'Bout Time

It's been awhile. I blame my laptop. It has a power-supply issue and dies if I nudge it, adjust the screen, or sneeze. I also blame my need of a nap. Nap always wins over Blog. Except today, I'm working through it out of the desire to update you before this baby comes out and I never blog ever again.

Summer is officially over. I felt like it lasted about eight months. I'm tempted to say it was hot and annoyingly long, but I think that'd sound ridiculous coming from someone who lives in an air-conditioned house with her well-fed, healthy children, and whose air-conditioned car stays in the cool(er) garage. Don't get me wrong, I always welcome summer with open arms, but once the crisp air of fall returns, I'm totally in love with a new season and am done with summer.

The kids are now 3 and 2, which I can hardly believe. Eli especially grew like a weed this summer. He's super tall and talks a good bit. He's thinned out so much, that ALL of his baby fat is gone. Charley is still hanging on to some, but Eli is just long, lean boy now. Sniff. I will be sad when his "mease" turns into "please" and his "wabbit" turns into "rabbit" and his "I wanna 'nuggle' " turns into "No thanks Mommy, I'm too old to snuggle." He is still such a happy boy, and loves smiling, laughing and being a flirt. He does have a super-shy streak, and will cover his ears when he gets around strangers. He loves singing and will fall asleep singing and wake up singing. Eli is like his daddy, and while he is a good sleeper, he can survive on little sleep and wakes up, for the most part, in a good mood. Charley is more like me in that respect... let me sleep and don't wake me up...or else. Eli has recently taken an interest in stuffed animals...for example, he will sit one down across from him and roll a ball to it, and he once opened a play laptop to show Abby Cadabby how it works. He often gives his bear(s) big hugs and exclaims, "He's CUTE!" And the way he says "cute" is...well...cute! His most favorite things in the world, well above stuffed animals, are sports! Football, "Backetball," "Bateball," Soccer. Loves loves loves. And he appears to be a lefty. Throws with his left. Eats with his left. Colors with his left. Etc. I guess we will know for sure within a few years.

Eli's Birthday Cupcakes

I'm two!!

I love how he's looking adoringly at his candle...

Charley... She is our imaginative little one, who talks talks talks or sings sings sings all the day through. She is full of drama and emotion, but you wouldn't know it if she was in a group of unfamiliar faces. That's when she clams up and sticks her finger in her mouth. She often says funny things, but often times isn't trying to be funny...she's dead serious. Her favorite things are the My Little Ponies my nieces handed down to her and pretending -- pretty much anything -- but lots of times pretending to shop with her cash register and grocery buggy. She loves books and flipping through the pages "reading" what they say (based on the picture or because we've read the book five bazillion times). If she is allowed to watch TV, she turns into an absolute zombie who is non-responsive to the English language. Apparently she gets this from her father, so I hear from his mother. We don't do TV much, but Blue's Clues, Dora and Dinosaur Train, oh and how could I forget Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, are the favs around here.

Our sweet girl...

Both kids remained fairly healthy all summer. In fact, we recently had our first snotty-nose since April, which was like a four-month stretch (which hadn't happened in like 3 years!). Cue the angels singing!! However, Charley and Eli are both prone to what appear to be viral fevers. They get super high fevers which can last anywhere from 3 hours to 3 days. "High" temp for Eli is like 102-103 and "high" for Charley is like 105-106, which goes without saying, is scary. We just keep them drugged up and give cool baths if needed (which is just plain treacherous for everyone involved). Anyways, this has happened three times this summer. Boo. But so grateful for their overall health... something I NEVER want to take for granted.
As far as the conditions of their hearts... well, we work on it every day. ALL day. As they've been young, it has been a lot of "behavior modification," but we certainly want to have "heart-change" and not just raise robots who know their manners but can't put themselves under authority. I'm learning daily, and have LOTS to learn about how to go about doing this. Grateful for a husband who takes the lead and fights the good fight along side of me.

Most Recent Family Pic. Eli is sitting on "the belly"

Pregnancy update? Well, I'll be 36 weeks in a couple days. Whoa. That's insane!! The most common question I get is, "How are you feeling?" and I often answer, "Can't complain." I really can't. I feel pretty good. I'm tired. And I have to wear annoying compression hose on my legs due to varicose vein issues. It takes like ten minutes to get them on in the morning, and by the time that's through, I'm so tired that I'm ready for bed! BUT, they make my legs feel much better and I just realized the other day, I have no swelling in my feet like I did with the other pregnancies (hence "compression" hose...you'd think I'd catch on quicker). I have low-blood pressure and low-blood sugar issues, so between the two, I often feel like I'm gonna pass out. Not fun. But...it's all worth it. And even though I said "I can't complain" that whole paragraph sounds like I'm complaining, but I'm really not trying to! Just trying to fill you in. Especially our family far way who doesn't have the luxury of seeing my amazing nude-colored hose. :) Can't wait 'til we meet this little boy!!

Mema and Granddaddy came to visit for Eli's bday, and we went to Sky Top!

So there's an update for ya. I really want to post more often. I will try! Until then...