New Beautiful Things

So, Harrison did two really amazing things this week that just broke my heart with their wonderfulness.  First thing, the other night he woke up and I heard him upstairs thudding around.  So I got up to our bedroom because he had wandered into our room.  When I noticed he didn't have baby sheep sheep, his favorite sleeping friend of the week, I whispered, "I know what you're missing!  Baby sheep sheep!  Do you want me to go and get him?" And he looked at me, with barely open eyes and a huge smile and said, "No Mama.  Just you.  And me."  Then he proceeded to smile widely as he fell back asleep.  Most amazing sleeping moment of my life.

The second wonderful bit happened during Tae kwon do class, something we just started last week.  He was doing this thing when the run and jump over the pole, like reverse limbo.  We normally don't get to be in the room with them, but we were in the back room so we got to sit in with them as they tried to jump.  Harrison went leaping over the bar and made it on the first try.  As he went running by, he came running right over to me, beaming, and said, "I'm so happy right now Mommy!  I give you a kiss!" and he proceeded to give me a huge smacker right on the lips.  Someday I will be longing for the days of public displays of affection, I'm sure.  I am so lucky to have such an unbelievably amazing little man.  What a dream.

The weirdest thing you've ever done

So, you're turning into a boy.  Which basically means you're like a crazy, irrational, drunk, silly grown man most of the time.

Today, after naptime, you came strolling downstairs like you always do, with rosy cheeks and sleepy eyes.  I told you to go sit on the little potty before we had "cuddle time" since we have a potty in the family room.   You fussed a bit but went right over and plopped down.  As we were both watching "The Real Housewives: Top 25 Moments," Daddy came downstairs and sat in the chair closest to you.  We were chatting and all of a sudden, you punched Daddy in the leg and propelled yourself off of the potty and onto the floor.  Upon reaching the floor (pants around your ankles), your potty bounced and spilled pee EVERYWHERE.  You proceeded to lay there like a dead man.  As Brian exasperatedly looked at me and hollered something, I had to cover my mouth and my eyes because I started laughing so hard tears were rolling down my face.  It was, by far, the weirdest chain of events you've caused so far.  Totally hysterical and totally weird, just like my adorable baby boy.  I love you, my wonderful friend.  Thank you for always doing silly things to keep us on our toes.  As you grow older, you just keep getting better and better, don't you?

And the swearing begins....

Today, as we were backing out of the driveway, from his carseat Harrison said, "Shit!"  Brian and I, trying not to laugh, said, "No, honey, we don't say that.  Say drats instead."  And he, smiling, said, "No, Mommy, I no say "drats!" I say "shit!"  Pure awesomeness!

Memories of the Peeps

So it's been months since I've written a new post....thankfully, plenty of friends are also blogging these days, so it's really good motivation to catch up. Let's see....where to begin?

The summer of 2009 flew by for the Elliott household. Early in the season, my wonderful Peeps began having falling spells out at the Palace. His Parkinson's disease was taking over, rendering him unable to walk and talk well. After several hospital stays, a terrible accident left him unable to talk, and he was soon diagnosed with pneumonia. Because of his DNR, we treated him with antibiotics and great love but offered no extraordinary treatment. It was a very rough road for him and for us.

We were so blessed to have him placed in Bright Kavanaugh Hospice where he was able to live in the lap of luxury for almost 3 weeks. It was the most beautiful, strange, wonderful experience I've ever witnessed. He was a fighter until the very end; I don't think he wanted to leave any of us. He never quite recognized me in the hospital or hospice and if he did, he would get irritated with me. I never took it personally since I felt it was his way of preparing me for the end. I was able to read him a letter thanking him for everything and letting him know that I would be OK if he needed to go. Even though it broke my heart to read it to him, it was probably one of the best things I've ever done. Even though he was not "awake" when I read it to him, I told him in the letter that I so wanted to hear him say, "Hi sweet sweet!" like he always did. The next time I visited, our entire family was sitting with him outside. He looked at me and with a huge smile and a twinkle in his eyes, he proclaimed, "Hi sweet sweet!" just as I longed to hear, which brought me to tears. It was the last time I would get to see him, the Peeps I've always known.

The thing about my Peeps is that our relationship was much more than just one between a grandfather and his first granddaughter. He was my grandfather, but also, he was my father figure growing up. Better really...he was my biggest fan, my first love, and my favorite person in the world. I got all of the love and basically none of the discipline and criticism. I lived with them when I was little and when we moved away, he came for visits often and I spend summers with them. At the end of every summer, we would spend "our day" together. It was the day when I got to pick everything we did. Normally we'd hit up the Art Center and The Science Center. We'd eventually go to the Historical Society (cause he loved it) and then Showbiz Pizza for lunch. Many times we'd go to the Botanical Center too. It was the best. We'd just explore and talk and enjoy all of these wonderful places together. What a great guy! I was lucky enough to be able to work for him after we moved back to Des Moines and I got to see him as a regular person, not just my Peeps. When he told me stories of his youth, it was as though I could see that young man riding in the car next to me. And when he'd get to laughing about his childhood exploits, his eyes would twinkle and we'd just giggle. I was so lucky to be able to see him in that light as opposed to just the loving man that had helped raise me. I know I wouldn't have had that opportunity if we hadn't been so blessed with Brian finding his job back here. When I got married, Peeps walked me down the aisle. He was also the first person Brian went to to ask for permission to propose to me. He adored Brian...they talked football all the time. He always loved him and their mutual adoration of anything Hawkeyes was always paramount.

After saying goodbye to all of his children and grandchildren on what I like to call his "Last Hurrah" on Saturday, June 13th, he stopped eating and drinking and passed away early on the morning of June 20th, 2009. I miss him terribly, as does Brian and even little Harrison. When I get sad sometimes, Harrison always calls out "Peeps?! Where are you?!" and "Peeps? Cake?" which always makes me smile. I have great peace knowing that he's whole again, out of the pain that he must have felt being trapped in a body that no longer worked. We miss him here, but the goldfinches followed me all summer long and the Hawkeyes are 6-0....these are things than cannot be possible without a little help from above, and that's Peeps, I know it.

Easter hangover

Ugh! Easter has come and gone. Harrison thoroughly enjoyed his first eggie hunts, eggie painting, and eggie treats but I am happy to be done with the insane amounts of sugar and unnecessary family drama. Brian was really happy to get out and hit the links this weekend. We went to the Club for their Easter egg hunt on Saturday and brought Bobbi and Acky Alex.

We made our way to the mall and rode the Easter train but would not go near the Bunny. That thing was tapping his foot like he was coming down off something. Later in the day, all the neighbor kids came over (triplets, Garrett) along with my mom, Eddie and the girls and we hung in the backyard doing bubbles. Harrison didn't have a nap that day and previously went to bed at 10:30, so we were hoping to tire him out for a good nights rest before the big hunt on Easter morning. It worked! He was up at the crack of dawn and ready to search for eggs which Krystal and I had hidden the night before (as she watched her fake school baby=HILARIOUS). He kept screatching "EGGIES!" and immediately opened up each egg and ate it's contents for the first 10 or so he found. It was insane! Shots out of each egg shell until I finally made him stop. The sugar crash ended early so he went down for an early nap at 11. In the afternoon, I went through some of my maternity gear to get it ready for ebay auction! We'll see how much I get for those cute little numbers. That being said, we had a great weekend and Harrison will happily have Easter treats everyday for the next month.

Today was back to normal...Monday's are often the longest day of the week for me. Brian goes back to work and I get to readjust to our regular schedule around the house. Today was actually pretty peaceful for a Monday! It was terribly rainy and cold, so we just hunkered down and watced a lot of cartoons and I read magazines. Bad mommy? Perhaps! We also ate a lot of carbs. I think Harrison had a banana, fruit snacks, cinnamon toast, rice krispie treats, chickadees, triscuits, cheese, cereal and to finish, cheesy rice. I swear that this poor child will weigh 200 pounds by age 5. Good thing he's crazy active and won't stop moving except when he sleeps. :)

Now I'm in for a nice evening of watching The Hills. Babe is sleeping, hubby is sleeping. It's peaceful here in the Elliott household and I'm going to enjoy the quiet.

First Blog Post!

It's my first post ever on a blog! Hooray for me! I've been thinking this might be a great way to keep track of my activities (so the days stop running together) and track funny things that happen in our little family. Because I want to figure out how this thing works, today's post will be a shorty. I'm too excited to get this thing all set up.

Today my little man decided it would be a great idea to flush toilets. All day. He also has learned that if he sits on the potty he gets a sticker, even if he does nothing on that potty. It's OK. As long as he's getting used to an alternative to defacating into a diaper. He also spent most of the afternoon shirtless but with a pair of my (clean) underwear around his shoulders like a bolero jacket. It is laundry day so what can you do? Toddlerhood has been taking an interesting turn. Its actually (knock on wood) been getting easier. I have certainly jinxed myself for just writing that but whatever. He's been amazing lately and funny as shit.

On a seperate note, we are dealing with a ridiculous ant infestation that must stop. Teeny tiny ants have taken over my kitchen. On the upside, Rick's cat allergies have finally gone away as long as we keep giving him his pills. What an exciting life I lead, right? Oh well, it's mine and I love it. Later dudes!