mommy moment

It seems that my boys are going to do some things according to their own developmental stages, and some things they will just learn together. Caleb has been of course present for much of Ian's attempts to read books on his own. He watches as Ian sounds things out and puts it together into words. This has been a much slower process than I ever expected with Ian - just because he's been so into books and so verbal from a very young age. I thought he would be reading on his own by now. But I've mentioned before how much he is in a hurry for life... and he is in a hurry for the story to progress too when reading. Sounding things out takes too long, and he gets impatient to find out what will happen in the story. But, it's been coming along lately and he's been doing more and more on his own. Caleb walked into preschool this morning and started sounding out the words written on the classroom doors: "Bear" "Fish". He just came up to me with a board game and asked me to help him read the words on the box. I did no different than I do for Ian - pointed to the letters and let him sound them out on his own. My three year old just figured out the words "spider man memory game" on his own.

Now I feel a little self conscious sometimes when I point out my own kids' accomplishments... I wonder if it seems boastful. But you know what, I have decided that whatever it makes me look like to others, I am proud of my kids! I am thankful for them! I am thankful for the blessing that they are healthy and bright! Today I am excited to discover that Caleb is starting to read. Hey if I am going to stay at home and mother these boys full time, for goodness sake I am going to take the joys when they come and focus on it when I get to be a part of special moments - right now my little guy has bright eyes and a big smile - he feels good about himself being able to do something he's seen big brother do. Yay!

Milestone

Here he is... our first toothless moment. Swallowed with a bite of apple. Oops! He is as happy about it as he looks. :-)

A Samuel Update

I just sent the following out to some at our church. I haven't seen any other online updates for a while so I thought I'd post.

Hello all - I spoke with Leyla yesterday and wanted to share an update - the doctors are preparing them that Samuel will be coming home in the next 2-3 weeks! They are evaluating him in 2 weeks to determine if he will come home with a g-tube or not. They would like to see him be more consistent on his feeds. They are saying that he will likely be on the oxygen at home for several months yet. Leyla is trying to wean off some of the pumping so Samuel will take bottle feedings from the nursing staff. Crystal is doing much better since seeing the latest pictures of Samuel - check out Greg's blog if you didn't see those yet. What a smile!
So continue to pray for Samuel's progress. Every time Leyla is there Samuel's stats improve. His breathing slows, he relaxes, he feeds better. He is ready to be home with mama, dada, and those loving big sisters!
Thanks all,
Beth

Finished!

I am just so glad this is done... allow me to give you the tour... (because even if you might stop by at some point, I'm pretty sure it will never be THIS clean again)

almost done...

This morning we went to preschool, and came back to major progress on the project. We won't be able to use the shower still for another day, but I will be so relieved to have it done!!! Thanks to Brad and Jayme for the use of your shower today.

I have to say - it is so refreshing to find someone who takes pride in their own work - in doing the best they can do. We've had quite a few folks come in who just wanted to get their job done as quick as possible and get out. That has not been the case with this project.

Half Way:



Almost done...

mid-way

It is hard to take pictures in this bathroom! It's a long narrow room. The tub is gone... yay! The insulation behind it was sopping wet, and full of mold and (eeeew) bugs. I am still cringing and grossing out over that one. Thankfully I didn't have to deal with them myself, I just got to hear about it later. The floor underneath was very wet, but thankfully still solid. It's being left open for now to dry out. Bleach will be sprayed, and then the rebuild begins tomorrow.

And, just because I had the camera out... a certain cutie pie was hamming it up.

bathroom repairs

Our tub/ shower has to be replaced due to leaking... thought I'd document with some before/ during/ after shots. This has been a long time coming - we've been through some different repairmen and tried more temporary fixes in the past several months... We are really hoping that this does the trick!

Our major clues we had a problem were the wall next to the shower and the light fixture in the hallway below. It became a more urgent problem when the water started dripping out around the light fixture onto the first floor hallway floor every time the shower was used.... fun times. Some press n seal and duct tape held us over until now with that particular problem.

Pretty, isn't it? Ugh.

And while we're at it... Caleb for some reason CANNOT work this faucet, which has become a problem as he is finally now not using pull ups overnight, and usually is up before 6 to go. Which means I have to be up to help him wash his hands. Have I mentioned I am NOT a morning person?

Here's the whole thing... rather messy, but it's our only full bath and well, these are the before pictures. They aren't supposed to be pretty.


While I'm at it, I might as well show you what the room looked like when we first moved in. These are my parents helping Ian have a bath when he was about 9 months old. Unfortunately you can't see the nasty black plastic base"boards" and the old vinyl flooring which was shrinking away from the wall revealing the sub flooring.

The moral of this story: the McElheny family will NEVER again be purchasing a "fixer-upper" home if we ever move!