many faces of Evangeline Finley.....

friend

2010-06-16T20:40:00.001-04:00

Donohue1
Originally uploaded by denisedebolt

This is my dear friend Melissa who I have been friends with for over 15 years. High school friends who have kept in touch all this time. I love her like a sister. She is beautiful inside and out. Here she is with her daughter who will be one just a few short weeks. This photo truly captures the heart of this woman because you can see the love she has for her daughter. Mel, I love you so much! You are a wonderful mother and a generous, sweet friend. Thanks for loving me. :)

bash

2010-06-15T20:16:00.005-04:00

Our dearest Evangeline turned one...mmmm....about a month and a half ago. A friend of mine posted photos of her daughter's birthday and it reminded me that I never posted ANY for Evangeline's. What kind of mother am I, right? So here they are. She was delightful, as usual...except for causing trouble with her twin cousins. It starts young.

wet

2010-06-11T19:54:00.002-04:00

Shenanigans at Longwood

Foster and Eli

happenings

2010-06-10T20:34:00.006-04:00

Sometimes I think that since now I am in the photography business, that there is this pressure for me to only post photos that are my best and ones taken with my new, honking big camera. Well, I have a confession to make. I own a smaller, thin, extremely portable camera that I keep in my purse for those times when my huge camera will just be a hindrance. Plus, if I lug my nice one around everywhere we go, it could get damaged which I couldn't bear. If I didn't have my small and thin one and only used my nice one, all of my photos would be of the kids in green pastures or a million zillion close up shots (I am partial to those!). You'd think that is all we do.

Well, below I posted a plethora of photos from now all the way back to March to show the things we have been doing. And these were taken with my smaller thin camera. Hi, my name is Denise and I am not afraid to admit I have another camera.

STRAWBERRY FEST

We found/almost ran over a turtle in our development.

As you can see, Eli's hit went up to the waist of the clown....

Evie basically wanted to do everything Eli did, so here she is wanting to take a swing at it.

The wind was whipping and it drizzled on us, but Eli had fun and that is all that mattered.

Every few days, I will look back in the rear view mirror and see this...they love each other.

SPRINGTON MANOR

BELL TAVERN PARK

MOM AND DAD PHIPPS' POOL

The kid loves to eat cheese curls.

The kids loves to eat.....anything..now if we could only get her to stop eating grass.

ACAC

EASTER EGG HUNT @ EAST FALLOWFIELD PARK

ADVENTURE AQUARIUM

Eli trying to look scared because he was in the mouth of a shark! He has his Daddy's sense of humor.

twelve

2010-05-07T19:15:00.003-04:00

evangeline has been with us for 12 months!
she loves sharp cheddar cheese, black beans and chicken breast
she gives us slobbery kisses when we ask
when we say 'woof!' she will say it too (her own version)
she is walking, or waddling it looks more like
she happily lets her brother tackle her something fierce
her daily activities include emptying everything, bookshelves, dvd shelves, cabinets.....
she loves touch and feel books and anything that isn't one she gets bored with
she still LOVES to be sung to...anything and everything will either make her laugh or calm her
she is a cuddler and will snuggle into your chest when she is being shy or feels tired
she is so fun loving and loves to be held upside down...over and over...and over....and over.....
happy first birthday evangeline! we love you!

new

2010-04-14T15:34:00.001-04:00

http://www.denisedeboltphotography.com/abigail/

latest

2010-04-12T08:40:00.001-04:00

http://www.denisedeboltphotography.com/brayden/

fav

2010-04-07T20:24:00.001-04:00

easter

2010-04-07T20:13:00.003-04:00

Outtakes galore....enjoy.

business

2010-03-26T09:46:00.000-04:00

It is official! I am in business!

www.denisedeboltphotography.com

Believe it!

dress-up

2010-03-24T22:33:00.002-04:00

evangeline waiting ever so patiently for summer to grace us with its presence.

evangeline

2010-03-17T20:31:00.006-04:00

Here are some recent photos of Evangeline and some things she is into doing right now at 10 months old! She is walking from one thing to another by herself now which is very nerve wracking, but so fun! Her favorite things to ealk between are me and Chad....back and forth, back and forth, giggling the whole time!

March with Evangeline has been fun so far! These past few days have been heavenly. And even though she has an ear infection, she has been a trooper.

Evie loves to hear songs sung to her. Any songs will compel her to stop what she is doing, look at you and smile....sometimes even clap.

Evie's first battle wound....she fought the tv stand and the tv stand won.

Evie HATES the doctor already. She vice grips me even just when I try to put her on the scale. When the doctor comes in, she wails. Poor thing. And I am not even going to get into her reaction to shots.

Evie's favorite pastime is pulling every book from the bookshelf onto the floor and then perusing them. Her favorite book is 10 Little Ladybugs.

Evie LOVES the swings! It was so cute to see her on one for the first time. Her smile was so infectious!

High fashion...hot pink shoes.

Evie gets up at the crack of dawn like her brother. We can't get a break, but she sure is cute making sounds into the monitor.

Evie is really into immitation. She likes to yell and then look and listen for us to yell too. This goes on and on and it is a fun little game!

We taught Evie to clap when we say 'clap, Evie, clap'. She loves it because she loves to hear our expressions!

Evie eats well and still loves to drink water. Any sight of a sippy cup and she is all over it, making sucking sounds with her mouth before she even gets to the cup.

2010-03-10T19:48:00.001-05:00

questions

2010-03-01T20:57:00.004-05:00

as eli gets older, his questions become more complicated, which is very interesting, especially when i am not sure the answer.

a little background.....we have been praying for the people of haiti at night with eli. we explain to him that the earth shook and that children's houses fell down. we explain that God did this for a reason, a good reason, but we don't understand why right now. we tell him that they need us to pray for them. he gets it and prays for them, which is both incredibly cute and very astute.

so getting back to my story, one day in the car eli asks me:

eli: mommy, what made the houses fall down in haiti?
me: an earthquake.
eli: houses fell in the grass?
me: yup
eli: what is under the grass?
me: dirt
eli: what is under the dirt?
me: um....(having to dig back in my brain to science class)....lava?
eli: no, lava is in bolcanoes
me: yes it is, but lava is under the ground too
eli: is it in the hole in the bolcano?
me: yes, in the hole inside the volcano
eli: what is lava, i mean what is in it?
me: (silence)....ummmmm.....daddy knows, ask him.

how sad is it that i couldn't think that lava is melted rock? of course after a few minutes it hit me, but HELLO?!?!!? how dumb am i? sheesh.

but these questions, these probing questions come at a breakneck pace as of late. and if i cannot think on my toes and reach back into my childhood brain (or even college brain!)about such elementary subjects, how will i handle more complicated questions, much less the birds and the bees discussion.....another one i will throw daddy's way, i guess.

and the worst part about this? i have two bachelors degrees in education......

swimsuit

2010-02-25T21:35:00.003-05:00

We are headed to ACAC tomorrow (weather permitting) and they have indoor pool. So Evie is ready to go swimming in her new swimsuit! Look at those leg rolls?? Don't you just want to butter those up and take a bite!?!?

photos

2010-02-25T10:20:00.003-05:00

some of you may know that i am starting my own photography business. i wanted to share some of my work. i have shared on facebook, but surprisingly enough, not everyone in the world is on facebook (imagine that?). so here is a link to some of my photo sessions. once i am up and running, it is my hope that you can spread the word so that i can grow my business thanks!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/42447972@N05/sets/

winter

2010-02-24T21:01:00.002-05:00

will

2010-02-12T16:17:00.004-05:00

ladies and gentlemen.....it is official.....i have lost the will to blog.

and it is also official....through my extensive internet research, i have come to determine that i have SAD (seasonal affective disorder): also known as winter depression or winter blues, is a mood disorder in which people who have normal mental health throughout most of the year experience depressive symptoms in the winter

emails get unanswered
sleep gets unslept
time with God....abysmal
irritablilty quotient...however high it goes, i am there
sickness after sickness after sickness
winter weight gain....10 pounds and counting
photos get un-uploaded

i need a pick me up
i need a vacation
i need a massage
i need a minivan
i need new floors
i need sleep
i need motivation
i need money
i need a cleaning lady
i need a swift kick in the hiney

spring, oh spring, where art thou spring??????

Celebrity Collage by MyHeritage

2010-01-31T19:07:00.001-05:00

http://www.myheritage.com/collage

MyHeritage: Celebrity Collage - Draw family tree - Roots

obsession

2010-01-24T09:42:00.001-05:00

This is my newest obsession.....I want one real bad. A camera bag with size AND style? Wow. Find out more here.

cloud

2010-01-20T21:51:00.002-05:00

A dark cloud has decended over the DeBolt household....

If it isn't one thing, it is another.

Once we have cleared one hurdle, we encounter another that trips us up completely.

Sickness, money stress, arguing, nagging, working late hours, sleepless children, sleepless parents, house repairs.....

I try to remember that I am blessed...it isn't easy to forget.

But life is certainly handing us some lemons and the lemonade is not to be found.

There is one missing ingredient that can turn all these lemons to lemonade and it isn't sugar, it is: prayer.

Prayer warrior, that is me from now on.

Prayer for us, prayer for family, prayer for Haiti....their lemons are much more in quantity than mine....it is all about perspective.

eli

2010-01-14T20:48:00.003-05:00

eli....i am completely enamored by this little boy. the stories he regales us with and the games he wants us to play keep us in hysterics constantly. His favorite games are:

-playing zoo and pretending he is a gorilla, cheetah, or pinchanzee as he calls it. he will set up a cage on the stairs putting our gate against the stairs. he makes us look at the other 'animals' first, then we can look at him. we pet him through the gate and he kisses us. he makes animal noises and everything.

-he has a fascination with paying for things, specifically using credit cards. he sets up his cash register, his credit card swiping machine and his little yellow chair. he sits on the chair and says "oh hi! what can i do for you today?" and i ask "what are you?" and he says one of the following: mommy's coffee place, make up donalds, chick fil a, bounce u, and basically anywhere we were in the last week.

-we put all of the cushions and all of our pillows from our beds on the ground in the family room and jump around to music. while this sounds fun, it is more fun for eli if he is just wearing his underwear. the little streaker jumps around in his little diego adorned underwear and has a ball!

-whatever sport we are watching, he automatically goes into his toy closet and gets the corresponding ball that matches the sport on television and he plays it. he plays it just as they are on tv, or attempts to anyway. he is notorious for putting in his football helmet and throwing his football up in the air and catching it again while running and screaming 'touchdown desean jackson!!!!' he will continue screaming this until we acknowledge the said touchdown. he is also michael vick sometimes too. then he will start to name teams, real and made up, and ask who we want to win: eagles vs cowboys, pickles vs. cucumbers, and the list goes on.

-he will pretend he is other people all of the time: dora, tinkerbell, ariel, lilo, tessa (my sister's dog), nathan (his cousin), marina, mariana, elaina (his friend), george (my other sister's dog). if i say his name and ask him to do something, he says 'mommy, you mean tinkerbell'.

-my favorite thing we do together is when i lay down with him bedtime. after our book reading, i turn off the light and turn on his light up aquarium. i lay down and get under the covers and he does the same. he curls up next to me and we pray together. then, we kiss goodnight and he snuggles closer to me. he looks into my eyes, takes my face into his hands and he kisses my nose over and over. he tells me he loves me over and over. he kisses my forehead too. he puts his arms around my neck and squeezes. then he plays with my nose for a few minutes and he is asleep. i am not even exaggerating. this is what he does with me every time i put him to sleep. this kid oozes love and affection and while i think some if it in innate, i also think some of it is the way we parent him. he is a very loving child and my heart bursts with love for him!

this is my life with my 3 year old boy. there are not enough bottles in the world to bottle up the amount of love i have for this kid. hopefully he can look back at this post and see how much i love him and of course embarrass him a little too. :)

tutu

2010-01-08T15:58:00.002-05:00

babbles

2009-12-31T21:42:00.000-05:00

ladies and gentlemen......she speaks.

2009-12-31T21:38:00.001-05:00

pics

2009-12-30T22:48:00.004-05:00

handsome beauty

shirtless wonder

christmas day

santa in coatesville

playing and loving

first cold....

first snow....

bundled

longwood

beauty

ornament

2009-12-18T13:44:00.003-05:00

Last year, I believe, my mom gave me this ornament that had adorned her Christmas tree for 30 some years. It was my first ornament. It now hangs on our family Christmas tree. And though it taunts me as it reminds me of my ever increasing age, I love it because of it's age and it's timelessness.

christmas

2009-12-16T21:07:00.007-05:00

sooo.....the lack of time, funds and organization on my part has made me decide not to send out christmas cards this year. i only hope that our friends don't stop sending them to us next year thinking we didn't send them one this year. oh well.

here are the pictures i was going to use for the cards. as you can see, all of the below pictures would not be able to fit on one photo christmas card. i just couldn't decide which ones to use! why do kids have to be so darn cute?!?! merry christmas!!!!!!

training

2009-12-16T14:47:00.003-05:00

ah, the infamous potty. something that a 3 year old could be afraid of....seriously, where does our poop go when we flush? a good question, if you ask me.

potty training was non existent for some time in our house. we thought we would have eli try during the summer. he was peeing before his bath every night and his diapers were somewhat dry in the morning. so we tried potty training with him and boy, did he rebel. did NOT want to even TRY to go in the potty. when presented with pull ups, at the mere sight of them he ran away, screaming with fear. and so started the wait.

we thought we would wait and try again in a few weeks....same thing happened again. and so we just thought we would wait until he was ready.

after thanksgiving, he was ready. he went two weeks with only 1 peeing and 1 pooping accident. it was like an early christmas miracle! i thought potty training would be a very tough experience for both Eli and us as parents. within the two weeks of him being trained, he would go potty all by himself, most of the time without us even noticing. we would just hear the flush.

how did this all become so easy?!?!!! i am one lucky mama for SURE!

but now i have to find out if it is healthy for a 3 year old to only go potty 3 times a day....man, can that kid hold his pee!

pov

2009-11-23T20:54:00.004-05:00

Children are so imaginative. Eli's imagination makes me laugh and marvel on a daily basis. It is amazing to me that imagination is hard wired into anyone. I am not very imaginative. Chad is uber imaginative. He takes nothing and makes something extraordinary with it. I think that is where Eli gets it.

Not that this is hugely imaginative, but I thought it was cute. We have this DVD box set of Christmas DVD's that we have taken out recently since Christmas is right around the corner.

Eli likes to look at the DVD's we have and this box set is no exception. He opened it and looked at the DVD's inside.

Immediately, he puts the DVD's down and proceeds to 'scratch' like a DJ.

He knows what a DJ does because his Daddy used to be heavy into that and he has seen it done on television. I have seen that box set before and never had made that connection. But of course Eli did.

Crazy kid.

updates

2009-11-18T13:55:00.005-05:00

Wow, I have not been updating our blog very often. As some of you may know, I am in the process of beginning to start a photography business and needless to say, it has been a bit busy for me and my family. It keeps me up later in the night, editing photos and learning through online tutorials. Plus, I have been waking up at 5am to work out in the morning, which makes me a tired mama. Excuses, excuses....

Anyway, here are some updates on us:

Evangeline: She is now over 6 months old! I cannot believe it!! She sits up very well and loves her sippy cup. Just the mere sight of her cup and she goes into a frenzy trying to grab it and drink.

She is on solid foods now and eats very well and opens her mouth super wide. She smiles and laughs so much and is really such an easy baby. Like her brother, she is a VERY early riser, most mornings before 6am.

At her 6 month appointment, I was told she has a mild case of torticollis which is when the muscle of one side of a baby's neck is tighter than the other and causes the head to tilt to one side. She has been to one physical therapy appointment so far and it went well. It looks like the condition was caused by the way she was positioned in my uterus, according to the therapist. She gave us lots of stretching and strengthening exercises to do at home with Evie and she has been doing fine with them so far.

Elijah: He turned 3 in October! WOW! For his birthday, we had him and Evangeline dedicated at church and then came back home to an Eagles themed family birthday party. He even wore his Eagles uniform Halloween costume. SPeaking of Halloween, he was a DeSean Jackson and would say so whoever asked. Evie was a Ladybug.

Eli loves preschool. His teacher said he was a quiet boy and when I heard that, I almost fell over in shock. This just proves he is a different boy there than he is with us.

He loves to play in the gym at school. He is still doing soccer through USTC and next session he will be without Daddy on the field. Our boy is moving up! We shall see how that goes. He loves, loves, loves Evie. He kisses her and holds her and loves to have her ride on his shoulders. She loves it too and just laughs and laughs.

Chad: Chad's business is slowly, but steadily building which is a blessing. He is such a hard worker. I beg him to take a day off here or there, but he always brutally rebuffs me. He also does the laundry now (since his office is right next door to the washer) and gets up with the kids every weekday morning at the crack of dawn so that I can exercise. What a wonderful man. Of course he stands to benefit a little from my losing weight too. haha. He has a men's bible study on Thursday nights which he really loves. We still have our Friday DVR night which consists of ice cream and Flash Forward/Biggest Loser or a Netflix movie.

Me: As I said before, I am just trying to learn more about photography and building my portfolio. I will probably launch in January or February. My exercising is going well and I am down to pre-Evie weight, but not quite at pre-Eli weight. Besides being exhausted, I feel good and very blessed. I use that word a lot, blessed. But it truly depicts how I feel 100% of the time.

cup

2009-11-11T14:08:00.003-05:00

Evangeline is a growing up fast! She has never had a bottle before, but she loves her cup! Well, it is actually Eli's cup, but she doesn't care. Ladies and gentlemen, we have a drinker!

family

2009-10-27T06:25:00.004-04:00

I haven't posted in a while....things have been hectic to say the least. But click here to see some beautiful pictures that my friend took of our family. She is precious and I am so thankful to have her in my life. Now my children can look back at these and will know they actually did have a mom growing up. :)