Ok, I'm back......

Ok, after my (very) brief "hiatus" .... I'm back to blogging. I thought I'd take a break for awhile with everything else we have going on for the holidays ...but...I MISS it, can't stay away! :D

So let's see what's been going on since I last posted......

We've been extremely busy with the holiday preparations ... getting excited for Kayla and Ben to arrive this week - right after Santa comes. The kids are very excited, as you can imagine, for Santa and they have very specific requests. Zach wants (and this is exactly how he says it every time) a big Spike dinosaur with a remote control that moves and picks up bones. (It's that Fisher Price Spike Dinosaur). It's funny because it reminds us of The Christmas Story and Ralphie wanting the "Red Rider BB Gun!!" The girls both want baby cradles. And I can't tell you what Ben and Kayla are getting because they can read and might happen upon this post (sorry guys!!) We did not go as crazy as we did last year - they were WAY too overwhelmed last year with the number of presents, stuff to play with , etc. - and they were truly CRANKY by the end of the day - there was just SO MUCH. We kept it much smaller this year, so they should hopefully have a FUN time playing with the presents they get.

I *finally* got my Christmas cards out....whew.....you all will probably be getting them late seeing as they just went out TODAY but......since they're handmade, and I made 100 of them .....maybe you can forgive me??? It just seems there is not enough time in the day!!!!

Zach had a little school program (will post video later) last week that was really cute. We were lucky to get seats right by him, but he would NOT sing. He was the kid in the "funny home video" that was saying "hi mom", making faces, hands in his pants ..... the WHOLE time. LOL!!! He knew the songs too because he sang them at home!!! He looked so cute and silly. He's really really thriving in pre-school - his teacher is great and of course we have found a wonderful nanny that has helped make going to/from school much easier and more fun...so he's excited about going all the time. (Well, not so much about going - he's like his Momma and would prefer to start his day around 10:00 AM and stay in PJ's until then)...but once he gets there, he has a great time and his teacher said he's doing fantastic.

He has, however, had ear infections that have lasted since September and have not gone away no matter what different anti-biotics they've tried, so today my poor, sweet, baby had to have tubes put in his ears. (Awww!!) I know, I know....it's a simple procedure that for an adult they can do in an "office" ... but when they put your first born under anesthesia ... it freaks Mom out. He was NOT too thrilled with the surgery center - the gave him some ....tranquillizers...... I guess you'd say, to calm him down beforehand....but they wore off quicker than they were ready for him so they had to give him a second dose. He kept saying I want to go home, I want to go home. He was still upset and it went from crying to laughing (at the same thing) .... and he was talking like a drunk person (which we laughed at a few times) but I did feel sorry for him (YES, I CRIED when they were getting ready to take him away!!) He woke up from the procedure crying (screaming?) and they brought us in there, I got in the bed and laid with him for awhile and he calmed down a little bit. He came home, had some juice and a snack and then took a nap - and when he woke up he didn't remember much from the day - we gave him new "batman" pajamas when we got home (he didn't know where those came from), he was surprised he took a nap (he never really does) and he didn't remember where our elf, Simon, was (I didn't tell you about Simon....did I? Remind me to come back to Simon.) But...when he woke up, he was feeling good and back to being a 4 year old. He wanted to write Santa a letter so he and Miss Rachel wrote Santa a letter and put it in the mailbox .... (the hundredth time he's told Santa he wants the big spike dinosaur with the remote control that moves and picks up bones).

We took the kids out to dinner tonight (Red Robin, where else??) and then I took the girls for haircuts. I don't have pictures yet...but I'll tell you this, I got 5 inches (we measured after it was cut) chopped off their hair! They have these cute little pixie bobs ..... VERY cute. Addie's flips under, and Avery's flips up. Heeheee!!! We can still put barrettes, pull it back at the top, headbands, etc. ... but they look ADORABLE. Pictures .... tomorrow!

Other than that....we're doing pretty good - just busy with work. Sam's had a lot going on at his company lately - they did a fundraiser for a toy drive, and between the fundraiser (they cooked for the employees and the employees paid for a "plate" of food for 5.00) and the donations they received in from vendors, etc. they had almost 10,000.00 to donate! They go out and purchase the toys, fill up an MDV truck (that's decorated of course) and go around to local military bases and drop of bags and bags and bags of toys. How nice is that!

Well, I'll leave you with a couple of photos of Zach from his procedure today.....and a video that a couple of my friends have blogged. I think it really puts Christmas into perspective, it's short...and powerful.

Zach standing outside the big Christmas tree at the Surgery center. He's happy now, and he knows he's going in for "tubes" but doesn't realize that means getting out of his jammies, getting connected to machines, etc.

When Mommy was allowed to come back after they got Zach in his Tigger gown and took his blood pressure, etc. THANK GOD he asked for Daddy to go with him. I would have never guessed that he would have picked Daddy (sorry, Dad, no offense...but he's a MOMMA's boy, and when he's upset he always cries "I want my Momma") but he wanted his Dad this time! So Dad took him back and then I got to come later.

He's a little bit drowsy here....notice the droopy eyes? Heehee. He wasn't happy, but he was making us laugh sometimes when he tried to talk. Daddy had to keep doing "magic" tricks to keep him laughing.












Love,
xoxoxo