Elijah's Rain Issues

These pictures have nothing to do with his rain issues, but I don't post without pictures! So these are just various activities of Elijah.

Anyway, we got some great rain today! It's been so overcast for the last two days and today it rained. I thought it would be a great thing, but the afternoon was filled with problems for Elijah.
This morning I was cleaning out all of their clothes that don't fit, one of which was a Mavericks warm-up suit that is a size 3T. Elijah pretty much wears a 5 now, so I was definitely putting that in the discard pile. But of course when Elijah saw it, he wasn't going to let that happen and had to put it on right then. So I let him thinking he would see how short the pants were and have a meltdown and then agree that they didn't work anymore. Of course Elijah's comment was, "they're a bit short, but they work great!" Yeah, whatever. I don't really care to argue at this point after he's gone through all this work to put his basketball shorts on, his Dirk jersey, the entire warm-up suite, his socks and his shoes, and he's even got the jacket zipped all the way up to his neck just like Dirk does, and then with a big smile he stands back and says, "How great do I look, mom?!"

So later we're outside where it has been sprinkling off and on for the last several hours and I'm thinking he's going to play basketball with the warm-up suite on since he has all day and since it's pretty wet outside. But in fact, he now announces to me that he needs help taking it off so that he can play. The real players don't play in their warm-ups. Of course, they don't. But the real players actually have warm-ups that are baggy enough to fit over their shoes, and don't pull down their shorts and underwear when they're trying to take them off. And yes, I am complaining about this to Elijah as I'm trying to pry the ankle of the pants over his shoes, while bending over and coming close to fainting because the weight of Emerson being upside down is somehow cutting off my airway. And Elijah says, "oh mom, it's easy." Alright bucko, you sit down and take them off yourself. Yeah, not as easy as he thought. And then to top it off, about five minutes into playing without his warm-ups on, he starts complaining about getting wet. The warm-up suite is NOT going back on.

Once that fiasco is over and he's done playing, it was time to hop in the car and run around to the drugstore to get a couple of things. And amazingly, it started pouring down rain right as I was starting to put Ella in the car. So I quickly got her buckled in while Elijah was scrambling to just get in the car. I was about to run around to my door as I told Elijah to buckle himself in, when he yelled in a panic, "I can't do it!!!" So, I instead ran over to his door to begin buckling him in, all the while getting completely soaked while I listen to him tell me, "it's okay mom, I'm safe and dry in the car!" Thank you for caring, sweetie. Now here's where he really doesn't care one ounce about his mom's level of dryness - As I pull the car out of the driveway, he asks me where his blanket is. I say it's inside the house. "Mommy, you HAVE to go get it. I NEED it!" Sorry, babe, you've gotta take one for the team on this one. He did alright and his sweet little sister shared a corner of her blanket with him for about two minutes. Then she giggled and took it away.

The rain really started coming down hard while we were driving. It was one of those where you can barely see and the streets flood in about two minutes. I was actually enjoying it quite a bit. But, I really didn't want to get out at the store with both kids, and all get soaked just to get some candy for Elijah and Gavin to take to a soccer game later. So, I called Gavin and told him he might need to pick it up on his way home from work because of this rain, however Elijah was not happy about this because he wanted to pick out his own candy in the store. I kept reassuring him, but he wasn't convinced. And all of a sudden from the back seat I hear a little voice pleading with Heaven, "Please God will you make the rain stop now?!" It was so desperate and so funny. But sure enough as we pulled into the drugstore parking lot, the rain stopped and we were able to go inside.

I'm not real sure what that kid just learned about the power of prayers, but I'm just wishing it was still raining!

43 Days and Counting

I don't know if you can make it out, but this is a picture of Emerson's feet. One foot is more clearly defined than the other. Anyway I love baby and kid feet pictures, so I love this sonogram.

She cannot get here fast enough. I'm not sure what I'm going to do from here on out, because like I told Gavin, I love having the kids, but I really hate being pregnant. I am so tired of it at this point since having four kids in five years. I still want more, just without the pregnancies, and more importantly, NOT NOW! We've always talked about adoption, so I'm sure we'll do that at some point, but that's another topic all-together and I'm sure I'll be pregnant again at some point - but like I said, I need some TIME for my tired self! (I'm sure many of you are thinking, "well, doesn't she know what causes all these babies and how she can stop them?" Well, yes we do and we have apparently had quite a bit of Divine intervention in this particular area). I actually really enjoy the challenges of parenting and being at home all day with the kids, but it's when you throw that pregnancy aspect into it that I get really beaten down at times. And I really don't like to complain, and I feel like I do a mostly good job of having a good attitude and being thankful that I get to be pregnant again. After all, I know plenty of other women that never get the joy of experiencing another life within them, and I also know what it's like to lose a child of my own. All this to say that I am extremely thankful for another little baby, but you better believe I'm counting down these days until she is out of my belly and into my arms!

I am also doubly excited about Emerson's arrival because she will be here the day before Thanksgiving! I'm having a c-section on November 26 bright and early in the morning. Actually, it will probably still be dark. Anyway, I'm excited about this because she is getting here just in time for us to fully enjoy her through all of the Thanksgiving and Christmas days. I have always enjoyed this time of year up until Eveyn died. We've had two years of holidays without her, and it has never been close to the same. I haven't been as interested in the "normal" holiday stuff nearly as much just because it doesn't seem as important, even with having Elijah and Ella here with us. Don't get me wrong, we still enjoy the holidays together and have fun, there's just always that missing piece that you never forget. And this past Christmas was difficult because my grandma was very sick and in the hospital. It was the first Christmas in my life that I wasn't with Grandma to celebrate. She then passed away later in February. So this Thanksgiving and Christmas will have that additional missing piece. All this to say that I think Emerson is coming at just the right time. There is one saying about grief that I know to be untrue, and I think whoever said it must not have ever really experienced grief. But it says that "time heals all wounds." I don't think that time heals any wounds, but it does make them more bearable. And that's how I think of Emerson's arrival and timing. Even with the amount of joy she will bring, her coming into our lives doesn't heal any wounds, or make any sadness go away, but it does allow us to remember that no matter how deep our wound, life does still happen every day all around us and we are called to continue to take part in that.