Stuck!...

Ellie enjoys being in tight spaces. She has recently learned to climb up onto the couch in order to hurdle over the back of the couch, and then lower herself down into the small space between it and the wall.  She especially likes it here since there are only about 4 inches between the couch and the wall.  The only downside is that she hasn't figured out a way to pull herself back up.  We were enjoying a snack on the couch this afternoon, when I left her to go into the kitchen for a moment.  After a few seconds I heard her crying and came back to find her like this:

Of course, I immediately rescue her (and when I say 'immediately', I mean after I first stop to snap a few pictures of her predicament).  But what do you think she does next after I get her out?  That's right...she turns around and gets behind the couch again:

And...we're back where we started...

Fifteen Months...

This week, Ellie will turn fifteen months old.  I love her silliness, mischievousness, and sweetness all in one! 

Stuffed Animal Stories...

Today I decided to get caught up on a chore that I have neglected for quite some time...washing all of our sheets!  As I was putting Mason's clean sheets back on his bed, I realized just how much extra junk sentimental treasures that he sleeps with at night.  I found two pillows, 12 stuffed animals lining one side of his bed (his "buddies" as he calls them), and 6 blankets (not counting his sheets and comforter) that he keeps lined up and stacked on top of each other on the other side of the bed.  When I asked him if he needed to sleep with all of these things, he said "Of course!"  Oh well. 

Speaking of stuffed animals, for the last several days, after Ellie wakes up from her naps, I've come in her room on several occasions to find that she has made her baby bed into some sort of animal jail between the rail and the wall.   I guess this is what happens when a girl gets bored waiting for Momma to come get her out of bed.

This Is How We Roll...

Ellie got this doll stroller for Christmas, and so far the kids have enjoyed it more for themselves than they have for dolls and animals.  Ellie and Brennan (one of the boys I babysit) constantly love to climb up into it, and Mason loves to push Ellie around in it.  Here are some pictures of them rolling each other around in the stroller...and also Mason's dump truck!

Settling Her Down...

When Mason gets tired he likes to twirl his fingers through his hair or mine...he always has.  But now that Ellie's hair is getting a little longer, he's discovered that she also likes to have her hair twirled.  I came into the living room today to find him holding her in his lap on the couch, twirling her hair in his fingers.  I asked him what he was doing, and he sweetly said, "I'm settling her down before her nap." 

She was so relaxed, she turned into a little pile of mush, and her feet were dangling off the couch like a limp rag.  She loves her big brother!

Blessings...

On this Saturday morning, the first official day of Christmas break, Mason is helping me make sweets in the kitchen, Matthew is reading on the couch with Ellie sitting on his lap, and Chris Tomlin's Glory In The Highest is playing in the background.  All of the sudden I find myself stopping to look around at all the blessings I have.  Thank you God for this life you have given me!

Happy 5th Birthday, Mason!...

My precious Mason…My firstborn…It doesn’t seem like you could possibly be five years old already. I remember the details of the day you were born like it happened only a moment ago. I remember going to church that Sunday morning and Pastor Gary preached a special Christmas message. I thought about you the whole time knowing that the upcoming holiday would be very different that year. I remember after church Daddy and I went out to eat fajitas at one of our favorite restaurants. We wanted to share one last date together before you arrived. I remember doing yard work that afternoon with Daddy. We suspected you would be born sometime that week, and we wanted to get some last minute chores done around the house. I remember feeling a little surprised when, only thirty minutes later, my water broke as I was sweeping the driveway. I remember heading to the hospital a couple of hours later, feeling completely uncertain of the process that would lie ahead. I remember laying in the hospital bed for the first five hours just waiting for something further to happen…no contractions…no pain. Then just after midnight came the contractions…and then the pain. The labor was long and intense. My plan was to complete the course of your birth medicine-free, and experience the whole process as naturally as I could. I remember Daddy and I didn’t sleep the whole night, because every two minutes there were painful reminders of your impending arrival. Daddy sat beside me and held my hand until the early hours of the morning. I don’t recall him once leaving my side. Granna and Poppa arrived at midnight and slept in the waiting room that night. Mimi and Pop came very early the next morning, hopeful that you might have already been born. We would all have a longer wait than we anticipated. I remember as my labor advanced into the next day, the doctor became concerned that things weren’t progressing like they should have been. I remember hearing the murmurs of a possible c-section, which worried me greatly, but I was determined, and I convinced myself that you would be born naturally if I just had more time. The doctor gave me until late that afternoon to show more signs of progress, but progress never came. I remember in the hours before your birth, your oxygen levels and heart rate began to drop, you were showing signs of stress, and I started to run a fever. It was then that we made the decision to proceed with the surgery. Exactly 24 hours after labor began, you finally came into this world…at last! At that point, nothing mattered except that you were here…healthy and strong…my nine-pound Mason! I remember you looked more like a six-week old than a newborn, as the nurse whisked you by. It would be two hours later before I would have my chance to hold you for the first time. How can it be that five years have passed? Even now, you still love for me to hold you, to sit in my lap and cuddle…these are precious moments for me. My charming Mason, my life has never been the same since the day you came into it. Some of the sweetest memories of my life occurred on that day. Spending the past five years at home with you has been a priceless gift…my greatest joy! If I could, I would go back and re-live it all over again…every moment with you. Happy fifth Birthday! I pray God’s greatest blessings on your life. Always know that I am so proud of the boy that you have become… I am so proud to call you my son.

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