Easter

Goodbye Hall Drive

 At the beginning of this month we sold our first home!  Looking back I'm not sure how all of the packing and organizing happened while still functioning as a family, but it did and I am glad it is behind us.  Thankfully the weather was beautiful for the month of March and the boys were able to be outside all day while I packed inside.

After we moved out and before settlement, we took the boys back to the empty house to say "goodbye" because Zach was expressing some confusion as to why we couldn't go back there.  He helped us go through the house and pick out a few last minute bits we 'forgot' (such as a washcloth, baby spoon, garden shovel, plastic bags and other treasures).  Zach collected all the items and then said, "Goodbye Hall Dr!"  He hasn't expressed any anxiety about leaving the house since then.

We are currently living with my parents while we look for our next home and await the 8 weeks left until the baby is born.

In the midst of packing we managed to have a picnic lunch!

This was taken at 27 weeks pregnant.

Perhaps we are making progress....

This afternoon, while I folded laundry, the boys were playing really well together in the other room.  Suddenly, I heard a thud and Eli started screaming.  It didn't sound serious (it could have been a book, a toy or a head) so I stayed where I was to see how it played out.  As Eli ran off towards the living room, Zach poked his head in my door and I asked him what had happened?  He said,

  

"Sometimes mom, Eli is right and I am wrong.  I need to give him a turn to be king."

Another boy!

It seems that we are destined to be the parents of three boys!  This week at my 19 week ultrasound we were told to expect another brother.  Of course we are grateful to have a healthy child and I appreciate that we haven't had the heartache that many families go through with trying to conceive, but I confess to being disappointed that our family will not include a daughter.  It is actually surprising that I would feel this way because I think my personality is much more suited to boys.  I really have nothing of girliness or great crafty skills to pass on and enjoy with a daughter (as evidenced by my great cake-making abilities).  I have always gotten along better with boys and I have very little patience for the drama of teenage girls.  So....what is my problem??  I don't know.  I think that while I will not miss having a 'girl', I will miss the bond of not having had a daughter.

Instead, we will anxiously await the birth of a beautiful boy and the perfect fulfillment of our family!

A man of faith

This was Zach's prayer one night at dinner a few months ago:

"Dear Lord, Thank you for this food.  Thank you for Yia yia and Papa and Aunt Stephanie and Thea and Eli.  And please Lord, don't let anyone die. Even though I know they will.  In Your name, Amen."

Eli sayings

Eli has been a little slower to speak than most children.  He really only said the word "no" consistently up until this past summer.  But August brought about a rapid development in his speech and he went from hardly talking to speaking in full sentences.  I have shared with you some of the amusing things that Zach has said and now it is Eli's turn.

1.  Apple Soup:
He likes to jump on our bed (yes, I let the boys jump on the beds, I figure it's better than the couch).  When he jumps up with two feet and lands on his bottom he says, "Apple (while jumping) Soup (when landing)".  No idea where this came from but we have to watch him 'apple soup' every time.

2.  Whoopsy-weasel:
When he falls down or does something clumsy he says, "Whoopsy-weasel".  (Again, this was own expression not initiated by us.)

3.  Pats:
Pacifiers are "pats".  He started off abbreviating pacifier but even now that he can say the full word he still prefers "pats".

4. Lights on:
The other night when I was changing Eli I took his pants off and flipped them over his face.  He said, "Hey!  Who turned the lights on?"

5.  King Tiger:

The other day Eli kept following me around asking to watch "King Tiger".  After he got very frustrated with me I figured out he meant "The Lion King".

Someplace fun

Zach goes to preschool three mornings a week and this morning he declared that he did not want to go.  Okay, I thought, how do I get around this one? 

So I just suggested that he put his coat on and we would go for a drive and try to find something fun to do. (He looked at me skeptically.) 

We start driving towards school and Zach says nothing.  As we turn onto the street where his school is, I suggest we start looking for some place fun to go. (He graces me with a small smirk.) 

I start pointing to houses and ask if that one looks like any fun. (He cuts his eyes at me.) 

Then I say, "Whoa! Wait a minute (as his school comes into view).  This place looks like fun.  Look there is a school bus!  And a playground!  And lots of kids to play with!  Why don't we try this place for something fun to do?" 

Zach (with his telltale smirk) says in a perfectly dry delivery, "This place looks an awful lot like my school."

Christmas and Birthdays

I am having a hard time wrapping my mind around Zach turning 5 years old!  It just doesn't seem possible.  But somewhere in the midst of family-Christmas-craziness Zach did indeed turn 5.

Christmas preparations

This year for Christmas we found a local tree farm that lets you come and tromp through their fields, find the 'perfect' tree and cut it down.  We all enjoyed searching for the one tree that would be great in our house.  I had every intention to pick out a small one this year, since the house was on the market, but what looks small in a wide open field and what looks small in a 1200 square foot home are two very different things.  Oh well.  We came home and decorated our perfect (and rather large) tree and it was "the most beautiful tree ever!"

The boys and I also decorated a ginger bread house, which turned out much better than I anticipated.  (Linds, you will appreciate that while doing a cool activity one of the boys is still in his pajamas!  I won't tell you what time of day it was.)  Zach informed me that I was responsible to do all the frosting bits and he and Eli would handle the real decorating with the candy!

Williamsburg Birthday

In November, my extended family all gathered in Williamsburg to celebrate my grandmother's 80th birthday.  It was wonderful to all be together but it was our first time gathering since my grandfather's death this past August.  He had stressed before he died how important this birthday celebration was but we all wish he could have been there with us.  My grandmother is amazing and not acting her age at all!

Catching up

I hate trying to catch up on months worth of blogging and pictures that I haven't posted, but here we go...

This fall we found out that we are expecting another baby in early June!  Which has prompted us to put our small house on the market and see what happens.  So in the midst of first trimester fatigue and nausea we have been trying to keep the house clean and ready to "show".  It has been a challenge trying to keep up with all of the demands on my time.  

                                   

 We did manage to squeeze in a quick trip to the Baltimore Aquarium with the Caslers.  The boys loved seeing all the fish and sharks.  I thought that Eli would get bored quickly and need to be carried but he eagerly pressed his face to the glass of each tank!

Fall pictures

Eli has decided that posing for a picture means putting one
hand on your head and leaning the opposite direction.

Halloween

 Zach was very excited about Halloween this year.  He wanted to be a pirate and couldn't wait to dress up!!  Eli didn't really understand what the dressing up was all about but he enjoyed seeing his bucket fill up with candy.  (Unfortunately for him, most of his candy got emptied out once we got home and replaced with peanut-free options.  As he becomes more aware it is getting trickier to keep him happy with having different food choices than everyone else.)

The text

The other day I was laying down with my eyes closed while the boys played nearby.  My cell phone started ringing and I knew it was Steve by the ringtone.  Zach picked up the phone and carried it over to me. 

Zach: "Mommy, your phone is ringing."

Me: "It's daddy, you can go ahead and answer it."

Zach slid the phone up to answer which automatically puts it on speaker phone.  Steve says hi to Zach and they exchange a few words.  Then...

Steve: "May I speak to mommy?

Zach: "She's sleeping."

Steve: "Oh. I'll call her later."

Zach: "You can send her a text at 888-99."

Zach's field trip

Yesterday, I went with Zach on his class field trip to the pumpkin patch.  He got to ride the school bus for the very first time!   The kids each got to pick out a pumpkin, meet Zorro the long horned Watusi, complete a 'corn maze', feed the goats and go on a hay ride.  We had a great time.

The many faces of Eli

Here are some recent pictures of Eli that we have enjoyed.

Eli's 2nd Birthday

Eli turned 2 years old at the end of September! He has grown up so quickly and within the past 6 weeks is suddenly talking non-stop. The most common question we hear from him throughout the day is, "Now, mom?" repeated about 20 times in a row until you want to give him whatever it is he wants right now! It is very effective.

Eli continues to be interested in trains, especially Thomas and Friends, as well as baseball, football, soccer and any other sport he can get you to play with him. I've been surprised at his ability to pretend play already both with the boy's kitchen set and other small animal figures. It has been a lot of fun to see the differences in personality and temperament between he and Zach.