I kept stalling on this update because we were waiting to know what our next step in life was. Our next step is so subtlely different, though, that it hardly felt update worthy once we got there. But I'll explain...
The Story of Dr. Colbert, Michael Jordan, and the NIH
So, in the Fall Rob decided to go with Dr. Colbert at Cincinnati Children's. No problems with that. A few months ago Dr. Colbert brought Rob in to talk to him. We assumed it was because Colbert just wanted an update on where Rob was with his dissertation, etc. Nope. Dr. Colbert had been offered a position at the NIH and was pretty sure he would take it. He went through a process of offers and counteroffers (strong incentives, he called them--it'd be nice to be Dr. Colbert), and during this whole process he told us we couldn't tell anyone else. He wanted to announce things himself. We respected that.
So he was going to the NIH, that was his final decision. This left us with a decision. Dr. Colbert had offered for us to go with him. Aah! The NIH is a great place to be and we knew this was a perhaps once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. It's not every day opportunities like this just fall in your lap. So we thought and thought and thought about it. We went back and forth. It felt equally good to stay or go. There were hic-ups with both. If we went, how in the WORLD would we sell our house, and live in the DC area on $40,000 a year? If we stayed who would Rob do his post-doc with, and would he regret passing up the NIH? Colbert suggested a few people at Children's. It felt like we were doing this all over again, like we had in the fall. Rob re-contacted people, just to see what options were. There was no one that was jumping out at him.
Then he went to his Immunology Conference in San Diego. He said he got just about nothing out of the conference, and that was disappointing. Plus he re-injured his knee (that's another story). But the one thing he DID get out of it was he saw a booth there for Cincinnati Children's, and there was a Dr. Michael Jordan advertising for a post-doc. He hadn't been looking in the fall, but he was looking now. So it took Rob going all the way to San Diego to find out about this guy. Funny how that works. And then on the flight home he met a woman who works in Jordan's lab. Interesting, eh?
Anyways, Rob talked to Dr. Jordan and that's how things ended up working out. About 3 weeks ago Dr. Colbert FINALLY announced that he was going to the NIH (it felt like we'd been keeping it mum for ages), and we quietly transitioned over to going to Dr. Jordan's lab.
I fell in love with Dr. Colbert during this whole process. He looked out for us and gave us some valuable advice. Rob approached him at one point and said we'd decided to go to the NIH after 6 months to a year (Rob would stay here and work in someone's lab while we got our house ready to sell, etc.). He also discussed with Colbert how Dr. Jordan's research is more along the lines of what Rob wants to do, but Rob didn't want to pass up the NIH OR working with Dr. Colbert (he's a great guy). Dr. Colbert looked at him and said, in essence, "Rob, don't settle for me. If Dr. Jordan's research is what you want to do, then don't go with me." What fabulous advice.
There were lots of other pieces in this complicated puzzle of a process. Two of the most interesting things:
1 - We had a hard time with this decision just because both options were good. It wasn't easy to see which one was the better choice. Finally, after flip-flopping for weeks and getting super-annoyed with that (I have little patience for the decision-making process. I'd rather make the WRONG decision than have to think about it for longer than a few weeks), I had a moment of supreme clarity. I saw the decision for what it really was. It was about Rob's career and nothing else. Would Rob regret going to the NIH with Dr. Colbert if it meant that years down the road Rob wouldn't be able to get back to doing the research he really wanted to do? The answer to that was Yes. And that's the decision right there.
2 - Rob kept talking to Retzinger, his advisor, about staying or going. Retzinger kept saying, "I think you want to stay just because it's convenient to stay. You don't have to sell your house and move." Retzinger was pretty strongly of the opinion that we should go to the NIH. Rob finally told Retzinger that had he known of Dr. Jordan's lab in the fall when he was originally looking, he wouldn't have gone with Dr. Colbert at all. That helped change Retzinger's opinion on it.
End of that Story.
The (Short) Story of Rob's Knee
Upon looking at my last update, I already told you part of the story of Rob's knee. How he re-injured it at the San Diego Conference. How he went into the doctor for it, and the doctor sent him to physical therapy. Rob spent a good month going to Physical Therapy twice a week. After that month, he went back into the doctor who said something like, "Good. Keep doing the right stretches to strengthen it." Rob went back to Physical Therapy one last time to get a list of stretches and exercises he can now do at home. And that's good because I'm not sure how many more PT sessions our checkbook could have handled. But it's worth it for Rob to be able to walk/run/exist without pain. Now Rob can actually flex his left quad. I didn't realize he hadn't been able to flex his upper leg for years.
The Story of Ocean City, New Jersey
I went to Ocean City, New Jersey for about a week. We got to see LB on QVC. We toured the studio, which was pretty dang cool. The live show was an interesting experience, as far as just getting the live QVC show experience. It's fun to watch what's going on behind the scenes. And L is always a doll and fun to watch. We were pleasantly surprised that L's family showed up to be there for her 10th anniversary show on QVC. It was fun to see them.
It was also nice to relax for a week without the kids. I read 2 books, wrote a lengthy letter to my brother, sat down and did nothing, walked along the beach. Fun. It was not warm in Ocean City, but that's okay, cause I think it was the perfect weather: 50 degrees F. Perfect sweatshirt weather. I bought a grubby sweatshirt there that says OC on it. I was sad to not have been in Ocean City, Delaware (which doesn't exist), cause then maybe my sweatshirt would have said OCD and that would have made me very happy.
Elijah was cute while I was gone. Right before I left he said, "Can I go, Mom?" I told him no. "But I'm a big boy!" :) He'd talk to me on the phone while I was gone and say, "Mom? Can you come home now?" I told him I couldn't. Then a few minutes later he'd say, "Can you come home NOW?" :) On Saturday Rob and the kids went to a church activity. As they were driving back down our street Elijah said, "Maybe her is there now!" Rob said, "Who, mommy?" "Yeah!" Oh, cute. Elijah also asked Rob if he was "small enough to go with him to California." Rob figured out that Elijah was asking if he was small enough to fit inside Rob's suitcase, like Rob had joked before leaving for CA. :) It broke my heart to talk to him and hear his sad little voice that I wasn't coming home right away.
So I was interested to see what would happen when I actually arrived at home. I got back into Cincinnati late Sunday night, like at 11:15 pm. So the kids were already asleep. The next morning Miciah and Teancom got up first and Teancom came and cuddled with me immediately. Miciah was happy to see me and gave me hugs. And then Elijah got up. I expected him to run to me or something. Instead he opened his bedroom door and peeked out. His door is directly across from our door, which was open. I tried to play coy for a minute to see what he'd do. But he didn't do anything. So I opened my eyes and said, "Hi, Elijah." He just stared at me, a blank look on his face. Finally one corner of his mouth turned up just barely for a split second. Then he walked off. It cracked me up.
It took me almost a whole week to get used to being around my kids again (they're so LOUD compared to adults). And a whole week to make dinner for the first time since I got back. We ate out the whole time I was gone, so when I got home and Rob asked what I wanted for dinner the first night I said Ramen. :) ... Rob is a great guy. I told him I was most concerned about that Monday I got home. He offered to stay home so I wouldn't go crazy that first day back with my kids. I was so tired that I took a good 4 hours or more worth of naps that day. And I was STILL exausted and snappy at my kids by the end of the day. Good thing Rob was there to keep me sane.
The (Very Short) Story of G and M
G, Rob's little brother, married ML on May 16th. We got to go up for a few days and be with family. It was absolute CHAOS (family is chaos) with everyone there, but it was wonderful. And the wedding was beautiful. Rob and M sang some lovely songs and I got some of them on video. I also got a lot of great pictures of Rob dancing at the reception. Rob's an animal on the dance floor. The saddest part of taking the pictures and videos was that I had taken a stinkin' cute video of Miciah and Rob dancing all snazzed up (Miciah was a flower girl and looked like a princess, and Rob was wearing a tux), and then the next day I accidentally deleted it. That is absolute sadness.
We did get G & M two of the world's best wedding gifts EVER. I am exceptionally proud of them both.
The (Exceedingly Short) Story of My Camera
My brother bought me a new camera cause he's crazy. It's just like my old one that I loved, but it's updated. So it takes really really good pictures. Love, love, love it.
The Story of Our Digital Upgrades
Because of the camera, we needed a new SD card. A 256MB SD card isn't super useful for a camera that takes 8.2 Megapixel pictures (about 3.5 MBs each shot). So we got a new one of those (plus a friend gave us a coupon for another free one, so we now have a 1G and 2G SD card). Plus we got an external harddrive to hold all the glorious pictures. Then we had to get a USB port hub. We used to have 4 USB ports, but Elijah broke the 2 in front, so that left us with 2. And EVERYTHING goes off USB ports these days. So we got a 7-port USB hub, and it's almost all the way filled already. We were telling a friend that we opted for an external harddrive instead of a DVD burner, but we wished we had one of those still and they said they had an extra one laying around. Did we want it? Of course! It's nice that now you can upgrade your computer dramatically without replacing it.
Plus, we got digital TV finally. Sent away for the coupons for a converter box. Spent $10 on a converter box and now we can watch non-staticy TV. And we get like 10 new channels. It feels like we have cable, without the pricetag. Nice!
So, add that together with our hi-speed internet that we turned into wireless with a wireless router (free from the company--didn't know that when we first signed up), and we feel firmly in (but well behind) the digital age. Let's make a list, shall we:
-hi-speed internet
-wireless
-500G external harddrive
-1G and 2G SD cards
-8.2 Megapixel camera
-DVD burner
-digital TV
It's nice to finally invest in the digital age when the price is affordable. Those SD cards, I got the 2G, top of the line, Panasonic SD card for $15. Last year when I looked at them they were $60 - $80 (you can now spend about $60 on a 32G SD card). And most everything else we purchased was the same way. Yea for affordable technology!
The Story of N64
We stole the Thacker Family Nintendo 64 (G claims it's his, but we know it's not). Our kids are enjoying playing Zelda and stuff. Elijah runs around saying, "I'm going to kill your guy, Mom." And then he lets people kill little Link. I actually play the guy and the kids watch. It works for us. ... When I get bored with it, I'll send it out to Bryant or whoever else.
Elijah Stories
Elijah is always doing funny stuff. Some of my favorite Elijah Stories:
While I was in OC, NJ, Rob bought the kids doughnuts (now every time we pass Dunkin' Donuts Elijah asks if we can get doughnuts--thanks, Rob!). Elijah was eating a jelly-filled one and said, "Dad! This one tastes like peanut butter and jelly sandwich!"
We were at the Nursery choosing the bushes for the side of our house (we can't keep grass there, so we thought we'd try bushes instead). The guy who worked there was helping us decide (we decided on lilac bushes--5 of them), and while that was happening, our kids were bored out of their minds. Elijah was throwing gravel into this little hole. The hole was maybe a foot and a half deep or so. While he was messing with it, he fell in. He wasn't hurt, just scared, and we were standing a ways off from him. A stranger came up, trying to be helpful, and asked if he was alright. Elijah scowled at her and shouted angrily at the top of his lungs, "YOU ARE NOT MY MOM!" ... We were pretty embarressed.
At the Memorial Day picnic yesterday Elijah and Miciah were going over to the playground. Elijah started running and Miciah told him to slow down and grabbed his hand. Elijah pulled his hand away, scowled at her, and said, "I'm not crossing the street, stupid!" ...
While that is pretty funny, his use of the word "stupid" got him in trouble later that day. Not with me, with a group of boys. He came and reported that a boy was hitting him. I told him to ask him not to hit. It was some boys that I wasn't familiar with, and they're apparently rougher than the boys I'm used to. ... Elijah walked off and I didn't think much of it until another mom came and reported that a group of boys were having issues. She said, "The boy in the blue was saying, 'My mom said not to hit, stupid. So don't hit me.' " Guess who the boy in blue was. Yep, Elijah. Then, as I walked toward the group, a 7-year-old boy was pushing Elijah and the 4-year-old looked like he was about to hit him with a stick. Seriously. As I got to Elijah, the 7-year-old had pushed him to the ground. I pulled out a little Mother Bear on him. Looked him right in the eyes and said in that don't mess voice, "Do NOT push or hit my son again."
I was glad I was there, in a way, to help Elijah out. I think he would have been pounded a little more had I not been there. However, I won't always be there for him. ... We had a long talk about how if you're trying to get someone to not hit you, you probably shouldn't call them stupid. A little counterproductive.
We took Elijah to the doctor for a well check last week. He got a shot. I was SUPER impressed with him. He said he was going to be brave. He asked if he could have 2 stickers, and the nurse said if he was really good. She gave him the shot and he got this look on his face like, "That HURT." He said, "Ow," and looked at his arm, and that was it. No crying, no nothing. The nurse told him he could DEFINITELY have 2 stickers. It's nice to know that kids overreacting to shots isn't my fault. :) After Miciah, Elijah's reaction was comforting to me.
Teancom Stories
Teancom is just dang cute.
He's finally decided to claim a blanket as his "blankie". We tried to make it the crocheted blanket that my Mom made for him, since that's the one my other 2 have chosen for their blankies. But he wasn't having it. I can't tell which of a certain 2 is the chosen blankie, though. For a while he said it was a duckie one with tied ends. I was happy with that, since it's the one I made for him (I didn't make one for my other 2 kids). And the second one he's been claiming lately is the quilt that Grandma D made for Elijah. Both good choices.
Teancom is talking a lot and it's fun to listen to him. He is deciding to walk lots of places instead of me holding him, and since he's almost 2, that's fine with me. He's very obedient and will stay close and not run off. And people love to see a cute little 2-year-old toddling around. I must admit, it's pretty cute to watch this little person walking around.
Teancom still loves it outside. He will literally spend all day outside if I let him, and hence he's pretty darn tan already.
The other day Teancom fell off the couch onto his head and said, "Woah," then went and did it again. So, as good parents, we didn't ask him to stop for fear of hurting himself, we encouraged him to do it again so we could get it on video. :) So we have this super-cute clip of a video of him hanging off the edge of the couch going, "Aaahhh! Help me!" in this high-pitched voice, then falling on his head, saying, "Woah," and then getting up to do it again. ... Rob and I have been walking around giggling to ourselves, going, "Aaahh! Help me!" Too cute.
The Story of Dr. Colbert, Michael Jordan, and the NIH
So, in the Fall Rob decided to go with Dr. Colbert at Cincinnati Children's. No problems with that. A few months ago Dr. Colbert brought Rob in to talk to him. We assumed it was because Colbert just wanted an update on where Rob was with his dissertation, etc. Nope. Dr. Colbert had been offered a position at the NIH and was pretty sure he would take it. He went through a process of offers and counteroffers (strong incentives, he called them--it'd be nice to be Dr. Colbert), and during this whole process he told us we couldn't tell anyone else. He wanted to announce things himself. We respected that.
So he was going to the NIH, that was his final decision. This left us with a decision. Dr. Colbert had offered for us to go with him. Aah! The NIH is a great place to be and we knew this was a perhaps once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. It's not every day opportunities like this just fall in your lap. So we thought and thought and thought about it. We went back and forth. It felt equally good to stay or go. There were hic-ups with both. If we went, how in the WORLD would we sell our house, and live in the DC area on $40,000 a year? If we stayed who would Rob do his post-doc with, and would he regret passing up the NIH? Colbert suggested a few people at Children's. It felt like we were doing this all over again, like we had in the fall. Rob re-contacted people, just to see what options were. There was no one that was jumping out at him.
Then he went to his Immunology Conference in San Diego. He said he got just about nothing out of the conference, and that was disappointing. Plus he re-injured his knee (that's another story). But the one thing he DID get out of it was he saw a booth there for Cincinnati Children's, and there was a Dr. Michael Jordan advertising for a post-doc. He hadn't been looking in the fall, but he was looking now. So it took Rob going all the way to San Diego to find out about this guy. Funny how that works. And then on the flight home he met a woman who works in Jordan's lab. Interesting, eh?
Anyways, Rob talked to Dr. Jordan and that's how things ended up working out. About 3 weeks ago Dr. Colbert FINALLY announced that he was going to the NIH (it felt like we'd been keeping it mum for ages), and we quietly transitioned over to going to Dr. Jordan's lab.
I fell in love with Dr. Colbert during this whole process. He looked out for us and gave us some valuable advice. Rob approached him at one point and said we'd decided to go to the NIH after 6 months to a year (Rob would stay here and work in someone's lab while we got our house ready to sell, etc.). He also discussed with Colbert how Dr. Jordan's research is more along the lines of what Rob wants to do, but Rob didn't want to pass up the NIH OR working with Dr. Colbert (he's a great guy). Dr. Colbert looked at him and said, in essence, "Rob, don't settle for me. If Dr. Jordan's research is what you want to do, then don't go with me." What fabulous advice.
There were lots of other pieces in this complicated puzzle of a process. Two of the most interesting things:
1 - We had a hard time with this decision just because both options were good. It wasn't easy to see which one was the better choice. Finally, after flip-flopping for weeks and getting super-annoyed with that (I have little patience for the decision-making process. I'd rather make the WRONG decision than have to think about it for longer than a few weeks), I had a moment of supreme clarity. I saw the decision for what it really was. It was about Rob's career and nothing else. Would Rob regret going to the NIH with Dr. Colbert if it meant that years down the road Rob wouldn't be able to get back to doing the research he really wanted to do? The answer to that was Yes. And that's the decision right there.
2 - Rob kept talking to Retzinger, his advisor, about staying or going. Retzinger kept saying, "I think you want to stay just because it's convenient to stay. You don't have to sell your house and move." Retzinger was pretty strongly of the opinion that we should go to the NIH. Rob finally told Retzinger that had he known of Dr. Jordan's lab in the fall when he was originally looking, he wouldn't have gone with Dr. Colbert at all. That helped change Retzinger's opinion on it.
End of that Story.
The (Short) Story of Rob's Knee
Upon looking at my last update, I already told you part of the story of Rob's knee. How he re-injured it at the San Diego Conference. How he went into the doctor for it, and the doctor sent him to physical therapy. Rob spent a good month going to Physical Therapy twice a week. After that month, he went back into the doctor who said something like, "Good. Keep doing the right stretches to strengthen it." Rob went back to Physical Therapy one last time to get a list of stretches and exercises he can now do at home. And that's good because I'm not sure how many more PT sessions our checkbook could have handled. But it's worth it for Rob to be able to walk/run/exist without pain. Now Rob can actually flex his left quad. I didn't realize he hadn't been able to flex his upper leg for years.
The Story of Ocean City, New Jersey
I went to Ocean City, New Jersey for about a week. We got to see LB on QVC. We toured the studio, which was pretty dang cool. The live show was an interesting experience, as far as just getting the live QVC show experience. It's fun to watch what's going on behind the scenes. And L is always a doll and fun to watch. We were pleasantly surprised that L's family showed up to be there for her 10th anniversary show on QVC. It was fun to see them.
It was also nice to relax for a week without the kids. I read 2 books, wrote a lengthy letter to my brother, sat down and did nothing, walked along the beach. Fun. It was not warm in Ocean City, but that's okay, cause I think it was the perfect weather: 50 degrees F. Perfect sweatshirt weather. I bought a grubby sweatshirt there that says OC on it. I was sad to not have been in Ocean City, Delaware (which doesn't exist), cause then maybe my sweatshirt would have said OCD and that would have made me very happy.
Elijah was cute while I was gone. Right before I left he said, "Can I go, Mom?" I told him no. "But I'm a big boy!" :) He'd talk to me on the phone while I was gone and say, "Mom? Can you come home now?" I told him I couldn't. Then a few minutes later he'd say, "Can you come home NOW?" :) On Saturday Rob and the kids went to a church activity. As they were driving back down our street Elijah said, "Maybe her is there now!" Rob said, "Who, mommy?" "Yeah!" Oh, cute. Elijah also asked Rob if he was "small enough to go with him to California." Rob figured out that Elijah was asking if he was small enough to fit inside Rob's suitcase, like Rob had joked before leaving for CA. :) It broke my heart to talk to him and hear his sad little voice that I wasn't coming home right away.
So I was interested to see what would happen when I actually arrived at home. I got back into Cincinnati late Sunday night, like at 11:15 pm. So the kids were already asleep. The next morning Miciah and Teancom got up first and Teancom came and cuddled with me immediately. Miciah was happy to see me and gave me hugs. And then Elijah got up. I expected him to run to me or something. Instead he opened his bedroom door and peeked out. His door is directly across from our door, which was open. I tried to play coy for a minute to see what he'd do. But he didn't do anything. So I opened my eyes and said, "Hi, Elijah." He just stared at me, a blank look on his face. Finally one corner of his mouth turned up just barely for a split second. Then he walked off. It cracked me up.
It took me almost a whole week to get used to being around my kids again (they're so LOUD compared to adults). And a whole week to make dinner for the first time since I got back. We ate out the whole time I was gone, so when I got home and Rob asked what I wanted for dinner the first night I said Ramen. :) ... Rob is a great guy. I told him I was most concerned about that Monday I got home. He offered to stay home so I wouldn't go crazy that first day back with my kids. I was so tired that I took a good 4 hours or more worth of naps that day. And I was STILL exausted and snappy at my kids by the end of the day. Good thing Rob was there to keep me sane.
The (Very Short) Story of G and M
G, Rob's little brother, married ML on May 16th. We got to go up for a few days and be with family. It was absolute CHAOS (family is chaos) with everyone there, but it was wonderful. And the wedding was beautiful. Rob and M sang some lovely songs and I got some of them on video. I also got a lot of great pictures of Rob dancing at the reception. Rob's an animal on the dance floor. The saddest part of taking the pictures and videos was that I had taken a stinkin' cute video of Miciah and Rob dancing all snazzed up (Miciah was a flower girl and looked like a princess, and Rob was wearing a tux), and then the next day I accidentally deleted it. That is absolute sadness.
We did get G & M two of the world's best wedding gifts EVER. I am exceptionally proud of them both.
The (Exceedingly Short) Story of My Camera
My brother bought me a new camera cause he's crazy. It's just like my old one that I loved, but it's updated. So it takes really really good pictures. Love, love, love it.
The Story of Our Digital Upgrades
Because of the camera, we needed a new SD card. A 256MB SD card isn't super useful for a camera that takes 8.2 Megapixel pictures (about 3.5 MBs each shot). So we got a new one of those (plus a friend gave us a coupon for another free one, so we now have a 1G and 2G SD card). Plus we got an external harddrive to hold all the glorious pictures. Then we had to get a USB port hub. We used to have 4 USB ports, but Elijah broke the 2 in front, so that left us with 2. And EVERYTHING goes off USB ports these days. So we got a 7-port USB hub, and it's almost all the way filled already. We were telling a friend that we opted for an external harddrive instead of a DVD burner, but we wished we had one of those still and they said they had an extra one laying around. Did we want it? Of course! It's nice that now you can upgrade your computer dramatically without replacing it.
Plus, we got digital TV finally. Sent away for the coupons for a converter box. Spent $10 on a converter box and now we can watch non-staticy TV. And we get like 10 new channels. It feels like we have cable, without the pricetag. Nice!
So, add that together with our hi-speed internet that we turned into wireless with a wireless router (free from the company--didn't know that when we first signed up), and we feel firmly in (but well behind) the digital age. Let's make a list, shall we:
-hi-speed internet
-wireless
-500G external harddrive
-1G and 2G SD cards
-8.2 Megapixel camera
-DVD burner
-digital TV
It's nice to finally invest in the digital age when the price is affordable. Those SD cards, I got the 2G, top of the line, Panasonic SD card for $15. Last year when I looked at them they were $60 - $80 (you can now spend about $60 on a 32G SD card). And most everything else we purchased was the same way. Yea for affordable technology!
The Story of N64
We stole the Thacker Family Nintendo 64 (G claims it's his, but we know it's not
Elijah Stories
Elijah is always doing funny stuff. Some of my favorite Elijah Stories:
While I was in OC, NJ, Rob bought the kids doughnuts (now every time we pass Dunkin' Donuts Elijah asks if we can get doughnuts--thanks, Rob!). Elijah was eating a jelly-filled one and said, "Dad! This one tastes like peanut butter and jelly sandwich!"
We were at the Nursery choosing the bushes for the side of our house (we can't keep grass there, so we thought we'd try bushes instead). The guy who worked there was helping us decide (we decided on lilac bushes--5 of them), and while that was happening, our kids were bored out of their minds. Elijah was throwing gravel into this little hole. The hole was maybe a foot and a half deep or so. While he was messing with it, he fell in. He wasn't hurt, just scared, and we were standing a ways off from him. A stranger came up, trying to be helpful, and asked if he was alright. Elijah scowled at her and shouted angrily at the top of his lungs, "YOU ARE NOT MY MOM!" ... We were pretty embarressed.
At the Memorial Day picnic yesterday Elijah and Miciah were going over to the playground. Elijah started running and Miciah told him to slow down and grabbed his hand. Elijah pulled his hand away, scowled at her, and said, "I'm not crossing the street, stupid!" ...
While that is pretty funny, his use of the word "stupid" got him in trouble later that day. Not with me, with a group of boys. He came and reported that a boy was hitting him. I told him to ask him not to hit. It was some boys that I wasn't familiar with, and they're apparently rougher than the boys I'm used to. ... Elijah walked off and I didn't think much of it until another mom came and reported that a group of boys were having issues. She said, "The boy in the blue was saying, 'My mom said not to hit, stupid. So don't hit me.' " Guess who the boy in blue was. Yep, Elijah. Then, as I walked toward the group, a 7-year-old boy was pushing Elijah and the 4-year-old looked like he was about to hit him with a stick. Seriously. As I got to Elijah, the 7-year-old had pushed him to the ground. I pulled out a little Mother Bear on him. Looked him right in the eyes and said in that don't mess voice, "Do NOT push or hit my son again."
I was glad I was there, in a way, to help Elijah out. I think he would have been pounded a little more had I not been there. However, I won't always be there for him. ... We had a long talk about how if you're trying to get someone to not hit you, you probably shouldn't call them stupid. A little counterproductive.
We took Elijah to the doctor for a well check last week. He got a shot. I was SUPER impressed with him. He said he was going to be brave. He asked if he could have 2 stickers, and the nurse said if he was really good. She gave him the shot and he got this look on his face like, "That HURT." He said, "Ow," and looked at his arm, and that was it. No crying, no nothing. The nurse told him he could DEFINITELY have 2 stickers. It's nice to know that kids overreacting to shots isn't my fault. :) After Miciah, Elijah's reaction was comforting to me.
Teancom Stories
Teancom is just dang cute.
He's finally decided to claim a blanket as his "blankie". We tried to make it the crocheted blanket that my Mom made for him, since that's the one my other 2 have chosen for their blankies. But he wasn't having it. I can't tell which of a certain 2 is the chosen blankie, though. For a while he said it was a duckie one with tied ends. I was happy with that, since it's the one I made for him (I didn't make one for my other 2 kids). And the second one he's been claiming lately is the quilt that Grandma D made for Elijah. Both good choices.
Teancom is talking a lot and it's fun to listen to him. He is deciding to walk lots of places instead of me holding him, and since he's almost 2, that's fine with me. He's very obedient and will stay close and not run off. And people love to see a cute little 2-year-old toddling around. I must admit, it's pretty cute to watch this little person walking around.
Teancom still loves it outside. He will literally spend all day outside if I let him, and hence he's pretty darn tan already.
The other day Teancom fell off the couch onto his head and said, "Woah," then went and did it again. So, as good parents, we didn't ask him to stop for fear of hurting himself, we encouraged him to do it again so we could get it on video. :) So we have this super-cute clip of a video of him hanging off the edge of the couch going, "Aaahhh! Help me!" in this high-pitched voice, then falling on his head, saying, "Woah," and then getting up to do it again. ... Rob and I have been walking around giggling to ourselves, going, "Aaahh! Help me!" Too cute.
Here's the link to the youtube video:
Teancom is almost constantly singing "Twinkle, Twinkkle, Little Star." He's also started singing when I carry him. He'll sing in beat with the gait of my walk, and that cracks me up.
He is also now saying, "Where's Teancom? There he is!" He'll cover his eyes and do peek-a-boo. Super cute. It's fun to hear him say his name, "Tay-tome". That's "tome" like "come", not tome the long book.
Miciah Stories
Miciah doesn't usually do cute stuff like that any more. But she's always making cute things for people. Cards and stuff. She is spelling creatively and making up jokes and stuff. The jokes are never funny, but she thinks they're hysterical. I've been creating a pile of things she's made to send out to you guys.
She made this one at church for Elijah:
"Wus the bilding toll yes.
I thek it wus smolle
but it wus big
i wunt it"
She translated it as:
"Was the building tall? Yes.
I think it was small.
But it was big.
I want it to be the way it is."
Then she said, "I didn't write some of the words down."
Another church creation:
"From Ceryoes
To Ceryoes"
That's:
"From Cheerios
To Cheerios"
A cute letter she wrote me the day before I got back from my trip:
"To Mommy
I love you. I
mist you a lot
Mom. Sume times
i Tenk tat you
r her wen you r
not.
love
Miciah
From Miciah"
That's: "To Mommy. I love you. I missed you a lot, Mom. Some times I think that you are here when you are not."
A joke she wrote out for me:
"To Mom
I mad up
a jok and
this is
how it go's
wut did
the hen
biy
[a box for me to fill out:]
a__________"
I said, "An egg."
Then she wrote again:
"no he bot
a egg sandwich.
Git it?"
That's:
"I made up a joke and this is how it goes: What did the hen buy?"
"No, he bought an egg sandwich. Get it?"
We told her we didn't get it. But she thought it was dang funny.
:) She makes us happy and makes our house a sunshine-y place.
Miciah is done with school at the end of this week and then it's summer! We have no big plans of travel. The only big summer thing is Rob switching jobs.
The Story of Rob's Life
Rob is stressed out of his eyeballs right now. He wasn't really stressed and then the Monday after we got home from G's wedding, BAM! he was stressed. He has to have his dissertation turned in at the end of next week (but he's hopeful to get it done by Friday of this week), and he has his defense on June 16th.
Then Rob goes to Scout Camp for a week, the week of June 23rd. Super excited about that. :)
He officially starts at Children's on July 7th. I'm half-hoping that we'll get to see him some of that time after his defense and before starting at Children's, but he really doesn't sound like that's going to happen. He'll be revising and finishing his dissertation after those last-minute changes they suggest. I think a break with his family might be in order (hint, hint), but what do I know? I'm just the subserviant wife and mother.
The Story of Tamra Playing Soccer
I haven't played soccer for years. When I had stopped playing, in HS, I had a distaste for it. Too many power-hungry coaches and ultra-competitiveness. Lost my love for it. And now that I'm playing again, it's GREAT. Everyone I'm playing with is well past their prime, and so we can't be too competitive. Everyone on the field is there because they love the game. And it's a perfect fit for me.
Plus, it's a nice ego boost every week. People think I'm a superstar and I like to play that up. I played yesterday at the Memorial Day picnic and wowed everyone. (I like to be just a little cocky, just for fun.) It's nice to be in-shape enough to do what I want to with the ball. I still have my shot and my precision on passes, pretty much. It's nice to play and it's also nice to be admired. Makes me feel like I'm at least good at SOMEthing (since I'm clearly not a good mother/wife/housekeeper by today's standards and that's all I do all day). :)
The Story of Life
Life is good. Life will be nicer when Rob starts at Children's and we're paid a little more. He'll be getting paid about $3,000 more a year than they originally told him, and that's nice. The HR guy said it's because Jordan thought Rob was worth the extra money. That's gratifying for Rob, I'm sure. It's nice to be recognized as being worth something. Even if it's only pennies. We'll take pennies.
Hope you're all doing well! I'll attach some pictures and hopefully get some more out tonight or tomorrow. I have a bunch of pictures to send out from the wedding and other times.
We love you all!
Tamra
Attached pictures:
My wicked-cool bruise. Sweetness! It's been 4 1/2 weeks since I got that bruise, and it's still there as a hard knot under my skin. I'm hopeful it'll be gone in another 2 weeks. ... Got another one on Friday. You could see the lines of the soccer ball on my skin. I LOVE bruises. My skin just gets a whole bunch of awesome colors. :)The kids. Miciah's holding a vase of lily-of-the-valleys. It's the picture I sent my mom for Mother's Day. Oh, that reminds me! I'll tell that story in the next e-mail.
A close-up of Teancom. It was a good picture of him from the shoot, but not of the other two. So I cropped them out.
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