Will Sings the Holidays

I wish you a Happy Anniversary.

I wish you a Merry Christmas.

I wish you a Happy New Year's.

And I wish you a Happy Halloween.

I wish you a Happy New Year's Eve.

I wish you a Happy Thanksgiving...

And a happy lemonade.

An Original Holiday Song by Will

Invisible Dalmatians (Weekly Willisms)

Some recent Willisms...

Will: Mommy, how old are you?

Me: How old do I look?

Will: 49.

awesome.  I'm merely 31.

Mommy, you don't need that makeup - you're already so pretty.

(My thoughts?  Apparently I need that and more if I'm looking nearly 20 years older.)

When I die can I take my bones with me to Heaven?

Mommy & Daddy, when I grow up, I don't need to go to college.  I already know what I'm going to be-

Batman, a doctor, a cowboy, and a detective.

See, when the bad guys come & hurt people, I'll be  a doctor and work to make the hurt people better.  Then, I'll jump in my Batmobile and drive to the Batcave and put on my costume and be Batman and fight the bad guys.

Brussel sprouts for dinner?  Yahoo!

Me to Will on a particularly whiny Friday morning:  Will, please go to your room until you can choose happy.
Will:  Well.  I'm not going to choose happy until Sunday.

Mommy, do you know why it's raining today?  Because I've prayed and prayed to God for rain so He made rain!

And perhaps one of our all time favorites:

Will's version of the Pledge of Allegiance.  He busted out with this the other day in the car upon a flag sighting.

That's right.  "Invisible Dalmatians for ALL!"

Only in America.
(If he ever runs for office someday, I'm releasing this video to the press and holding him accountable to his campaign promises. :))

Willisms

"Look at that big crack in the ground!"
(That's a creek - not a crack.  Well, I guess it used to be a creek - back when Texas got rain.  So, I suppose now it is just a crack.)

"Mommy, I get frustrated when kids don't understand me.  They keep saying I have two fingers and I keep telling them I have three fingers but they just keep saying two.  I want them to understand me."

"Mommy, I want to grow up to be a man like Daddy - not like _____ with old skin."

"Mommy, I don't want those other kids to dress up like Batman for Halloween.  And what about G who wants to be Batman too when he grows up?  We can't both be Batman."
Well, maybe they are just going to be pretend Batmans and you can be the real one.  Or you can defend different cities.
"Oh.  Ok."

"Mommy.  When we get home, I'm going to go play 'Heaven.'"
Ummm... how do you play that?
"Well I play with Jesus and Mary and what was her husband's name?  Oh yeah, Joseph.  And a goat."

"Mommy, are these Batman's breasts?!?"  No!  Those are his muscles!  (Yes, he has a nursing mother.)

Will, why is your bed wet this morning.
"I decided I wanted to surprise you!"
Well.  You definitely did.

"Daddy, if you don't talk nicely to my Mommy, you're going to have to marry Lovie!" (daddy's mother in law)

Hard Questions & Willisms

He hit me hard the other morning.
I was so glad to have my sunglasses on as we drove from Ellie's early morning therapy to drop Will of at pre-K.
They hid the tears rapidly forming.
What four year old says such comments beyond his years about his body - comments that give me such insight into his heart?  How was I supposed to respond?  How do I respond age appropriately to a four year old that is dealing with issues so far beyond his years - issues that challenge me at thirty-something?

He went on.. further shocking me with his insight and feelings.

I think he really wants to fit in.  Isn't that natural?  And he knows he is different.  And he is struggling to fit in in a society where he does stand out somewhat.

To which, I was so thankful for our friend we've met - from another country and another generation but with the same syndrome as Will and who invests in his life (& ours) once a month by spending time skyping with us.  Will's favorite part of the skype calls?  "High-fiving" with someone else in this world with similar hands.

So I reminded him of his buddy far away.  To which he said, "yes, me & Mr. Friend.  That's it."

After school that very day, he was telling me about the rock wall on the playground and how his teacher had to help him.  I suggested he take off his zancos - some activities are easier without them.  It's not uncommon for us to run around without prosthetics.  We ran to a park today & a grocery store & left them at home.  So it really shocked me when he said, "Mommy, I don't want to take them off in public.  I don't want the other kids to see my feet."

I cried the entire way over to a friend's house to walk.  How thankful I am for a friend to pray for me and Will as we walked/attempted to run... and how thankful I am for chocolate.

I hate these kind of conversations.  I mean, I love talking with Will & I'm so thankful that he talks with me.  But.  I struggle with how to respond.  I want to affirm him and not minimize his feelings.  (ie:  people sometimes tell me that they would just say that everyone is different - some have red hair and some have black hair.  Yes, of course that is true.  But when you are talking to someone who has a a syndrome affecting 13 people out of 6.2 billion - it seems a little patronizing to compare it to the millions of people with red hair.  And I never want to minimize his feelings.)
But, I also don't want him to dwell in pity or feel less valuable.
It's such a fine line.
And these conversations led to us discussing his possible upcoming surgery which just makes me nauseated thinking about.
He catches me off guard every time and I really need God's wisdom and discernment to answer him the right way - to remind him that he is wonderfully made and precious and perfect for us, to affirm his feelings and validate his very normal, very human desire to fit in with others, and to celebrate his differences and remind him of all he is able to do.
R cautioned me about babying him the other night as I held him while he cried after running into something & bonking his head.
I told R it had been a difficult week & I feel like I am putting Will into a lot of situations that require maturity - being the only kid with differences in his school, playing on a soccer team as the only child with differences, stepping back and teaching him how to respond to questions from others, encouraging him to handle a kid who has been picking on him rather than intervening and handling it myself (this takes serious restraint)... yes, he is thrust into a lot of situations that require bravery and strength.  These situations are all good for him - as we've said before, he has to live in a world with hands and feet and we believe he has value in this society and so should be participating in it.  Babying him would be to take him away to a private island and never see another person again.  Babying him would be handling tough situations myself instead of giving him ideas and encouraging him to do it.  Babying him would be telling him he doesn't have to go somewhere if he doesn't want to.  Babying him would be not forcing him to lay down for blood draws or taking him to a toy store every time he has a rough appointment.
But I don't do all that.  So sometimes, I just want to be a typical mom and hold my little boy when he hurts himself by running too fast.  Sometimes, I want to fix one of his hurts with my kisses and know that its over - it will never come up again when I least expect it.
When I explained it, R got it.

On a lighter note,
a few other Willisms this week:
When climbing a big rock at a park, I told him he was king of the mountain.  He replied, "I'm Drama King!"  (His daddy sometimes calls him that during moments of high drama around our house!)

Apparently, he is now my biggest advocate for nursing (apart from his baby sister) - when I began to nurse one time today, he yelled, "Yay!  Good Mommy, you're nursing Ellie!"

"Mommy, the first thing I'm going to do when I grow up is put on my Batman clothes.  The second thing is to find Gotham City.  Next, I'll get my batrope and batgun and at nighttime, I'll fight the crime.
But I need a Robin.   Where will I find a Robin?"
I suggested he put an ad in the paper.  He's really struggling with not having a Robin.  Apparently, he asked all of his classmates and no one wants to be the sidekick - they all want to be the star, I guess!

Willisms & Ellieisms (& a "R"ism)

While describing to Daddy a preschool we visited recently, Will said, "We had to visualize it, Daddy.  We have to use our imaginations." (as regards the lack of children in the classrooms due to summer vacation.)
R responded, "Wow, Will.  "Visualize" is a really grown up word."
Will:  "It's okay, Daddy.  I can say it even though I'm not a grown up.  Visualize.  See?"

"Mom!  Let's play superheroes!  All the superheroes can be here - Flash, Batman, Green Lantern, Superman, Spiderman,  Robin, Aquaman, & even God!"

"Mommy, do you think since I am about four that I can start getting out of bed by myself in the morning and after my nap, please?"  I loved his independence here and how he had obviously been considering this request and worded it so politely.  Our rule has always been that we get him out of bed - mostly for safety so that he didn't hurt himself or climb the pantry walls in the morning while we were in bed.  Also, we didn't want him climbing in and out of bed to play when he is supposed to be asleep... but he is almost four.  So I said yes.  And it's actually been really nice.

"Dear God, do you have hands?  Do you have arms?  How many do you have because you can do everything?  Ok, bye bye."

"Dear God, is the big fish that ate Jonah in Heaven?"

While playing smurfs with his Lovie, he had one smurf ask the girl smurf to marry him.  Then he said, "we can get married at the trash place."  How romantic.

He told his Lovie today, "Lovie, my mom doesn't know where McDonald's is. Will you tell her?"  Score!  So glad my kid thinks I don't know the location of McDonald's!

Sunday morning, early - too early to be bright and early, Ellie decided to become an insomniac.  Normally, she sleeps til at least 8.  Sunday, she was awake and bright eyed at 5 am.  Nothing I could do was getting her to go back to sleep.  I even begged R to wake up and try.  Finally, we pulled her into our bed where she fell fast asleep.  (We don't normally co-sleep but for dozing it sure is lovely, I must admit!)  A few hours later, we had both slept through our alarms for church (& somehow still managed to make it.)  Suddenly, Will came into our room and climbed up with us.  What a wonderful way to start a day - cuddling with our sweet babies.  But then I noticed Will was holding out his hands & "showing" them to Ellie.  He does this with curious kids sometimes - I think to just show them what they look like in an effort to move things along so they can play.  But, Ellie was oblivious and I asked him why he was doing that.  He said he was wanted to show her his hands because they are different than his and then he said he can't do things with them and that he doesn't like the way God made him.
I grabbed him close to me and I remembered the email I received this week from an amputee who read this blog and encouraged me to empower Will during these conversations.  I shared with him all the amazing things he can do with his hands.  I reminded him how very able he is.  I shared with him how much we love and adore his hands.  I told him I love the way God made him.  But I also want to allow him to have his feelings - to not feel like he is not allowed to have any "negative" feelings or to think he has to hide these.  It's a hard line to walk sometimes.  And thankfully, R was here so he pulled Will to him and reaffirmed some things I had said and added some of his own thoughts.  Usually, R isn't here when these kinds of conversations occur - I was thankful for his perspective as a man with Will.  This isn't really a Willism I guess - just another conversation and then we quickly rolled out of bed and considered skipping church except that our three year old was chanting the name of the church we've been attending while at breakfast so we all got ready super fast!
But, all day, R and I kept reflecting on our conversation.  Did we say the right things?  Are we allowing him to have all his emotions?  There's no book that tells us how to handle these sort of talks.  We are keeping up our relationship with the man we located who has the same syndrome as Will - we skype once a month and just skyped on Saturday.  Will was very silly with him but did repeatedly ask him to high five him.  I think he loves seeing someone with similar hands as him.  Last month, Will told him he loves him.  Precious.
And then I worry as to whether I focus too much on reaffirming all Will can "do" with his hands.  Ellie, though she has hands, has limited range of motion and low muscle tone, and will likely have some struggles with her hands & what she wants to accomplish.  By focusing on what Will can do will I somehow hurt her someday by inadvertently highlighting all he can do & she may infer that she "can't" (not a word we allow in our home, by the way.)  And maybe I'm overthinking the whole thing.  But this was a Willism this week.

Back to my originally lighthearted post...

I had to hide my laughter on this one:
"Mommy, what was Mimi's (one of his great-grandmothers) mommy's named?
Her name was Mary.
"Mary was Jesus' mommy.
WAIT!  (his eyes growing huge)
Is Mimi Jesus???"

"Mommy!  I see a full moon!  What do you think that moon ate to get so full?"

Ellie said a new word too last week!  At dinner, we've been having our first sign of discipline issues - food dropping.  She dropped all her food off of her tray & then squealed loudly with a big smile, "All done!"

Will told her that if she would say his name, he will get her out of her crib!

And then my love, R said this the other morning, "Do we have to get Ellie a toy for her birthday or would it be okay if I got her a special father/daughter gift... something she can also use on her wedding day."  And he had ideas.  And he had checked things out at a jewelry store.
Excuse me - I must pick my swooning self up off the floor.  I fell in love all over again.
Somebody is a Daddy's girl, I do believe.

(And, if you happened to be reading this time last year while we were pregnant with Ellie, can I just tell you how lovely it is to have conversations like this - conversations where we can talk about her first birthday with happy tears - because she is here and alive and well!  And dreaming about her wedding day someday - because we believe it will happen someday and she is alive!  How thankful we are!

And one final Willism:
While swimming the other evening, he began to sing, "Oh my happy, happy life!"
It is a happy, happy life!

Off to my Grave, Apparently

On the way to church yesterday, we passed a very pretty cemetery.  It is the kind that you can't really tell what it is as the headstones (grave markers?) are all flat on the ground.  As we drove by, Will announced, "Mommy, you should go there.  It's really pretty and has lots of flowers like you like, Mommy.  That is a good place for you to go."
R & I laughed hysterically & Will could not figure out why we cracking up.
Apparently, he's picking out my final resting place already.

Willisms

Some recent Willisms:

"Dear God, bless my heart.  Thank you for me and for Ellie and for Mommy & Daddy.  And, God, why do we have to die?  Amen."
(what a way to start out a family dinner conversation!)

"Daddy!  Let's kiss!"

"Mommy, when I grow up you can be my wife."
Me:  "What about Daddy?  I'm his wife already."
Will:  "Daddy can be our kid."

In the car recently, "Mommy and Daddy?  I don't want to die because I don't know what it feels like."  This led to a discussion about believing in Jesus and going to live in heaven and we each shared something we hope to do/have in heaven... our answers:
R- "fly"  me- "naps & massages"  Will- "toys and fly"
Will misunderstood me & proceeded to announce to everyone, "When we die it will be so fun in heaven.  Daddy and I will fly and Mommy will have naps & sausages."  Ummm, no thank you. 
We told him that we get to go first, please.

Why he is good for my self-esteem:
"Mommy, you're the prettiest girl I've ever seen.  Cookie and Daddy are pretty too."
Me:  "Boys are handsome and girls are pretty."
Will:  "No, Mommy, not all girls are pretty."

(Which is why the clarification between pretty & handsome was so important to him the next day:)

While visiting a friend in assisted living, he was told by an elderly woman, "You're such a pretty boy."  To which he politely responded, "Actually, I'm a very handsome boy."

"Mommy, you are so pretty.  I like that dress.  You're a princess and I will be your knight."  (And for the rest of that evening, he called me, "Wife!")  too cute (& I may wear that dress all the time now just to be complimented!)

I love that he wants to marry me... and dread the day he changes his mind!  He recently said one evening at dinner, "We can get married here - you, me, & Lovie, & the wedding will be at this house!"

"It's okay, Mommy, that I'm growing up.  God wants me to grow up."

At church recently, the children were asked who Jesus was.  Will yelled out, "God!"

"My friend, Mimi, is my best friend."  (Mimi is his great grandmother.)

"I don't like salad dressing.  Only God and Jesus and girls like salad dressing."

A local radio station is doing a mission trip to Guatemala (where I spent time in college & fell in love with Latin America) & Will used some of his lemonade stand money to buy matching underwear for him and kids in Guatemala that don't have any.  (When I told him some kids don't have enough money for underwear, he couldn't believe some people might not wear underwear & yelled, "GROSS!")  We delivered it to the radio station yesterday and here is what his letter said (he dictated to me,) " "Dear kids in Guatemala,   This is called Spiderman and Batman underwear.  I love you, kids, even though I don't know your names.  God is good!  Jesus loves you.  I hope you like your new underwear.  Love, Will."

Willisms - the Christmas edition

Some of the funny Willisms from Christmas 2010:

• in response to Uncle Greg saying, "Ho Ho Ho," Will replied, "a pirate's life for me!"
• "I miss one.  You know, before I was two or three.  I missed one!"  (He doesn't remember turning one & is convinced we skipped it!)
• me upon waking him up Thursday morning, "Will, guess what's in 2 days???"   Will with eyes wide open and a big smile spreading from ear to ear, "Saturday?!?!"  me:  "Yes, Saturday, and also CHRISTMAS!"
• and my personal favorite...  My mom has saved many of our Christmas books from growing up & even some of hers from her own childhood.  Will has loved reading these stories this week.  One of his favorites is, "Babies in Toilets."  (More commonly titled "Babes in Toyland.")  Cracks me up everytime!

Willisms & Ellieisms too

A few recent Willisms...

mostly from today because my brain is too tired to remember previous days

after preschool today, "Mommy, can I take my zancos and pants  off now?  Because this is not public, Mom."  

(As in - the other day, my child removed his pants in Chick Fil A & ran... he's never done that before.  He was wearing Nemo underwear in case you weren't one of the million people there.  A part of me was thrilled that he could take off his pants all by himself - we've worked on that in therapy.  I hid this excitement from him.  I was shocked.  I was mortified.  R wanted to know how it happened.  It was fast. There had not previously been a family rule about not removing clothes in public.  I didn't know it was a potential issue.  We have a rule now.)

"Mommy, God helped me not tee-tee in bed last night!"

(He prayed last night that God would help with this and was so excited this morning.  I feel like God is smiling.)

At dinner tonight, I was shocked as Will cleaned his plate without urging from me.  He eats a variety of foods but doesn't eat much of anything (except fruit) so often our battle is just about getting him to eat at all.  Not so tonight.

I asked him what the difference was.  He informed me that if I would cook "fancy" then he would eat it all without arguing.  Great.  So, if I just serve roasted asparagus, salmon with toasted pine nuts (yum! - pine nuts were a Christmas splurge for myself today), baked sweet potatoes, and pomegranate juice, then I can have a carefree dinner.  Seriously, is he 3?

And tonight at bedtime, my favorite, 

"Good night, Ellie, I love you.  I'm going to bed."

And he kissed his princess:

I suppose I should start Ellieisms soon too.  Her personality is really starting to show through!

She plays peek a boo - hiding her face & then popping her head up with a big smile.

She thinks it's hilarious to spit out her pacifier and smile.

When she is one on one, she talks and squeals like no other.  In big crowds, she's a little more quiet than her big brother ever was.  Her voice is super high pitched.  Oh, those squeals!  Will had a deep, masculine baby voice.  Not Ellie.  She is all girl.

She still loves Buzz Lightyear.  At mom's group, she was fussing while I was doing her taping the other day so a friend held a Toy Story dvd case up in her face and she was mesmerized.  I think it's a crush.

Sweet babes - I love spending my days with them.

The List & Other Willisms

I need to smile so here's some recent "Willisms:"

1.  Meet Will's "List" (see above picture)
Me- Will, what are you going to get painted on your face today at the arboretum?"
Will- "I don't know. Let me check my list."
me- what is on your list?
Will-" toys like bullseye. Check."
cracks us up carrying his list everywhere and marking "checks" next to things.  No idea where he gets a list making obsession at such an early age. :)

2.  "Mommy and Daddy, when I grow up I'm going to be a [Coast Guard] rescue swimmer.  But who will get me out of bed in the morning and make my breakfast?"  Nice to know we've brainwashed him on the no getting out of bed rule so much so that he assumes when he is in his twenties I will still be there to give him permission to get up!  (Does this mean that I can move next door to him?  Not that I would ever do that.  Except I might totally be planning to.)

3.  "Mommy, at school today a girl chased me and tried to kiss me and said, 'Will is cute!'"

4.  After throwing himself down on the floor, arms splayed and eyes closed, "I'm not alive!"
(This summer, after playing with some kids, Will came home using the words "dead" and "kill" for the first time while playing.  I immediately made those words forbidden in  play.  Maybe I'm going overboard - I know he's a boy... but at the time, I was pregnant with a very high risk baby who we were told may have a terminal diagnosis.  While Will knew his baby sister was sick and that she might not come to our house with us but might live with Jesus, who didn't fully understand what this all meant.  Nor did we fully explain it to him because there were so many unknowns with Ellie... we just wanted to open his mind up to sort of prepare him just in case.  Basically, because of what was going on in our lives, I didn't want him to associate the words "dead" or "kill" with play.  I needed him to be able to grasp the severity of those terms.  So, they are no no words in our home.
Which is why I cracked up yesterday when he yelled, "I'm not alive!" instead of "I'm dead."  Clever little stinker, isn't he?

5.  "Mommy, I'm playing so get out of my room!"  He got in BIG trouble for this disrespectful comment.  So, later, he tried to modify it with, "I'm playing in my room and somebody needs to leave please."  Nice try, buddy but that doesn't work either.

6.  "There's poop on my poop deck."  (referring to bird poop on his pirate ship.)

Blue Treasures & Mercies

Apparently, God is a pirate.

This morning, I explained to Will that we were wearing blue for Ellie - it's wear blue day for one of her conditions.

He wanted to know what his shirt said on the back. It's a very soft, cool, blue shirt sent to him recently by some friends and has a verse from Deuteronomy on the back in which God explains that His people are chosen and dearly loved - "a treasured possession."

I wish I would have had the camera turned on as Will's eyes got big & he suddenly became so excited.

"Mommy, I am in God's treasure chest!!!"

And then he enacted what it must be like when God opens his treasure chest & says, "It's a Will!" And then, apparently, God's pirates capture him & take him sailing on their ship. And God says lots of "arrrgs!"

I can't help but believe that God & His pirates (angels???) are just cracking up in Heaven at Will's imagination and his interpretation of what it means to be God's "treasured possession." No wonder Jesus wanted the little kids to come to Him - they bring so much laughter and joy to Him.

I also know that I will never read that verse the same again - but I will imagine myself in God's treasure chest & how excited He must be to open it!

I have a feeling Will will never forget that verse either! Just precious.

I tried to capture the retelling of it on film at naptime a little while ago. Enjoy!

(And scroll way down the blog to hit pause on the music playlist.)

Earlier, on an errand, Will asked me "Mommy, what does 'God's mercies' mean?"

I responded that it means that God does things for us just because He loves us - not because He has to or because we deserve it.

To which Will immediately responded, "So, God cleans up our mess, Mommy?"

Yep, that's exactly right, Will.

He cleans up our messes.

Sometimes, the understanding of God of my two year old astounds me.

Willisms

Oh, I love my Sweet Will!

Here's a few of the precious things he's said this week:

• Mommy, that's a pretty dress! (This is the first time he has ever said this to me - unprompted. Oh, my heart fluttered as my little crush complimented my maternity church dress!)
• I love you, Mommy! (He says this a lot lately & I just LOVE it!)
• Mommy, don't cry. It's okay, Mommy. Do you need a bandaid, Mommy? (said after he found me in the rocking chair in Ellie's room sobbing my heart out after reading some more information about one of her issues.)
• Shiver Me Pretenders!
• While pretending to drive thru Chick fil A in his little car recently, "Ma'am, I'd like chicken nuggets, fruit, and lemonade please and a salad with black olives for my Mommy. Thank you & here is three dollars." Precious. And I'm so thankful that somehow when I've ordered a #1 with extra pickles every single time at Chick fil A that my sweet Will has heard "salad with olives." Precious. He'll grow up thinking I'm a health nut! :)
• Yes Way, Ted! Awesome that our two year old can quote Daddy quoting Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure
• Said upon seeing Daddy's car in the garage at lunch time: Mommy, Daddy's car is here! But Daddy's not home, Mommy. His car is here but his face is not here. He was happy to see upon entering the kitchen that Daddy did, in fact, bring home his face.
• I'm sorry, Mommy. Why, Will? Because Ellie is hurting. Put some medicine on her, Mommy.
• Mommy, when a dragon comes in our house, I will fight him with my pirate sword and save you and Caroline Ellie Ellie Grace will fight him with me. And I will rescue her!
• Mommy, is Ellie jumping? I don't hear her.
• Mommy, I don't want to go to college. I want to stay home with you & Daddy. I quickly assured him he doesn't have to go... and that I would remind him of this with great joy when he is 18! (His favorite babysitter is about to leave for school, hence the conversation.)
• At the grocery store earlier, the basket was really heavy on my arm (& Will was on my other arm & I did body pump this morning so my biceps & triceps hurt & have I mentioned that I am 30 weeks pregnant?) and I told Will I thought my arm was going to fall off to which he immediately responded, Mommy, your arm is not going to fall off because God made it! God made your arm, Mommy! And my heart smiled as I realized that he is listening when we talk about God making him & his unique body. I am so thankful that he gets it and even wanted to reassure me - it's sinking into him!
• I love you, Mommy. You're my favorite girl!
• Daddy is my hero!!!

"healed"

Last night at dinner, my sweet boy looked at me with his big blue eyes and said, "Mommy, is healed a good word or a bad word?"

Caught off guard completely, I asked him to clarify what he meant.

He responded, "Is healed a bad word, Mommy, because it makes us cry?"

Wow. This was not the dinner conversation I expected. Was it possible that my two year old had picked up on the prayers and even well wishes of others who speak to us that often in the use of the word "healed" in reference to Ellie, there are tears?

How was I supposed to give him a simple answer he could understand to such a complicated question?

I'm nearly thirty years old and I have a very difficult time grasping that healed may not mean healed on earth - God might choose to heal Ellie in heaven.

We are also very careful with our wording with Will. (Semantics are very important to him!) I do not want him to think that he needs to be healed because he has hand & feet differences. There is nothing wrong with him - it's just the way God made him. It's different from the typical person but that doesn't make it wrong. Ellie, on the other hand, does have some internal issues that we are praying for miracles regarding. She does have joint/tendon issues which, while she has hands and feet, the joint issues will cause them to perhaps look different. We don't see that as something "wrong" or in need of being "healed." We are asking for healing I suppose from whatever is affecting her organs and whatever might affect her capacity to live. I don't want Will to somehow infer that we are asking for healing for her "hands & feet." I need him to know how much we adore limb differences. We adore each of our children's bodies. They are each fearfully and wonderfully made in the image of the Creator. Even if Ellie does not live on this earth or is never "healed" from whatever it is she is battling, she is no less valuable or significant or precious in His eyes or ours.

So the idea of "healed" is very complicated. I tried to remind Will that healed is a good word & explain to him kind of sort of what it means. I also tried to remind him why we cry sometimes when using that term. I reminded him that sometimes God says "no" to our prayers.

These are some complicated faith issues for a little kid. For his mommy & daddy too.

He's Got Captain Hook & Caroline Ellie Ellie Grace in His Hands

We sing "Jesus Loves Will & Ellie" nightly along with "He's Got Will & Ellie Grace in His Hands."

(And of course, our other songs like "Te Amo," "I Will," & "Take Me Out to the Ballgame.")

The other night, Will politely corrected me in the singing of "He's Got Will & Ellie Grace in His Hands."

Will sang, "He's Got Captain Hook & Caroline Ellie Ellie Grace in His hands."

It actually flows nicely, doesn't it?

Love that little boy/Captain Hook.

Willisms

A few of my recent favorites:

On a recent morning:
Will: Mommy, where are we going today?
Me: Nowhere, Will!
Will: Oh, Am I sick?
Bless his heart- he's a bit used to travelling or going to therapy or errands I guess! He assumed if we weren't going anywhere then he must be ill!
In fact, he asks almost daily if we are headed to the airport & Dallas? He's flown like 130ish times I think - at just 2 1/2 years old!

Lovie: Will, are you going to be an actor someday? You're quite dramatic.
Will: No, Lovie, I'm Captain Hook!

Will: Mommy, I don't like your tummy.
Me: Why not, Will?
Will: Because there's another baby in there, Caroline Ellie Ellie Grace, and I don't like it when she kisses me.
(I assured him it would be awhile before she could kiss him & maybe he could just kiss her.)

We purchased a real computer today (yahoo!!!) & I now have access to my pictures again so I will be posting soon with real pictures! My mom & I (mostly my mom) have worked really hard to make Will's big boy room & Ellie's nursery over the last several days. Can't wait to post pics and be back to the world of the internet. Hello, 2010.

Easter Weekend 2010

He is Risen!

Happy Easter!

Kissing the babe... & our little family (for now)

Will is crazy about his grandparents!

Honey & G-Dad:

& Cookie & Lovie:

Will got to spend Easter today with all 4 of his grandparents & 1 of his greats!

He took egg hunting very seriously... & very, very slowly

Quality (the goodies) mattered to him far more than quanity!

On Friday morning, we did an Easter egg hunt with some friends:

Mommy was happy to practice sharing with him & enjoyed the candy too!

He's enjoyed some quality time with grandparents: reading stories & playing the Goodnight Moon game

Sometimes life as Will must be exhausting! After his nap every day, he likes to go to his "spot" on the front sidewalk & rest some more.

Before Easter weekend, we made a fun (& extremely messy) craft - birdseed bird feeders!

Most of it could be done outside (thankfully) but the part with the hot glue had to be done inside. Will had a blast getting messy & then walking around our yard to hang them. He also enjoyed giving so many away to family & neighbors.

The park by our house had an Easter egg hunt yesterday & jump houses. Will was a bit overwhelmed & thankfully isn't into quanity of eggs- I think he got 2! He did enjoy the hotdog he received, however, which we carried back down the street to our house to eat on his "spot."

He also loved dyeing eggs this year!

He enjoyed counting his eggs & making them various colors. He also made his hands turn colors!

Daddy didn't work all weekend (a first!!!) so Will enjoyed lots of quality dad time - pillow fighting & baseball practice & taking him to swim lessons were the best!

He did some running with Cookie at the park but had to take a rest stop

He also enjoyed swinging while Cookie did pull-ups

He was not a fan of the Easter bunny. He refused to have his picture taken with him but he did wave from a distance.

When discussing the meaning of Easter this week, I asked Will what Jesus died to save us from. His reply?

"The Easter Bear!"

Apparently, the Easter Bear is the archenemy of the Easter Bunny. :)

My favorite Willism of the week:

This morning after Easter Sunday church, we were in the car & I had on our toddler Bible song cd. Will is often asking questions about various songs but today said, "Mommy, what's a Christian?" I replied that it is someone who believes in Jesus. He said, "What's the Christian's name?" We told him that Christians have lots of names. Lovie said her name is Julie & she's a Christian. He asked me if I was a Christian & pointed out that my name is Katie. Then he announced, "I'm a Christian too!"

I love seeing little glimpses of faith in him!

May your Easter be blessed!

Weekly Willisms

Some of the funny & perhaps even profound things Will has said lately:

• "I'm a man. You're not a lady, Mommy; you're a mommy!"
• "God & Jesus like to look at cowboys, like Cowboy Woody. God & Jesus made things like the horse- Jesus made the tail & God made the neigh" (referring to the sound the horse makes.)
• "Mommy, why can't I see God & Jesus? Where are they?" This was an interesting one to try & answer for my 2 year old! He actually seems to be pondering this a lot lately as today in the car on our way to church he asked again where Jesus is.
• While praying the other night, "Thank you for making cowcooks." Yes, he does enjoy eating beef.
• He has recently begun to notice marketing ads aimed at kids & likes to inform us that he has "never had a toy like that!" Or, often he will state, "I want ... for my birthday when I will turn 3!" (Bless his heart- the concept that his birthday is 6 months away is a little hard to grasp!) The other day in the car, he was telling me about 3 different toys he wanted for his birthday & I decided I had had enough. I want him to be thankful for what he does have- he has a playroom and a yard full of toys! So, I asked him what he has right now that he is thankful for. His immediate answer - "I have Jesus." Yep, that silenced me.
• While pretending to be a t-rex today in the car, I squealed & said, "Save me!" He replied, "Mommy, Daddy will save you but he's at the office. But, he'll come home soon and then you will be safe."
• "My favorite color is purple, blue, & red." (Just like his mama, he can't just have 1 favorite!)

We LOVE the Olympics! In fact, every 4 years is about the only time my husband is guaranteed to have me watch a sporting event with him.
Will is loving the winter olympics as well & has had some funny things to say... such as:

"Mommy, is that my kid?" (He always refers to the competing American athlete as his kid - don't know why - but then he yells for "My Kid!")

When someone falls while skiing or skating or snowboarding, he expresses great sympathy - "Oh no, he fell! Is he ok?"

On Valentines, we treated ourselves to dinner in front of the Olympics (romantic, I know.) Will was hilarious yelling, "Go USA" - you can see a brief clip above. My favorite, however, was while the French Candadian figure skating couple was performing, Will pointed to the beautiful, petite, skinny, blonde French Candadian skater, Annabelle, & said,
"Mommy, is that you?" Yes, baby - that's me.

Of course, he did ask his daddy if he was the soloist skater with long, Fabioesque hair & sheer black tight shirt. Daddy was not as pleased with his comparison as I was with mine.

I like watching the Olympics with Will because we can really discuss all kinds of important details that R just doesn't seem to notice or care about. For instance, Will & I often sit on the couch & discuss the color choices of the various performers, the music, how fast they are going, whether their mommies and daddies are in the crowd, etc.

By the way, does anyone else sob their way through the P & G commerical every single time it comes on? Yeah, me neither.

Willisms - Updated with More!!!

I'm learning to just be quiet sometimes & I will hear the funniest things from Will as he is playing. Here are a few things I've heard this week:

"I'm not handsome; I'm cute!" (yep - good self-esteem, that Will)

"Sometimes I be a pirate. Sometimes I be a cowboy. Sometimes I be a Will."

"Triceratops have 3 horns on their heads. Brontosaurus has a long neck. T-Rex has lots of teeth. Dinosaurs are FUN!"

"Christmas is over. Christmas was FUN!"

When told by a stranger at the grocery store that he was precious:
"I'm not precious; I'm Will. I'm a big boy Will!"

When told by Mommy that big boys use the potty instead of diapers: "I'm a little boy."

"Mommy is strong. Daddy is strong like Will and Baby Jesus!"

When asked by Daddy if he had a poopy diaper, he responded,
"I don't have a poopy diaper; I'm a baseball player!" (It's hard to argue with that kind of logic!)

Overheard while he was in the bathtub tonight: "Don't cry in night night or mommy will come to my room and give me a spank." I guess he is reminding himself of the rule? (We've been having MAJOR sleep issues this week as he got lots of extra cuddling with a double ear infection on Friday & since then has been crying all night- wanting attention... Yikes!)

In response to me crying recently, he said, "Mommy, what's the matter? What's wrong? Hold you, Mommy?" And then gave me big kisses!

... Drumroll, please!...
My favorite Willism so far this week was said this afternoon while we were cuddling after his short nap (we went to the dr again, by the way, this morning & turns out - he is not responding to the meds for his double ear infection so we've switched to a stronger antibiotic. Poor baby - that explains his inability to sleep (& therefore mine) since last week! And, I had to ask his forgiveness as I am the worst mom ever for treating the last 2 days like they were defiance/discipline issues in his bed when he really just was still in pain!)
Ok - the Willism while cuddling:
"Mommy, you have boogers. I get them. I can't see them, Mommy!" Then...
he pointed with both hands at my breasts and said with a giggle, "Mommy, what are those?" I explained hurriedly that they are how Mommies feed babies and that they are a "no touch" for him. He's always been a boob man. However, I thought age 2 was a little young to ask such questions!?!?!?

What's the funniest thing your kiddo has said this week?

Jesus Is Coming for Dinner?

Recently, Will & I were playing with his Fisher Price nativity set when he got so excited about the little food basket. I asked him what he imagined baby Jesus ate and he replied, "Baby Jesus probably eat green beans & fish, Mommy."
We then discussed what we would serve Jesus if he came for dinner. About a half hour later, Daddy came home & Will got so excited. He could hear him before he saw him & he exclaimed, "Jesus here!" I guess he thought I had actually invited Jesus to dinner.
We have also been singing "Away in the Manger" a lot & Will proudly shows off his crib to Baby Jesus since He didn't have one.