Adorable Elijah

Sometimes we take Elijah to the day care at the student gym, and one time when I picked him up, his helper said, "He must just crack you up all day. I've seen a lot of kids, but not all of them are as entertaining as Elijah!" Yesterday was one such hilarious day. Nothing monumental, but I just giggled a lot yesterday listening to him take care of his bear, watching his dramatic expressions as he talks and reacts to me, and just playing around. He sets the table for his little bear, and talks to him sweetly, "you want some milk, bear?" But last night I just had to take a picture of his attire. He loves those red boots, even though they are too small, because he can put them on by himself. Then he added the bib, and then he was playing with the wrapping paper, begging for scissors. It made me happy. Happiness is...my hilarious toddler.

It's Winter in Morgantown!

It has been snowing all day! And it is so beautiful! But I am so grateful to my friend and neighbor Jami for saving me from driving in it today! It's only a few inches deep, and in Utah, I would have been sure to take main roads and go slower, but I never would have considered staying homebound for weather like this. But Jami saw me scraping off my car this morning as I was getting ready to take Elijah to another friend while I went to the doctor for a baby visit, and in essence, said, "DON'T GO!! IT'S NOT WORHT IT!" I literally live about 3 blocks from the office, but it is up a very steep hill. Since Jami was homebound, too, she graciously and generously agreed to watch Elijah while I walked up the hill to my appointment. I was SO GLAD to get a first hand look at several pedestrians using the road as a sidewalk because they had abandoned their cars, stuck tow-trucks (I'm sure they were there to bail someone out, and got stuck themselves), a string of cars a block long that weren't going anywhere, and even a minor accident! It was a nice, festive, safe walk for me, and a solidifying testimony that I am never driving anywhere in the snow in Morgantown! You see, you can scarce get from point A to point B here without a pretty serious hill, and for some reason, there are no sidewalks and no shoulders on the sides of the roads (I walked in the street and in people's yards: there are virtually no fences here, either). In fact, because the weather is so wet in the spring and summer, there are actually large ditches on the sides of the roads that turn into rivers when it rains, and traps when it snows. It's very lovely and Christmas-y though, and fun to look at out the window! Thank you Jami for sharing your wisdom and caring about me!

6 Facts About Me

My sister-in-law has "tagged" me in a blogging game, and thus has invited me to share 6 facts about myself in the blog, and then tag six more people to do it in their blogs....what a great game! Here goes....

1. I am almost never dressed before noon, even though my family is usually up-and-at-'em by like 6:30am. In fact, it's 3:54pm, and I am not sure when I'll get dressed today! Phillip will be studying until bedtime, so I may just skip it today altogether!
2. I am a to-do list fanatic, but I am most productive about making the list. It just so happens that once the list is made, I feel quite accomplished!
3. I am a huge fan of putting lemon juice on my food, which I get from my mother. Phillip teases me that I like to put so much that I make sure lemon is the only flavor I can taste. Oh, contrer mufrer! (I don't speak...french?)
4. I have a great memory for dates. I am always saying, "Today is so-and-so's birthday that I knew in high school." The other day, Phillip started naming random people in his family, including a grandma, and I was able to list all their birthdays. I just love birthdays. Sorry if I have ever not called you...I'm sure it was on my list that day!
5. I really like running. I love the feeling of fresh air outside, a little bit of a dry throat, and feeling my internal frame feel strong. The last six months or so I haven't done much running, and lately I look out my window and see someone outside running and suddenly my face and ears feel cold and I feel strong again. I am trying hard to make it happen in my life regularly again. Maybe it won't be running (because of the pregnancy) but good exercise is CERTAINLY on my list!
6. I am a huge fan of journal writing. It helps me manage my depression and appreciate life! If you're ever feeling blue, take an inventory, in writing, of every good thing in your life...it's great!

Okay, so now I want to tag 6 people to do the same thing. I choose: Kim, Jami, Diane, Emy. Okay, that's only 4, but I'm new enough at this, I don't know who has blogs and who just checks them, so, that's all I choose!

A new chapter!

Wow! Several months ago (maybe even a year?) Elijah fell out of his crib, and he never tried it again, until last night. He's gained some height as well as some large motor skills since his last attempt, and last night he just jumped down and took off running! We have a toddler bed set up in his room and I always said I would follow my cousin Heather's example and put him in it as soon as we were expecting a new baby, so that Elijah wouldn't feel booted by the baby. I forgot how tired and sick you are when you start out, though, and despite Elijah's verbal requests to sleep in the big boy bed, I just kept telling him, "Mommy's not ready." Well, Elijah is so ready we just plain don't have a choice anymore! I knew we'd be putting him back into something all night, so it may as well be the toddler bed! We did the mechanical, emotionless, silent return-you-to-bed-every-time-you-get-out routine, and it only took 2 hours (almost exactly!) of hard physical labor picking him up as he fought for him to give up. I was very emotional because the poor kid tried everything, "I don't wanna nap, Mom!," "I wanna prayer!" "I want some milk!" "I need a tissue!" "I want the toys!" and the worst one of all, "Mama, I wanna hug!" I cried, exhausted when he finally fell asleep...I was just not prepared to do it. But, I knew it would be hard, which is why I could never get myself to CHOOSE to take it on. Today for his nap, it was only like 20 minutes of tag, and he got himself back in the bed most of the time, so it was much easier and I think he'll learn quick. He's a smart kid though, he always learns quick!

He's been begging to use the toilet for months...I just keep saying "Mommy's not ready." He sits on the toilet, wipes, flushes and washes his hands every day... and sometimes he pulls of his diaper. One of these days he may just force that issue, too!

So, if you didn't catch it earlier, we're having a baby! It's due June 21st, and we don't know what it is yet, but we will be finding out this time. We are thrilled! Because happiness is... family, especially little growing young ones! This is such a fun time of life!

This looks like fun!

We love living in West Virginia....except for the fact that most of the people we love, don't! So we are going to do this blog so it will be easier for everyone to know what we're up to!