Be-da-tend

Elise got a plastic spider ring at the "boozoo" the other night and she has been terrified of it. This morning she said to me " mommy is not real, its be-da-tend" (pretend) lol
Last night my dad asked Elise if she was hungry and if she wanted something to eat and she said " maybe tomorrow paw paw" lol
Also at the boo zoo Elise got some little round pumpkins that open up like plastic Easter eggs do, she had 3 of them and took them to my mom and said " nana, put dem up in da air wike dis, and awound and awound" that's how she asked for her to juggle them. lol
So since the baby has been born we have been staying with my parents for the extra help with the kiddies and whatnot. Josh and I have been sleeping with the baby in my old room and Elise has been staying in Nathans room. Last night my mom said " What are we gunna do with Uncle Nathan when he gets home? Where will we put him?" and Elise said " He can stay in MY room!" lol how magnanimous of her to allow him to stay in his own room.
Well those are the only things I can think of at the moment to tell you that Elise has said funny lately. I should keep up with this more. I'll try to remember that.

last night

So last night Gabriel kept waking up right as I was trying to put him back down. He was NOT interested in sleeping and just kept looking at me with those huge blue eyes that take up most of his tiny face. Even in my exhausted sleep deprived state while I sat up with him I had an epiphany.
My epiphany was this. I have been all upset about this bells palsy, and the WAY worse stretch marks than I had with Elise, and just feeling fat and lumpy and in general unattractive in every way but as I looked in to those sweet innocent adoring eyes it occurred to me that he is sooooooooooooo worth it. I whined about having him with no pain meds and all the complications and trouble I had with the pregnancy but if I had to do it all over again I would, and I guess that is obvious because I had another after Elise. With Elise I puked EVERYTHING I ate up for the first month and after that I puked 4 times a day every day for at least 3 months but she is so precious and she brightens my day so much that I did it again.
My dad told me the other day about an interview he had seen with Jillian Michaels ( she is the mean girl trainer from Biggest Looser) and she had said that she is never having kids cause she is afraid she will loose her awesome body and never get it back. But the thing she isnt realizing (beside how incredibly selfish she is) is that she wont have that body forever anyway and when the "hot" body is gone she will be alone and not have any children. I have yet to find anything that I love so much in the world as my children I just feel sorry for people who are to selfish to appreciate the children they have or to selfish to have them they dont know what they are missing. I feel even more sorry for the people who want to have children and cant and they know (as much as you can know without having them) what they are missing.People who have abortions just dont realize what an increadible gift they are throwing away, destroying and murdering.
The greatest feeling in the world is when my daughter wakes me up in the morning with a hug and a kiss and a " I wub you mommy" or when she greats me at the door after I've been gone with a " mommy!" and a big hug and a " I missed you mommy" Or when my son cries until it is ME that holds him and he then starts his favorite activity looking at me with this " I am in love" look and holding my hand. Nobody will ever love you like your child.

New Elise sayings

Elise came and woke me up this morning and said " mommy I sweeped all night!" Super exciting because I dont think she has done that since the beginning of the year. Then she said " Nook mommy, I sweet today!" I hope that is true that'll be nice. She also came and showed me her baby doll she had taken a red crayon and marked two marks on its face then said " oh no mommy da baby scwatched her face!" I guess she is trying to imitate things her brother does except with her baby doll. lol

Gabriel

I have seriously gotta start updating this more often. But this time it is about my new little boy. I know I whined and complained constantly about "will this kid ever come out" but actually he came out sooner than Elise did. Last Thursday morning I woke up hurting but didnt think anything about it cause I had already been to the hospital 4 times and was sent home. I didnt do this cause I enjoy being tortured in the hospital but because the doctor told me if you hurt at all to go in cause 2nd babies come faster and you are already part way there. So I just wrote the pain off. Except it got really really really bad and I started getting not very fun to be around.
When we finally got to the hospital ( of course we seriously hit EVERY red light on the way) we were there for less than an hour, no time to get an epidural or any pain meds and out he came. How people have been having babies for so long without drugs I dont know. And he was only 6 pounds 12 ounces! I had a friend have her baby the next day and that kid was 8 pounds 5 ounces! Anyways.... but even through all this trouble and the dumb bells palsy I acquired while preggers and all the uncertainty I had about having a boy ( I seriously know NOTHING about boys. Only boy baby sitting experience was with my nephew and that kid is enough to make anybody not want to have kids.)
I wouldnt trade Gabriel for anything. He is the tiniest snuggerliest little thing ever. If he is awake he doesn't want to be put down he wants to be snuggling. If he is in the bed with me and i have him about 6 inches away from me he will grunt and whimper and scoot till he is right up under me then snuggle in close, smile and sleep happily. He reminds me of Nathan. Nathan is 22 and still wants to sit right on top of you almost. Gabriel also sleeps better than Elise does. The other night after being awakened many times by Elise, Josh commented " do you realize that the 3 year old has woken us up more than the new born? Something is wrong"
Elise is very concerned about him already. We had to take him to the hospital to get his billy reuben tested a few days after he was born and when they poked his heal Elise got all upset. When we gave him his first at home bath yesterday and he screamed the whole time Elise cried for him too. When he is upset she will sing to him. She wants to " pet her" all the time and we have to keep telling her he is a he. Anyways I know this is the most random rambling post ever but give me a break im sleep deprived and this is the first chance ive had to put the baby down all day because he is finally asleep and Elise is being quiet enough to keep him that way.

the mouths of babes

Elise has been having some stomach issues the last several days. We are both very very tired of changing diapers. Her little rear is just raw. She will say " mommy my booty hurts, I sidda da baf an feel better" ( I have been putting skin soothing stuff in the tub to help her raw skin)
But I got on here to write some of the things that she has said recently. I said to Josh about an hour ago " I think I might be a little dehydrated my head is kinda hurting" Elise said " Daddy, Mommy is sirsty!" kid knows what dehydrated means already. Maybe she will be a vocabulary genius. lol
Yesterday my mom and dad went to Orlando to visit family. Elise just said " mommy where is nana? she in da jungle, come on ets go fine her!" lol I have no idea where she got that idea. She was also telling me about the stars out of the car window I asked her where the stars are, she said " dey in oudderSPACE! mommy!"
I never did write about for my birthday we went to the beach for the day. Elise thought that was seriously the best thing ever. She even made up a song about the beach. she sat on her daddy's shoulders and shook her little booty and pointed at different places on the beach and sang " da beach da beach da beah YEAH!" since then she has just randomly said to me " come on mommy ets go da beach" and will grab my hand and start dragging me to the door. Sometimes she will even say "happy birthday to you mommy" and sing the song I guess she thinks if she does that then it will be my birthday again and we can go to the beach.
The other night we were in the pool at my parents house and Elise had gotten some water in her mouth and I think down her throat some. This apparently caused something of an upchuck reflex which she hasnt really encountered since she was old enough to remember. she said " mommy whats dat in my mouf?" lol anyways I guess that is all I can think of at the moment.

new nephew!

So this week my sister Mysti was scheduled to have her baby on Wednesday the 13th. So my mom and I went up on the 12th to stay with her other two kids Alexandra (9) and Brynn(7). Mysti was scheduled to go into the hospital at 5:30 am to be induced. She went into labor herself at 4am. So they went off to the hospital and we got up with the girls at 6 am to get them ready for school. When we were getting into the car Alexandra pointed to their orange male cat and said " we had to get his bubbles cut off cause he was being mean and wouldn't stay home, but now he is nice and he stays right here" lol On the way to school, because we weren't sure how long it would take my mother was driving a a pretty good pace and the car was bouncing all over the place and Alexandra said " Nana! You're like a rocket! you drive way faster than my mom" which is hilarious that grandma drives faster than mom hahaha.
So Mysti delivered Joshua Cole at 10:20 that morning 7 pounds 8 ounces 20 inches long. He looks like his paternal grandmother Cindy to me. And on kid number 3 Mysti popped out a dark headed kid. Where Alexandra got that pretty red hair from i dont know. Then we went and checked Alexandra and Brynn out of school at 12 and took them up to the hospital. They got to see their brother get his first bath and Alexandra exclaimed to her mom " MOM! Joshua Cole has bubbles AND a wee wee! Together!" lol you can tell these kids havent been around many boy children.
So after Elise saw her new cousin she is excited about her brother and patts my tummy and says " mommy, da brober is sweepin in der!' and brings me pacifiers for him and says " mommy is a paci for da brober" lol Also the other day my mom told me that my brother was due on the same day this kid is and he came in august! So maybe there is hope for me! I hope.

Wow its been a while

Ok I know it has been a while but today is a big day. Mothers day! I already wrote a letter to my mom which I think she enjoyed but let me tell you if you dont know already. When you have a kid your mom is like the smartest person you know. Seriously I dont know how people do it when their mom isnt right up the road. and it is a good thing that my mom has both a boy and girl cause I found out friday that this baby im supposed to be having in early September ( keep your fingers crossed for august) is going to be a boy! yes very exciting for everyone. Elise is not a happy camper she wanted a "stister" but I think a brother will be good for her. I didnt start liking my brother till he was about 10 though. Before that he annoyed the mess out of me. At least I will be able to sympathize with her and I know what she is going through since I had my own annoying little brother, but now he is one of my favorite people! And I get to talk to him today and tell him on the phone that I am having a boy! What a fun mothers day present for me!
So this little boy will be Gabriel Joshua Griffith. And I know nothing about little boys so anybody want to give me any tips I am very eager and willing to hear them. Although last time I asked for tips on little boys I was told to "potty train him outside!" So I read that right before bed and had nightmares of my toddler son spraying pee all over the bathroom while I attempted to point him in the right direction. I think I might let Josh do that. Anyway. I know this is incredibly random but im a little distracted Nathan is to be calling any minute!!!!! So i have to go now!

New Elise stuff.

So I thought I would put some of this stuff I put on facebook on here so I will actually remember it when it is wiped from facebook.
Yesterday Josh went to the doctor and when they were taking his blood pressure Elise said " daddy it hurt?" then when Josh reassured her it didnt hurt she kept patting and rubbing his knee and saying " is ok daddy" I have NO idea where I got such a compationate child.
The other day my mother was blowing rasberries on Elise's face and Elise said " Nana, you poopin wif your mouf?" hahaha
Also the other day we were in target and Elise dropped this monkey head piggy bank and dropped it and broke the top part off of its head, from the eyes up. She had a little stuffed monkey in the basket with her and took the broken monkey bank eyes and ears and put them on top of the stuffed monkey like a hat and said "nook mommy! I made a MONSTER!" lol it was pretty scary.
Josh and I took Elise to the zoo a few days ago and there were two aligators and one was bigger and the other smaller and the big one was the daddy and the smaller one was the mommy and the mommy got in the water and the mommy was swimmin etc. Elise gave us a whole running comentary on what was going on and made up a little story for all the animals. But she refused to get on the train at the zoo and would pitch a fit if we tried to make her.
I think it was yesterday I went in the living room and Elise was all covered up under a blanket and I said " Elise honey what are you doing" and her fuzzy blond little head poked out and she whispered " I hidin mommy" and popped it back under the covers. lol
Another Elise story I was trying to get dressed and was walking across the house away from Elise when she started hollering " mooooommmmmy!!!! Waaaaaiiiit por me! I comin!" As though we were in some dramatic movie and I was going to save the world and she didnt want to be left behind. I guess that is all I can think of at the moment.

Addicted to Coke Zero.

So anybody who knows my mom knows that she has been addicted to diet coke at least since the early 90's. She has to have at least one a day. I never thought much about it until a few years ago when we went to Palatka to visit my grandmother when my Aunt Kathy was there and we went out for a walk. After walking for a while they both said " wow we have done such a great job, we have walked far enough time for a DIET COKE!!!" and then they sped inside to devour their diet cokes. lol
Every time I go to the store with my mom she gets a huge 24 pack of coke zero's. ( I guess she decided they are better for you) Im starting to wonder if my mom keeps Coke in business.
But the reason I decided to write this post is because I am at my parents house now and my mom just poured herself a can of coke zero. She set the can on the table. Elise got the can and was trying to get every drop out and then started licking the outside of the can. Obviously the coke obsession skips and generation.... and it made me think, if coke ever goes out of business I can just see my mom licking the outside of all her left over cans. lol I guess there are worse things to be addicted too.

Happy late birthday Danielle

Ok so I know its the day after but I've been sick. I just wanted to say, everybody has gone on on facebook and blogs saying how awesome Danielle is! And I totally agree. That is why I named my daughter after her. I wanted my child to be as sweet, smart, loving and funny as Danielle. And so far it is working! So thanx Danielle! It was good luck to name my kid after you!

25 things my mother taught me.

Ok my dad sent me this in email form but I thought I was so hilarious that I would put it up so you could all read it. Now my mother didnt say ALL of these things, but I'll let you guess which she did and didnt. I've already said some of these to my kid. lol Ah the circle of life. lol





1. My mother taught me TO APPRECIATE A JOB WELL DONE .
>>> "If you're going to kill each other, do it outside. I just finished
>>> cleaning."
>>>
>>> 2. My mother taught me RELIGION.
>>> "You better pray that will come out of the carpet."
>>>
>>> 3. My mother taught me about TIME TRAVEL .
>>> " If you don't straighten up, I'm going to knock you into the middle
>>> of next week!"
>>>
>>> 4. My mother taught me LOGIC.
>>> " Because I said so, that's why."
>>>
>>> 5. My mother taught me MORE LOGIC.
>>> "If you fall out of that swing and break your neck, you're not going
>>> to
>>> the store with me.."
>>>
>>> 6. My mother taught me FORESIGHT.
>>> "Make sure you wear clean underwear, in case you're in an accident."
>>>
>>> 7. My mother taught me IRONY
>>> "Keep crying, and I'll give you something to cry about."
>>>
>>> 8. My mother taught me about the science of OSMOSIS.
>>> "Shut your mouth and eat your supper."
>>>
>>> 9. My mother taught me about CONTORTIONISM.
>>> "Will you look at that dirt on the back of your neck!"
>>>
>>> 10. My mother taught me about STAMINA..
>>> "You'll sit there until all that spinach is gone."
>>>
>>> 11. My mother taught me about WEATHER.
>>> "This room of yours looks as if a tornado went through it."
>>>
>>> 12. My mother taught me about HYPOCRISY.
>>> "If I told you once, I've told you a million times. Don't exaggerate!"
>>>
>>> 13. My mother taught me the CIRCLE OF LIFE.
>>> "I brought you into this world, and I can take you out."
>>>
>>> 14. My mother taught me about BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION.
>>> "Stop acting like your father!"
>>>
>>> 15. My mother taught me about ENVY.
>>> "There are millions of less fortunate children in this world who don't
>>> have wonderful parents like you do."
>>>
>>> 16. My mother taught me about ANTICIPATION.
>>> "Just wait until we get home."
>>>
>>> 17. My mother taught me about RECEIVING .
>>> "You are going to get it when you get home!"
>>>
>>> 18. My mother taught me MEDICAL SCIENCE..
>>> "If you don't stop crossing your eyes, they are going to freeze that
>>> way."
>>>
>>>
>>> 19. My mother taught me ESP.
>>> "Put your sweater on; don't you think I know when you are cold?"
>>>
>>> 20. My mother taught me HUMOR.
>>> "When that lawn mower cuts off your toes, don't come running to me."
>>>
>>> 21. My mother taught me HOW TO BECOME AN ADULT .
>>> "If you don't eat your vegetables, you'll never grow up."
>>>
>>> 22. My mother taught me GENETICS.
>>> "You're just like your father."
>>>
>>> 23. My mother taught me about my ROOTS.
>>> "Shut that door behind you. Do you think you were born in a barn?"
>>>
>>> 24. My mother taught me WISDOM.
>>> "When you get to be my age, you'll understand."
>>>
>>> 25. And my favorite: My mother taught me about JUSTICE
>>> "One day you'll have kids, and I hope they turn out just like you.
>

Molly

On April 10, 1996 I got the best early birthday present ever. That was Molly. Our black cocker spaniel. A week ago tomorrow my dad called me and told me that the neighbors had found Molly in the road hit by a car. next month she would have been 14 years old. Poor thing was totally deaf and nearly all blind. But despite the fact she was this old and I should have been expecting this when my dad told me I cried and cried. Josh thought a family member had died before I could choke out to him what had happened. And I guess a family member did die. Im sure she is a much happier dog now where she is cause she can hear and see again, but that doesnt mean we will miss her any less.
Since my brother left in May of last year some pretty horrible things have happened and my mom saw fit to send him a letter to tell him of them all. But for Molly's passing she facebooked a lady who is in the ward he is in now and asked her to tell him in person because she didn't want him to hear about it over a letter. From what was reported he had a really shocked blank look and just stared at the floor. He did better than me. He was also told " one of your sisters is having a really hard time with it" and of course he knew it was me.
Molly was the best dog. She never bit or snapped at anybody regardless of what was done to her. The grandchildren have tried to ride her like a horse, dress her up, I have tried to paint her toenails, put her ears in a pony tail put bows in her hair etc and she just allowed us to torture her thus with an expression as though, " I must humor these silly children" If Elise would follow her around and bother her she would just get up and move somewhere else. But that was in her older days. In her younger days, her favorite was when we would go on a walk. She would get a little ahead of us and then turn around to make sure we were still following wag her tail and repeat the process. She LOVED fireworks and would chase them all over the yard and woods. This July 4th is going to be really sad, im going to miss that alot after 14 years of something you kind of get used to it..... goodbye Molly, we love you and miss you.

day of errands

Yesterday was a day full of errands. During this day of errands I had Elise with me all day, because of this I now have many cute Elise stories all from one day.
So we had to go to the Health Dept first thing in the morning. When we got into the parking lot I noticed she had a booger hanging out of her nose which I tried to remove but she swatted at my hand and said " no no mommy! is my booger!" lol
While we were there she went and hi-fived every person in the health dept and all of their children even babies. Some of them several times. Because she was so good I told her we would go to the park. As soon as I mentioned that word that's all I heard " mommy? we goin da park? So she told me "Mommy, da pone! talk to daddy mommy? on da pone" so I called him and she told him " daddy we goin to da park"
When we got to the park she made me go down this huge green slide with her like 8 times but I had to keep helping her up all of these steps, when we were leaving the park she was sooo upset and kept crying "no oh no da park!" and we drove by an elementary school with the play ground outside she said " mommy is a park! ets go!" so I told her baby that is a school not the park. She said " mommy ets go to school!" So I told her "Elise honey you are to little to go to school" then she started to cry and said "mommy, I wanna go da school, I pwomise" mostly to me it looked like she wanted to go to recess. lol
Then later when Josh got home from work we went to the grocery store and bought her a dr seuss book because she was so good. I read this book to her no less than 4 times in one night. As we were leaving the store she interrupted her daddy in mid sentence and said " daddy, hey go dis away" and pointed the direction we were actually going. lol
Anyway I think that is all I cant think of anything else at the moment.

Pregnant

Im sure everybody already knows but I figured I would do a blog on it anyway. So I found out about a week ago that I am pregnant. According to my mother and her wheel of due dates at work this kid is due September 5th. That totally sucks because I have to be pregnant and huge all summer.So I am hoping for a 15 days early baby and then it will be born on Nathan's birthday which would be pretty awesome and then I would get 2 weeks of summer to not be huge. lol
My parents, Inlaws, husband and elder brother have all put in requests for a boy. I personally dont really care what I have as long as it is healthy since I got what I wanted in the form of a little girl already. Only thing im a little worried about is that if it is a girl everyone will be so disappointed and I dont want her to know that was the reaction to her being a girl. If that is the reaction at least I can tell her that her sister wanted her to be a girl.
I tried to explain to Elise that she was going to be a big sister and that wasnt she excited about having a baby in the house and asked her if she wanted a little brother or little sister. She thought about this for a second and said ( while putting her finger to her chin and mouth) "hmm, Brober or stister?....Mommy I wanna stister" I keep trying to tell her that it is a possibility that it will be a brother but then she gives me this look like " EEEW MOTHER PLEASE! Boys are gross!"
We have already picked out names too. If it is a boy it will be Gabriel Joshua and if its a girl it will be Madeline Grace. This is long enough except for I thought I would share that today I was trying to brush Elise's hair and she said "NO! NO! Mommy! Is MY hair!" lol

vacation review/ so far

Today Josh and I went to Graceland since he had never been. He actually liked the decorations in that place. Since Elvis decorated it, I learned that strait men should not decorate anything. Yesterday we went to Shiloh battlefield. Josh LOVED that so much that we are probably going back tomorrow since we kind of had to rush through it, we got there so late. While we were in the cemetery, which is right by the river, (and where there was a skirmish in the battle) we both heard gun shots. Being that we live in the middle of nowhere and people shoot guns all the time where we live it was just sort of registered on a subconscious level for both of us. Today though as we were talking about it we remembered that there were like 40 deer we saw in the park since they cant be hunted there, a national park and realized this park is big and also that the use of a gun is illegal that perhaps we heard a ghostly shot. Apparently this is one of the most commonly reported "haunting"

I have called home several times to talk to my mom and Elise and today I was talking to my mom and Elise kept saying to her while reaching from the phone " mommy, talk" so I talked to her and asked her what she learned in church today. My mother said she thought she was tryign to say something about " I am a child of God" but all I heard was jibberish and " Jee-Jus" which is how she says Jesus. It will be a sad day when she learns how to say it correctly. :-( Anyways she talked and talked to me about a bunch of stuff I had no idea what she was saying but I did hear her say " wanna talk?" and apparently at this point she had placed the phone up next to a stuffed animals ear so it could talk to me too. lol
I have such a sweet little girl. I got lucky.

new stories

My mom's mother has always insisted on being called "grandmother", and I guess there is really nothing else left for Elise to call her because she already has a Nana, Mimi, and Grandma. So Grandmother it is. Except she cant actually pronounce grandmother. Instead of Grandmother it is "mam-mum-mer" which I think is about the funniest thing ever. I keep asking her who that is and pointing to grandmother just to hear her say it. If its not "mam-mum-mer" its "mam-mer" This totally reminds me of my cousin Chase when he was a little kid, sounds like something he would have said then. The way kids say things are hilarious. Like I remember when he was a little kid he said " bansty, bum ober here" (nancy, come over here) and my niece Alexandra when she was two had a song she sang which would help her learn her alphabet. It went like this " A, Aah, Alligator. B, Buh, bumble-bee. C, suh, Cat. But when she got to D, duh, dog she would say " D, duh, GAWG" lol which we all thought was hilarious and would ask her to sing constantly. IM sure as a 9 year old now she wouldn't find it funny but I still do. Anyways this has probably been the most random post ever. And I cant think of anything else to write at the moment so it must end here.

Phillip C. Hendry

So Happy New Year. It hasn't really been so far though for me. My best friend growing up, her little brother just died on Monday. I have known this kid since he was 2 years old. It is soooo shocking. I wake up every morning and keep thinking, surely I dreamed all that and there is no way that a 19 year old kid could have contracted pneumonia, sepsis, and West Nile all at the same time and West Nile in the winter but every morning I wake up and it is still true. But the fact that those 3 random things were all coupled together seem like such a weird combination that its almost like you can see God saying " Ok, its time to bring Phillip home" This makes me feel slightly better. I say at least 3 prayers a day for his family, who were like a second family to me growing up.
Goodbye Phillip. We love you and we will all miss you.