A Mommy Knows

Eliana ended up having a very long nap this afternoon, so long, in fact, that I went in to wake her up.  I wanted her to go to bed later!  We had a fine rest of the day, went to the playground, dropped Michaela and Christian off at Bible study, then came home and talked with my mom for a bit.  She had some yogurt.

She was rubbing her eyes and yawning all afternoon, and I couldn't shake the feeling that something was up.  I had this feeling of anticipation, or expectancy...but not the kind you want to have.  I put her to bed just before 8:00, thinking it would take a while for her to fall asleep, because of her long, late nap. 

She was out in about five minutes.  Again, I had that feeling, I just knew that something wasn't quite right.

Not even a couple of hours later, she was crying.  I went in right away, because she is never up again that early.  I turned the light on right away (poor girl) and sure enough, right through the mesh of her pack 'n' play, she had thrown up all over.  She was standing there with her fingers in her mouth just boo-hooing, she didn't have a clue what that awful thing that just happened was.  What a sad little sight.

I grabbed a towel (it comes in handy, not putting your clean laundry away, see?) from the basket right next to me and scooped her up, and got everything cleaned up as well as I could.  I wrapped her all up, and laid her down, and then tried to clean up her bed a little.  I bathed her and put on clean clothes and then just held her for a long time.  I talked with my sister-in-law for quite a while; Eliana eventually fell asleep while we were on the phone. 

I knew that she would get sick one day; it's the kind of thing you hope doesn't happen for as long as possible.  Although, I know it helps their immune systems to be strong in order to fight off illnesses in the future, so...this is a positive as far as that goes.  Right?

It's just so pitiful.  She seems okay now, and I hope for a puke-free rest of the night.  (I have a bad feeling about Christian-he's tossing and turning quite a bit.)  At any rate, that little voice inside of me tells me I know my kids.  That is a good feeling.

My Little Helper

Eliana loves to help me out around the house, whether it's picking something up that goes in the trash and tossing it in there or throwing my clean laundry on the floor helping me fold and put away clean clothes.  I have been able to capture some of these helpful moments lately and I thought I would share them...

I sweep a lot (I'm not saying my floors are clean, but I do try to keep the crumbs subdued), so she is fascinated with this cleaning tool.  She does more pushing than sweeping, but you've got to start somewhere, right?

Look!  It brings her such joy.  She's hired!

It's all in the toes...

While she likes to sweep and looks so very cute doing it, I have to say this is my favorite-putting away groceries...

They don't just make freezer bags, anymore.  Refrigerator bags too.  And if you put them in the fridge ahead of time they will keep your sandwich cold.

Just kidding.  But it's cute, no? 

Joking aside, I do love to see her sweet face when she does something that she knows (or thinks) is helpful.  It's all shiny and happy, looking at me as if to say,"See what a helper I am?"  It's full of love and confidence.  What a precious sight!

550 Days

Five hundred fifty days, or eighteen months, or one and one-half years.  Those are all ways of saying that next week my baby will be leaving for college.

How can it really be that she has been here with us for that long?  Is someone playing a trick on me?  Wasn't I just in the hospital yesterday holding her perfectly round-faced, wet, little newborn body? 

In order to document the day-18 months is a big deal, no?-I tried to use my exceptional photography skills and capture "her" at this particular moment in the history of her life.  Here are the results, for your viewing pleasure.  Or much to your chagrin.  (I think the cuteness factor will make up for my lack of picture-taking ability.)

I'm sorry, but I can't get enough of her toes.  They are almost edible.

"It's my 1 1/2 birthday!"

I think she needs some sugar, don't you?

Um, this is what happens when you tape a sheet to the wall in order to get a white background and then stick a toddler in front of it and tell her to sit and smile.  Highly effective.

Now, here's a funny story.  I ordered pizza tonight.  (At 6:15 Papa John's was my hero, my knight in shining armour.)  Eliana loves pizza; it's one of the few things she consistently eats.  So I cut her piece up into bites, put it on a plate, and set it in front of her on her high chair tray.  She looked at my plate, and pushed hers away and said,"Pizza?"  (It comes out like "peas-uh".)  It was definitely a question.  I was a little panicky.  What if she didn't want the pizza?  I had been so excited, because she was chanting,"Peas-uh, peas-uh."  I really thought she was going to eat it!  I looked at her and replied,"That is pizza."  She held her plate up and repeated,"Peas-uh?"  She did not agree-what was on her plate was not pizza.  I was perplexed.

I looked again at my plate; she could not possibly want my pizza; it had pineapples, green peppers, pepperoni, and a little sausage on it (By the way, what is up with that?  I never eat meat on pizza.  But tonight it sounded GOOD.)  I told her again that she had pizza and again she lifted her plate to me with her eyebrows raised.

Suddenly it dawned on me...she wanted a slice of pizza.  Duh!  Cut up bites would not do...I said,"Do you want it big?"

That made her happy.  When I handed her this slice she nodded her head and smiled,"Peas-uh!"  Silly mommy, you finally got it right.

After dinner I tried to get some more pictures.  I was really hoping for a magical, wonderful shot.  I don't think I got any "great" ones, but they are cute.  I made them close-ups; I like to show her pretty eyes.

And those cheeks!

She was being kind of a goose.  She would smile, but not at the camera.  Only when she was running toward me.  Here is one more sweet one, though.

And finally, to say,"I'm done."

She was through.

Over and out.

Something Old, Something New, Nothing Borrowed, Something Blue

Does anyone remember this?

The beloved and most favorite article of clothing in Eliana's wardrobe...

has been replaced!

We'll have to wait and see if she really tosses aside her striped number for something a little more dotty...

Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep

This is how Eliana fell asleep tonight...

covered with prayer.