Singing Cups and Noosing Babies

Daddy and Elianna were playing when she was overcome with thirst. She grabbed her sippy and started chugging. She drank so long and hard, the pressure didn't have time to equalize. So when she set the cup down, it made this whistling sound. She looked at the cup, looked at Chad and laughed her "old man" laugh that sounds like, "huh-huh, huh-huh" and said, "La-la's cup is singing!" She's such a goof!

Later when she and Selah were playing on the floor, Selah was getting kind of whimpery and whiny. I sat down next to Selah and asked, "What's wrong, Sweetie? Why are you sad?" Elianna looked at me with a sigh and said, "Mommy, Sissy just wanna noose!" (Noose=Nurse) Her expression said it all, like, "Duh, Mom what else does she ever want!"

Runaway Child

It was bound to happen - every parent hears this at some point from their child. I wasn't expecting it this soon, though! Elianna was just finishing up on the potty, and decided that she wanted to go commando. I told her to come here, she ran away squealing. I was not in a very playful mood, so I told her to come here this instant... or else. She crossed her arms, gave me a dour look and said, "La-la running away!" Of course, she can't say her "r's" or "l's" so it sounded more like "La-la wunning afay!" Now, she literally meant she wanted to run away and have me chase her, but it just sounded like the typical childhood threat, "I'm running away from home!"

Some Quality Gardening Time With My Daughter...

...is NOT how it turned out. Well, it was my own fault, really, since I had been in a state of sleep-deprived crabbiness all day. For whatever reason, I decided it was time to plant some impatiens in the flower box on Elianna's playhouse. Selah was whimpering less loudly than she had been (she still is not feeling so hot and had a rough night last night) so I had taken Elianna outside for some fresh air. Again, this was not wise. I am also fighting a cold now, so my patience reserve is not only dangerously low, I think it's all dried out and there are cobwebs strewn around. But, the impatiens were getting a bit shriveled waiting to be planted, so I figured, "How hard can it be???" I told Elianna, "Let's go plant some flowers!" and her little face just lit up. See, so far so good. So, I walked over to the playhouse and tried to take down the flower box. I wiggled and tugged and yanked and the darn thing wouldn't move. It just slides on, so what's the problem?! I climb up the ladder to inspect it from inside the playhouse, and there are two shiny new wood screws gleaming at me. I set the flowers down and threaten Elianna about ten times, "DO NOT touch the flowers. Wait for Mommy." Blah, blah blah. I dig around in the garage till I find the drill, and then I can't get the bit out. I pull, I twist, I beat the drill against a tree... it's not coming out. So I call Chad. "Why on earth did you screw the flower box to the wall?!?!" are the first words he hears. "Um, that's what the directions said to do." That's the best answer he can come up with, and I don't have the energy to argue. Although, I do manage to point out that it would make more sense to screw it in AFTER the flowers are planted... but I digress. I asked him how to change the bit, and explain all the things I've done to get it out. Silence. After a pause, he tells me, "The bit that's in there is the one you want." I guess I should have checked that, but I don't answer. The whine of the drill is all he hears to let him know I am unscrewing the flower box. With the bit that was already in there. We get off the phone before we get into an argument over something as dumb as a flower box. I set the phone down and discover Elianna has decided to take matters into her own hands. She didn't just touch the flowers, she pulled them out and was in the process of tearing the root balls into pieces. I started ranting and raving and lecturing her on the proper care of plants and the life expectancy of disobedient children, but none of it interested her. So, I cut it short, and we climbed down to find some potting soil. I looked everywhere, lost patience, grabbed a shovel, and dug a hole in the yard. Hey, it's dirt. It works. Elianna was especially delighted by this development, and also began digging. We put some dirt into the box, put in the mangled remains of the flowers, and gently patted dirt around them. I felt more like giving a eulogy than celebrating our accomplishment... they looked pathetic. Anyhoo, time to water them. I grabbed Elianna's Dora watering can, and ran into the house to get some water. I came out to discover that in the 30 seconds I was gone, Elianna had dug the flowers back out. We replanted the even more mangled remains, and I hung the flower box back on the playhouse. Elianna climbed up, and I reached up to hand her the watering can. Well, she's taking her sweet time getting it, and the whole time water is spilling out and running up my arm and all over me. "Just take the can so I can get a picture!!" I said in a sweet, motherly voice. (Something like that.) She grabs it and tips it upside down, emptying the contents in about... 4 seconds. Now, it takes 6 seconds for my camera to turn on and focus, so I snatch the can away and run back in the house. I come out to find her digging merrily in the muddy flower box, splashing mud all over herself, the playhouse, and anything else within three feet. I hand her the watering can, and tell her to water s-l-o-w-l-y so I can get a picture. She dumps it all out again in about... 4 seconds. So, I tell her to pretend to water the flowers with the now-empty watering can, and I get a couple pictures that way. She then gets bored and runs off to play something else, while I have to hose down and wipe off all the mud tracked all over her playhouse. I give these poor flowers no more than a week or two to live, since I am sure she will try to dig them up or pick them the first chance she gets.

Oh well, it wasn't the beautiful bonding experience I had envisioned, but it got done, and Elianna had fun anyway!!!! Here are some pictures of the whole fun episode.

Playing with the flowers... even though Mommy said "No!"




Elianna's method of planting - also known as rip & dump


Digging our own potting soil


Putting the remains of the plants to rest




Pretending to water...

Feeling Icky

Both girls have been battling the sniffles (as the piles of tissues everywhere will attest to) and fighting a cough at night. For Selah, this means waking herself up all night, then figuring, "Hey, I'm up now! How about I nurse!" Last night her cough got worse and had that seal bark to it. I knew that sound, but called her doctor to be sure... yep, it's croup. So, needless to say, I am a bit crabby from not having more than two or three hours of consecutive sleep for the last few days!! (Not to mention, Chad went out of town for what turned out to be their worst couple days. Hmmm... could he have planned that!??!) But, on a positive note, Selah is no longer running more than a low-grade fever and Elianna seems to be on the upswing. Hopefully we will all be feeling better in the next few days!!!!

Grandma's Blog is Back!!

Hooray! Grandma was able to get her blog back up and running, so now she can document her adventures with Elianna. (I've added the link in "Other Blogs I Like.")

Carnival!

Elianna went to her first carnival today. Like most carnivals, it was over-priced, loud and obnoxious. Naturally, she loved it! Here is a clip of her first carnival ride:



She has such a serious look on her face, but she was actually really enjoying herself. Next was her all-time favorite, the carousel. She was so upset when the ride ended that the operator let her ride it again free! (You know how pathetic she can be.) There were a lot of tears when it ended, this was by far the one she enjoyed most. I think she would have ridden it all night if we'd have let her.



Selah was unimpressed with the whole ordeal. It was too chilly and loud for her liking. (She's definitely not the adventurous socialite that her sister is!)

It Could Always Be Worse...

My cousin Jess sent me this story, and it was just so funny (and something I could definitely relate to!!!) I just have to share it. I'm not sure the source - it's just one of those e-mail stories.

So, we had this great 10 year old cat named Jack who just recently died. Jack was a great cat and the kids would carry him around, sit on him and nothing ever bothered him. He used to hang out and nap all day long on this mat in our bathroom.Well, we have 3 kids, and at the time of this story they were 4 years old, 3 years old and 1 year old. The middle one is Eli. Eli really loves chapstick. LOVES it. He kept asking to use my chapstick and then losing it. So finally one day I showed him where in the bathroom I keep my chapstick and how he could use it whenever he wanted to but he needed to put it right back in the drawer when he was done. Last year on Mother's Day, we were having the typical rush around and try to get ready for Church with everyone crying and carrying on. My two boys are fighting over the toy in the cereal box. I am trying to nurse my little one at the same time I am putting on my make-up. Everything is a mess and everyone has long forgotten that this is a wonderful day to honor me and the amazing job that is motherhood. We finally have the older one and the baby loaded in the car and I am looking for Eli. I have searched everywhere, and I finally round the corner to go into the bathroom. And there was Eli. He was applying my chapstick very carefully to Jack's . . . rear end. Eli looked right into my eyes and said "chapped." Now if you have a cat, you know that he is right--their little butts do look pretty chapped. And, frankly, Jack didn't seem to mind. And the only question to really ask at that point was whether it was the FIRST time Eli had done that to the cat's behind or the hundredth. And THAT is my favorite Mother's Day moment ever because it reminds us that no matter how hard we try to civilize these glorious little creatures, there will always be that day when you realize they've been using your chapstick on the cat's butt.

Visit to the Park!!

I have lived in this town for almost 10 years now, and I just discovered a park about a mile or two from my house! (It's not signed very well, in my defense.) I decided to go check it out today, and Nana Vella joined us. Much of it had been newly remodeled, with new bathrooms and a new (big and cool) play structure as well. There was even a small beach area, and I had to squelch my extreme aversion to our local lake water and let Elianna drag my mom up and down the length of the beach. (Ew! Sorry, but that lake is just icky.) It was very HOT HOT HOT at the play structure we stopped at. Mom and I thought we were just wimps, since the high today was supposedly 78, but when we got home the radio announced it was nearly 90 degrees today! That explains why we all got heat exhaustion. We had loads of fun, though, eating a picnic lunch and taking turns wrestling, I mean, holding Selah, or being at Elianna's beckon and call.

ABOUT THE SOCKS - The reason my daughter's bright red socks are pulled up in such a dorky way is NOT just to give her evidence to show her therapist later in life. For some reason, no matter how many layers of sunscreen I slathered on her, her calves were getting really red. It was either pull the socks up, look like a dork, and keep playing, or else go home. So no calling the fashion police on me!!! (And technically, it was Nana's idea!!)

On to the pictures, which is all you really care about, right?!?

The play structure we stopped at: (There were a couple in the park.)


No, Nana's not hiding, she's tickling Selah's back to make her smile.


Just Chillin' (or trying to in the sweltering heat.)


The closest thing they had to baby swings were these handicap-accessible swings. Both girls thought they were pretty cool.


The slide is always a favorite


Elianna met a friend, and they liked the "train" as they called it. There was a crank you could turn (you can't see it in the picture), and this platform would move back and forth.




Whenever we would say, "Soooo cute!" Selah would tilt her head to the side like she was trying to be coy.


Is that an adorable baby or what!?!?

Sorry! No Video Clip...

Okay, I worked off and on ALL DAY yesterday trying to upload the video clip... all to no avail. WAAHH! (I'm crying more about the wasted time than anything.) I might try to edit it, but don't hold your breath. So, please accept my apology. Here are a couple snapshots of the ceremony:

Selah's Dedication Day

**I'm still working on the video clip - I'm having some technical difficulties...*

We dedicated Selah to the Lord on Mother's Day, May 13th. For anyone not familiar with the Baptist dedication ceremony, I'll give a brief synopsis. (The audio is very faint on the video clip, so it's hard to hear what's going on.) We stood before the church and promised to the best of our ability to raise Selah to, first of all, encourage her to come to know Christ as her personal Savior, and then to serve Him in whatever capacity He calls her to. Our pastor also asked anyone to stand who would also pledge to be a support to both us and our children in this endeavour. Everyone stood, which you can see on the video clip. He then prayed the dedication prayer. At the beginning of the ceremony, before the video clip starts, Pastor gave Selah a rose bud in a vase. Well, Elianna pipes up (loudly) "La-la hode sissy's fawah!" (Elianna hold Sissy's flower.) She then held it nicely through the rest of the ceremony. I was actually surprised how well behaved they both ended up being!!! Aside from a couple polite waves and a brief stint of nose-picking from Elianna, she just stood there good as gold. Selah was more interested in Pastor's voice and the little cross pin on his lapel than anything else. It is a brief and simple ceremony, but it is our way of letting everyone know how seriously we take our role as parents. It can get overwhelming sometimes, but it is a comfort to know we will have God and our faith to help guide us.

Here are some pictures:

Elianna leaving for the church - complete with bandaged forehead. I tried to take it off for the pictures, but it was all red and puffy... I figured the bandage was the lesser of the two evils.

A couple family pictures.

A Four Generation Picture - We got this same picture with Elianna. It's so special to have four generations of Christians in our family!