Freedom!

Eli got his casts off on Thursday and was fitted for his braces. They came in the mail yesterday :( Now I have to get him used to them a little bit at a time.

At the same time, Dave left for Germany and won't be back until Friday. It's going to be an interesting week! My mom is coming Tues-Thurs, so I'll get some help, which will be nice. And the weeks tend to be pretty packed full of activities so I'm sure the week will fly by.

This video shows what Eli has been doing since Thursday. Running. And running, and running some more. He's so funny!

Eli LOVES to help. Here he is helping me peel potatoes. Well, he handed me the potatoes and I peeled them. But he loved being a part of it.

Here's the picture from a while ago. Notice the letters on the magnet. Eli did that. He's earned more letters, so the magnet is quite crowded now.

Here's a twofer. You get to see his casts#3 Purple. He had jenga blocks under his toes to get more of a stretch. And you'll notice his face is covered with Cars stickers from Grandma Karl. He put them on me, on him, on the couch, on his chair, on the floor, and would drive cars on them. Oh, to get inside his head just once!

I love this picture. It shows a little boy who loves his Papa. I couldn't get him to eat, so Dave let him sit on his lap and fed him soup and toast.

Grandma and Granpa Stobie got Eli this HUGE Elmo, which now sits on his chair next to his bed. I think this would freak me out a bit, but he doesn't seem to mind. Crazy kid!

Celebrate Good Times...and survive the bad!

Today is an exciting day. It marks the LAST cast Eli will wear, at least for his toe walking. I'm sooooo excited to get these things off him! There are so many things he can't do because of them, and since it's been raining a lot this year, it's hard just to get to the grocery store. I've also started to notice the looks...you know, the "how did he break his legs" look. I was actually stopped by a Meijer employee, putting a cart and herself between us and the door, and asked what happened. Quite honestly, I don't get offended by this type of thing. I see it as a good sign that people are really looking out for our children. Child abuse has been prevalent in our news for quite a while now, so people are a little more on edge.

Our next step is getting his braces fitted. These are removable, so he can have a bath each night. And I don't have to fight with his pants...the casts are so big that we only have a few pairs of pants that will fit over them. It's really tempting just to put him in shorts. Oh, and Aunt Wendy, Eli LOVES his belts and insists on wearing them every day!

The past month has been exhausting for us. Let's just say Eli REALLY loves his Momma. The terrible threes have hit us hard. My poor mom has gotten call after call with me almost in tears. He spent an hour in his room screaming because I wouldn't let him watch Cars until Papa came home. Sigh. I'm sure my neighbors are wondering what in the world is going on with him. And he threw his second tantrum while at lunch with some girlfriends. They couldn't believe my sweet angelic child would ever do something like that. But there he was, whining and slamming his hand in his potato chips. Because it has been happening so much, I just kept my calm, told him he could either shape up, or we would go home and he would go straight down for a nap. I finished my lunch and we went home and he slept for 3.5 hours.

I have to give him some leeway, though because he's been constipated for almost 3 weeks now. I read somewhere that once you have children your conversations tend to revolve around your children's poop cycles...Sigh. We've been giving him an enema to get the poop out every 3-4 days. At first I think he was holding it, but now that he has the incentive of M&M's, he's been trying and just can't get anything out. God has blessed me with a friend who's son has gone through something similar and she's helping me sort out what's going on. We have an appointment with a GI on Wednesday and I can't wait. (By the way, this is very common in adopted children. They don't give kids anything to help them when they get constipated so they tend to hold it in, associating pain with pooping.)

I'm doing a Bible study with a friend about motherhood. And I have to say it's been so encouraging. One of my favorite quotes so far has been "Let the Holy Spirit do His job." My job is to teach him the ways of the Lord, love him and provide food and shelter for him. My job is NOT to create the next rocket scientist or pastor, I am not to indulge his every whim, nor am I to expect myself to be perfect (not easy for me to accept).

One of the things I'm most thankful for is my supportive husband. Now, Dave, don't get a big head :) I have some of the greatest friends in the world. They are encouraging and supportive and have really helped my through some tough times just by being there. But my husband gives me the opportunity to get out and relax with my amazing friends. Many times he's come home and I've taken off. And I come back energized and ready for the next challenge. And Dave is so amazing with Eli. Sometimes Dave's patience surprises me. He's so calm and matter of fact with Eli, which is exactly what he should be. And I heard him say to Eli the other day "Eli, you need to respect Momma. Momma said No." Wow! How many dads know to say that to their children?!

We're having a great day today. His casts were changed today and they're hurting him. So we're watching Cars for perhaps the millionth time. Maybe I can convince him to let me take him for a walk even though he thinks it's too cold out right now. It's going to be a LONNNNGGG winter!