Murray Staycation 2010 – Day 3

I didn’t post about day 2 because, honestly, not much happened. Joe had his fantasy football draft (can you hear the excitement in my voice) which lasted pretty much all day. This was the one event that was exempt from the “family” rule because it has been on the calendar for weeks. So he was allowed to go alone, and Ella and I stayed home. We just hung out, stopped by the grocery store, then came back home. We did go out to eat as a family to our favorite restaurant, Hana Tokyo.

Today Ella and I slept in while Joe got up early and took care of some family business. I mentioned our sleeping habits in the last post (ok, MY sleeping habits), but this time I’ll mention Joe’s. The good thing about me is that when Ella wakes up in the middle of the nights I have no problem going back to sleep. Joe, on the other hand, usually lays in bed for awhile and can’t fall asleep, then he decides to just get up and be productive. So this morning he was up around 6 and just stayed awake filing, doing bills, etc.

We took it easy this morning and just laid around the house until after lunch. Then, we decided to venture out to Potomac Mills (outlet malls) to see a movie and exchange a shirt. We walked around the main outlet mall for a few minutes, and got these pictures taken.

Ella wasn’t sure what to think of the photo booth, but Joe and I loved it.

After the mall we headed to the movie…Toy Story 3. We love that Ella can now sit through an entire movie! It’s nice and cool, but we’re still able to get out of the house. And Joe and I always end up enjoying the movie just as much as Ella does. She loved Toy Story 3 because it has a lot of toys that she recognizes…Barbie, Mr. Potato Head, a cowboy, a bear, etc. She talked a lot about those toys during the movie, and when any music would start playing Ella would start dancing in her seat.

While not overly exciting, it was a great day. So far Murray Staycation 2010 is a great success.

Murray Staycation 2010

We decided to do something different this year. After having 2 different vacations planned and then canceled, Joe and I came to the conclusion that this year the best idea would be for us to do a staycation. I’ve heard of people taking them before, but never actually done it. Sure, I’ve taken a day off here and there to hang out with Ella, but I’ve never taken off more than a day.

The thing that sealed the deal was that an article on money saving tips that said you can save up to $5000 by doing a staycation. That’s real money, folks! Granted, neither of the vacations we planned would have cost anywhere near $5000, but lets add in non-financial savings:

1) No driving or flying anywhere – We have a 3 year old (in case you didn’t know) and even though she’s really a great traveler, the idea of not having to lug all of our stuff to the airport, or load up the mighty-mini makes me feel less stressed already. Kids, in general, have a lot of stuff. Add to that boxes of bandage supplies, and traveling just took on a whole new level.

2) Sleeping on our own bed – I’m a picky sleeper, I’ll be the first to admit it. Joe can sleep anywhere (all the Murray’s can…it’s a gift that comes from having 8 kids in the family), but I don’t have that luxury. I like the covers a certain way, Joe can’t be touching me (I know, I know), and I like MY pillow. So whenever we travel I spend the first 2 nights adjusting to a new sleeping environment. And Ella isn’t keen on sleeping in new places, so the first couple of nights she always sleeps between me and Joe…which means I get even less sleep. No sleep for several nights in a row doesn’t bode well for this mommy.

3) No Packing – if it rains, no big deal…I’ll just grab our umbrella. If it suddenly gets chilly…no problem, I’ll just go to Ella’s closet and grab her jacket. A staycation means I don’t have to spend time on Weather.com trying to predict what the weather will do for the next several days. And if we need to do laundry I don’t have to search high and low for a place to do the wash. I just go down into our basement and throw the clothes in the washer. I don’t have to worry about whether or not I have enough diapers, or how Ella will respond going potty in a new place.

4) Refrigerator – Ella drinks a lot of milk and water, and she likes her beverages cold. So when we go somewhere that doesn’t have a refrigerator, we aren’t able to keep milk or cold water for her to drink whenever she wants. It’s just one of those minor inconveniences that can really make or break a vacation.

Luckily we live in Washington, DC and there is a lot to offer. Unfortunately, because we LIVE here, we rarely get out and do many of the things the city offers. Murray Staycation 2010 is the perfect opportunity to take advantage of many of those things visitors enjoy. Joe and I are actually really excited about it. For the past several weeks we’ve been making a list of things we want to do and our hope is to check something off each day. The items range from going to see a movie, to taking a boat ride of the Potomac, to going to the zoo.

There’s only one rule: Everything done during Murray Staycation 2010 has to be done as a family. Joe can’t go off and have breakfast with one of his friends. I can’t go out to a movie with the girls. Everything that is done will be done together.

So last night Murray Staycation 2010 officially began with pizza and a movie at home. Today, after a lazy morning at home, I went to the grocery store (exciting, I know) then we went and had dinner with one of Joe’s friends from law school and his family. They have a little boy close to Ella’s age, so it was a fun night out.

We’ll see what tomorrow has in store. Murray Staycation 2010 is just beginning, so there’s no telling what will happen each day.

Bring the Rain

Over the past 3 years I’ve been asked a lot of questions, but recently I was asked a question that I can honestly say I’ve not been asked before. I’m sure people have thought it…correction, I KNOW people have thought it. I was asked, very sincerely, how we can worship a God that has done this to Ella? How can we continue to worship a God that gave an innocent child EB? (That is my summary, not exactly what was asked). What a powerful question.

First, I want to be very clear that just because Joe and I continue to be faithful and worship Christ, that doesn’t mean we don’t get angry. Oh have I gotten angry! It’s hard to look around and see thousands of 15-16 year olds having perfectly healthy babies, yet Joe and I did everything the “right” way and we got the sick baby. It’s hard to hear of parents who abuse their children or choose drugs/alcohol over their kids. Sometimes it’s even hard to hear friends complain about their kids doing things that in the scheme of life are really insignificant. There are times when Ella has woken up every hour for 5 nights in a row and I’m exhausted, and I just cry out to God, “Throw us a bone! Just let my kid sleep for one night!” (yes, that’s exactly what I say). Yes, I question what in the heck God is doing. Yes, I get mad. Yes, yes, yes.

However, my comfort is in one thing…Ella is not a mistake. She was created for a purpose, and that purpose is far greater than anything I will ever understand. None of us are mistakes, and God has a specific purpose for each of us. I fully believe that in order for Ella to accomplish the purpose in which God set out for her, she has to have EB. Yeah, that’s a hard pill to swallow, and I wish that wasn’t the case, but early in Ella’s life God gave me the peace and comfort to know that in order to accomplish His will, Ella needed EB. I still pray for a cure everyday…I pray that we’ll wake up one morning and she’ll be miraculously healed…but for now, He needs her to have EB. Why? I don’t know. It’s not my job to know. My job is to be faithful and raise Ella in a Christ-centered faith so that one day SHE will know why.

My other thought on this is, how can I not continue to worship? I was shown at an early age (through the love and faithfulness of my parents and other adults in my life) to fully depend on Christ. While my life was relatively uneventful growing up, I did go through difficult times. Ella’s disease is not the first difficulty I’ve faced (nor is it for Joe). Sure, it’s on a whole different level than many other struggles I’ve gone through, but I praised God through those other difficulties, and I will praise him through this one. I can’t imagine going through something this difficult and not having Christ to lean on. He is my rock, my strength, and my comfort.

Christ came into my life long before Ella was in the picture. My faith in Him is not contingent on things being good…if that were the case I’d have left Him long ago. Joella means “Jehovah is God.” God is God! He’s the same God that I committed my life to as a child, He’s the same God that helped me through difficult times in adolescence and young adulthood, He’s the same God that kept Ella on this earth when all the doctors told us she wouldn’t make it, and He’s the same God that will continue to carry us through this terrible disease called EB. He’s the same. He hasn’t changed. So why would I turn my back on someone who hasn’t changed. As I said, I made a commitment to Him long ago, and even though I’ve grown and changed and face challenges more difficult than the ones I faced as a child, in the end God is still God and I need him now more than ever.

Just a couple of days after I was asked the question I mentioned above, I was driving home from work listening to the Christian radio station. I hate to admit it, but I rarely listen to Christian radio. It’s just not my thing. I prefer to listen to country music (I’m a good Wyoming girl), so the fact that I was listening to the Christian station is a bit weird. However, Christian radio was on, and soon a song started playing that perfectly fits this situation. It’s called ‘Bring the Rain’ by Mercy Me.

Potty Time

About a year ago I bought Ella the Elmo Potty video. My thought was that I'd get the idea of going to the potty put in her mind before we started any actual potty training.

In April I went to Target and bought all of this.

Obviously the Elmo coloring book is to help reinforce what she sees in the Elmo Potty Time video. It also came with a chart and stickers. Later I bought Sponge Bob soap as another incentive. The timer is because I had this great idea that we'd set the timer for every 30 minutes and when it went off Ella would sit on the potty. Great idea, but it didn't really work. She'd sit on the potty, then as soon as she got up she'd walk behind the couch and "wee wee."


Things went great for about 2 weeks. She wouldn't use the potty every time, but she would use it at least 2 times a day (sometimes more) and she'd even go #2, which from what I hear is a VERY big deal.

Suddenly, Ella decided that she didn't want to use the big girl potty. She was done. If we even mentioned the potty she would scream. So, we decided to take a break. We put the potty away and forgot about it altogether.

So now it has been a month and I've decided that it's time to tackle the potty once again. So far it's going over like a lead balloon. The big girl panties just aren't exciting enough, and the Elmo stickers aren't worth it. So tonight I went back to Target and purchased even more incentives. First, some very special Fancy Nancy big girl panties. Second, some even MORE special Sponge Bob Krabby Patty candies (basically it looks like a gummy hamburger) and third, Sponge Bob stickers (Elmo is SOOOO last year). When I got home I told Ella that I had a very special present for her (she loves getting presents). She was excited about the Fancy Nancy big girl panties and Sponge Bob stickers, but she was beside herself about the Krabby Patty candy. We had a long conversation about how it's not good to go wee wee in her Fancy Nancy big girl panties, and how the only way to get a sticker and candy is to go wee wee or poopie in the big girl potty. She looked at me with her big blue eyes and listened very closely to what I was saying.

Shortly after our conversation she said "Mommy, I need to go wee wee in the big girl potty." She sat on that potty for probably 20 minutes, and when she stood up there was a teeny tiny itsy bitsy little poopie. Ella was VERY excited to get her Sponge Bob sticker and Krabby Patty! Hopefully those will be enough incentive to keep the process moving.

Tomorrow she gets to test out her new Fancy Nancy big girl panties. We'll see how it goes.

And for the record (because I know someone will say it), I'm not worried about Ella getting potty trained. Whenever I talk about it I guess I sound stressed out or something, because people always tell me that she'll go when she's ready and I can't rush it and to not worry about it. I know all that. I'm not worried. If we have the same issues that we had last time, then we'll take another break, no big deal. But the reality is that Ella's 3...we have to start the potty training process sometime, so now is the time.

YAY...again.

Apparently Ella felt the movement of the Holy Spirit this weekend. At church on Sunday we were sitting in the balcony. She was great through the entire service. She sat quietly and colored and even whispered when she wanted to say something. She was perfect. After the sermon we stood up to sing and Ella, in true Ella fashion, belted out the song (which she didn’t know). At the end of the song when the music ended and everyone was quietly sitting down, Ella yelled as loud as her little Ella voice could, “YAY!!!” Of course I put my hand over her mouth to try and shhh her, but as soon as I removed my hand she yelled again, “Yay Daddy!!!” Next was the prayer, so Joe and I spent the prayer time getting ourselves composed after her outburst. While it was completely inappropriate, it was also absolutely hysterical. Apparently the Spirit was moving in Ella during that song, and she felt the need to share it with the rest of the congregation. Later in the service a girl played the flute, and when it was over Ella once again said, “YAY!” Luckily this time we were prepared so we told her to say it quietly, and her exclamation was covered up by the applause of the congregation.

Sunday Ella was in rare form…she was talkative. She would actually talk to people that she doesn’t typically talk to. We made the mistake of telling her early in the day where we were having dinner. We went to dinner at our favorite hibachi place (Hana Tokyo) with a girl Joe went to law school with, and Ella loves this place! She always asks to go there. Ella was quite the chatterbox. She talked about her shoes, about the fire, the volcano (if you’ve ever been to hibachi then you know what I’m talking about), and she told them all about how she was going to get soup and rice. The funniest part was that Colleen brought Ella a late birthday present, so Ella opened it up while we were there. The restaurant then interpreted this as being Ella’s birthday. It also happened to be the birthday of another woman at the table, so at the end of the meal we got a double happy birthday dessert and song. Ella was so excited and kept saying, “It’s my birthday!” She talked about dinner for the rest of the night and even told Boppie all about it Monday morning.

Ella has been very clingy lately and every morning she asks to go to work with mommy and daddy. Well today Joe obliged. After they got dressed and had breakfast, Joe loaded Ella into the van and she spent the morning at daddy’s work. Apparently she was a big hit and she loved being there with Joe (I’m sure the Cherry Coke helped). I had a meeting near Joe’s office at 11, so after my meeting I went over and picked Ella up. She then came into mommy’s office to visit all of my colleagues. After that she headed home to spend the rest of the afternoon with Boppie. Visiting mommy and daddy’s work is very exciting stuff for a 3 year old.

YAY!!!

In the words of Ella, “Aunt Trishy’s getting married! Aunt Trishy’s going to be a princess!”

I guess watching our wedding video over and over…and over again has paid off. When Phil proposed to Tricia, Ella knew exactly what was going to happen. “She’s going to be a princess and wear a white dress!”

The weekend started out great. Joe took me out on Thursday night to celebrate our anniversary (5 years! Woo Hoo!). We went to a placed called “Blues Alley” and it was great! We had an authentic Cajun dinner and listened to jazz music all night. Perfect! Friday I took the day off of work to have mommy and Ella day. We went to library story time (where Ella had to show me the ropes), then hit up the big yellow M (McDonalds) for lunch. That afternoon we got ready to head to the Jersey shore for the weekend.

We arrived Friday night and just hung out with the Murray clan. It’s always great seeing everyone. Saturday morning Joe told me some wonderful news…after dinner Phil was going to propose to Trish! I about jumped out of my skin from excitement! Now, how was I going to keep this secret all day? Throughout the day we’d chat about the night and how excited we all were…then Trish would enter the room and we’d shut up.

Janet planned a fabulous dinner with NJ lobster (oh so yummy…although Ella wouldn’t go near it), then after we all stuffed our faces the plan was to go for a walk on the beach. Katie (the original…Joe’s sister) was supposed to tell Tricia that since Phil had such a hard week at work, maybe the two of them should go for a walk ahead of everyone else just to have some downtime. Trish took the bait and invited Phil (who had already planned all this with Katie) to go for a walk. The rest of the family wasn’t too far behind. We all arrived at the boardwalk and were standing back waiting for the sign that Phil had popped the question and Trish had said yes. Of course we were all ecstatic when they started walking back to the boardwalk. The rest of the night was spent celebrating their new engagement over cupcakes and carrot cake.

Sunday we were tired, so we headed home right after lunch. It was a great weekend of celebration.

It is finished

Yep, the bar is over…at least for now. Joe doesn’t get the results for several months, so we won’t know if he passed until later in the year. But for now, it’s over…he’s home…Ella’s happy…mommy’s happy…and our lawn actually got mowed!

Joe came home Thursday morning. He and I were both anticipating his arrival and how Ella would respond when she saw him. Unfortunately, Ella was fast asleep when he arrived. However, once she woke up from her nap it was impossible to wipe the smile from her face. She was so excited to have her daddy home and didn’t let him out of her sight for the rest of the day. They spent the afternoon playing together and having quality daddy-daughter time.

Friday night the weather was beautiful! Things had cooled off enough that Ella could actually get outside. So we decided to head over to Rita’s for some Italian Ice and custard. Ella was insistent that SHE put the sprinkles on…”Not mommy…Ella will do it!” So as I ordered her custard I had to specifically ask the girl to put the sprinkles on the side because my precious 3 year old daughter who was sitting in the car wanted to put them on herself. The girl obliged and Ella was able to top her ice cream with the sprinkles. Ella wanted chocolate sprinkles, but once she saw my rainbow sprinkles she decided they were much better, so we traded…then Joe proceeded to eat Ella’s custard and I was left with the leftover key lime Italian ice…not what I wanted. Oh well, such is the plight of a mom. We couldn’t let the beautiful weather pass by without enjoying it, so we headed into DC and took an evening stroll around the FDR and Jefferson memorials. 5 ½ years ago Joe proposed to me at a bench along the water near the memorials, so this place has special meaning for us. When we were dating and neither of us had much money, we would spend many nights walking around the monuments and just enjoying the sights. This made it even more special to share it with Ella. She loved all of the water fountains (she calls it ‘dancing water’) around the FDR memorial, and she loved walking along the tidal basin. It was such a great night to get out as a family. Ella didn’t want to go home. She wanted to stay longer and see more dancing water, but it was WAY past her bedtime, and both Joe and I were exhausted.

Saturday was when reality began to set in. Not once did Joe say, “I’m going to study from 10 am until 7 pm.” When I had a bunch of errands to run, Joe came with Ella and me. It was great! I didn’t have to lug Ella in and out of the car for a quick trip to the post office…I just left her in the car with Joe. We got so much done! Saturday night we once again had beautiful weather, so after Ella got cleany-clean and into her Sponge Bob jammies, we decided to take a walk around the neighborhood. Ella recently got a new tricycle with some birthday money, so she rode her tricycle and Joe and I walked beside her (and one of us pushed the tricycle because really, she’s only 3 and doesn’t have complete control yet).

Sunday was church and as we were leaving Ella looked at Joe and said, “I like that church!” Boy, were we glad to hear that! We came home and relaxed for a bit, then Joe MOWED THE LAWN!!! The only reason this is a big deal is because for the past 2 years we’ve lived in the house, mowing the lawn has always been squeezed between studying. He would mow when the grass is so high that the mower barely fit over it and there wasn’t a choice but to mow. But yesterday he got to actually cut the lawn while it was still not too tall, and he even got to plant some tomato plants that have been very neglected. Hopefully now they’ll produce a tomato or 2. Sunday night a couple of guys from our church had a concert, so we took Ella to listen to the music. She loved it and sat through the whole concert.

It’s definitely going to take some getting used to having Joe back around without studying getting in the way, but I’m sure it will be a quick and easy adjustment. As one of my friends said, “There might be a time when you actually WANT him to go to the library.” That might be true, but for now I’m glad to have him around.