Poor Elijah. He's having a tough time today. It started at 6:45am when I heard him talking in his crib. Now let me explain something: Elijah is not a morning person, probably because he has two parents who aren't very fond of mornings either! Most mornings he sleeps until 8am. So for Elijah to be wide awake at 6:45...I just knew it was going to be an interesting day. But we got up, got dressed and started the day. We have a pretty good morning routine: Elijah gets some animal crackers in his orange cup and watered down juice to keep him pacified until his oatmeal has cooked and cooled. Usually, this goes very well. Today, however, it did not. Elijah was climbing on a chair and fell off the chair face first...into the kitchen floor. We were lucky enough to not have blood but by the time I picked him up off the floor, he had a huge fat lip. And because he was so upset, he wouldn't let me do anything for him. He didn't even want to be held! So I let him cry it out and then he came and sat on my lap for awhile. Poor little guy! Well, the huge lip must have made it painful to eat off a spoon because after only a quarter of his bowl of oatmeal, he started crying and pushing the bowl away. So this is the 3rd thing for him...he loves his oatmeal! He was trying so hard to just eat it but I could tell it hurt. He finally settled for dry Cheerios and animal crackers.

So the morning continues with various temper tantrums for no reason and almost falling backwards off the couch. I caught him by his leg, which I think made him angrier at me! Sheesh, I was just trying to help! Needless to say, I decided his nap time was happening before lunch today. Which is when I found the next problem: grapes give Elijah diarrhea. Nasty diarrhea with grape halves in it. And diarrhea means awful diaper changes with a lot of crying and poopy socks due to flailing. Yeah... We made it through, and he seemed to be content in his crib. He fell asleep and I just hoped he'd sleep off his bad day. He woke up after an hour...which means he needs another nap today, and it will probably be too long...which means he won't go to bed on time tonight...which means, well, I don't know but we definitely do NOT need this day to repeat itself tomorrow. I just told him he needs to SIT , not STAND on the bench in the living room and he is one ticked off toddler. He screamed (his new thing when he gets scolded!) and threw himself onto the floor. Then he decided to stop crying long enough to take a drink...but alas, the cup was empty...so he walked in the kitchen and threw it at me . Funny thing, though, is he walked away and is fine now. Yeah... It's days like this that make me feel bummed - he's scowling at me from across the room right now! I'm hoping he decides he likes me again soon...

Good news is his lip isn't nearly as swollen as it was this morning. Prior to his meltdown, he let me take some pictures:


You can see on his left (your right) where it's really red...that's the spot he hit. Poor monkey...

This is his "I'm gonna freak out and cry now" face.

Crisis averted (for the time)...I got him to smile!

Elijah LOVES to read!

I love how cute he looks when he's "reading" his books!


In the first picture, he is putting the first book away! I've trained him well




Adam taught him how to climb on the furniture ...so he likes to read on the couch, too!

Laundry Day

Elijah wanted to help me with laundry today...here's some pictures from our laundry day:



Juice break!

Check out that BIG melon of a head! Just kidding...his head is fine!

I like this set...so serious...

followed by the giggles...


followed by a series of poses (what a ham!)

My little laundry helper He's the best.

April

It's been a rough four months. I have had worse times in my life, but the past four months have seriously drained me both physically and emotionally. The past week has really had me wondering how I was going to make it through everything.

I have a wonderful husband, and we not only love each other but we are in love. I have a beautiful child whose smile can brighten even my darkest emotions. I have a great family that supports me no matter what. I have remarkable friends who seem to always know what to say. I have a roof over my head, and we have food to eat. I have my life. And I have Christ.

It's April now, and I'm praying that I can remember what I just wrote above. God doesn't give us anything we can't handle. And although I've felt pretty overwhelmed lately, I know it's going to get better. I trust that God is in control. And I'll wait for Him to show me where to go and what to do next.

Psalm 9:9-11
9 The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed,
a stronghold in times of trouble.

10 Those who know your name will trust in you,
for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you.

Psalm 37:4-6

4 Delight yourself in the LORD
and he will give you the desires of your heart.

5 Commit your way to the LORD;
trust in him and he will do this:

6 He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn,
the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.

The Scriptures are 1 Samuel 1:1-2:11
Author : Gladys M. Hunt

Waiting is one of the hardest things we do, especially when the years go by and we see no fulfillment of our dreams and hopes. It's a good thing to learn to wait; we spend a large amount of our lives waiting.

Hannah knew the misery of waiting for dreams that did not come true. She was childless. It didn't help that the second wife her husband had taken mocked Hannah by gloating over her many children. Even her husband Elkanah didn't seem to understand her acute distress.

When Hannah poured out her agony before God, Eli the priest didn't understand either. He thought she was drunk. Yet something about going before God and spelling out her trouble reminded Hannah who God was. She expected Him to look on her, to remember, and give her a son. She went away contented. God understood; He would remember her.

Hannah's prayers were answered. She conceived and had a son. When he was old enough, she took him, as she had promised, to the house of the Lord and gave him back to God.

Hannah's second prayer (1 Samuel 2:1-11) is far different from the pain of her first prayer in 1 Samuel 1:11. It's an amazing song of praise to the God whom she sees as sovereign over all of life. Reread it and notice all that Hannah believes about God. Can we say we believe these things?

Hannah makes no mention in this second prayer of the son for whom she prayed so fervently. The subject is not her need or her son. The subject of this prayer is God!

Could it be that Hannah learned what we need to learn - that it is God who makes life complete? Oh, we yearn for this and ache for that. We concentrate on our need instead of on God. It is God who is enough. "The Lord" Hannah says, "is a God who knows" (1 Samuel 2:3). No wonder the Scripture says over and over: Wait for the Lord! Not for the thing you want, but for the Lord!


I will never cease to be amazed how things like this are given to me when I need them the most.

Well, it's only about 36 degrees today, and we've had some snow flurries. Spring in the upper midwest...what a joke.

Elijah and I braved the cold this morning to take him to the doctor. He's healthy, and hasn't grown quite as much as I thought:


Height: 30 inches - about 15th percentile (has grown 1.25 inches in 4 months)

Weight: 23.3 lbs - about 25th percentile (gained 4.3 pounds)

Head: 47.5 cm - about the 60th percentile (grown 1.5 cm)


So once again, he's my little guy with the big head!

EDIT AT BOTTOM!

It's raining today. In fact, we've had two thunderstorms already...one very loud one that woke all of us up at about 3am, and another one at noon. Spring is in the air, right?

WHATEVER! It's 37 degrees outside! So not only is it raining and just kind of gloomy, it's cold too! And I'm feeling lied to. All of our "meteorologists" said it would be in the 50's today. Even Mark Baden lied to me. Unbelievable. See, I have this system at 10pm when the news comes on: I like to watch all four major networks to see what their forecast says. (yeah, I only do this now when Adam IS NOT home because he used to give me a hard time about it!) CBS, FOX, NBC and finally ABC. ABC's Mark Baden is usually very accurate, as is his colleague Lance Hill. (Bring back memories, Mom and Dad?) They were all so wrong. And I am not pleased. And you know what will happen tonight? THEY WILL LIE THEIR WAY OUT OF THEIR OH-SO-WRONG FORECAST...probably by saying some front moved the wrong way, or maybe the stars aligned incorrectly, or that a black cat ran over a bridge and caused instability in the atmosphere...and that, my friends, is the reason that we didn't even hit 40 degrees HA!

OK, I'm done. One a lighter note, Elijah has a well-baby check-up tomorrow morning. It's his 15 month check-up . Oops...yeah, he is 16 1/2 months old. I forgot. Anyway, I'm anxious to go tomorrow because I know he's had a growth spurt. I know for certain that he's put on at least 5 pounds since his 1st birthday (he got weighed when he went in for his rash) and I'm sure he's grown in height as well. Plus, I really like his new pediatrician. I really liked the doctor he had in Racine, too, but that's a long drive now that we moved. But his new doctor was very good with him when we went in for his rash. Elijah didn't like her...probably because she had all "scary" stuff like a stethoscope. But I think he'll be okay.

Well, that is all that's going on in my oh-so-exciting life. Hope you're all having a good Monday.

EDIT: Well, I opened my mouth a little soon. As of 8pm, it's 50 degrees outside! HA!