To all my loyal readers

I am pleased to let you know that Elijah is set to become a big brother sometime mid-October.

I am more grateful than you know to also tell you that I am feeling better than I did when I was pregnant with Elijah. The drugs appear to be helping and I am finding that eating really regularly helps to make the sickness not so severe. I have had my moments, but I am optimistic that I can handle 30 more weeks of this.

What I hadn't expected was the extreme tiredness. I'm guessing that is partly attributed to the fact that there is a toddler cruising around our house. However, I have found myself wishing that I lived in a culture where it was entirely appropriate to have an daily afternoon nap.

And now a cute little Elijah story that I have used to remind myself that I can get through nine months of pregnancy so I get to be a part of another life as cool as his.

I was putting Elijah to bed the other night. He had his sippy cup of water in his hand (which he has taken to cuddling with at night) and lay him down on his blanket (because he likes to sleep ON his blanket). I said "Good night Elijah. I love you." And out from the crib I hear my barely talking toddler say "Love you." Bless a mommy's heart.

ANOTHER ear infection

It feels like Elijah just had an ear infection. He's got another one. In both ears again.

At least Trevor was around during the day to pick him up from daycare and take him to the doctor. The doctor sent him for chest x-rays just to make sure that the raspy breathing isn't in his lungs. Apparently the lungs are fine.

And so we cuddled tonight. Solid cuddling from when I walked in the door from work to when he went to bed. Sometimes it's nice to cuddle. Even if it means the little boy is sick.

To remember the pleasures of life

Elijah has recently really discovered the Mega Blocks that he got for Christmas. The night that this pictures was taken he spent an hour playing with them on the living room floor. He would diligently add a block and then another block. When it got too high it would topple over and he would start again. Every once in a while he would look up at me and smile as if to say, "Ain't life grand mommy?"

And I would have to say, "yes son, it is."

Life has been incredibly busy for me at work lately. Trevor has been working the night shift so our recent conversations have either taken place in passing when I get home from work and he leaves or at 3 a.m. when he crawls into bed (and I will be the first to admit that my conversation skills are limited at best at that hour).

Yet, I find myself being thankful. Trevor is working in town and while I may not be able to spend as much Mommy time with Elijah as I would like he's getting some good Daddy time. And he has such a good daddy. His daddy has such a great balance of patience and playfulness. You would never know that this was his first time in the role. It makes me love him so much more when I see the tender way that he cares for our little boy.

I am also reminded to appreciate these moments. And so the dishes get left until Elijah decides that it is time for us to do them and we go outside to play in the snow. Elijah face planted in the fresh snow twice. He still thought it was fun to help shovel the driveway.

Yes, these are the pleasures of life.

Churched out

Is it possible to be churched out? And if it is, is that wrong?

I grew up at church. Some of my best childhood memories are playing with my friends Wednesday night after clubs while my mom had choir practise or doing things with the older cool kids from the young people's group that my parents led. I think fondly of the people that supported me as I grew up.

(I was recently in the mall with my mom and ran into a man that we knew from my childhood church. He asked me my husband's name because he wanted to make sure that he included his name when he prayed for me.)

Church was safe. Full of opportunities. Always a chance for me to try new things.

This is the hertitage that I grew up in.

I want that for my son.

However, I find myself "churched out". I spent the good portion of my twenties SUPER involved in church. You name it, I was probably on that committee. I helped doing the books in the church office one day a week. I was part of drama ministry, young adults ministry, teen mom ministry, usher ministry, Beyond our Doors ministry, children's ministry. I was part of ministry's that didn't have official titles yet. I spent a lot of time involved in church things.

Now I find it hard to be motivated to do anything beyond going to church on Sunday's and a bi-monthly parenting/marriage class at church. I'm busy with work. I'm busy with a husband and son. But mostly, I just feel like I've "been there, done that".

I wonder if this is a reflection of my relationship with God. I don't think so because I certainly don't feel as though He is less real or relevant in my life. I go to work every day and truly believe that God is using me. I feel called to help people become the people that God created them to be.

Maybe this is just a season. Or maybe not. Just something to ponder...

The cruel things we do as parents

It was such a nice day on Saturday that we bundled Elijah up and headed out cross country skiing. We recently bought a MEC carrier for this exact reason. I've included pictures. While they may not seem like he is enjoying himself, he really does enjoying going for the ride. At the very least, he gets a good nap because at the end of it he always seems to be asleep.

Train them young

I was in the kitchen and realized that Elijah was being rather quiet in the other room. Always a sign that you should go check. He had moved his chair infront of the TV, grabbed the remote and made himself comfortable.

(The funny part happened when he wandered into the kitchen with the remote a few minutes later. He had turned off the TV and didn't know how to turn it back on. He was very willing to give me the remote because he knew that somehow that would turn it back on.)

Train them young