Thanks, Rebecca

So, here I am - thanks to Rebecca - recording motherhood as experienced by me for the world. Oh, how terribly exciting and I'm sure you can't wait to read it. Maybe I'll do better at keeping this up than my journal - which I'm horrible about keeping. I can't remember the last time I wrote anything in it.

This past weekend, I had to remind myself several times "I waited ten years for this child!" Elizabeth is almost two and it is showing! She had several meltdowns in Hobby Lobby because, well, she's twenty-one months old! Being in a shopping cart is not fun when your 9 and 7 year-old cousins get to "be free" even if they're walking alongside you and holding your hands while you're in the cart. You want out and you will raise all kinds of Cain until you get out! Hey, you've got your grandmother, your great-aunt and your aunt all on your side!! You can do it! And she did. But then, she suffered a massive meltdown. As my sister was carrying her through the store (we were leaving so all the other poor shoppers could shop in peace), Elizabeth was writhing, trying to get loose. My sister just held her more tightly. "I'm stronger than you, Elizabeth." More writhing. "I'm...still...stronger...than...you." (learning that being stronger than E is a difficult thing to be!). Massive meltdown at the cashier so Boop (grandmother) buys Peanut M&Ms -- hmmm, maybe *I* should've been having the meltdown if that's the result!!

We decided to go eat lunch. Buffalo Boy (what my nephew used to call Buffalo Grill because he thought grill = girl) sounded good; but the boys wanted to go to McDonald's because they have Playland and "Elizabeth will love it there." So, the adults sucked it up and we went to McDonald's. They were right, Elizabeth loved Playland. I wish I'd had my camera with me - she looked so cute playing. My mom was cracking me up, though, she had a hard time letting E play on the equipment by herself. My sister and I kept saying, "She'll be fine" and Mom would say, "All those other kids aren't letting her play and they're being rough around her." "This is a child who can wham her head on the floor, cry for half a second and then take off playing again. I think she can handle other kids - she's perfectly capable of taking them down! Sit down and eat, Mother!" My sister and I just laughed.

Almost time for Brad to get home from work - housework needs to get done and I hate doing it until right before he walks in the door.