3 Years Ago...

3 years ago today, our lives changed forever. We found out we were pregnant with our first child. Things haven't been the same since!

White [Day After] Christmas

We may not have had a white Christmas, but boy did the snow really come down hard the day after!! We must have had 6 or 7 inches! It was snowing when we woke up & kept coming down most of the morning. Church was cancelled so we got to go out and play. Andrew seemed to enjoy his first snow, as long as he didn't have to sit in it! Leah absolutely loved it!! She is really into Frosty the Snowman this year, and kept talking about making Frosty the whole time. She had no problems walking right into it, picking it up & helping build the snowman!

Here's a fun video of the day:

Christmas, Round 2

Christmas Day was just the four of us this year, quiet and calm. Andrew was so excited about Christmas he woke me up at midnight to welcome the day! He was up for good about 6:45. Leah got up about an hour later and was so excited to see the presents. We didn't really put any presents under the tree until the day before Christmas, and then we didn't put many, so when the gifts from Santa were under there, she was amazed. She seemed to really get it this year-- we kept telling her all week how Santa would come and bring her presents under the tree and she kept talking about "presents for Leah!" (In fact, for the past week she has been telling everyone "I have a tree in my house!")

Her favorite part was the actual opening of the gifts, rather than the gifts themselves. She would rip into one, exclaim over it for a minute, toss it aside, and move on to the next one, even starting into some of Andrews' and our gifts. We let her do her thing, and then Andrew opened his afterward. Actually, he seemed to almost get it, too! "Santa" got him several different types of trucks & toys with buttons & knobs at a consignment sale a month or two ago. He may not be able to really enjoy them until he can sit up, but he did seem to enjoy the steering wheel! He also got a couple outfits from Nana & Papaw and Uncle Brian, and Baylor jammies from Uncle Johnny & Aunt Karen.

We were pretty excited about what Santa got Leah this year. I think she will be, too, once she has time to play with them and process all that went on! Among the favorites this year: a set of Disney Princess figurines, and a set of Princess books, a "laptop" computer with several games, and a few coloring books. She also got two pairs of jammies, some big girl panties, and two new sippy cups. From Nana & Papaw, she got a piggy bank and some other clothes. Uncle Brian got her the Snow White DVD, which she immediately wanted to watch!

Brett and I decided not to spend any money on each other this year, but we did get some nice clothes from Karen & Johnny (and of course the other gifts from Mom & Dad), and thanks to a generous donation from a church member, we went out on a date Thursday night-- dinner & Starbucks, and we bought ourselves a few things we were wanting. I really can't think of a lot of things I actually wanted. It was so much more fun for me this year to buy things for the kids, especially since Leah understands so much more this time around. I had to restrain myself from buying too much, because I kept seeing more I thought they'd like.

It was such a fun year, seeing the reactions of the kids and enjoying time as a family! We are so blessed to have all that we have.

Things we did this year that I would like to continue doing:

- "Christmas Decorating Day," complete with the hunt for our tree, Pizza Dip & a Christmas cartoon while putting up decorations

- making sugar cookies

- "What God Wants for Christmas" nativity set (one piece of the nativity is placed each of the 7 days before Christmas)

- family photos by the Christmas tree

- Watch the mandatory Christmas movies: The Grinch, Rudolph, Elf, White Christmas, and National Lampoons Christmas Vacation

Things we didn't get to do that I would like to do next year:

- Go to Christmas parade (it was rainy & freezing on the day we were going to go this year)

- Pictures with Santa (we were going to do that at the Christmas parade)

- read the Christmas story on Christmas Eve & open one gift, like pj's (Brett had to preach at the Christmas Eve service & I didn't want to venture there with 2 little ones)

- advent calendar (probably the kind you can make with activities to do as a family each day leading up to Christmas)

- See some sort of Christmas play, concert, or light show (although we did see a small light display at my parents' over Thanksgiving)

- Make gingerbread houses and some other Christmas tree ornament crafts

Christmas Photos 2010

I found adorable matchy-match outfits for Leah & Andrew at Dillards when I was out looking for a Christmas dress for Leah. Since I had a gift card, I couldn't resist! And we couldn't resist the photo opportunity! Thanks, Dad, for taking all the family ones-- what great memories! (Leah really WAS having fun, even if she doesn't ever smile in a picture!)

Jesus Loves Me

A priceless moment caught on camera. How can you resist this girl?

Christmas, Round 1

My mom & dad came the weekend before Christmas to celebrate early. Of course there were tons of presents, so Leah & Andrew were spoiled before Santa even had a chance to come!





Mom & Dad came around lunch time so we spent a whole day playing and talking. BJ & Chela came over for a nice dinner Friday night, and then it was time for presents!

Andrew had this awed look on his face pretty much the whole time.



And it didn't take him long to figure out what to do with those wrapped things. Although apparently it is also necessary to taste the paper.

And of course Leah had no problems unwrapping gifts, and wanted to unwrap everyone's! Although she loved unwrapping, she also wanted to stop and play with each thing she got. She wanted us to read her her books, and wanted crayons to immediately color her coloring book. She especially loved Andrew's toys!

Thanks, Mom, Dad, BJ & Chela for all the great gifts!!

Andrew @ 5 months

At 5 months, Andrew is developing quite a personality. He has certain "looks" that always make me laugh. Like when he's eating if someone sneezes or makes a loud noise, he'll look up at me as if to say, "Excuuuse me? You dare interuppt my meal??" He is very much into his toys and concentrates on things very hard. As I write this, he is incredibly focused on kicking hard enough to get his socks off. He also feels he must communicate by screaming. At the top of his lungs. Apparently that is how he hears US talking??

Every so often, starting the last day of November, he has slept through the night. By that I mean from about 8 until 4 or 5 am. It's still not every night-- some nights he'll only make it until 3, some he'll get up at 1. But he had a week-long stretch where he slept all night. So I know he can do it. I tried letting him cry it out-- I know he doesn't need t0 eat in the middle of the night-- but when he cries, he CRIES-- as if someone is in his bed trying to strangle him! So it's easier just to get up and feed him and then he goes right back to sleep. I can tolerate 15 minutes, as opposed to an hour of crying.

His daytime schedule is also starting to take place. Although many days we're out and about so he sleeps while we're on the go, when we're at home, he will take a short nap in the morning, then a longer, sometimes 2 hour nap in the afternoon (some days at the same time as Leah, oh, bliss!), and then another short nap at some point in the evening.

He has been doing pretty good with solids. He doesn't seem to like the plain cereal so much, so I moved quickly to sweet potatoes, then carrots and bananas. He still doesn't open his mouth well and he's still getting the hang of where to put his tongue, but he does seem to really like the tastes, especially the carrots. Lately he's been wanting to nurse every 2 or 2 1/2 hours-- perhaps a growth spurt?

He rolls over all the time, but it seems as if he can only go from his back to his tummy. I usually find him on his tummy in his crib in the mornings even though I laid him down on his back. I'm not sure he can turn back over but he doesn't seem to mind being on his tummy.

He's getting to that really fun stage I remember with Leah, where's he's not quite mobile, but still pretty interactive. He giggles and smiles and flirts with anyone who talks to him. He always has a big grin for me as soon as I get him up in the morning. And even though he's not always very cuddly, he still loves to be sung to and rocked at night before bed-- a stage I know doesn't last long!

"Leah-isms", Christmas edition

Leah has really started to express herself a lot more lately and also really just start to "get" things. I wish I could video her saying all the cute things she says, just so I can remember them later, but for now, writing will have to do.

- She really seems to be excited about Christmas this year. She loves to see Santa Clause and waves and calls out his name whenever she sees him out & about. When we first put the tree up, we kept asking her "Isn't it pretty?" so now every day she makes sure she says, "Our tree's priiitty!" (And we must turn it on the minute we enter the house. We have it hooked up to a Clapper, and it's really funny when she tries to clap to turn it on!)

(We made sugar cookies this year-- she actually enjoyed it a lot more than I thought she would-- especially since I told her it was okay to eat the batter-- and it took up a lot more time than I thought. Maybe next year we'll attempt decorating the cookies!)

- All snowmen are "Frosty the Snowman" and reindeer are all "Rudolph, red-nosed reindeer." Whenever she hears Christmas music, she makes a request for "Charlie Brown song" from her current favorite movie Charlie Brown's Christmas (or "Smis-mus," in Leah's words).

- When she really likes something, she says, "Oooo, I wub it, Mommy!" And she has mastered "I don't like it!" When we walk in a store with toys or something she recognizes, she always says, "oooo" or "wow!"

- She repeats everything she hears. Last week I kept telling her how pretty she looked in her church clothes, so she went downstairs and said, "My dress is priiittty, Daddy!" Melted my heart!

- Throwing something away or getting rid of it is also known as "FWISH it away!" (Don't know where she got that, but that's what happened to her boo boo as of late-- the doctor "wish"ed it away!)

- Lately she "needs" everything! "I need one more book..." "I need juice!..." "I need another one cookie..." And she will let you know until she gets whatever it is!

- Much to my dismay, she has become a TV junkie. She knows the order of the cartoons on PBS that she watches every day. She also loves America's Funniest Home Videos and watches it with Daddy many nights of the week. When it goes to commercial, she always says, "It's comin' back!" Even when the show is off, she says "It's comin' back!" And we have to just agree with her, or she will get upset. (Well, it is coming back, eventually.)

- She is definitely getting ready for potty training. The past few days she has been telling me, "I didn't poop." I think it's mostly because she hates getting her diaper changed since the MRSA incident. But it's funny how she tells me when she didn't go, but not really when she did!

- She is always bossing things around. She yells "No, ma'am!" to pretty much anything that doesn't do what she wants it to do, especially books. And Andrew.

Hold Them Close

I am so glad God knows exactly what we can handle. I'm so glad that He is in control and I'm not. Because I certainly don't think I would have been able to handle what we've gone through the past few days on my own. We thought Leah was getting better after that initial doctor visit, but Sunday she developed a high fever and another hard, red boil close to the other one on her bottom. I took her back to the doctor on Monday (kicking & screaming all the way, I might add) and sure enough, it had spread. The culture he'd taken came back as an infection called MRSA. I recognized that name and realized that there are many people that have died as a result of this infection. It is so resistant to treatment and so difficult to kill. So Monday the dr. cut the second boil and drained it like he'd done the first. He prescribed a second antibiotic and said he was almost positive that he'd gotten it all, but if he hadn't, the rest was out of his control and she would have to be hospitalized.

So yesterday it didn't seem like she was improving and we thought we saw yet another hard, red spot. We immediately began running worst-case scenarios in our mind. Brett and I were both completely prepared for the doctor to send us straight to the hospital today after her follow-up. Neither of us slept or ate much yesterday or this morning (I literally felt "worried sick"). Leah was actually acting as if nothing was wrong-- she was up in her room nearly an hour after we put her to bed, reading her books and talking to herself as she always does. She was her usual self all morning today, getting into all sorts of mischief (and I admit, we let her get away with a lot we wouldn't have normally let her get away with!). And I kept looking at her thinking, what if she were gone tomorrow? What if something serious was to happen with her? In just the two short years I've known her, I've developed a love for her that cannot ever be replaced-- she is almost a part of me.


We went back today and the doctor said everything looked perfectly fine. He simply cleaned the existing wound and told us it's okay to let it scab over and heal. She'll still have to take her antibiotics for the next week or so, along with warm baths (both of which leave her kicking & screaming & crying every single time), and next week she'll take baths with bleach. But she doesn't have to have any further treatment.

Our kids are not our own-- they are granted to us only for a short time. Though at times they do things that drive me crazy, though there are times when I want them to just give me a minute's peace, though there are times when I wish they would just hurry up and grow up... I can't imagine what my life would be like without either of these blessings God has given me. I am so grateful that He has spared us this time, and from now on I will think twice about how I spend my time. I will cuddle with them just a little longer (even if it means I have to watch Strawberry Shortcake for the 600th time), I will kiss them one more time (even if they are crying or whining or screaming about something or other), I will get down on the floor and play with their toys with them (even if it means the laundry goes undone), and I will never, ever take for granted that they are here with me. How special this Christmas will be!

Christmas Decorating Day

It's our yearly tradition-- a whole day devoted to getting our Christmas tree, putting it up, and decorating the house for the holiday. This year Leah seems to understand a lot more, and of course, Andrew's in the picture. I won a free 6-7 ft. Christmas tree in a MOPS door prize! I was so grateful-- we saved over $40. And it was a great family-run lot where they even have some where you can cut your own tree. We picked out a pre-cut one, though, and had a lot of help loading it on our car.

Leah seemed to love romping around the tree lot and she really liked listening to "sis-mus music" on the way! She was a little timid about the whole idea of a tree being in our house, but not as afraid as she is about some other things. We decorated while we ate chips w/ pizza dip and watched "Charlie Brown Christmas" and "Rudolph." Leah wanted to help put the ornaments on although she wasn't sure how. And today she keeps saying "The tree's pretty!" even though she won't touch it (and she's wanted to watch the Charlie Brown Christmas about 20 more times!).

And this year we had snow! We rarely get snow this early here, but we ended up getting at least an inch or two, and it stuck! It was the perfect backdrop to set the mood for the Christmas season!