Oh baby, don't you ever grow up...

Oh, age two, how I will miss you one day!

Now I'm on record... and you may need to check back with me about that sentiment in a weeks time.

Eli is two and a half. I've already given an update on him at this age, but goodness...
In this phase he is just starting to test his boundaries and become a bit obstinate if I do say so myself. Although these qualities test my daily reserve of patience I truly am glad to see these traits develop within him. When removed from my daily episodes of waging war against his toddler tantrums and his unmoving toddler ideals, I often think that his obstinance MUST be a means to nurture his self esteem, self confidence, and hopefully a strong character that will never waiver in what he believes to be true. Maybe I'm grasping a bit there...

But anyway, as a sort of piggy back post to "Stay at Home Mom", I come here with my fondness for this time in his life...
There are things that Eli does and says in the here and now; Things I never want to forget and things I want to have written down so that I can remember this gloriously innocent period of his life.

Things like:
The way he tries to whistle by making a high pitched screeching sound and then exclaims, "I can do it too!"

The way his giraffe and monkey and Lorax are his best friends right now and they MUST hear the bed time stories and get tucked in with him (and say their own individual prayers too).

The way he still affectionately calls Jude, "baby Jude" or even just "baby" when talking to him.

The way he casually told me he was playing cars with his friend "Jamie" in the gym child care center, as if it were no big deal.

The way he busts out big boy phrases like, "Baby Jude is sleeping because he has had a LONG day!"

The way he calls himself Eli Grey White, so matter of factly.

The way he exclaims that he is "as big as daddy!"

There are so many sweet moments, I just want to bottle them all up.
While I am thankful for a healthy and GROWING boy, sometimes I just want to stop time and live in the here and now forever.

I love you, Eli!

Stay at Home Mom

I am so blessed and so thankful to be a stay at home mom to my two little loves. By sweet, sweet consequence I get to see my children learn, explore, create, grow, and change before my eyes. It really is a miraculous thing. To see them grow and develop into this person whom I already knew they would be... I wouldn't change it for a thing.

I wouldn't change it for practicalities; not for financial relief or the ability to utilize my BSN degree and nursing license that I worked so hard (and paid so much) to obtain. I wouldn't change it for whimsy; not for the ability to travel to all of the places I dream of or to maintain the closet (and body) I could only wish for.

I wouldn't change it at all, period. And that in of itself seems to be such a curious thing for many people to grasp, which unfortunately leads to an abundance of harsh judgement. Often times I am reminded of the "sacrifices" I make to be, simply put, a mom... but I am okay with those things. This is such a short and precious season of my life. Despite the frustrations and hair-pulling moments that are peppered throughout my day to day, I know that I wouldn't have it any other way.

Stay at home mom it is, by choice, and with quite a content heart concerning the matter.

Potty Training success

It seems, as if over night, that our boy will indeed not wear diapers for the rest of his life!

After months of being scared of the potty and refusing to try at all, Eli came home from Wednesday night bible class ready to "go pee pee on the big boy potty". In such a scenario, can I get a big ol' HALLELUJAH for peer pressure!

So on Wednesday we began, no scratch that, actually HE began to potty train himself. We've had a few accidents and he isn't anywhere near being fully trained, but we have had huge success from Tuesday to today.
We've gone from wanting nothing to do with it ...to this morning, which began with him waltzing out of bed on his own accord and startling us with the sweet sounds of tinkling coming from the hall bathroom.

Go, Eli, go!

Best Brothers

Being a mom to two boys who are absolutely enamored with one another, I now know where they get the phrase, "I love him to death!". It seems as if almost every sweet moment that these brothers share is quickly followed by a brief moment of horror while I fear for Jude's life. That may be a slight exaggeration.

These photos I am about to post each happened within ONE HOUR of each other. In both instances I left the room with each boy happily preoccupied (by themselves) and I returned after less than 2 minutes. Luckily the squeals and giggles assured me that no harm was done!

Lymph nodes, allergies and tonsils... Oh my!

Since Eli was about 8 months old he's had this HUGE swollen lymph node on the left side of his neck. I'd be lying if I said it didn't paralyze me with fear in those moments that he'd turn his head just right so that I could see it brazenly protrude from his neck.

For the past year we've been told "we'll keep an eye on it", "it's just a funny lymph node", "it'll go down eventually". I finally got sick of not having a more definitive answer and decided to schedule an appointment with an ENT, moreso for my peace of mind than anything else. Our appointment was today and I am happy to report that it is nothing "serious".

The ENT believes that Eli has allergies which are causing a constant environment of drainage and small infections in his sinuses. This would be a cause for the lymph node to always be enlarged.

The game plan is to wait til Eli turns three to get him allergy tested. For now we are giving him Zyrtec every night (plus I am giving him a tablespoon of raw honey everyday). The doctor also believes that Eli will need his tonsils taken out in the future, just like mama.

Anyway, there's an Eli update for you.

Peace

Peace. Perfect peace. Thank you Lord!

Goodbye March and Hello April

I'm pretty sure March of 2013 has been one of the most eventful months of my life.

My best friend got married in Texas - Baby's first flight and the longest time I've ever been away from Eli (who didn't seem to miss me at ALL, thanks kid)

My brother got married in Georgia - I got a new sister out of the deal and am on the brink of nephews and nieces galore

My baby is hitting milestones which distance him even more from the term "newborn" - Jude rolled over and consequently now thinks rolling over is the greatest feat known to man and will attempt to roll at any given moment

Not to mention (again), amidst these important life events, we are still in the process of moving in, unpacking, organizing and decorating the house.

But alas... we made it through March. There were many many happy tears shed and joyful moments left and right. The craziness has been so worth it.
Here is just a glimpse of our life last month:

And now, with the coming of April... just like that, I'm a quarter of a century old. Happy Birthday to me!

Here's to a boring April!