Today

Today ... I was thankful for friends. I met with Dr. G. today regarding my daily migraines. Brittny watched my boys as part of our little "co-op". (Love the co-op by the way.) How wonderful to just walk the boys across the street and wave good bye as I headed to the clinic. Dr. G. and I have come up with a game plan. Please pray that it is successful.

Today ... I was thankful for beautiful weather. When we got back from Brittny's, Elijah went down for a nap, and Isaac played outside with Scrubs and myself in some gorgeous 65 degree weather. After Elijah's nap, the boys had a snack and we all went outside. I went for a run and then took the boys to the park. Isaac still hates the swings, but he is loving the slides lately. Elijah did not try to eat one piece of recycled tire today and also learned how to walk up the steps. He has, however, no concept, regarding how to get down. I am amazed each day at how different these two little men are. Isaac is cautious and tentative. Elijah has no fear at all and doesn't think before he goes.

Today ... I delighted in old-time favorites. After our run and park stop, I made perfect Kraft Macaroni & Cheese. You know when you get the noodles just right and the sauce is perfectly melted? It's delightful, isn't it? Isaac even asked for "mas" (more) and used the word "yummy" in conjunction with my cooking. Glorious.

Today ... I got even more organized. I have continued each day to make progress on my electronic saving of all my "stuff" project. I am so excited about my clean-sweeping. It is taking me awhile, but I am feeling such release from "stuff" as I scan these items into my computer and then throw them into the trash. Those of you who don't know me that well, might not know what an "anti-stuff" person I am. I just get stressed by clutter. So much so I'd prefer not to take out Christmas decorations because it feels to be too many things sitting around. So the idea of relinquishing even more clutter thrills me -- especially with our move in a few months. I can't wait for the day that I am caught up to present. This process will be fantastic as the boys grow up. I can just hang their pictures on the fridge for a time, then scan, then toss, keeping only the really sentimental things. I'm so excited! (Can you tell?!)

Today ... I giggled at the antics of my puppy. This morning we awoke from our slumber to find that Scrubs had relocated his nighttime location. Instead of sleeping in his bed in the kitchen, he came into our room and made himself comfy on the huge white down comforter and pillows we had piled up against the wall. (I have resorted, recently, to making our bed again because it makes the room feel nice. JB has agreed that I may participate in this activity if he has to play no part in it. He will not make nor unmake the bed. He believes this is wasted minutes.) Either way, tonight we plan to cover the white comfy stuff with a laundry basket so that our pup doesn't get them spotty like he is!

Today ... I thanked the Lord for simple pleasures. We played bubbles in the living room after lunch. Everyone loves this -- even Scrubs. It's become a daily activity. I still cannot believe this barren woman is playing bubbles in her living room with her two little boys. How did this happen?

Today ... I spent time with the Lord. I started working through my devotional book for my Thursday Bible Study. We are studying Conversation Peace: The Power of Transformed Speech by Mary A. Kassian. Here is a trivia question for anyone reading closely. I'll give you three numbers: 7%, 38%, and 55%. Now I'll give you three words: verbal, vocal, and visual. When we interact with others, the messages we send are made up of these three parts: verbal (the words we speak), vocal (the tone of our voice) and visual (our body language). How much weight do you think each part contributes to the overall message. Can you match the percentages with the word? (The answer is at the bottom of this post).

Today ... I relished in being a mom. Elijah is addicted to this hammer (captured in the picture above.) For some reason, I found that so cute. He likes a hammer. It's his favorite toy. All he has to worry about is his hammer. The innocence. The simplicity of childhood. Isaac and Elijah giggling as they raced their grocery cart down the hallway. Isaac sweetly telling Scrubs, "No-no-Bubby." Isaac asking me to "pease" fix the toy that has dead batteries. How do you explain to a 1.5 year old that you are out of batteries? Especially when he just keeps holding it up and rubbing his belly "pease" over and over again.

Today ... I learned from my mistakes. I tried to put the boys down in the same room to nap. Call it an experiment. I was hoping it would help Elijah sleep longer being in his own room and being with Isaac. I was hoping incorrectly. Not only did Elijah still wake up at about the same time, he woke up big brother with him. Scratch that idea. For awhile at least.

Today ... I considered taking out stock in dairy cows. Now that both boys are on milk, we are going through it at breakneck speed. We bought a gallon of whole milk on Monday evening when we went out as a family. As of tonight, Wednesday evening, the gallon is nearly gone. Forty-eight hours and we are done with it. Woah. Should I buy two gallons at a time?

Today ... I "delighted" in curiosities of childhood. It is so hard for me to properly paint a picture of my Elijah in words on this blog. He is not naughty (he's really still too young for that yet). He isn't even really "busy". He will sit and read books with you and snuggle with you for an hour at a time. It's just that he has such a knack for finding (or destroying) something you'd prefer he didn't without fail. If you set a glass of water down in the living room and try not to let him see that you did, he will immediately gravitate toward the cup -- as if there is something magnetic that draws him to it. Today he finally knocked the cover off the socket by my computer. He likes to push chairs around the kitchen and he just keeps knocking the chairs into this socket. Today, he knocked the last knock as evidenced by the picture above. He also managed to bring me his noise maker (which I had hidden behind the rocker in his room.) I have no idea how he got it or how he unplugged it. But, as usual, he and big brother came running out of their room with Elijah holding something and Isaac saying, "no-no-no 'Lijah." Elijah obviously didn't listen.

Today ... I thanked the Lord for carpet cleaner. Elijah got me this time. Right after bath. I chose to put Isaac's diaper on first as he has been the "diaperless-pee-er" in the past. Not this time. This time it was Elijah. The funny thing was, he'd pee for a bit, stop, and then get a kick out of it and start again. This caused my blocking attempts to prove fairly useless.

Today ... I am praying for a safe delivery for one of JB's patients. This is the gal that JB thought was going to deliver when Joni was here. As soon as he walked in the door at 6:00, his pager went off with a warning that it might be time. Forty-five minutes later his pager went off again. She was complete and ready to push! Needless to say, JB got out of our house in record time. I was handing him shoes and keys and he was in the car within about 2 minutes. He is still at the hospital now but hopefully he will make it home in time to get a decent night sleep.

Today ... I grieve with my husband. He lost a patient today. A young patient unexpectedly. Not only did it impact him but me as well. Life is so fragile. When will we we remember to treasure every day and remember the fragility of each breath?

Today ... I lost count of dirty diapers. What did my boys eat? I have no idea but somewhere about 5 dirty diapers each, I quit counting. Does melon do that? They did eat a lot of melon today. Whatever it was, it was the same stuff. Just trust me on that one.

Answer to quiz question: verbal (7%); vocal (38%); Visual (55%). This was very surprising to me but really made me understand why I don't like talking on the phone. So much of conversation is visual! And when on the phone, that is eliminated!