Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve was a yucky day outside. It rained seriously all day. So much, in fact that my sister's property flooded so much that they had to evacuate their home on Christmas Eve. They had to load their horses up and take them to some friends land. The water thankfully never reached their house, but if you look at pictures, their house was seriously just sitting in the middle of a lake. So scary.

So, you get that there was lots of rain, right? So, I think we all were just in a funk all day. We didn't do all of our traditional Christmas Eve stuff. Looking back, I am pretty sad about this. We did get it together enough to go to a Christmas Eve service at a church we have been visiting. I did really miss FUMC that night, but it was good to be surrounded by my family. Before the service, we tried to get the perfect Christmas Eve pictures of the kiddos. Check them out:

Hope turned on the cheese to pose with the milk and cookies though!

And, as I went to bed, it looked liked Santa had come!


And now for randomness... Here is my new Santa for this year... doesn't that look like my kiddos on his lap?

Julia's Christmas Cotillion

Last weekend was Julia's Christmas Ball at Cotillion. She was getting ready at my mom's house, and I wanted to see her, of course! She was looking way too grown up! She is a beautiful girl, inside and out!

FANCY hair!

So Pretty!

So, I knew Hope would love to see Julia get all fancied up for the ball. And she did! She kept saying, "Is it a real ball? For real a real ball?" She just thought Julia was a princess. Which then became a problem. At about this point here, Hope is realizing that dressed up Julia is about to leave to go to the ball... and that Hope is NOT leaving to go to the ball... she would not smile for any pictures.

And this is what the car ride home looked like. I promised her that she could go to a ball when she grows up. She was not amused.

Love you, Julia T. So proud of you!

Noah vs. Hallmark

Doesn't this Christmas Countdown magnet set look so cute? That's what mom and I thought when we (she) purchased it for Hope a few weeks ago. She loved counting down the days till Disney World, so I knew she would love this too. While she was at school Thursday, I finally got it out and put it on the fridge. I put it up high on the freezer (we have the good ol freezer on top, fridge on bottom appliance) so that Noah couldn't reach it and eat the cookie magnets. Get one last look at the cute 11 inch by 8 inch heavy, sharp metal pan, because the cuteness is about to end...


I put the magnet set up around 3:30 that afternoon. At around 5:30 (only 2 HOURS later) I was cooking dinner (shocking, I know... focus people, focus) and Noah was following me around. As I was pulling things out of the fridge, Noah was pulling things out of the fridge as well. All the sudden, the baking pan from the magnet set fell and hit my poor sweet baby on the head. Blood was everywhere. It was so scary. John was out of town, and I couldn't decide if he needed to go to the Emergency room or not. The wound was deep, but only about a 1/2 inch long. I put pressure on my screaming baby's head while I called my parents to come over and give me a second opinion on the ER or not ER decision. By the time they came over, the bleeding had almost stopped, although he was still very very upset. He was flipping out when I tried to take pictures, so this is the best I got.

So, then I start trying to figure out what happened. Why did it fall? I look at the freezer and the magnets that were attached to the back of the pan were still on the freezer, while the pan was on the floor. The adhesive just completely came off. Now this is where the mommy gets mad. Furious actually. As I mom, I do everything I can to protect my children. However, I cannot protect them from failed adhesive. I did everything right. I put it up high so that he wouldn't choke on the little cookie magnets. And then there are the awful thoughts of what would have happened if he had looked up when it fell. It could have been his eye. No, it wasn't, but it could have been. The pan is so sharp, it just sliced right through his little head. So, fuming mommy wrote an email to Hallmark. Then furious mommy woke up and called Hallmark. I was on hold for TWENTY minutes before a representative answered my phone call. As I am telling her my story, her first question was "Now, why did you hang it on the fridge?" BECAUSE IT IS A MAGNET! She did become much nicer, but kept putting me on hold, we got disconnected, she had to ask so and so... It was the longest conversation in the history of the world. In the end, she did say she was very sorry. And I know, she probably really is. But, I am just so mad! It is a heavy pan. Those magnets were clearly not strong enough to hold it up. Anyway, this story is to be continued...I have to send back the product along with the story and pictures of the poor baby's head. It is nasty and bruised now, so I am going to try to get another pic of it tomorrow.

All this to say, please don't buy the cute cookie Christmas countdown magnet set from Hallmark. Thank you.

Croup. Crap.

Noah has Croup. It has not been fun. Hope had it when she was a baby, so I recognized the barking cough during the night. He just wasn't getting any better, so I took him in today, where it was confirmed. He has the croup. Crap. Every little thing, he gets it. I can't say this enough, but I am ALWAYS so thankful that it is just little things. And one of these days, he will have a rock solid immune system. He will have perfect attendance in Elementary School, right? Except when I take him out to go to Disney World. He started steroid treatments today, and I honestly don't know if this is because of the steroids or not, but the boy has the munchies. He would cry, grab my hand, pull me to the refrigerator, grab some cheese and eat it. Then, cry, grab my hand, fridge, grapes. Then, cry, hand, counter, cereal bar. It was crazy. He is a great eater anyway, but this was ridiculous. At dinner he would cry, and I would ask him if he was all done. His usual response to this is "Cheese?" And I usually give him a slice of cheese before I get him down. Tonight, however, he learned a new request. "Dip!" He wanted ketchup. He dipped everything in ketchup. even pineapples. eww. Hopefully now that he is being treated, he will get over it quickly. Mommy needs some sleep. For real.

Sick (but funny) Baby

Noah is sick. He does seem to catch every thing that goes around. He is going to have one heck of an immune system one day. While he was pretty puny most of the day, he was still so funny too. He said his first sort of sentence today. He said, "No Mama!" Aww, how sweet. Then tonight, he successfully delayed his bedtime. I told him several times that it was time to go find his Elmo and his passy. He usually doesn't fight it much, but tonight, he just looked at me, went to his room, grabbed his "Brown Bear, Brown Bear" book, came back to the living room, sat in his little chair, opened the book, and starts humming/ singing the words. I kept saying "let's go.." He would look right at me, then look right back at his book and keep "reading." So stinkin cute, even if he was challenging me. I am hoping tomorrow is a better day. With less yucky diapers. Less snot too would be nice, but definitely less yucky diapers.

30(ish) Days of Thanks 23

Today I am thankful for a day to feel like myself again. I kept Hope out of school, took her to eat lunch with sweet Clara, went to the mall with Julia and Mimi, bought John's birthday present, talked to Santa. I never felt rushed, stressed, tired... it was just a good day. Tonight Hope had our neighbor Ella over to play, we ate dinner, read books, and I just finished watching the Jon and K8 finale. All in all, just a good good day.

Tomorrow I have big plans for decorating for Christmas, plus my weekly lunch with Shauna and Deni. Wahoo! I do have to work on Wednesday, but I am trying not to think about it. I think I can handle working ONE day this week, right?

Insert random story here: we were at the mall today when Hope said, "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" This statement in itself made me laugh, but then I asked what was she thinking. She said, "it's time to decorate our house for Christmas." She said it so put out, like it was going to be some huge chore for her!

I am still working on my Disney World pictures. My computer is acting very tired lately, so I have only been able to upload a few at a time to Flickr. But, I did pull this one off Flicker just now...

To me, Tinkerbell was one of the best characters we saw in the park. She was very much, ummm, Tinkerbell. She talked really fast, was a little bit snotty, she was everything I would expect Tink to be. Hope looved her. Tinkerbell recognized Hope as a "tinker" right away because of the "daisy top hair" (just like hers) Hope couldn't wait to get the words out of her mouth that she was Tinkerbell for Halloween. She wanted to do the Tink pose that Julia taught her. She was a bit shy, so this is not the full out pose, but I was proud she did it at all!

This is an oddish story. This guy obviously wanted to be in my pictures. Between my big camera and my camera phone, he is in no less than 20 pictures. And, get this, this is during the parade. Shouldn't he just walk past us? I remember thinking, "move on, dude." But, he was obviously enjoying the spotlight! He was seriously blocking my view of every float and character that was coming. I even have some nice (not) butt shots.

So, if you want to see some Disney pics while I am still working on getting them, you can click on the flickr box on the right hand side of the page. Check back because I am trying to do some every night!

30 Days of Thanks 18

Today I am thankful to be near my family. I don't take this for granted. I have lived several hours from them, and it was really hard. I am also very aware of the probability that this is not permanent. John's company could move us at any point in time. So, while we are here, I will enjoy and be thankful for every impromptu dinner together, every lunch with my mom, every family birthday party, every shopping trip out with my nieces and sister, and every chance Hope gets to go to my parents' house to spend the night (and watch Dancing With The Stars!) Because while I know that the love will stretch over the miles, it is just so nice to see them so very often.

Thank You God for Hope Louise

Today and everyday, I am thankful for Hope Louise. 5 years ago was the most special day. I thanked God for her that night, and every night since. How anyone can hold their newborn baby and not believe in God is something I will never understand. She was just so perfect. The answer to our prayers. The fulfilment of God's promise to us. I am not sure if I have ever told the story of how we named her or not. We named her after Jeremiah 29:11. "For I know the plans I have for you says the Lord...plans to give you a future and a hope." I took the verse to heart as God's own promise to us that we would have a baby, despite doctors saying it might not ever happen. God has indeed given us a future with Hope.

Today, Hope has grown into a fun, sweet, intelligent girl, with plenty of sass to spread around. She can push my buttons, but man, she can make me smile. I love her with all that I am, and I am so proud that she is mine. Happy Birthday Lulu!!!

One of My Favorite Pictures Ever

11 10 09_Disney World_4681, originally uploaded by dyer622.

Walk to Cinderella's Castle Breakfast

11 10 09_Disney World_4659, originally uploaded by dyer622.

Thanks 16

Today I am thankful for my friends Deni and Shauna. Our weekly lunches are something I look forward to every week. It has been really hard to not see these girls everyday since leaving the church. They are just friends that I can be real with. We laughed so hard at lunch today and it just felt good! I won't tell you about all the stories revealed today, but if you know my friend Deni, please ask her where the Twelve of Twelve store is. :-) Love you girls!

Do you know that my baby girl is going to be 5 tomorrow? I just don't understand where the time has gone. Want to know what was going on 5 years ago tonight? Craziness. I had been on bed rest, gone to the doctor where my blood pressure was through the roof. I was 37ish weeks pregnant. Dr. Wyatt came in the room and said, "Let's have a baby tomorrow." Dis.Be.Lief. I was so ready, and sooo not ready. We had moved into a new house just 2 weeks earlier. The nursery was not finished. John and I went home and packed my bags, and through my panicky tears, John, my mom and my sister and I finished the nursery.

30 Days of Thanks- Day 15

We are back from our Disney Trip! It was so much fun. Really, I just can't even tell you how great it was. I am working on a big post to wrap up days 8-14 in my 30 days of Thanks blogs. Not tonight though! 8 days of Disney fun = 1 tired Mommy!

Today I am thankful for my sweet sister, my mom and my awesome niece, Julia cleaning my entire house while we were gone! Isn't that crazy? Last weekend was bonkers with packing, and my house was just absolutely destroyed. I was dreading walking back into the disaster zone, but instead, my house was clean! My sister has always been known for doing surprise clean ups, and there is just nothing better in the whole world! Thank you, thank you, thank you! It just made me feel so good!


More on the Disney trip soon! I loaded all my iphone pics onto facebook, but no real pictures are up yet. I am working on it!

30 Days of Thanks Day 7

Today I am thankful for some QFT. Growing up, my mom and dad called family time "QFT." Which means "Quality Family Time." We hated the term. I can see my sister's eyes rolling when I think of my parents telling us no one was going anywhere because we were going to have some QFT. We are about to take off on our Disney Trip for some QFT for our little family of four. So excited. We desperately need some QFT. Some real, quality time together. SO fun. And my kids are still little enough to enjoy the QFT. I know the eye rolling is coming soon!

I also had a fun surprise in the mail today! The girl who took my job in Texas when we moved found a CD of pictures that April had taken of Hope when we lived there and sent it to me! Thanks Kim! Here are a few that were on there! It was fun to reminisce! This was my favorite time for our little family of three. Such good memories of this year of Hope's life!

Hanging out with the kitties at April's House!

Chuck E. visits the preschool

April and Susan took Hope on her first real (and only!) train ride!

Doodlebops!

30 Days of Thanks Day 6

Today I am thankful for John being home. After he has been traveling, it is just a huge weight lifted off of me when he walks in the door. This morning he got right up with Noah, fixed breakfast, got Noah to school, kept Hope home with him while he worked from home, let my mom's dog out, fixed dinner, gave baths, put both kids to bed. It is nice to have the second parent home! Plus, he is home for a while this time. Yeah! I feel like I can breathe again. I do give him a hard time about not helping out sometimes, but just having him here makes me feel so much better. He is a pretty good guy. I think I will keep him. Ha! Love you, Presh.

Tonight we were entertained by Hope singing "God Bless the USA." I will have to record it soon. It was awesome! She definitely has my (lack of) singing ability, but that doesn't stop her from belting it out. Hilarious!

30 Days of Thanks Day 5

I have much to be thankful for. More than I will be able to write about in 30 days, for sure! While I do plan on writing about the big things I am thankful for, I am also thankful for little things that happen every day. Thinking about what has made me happy today, I just can't help but to write about this "little" thing.

Oh Man. Yep, that's it. I am thankful for those two words, "Oh Man!" This morning when Noah fell down, I said, "Oh man!" He repeated "Oh man" in his oh too adorable voice. From then on, he has "Oh man"-ed everything. Every bumped noggin (There were many!) "Oh man!" Every dropped cup, goldfish, toy... "Oh Man!"And then, lastly, I put on his pjs, found his pacifier, turned off the lights, thanked God for him, got ready to close the door... and what did I hear as I closed the door... "Oh man!"

30 Days of Thanks Day 4

Today I am thankful for some "stolen moments" I have had with each of my kids the past 2 days. Just a little bit of unexpected special 1 on 1 time I have had with each of them. On Mondays and Tuesdays, I teach a special class for the older kids at Noah's school called "Learning Lab." Tons of fun. Messy, hands on, science stuff which is just right up my ally. One thing I love about being there, is that I usually get some extra time with Noah. I can play with them on the playground for a few minutes, or take him for a walk, etc. But the best has been that right after I finish up the morning classes, I clean up and then go down to Noah's room where they are getting ready for a nap. I get to lay with Noah on his mat, pat him for about 5 minutes, get a good snuggle, then go to lunch. I love it. Well, Tuesday, everything changed! I went down there at nap time, and he was crazy! I patted him for 30 minutes and he was just not going to sleep! He was giggling, talking, pulling my nose, flipping around... I was getting no where! By that point, every other sweet child was asleep, and Noah's teachers' had started eating their lunch. I had some errands I had to take care of at lunch, so I just took him with me. He sang all the way to the bank and home, and finally fell asleep right before we got back to the school. I carried him in and just sat with him for a few minutes while he slept in my arms. Sweet, sweet baby. I loved it. Pretty sure that is the end of me going down to his room for naptime though!

Then, this morning, I had to get Noah up and delivered early so I could make it to my Wednesday job at Hope's school (confused yet?) Hope and I had about 40 minutes to spare, so we stopped at the donut shop. She talked the entire time, mostly about our Disney trip, but other important things too, like who she is going to play with, how some boy made fun of her clothes yesterday saying they looked like pj's, who is friends with who and who is NOT friends with who, and how to sing the p-i-n-k song. Good times. She always makes me laugh.

I know I have said this before, but I will say it again. This is what John and I say to the babies when we put them to bed:

"Thank you, God for Hope Louise."

"Thank you, God for Noah Red."