Merry Christmas!!!

We had a great Christmas this year. We spent lots of time with both Ben's family and mine, and got to watch Grayson absolutely light up when he saw his gift from Santa---a train table, wooden tracks, and some new "choo choo wains". :) Emma Claire hung out and played with wrapping paper and bows, and Ben and I enjoyed being together and with our families....and eating like pigs! Ben gave me a new camera---yay!! I am still trying to figure out how it works but I will soon be posting more beautiful pictures of my babies! :)

Sick baby girl...

We've had some excitement this week in our household---on Monday night I took Emma Claire's temperature before bed and it was 104.4. We immediately called her pediatrician, who said she'd meet us at the ER. Our poor baby spent a couple hours in the ER being poked and prodded, which she of course did NOT like at all. Her heart rate, which should have been in the 130's, was 215 and her white blood count was elevated. They did a chest x-ray, a spinal tap, drew blood, put in a catheter, and tried three times to put in an IV (unsuccessfully). At 2am we were admitted to a room and tried our best to get some sleep while they ran tests on everything. Tuesday morning they tried four more times to put in an IV and finally succeeded on the fourth try. Emma Claire was so dehydrated that it was hard to find a vein that worked...it was pure torture on her AND her worried mama and daddy. We spent the day hanging out while they still tried to figure out what was going on, and Emma Claire got fluids and antibiotics through her IV. We spent another restless night--EC in a big cage-like crib and Ben and I sharing a tiny twin hospital bed---and were finally released yesterday afternoon. The final conclusion was that she just had a bad double ear infection and some type of virus. She's feeling much better and is starting to act like her sweet, happy self again. Not a fun way to spend a few days before Christmas, but we're thankful that it wasn't anything serious. Hopefully 2008 will be a healthier year for our family!

Ho Ho Ho!!!

We were driving by my friend Kat's house last week when Kat called and said to stop by because Santa and Mrs. Claus just happened to be there hanging out. What a fun surprise! Grayson did muster up enough courage to tell Santa that he wants some "choo choo wains" but he wouldn't go near him---so we got a picture of him on Mrs. Claus' lap instead. :) Emma Claire slept through the entire event, but I told Santa that she's been a good girl this year!

Thursday Thirteen

13 things I love about Christmas... 1. Our Christmas tree!! I especially love the way it smells and the way the whole atmosphere in our house changes when there's a big tree in the living room. We don't have a "pretty" tree, but it has bright, colorful lights and mismatched ornaments that each mean something to us. LOVE it! :)

2. Spending extra time with family. Ben gets an entire 2 weeks off during Christmas and it's so nice to have him around all the time and be able to visit our families without feeling rushed.

3. The stockings hanging on our mantel. My great-great aunt (I think!) made mine when I was a baby and my mom had a lady make Ben's when we got married. Christie's grandmother made Grayson's and Emma Claire's and I just love looking all of our beautiful handmade stockings hanging together.

4. The parties. We have been so busy lately and it won't stop until after New Year's, but I just love all of the parties that we get to go to this time of year. It's fun getting dressed up, eating yummy food, and spending so much time with our friends.

5. The music! I LOVE Christmas music and have been playing it in the car and in the house since before Thanksgiving. "Oh Holy Night" has to be the most gorgeous song ever.

6. Presents. Of course I love getting presents (who doesn't?!), but I especially love giving them. I'm SO excited about Grayson's gift this year---he's getting a train table, along with a set of wooden tracks and Thomas trains. He's going to be beside himself with excitement and I'm looking forward to Christmas Day for this reason more than any other.

7. The food! Especially the gravy! :)

8. The Christmas Eve service at church. I look forward to this service all year long, no matter which church we go to. This will be our first Christmas Eve at our new church and I know it will be just perfect.

9. My Christmas pillows. My Aunt Betty cross-stitches the most beautiful pillows and sends me a new one every year. It's always so much fun to open a package from her this time of year because I know it will be a new pillow. We have the pillows hanging all over our house and they make me smile whenever I see them. :)

10. The UPS truck. Ironically, it's stopping in front of my house RIGHT NOW! I do so much of my shopping online these days and it's fun to get packages, even if it's a gift that I'm giving to somebody else.

11. Christmas cards. It's fun sending them out (a.k.a. showing off my adorable kiddos!) and receiving them. I love seeing how much everybody's children have grown and changed over the past year.

12. Watching Christmas movies, especially National Lampoons Christmas Vacation and A Christmas Story.
13. The true meaning of Christmas---that God loved us so much that he sent his son, Jesus Christ, to be born to Mary and Joseph so that he could one day die to save all of us from our sins. THAT is the real reason we celebrate CHRISTmas. :)

Merry Christmas!!!

Currently loving...

The Little People Deluxe Christmas Story nativty set by Fisher Price. My mom gave it to Grayson a couple of years ago and it's a huge hit with him this year. We have it set up on the floor in front of the fireplace and Grayson plays with it all the time. He loves running around the house yelling, "Baby Deedis" while holding baby Jesus. Too cute! My favorite part is the angel on top that plays, "Away In a Manger" when you push on it. If anybody is looking for a great Christmas gift for a child, this one is perfect!

Grayson's (mis)adventure with our tree...

Last night Grayson pulled our Christmas tree down onto himself. The entire tree. It made for a scary few moments but he thankfully was fine, although many of our ornaments were not. One second Grayson was showing Ben an ornament he made in school, and the next thing we knew, the tree was falling down and knocked Grayson to the ground. Ben quickly pulled the tree off of him and I grabbed him as fast as I could and checked him all over for cuts/bumps before I helped him calm down. I also shed a few tears for the broken ornaments all over our floor, but all that really matters is that Grayson wasn't hurt. Our tree is now securely tied to the wall and will be headed off to be made into mulch the day after Christmas!

It had never even occurred to us that we needed to secure the tree to the wall---it's in a big, sturdy tree stand and Grayson rarely messes with it. All it took was one little tug on that branch and down it came. I'm sure every Christmas tree we have from now until 2025 will be tied to the wall! :)

The quest for a Christmas picture

It's pretty much impossible to get a decent picture of Grayson and Emma Claire together! Ben and I spent a good 30 minutes attempting to get "the one" for our Christmas card yesterday but had no success. We got lots of shots of Grayson jumping away and Emma Claire eating her dress, though. At this rate, I'll be lucky to get my cards out in January! :)

Sharing with his sister

Despite being in his terrible two's, there is a positive side to our little boy---he's learning to share! This is what I found yesterday...

Terrible Two's...

We are are now 1/4 of the way through the terrible two's. Lord, give me strength!!! :)

Trip to Indiana

Sorry for being such a blogging slacker lately! We were out of town for the weekend and it's taken me three days to finally get back into the swing of things! We had a fabulous weekend in Indiana visiting my best friend Jeni, her husband Ryan, and their new baby, Jackson. Jackson is SO, SO adorable and it was wonderful being able to finally hold him and love on him! He has the most kissable cheeks I've ever seen! Jeni and Ryan are fabulous parents, but I wouldn't have expected any less. Jeni and I became friends when my family moved to Indiana the summer before 3rd grade, and we've managed to stay close even though it's been over 10 years since we've lived in the same state. It's hard to believe that we're mamas now...it seems like just yesterday we were in high school.

Ben and I survived our first airplane trip with both children. It wasn't the easiest thing we've ever done, but it wasn't too bad. Our flight to Indy left at 5:30am, so we were up bright and early at 3 trying to get the car packed with our luggage and wake the children up. The security folks at the Savannah airport were on a power-trip so they barked at us the whole time we were trying to get through security---Grayson was screaming because they fussed at him for not taking his shoes off (I was furious with these people) and I was so flustered that I fell and sprained my ankle in the middle of everything. We finally made it onto the airplane--with Grayson's huge carseat, 2 carry-on bags, a double stroller, and both children. All went well until Emma Claire decided to have the biggest blowout she's ever had AND I ran out of wipes while changing her. I ended up having to throw her clothes in the trash and use the changing pad to finish cleaning her up. Luckily, I had a change of clothes for her and Jeni and Ryan didn't mind us giving her a bath as soon as we got to their house! :) We had a fun-filled weekend of catching up, shopping, eating, going to the children's museum (the "choo choo wains" were his favorite!), and playing with the babies. Ryan even took Ben to the Colts game on Sunday (Ben's first pro-football game!).

Our flights home on Monday were uneventful until we finally made it to the car, got everything and everybody buckled in, and then realized we had a completely flat tire. I got to watch my manly hubby change a tire---almost. He was in a huge hurry to get back and do a presentation that evening for work, so I called in for backup and a repair guy came and helped Ben finish with the tire. Ben "did the hard part" and the guy finished up with "the easy stuff", according to Ben. :) Anyway, we made it back home just in time for Ben to run inside, put on a suit, and run out the door for his presentation. Now, three days later, I'm almost caught up on laundry and the kiddos are getting back into their usual routines.