Eli's Birthday

This was at their birthday party at the end of September.  It's still the only decent picture of him in his Elmo birthday shirt!

Just being silly as he wears Daddy's reflective INDOT hat!

I'm waaaayyyy overdue with this post.  On October 27th, Eli turned two years old. He's kind of a big deal to us :)  Since we'd already had his birthday party in conjunction with Zachary's at the end of September, it was actually a low-key event.  We went to Corydon for the day.  Our brother-in-law has a family member who is starting up a pizza place/brewery on the Square in Corydon.  He had the place open for the day by invitation only.  Okay, we weren't really invited, but my in-laws were and we tagged along.  I don't think Nathan {the owner} minded though!  Especially because we shared our cake.

Corydon was celebrating Halloween with pride!  There was a costume contest on the Square {Alyssa got 3rd in her age group!}  Later there was a parade which took a long time because this is an election year.  One thing I really liked about the parade was they didn't throw the candy and expect the kids to run into the street to gather it up.  If an entry wanted to distribute candy they had people walking along each side of the street who would hand candy to the children.  Much safer :)

The pizza was great.  It's a brick oven pizza joint and if you're in the Corydon area I highly recommend trying Point Blank Pizza & Brewery.  It's scheduled to open to the public the 15th of November.  Zachary was upset when we didn't take him to eat there for supper one night last week.  It's a really neat place.  Maybe me advertising here on the blog makes up for crashing his Investors Only event!

After the parade we went back into the restaurant and Eli opened his gifts.  I don't have a lot of pictures of this because a week before his birthday, the stinker broke our camera.  We used our old one, but it's kinda junky.  We have since gotten a replacement for the broken one, but sadly it was after Eli's birthday.

He & Zachary had a great time playing on the floor with the new truck we got him.  It's a large truck with some sound effects and it hauls four cars.  Zachary had picked out a musical top for him that they both love.  He got a couple other things, but the truck and toy top were his favorites.  We ate Elmo cake that was made and brought by Mamaw Linda and then headed out.  We got home about 10 and we were all hungry again {hadn't eaten since before the parade at 6!} so we went to Taco Bell because Zachary said that's what Eli wanted for his bedtime snack!  We ate our food and watched the end of the Notre Dame football game.  Definitely a fun and interesting day!

I didn't do the questionnaire for Eli like I did with Z.  We'll start that when he's a little older.  For now I'll just include some facts about Eli:

-he's very sweet.  He cuddles a lot, give wonderful hugs and kisses, and just likes to snuggle...if he's not busy playing!

-he loves to play with trucks more than he does dinosaurs.  He will play dinos with Z, and sometimes on his own, but he usually gravitates to a truck or tractor.  He's also starting to take an interest in puzzles.  Books are usually a big hit with him too.  Another fun activity for him lately is getting to "daw!"  He doesn't do it for very long, but he loves to color a picture or freehand/scribble.

-he helps with the laundry.  He likes to help sort the colors, the sheets & towels and the whites.  Often he will identify who the article of clothing belongs to if I hold it up.  He's also very good at helping load the washer {which is really cute because it's a lot taller than him, but he gets the job done!} and loading the dryer as I hand him the wet clothes.

-he's nuts.  He will walk around screaming at the top of his lungs while shaking his head back and forth as fast as he can.  Then as quickly as he started it, he'll stop.

-he loves to make people laugh.  I remember Zachary being a very happy child at this stage, but his laughter had to do with making himself laugh.  Eli looks for something to do to draw the laughter out of others.

-Eli is rather mean.  Some people may be upset with me for saying that, but it is true.  People would rather hear other words than mean, things like "spirited," "boisterous," and "feisty" but those aren't accurate.  He's mean.  Just as he's very sweet, he's mean.  He's constantly hitting his brother.  Eli will tackle Zachary and pin him down while he bounces on him because Zachary is too nice to knock Eli off.  He throws everything {with pretty good aim, just ask Albert!}  He actually looks for the dog so he can throw things directly at him.  He has started pulling hair and trying to bite.  We know he's going to grow out of this {please tell me he will!!!} but I also have fears that he's going to be a combination class clown/bully.  But for every hit, throw, or head butt he gives, he gives even more kisses and hugs.

-he's starting to get really long.  His last appointment he was 33 1/2 inches long and just shy of 25 lbs.  It's getting very hard to find pants for him.  He's been wearing 12 month pants because he has absolutely no butt.  Seriously.  Twelve month clothes barely stay on his non-existent hips but they're becoming highwaters on him.  I'm having better luck putting him into one-piece rompers that look like pajamas so if you see him out and about in one of those, it's my attempt at keeping his legs covered in the cold weather.

-he wears a size 5 toddler shoe, shirts and one-piece outfits are 18-24 month, and pants are 12 month.

Eli is a fun little guy who keeps us busy.  I don't know what we did before he came along.  It saddens me to think how lonely Zachary would be if we hadn't had Eli.  As time goes by I'm beginning to realize just how lucky we are that he made it through those first 10 weeks of life before he was diagnosed and got proper treatment.  Every single day is a gift with both our boys.

~ ~ HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ELI MARK!!!! ~ ~

If you choose to keep reading, I've ended with a list of Eli's vocabulary along with my lame attempt at his pronunciation.   It's much cuter to hear him though :)  I've included the list here because, if you remember from previous posts, this is our family record as well as a way for family & friends to keep up with us. 

Words He Says:
Mommy &/or Momma                                                
Daddy &/or Dada
Bubba   {Zachary}                                                         
Alba   {Albert}
bebe   {baby}                                                                
Mamaw
Papaw                                                                          
uh-huh
uh-uh                                                                           
baw   {ball}
foo-baw   {football}                                                 
Ah-mee   {Amy, for Dr. Amy}
hi                                                                                 
bye
up
nigh-nigh   {night night}
nana   {banana}
nak   {snack}
mok   {milk}
mor   {more}
b   {bear}
dooc   {duck}
mote   {remote}
teet   {treat}
aye   {eye}
bott   {bottle or pacifier}
ip   {dip or chip}
ett   {pet...as in he wants to pet Albert}
bubble
cheese
ack-pac   {backpack}
Mimi   {Mickey Mouse}
Momo   {Elmo}
too-tee   {Cookie}
me
ruck   {truck}
haw   {hot}
der-tee   {dirty}
Pabo   {Pablo, from the Backyardigans}
oot   {out}
cheer   {chair}
eeeees   {please, we don't hear this as often as we'd like!}
daw   {draw}

Eli Update and a Request

This is a face of Congenital Heart Defects.

Eli has been getting some nighttime tube feedings again.  For a while he was waking up hungry in the night.  At first it was no big deal because that's just a normal kid thing...a sign of growing...a phase if you will.  But, as always, things are a little different with Eli.  His "phase" lasted for weeks and he wasn't gaining weight.  He would wake in the night and announce his wish list to his loyal servant (AKA Mommy).  The list was simple, "BOT!"  I'd give him his milk, he'd drink some, and then he'd fall back asleep.....for a while.  He was doing this multiple times a night.  At first I thought he was just trying to make me crazy/crazier, but then I realized what was really going on.  He was tired.  Duh, he is a heart baby after all.  He was too tired to stay awake long enough to drink enough to satisfy him.  That coupled with the fact that he hasn't gained weight (actually lost a little) since mid-summer led us to resume some nighttime feeds again.  He takes prescription grade PediaSure which has 30 calories per ounce.  His previous formula was only 24-27 cal/ounce and his milk is definitely less than that. 

So my point is that I'm up.  It's late and I'm tired but it's a great chance for me to have some quiet time, check my email and watch mindless late-night television.  Who needs sleep?  It's very overrated.  During these late-night computer sessions I've finally started doing some research about congenital heart defects.  I'm pretty comfortable describing and talking about Eli's defects, but I haven't done much outside of that in regards to CHD.  Some of the facts I've discovered have really surprised me.  I feel compelled to pass them along in an effort to bring more awareness to the issue of congenital heart defects. 

Some of you have heard of Lane Goodwin.  If you haven't, he's a 13 year old child who has cancer.  Children and cancer should never be in the same sentence.  Lane, who is from Beech Grove, KY, has made some national headlines with the "Thumbs Up for Lane!" campaign to bring awareness to childhood cancer.  When I logged on to Facebook tonight I saw that, sadly, Lane has lost his battle on earth and earned his angel wings.  My heart is breaking for his family.  It's a fear that every parent has, but we've been so close to losing Eli and face such an uncertain future that for us the fear of losing him is a little more realistic than for most families.  Facebook is flooded with prayers for the family, expressions of sympathy, and people commenting about holding their kids a little tighter tonight.  I love seeing the outpouring of support for this family.  Please keep them in your prayers. 

As I read the tributes to Lane and his family I have a recurring thought that I can't shake.  It's a statistic I've come across in my late night internet trolling.  Unfortunately most of us can name someone (or multiple someones) we've lost to cancer.  Even sadder is that most of us can name a child who has battled cancer.  Cancer awareness is everywhere.  Deaths from cancer are an all too often occurrence in our lives. 

It is wonderful to see the conversations and comments regarding the need for research and better treatments for childhood cancer...obviously it is needed.  Cancer is terrible, it does not discriminate, and it ruins lives.  Believe me, I get it and I hate cancer, just like everyone else.  But here's the fact that I've come across in my late night internet trolling that has been weighing heavily on me: 

Everybody talks about cancer, cancer awareness, cancer treatments, cancer research, cancer funding, etc.  I am not unsympathetic to the cause.  Cancer stole my dad.  I get it, I get the pain.  My point is that CHD kills almost twice as many children a year as cancer and yet it doesn't get nearly the attention as cancer.  We need more research, more funding, more awareness.  It starts here with the families affected.  MY family.  YOU readers.  Start talking about it.  Then tell one more person.  Keep talking about it.  CHD is a killer.  Right now in our house we have a snoring daddy, a snoring dog, two sleeping boys, a momma on a mission, and a killer. 

Again, please, please, please don't think I'm trying to take away from the importance of fighting cancer and other terrible diseases.  My point is that there are many, many battles going on and I'm trying to bring more awareness to the one affecting us most.  Also, we've been blessed with a lot of people who care about us.  We are so grateful for the support we've been shown since Eli's diagnosis.  I know that his diagnosis alone has opened a lot of people's eyes to CHD, mine included!  As time has gone by and we've accepted what is happening, we're ready to start doing more.  I have no idea what route that will be, but we're realizing the need to raise awareness.  CHD affects too many families, kills too many babies, and causes too many tears to fall to not have as much community awareness as cancer.

We've been fortunate to get to know a few other heart families.  Some we've met in person, some through the internet (thank you technology!).  Please keep these babies in your prayers:  Eli, Caleb, Madison, Davie, Nathan, Iceley, Natalie, Liam, Rylan, Braxtyn, Lauren (a 25 year old CHD patient!), and the thousands more we don't know.  Of course, please pray for Lane Goodwin and his family at this terrible time.  And please, start/keep talking about CHD.  I think you'll be surprised how many people you know have actually been affected.  I'll randomly post more facts about congenital heart defects and ways to help & raise awareness.  For now, thanks for following along and for all the support over the past couple years.  We rely on your kind words more than you realize.

Boys' Birthday Party

As I mentioned in Zachary's birthday post we decided to have one party for the two of them this year.  We had a combo dinosaur/Elmo party and it was a blast.  We love showing off our fun little boys and they were so excited for their party.  Well, let me rephrase that...Zachary fully understood the party was approaching and was very wound up and Eli fed off of Zachary's excitement.

Of course by the age of five, Zachary's a pro at unwrapping gifts.  Eli's still learning but luckily Zachary is there to help "teach" him.  Zachary went first with some help from a cousin and a couple friends.  Eli strolled around the room seeking the attentions of various family and friends and would occasionally swipe one of Zachary's newly opened items to check out for himself.  When his turn came to open he helped for a little while, but then decided one of his new books was more interesting and he curled up on the couch with said book as Zachary & I finished the task at hand.  I think he may be more into it by Christmas, but we'll see!

It's said that a picture is worth a thousand words, so enjoy!

Each year we get the boys birthday t-shirts with a picture depicting the theme of their party, their name and age. 

It was hard to get this busy boy to hold still for a picture when he got his shirt.  This was the least blurry photo I had!

Stegosaurus cake made by Mamaw Linda.  We didn't want Zachary to be upset if anything was forgotten so I had given her a few pictures from some of his dino books so she could get all his important details.  Zachary was happy so we think she did a great job!

Eli's Elmo cake.  Another great creation by Mamaw Linda.

Zachary was VERY happy with his cake!

Eli loved his cake but he couldn't figure out why we kept trying to take his picture with it.

Alyssa's here, the party can start!!!!  Eli is infatuated with his baby cousin.  He was getting very upset while she was in her carrier because he wanted her out.

Great friends!  Zachary with Jillian and Joseph Hostetler.  I can't believe the three of them held still & smiled for this picture!  Jillian and Zachary are exactly two months apart and Joseph is a year younger.  Things get crazy when these kids get together!!!

Our attempt at a family picture.  Three out of four looking at the camera & smiling is pretty good with all the commotion going on around us.  If you look over Zachary's shoulder you can see the Elmo balloon photo-bombed our family photo!

Let the gift opening begin!  Zachary's helpers were friends Jillian and Joseph and second cousin Griffen.

The first gift Eli "borrowed" from his brother.  This boy loves cars and tractors.

Daddy gave Zachary some autographed items he's acquired.  This is a baseball and batting gloves signed by Danny Dorn, former Louisville Bats player currently with the Toledo Mudhens.

Our boys love balloons so we purchased a helium tank and filled the room with balloon bouquets.  One bunch slipped off its weight and was caught.  To keep it from getting into the ceiling fan Aunt Cara tied it into Aunt Kendra's ponytail.  It was really cute and Eli was fascinated by it.  If you've seen in other photos we got them each a large balloon too.  Of course they stayed with the theme and were a large dinosaur and Elmo.  They're each about 3 feet tall and will probably float in our living room until Christmas.  The boys were really happy with this surprise.

One of Zachary's favorite gifts was from Aunt Judy.  She gave each of the boys a Dream Lites Pillow Pet.  Both were puppies.  After the major parts of the party were over and we were all just visiting, he kept turning off the lights (without warning) so he could see the stars projecting onto the ceiling.  Just before falling asleep with it on the couch he named his puppy Glow.  It's so sweet to see my tough little boy whose main interest is something so mature be so enamored with a child's toy.  I love that he can still let himself be a little kid!

He loved his dinosaur umbrella.

Looking at signed photographs from Colts defensive tackle Ricardo Mathews.  Bryan had sent him the pictures and a letter asking him to autograph them.  Bryan told him the pictures were going to be for Zachary and bragged on how great a big brother he is to Eli throughout all of Eli's issues.  Mr. Mathews autographed all four photos and sent a pair of game used autographed gloves (that's what Z is looking at in this picture).  The gloves are HUGE!  My hands aren't little and they were really big on me.  He also sent a handwritten letter thanking us for being fans, saying he'd keep us in his prayers, and included some bible verses.  GO COLTS!!!  Even if you're not a Colts fan, please cheer for #91 Ricardo Mathews just for being a nice guy!

Eli LOVED the gloves and wore them for a long time. 

Another autographed item:  A signed shoe from Ryan LaMarre, a center fielder with the Pensacola Blue Wahoos.  The Wahoos are the double A team of the Reds organization and Zachary loves saying "Wahoos!"  In this photo I was showing Zachary the dirt and clay around the spikes.  He wrote "Happy Birthday Zachary" on the shoe above his signature.

Zachary checking out some signed baseball cards from Ryan LaMarre.

Eli's turn!  The first thing he opened was an autographed baseball from Aaron Brooks, a pitcher with the Kane County Cougars.  They're a minor league team of the Kansas City Royals organization.  Eli thought it was cool and promptly thew the ball to someone...he's got a good arm!

A new Sesame Street book!

Eli took a break from opening gifts.  I don't know what funny thing made me laugh, it's hard to tell with the group we had gathered in our house!

Hot shot stole his brother's sippy cup.

By this time Zachary was helping open Eli's gifts and Eli was wrapped up in a new book.

This is what got Eli away from his new book....a musical card.  It plays the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse theme song. 

Time for C~A~K~E!  Zachary took a while to blow out his candles but he got the job done.  Eli didn't understand and didn't blow his out.  In the end Zachary blew out Eli's too.

Now that the candles are gone Eli gets the concept of blowing through his lips.

There was never any question regarding what to do with the cake on his plate!

This might be my favorite photo of the day.  Hours after the party was over, the new toys played with, and birthday shirts spot treated, they resorted to one of their favorite activities....Pots and Wooden Spoon Concert.  The music lasted almost an hour and they both played their hearts out.  

We need to use this time as a thank you to some people.  Thanks to Mamaw Linda for the wonderful cakes.  Thanks to Mamaw Betty for bringing some food and the tedious task of cutting veggies for our veggie tray.  Thanks to Kendra for being our gift secretary and writing down what came from whom.  Another big thanks to Kendra for bringing the large dinosaur and Elmo balloons from Evansville in her small Sunfire.  I wish we'd gotten a picture of her with those two huge balloons in her little car!  Thanks to Andrea Hostetler for being our photographer while Bryan videoed and I helped open gifts.  And a big thank you to everyone who came or sent any type of birthday wish to our boys.  Eli's birthday isn't until late October so we'll do a small gathering with supper & cake for him like we did for Zachary's actual day.

I loved their party this year and am almost looking forward to next year.  Almost ;)

Zachary's Five!!!!

Our baby boy turned five years old on September 13.  I'm having trouble with this.  Yes, I can count and I knew that five was coming after four, but doesn't five sound soooo much older than four?!?  Yes, it sounds silly, but that's how I feel.  Anyway, this year we did something new and I hope it continues througout the years.  We made a list of 30 questions to ask Zachary.  We'll ask him the same questions every year and see how his interests, etc have changed year to year.  I videotaped part of his interview, but he wasn't into that so we took a break and didn't record the rest.  The list of questions and his answers are at the end of this post.

Some facts about Zachary:
- he is the sweetest boy, he loves to snuggle and I'm not sure he's ever turned me down when I ask for a hug

- he's an incredible big brother.  He loves playing with his baby brother and sometimes gets upset with me when I put Eli down for a nap.  He'll say "but I wanted to keep playing with him!"  I don't know if he realizes how much Eli adores him.  I ask him if he knows we all love him and he just smiles and tells us he does.  I think he does know, but I don't think there's any possible way he could understand the magnitude of that love.

- I think everyone knows he loves dinosaurs and knows A LOT about them, but he does have other interests.  He likes zoo animals, sea creatures, computer games, X-box Kinect games, sports, fishing, drawing, reading, and puzzle mazes too.

- he has a very good vocabulary, but still has some cute little kid speech.  For example, "th" is pronounced as an f or p ("three" is "free," "something" is "some-ping").  He also mixes up some words and it just makes it sooo funny.  The "instructions" that come with a new game or toy are called "constructions."  Vanilla is pronounced "vamilla" which is a change from last year's "ba-billa."

- to Zachary, a hamburger is a burger.  If it has cheese on it then it's a cheeseburger.  We got in trouble the other night for saying we were having hamburgers for supper and there was no ham on his burger. 

- he can be moody.  He takes things very seriously and can get his feelings hurt easily. However he's very much a young man and can be put into a better mood with food, tv, and/or some sleep. 

- he's a good size boy.  On his fifth birthday he measured 48 1/4 inches tall, 63 pounds, and has a 27 inch waist.  It's hard to find him clothes right now!  He's wearing a size two boys shoe. 

- he enjoys having his picture taken, but seems to have trouble smiling and looking at the camera at the same time.  Thank goodness for digital cameras so we can shoot pics and delete as necessary!

- he has the best smile that just melts my heart.  I love his blue eyes too.


Zachary's birthday was on a Thursday and we just had a small party with the four of us and his grandparents.  We ordered pizza and had dinosaur cake courtesy of Mamaw Linda.  The cake was a trial run for her since she's doing the cakes for the joint birthday party we have coming up.  Since the boys' birthdays are only 6 weeks apart we decided to do one big family & friends celebration this year.  That will be on Sept 29th and it will be a combination of dinosaur and Elmo.  Fortunately, both boys like both themes so it works all around!  I'll blog about that after we have the party, but for now I'll end this with pictures of Zachary's small celebration and his birthday interview:

Opening his "Switch & Go Dino" from Mamaw Betty.  She usually gives money for their bank accounts, but this year she found this and it's been the perfect gift for him.  He plays with it multiple times a day.

Happy boy with his new toy!



Proudly showing his stegosaurus cake.  He was excited about this.

Blowing out his FIVE candles!

When asked what flavor cake he wanted, he said "Chocolate & vamilla stripes" so that's just what Mamaw Linda did!

Happy with his gift from Mommy, Daddy & Eli.  Yes, it has a dinosaur in it!

Having fun with his cool card.

Birthday boy and his daddy

Mommy & her five year old

Zachary's Birthday Interview

1. What is your name? "Zachary G-wen Veale" (Glen)
2. How old are you? "Five!"
3. What is your favorite animal? "Dinosaurs"
4. If you could be any animal, what would it be? "Maybe, probably a zebra"
5. What is your favorite thing to eat? "Nachos"
6. Who is your best friend? "I don't know, I have so many"
7. What is your favorite color? "Green"
8. What is your favorite number? "5, 4, 1, 3, 12....ummmmm, I think I might pick 4"
9. Where is your favorite place to visit? "There's a place we haven't been for a long time....it's Splashin' Safari! (sigh) I wanna go there sometime. And Chuck E. Cheese too!" --note: he's never been to Splashin' Safari
10. What are you really good at? "drawing my dinosaurs"
11. Waht do you want for your birthday? "golfing alligator game, Big Dino Adventure Squad/Big Boots, Switch & Go Dinos"
12. What is your favorite book? "dino books about their features, food, teef (teeth), and legs"
13. What is your favorite movie? "Team Geo Trax - All Aboard!"
14. What is your favorite tv show? "Robot Rampage" (Backyardigans)
15. What do you and Mommy do together? "play outside, read books, make cookies"
16. What do you and Daddy do together? "he plays with me, plays outside, fishing, watch tv"
17. What do you and Eli do together? "maybe go crazy and make messes"
18. What makes you laugh? "jokes"
19. What makes you happy? "my family"
20. What makes you sad? "when I lost toys"
21. What is your favorite sport? "Are you kidding me?!? I have lots of favorite sports: football, baseball, t-ball, basketball and that's all."
22. What is your favorite holiday? "Christmas because it has lots of presents and it's Jesus' birthday"
23. What is your favorite drink? "juice"
24. What is your favorite toy? "Imaginext Dinosaurs"
25. What is your favorite thing to wear? "dinosaur shirts....I"m just really into dinosaurs"
26. Who is your teacher? "Ms. Angie"
27. What do you sleep with at night? "my stuffed animals: Giggles (bear), Spiny (dinosaur), Buck (from Ice Age), another dinosaur, and my two pillow pets (Triceratops and Colts)"
28. What do you think about before you go to sleep at night? "What I want to dream about, but I just dream what I dream about"
29. What's something you hope you and your family do this year? "maybe, probably, hmmm, I fink it might be Chuck E. Cheese"
30. What do you want to be when you grow up? "a paleontologist"

We love you, Zachary Glen! 

You are so precious to us.

 

xoxoxoxoxo

Storytime

Last night we had some nasty weather roll through our area.  It rained really hard, we may have had some hail, and our power was out.  We had known it was coming and had some time to prepare.  First of all, we cancelled our plans to go to the Turkey Trot in Montgomery and see the Kentucky Headhunters concert :(  We'd been so excited to take the boys because they both love music and they're such good dancers!  But we knew it wasn't worth being stuck in the rain (or worse) with hundreds of other people trying to drive their vehicles out of a muddy parking area.

Next thing we did was pack a bag in case we had to retreat to our basement for safety.  As we were packing the essentials for a damp, dark basement hideout, I was again reminded that I should have an emergency kit down there.  That's definitely on my to-do-soon list.  We started researching disaster kits as soon as the power was back on last night.

Although we went ahead and put our bag and a cooler in the basement, we never felt the need to go down there.  The storm was bad, but the worst of it bypassed our area and our biggest problem was the power was out.  Not a big deal, obviously just different from our norm.  We sat around our dining room table and lit some candles for light.  We were trying to save the batteries in our flashlights, but Zachary kept playing with them anyway (seriously, a flashlight is one of his favorite toys!).  He decided we should tell stories.  He went first and of course his story was about dinosaurs.  He used the flashlight to make a shadow puppet of a T-Rex.  It was very cute. 

Then it was my turn.  My story was about two little boys named Zuchery & Erye (not very original) whose electricity went out after they went to bed.  Their nightlight went out and they had to deal with the dark.  Zuchery & Erye had to remember their guardian angels were there and to ask them and God to protect them in the darkness.  After a while they realized they felt better and even drifted back to sleep.  When they woke in the morning, the sun was shining and their power was restored.  Zachary giggled at the names in the story, but when I was done he said, "Aww, that's sweet!  Now my turn again!"

I decided to grab a pen & some paper so I could take notes by candlelight from his next story.  The first one was so cute and I know I don't remember all of it.  Zachary's second story was very cute as well although much shorter.  Here's his story:

THE ELEPHANT AND THE RHINO

Once upon a time, there was an elephant and a rhino. 

They were friends. 

The elephant's name was Trunk because he has a trunk.  

The rhino's name was Horn because he has a horn.  

Trunk and Horn played in the backyard.  

They played bubbles because they like to blow bubbles.  

Then they played inside the house.  

Inside the house they played dinosaurs and they rolled a ball.  

Trunk and Horn had to roll the ball because you can't 

throw a ball in the house.  

The End.

It was fun to hear him make up stories.  It was really fun to hear something that wasn't focused on dinosaurs.  We love that he loves them so much but it's nice that he can have other interests too.  After storytime Zachary played with his battery powered Leapster while Bryan got Eli to sleep.  Poor baby had been up since early morning and had only had a one hour nap.  In addition he got his flu shot yesterday, so the little guy was exhausted and getting crabby.  He fell asleep easily.  Our power was restored pretty quickly considering the weather conditions.  We were only without for around an hour.  Zachary fell asleep on the couch less than five minutes after stating he wasn't sleepy.  

Even though our plans were changed and we were concerned about severe weather, it was a pretty fun night.  It was relaxing to sit around a candlelight and tell stories.  Hope everyone else had as much fun as we did in the storm!

A Year Later...

The day came and went and now, almost two days later, I realize what I missed.  Saturday, September 1 was the one year anniversary of Eli's second open heart surgery.  Just like anything in life, it seems like it was a long time ago and like it was just yesterday.  I remember so many details about the day that keep it so vivid in my mind.  Sometimes I still can't believe how easily some phrases like "his second open heart surgery" roll off my tongue.  That's our baby and he's had two heart surgeries with more on the horizon.  But I think that it's a positive thing too.  It means we're coming to terms with our situation and it's what our norm is.  I think that's partly why I didn't realize this anniversary was approaching.  I had thought of it early in August, but not since then. 

As it turned out, we had a good family day Saturday that can be thought of as a celebration of sorts.  Zachary desperately needed some winter clothes.  He has only one pair of pants from last winter that still fit so we decided to go to Evansville and get some shopping started for him.  Eli has grown a lot this summer but he still has a lot of hand-me-downs from Z and, since his butt hasn't grown any, he can still wear a lot from last winter.  The four of us shopped at the mall, ate at Hacienda, shopped at Target and finished up at Kohl's.  It was a great day and we had a lot of fun.  Both boys were tired when we got home.  Even though it was 11:30 when we finally pulled in the driveway, Zachary wanted a bedtime snack.  His choice?  A ham and cheese sandwich.  Maybe that's partially why he needs new clothes twice a season!  And just in case anyone is wondering, yes, we do shop at consignment stores for clothes too.  We have a good mix of new & used clothes in this house. 

It was a great day.  The boys were as good as we could expect, maybe even better.  They have such a good time with each other and make each other laugh so much that Bryan and I are really just around to pay for things and drive them.  They really do take care of each other.  I expected they'd get along, but I never dreamed they would be this close at this young age.  Zachary often asks me not to put Eli down for his nap because he doesn't want them to stop playing.  Eli can't stand to be without his big brother for more than a couple hours.  Zachary recently spent the night with Bryan's parents.  The next morning Eli was toddling around and he started yelling "Bubba!" like he does every morning.  That morning Zachary didn't appear.  Eli started getting frustrated and kept looking for him while calling to him.  I told him where Zachary was, but it didn't click with him.  He walked into Zachary's room and checked his bed.  While leaning on the bed he surveyed the room and found a couple other places in the room to check.  I slipped out before he found me watching him.  He came out of the room with his hands out, palms up, and asking "Bubba?  Bubba?  BUBBA?"  He was clearly upset with me for not providing his playmate upon request.  I told him (for the 15th time) that Bubba was at Mamaw & Papaw's house.  The only progress we made was that he started yelling for Papaw instead of Bubba.  I don't think we can let Zachary start kindergarten next year because Eli won't be able to handle the separation. 

Back to my original point with this post, it's been a year since Eli's last surgery.  I missed the significance of the day on that day, but I'm so glad it was just another day for us.  Eli has made such progress in the past year.  He's walking everywhere and is very stable on his feet.  His speed is increasing (which leads to an increase in his falls as well!).  He's using more words but prefers to grunt like Tim the Toolman.  We know he understands a lot though.  He's really smart and you never know what the little creature will do next.  He loves to help me load the dryer.  He actually follows instructions pretty well....unless we're trying to get him to quiet down, quit throwing things, or leave the dog alone.  Other than that, he's great!

Keep checking in because I'll be posting about birthdays soon.  Zachary starts his second year of preschool in two days and then next week celebrates his fifth birthday!  Eli's birthday follows at the end of October.  We decided to celebrate with one party for both of them this year so I'll have lots of pics to post. 

Again, thank you for all your prayers and support since this journey started. 

Disappointment

If you're one of my Facebook friends you may have seen my post today -- "It's been the kind of afternoon that I'm pretending there's vodka in my orange juice. I figure that's better than the alternative -- pretending there's orange juice in my vodka."  Let me explain.

First of all, I am not much of a drinker.  There's a bottle of wine in our fridge that we bought before I was pregnant with Eli.  It should be chilled by now.  However, I was frustrated today and actually, kind of wanted some vodka in my oj.  Because it was 4 in the afternoon, I was home alone with the boys, and we had Zachary's Meet the Teacher Night at Preschool later, I chose to post that on Facebook and drink my plain orange juice.  What had me frustrated?  Thanks for asking.

It was supposed to be a simple reward for Zachary.  All summer we've let him fall asleep on the couch and then one of us (usually Bryan) will carry his sleeping, lead-filled body to his bed.  Since school starts for him next week, we've been working on getting him to fall asleep in his bed (again).  We'd prefer if he did that alone, without one of us staying until he falls asleep.  We always read two or three stories and then after the lights are out and the nightlight is on we'll say bedtime prayers.  To get back on track we re-instated the reward system that worked before.  It's pretty simple:  A chart on the wall titled "Zachary's Reward Chart."  Each night that he goes to bed without grouching or crying, and stays in his bed all night barring any bathroom issues, he gets a sticker on the chart.  After the first two nights he gets to rent a movie of his choice.  After three more nights he earns another movie.  Then it's a movie every 5 nights. 

Well, he did great Monday and Tuesday nights.  Stickers for both nights and Wednesday afternoon he and I went out by ourselves (thanks for staying with Eli, Mom!).  We dropped off the recycling (he enjoys helping unload the different plastics and throwing them into the proper receptacles), went for a spin through the car wash (always one of his favorites), then to Family Video so he could choose his movie. 

Zachary has always had some very strong opinions about many things, but choosing a movie takes. A. Long. Time.  He's so excited, he just can't decide.  After about twenty minutes of roaming the Kids Free Movie racks he settles on a Diego movie.  They have three choices, but only one is in stock.  He says he really wanted to watch Diego's Ultimate Rescue League, but since they didn't have it he'd take Diego's Panda Adventure.  I didn't bother to remind him that he's already seen both of them.  When we took the DVD box from behind the empty advertising box, I noticed it wasn't Deigo's Panda Adventure but the much longed for Diego's Ultimate Rescue League!  Oh joy of joys, I got to surprise him and make him happy :)  He was so excited as we went to the register that he was almost skipping. 

We check out with our free movie and he sings in his car seat the whole way home as he holds the precious DVD box with two hands so he doesn't drop & scratch it.  Sweetheart that he is, the first thing he says as we pull into the garage is, "I hope Eli's up from his nap so he can watch with me."  My already happy heart was about to burst because my darling child was happy with his reward and still thinking of his brother.  We go inside and Eli was awake.  Zachary eagerly rushes him and Mamaw Betty into the living room so we can watch his prized movie.  We put the DVD in and .... nothing.  I try pushing buttons (not randomly, I just won't go through the button sequence here).  We take the DVD out and power down.  I put it back in and start over.  This time an error screen appeared.  It told me to power down the system and try again, if the problem continued to consult the owner's manual.  First of all, I had just powered down.  Secondly, our tv with the built in DVD player was purchased over ten years ago, I have no idea if the owner's manual even made the move to Washington with us.  I obediently power down and try the whole thing again.  Same error screen.  Zachary's starting to get frustrated with me.  I try another DVD.  It worked.  I tried another (his suggestion).  It worked too.  I tried the rental for the fourth (or fifth?) time.  Error.  Blah, blah, blah. 

I told Zachary we'd have to take it back and get another movie.  He looked at me and a single tear went down his cheek.  That tear quickly turned into a full blown melt down that lasted about twenty minutes.  He was sobbing so hard that I really thought he was going to throw up.  Poor kid tried to calm down several times, but he couldn't help himself.  He understood that we could get another movie, but he wanted Diego's Ultimate Rescue League.  I wanted that one for him.  

The only other time I remember him breaking down like that was his first visit with us at the hospital after Eli's first surgery.  He was tired, had been suddenly separated from his parents and baby brother for a week, and didn't understand what was going on.  Remember he was barely three years old at this time.  He was obviously happy to see us, but was very confused about why we all weren't together at home.  After an hour of frustrating behavior from him he started crying and couldn't stop.  It seemed like it lasted forever and he finally cried himself to sleep on my lap.  Today's tear-filled episode was just a notch below that one. 

Finally he agreed to go back to the movie store.  As he handed the box back to the girl who'd just checked us out half an hour before he said "This doesn't work.  I really wanted to watch it, but we can't because it doesn't work."  The disappointment in his voice was enough, but coupled with the slightly runny nose and puffy, bloodshot eyes it was heartbreaking.  For me anyway.  I explained to her that we tried other DVDs to make sure it wasn't our system, but the movie still didn't work.  She apologized but there really wasn't much she could do.  It was a free rental and they had even cleaned it before we left the store.

We circled the racks, again.  He started perking up as he browsed the selection, again.  Another twenty minutes later he finally decided on a Bob the Builder movie that featured a dinosaur dig.  As I picked up the movie behind the display box my heart fell.  It wasn't the right movie behind the box.  I searched all the surrounding movies but it wasn't there.  I told him and he said, "Oh, man!" and started looking for another one.  We left with a Little Einsteins Christmas movie.  He was cautiously excited.  It worked, although it had a couple skips in it.  We really don't expect a lot from the free rentals, but those are the titles that capture his interest right now...and they're free!

You may be thinking, "Why is she so distraught over a kids movie?"  It may seem like Zachary was acting like a spoiled brat with his melt down, but honestly, he doesn't act that way often.  Why did it bother me so much?  He is the most generous, caring, sweetest boy I could imagine and he had earned his reward.  He enthusiastically did what we asked him to do and he earned his stickers and a movie.  He constantly checks on his brother, plays with him, changes his play so that it's something Eli can participate in, shares his food (whether we ask him to or not), etc, etc, etc.  I could go on and on about how great he is at this big brother thing.  This was something for him and he still wanted to share it with his family.

On top of that, he's been shuffled among various caring family and friends since Eli's diagnosis, accompanied us to countless extremely-boring-to-a-four-year-old doctor's appointments, participated in numerous therapy appointments, been Eli's biggest cheerleader and protector and yet has NEVER treated him with any type of jealousy or meanness.  He's often ignored when people see Eli and they start talking about Eli's cheeks or his health, but Zachary never complains.  Most people who really know us don't do that, but it does happen to him and much more often than I'm comfortable with.  No one believes that he's four years old, soon to be five (too soon for me!).  They often treat him as if he's seven or eight years old.  I understand that's just part of being a physically big boy who looks and usually acts much older, but I get so upset when I find myself doing it too!  On a daily basis I have to remind myself that he's FOUR.  The kid puts up with a lot.  Our daily life, our daily struggles are things he deals with just fine most of the time.  He does great with most things, but today, a small thing like the movie of his choice not working, put him over the edge for a little while and  it broke my heart to have a visual reminder of the stresses he's under as well.

I understand that life isn't always fair and he has to learn that too, but hasn't he had enough these past few months?  When we go to a store, he rarely asks for anything.  If he does, we can usually persuade him to remember to put it on his birthday or Christmas wish list.  He knows he can't have everything that he wants.  The difference is today he earned the movie of his choice and I couldn't provide it. I was frustrated that he was so frustrated. 

Zachary was pretty much over it by this evening.  We had a great time at his Meet the Teacher Night and he's excited about going to school next week.  It's always said that in life, it's the little things that matter.  Unfortunately, right now for me, the little thing is my son's temporary disappointment over a silly movie and I couldn't let it go.  That's a big reason why I blog, it's a release for me.  Thanks again for reading and caring about our ups and downs.