Balancing Pizza

Lately, Eli likes to put stuff on his head. Hats, buckets, toys...yeah you get the drift. On Friday I made homemade pizza for John's parents and at dinner Eli decided to "balance" pizza on his head. Of course his Grandparents laughed and thought it was funny so it just encouraged him to keep doing it. I tried very hard not to laugh, but I did. Here are a few pictures!

Jealous Much?

I'm Erin and I'm not an alcoholic but I am often Jealous. It hard for me to admit that. I know it is not socially acceptable to be a jealous person. Honestly, I don't want to be a jealous person but in times of stress, tiredness (is that a word?) and just plain distrust I find myself becoming increasingly jealous.

The first step to recovery is to admit them so here goes:

Lately I've been jealous of anyone who has sold thier home....EVER. Although I know a couple of people who have recently (In the last couple of months) sold their homes.

I've been jealous of people buying homes.

I've been jealous of people who have had babies born with no complications.

I've been jealous of people who have a 5 minute drive home.

I've been jealous of Moms who get to stay home with their babies and not have some "stranger" raise them.

However, I have come to realize that the root of my jealousy is a lack of trust and a feeling of lack of control. I haven't been trusting God that He gives us what we need at the time we need it and that HE is in control of our lives.

Instead of entering into therapy, maybe I should be opening my heart to the Lord. Maybe I should spend less time evaluating where I am in life to everyone else and evaluate where my life is with the Lord. Over the last several months I've really struggled with my relationship with Christ. My attitude has been "If God loved me....he would do this or that or make this or that easier" However, I need to learn that with trials and tribulations comes much joy at the end of the tunnel. Some examples:

John went to Iraq...it sucked, However, I know if we can survive a war zone our marriage can probably survive anything...hense the preparation for Eli.

The birth of Eli...while I will probably never be able to say the day Eli was born was the best day of my life...the outcome has brought me so much joy. Every day he melts my heart with a new action, word, look, or expression.

So my goal the next month...(Here comes April) is to really refocus my jealousy on developing a stronger faith in God and trusting that His will be done. I think that as we approach Easter, that is what Lent is all about...remember that God loves us so much that He sent His son to die for us.

Is Spring Really Here?

So the spring storm weather rolled into town early yesterday morning. Extremely high winds, a tornado watch, lightning, thunder and rain. I was actually a little happy to have this kind of weather. It means spring is here and lake season begins soon, unless you are crazy and go year round!

However, the weather man says that snow is in the forecast for this weekend. WHAT????? I'm sick of cold and snow. Give me hail, thunderstorms and rain! I don't want winter back, mother nature can have it!

On another note, Eli is doing well following his climbing accident. The doctor decided against putting a cast on his arm and instead is to wear a splint for three weeks. I was happy at this development in that I can take the splint off to wash him and I can change out the ace bandage and wash it as well. Yesterday it was black around his hands...I almost threw up it was so nasty!!!!! He now thinks his splint is part of him and willingly sits there while you put it on.

The house selling is still not going well. We are going to continue to pray about it and I told John he better start praying double, because he is not praying enough! Heaven knows I pray enough for Eli and I so it must be that John is not doing his fair share!

Trip to the ER

So...Eli decided to attempt a great escape from his crib. I put Eli down for a nap on Friday afternoon and Eli decided he didn't want to take a nap and climbed out of his crib. I was in the shower and John came home. John brought Eli in the bathroom and asked me if I just put Eli in his room and shut the door. I assured John I wouldn't do that. Eli was acting like he hurt himself but I thought he hit his head.

We spent the weekend in Bremen celebrating John's Dad's 70th birthday. Eli was acting cranky, whiny and just wanted to be held. Last night when giving him lotion, I noticed he was favoring his wrist. After a trip to the ER today, it was confirmed that my baby, 17 months old tomorrow, has a broken wrist. I felt so bad about not treating him for 3 days but he doesn't know how to tell me what hurts. Hopefully SRS won't send anyone to check on my parenting!

Blessings

I have to admit, I have been somewhat "depressed" lately. I have been wanting to move for over a year and that process has been disappointing. However, last week I decided that I was going to remind myself to look at the blessings I have in my life. I have a roof over my head and it is not being foreclosed on, John and I both have fairly stable jobs (knock on wood), and we have a little boy who is our $250,000+ "miracle".

Two years ago John and I were frantic when we got the news that our baby's bladder couldn't be seen on ultrasound. We feared the worst and wondered if our child would ever be normal. We prayed many nights for God to comfort us and to protect our baby throughout whatever life dealt him. While no child is ever normal, we are so blessed to have Eli who constantly amazes us with his new tricks. He is almost running, and says tons of words...some of which we have no idea and are still trying to figure out...by the way....yellow means yogurt at our house. We are blessed to have trained medical professionals who have helped Eli and will continue to help in the years to come. For a long time I wondered, "Why us? Why Eli?" I've now decided to ask "Why not us?" "Why not Eli?" God has given John, Eli and myself all the tools and blessings we need for this life and HE will guide us through all of our challenges.

So...I need to remember to follow HIS plan, not mine. I just need to find the blessings in my life every day. So these are just a couple of pictures of Eli trying on a new life jacket and the cow rain jacket compliments of his friends Trey and Lydia!

Trip to Bremen

So Eli and John took a trip last weekend to see John's parents and to spend some time on the farm. Unfortunately, it snowed so outdoor activites were cancelled. Eli did return home with a new haircut compliments of John and his Mom. He looks like a little boy now. I'll try to post some pictures in the next couple of days.

We are excited that my sister, Rachael is coming for a visit this evening. I think my Mom, Rachael and Eli will take advantage of the weather tomorrow and either visit the park or the zoo. I'm jealous that I'll be stuck in the office.

No bites yet on the house. I just keep plugging away on the 152 mile roundtrip and hope that God has a plan for us!