Christmas Countdown

Well, before we ring out the old year and ring in the new, I should probably back up a bit and recount a little of our Christmas happenings, don't you think?? Hahaha. Here we go:

The Decorations --

For the first time ever (I'm pretty sure) we went and got our Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving. This was partially due to the fact that we spent Thanksgiving at home (which we haven't done in a while) and partially due to the fact that I wanted to make hay while the sun was shining, so to speak. I have to admit that as odd as it felt to be outside choosing a tree at Home Depot while the temperature was in the mid-60's, it also felt really good. The kids were my helpers and for the 3rd year running we went with a Fraser Fir. For the traditional decorating of the tree, I decided to completely turn it over to the kids this year. I have to admit I was a bit surprised and impressed that they managed to do a fairly decent job of spreading the ornaments throughout the tree. And Jane super surprised me by not really wreaking havoc on the lower limbs throughout the Christmas season. The majority of ornaments and branches remained intact in the weeks leading up to the big day!



In an historic first this year, Ethan managed to finally wear us down to the point where we agreed to hang outside lights. And Scott even let him help with the hanging! Hahaha. I wouldn't say the final effect was anything too spectacular (I didn't even take any pictures), but I do have to admit that it helped to create a Christmas-y atmosphere that was a lot more fun than I thought it would be.




An Early Christmas Present --

Surely I can't be the only person in the world to do this, but this year I took matters into my own hands and bought my own Christmas present and told Scott it could be from him. I've had my eye on a portrait lens for my camera for a while now, and when I saw it go on "sale" at the beginning of the month I went ahead and ordered it. And opened the package as soon as it got here and began using it almost immediately. I guess I'm not really one for waiting. Hahaha. Part of my sense of urgency came from wanting to get Alex's 3 month picture taken before he was no longer 3 months old. I've had each of the kids pictures taken at this age and I didn't want to break the streak with baby #5. So, with just a few days to spare, here is Alex at 3 months (and some random pics of the little girls as well):

This picture is funny because it reminds me a lot of Grace's 3 month picture. His looks have changed a bit since the beginning, but I would say he still is mostly a combination of Sophie and Grace in the looks department.

Jane in a moment of sweet-ness came to give Alex a kiss.

The End of an Era --

The biggest news of the last few months that has not yet been documented is a passing of the torch from Scott's old car to his "new" one:

"The Deathtrap" -- AKA a '96 Eagle Vision which I refused to drive because it scared me so much...

and "The Blueberry" -- a 2000 Ford Focus won at auction with a little (okay, a lot) of help from a friend at church. Unfortunately, I still can't drive this one because it's a stick shift. (But perhaps I smell a little new year's resolution coming along...). Hahaha.

Santa's Workshop --


In preparation for the holidays my dining room was once again turned into my personal crafting studio. To be honest, the Dining Room table has been used more for my sewing machine, etc. this year than it has been for actually dining. The two main projects being worked on this year were some last minute teacher gifts and the kids' new ornaments. When I asked Grace what we should do for the teachers this year she said, "you know -- those cup things you always do." Fair enough. It is a bit of a "go to" move on my part. Hahaha. And it doesn't get much easier. I found some plastic tumblers at Target, filled them with candy, wrapped them with cellophane and slapped a bow on them. Because everything looks classier with a bow. Haha. In the end, I felt like they needed just a little bit more to them, so I ended up throwing together some ornaments to tie with the bow and getting some gift cards to beef it all up.

Finished product.

And in case you're wondering just how I was able to get any of this stuff done when I'm supposed to be taking care of a Full House of children, HERE is your answer:

These pictures sum up so much of Alex and Jane's relationship.

Alex has been rocking out in the jumperoo these days and Jane has been getting a little bit better about not mauling him when no one's looking. Now she waits until we ARE looking. Hahahahaha. Just kidding. Kinda. Hahaha.

The other major craft item being thrown together were the kids ornaments. Although, considering the casualties we've had with them, I probably shouldn't be using those terms. Hahaha. I got the idea from Pinterest and was initially just going to do an ornament with Alex's handprint for his first Christmas, but then decided it would be fun to have each of their little hands documented this year. So, I took 4 inch clear glass bulb ornaments, stamped their hands with an embossing ink pad, sprinkled some embossing glitter on top, (used a q-tip and cotton ball to clean up any excess sprinkling), and heated it into permanence with my embossing heat gun. Voila!

Let's just say that I ended up buying 3 packs of these bulbs before finally having all 5 hands ready to hang on the tree.

One More Christmas Photo Shoot --

While we were at Jo-Anns on one of our crafting runs, Grace found the "perfect present for dad!" To her credit it was the perfect idea for a Christmas present -- a 5 picture folding picture frame. I made the kids pose after church one day to get some wallet-sized pictures for the frames, and now Scott will have these cute little faces staring at him from his desk at work for the next year. The perfect present indeed!








Another ER Trip --

And not to be left out in the emergency room department this year, Grace decided it was her turn to give us a scare. Apparently, Grace is severely allergic to pecans. And probably other tree nuts as well. A neighbor made us a plate of cookies and without thinking anything of it, I gave Grace the go ahead to eat a couple before dinner. She chose a pecan sandy and immediately after eating it started clawing at her tongue saying it was itching. "Great" is what I was thinking and whipped out the Benadryl hoping that would be enough to keep things from getting out of hand. It wasn't long before she started to complain that her stomach was hurting and she continued to look sicker and sicker until about 45 minutes later she threw up all over the place. Throwing up is usually the end of the road -- at least for Sophie and Jane when they've ingested something they're allergic to -- but for Grace it didn't stop there. After noticing that her face was still red with some hives and a bit of swelling around the eyes, we gave the after hours nurse a call and kept an eye on her for a bit longer. When the hives started to spread and overtook her whole body from head to toe, we figured it would probably be best to get her to an emergency room and have her checked out.

The pictures really don't do the rash justice, so suffice it to say that her skin was one big mass of connected red hives. Here she is getting ready to leave for the hospital and what ISN'T pictured is Sophie freaking out in the background because SHE wanted to go to the hospital, too, and it wasn't fair! Hahahaha. What is wrong with these children??






Christmas Eve is Family Present Time! --

One of my favorite Christmas traditions that I've forced Scott to accept in our little family is the opening of all family gifts on Christmas Eve. The kids are huge fans of this tradition as well and were super excited to open up the presents that were sent from grandparents and aunts and uncles. The games were all a big hit and we were able to add a few more books to our Christmas book stash which was really fun!






Secret Santa --
Another tradition we started a few years ago was a sibling Secret Santa. After making the kids wait until December 23rd, we let them pick names (about 5 different times before finally just resorting to letting them pick who they WANTED to have for their Secret Santa in the hopes that it would end all of the fits and melt-downs) and took them to Target with a 5 dollar limit to pick out a toy. Ethan wanted to open his present as soon as we got home, but we managed to hold them off until the next day. It was a lot fun and this was the first year where only one of the kids picked out a gift that they really wanted for themselves. Let's just say that Jane really has no use for Webkinz...


Sophie picked Ethan --
Jane picked Grace --




Alex "picked" Sophie --





Grace picked Jane --

Doesn't she look enthused about her Webkinz? Hahahaha.

And Ethan picked Alex --

A Christmas Pageant --


Last but not least we had our annual family Christmas Pageant. Since we didn't have any family in town this year we thought it would be fun to invite some friends from church over for Christmas Eve. We decorated Gingerbread Trains (all the house kits were sold out by Christmas Eve. Go figure.) and then used their kids' help in acting out the familiar story. It was really cute. Here are the kids posing before we started the production. It's hard to see in the pictures, but Grace got really creative this year with the costuming and created sheep out of white garbage bags with holes cut out for the head and arms. It was fantastic. Although my personal favorite is the "wise man" with Ethan's blanket for a robe and a turkey headband for a crown. Or perhaps it's "Joseph" in a camouflage robe. There's really just too many favorites to choose just one. Hahaha.






And that is that. In closing I'll leave a little quote from President Dieter F. Uchtdorf that we've been using for our Scripture Time this month:

"May each Christmas season remind us to lift up our voices and fill our hearts with joy and gratitude that Christ the king has come. Christ lives! He is real. He is our Redeemer at Christmas and always."

Merry Christmas!

{photo courtesy of ward Christmas party}

Anatomy of a Tonsillectomy -- Grace Style

Well, the big day has come and gone (one month ago today to be exact!). Seeing as to how the surgery day itself was an all-day affair and I have quite a few other little children to attend to, Scott took the day off of work to be with Grace in her moment of need. At her consult appointment a couple of months ago, the doctor's office sent us home with a packet of information, a DVD outlining what to expect on the big day, and a "Surgery Land" game board for Grace to take along with her and fill out as she went throughout the day. All in all, it served EXTREMELY well in preparing her and if anything getting her really excited to have her tonsils taken out.

Pre-Surgery

Here she is arriving at the hospital. As per the instructions, she brought along a favorite toy, a movie, and her Surgery Land game card.

The Documentarian

According to Scott, Grace was a super champ! All the nurses and other staff thought she was just too sweet and too cute. She didn't seem to be nervous AT ALL, which surprised me quite a bit. I thought for sure that once the big day was here she'd start freaking out and end up not wanting to go through with it! Thankfully, she was excited and ready to take it all on.

Apparently, once she had changed into her regulation hospital jammies and settled in to wait for the surgery itself, she decided to put on a photo shoot with all KINDS of interesting poses.

Check out those "honeys" in her throat. Hahaha. When the doctor initially checked Grace out, his comment upon looking in her mouth and seeing her tonsils was "Oh yeah, those are some honeys." Weirdest comment ever, right? Hahahaha.

Even though the surgery itself lasted less than an hour, Grace had to be there a couple hours beforehand to get all checked in and then stay for a minimum of 4 hours afterwards to make sure everything went okay. (Which it did, thankfully.)



Post-Op

Cute little Grace. All drugged up and recuperating.

And Recovery -- Featuring the best $10 I ever spent at Costco. Her Robe.

(As in this is what she lived in day and night for practically the entire week she spent convalescing at home.)

These pictures were all taken about a couple weeks after the surgery. To be honest, the recovery was a lot harder than I thought it was going to be. For some reason I thought she'd bounce right back and be ready to go to school after just a couple of days. When Scott and Grace first came home from the hospital that night and he told me that she was supposed to stay home from school for the first week and no P.E. for 2 weeks, I thought that seemed a bit extreme. In the end, though, the doctors clearly knew what they were talking about a lot more than I did. Hahaha.

The first night home she was still pretty out of it. Between the anasthesia and the painkillers, she didn't have a shot. She spent the majority of the evening zoning out in the rocking chair, gingerly eating mac and cheese while watching iCarly. The next couple days consisted of LOTS of popsicles and ice cream, more mac and cheese, steady doses of hydrocodone, and the cutest (and most pitiful) little high-pitched, half-volume voice you've ever heard. That's probably what I miss the most these days -- that soft little voice not much louder than a whisper. Hahaha. No, seriously. She was so cute and pathetic all at the same time it just about broke my heart. Things got a bit dicey by the end of the week once the scabs started to come off and her throat hurt, and in the end, it definitely took the full week for her to be ready to go back to school. And even then, I would say that the recovery wasn't entirely complete until after Thanksgiving. Time heals all wounds, though, and I'm sure when she looks back on this in years to come the only thing she'll really remember is the ice cream. And popsicles. All in all, Grace handled the whole ordeal a LOT better than I thought she would. And, as a bonus, she has set the stage and served as a role model for Ethan who will need to have a surgery of his own in February.

And that's a wrap.

A Name and a Blessing (and a Birthday)

Wow -- it's been a month since I last posted! The past few weeks have been busy yet manageable all at the same time. Dare I say we're finally hitting our stride?? The highlights of the month were a visit from Grandma and Grandpa, blessing the baby, and celebrating Grace's birthday for almost the entire month. Or at least it felt that way. Hahaha.

Scott's parents flew out at the beginning of the month to be here for Alexander's baby blessing. As it has been well-documented, I'm a bit particular when it comes to names. I have not 1, not 2, not even 3, but 4 different baby name books in my possession. Each of our kids' names were chosen for their meanings and with the hopes that they would live up to and embody what those meanings are. Alex is no exception. Alexander is a name that we have loved for a long time. Basically we've been waiting for "Baby Alex" to come since I was pregnant with Sophie.

Alexander -- Latinized form of the Greek name Αλεξανδρος (Alexandros), which meant "defending men" from Greek αλεξω (alexo) "to defend, help" and ανηρ (aner) "man."

His middle name is of special importance as well. Not only for the meaning (although "victory of the people" is quite apropos) but because it's the name of one of the best and brightest I've been privileged to know. Captain Nicholas Bourgeois was a marine, a husband, a father, and my favorite cousin. He was killed in a car accident last summer while moving across the country with his wife and two small children. A true hero, he had just returned a few months before from a deployment in Afghanistan. In short, "Nicholas lived according to his priorities: God, family and country. He exemplified Christ in his words and deeds while humbly striving to allow God to mold him into a better servant, husband, and father." Nicholas was a truly remarkable person. And even though my little Alexander Nicholas won't ever meet his namesake in this life, I hope that he will one day be able to follow in his footsteps and live up to the name he's been given.

Please excuse the fact that this is the worst lighting possible -- outside would have been better, but it was too windy and Jane is a runaway.

A few days earlier in the week Grace turned 7! As has been the case since her very first birthday, she managed to stretch her celebration out for much longer than the actual day. The big day fell on a Tuesday this year and the thing she wanted most of all was to bring a cookie cake (or two) to school. Check.

I ordered a dress for her birthday picture and it actually came that very day! After school I coerced her into dressing up and to sweeten the deal I let her put on the make-up that "Jane" picked out for her present. Thankfully Grace loves to pose, and the photo shoot was not too painful as a result. Here are some of the jewels:

These two are such kindred spirits.

The winner for the mantle!

We postponed the actual cake and ice cream and singing of the birthday song until Saturday when Grandma and Grandpa (and Dad) were there to help celebrate with us. Grace made my life a bit easier this year by choosing a cake from Costco rather than having me make it. And Grandma officially made Grace's day by getting her a pinata when we were at Walmart earlier in the day.

Practicing blowing out the candles.

The real deal.

The pinata was put off until Sunday evening because Ethan wasn't feeling up to it on Saturday. The poor little lamb was up all night the night before throwing up. Unfortunately for just about everyone else he passed that bug on. First to Grace and then to Grandpa and finally to Grandma the night before they were set to fly home. :( Thankfully, it was pretty much a 24 hour thing for everyone and we were still able to enjoy the majority of our time together.






One of the fun things we did in between the bouts of sickness was a mini-Thanksgiving and then an early Christmas. Fun, fun, fun! The kids loved opening presents this early in the season and I loved having someone else cook for me. :)

Jane is so unfortunate looking. She likes to go around in just a diaper these days.

Grace and Ethan singing Christmas songs...

...and then with 2 more members of the whole motley crew.

This little cutie was just a spectator. Sophie kept calling him Harry Potter all night long because of the scratch on his forehead.

We were sad to see Grandma and Grandpa go, but were glad they were able to make the trip out to see us. Once they left, the next big event in our household was Grace's surgery! Which will be documented in a separate blog post. Hahaha. Scott took the day off so he could be there with her and she actually handled it like a champ. It was kind of adorable the first few days after her tonsils were out when she was recovering and couldn't speak in much louder than a whisper decibel voice. I really miss that voice. Hahahahaha.

Last but not least in our month was our first Thanksgiving at home in a LONG time. We made the executive decision this year not to go to Indiana like we usually do to spend it with Scott's sister and her family. We were all quite sad about this, but with a baby not sleeping through the night and knowing how the rest of the kids are (especially at bedtime) when we're at the cousins house, I just realized it would be a bit more stressful and overwhelming than I could handle right now. So what did we do? We invited some friends over from church and I cooked my very first Thanksgiving dinner! Because cooking a turkey for the first time isn't stressful or overwhelming at all. Hahahaha. It actually all turned out well and we had a really fun time with our friends.

Overall, the whole of last week was a really nice and relaxing vacation. Scott took Wednesday off from work and the kids had no school. We managed to do lots of fun stuff -- movie nights, game nights with friends, outings for Christmas lights, and finally picking out our tree (and decorating it, too). It was precisely what we all needed! And with the Christmas season upon us it was the perfect break before all the craziness begins.

We even managed to get the Christmas card picture done! And without the shedding of any tears (or blood). Hahahaha.

And that's about it. I'm getting really excited for Christmas even though we are not going anywhere and I don't think anyone is coming here. I just love this time of year, though, and if our Christmas vacation is anything like our Thanksgiving vacation then it will be practically perfect in every way! Happy holidays! :)