Mommy days

Hi boys,
Some days, there are days that your dad and I look at each other and I say "When the heck is the nanny coming to work?"  We have days that Elijah is a whiney, crying mess.  That he is talking back and not listening.  We have days that Joey does nothing but arch his back and scream.  The best days are when you are both doing those things all at the same time and then fighting with each other at the same time.

But, those days pale in comparison to the good days - the mommy days - the days that I love being a mommy.  The days that I look at you guys and sigh at the joy that you both are.  Today was one of those days.  While I want Elijah sleeping by himself, I can't think of a better way to wake up that the way I did today.  Your daddy was up getting ready and Elijah & I were trying to avoid waking up at all costs (normal morning).  All of a sudden, Elijah rolls over puts his arm around me, strokes my head and says "Mommy?  I love you."  *be still my heart*

Gramma has been picking you guys up from Mary's since my surgery.  When you get home, there is nothing better than Elijah running up and screaming "Mommy" and being happy to see me.  On great days, you will give me a great big hug.  Joey will come up and give me a great big smile and just an overall happiness to see me.  Yesterday, I heard Elijah screaming "Mommy" and then Joey yelling "MaMa."  Joey cannot say "I love you" yet but nothing makes me happier than his big smiles.

When I was pregnant with Elijah, one thing I had prayed for was for me to open up my heart a bit and be able to communicate my feelings better.  I had hoped that I could freely say "I love you" because that is hard for me.  Thankfully, that has come true.  I can freely say "I love you" to you guys multiple times a day.  My reward for that is those spontaneous "Mommy, I love you"s.  I could not be more pleased with those rewards.

But, it made me wonder something today.  I was pondering all this in my head while I was heating my breakfast up.  I was wondering if Elijah knows what that means when he says it.  Those words carry so much weight and meaning & I have a hard time believing that you understand what they mean.  But, you doesn't toss them around lightly either.  I will hear "You are mean, mom" several times a day but "I love you" only once or twice a day.  So, at some level you must understand they are special and have a positive meaning.

Anyway, nothing substantial for either of you boys in this post.  Just some ramblings in my head and that is always a case of being incoherent and flighty and long winded.  But, love you both and love when you are so lovey dovey to me.

So Busy!!

Hi babies...
It is close to two months since I have written to you and we have had so much going on since then. Luckily, I keep track in my planner so I know what the heck we did.  Pictures are kind of rare this month so far, though.

So, what is new since September 3?

Elijah - You are growing so fast.  I look at you and can't believe you are going to turn 3.  You are so darn smart that we have to watch what we say around you at all times.  You are going to be one of those kids who tells everybody every word we say.

You are also a sneaky little thing.  You know how to count to about 16 but you will only do it if you will get in trouble.  Otherwise, you do 1, 2, 5.  You can sing the alphabet (you skip some letters) and your favorite song to sing right now is "Twinkle, Twinkle."  Mary says you know your colors but I don't believe that you do.  So, we are working on that at night.

We started you in gymnastics again this month and you are bowling with your cousins on Saturday mornings.  We enrolled you in the gymnastics class without parents.  You are doing much better listening to the teacher without us.

You are handling Joey walking better than I expected.  Yes, you read that right, your brother finally started walking!  I thought you would mow him down when he got close to his toys but you are doing ok with the emotional devastation of your brother being more mobile.

You were sick this month.  You had croup. Steroids for you and you stayed home 2 days.  One day, I was working and you did really good being quiet when I needed you to be.

You are obsessed with your birthday.  Everyday, you want it to be your birthday.  You know that it is after Christmas and after Santa comes but you don't understand that is still far away.  We are going to do cake with your Lang & Cvilkas family before Christmas.  Then, we will do a party at Bounce House with your friends and other side of the family.

Pretty soon, it is time for you to go to the dentist for the first time.  Your daddy has to take you with him so you can see what it is like.  Then, we will add you to our insurance so you can your first exam.

Joey - the big news....drum roll....you finally started walking you lazy bum.  October 5th was the day.  And, you cheated me.  You did it at Mary's.  I am really sad that I don't have the luxury of having your first steps ingrained in my head like I did with Elijah.  But, I still enjoy you walking around.  I need to get some video.  You never did walk between me and your daddy when we tried so no fun video there.

You are talking a lot more now.  You can say puppies, night night, bye-bye, gramma, mom, dad, Eli, thank you and, most importantly, SpongeBob.

You are so darn happy, kid.  We started out kind of rough with you - you were a bit of a fuss bucket.  But, now, you are smiley and laugh a lot.  You even have a fake laugh lately.  But, on the flip side, you also have started the terrible 2 temper tantrums.  You started those a bit earlier than your brother - probably because he showed you the ropes.  You arch your back and scream.  Or, you lay on the floor and scream.

You love your brother and you get mad at your brother.  You miss him when he is gone but you hate when he takes your toys and milk.  You both fight over the ipad.  You haven't completely figured it out yet.  But, you know that it shows you fun things and you swipe your fingers across it to get it to move.  Daddy said that you even know how to restart movies when they stop.

You are a bit harder to keep occupied these days.  Daddy says that at gymnastics, you fidget too much for him to take alone.  You don't like being constrained because you want to be free to MOVE.

Your favorite toys are your wire bead thing (beads on wires that you move around), any pianos/music,  and balls.  You love to play catch.  Your favorite TV shows are Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (you love the Hot Dog Dance), Jake and the Neverland Pirates (You love the opening music) and we learned that you like Phinneas and Ferb this week.  We were there at the live show and when you heard the music, you immediately stopped what you were doing to listen and dance.

As for your mom and dad, us old folks are trying to keep up with you.  We had an amazing time at Disney watching you guys enjoy yourself.  While you will never remember the trip, it is always worth it for us to enjoy ourselves what you have fun.

After Disney, my back just gave out.  On the 5th, I got an injection because the pain was back.  On the 9th, I was at the surgeon and on the 11th, I was in the operating room.  I am out of commission for 8-10 weeks.  It was pretty bad.  But, am hoping I am in the clear for awhile.  You both came to the hospital and visited me.  Elijah didn't really like and he didn't want to get close to me because he was scared.

OK, let's go back and see what has been going on in September and October.

We went to the Orchards with Mila.  You guys had a great time picking apples and eating them.

On Labor Day, we surprised Gramma Lang by appearing for a BBQ.  You guys played outside a bit before it started raining and we came in to grub.

We went to the Omaha Children's Museum and saw the Wizard of Oz exhibit.  It was just ok but you really liked the ball pit.

Joey decided to call me on face time even though I was sitting across from him in the basement.

On the 15th, Daddy did a mud run.  Elijah and I went to watch him cross the finish line.

On the 16th, we went to Boone, IA to see Thomas the Tank.  You guys had fun but it was a bust for a 5 hour round trip drive.  Not sure that we would drive that far again.

We went to look for beds for you.  You enjoyed jumping around but we are still not convinced that we could get Elijah the heck out of our bed with a bribe of a new bed.

You went and spent some time with your buddy Morgie and her parents.

We went to a wedding.  You guys got all dressed up (after I ran to the store to buy you clothes).  You danced before all the festivities began and enjoyed yourselves with Daddy's cousins. Elijah was so proud to be wearing his hand-me-down cowboy boots.  I took an activity book to keep him amused and my son proudly walked around the wedding with stickers all over his face.  Proud, proud parenting moment.

That weekend was busy - then, it was time for Mila's birthday party!!  YAY Mila!  You guys loved the bounce house!  Elijah, like his mommy, was enamored with Tessie the puppy.

Then, boys, the big day came!  Off to Disney.  WOOHOO.  You loved the plane but we had quite an adventurous trip on the way down.  Towards the end, we were THAT family with tired, screaming kids.  But, when we got on the Mickey bus, it was all worth it.  Elijah was so excited with the Mickey video that it makes all that cash worth it.

On the first day, we just went swimming - total bust.  Elijah is a bit scared of the pool these days.  Time for swim lessons.  Then, we went to Downtown Disney.

On Wednesday, we went to Hollywood Studios.  We went to Little Mermaid first.  Surprisingly, when I ask Elijah about Disney, it is that he remembers.  We went to the Disney Jr show and you both loved it.  Joey got so excited, he forgot he was standing for several minutes.  Gramma Debi D and Jesse met us for lunch!  All of the characters came to see us.  We also saw Mickey (twice), Minnie and Pooh.  Elijah was scared at first but started warming up a bit.  Joey was so darn excited.  He could be in the middle of a temper tantrum but if a character came out, he was all over them.  He put so many noses in his mouth that I can't believe he didn't get sick!!

At the end of the day, we went to Fantasmic.  It was too scary for the boys so we left early.  But, Elijah talked for weeks about "Little Mickey falling off the rock but he was OK."  He wanted to go see it again but we never made it back.

On Thursday, we went to Chef Mickey's for breakfast.  It was a great morning but it did take up the whole morning.   We went back to Hollywood Studios so Elijah could see Phinneas & Ferb and the Cars. I can't wait to get those photos back.

On Friday, it was time for "Mickey's house - the castle."  We had breakfast with Tigger, Pooh & Piglet.  We saw Minnie and Mickey again. We went on the carousel.  Joey got MAD when it was time to get off.  We had to ride it again.  After that, it was nap time before our big Halloween party.

After nap and dinner, it was time for costumes and the Halloween party.  Most of our photos haven't arrived yet.  We watched the parade, rode the pirates ride and watched the fireworks.  It was quite crowded and we didn't trick or treat.  Overall, we didn't get a ton out of the party but your dad & I enjoyed something new at Disney.

On Saturday, it was our last day at the parks.  We went to Animal Kingdom.  I will be honest, I was park'd out by that time and I was crabby.  I was done with parks.  I guess I have learned that my limit is 4 days and I need a break.  We had an awesome breakfast with the characters, we did the safari through the animal park. We saw Lion King.  At the end of the day, we saw Mickey and Donald for the last time.  We told Elijah over and over that it was the last time.  He was finally so comfortable and he told us "I want to go by myself."  We were so proud of him.  After our absolute last character encounter (Donald), Elijah walked out and said "That was so awesome."  While we have no idea where he picked up "awesome", it was an amazing capstone to our week.

Elijah had a great time in Disney and we enjoyed watching warm up to the characters as the week went on.  But, it was Joey who was the most animated.  He was so thrilled with every character and he is fearless.  It was such a delight to watch him.

Our flights home were wicked but we were so glad to be home.  Great vacation but great time to be home.  Once we got home, it was off and running to more fall activities.

We went to the Pumpkin Patch with Morgan and the Lucas'.  Elijah loved hanging out with the big kids - Morgan and Jessica.  They ran all over the patch.  We even started getting worried but they were just having a great time in the corn pit.  Poor Joey was left with the adults and bored  :)  Who can resist grilled hot dogs and S'mores?

After that night, the rest of the week was pretty much torture because my back exploded.  On Friday, the stars aligned, the Gods shined upon us and Joey took his first steps!!  

On Sunday, dad went to the football game and Gramma came over to hang out with us.  I could barely walk so I was in no shape to be alone with you guys.

Gymnastics started on the 8th and 9th.  I love that middle photo of Elijah.  Gramma Debbie took it and it just makes me smile!

On the 13th, you guys went to the Halloween party at the Safari.  Morgan and Debbie came with to have fun!!  I missed it because of my surgery.

This week, we went to Lincoln to see Phinneas and Ferb.  It was kind of confusing to Elijah because he wanted to go hug them like he did in Disney.  Joey danced the whole time and enjoyed himself.  Elijah was funny.  He whined to me several times that he wanted to go home.  Then, he whined "MOMMY, I NEED POPCORN."  Once he got that, he was good for the show!!

Yesterday, Elijah went bowling with his cousins, I went to a craft fair and Daddy & Joey hung out together.  Elijah ended up spending the night with his cousins and Joey had us all to himself.  When Elijah got home, he was so excited to see me.  It made me happy that he ran in and covered me with kisses and hugs.  He went downstairs and played with the iPad.  After awhile, it got super quiet.  Daddy went down and Elijah was crashed on the recliner.  Guess he had a rough night with this cousins.

We have quite a bit going on the rest of this month.  Today, we are going are going to see the family at Gramma Lang's.  We have Vala's on Tuesday. We have bowling and gymnastics.  Of course, there is also HALLOWEEN  :)