I'm so excited!

I just discovered that I can listen to All Things Considered online! This is great. I always miss the program when it airs on NPR at 5 or 6, because I'm busy fixing dinner and reconnecting with my boys after my daycare girls leave. Now I have something to listen to after the boys are in bed, and I can simultaneously do housework or crochet. I can be more productive this way than I am when I read the news online (I doubt I could crochet and read at the same time...)

A nice picture

Taken at a friend's house the other day. Me, my mom, and the boys. Elijah is good at saying "cheese" for the camera but the smile doesn't quite extend to his eyes. Noah was grouchy as it was past his naptime. Personally, I think he is pretty cute when he is grouchy. Actually, I think he is pretty cute just about all of the time.

Elijah is getting so big, that I can no longer think of him as cute. He has graduated to "handsome." LOL It's hard to believe that he will be four this week. (And I'm 29 as of yesterday! Wow!)

Both boys' communication skills are improving. Elijah is getting much better at using words to express his feelings instead of whining. For instance, the other day Noah threw some cracker crumbs at him. He started to get upset but when I rebuked him, he calmed down and explained, "Noah threw slobbery crumbs at me and I didn't appweciate that."

Noah's vocabulary consists mostly of words like truck, plane, tractor, vroom, etc. but he is now adding words like wet, and funny; and he's putting words together into phrases more often, like "baby book," and "shoes on." He loves shoes! He will happily stomp around in my shoes, Elijah's shoes, or even, if all else fails, his own shoes. Elijah, on the other hand, is happy to kick off his shoes the first chance he gets.

Did I mention that I am now watching another baby part-time? She is 7 months old and very cute. Now for a couple of hours every morning, I am watching 5 children ages 3 and under! But it all goes pretty smoothly. The only downside is that I have to get up earlier as the newest one arrives at seven, but that's kind of an upside too, I guess. I've often thought that it would be nice to be up by six thirty every day.

Well, back to work.

Mom's visit

My mommy is here! She arrived Friday night and will be here for two weeks. She is helping me out with a lot of things around the house and we are greatly enjoying her company. The first night she was here (Friday) I got sick. She was kind enough to help out quite a bit with housework and childcare on Saturday so that I could get some rest. By Sunday I was better, but Elijah was ill, so we all stayed home together and listened to a couple of sermons online (check out sermonaudio.com) and a taped sermon by John MacArthur. And drank lots of yummy tea that Mommy had bought on Saturday. :)

Today we are back to normal health-wise, for the most part, though Elijah is still pretty tired and grouchy, poor guy. Mom is helping me rejuvenate my bathrooms--they are getting new caulk, new grout, and a good scrubbing. They will look so much better!

The boys are really enjoying their time with "Meemaw." It's so cute to see Noah bring her his favorite book (Bears on Wheels) and climb up into her lap so that she can read it to him. Both boys are delighted when she plays the violin or the penny whistle. And she is great at pretending with dolls and animals.

Well I need to get going...need to put some fresh sheets on the bed and get Elijah to sleep. Good night.