He Knows His Name!

Tonight, Sean and I were quizzing Elijah on a few things before bed. At first, he kept telling us that his name was 4! This comes because Nathan always says he is 4 when people ask how old he is. So, that's what started this whole thing...we taught him that he is 2 years old...and we showed him how to do show that on his fingers.

Within the last week or so, Elijah began identifying himself by name. Now, when he sees himself in a photo, he says, "Jijah!" Until now, he has always looked at us with a blank stare when we show him pictures of himself. He used to get that same stare when someone would ask, "So, what's your name?" This weekend, I noticed that when we went through the, "Where's Mommy/Daddy/Nathan?" game, he could point to himself when I asked, "Where's Elijah?" So, tonight, I asked, "What's your name?" and he said, "Jijah!"

Oh, yes, it's becoming more and more apparent that he is no longer a baby. The closer his 2nd birthday gets, the worse it is!

Elijah's vocabulary

I'm not so sure that Elijah's vocabulary is always for the best! Tonight, I made macaroni and cheese for dinner with sandwiches. While the water was boiling for the mac and cheese, I sat down in the living room. Elijah noticed the box of mac and cheese on the counter, brought it to me and very seriously, almost sternly, said, "Mama, mac-roni! Hungry!" Great, now my 2 year old is getting on to ME!

He's also become very good at saying, "No!" and "Stop!" Hmmmm....wonder why that is! LOL

My brother-in-law thinks it is HILARIOUS that he doesn't always get the t-r part of truck out correctly. :) But, it's FROG that comes out sounding really bad with a K at the end and the inability to pronounce the f-r at the beginning. LOL

Tonight, we found him playing with letter magnets in Nathan's room. When we asked him what he was doing, he said, "P, H, E..." (just started naming random letters)

This little man is most certainly growing into a toddler. He's not my baby anymore!

Memory Verses

As I mentioned before, Nathan has moved up to Children's Church at church. They have a memory verse every week. The first week, we got right to work, and Nathan had it memorized by Wednesday - Matt. 7:11: "So surely your heavenly father will give good things to those who ask Him." Last week, I completely forgot about it until mid-week, but he was SURE to remind me! :) It took a bit of last minute work, but he got it to0 - Matt. 8:8: "Lord, I am not good enough for you to come into my house. Command that my servant be healed, and he will be healed." I am so proud of my little man! He is showing some of the big kids - and adults - that it can be done.

Fast forward to tonight...like most kids, Nathan tends to get up a few times after we actually get him to bed. So, when he got up tonight, I was frustrated with him and told him to get back to bed while I put ice in his cup (don't ask - his daddy started him on this). On the way back to bed, he yelled, "but I know my memory verse!" I guess that good was supposed to outweigh the bad. I couldn't help but chuckle. He's a mess sometimes!

He Rocks!!!!

I have had a rough week (Mon. and Tues. were rough at least), and it all started on Monday when I had to change out of my jeans because they were too uncomfortable - hurting my abdomen because they were too tight. I was almost in tears. Anyways, I won't go through allllll the other issues, but that was the one that set things off. I was so depressed and told Sean that I was having a "fat and frumpy day." OK, then I had to explain what "frumpy" meant because my husband had NEVER heard that word. He still acts like it's something I made up!

So, last night, he asked me if I was still being...what was it?! Frumpy??? I just laughed - "yeah, sorta." I later went to shower after we got the boys to bed and saw a note with some clothes on the bed..."I love you. Hope this helps 'un-frumpatize' you." (Yeah, now HE'S making up words.) There was a CUUUUTE silk tank - purple and blue pattern with empire waist - and a pair of jeans a size up from my others (all from my favorite store - New York & Co). And guess what?! It all fit!!!!

So, yeah, he rocks! We also spent some time tonight praying together, which helped a lot as well. He's the best! It's almost like he knows me - like we've been together for almost 15 years or something.

Facebook

If anyone even reads this blog...

I now have a Facebook page so if you do, look me up - Krisinda Lingenfelter. :)

Santa and Deuce

While eating lunch the other day, Nathan was watching Deuce, and it dawned on him....

"Mama, Deuce will get to see Santa and all the reindeer."

"Yep, that's true, Nathan."

"And Santa will bring Deuce something too!"

"Yeah, I guess he will."

So, now we have to add doggie toys/snacks to Santa's list! LOL

Ms. Paper

I babysit/teach at First Baptist Church Frisco on the first and third Wednesdays of the month. I teach the early 2's so Elijah is in my class. Nathan has his own class. I knew the name of one of his teachers from orientation, but I hadn't actually met the other one. Nathan INSISTED that her name was Ms. Paper, even though I knew that probably wasn't quite right.

Well, he was close...her name is Ms. Paige!!!!

Gotcha!

Tonight, we surprised Sean for his 30th birthday - which is not really until next month (right before Christmas). I had the party at Randy White's BBQ in Frisco, and it was perfect! The room was roped off, nice and big, with TV's playing football in the corners and sports memorabilia on the walls. Sean thought that we were going to have dinner there with our best friends, but he saw the rest of our friends and family when we walked in. He was so surprised, and I'm so glad that we pulled it off.

While people waited for us to arrive, they filled out a "Who Knows You Best" game about Sean. He gave the correct answers after dinner; I think everyone enjoyed that (at least I THINK they did - LOL).

Amber made an awesome cake that was shaped like a Cowboys' jersey (Dallas Cowboys was the theme) with the name "Lingenfelter" and number "30" on the back. It was a spice cake with her yummy butter cream icing, and it was YUM-MY!

Thanks to all who attended and help make this day so special. As always, I will post photos soon. I did not get very many at all tonight, but I hope that others did!!! :)

Camping and Such

This weekend, Sean and Nathan went on a campout with the men at our church. I hear that they had a blast. All of you moms will appreciate this one...I got a call Saturday morning, and the other voice on the end of the phone said, "Hi, Mommy!" What a way to start the day! :) And THEN, I heard, "I pee-peed on a tree!" Oh, great! I proceeded to tell him that he could ONLY do that on campouts...after he told me that he wanted to do it when he got home!!!

While they were gone, Elijah and I spent some fun Mommy and me time together. Well, we didn't really spend time together on Friday. I had actually planned to take my best friend out for fondue (she'd never had it!) for her birthday on Friday night long before the other campout was ever planned. Two other great friends of ours watched Amber's two boys and Elijah so that we could go out (thanks, Carol and Carin). We went to The Melting Pot in Addison. Can I just say, "Yum!" I forgot how much I love that place!!! Fondue is some of my favorite food. We did the Big Night Out - a splurge, for sure. However, after further debate, Amber and I both agreed that next time, we can do the cheese fondue and dessert and totally skip the meat! :) Of course, we can probably go more often if we skip the meat because that's the most expensive part. LOL Anyways, we had a great time and had lots of laughs...which was something we both needed!

Saturday was really the day that Elijah and I spent together. Did I tell you that this kid's vocab has exploded?! Yeah, I guess I mentioned that. Well, the "quiet weekend" that I thought we'd have turned into something quite loud. He really does have a voice when big brother isn't talking all.the.time. "Mama, tootie-ta -tootie-ta-tootie-ta-ta pease!" Tootie-ta is a song that the boys like on a Jack Hartman CD that we have. I just could not believe that my 23 month old was requesting it!!!

On Saturday morning, I took Elijah for his 2 year photos. They're adorable, and I promise to post them when I get them via email. I'll post Nathan's then too - just realized I never posted them. And, if you ever need some awesome studio portraits, I suggest Target! They have done a great job on my boys this year. They are very reasonable too.

We had to pick up a few groceries after pictures, and Elijah did well since I brought his lunch along to keep him occupied. However, as we were checking out, he decided he wanted out of the cart and tried to stand up. When I asked him what he was doing, he looked at me in annoyance and said, "Done!" This is similar to his "Stuck!" when he's in his carseat. Did I mention he's becoming vocal??? LOL

After pictures and a bit of grocery shopping at Target, we had to go to Willow Bend Mall to pick up a birthday gift for a dear friend. So, newly independent, we did it without a stroller! Elijah did well - although I carried him through much of our walk through Saks. :) After getting the gift, we went to take a peak at Santa as I knew he had arrived at the mall that day. Of course, he was at lunch when we first got there but was due back at any moment. So, we waited...and what better way to pass the minutes with a toddler than to ride the escalator up and down! As soon as we got up, we saw that Santa was going down. So, we raced over to go down and say HI to Santa before leaving. As soon as we got to the bottom of the escalator, Elijah started saying "No!" very adamantly. But, as I explained that Santa was nice and our friend, he relaxed. We went to the fenced area in front of Santa where Elijah waved and blew kisses to him. It was so sweet. We plan to visit Santa and his reindeer later this month when they arrive here in Allen.

We then headed towards the house, and Elijah took a nap in the car on the way home. He stayed asleep at home, but we didn't stay long so his nap was cut short. We met my mom and sister at a local church where my MOPS group was holding a children's carnival. Elijah went dressed a Elmo - will try to post a picture of that soon too. He was so cute! His favorite games were those that involved balls. LOL

We stopped at Dollar Tree on the way to my mom's house to pick up items for a shoebox we are filling for Operation Christmas Child with our MOPS group. Yet again, Elijah decided he was too big for the cart. So, he walked alongside me as I pushed the cart, and he did quite well - esp. considering how busy the store was. He found a small outside/bouncy ball and carried it around happy as a lark. He followed me when I said, "Come on" and stopped when I told him to. Hmmmm...I wonder if he could teach his brother and Deuce a few of the obedience tricks.

We then met my mom, sister and future sister-in-law for dinner at Chick-Fil-A. That's when Elijah showed them his distaste for CFA nuggets - I do not KNOW what is wrong with this child. He likes McDonald's nuggets and not CFA?! He doesn't know what's good! It was there that he showed them his new trick - holding food in his mouth until it is mush, gagging on it and having to spit it out. And he thinks we haven't figured this one out???

From there, we went to a local Christian bookstore that was having a big sale Saturday only. We got some CD's for $8 each!!! We then closed the evening at my mom's house before returning home to meet Daddy and Nate (who was asked about ALL weekend..."Mommy - Nate?!") before bed.

We had a great weekend, and I hope to have pics soon. It's too late to edit them tonight, but maybe tomorrow. A friend got some of Sean and Nathan at the campout too so I'm hoping to get copies of those as well. Oh, and I found out something new about my Nikon point and shoot (the friend from church has a similar one)...I can take pictures in black and white, sepia, vivid color, etc. I've had this camera for 5 months now and didn't know that. I guess I should check out my camera more!!!

Time is Flying By - This is LOOOONG!!!

Lots of thoughts and things to blog...I hope I can keep all of my thoughts straight. Thanks in advance if you read the whole thing!

Let me begin by saying how amazed I am that I have a four year old. While the thought of this somewhat jars me awake, the idea of having a FIVE year old next year completely blows my mind. I mean, seriously, it was just the other day that I found out that I was pregnant with our first child, wasn't it? Now, he's four, are you serious??? Four has proven to be quite interesting so far. It all started on his birthday...the tantrums. People call it the "terrible twos" - really?! I seriously think that four has been harder for us, and we're only two weeks in! I am not sure why tantrums and tears seem so much easier than talking it out, but in the mind of my four year old, it does. I am constantly having to remind him to use his words and tell me what's wrong. And then, to deal with the situation. Learning that life ISN'T fair and that things don't ALWAYS go like we want them to is a very tough lesson to learn!!! Heck, sometimes even I don't always understand it or like it! (that's when God reminds me that He's in control and He sees the big picture I cannot see) There are times when Nathan does use his words, and it's all I can do not to laugh because he is so passionate about everything. He often says, "I'm grumpy" or "I'm mad," but they're said with such gusto and conviction, it's just downright hilarious.

Nathan is growing well; still a bit on the skinnier side. He only weighs 34 lbs. He's 40 inches tall - about 75th percentile. (I think these numbers will mean nothing once his almost 2 year old brother goes for his check up in a few weeks. E-man is HUGE!) He did great on all the doctor's tests - hearing, vision, fine motor, blood pressure, etc. Because he turned four, Nathan got to move up to children's church - instead of the nursery area - at our church. He was so excited. He calls this "Daddy's class" since Sean works in there. He has been wanting to go to "Daddy's class" for over a year now! LOL Just to brag on my little man...in children's church, they have memory verses each week. This week, their verse is Matthew 7:11: "So surely your heavenly father will give good things to those who ask Him." We started working on this Tuesday afternoon, and by Wednesday evening, Nathan could say the whole thing by himself! My mom is trying to get him to say it in front of the whole church on Sunday. I'll try to videotape it if he does!

Elijah will be two on December 5th...wow, that means he turned 23 months yesterday. Wow! 23 months ago, I almost lost my life to the undetected uterine infection. I praise God daily for bringing me through that and for restoring my full health! I know that our next baby will be a testimony of God's great healing power. Anyways, back to Elijah...he does not look like he's only 23 months. Most people look at me in shock when I tell them that he is not even 2 yet. He is the size of a 3 year old. I promise, I am not exaggerating or just bragging here - he is huge! His best friend is 4 months older than he is...and Elijah TOWERS over him!!! Tonight, we were at the movies and in line by another couple who also had a little guy. Turns out, their little man will turn 3 in December. Um, yeah, well, he and Elijah were the same size...and Elijah will turn 2 in December. We're preparing for a fun Sesame Street/Elmo birthday party for him so be looking for those pictures coming next month.

Elijah's vocabulary has exploded! Sean and I were talking about writing down words he can say (as we did with Nathan around this age), and then we realized that he repeats everything. He says everything! Of course, some is only understandable to us..."drink" comes out "rink," and "pop-porn" is not a naughty show - "popcorn.":) We are full blown potty training! We have been in Pull-Ups for several months now, and I decided last week that it was time to move to underwear. Elijah hadn't been keeping the Pull-Ups dry, but my thinking is that he doesn't do this because he doesn't have to. Pull-Ups are just diapers sorta made like underwear - probably not much difference. While wetting the Pull-Ups used to bother Nathan, Elijah is soooo much more passive, he doesn't really mind. So, earlier this week - I think it was Tues. - I decided we'd just go cold turkey with underwear. Several of the moms on my mommy board (www.dallasareamoms.com) have done this with great success. Well, by Tues. night, I felt like a definite failure in this area. He had wet at least 5-6 pairs of underwear (which are a size 4 b/c Nathan's old 2-3T's look like Speedos on him). The ONLY positive thing from this attempt was a protest from him when I tried to put Pull-Ups on him when he went outside to play with Deuce. Fast forward to today...I put him in undies, and we only had 1 accident all day (okay, it was only about 4-5 hours but still a HUGE improvement from the other day). We're going to keep this practice up and hopefully get this potty training done soon. Save me some money not having to buy those diapers! Then, I can spend more on the food to feed this kid!!!

We have had a fun, but busy week. Of course, Tuesday was election day, and although we already voted (on Nate's birthday - 10/28), many places were giving out free food. Sean picked up a free Starbucks coffee on the way home from work - I don't drink coffee so he didn't get me any. After dinner, we all got into the van and headed to the Ben and Jerry's here in McKinney for a free ice cream. Nathan got strawberry on a cone (which broke and wound up in a cup - and he will tell you about this if you ask), Elijah got strawberry-banana yogurt in a cup (he tasted everyone else's too - "Bite!"), and I got chunky monkey (don't remember what Sean got). That was a special treat since we rarely go OUT for ice cream (why? when you can get Blue Bell at home) AND we rarely let them have it that late at night!!!

I babysit for First Baptist Church of Frisco for their MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) group on the first and third Wednesday of the month. The church is 5 min. fom Sean's work so we always meet him there. AND he works in Frisco Square, which also includes the Frisco Library. So, we eat lunch outside at the tables at the library and then go inside the library to read and check out books. It's also neat because my friend (Jaclyn) is a children's librarian there. Nathan always likes to go see my "friend." LOL So, this week was our Frisco Wednesday. But, we didn't get to see Jaclyn because she went into work late that day. :(

I have a subscription to a parents' magazine called Cookie Magazine. It definitely keeps me up to date on the latest styles and trends for kids. ('cause you guys know I need all the help I can get in this area; now, if I just had the money to keep up with the Joneses) Well, last week, I got an email from the magazine about an advanced screening they were having tonight at North Park Mall for Madagascar 2. Completely free! Nathan has been looking forward to this movie all summer so he was pumped that we were going. Sean and I were pumped that all 4 of us were going to the movies for FREE! Elijah was excited but not sure why - he just knew that we kept talking about a movie and popcorn. (He loves popcorn.) We left as soon as Sean got in from work and arrived about an hour before the show. We were about the 5th-6th family in line and got fairly decent seats - clients of Cookie were there too so it was pretty crowded by the time we got in. The boys LOVED it. Elijah danced every time music came on - he is such a lover of music and the arts. LOL It was a very cute movie! What's so ironic is that Nathan's first "real" movie was Madagascar. I took him when I was about 4 months pregnant with Elijah. They were showing it at the summer movie club here at the local theater. Tonight's viewing of Madagascar 2 was Elijah's first "real" movie! (Sean had to take him out at Ratatouille - our first attempt with him. That was a year ago.) Kinda cool. :)

Tomorrow is another exciting day. We have a birthday party to attend around lunchtime for one of Nathan's best friends. Then, after Sean gets off from work, he and Nathan are going camping with the men from our church. Nathan CANNOT wait! I hope it's all he's dreaming of! LOL In the meantime, I am taking my best friend out for fondue tomorrow night to celebrate her birthday, which was earlier in the week. We have friends who are watching her two boys and Elijah for us. On Saturday, Elijah and I have a busy day planned - his 2 year pictures, a carnival with our MOPS group, groceries and dinner with Mawmaw/Chee Chee (possibly Megan = my future SIL). We're having dinner out with our other best friends on Sunday. So, yes, we're staying busy, busy here, but having loads of fun. Hmmmm...I wonder if that's why time is flying by...you know it flies by when you're having fun. (although I'm beginning to think that it's flying by because I'm getting old!)

Costumes

Let me preface this post by saying that we do not celebrate Halloween. However, our boys had a couple of costumes that we decided to let them wear on Friday since it was the one day that they could get away with it. :)

Ninja Nate and Incredibles Elijah - Elijah is giving me his mean face here! I LOVE how the boys are holding hands in this picture; they are starting to do that quite a bit.

These are their ninja poses!

Nathan's Party...and my hair!

Let me begin by introducing myself...my name is Mommy, and although I am an amateur photographer, I am first and foremost Mommy. Therefore, I did not get many pictures (or many good ones) from Nathan's birthday party. I only have 3 to share right now, but I figured I better share them now before it got to be too late. I still cannot believe that my "baby" is 4!!!

I love this face Nathan makes because it's the same face my dad, grandpa and brother make. It's the way they hold their mouth - as if they're trying NOT to smile!!!

He was mesmerized by his pirate ship cake and those candles! (Cake pictures are on my other camera and not yet uploaded.)

One of my friends from my mommy board online (Nicole from Dallas Area Moms) made this for Nathan for his birthday. There was a bandana made out of the same pirate material, but it didn't stay on.

Let's start with Nathan...I thought he was past this scrunched up nose phase, but apparently when you're ready to be done with pictures and get back to playing, this is the face you get! And then there's me...that's my new haircut. LOL Kinda boring, isn't it? I took in pictures of Jenny McCarthy and other stars, but the bob looked so much cuter on them. I'll go for a trim in Dec. and will probably get a few layers cut into it then.

Pumpkin Patch

I am still working on editing pictures, but I have enough to give you an idea of things so here you go before I get too far behind. LOL


October 17th - Big Orange Pumpkin Farm, Celina, TX

This was Elijah's first pumpkin patch, and he LOVED it. He is fascinated by pumpkins now, as Nathan was at this age. He points them out EVERYWHERE - yes, his vocabulary has exploded!!!

I LOVE this photo of Nathan...remember this photo in the next post...he gives me a great smile when he's cooperating!!! Did he REALLY just turn 4? Where did my baby go???

This one probably needs a little bit more editing, but I'm really liking its potential.

Elijah was prompt to pick his pumpkin, and it was just the right size.

Nathan, on the other hand, needed just the right pumpkin, and it took him FOREVER!!!