December Fun

 December was such a fun and full month! After our hospital trip, there was two weeks until Christmas, and we wanted to make the most of them. First I have a great nap picture. Through the next couple months, Olivia had a string of weird naps. She has started playing for a significant portion of her naptime before finally falling asleep. This particular day she just piled every single animal into bed with her.

On Friday the 14th, we joined the G family at their ward Christmas party. We all had a great time, I always enjoy meeting new friends, even if I'm leeching on to Amber, who has been here much longer than me. Afterwards, we decided to finish decorating the tree and spend some time taking fun pictures... in particular I love the sequence of Olivia putting the star on the tree. She was so excited, and totally OK with leaving the star on sideways. We fixed it after a few days :).

Carter wasn't at all interested in reading a Christmas book by the lit tree, but he was perfectly happy eating the lights :)

It was a wonderful evening, and really got us in the Christmas mood after our crazy week. We were officially ready for the start to our Christmas season!

I enjoyed doing '12 Days of Christmas' for Alex this year...mostly just gag things and funny notes, but I can thank Pinterest, and won't take any credit for creativity. So not my department!

My dad drove through on his way home for Christmas, so we were able to have an afternoon of fun with him and the cousins :). O had her first (and perhaps last...) harp lesson, the kids made some fun gingerbread crafts, and just goofed off for the evening.

I can't say enough how much I love living near my sister and my kids having cousins nearby. This picture of O and Teagan reminds me of how much fun I had with my cousins growing up, and I am so glad I can give my kids the opportunity for the type of friendship I share with my siblings and cousins. Plus, they are just such cute kids dancing around!

Amber and I are also able to trade babysitting every month. In December we used that babysitting time to do the last of our Christmas shopping (on the 16th by the way...is that impressive or what?). Alex and I went to Sub Zero to celebrate. Sub Zero is a cool ice cream place that uses liquid nitrogen to freeze the ice cream flavor that you create. Plus it has a science geeky theme (you can kind of see the Periodic Table of Elements in the background), so it holds a special place in my heart.

The next day we went to visit Santa! The picture is from the outside of his house. I should scan the picture we got with Santa, but it was a pretty unsuccessful trip. Two kids screaming, all four of us in the picture...you get the idea. We will try for improvement next year.

A week before Christmas I started my baking. Honestly I'm not much of a baker, and have never tackled more than one project in a day. This was the result of my first baking day. The kids helped me make Santa hat pretzels. They didn't look totally correct, but the kids had a blast, and I managed to get a couple dozen that we could share with others. The rest had to stay home because they had a possibility of added flavor (drool). I also made some S'mores bars, and we brought a plate over to share with cousins before devouring the rest. None of it lasted to share with neighbors, so there is more baking to come! 

Gift wrapping season was a new adventure for Carter...he loved the bows! Taking them individually out of the bag, looking at me mischievously, then putting them back was his favorite activity for a couple mornings.

Alex's work days were a little rough as we got closer to Christmas and had more things to do. One particular day, I really needed an hour or so of uninterrupted time (I can't remember why anymore), so I took five minutes to make a puppet theater. It was a total success! O put on puppet shows all morning, and Carter was thrilled to watch and talk to the animals. Definitely an activity to repeat soon.

It seems like every week or so I hear a fun new quote from Olivia. I love that I can hear everything she thinks, because she literally says EVERYTHING she is thinking :). One particular afternoon I heard her singing songs to her animals and Carter. It's safe to assume that she was doing 'school'. She sang the ABCs, Twinkle Twinkle, and then finished with 'Mary had a little lamb with peas and piles of snow...'. I never want her to learn the right words :).

Another new thing for our family this year was all the snow! I'm not used to needing snow coats, hats, and gloves every time we leave the house, as we have spent all of our winters with kids in either Oregon or California. We had quite a few play days with Daddy, who is much more fun in the snow than I am! Carter was totally unsure of the snow this winter. and was only happy if he was sitting on his bike or being held. Eventually we got him to do the slide a few times, but he was happy when I told him he could go inside.

Oh you know, just Dad doing some random tricks that result in him bruised and wet, the kids trying crazy things, and mom laughing behind the camera. This is a great life!

We don't have any sleds yet, and didn't really have a good sledding spot in our yard, so Alex pulled out an old laundry basket to give rides. The kids didn't want to do anything else until the basket broke...a good twenty minutes of fun :).

When Carter got cold, the two of us headed inside to play and watch through the window. He was much happier without his boots and coat on. I was just enjoying the fun photo ops from this happy kid.

The 23rd was baking day! I did some baking the week before, but I really wanted to do cookie plates for our new neighbors. The kids really enjoyed helping with the cookie painting, but I had to let them eat every one that they touched...spreading germs just didn't sound like the best idea. By the end of the day I had baked 3 dozen peanut butter thumbprints, 4 1/2 dozen sugar cookies, 4 dozen Andes' mint cookies, and one large batch of Chex Mix. 

The next morning was Christmas Eve, so I couldn't say no to cookies for breakfast! I did add some cereal for vitamins. Olivia's plate licking picture came literally seconds after she told me that she wasn't going to eat any more...her definition of eating is different than the rest of the world.

On Christmas Eve afternoon we headed to the G house to watch some Beaver football and hang out with cousins. Naturally we tried to take some family pictures, and failed at getting that perfect shot. But we had a blast anyway, and had fun representing OSU in Boise on game day. I should say that Boise State fans are fun to banter with, and the feel of town around football season reminds me of Corvallis. Everyone is so into the school in a positive way. We will never convert to Boise State fandom, but I know our family will enjoy some games and other events in the future.

On the way home we decided to do some last minute Christmas Lights. We drove almost every night as it got closer to Christmas. I'm honestly not sure if the kids liked the lights better, or the fact that they sometimes got to sit on Mom's lap to watch them. When it was significantly past bedtime, and Santa had made it to South America, we decided to put the kids to bed and wait for Santa. Christmas Eve pajama opening was a success, I love these kids!

Just checking where Santa is...for the 572nd time that night.

Our scraggly tree is all ready for Christmas!



Carter's Hospital Trip

Well Monday morning I called the doctor, and took Carter in. The doctor spent about ten seconds looking at Carter's skin and hearing my story before telling me to head straight to the Children's Hospital. I was surprised at her swiftness, but throughout the day I learned how much I had missed and how sick the little guy really was.

We got to the hospital a little before ten, and were admitted right away. We then spent the next hour and a half trying and failing to get an IV in. His little veins were so small that no one could get one in. I was instructed to try to get him to drink and eat popsicles for a while until the afternoon IV specialist came on duty. Around 1 we had success, and were able to start treatment.

We are so grateful to Amber and family for taking care of Olivia for a majority of our three day stay in the hospital. Alex had one day off, but I really don't know what I would have done without wonderful family to cover for us.

After starting treatment, we were really just playing a waiting game to see when he would get the better of whatever bug he had. The doctors originally said no longer than overnight, and I was really counting on this. I was totally unprepared for the struggle it is to keep a toddler in a hospital bed when he is attached to an IV pole, too sick to go on a walk, and in quarantine so he isn't supposed to go anywhere outside his room or near other patients. Even after three hours on liquids, he felt so much better that I'm sure he thought it was time to go home and play.

This is just a picture showing his IV setup. He totally couldn't use his right hand, but it didn't bother him too much. He was a real trooper through the whole thing.

That evening was the Christmas Piano recital. I have been teaching Maely and Kade this year, and couldn't miss their first recital. It was really hard to leave the hospital, but I brought O with me so Alex could stay with him. The kids did amazing, and it was very fun to see the light that they bring into the assisted living facility, and the enjoyment that all the residents get out of talking to children and hearing them play. I love Maely's smile as she plays 'Grandma Got Ran Over by a Reindeer'. She wanted to sing all the words, but we had to limit it to playing one verse. I didn't want to offend anyone, but her smile made it worth it :).

After they played (some on piano, some on violin), all the children sang a few Christmas carols together before the recital was over. It was so great, and Olivia was SO excited to be a part. She wants to be an older kid more than my heart is ready for.

After the recital, Olivia went with all the kids to have a hot chocolate party while I headed back to the hospital to relieve Alex. He was able to come take O home for the night. I wish I had been a little more present for the whole recital evening, but I was hanging on, so that is enough for now.

The night was very hard, with nurses coming in every two hours to take vitals, and Carter unable to sleep through any of it. Because he was infectious, everyone who entered the room donned full gown and mask, which really freaked Carter out. I can't blame him at all, but I got really tired of the nurses saying he would sleep through the next one. It was a long, sleepless night. But in the morning, Carter looked WAY better, and ate lots at breakfast.

We were disappointed after his bloodwork came back, as none of his numbers were improving at the rate that we were expecting. Nothing was worse, and Carter was really picking up, but we weren't able to go home that day. I'm a little embarrassed at how weepy I was over this news. I know he needed the care and medicine, but that room seemed to shrink every hour. We just focused on getting him to eat and drink, and kept hoping for those blood results to get better.

In the afternoon, Daddy came by with Olivia for a visit. She was really concerned about Carter, and I'm sure she felt like I was ignoring her completely. They watched a movie together while I went to the nearby mall for a walk and to get a few items checked off the Christmas shopping list. It was a much needed break, but I couldn't stay away for long. I just needed eyes on him to ensure that nothing changed.

Day three dawned with a very rambunctious boy. He would only stand in the bed, not sit or lay down. He wanted out, and kept tangling his IV cord up in everything. I could tell he was feeling much better, and the bloodwork results demonstrated that. We were given permission to discharge around noon, and were headed home a couple hours later.

Carter wasn't totally better for at least a week after that, but I am totally glad that we survived our first (and hopefully last) pediatric hospital visit. I have a lot more compassion for families with loved ones in the hospital, and feel very blessed that Carter's situation was always improving, and that I was prompted to not wait any longer to get him treatment.