Beach Birthday

For my 31st birthday Gary and I were thinking of heading back to Asheville like we did last year. Plans weren't real firm on childcare for the weekend, so I decided that I wanted to take the kids to the beach! For Christmas Gary's parents had given us a portable dvd player with two screens, so we hooked them up, packed the van and headed to the shore!

The kids did great on the way down. They watched "Ah-whoa-wa" otherwise known as Sleeping Beauty. Gary and I kept thinking that the movie sure was long, but it starts over automatically! So they watched Aurora twice - at least.

When we got down to where we could see the ocean between the buildings, I was telling the kids, "Look! Its the beach!" Then we heard Eli cough and gag! Yep! He puked up everything in his belly. We were riding down the road, so all I could do is watch as he puked. We finally pulled over and got him out. Gary is the master puke cleaner in our family, so he cleaned up best he could while I undressed and re-dressed Eli. Meanwhile Caedyn is sitting in her carseat begging for tv and telling Gary, "Daddy it stinks. It smells like puke!" I am with Eli in the back of the van about to puke myself, and Eli is half-naked and shivering. It was about 30 degrees outside as I am stripping his clothes off and wiping him down.

After our 30 minutes detour we loaded back up, started a Dora dvd, and went to find the hotel. I was sitting between Caedyn and Eli. Every time Eli would make any noise I would put the trashcan up to his face. He kept telling me, "No Mama!" I would ask him if he had to puke, and he would nod. Then I would hold the trashcan up to him. He would cough and fake puke in the can. It was funny! We just assumed that Eli had the same virus that Caedyn had had the week before, so I thought that he would be puking every 20-30 minutes like she had. We were SO lucky! He was done with puking for the weekend. Of course it took all weekend for us to get his carseat sans puke! We washed the cover, hosed the frame down, and wiped and Lysoled the whole thing. Now, it is the cleanest carseat we own!

With the fear of vomit hovering over us, I stayed in with the kids that night while Gary went to get food and groceries. We had chinese and put the kids to bed. They did well in the same room. Gary slid the bed over so that there was room for the porta-crib. They both slept like champs both nights!

In the morning we hit the beach and the pools. The beach was cold, windy, and foggy that morning. We picked up some shells and ran from the surf for a little while before we went to the pools. There were several indoor pools, including two lazy rivers. Caedyn is still doing well with her swimming. She loves to swim "by-herself" with her swimmies on her arms. I keep telling her that she can only swim with her swimmies. I am afraid she will get a false sense of her ability and try to swim on her own. Not that she would have that opportunity, but still! She also likes to jump in, and we had to act like we were catching her. She remembered how to climb out on the edge by herself, so she jumped over and over again. Swimming was definetly her favorite part! Eli was much more tentative in the water. He clung to us the whole time, and freaked when we let go of him. (He had swimmies and a ring around him.) He liked playing Motorboat, Motorboat and he tried jumping off the side a couple of times, but he probably could have done without the pool completely. Still, I can't wait until swimming lessons this year! I wish we had free access to a pool this summer. It was such fun!

We went back to the room for lunch and naps. Then we went bowling. Our hotel had a bowling alley and our room package came with a free game! We didn't know what to expect with the kids, but they did really well. They even had little bowling shoes for them. The bumpers were programmed to come up for Caedyn and Eli, but not for me and Gary. Gary helped them push the ball down the lane each time. Eli ended up winning the game! We are NOT bowlers, but we had a ball. Eli LOVED sitting on this center block that lit up and changed colors. There were some sort of controls, and Caedyn thought that she was steering the ball with those controllers. Eli seemed like he thought he was flying a plane or something. He was really focused on the contols. They didn't do anything at all - thank goodness. Caedyn enjoyed standing on top of the block and dancing. She was too funny shaking her bootie!

By the time we got done with our bowling, it was past our usual dinner time and the kids were starting to get cranky, so that nixed our idea of going out to eat. So, we dined in again. The kids had spagetti and meatballs and Gary went to get California Pizza for us. That was my first California Pizza and I wasn't overly impressed. It was good, but did not meet up to the hype.

On, Monday (my birthday and MLK day this year) we went to the rooftop resteraunt for breakfast. It was a gorgeous view of the ocean! Then we hit the pools. Gary enjoyed the hot tub while we waded in the kids lazy river. Caedyn did a lot more jumping and swimming. Eli was along for the ride again. We went back to the room for baths, showers, and to pack up. Then we loaded the van and went to walk the beach once more. The weather was much better than the morning before. The sun was out and the wind had died down. The temp was about 50 - 55 degrees. We picked up more seashells, and Eli threw plenty into the water. We had a great time, and there was no puke on the way home!

I had a fabulous birthday. It was one of my favorite celebrations ever! (Pictures are forth-coming, but the kids are up from their naps now!)

More Caedyn-isms and Eli's Imagination

Last night at K-Mart an announcement came over the loud speaker. I barely even noticed it, but when it was done Caedyn shouted back, "All right lady!" The customers in the isles near us started laughing and had to come see my responsive little one!

On the way home from K-Mart, a car went flying by us. I said, "My Goodness!" Then Caedyn started in on them. "Slow down people! Why do they go too fast? What is wrong is this world?"

I feel bad for not having more Eli stories. He did something hilarious and blog worthy this afternoon, and for the life of me I can't remember what it was! He is really becoming a big boy! Talking and singing - OH! That's it!

Eli has learned how to pretend, and he is too cute! At supper tonight, he used his spoon as a guitar as he sang Jesus Loves Me. A little later he was talking on his spoon phone. His favorite is to use anything - the spoon won out tonight - as a vacuum cleaner. This came in hand while convincing him to finish his vegetables! (My favorite is the spoon guitar!)

At the park on Saturday, Eli was talking away. I wasn't sure if he was talking to me or not, so I started talking back to him. Then he gave me his rock phone. This little rock was the size of a sunflower seed, and he was using it as a phone. I am hoping cell phones don't shrink away THAT much!

Introducing...

Mama Huang: I worked with Amy at my former school. She was a special education teacher who taught full-day inclusion with me and my friend Elizabeth during year one of our looping cycle. She was a fantastic teacher, but now she stays home with her son, Isaac! Check her adorable family out and keep up with them on my blog roll!

Make It and Love It: I didn't know this about Amy when I worked with her, but apparantly she is quite crafty. She has made and posted pics of several of her projects and they are much more advanced than "crafts!" I came across this site that intrigues me! I would love to try some of these ideas, and I might would actually do okay with some of them. But there is that thing called "time" that I lack! Oh well! Check out this blog for some creative inspiration. It is also added to my blog roll on the right.

Caedyn-Talk

Caedyn is growing up so fast. It is amazing that she is not a toddler at all anymore, just a little girl. Here is what she has been saying recently.

"I wanna be a princess!" Translation: I want to put my dress up clothes on, complete with earrings, bracelets, and rings.

"...just a little small, please?" Translation: She just wants a little of something. This expression started when she wanted to watch something on TV when it was time for bed.
Here is an example from this week.
Caedyn: Mommy, can I watch Wonder Pits please?
Me: No, it is time for bed.
Caedyn: Just a little small Wonder Pits?
Me: No Mam.
Caedyn: Please Mommy? Just a smidge? (Holding her index finger and thumb close together.)
Me: (Laughing!) What did you say? Who says smidge?
Caedyn: I don't know! Me!

"Don't tell Eli!" Translation: I get to do something that Eli doesn't. Mommy is to blame for this expression. I started off using this to avoid Caedyn running up to taunt Eli with some news of what she was going to get to do. Now she says it all the time. She is hilarious the way she looks you square in the face and whispers, "Don't tell Eli!" Just the other week, I told her that we were going to the beach for my birthday. She says, "And me?" I told her that we were all going. She squealed and got so excited, and then, "Don't tell Eli!" I didn't even bother!

Last Saturday we were at Chic-Fil-A playing. There were some other kids playing who were all cousins. When they left, she kept telling us that Eli was her "cousin's brother." I think one of the other girls had introduced a little boy that way, so Caedyn committed that one to memory.

Adoption Blogs

I stumbled upon some blogs by families that have adopted, and I can't get enough of their stories. I guess that should lead me to finish my adoption story. It is coming. I have to be in the right frame of mind.

All of the adoption stories I have read are so moving and remind me of how powerful God is. I feel it in my own life and especially when I put together all the pieces that brought Caedyn to us. One of the posts on a blog discussed how there is no Plan B. How true! Plan B was crafted by our own human instints when our way of the world doesn't go as we want. God's will is the only way and the only plan for our lives. When we put our faith in Him, we have no need for Plan B.

Caedyn's Birthday Celebrations

Caedyn turned 3 on December 12th! I can't believe we now have a 3 year old! Where does time go? We had Caedyn's birthday party at the gym where she takes gymnastics. It was a bit small for our big crowd, but all seemed to have a blast. We ended up with 17 kids ages 6 months to 10 years and 27 adults. We did our best with making Caedyn a "green" birthday party. Caedyn asked me months ago if she could have a green birthday party. Then recently as we were talking about her party, she asked if she could have cupcakes and juice boxes. She couldn't be easier to please!

So, how did we do the GREEN theme? Well, I thought it would be cute to use the "Go Green" twist, but I couldn't find reusable green plates and the juice boxes aren't very environmentally green, but I did buy green plates, napkins, and juice boxes. The favor bags were green "Go Green" shopping bags and had a reusable green sports bottle or sippy cup thingy in it along with other green things. I even found packages of all green M&M's! That was my most exciting find! I had no idea they made those. Caedyn was with me when we found them, and she was thrilled too! We do ornaments for Caedyn's birthday every year, so this year my mom found green cookie cutters shaped like teddy bears, mittens, and trees and made them into ornaments for all to take home. Finally, we asked for people to wear green to the party. You can see by the pictures that a lot of people did. We had fun and Caedyn enjoyed her "green 'nastics party."

Caedyn's birthday cake wasn't green; it was a pull-apart flower with Tinkerbell on top. She picked out her cake from some pictures that my friend Elizabeth send us. I thought it was perfect! Elizabeth is SO talented! All she needs is a picture, and she can go to town on a cake!

When Eli was done with his cupcake, he went back into the gym to play. He had a blast being a big kid!

After Caedyn's birthday party, we went back to our house with the grandparents, great-grandparents, and my sister's family. We had pizza and potato soup (weird combo - I know!), and then Caedyn opened her presents. For a birthday party without gifts, she sure had a lot of presents to open. She had fun making a mess of her presents. This was the first year I didn't have to open her presents with her. She knew just what to do!

Caedyn shared her birthday crown with Taylor!

Kendall seemed to find a nice comfy seat! Our little house accommodated everyone somehow!

This is the gift from us. I had several things wrapped up and happened to find this big Ariel bag, so I dropped all the gifts from us into this bag. Well, that Ariel bag was a hit. She thought she had something special just with the bag. In fact, I doubt she remembers anything that was in the bag.

Gary's parents gave Caedyn and Eli outfits to have pictures made in when Dara and Cassidy come into town next week. Eli held up his outfit and said, "Cute!" over and over again. It truly was cute!

This year at Caedyn's birthday party we asked family and friends to bring a toy for Toys for Tots rather than a gift for Caedyn. I was unsure how the response would be, but I was so excited that we collected 21 large gifts and 7 stocking stuffer small gifts. We put the gifts under her silver tree at the birthday party. Caedyn loved packing all the toys up for the "other kids." My dad works with a former marine who works with Toys for Tots every year, so we were able to have lunch with him this past Friday and deliver the toys to him. He told Caedyn that he was taking the toys to PR Children's Hospital, and she seemed to understand that. After lunch when he saw how big the box of toys was, I think he was surprised. It really felt good to be able to deliver such a significant gift in honor of Caedyn's 3rd birthday. I hope we can make this a tradition. Thank you to all the family and friends who donated a toy at the party or at other drop-off locations!

Brain Dump

1. The letters you have to type to leave a comment on a blog have been interesting recently. I think I have come up with some definitions.
ovenist: n, one who uses an oven (not me, but my mom is good at using an oven)
dostab: v, the command to hurt someone with a sharp object (that is NOT nice!)
extut: n, one who formerly lived in Egypt

2. I am so excited to find just what I want for Caedyn's birthday party goody bags. It has taken a long search, but it was worth it! Green is hard to do!

3. I could really use a personal secretary to keep up with all my paperwork and appointments at home and work.

4. For that matter, I would prefer a personal maid and cook.

5. I am so excited about Christmas this year. The kids are at such a fun age!

6. Caedyn has been stopping by stores with me looking for specific things for her birthday party. She has seen all of the toys displayed and hasn't asked for a single one. She will say, "Look Mommy, it's so cute!" or "Ooooooh Mommy, look at this!" She is most impressed by the make up sets, and dress up shoes. Nothing new there. She stopped today and looked quite longingly at a Barbie. I am so proud of her for not asking for anything. Oh - wait! I am wrong about that. We walked by a pack of 72 pony tail holders and she told me that she wanted to take those home to her house. So I did buy them for her. She also picked out an Elmo umbrella to give to Eli for Christmas. Sweet girl didn't ask for anything else!

7. This time of year comes and goes so quickly! I don't want it to pass too quickly!

8. Eli wakes up most mornings ready to go bye bye. That is one of the first things he says after he asks for his cup! He loves going to school!

9. We got ALL of our Amazon stuff in! So exciting!

10. I am so excited for Laura, Sabrina, Kristin, Megan, and Heather!

11. Okay done with my brain dump for now; maybe I can get some work done.