All I wanted for Christmas this year was a healthy family. Scout is on his way, and Dash seems to have a clean bill of health!
MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ME!
Dash’s First Christmas!
Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve has always been my favorite part of Christmas. Don’t get me wrong…the actual day is only millimeters behind the night before. It’s when we sit around and exchange gifts with the person, whose name we picked out of the hat. There is always a ton of creativity that goes into these gifts, and plenty of time and effort. Afterwards, we open our P.J.’s from Nonnie and then proceed to sending the boys off to Harbor House for shakes, and displaying the presents for the girls. (The kids are asleep by this point.) It is always a long night, but I would make it last four times as long if everyone else was on board!
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This year, we switched it up a bit. Instead of having the cousins exchange and the adults exchange, we put everyone in the same hat. (We also decided that we would keep it to anyone who was here, because quite honestly, it was getting out of control! Postage alone was ridiculous!)
Scout and Icka had Chloe and Trey, so they joined in on a gift that Scout thought up. A zip line for their backyard! They were totally stoked, and both went in to give Scout kisses for the gift.
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Somehow I missed the picture of Scout getting a beanbag toss from Jake. It was such a great idea because he had been playing with one a few weeks before at Ryan Conner’s graduation party. Smart and thoughtful Jake made a mental note, and went home to order one up!
Chloe had Icka this year, and got her a cookie set for her kitchen she would get the next day (although she didn’t know it). She died over it, and served us all cookies the rest of the night.
The second part of Chloe’s gift was darling. She had personally made Navy a DVD of her entire life. She did voice overs, video and pictures completely by herself. It was amazing!
Icka was glued to watching herself.
It was seriously the cutest and nicest gift. Chloe did a great job, and even matched up the music to the time in her life that was being shown. We stopped the whole night, and watched the whole DVD right then and there.
Cade had Dash, and got him a sock monkey.
And a dog sleeping bag! I was dying, because Cade went shopping on his own and picked everything out by himself. What he didn’t know was that Scout and Navy were getting bigger dog sleeping bags the next day!
Perfect!
Micah had Bry, and got him a “fruit salad” tree. It’s a tree that has five different citrus fruits grafted in which makes it bloom all year long, and provides a great variety. Obviously Bry was stoked!
Dash had Jake, and since we did most of our shopping online this year, (remember my boy who is in his second week of a body cast), we had to get really creative. He got a DVD of the Mountain States 100 documentary that he was so excited about. And then I got him a blanket for his car when he goes to college of “Persuasion”. You know — the name the four oldest cousins call their clan. I love these four, and can’t even believe that one of them is leaving us.
Remember my online shopping — well I had Tristen, and she got a picture blanket too! I made hers of the things she loves most in life. Her mom and nieces and nephews. I also got her two cooking classes to take with me, and a scooter rental in Dana Point!
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Trilby had Micah and gave him “A Day In The Life of Micah” which included amongst many other things, an awesome running jacket, and some gift certificates to Denny’s to take the kids, and Ryder’s Club to take me!
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And Megan (the most awesome gift giver) gave me “Lindsey’s Favorite Things”! She gave me at least 15 things that were all thoughtful, and things I really loved. Like a white pepper and pink salt set because I love spicces, a t-shirt folder because I love things to look good, darling dishes and a cake plate because I love to entertain, funny books because I love to do what was in the funny books, a laminating machine because I love to , playdo crafts because I love to play with my kids, mini bread tins because I love things that are mini, and the list is endless. But of all of the things I love most — I love my sister Megan, so she gave me the most coveted gift of all — an entire day of her services. Whatever I wanted her to do -clean, organize, babysit- she would do it!
I pick shopping together!
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It was the funnest night — as usual. Then the boys brought in all of the presents, and were off (minus Micah who was pretty sick). And then we went to work. But let it be known, I went to work as everyone talked and hung out. They always offer, but the present display is my baby!
And as you can see (Christmas Morning) — I take good care of my baby!
And afterwards, Tristen picks out a present for each girl to open. And then we open more, and more. It is so fun, and my favorite tradition all year long!
Christmas Photo Shoot
Props to the talented and patient Elise Capener!
She did a bang-up job on our Christmas pictures this year!
Then she took some shots of Dash.
How cute is he! He literally has been able to hold his head up from day one. I am glad she captured it so perfectly!
And then the kids jumped in with him. Of course they were already undressed. Of course Icka was done!
Buddies
I didn’t know how Scout’s incapacitated state would affect Icka and Scout’s relationship.
It looks like it has only made it better.
PHEW!
A Slight Turn
It is no secret that Navy is a stinker. But as of the last few days, I have seen a marked improvement. She still has a huge personality and is still stubborn. But lately I have noticed that she really wants to be good, and LOVES positive attention. Whenever I tell her how she did something really good, she gets a tiny smile at the edges of her lips. She is also saying “please”, and “thank you”, and “excuse me mama” without coaching. And whenever I ask her to do something, she immediately says “sure Mama”!
This day, I had put the rags in to wash. As a surprise to me, Bella taught her how to fold them. After showing her one time, Icka spent about ten minutes folding away. And she literally folded every single one, and did a great job! When she came out to show me her handiwork, I was so impressed that I cheered and celebrated her work. She tried hard, but I saw that smile creep up her face, and she was SO proud!
Even Scout couldn’t believe what a good job she had done. Lucky her — she just inherited a new job!
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This little girl of mine has become the sweetest thing lately. As she walks around the house all day either humming or singing, I can’t believe the quick change. But I am not totally crossing my fingers just yet. There hasn’t been quite enough time to call it a permanent change. And before she hums or sings, she announces to the room, “Shush everyone….SHUSH….I am singing!”
Orange Like Jake
The orthopedist I saw for Scout’s “second opinion” didn’t think Scout needed his right foot covered in a cast. So he sawed it off and needed to recast the lower half. He asked if red was still the color he wanted, but Scout changed his cast to have orange in it “just like Jake”. That’s pretty cute. So now he is sporting a multicolored cast, and part of it is in honor of the oldest, best and nicest cousin around.
Cousin Relief
On their first two days of Christmas Break, Trey and Chloe came to spend it with Scout and Icka. it was the biggest blessing, because I have had things on my “to do” list forever. And because they were here entertaining and tending my kids, I was able to cross most things off. But that isn’t the only reason I was glad they were here. Both Trey and Chloe are so nice, fun and great examples to my kids. I love to have them around. And with Megan being a bit tight on sleepovers, I was thrilled to see her give two of her kids to me for three nights!
Amongst the activities, there was a lot of board games. He is definitely my kid, because he would take a board game over television, a movie, video games or anything else!
Since the break, I introduced him to Battleship, and he loves it! I told him how this was one of my favorites when I was young, and it is definitely one of his faves now!
But when he tried to stack his ships on top of each other, and I told him that was cheating so the opponent couldn’t win…he had a major meltdown. So bad that he ended up in timeout, and I had to tell him, “I don’t care if you are in a cast or not….that is no was to behave.” It killed me to do it, but he was as good as gold from the time he got out until bed time!
Chloe and Trey taught my kids how to be crafty, and showed them how to string Fruit Loops.
They thought it was really fun, and Scout did a great job doing a pattern.
Icka did a better job stuffing her face, but loved Chloe’s string. Then Chloe helped Icka compete her own.
And they all ended up on our pathetic tree. But to be honest, I kind of love our tree. It is far from attractive, but everything on there is from this season. Including the “Get Well Scout” banner his Sunbeam class gave him, and the ribbons from Brett’s 12 days of Christmas gifts. We now added the Fruit Loops, and are making it more beautiful every single day. And the best part — when the holidays are over — it all just gets dumped! Now that is MY kind of decorating!
He’s Mobile
In more ways than one!
We rigged the jogger stroller, and with a little padding in the back, this baby works perfectly. Thank goodness, because sitting in the house all day is the pits. So between this and the car seat the hospital gave us, we can go anywhere and do just about anything!
And when we are in the house, Scout has figured out a scooting method. It was day two, and I went in to the Family Night Room to check on him. When he wasn’t there, I couldn’t figure out who had moved him. the answer — it was Scout himself. He was across the room, and only a day later was half way down the stairs. That’s my inventive little boy!
1st Day of Preschool
The nicest woman in the world is Diane Greiner. When she heard about Scout, she teared up, and was at our house the next day with treats and a sign from his whole preschool. By the time she showed up, Scout was exhausted. It was towards the end of the night, but the second she walked in, he perked up higher than ever. I guess that is a sign of a fabulous preschool teacher. I love that he absolutely adores her. And I love that she adores him.
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So the nicest part of her visit was when she said, “I know this might sound weird, but would it be alright if Navy came to school while Scout can’t?” ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!! I have been so sad that my poor girl has been lacking attention because I have to be so attentive to Scout and Dash right now. Bella has kicked it into high gear, and has been awesome. Mostly because I want her near me, but when I have a moment, I want to be with her. So thank you Bella. But thank you Miss Diane even more! On top of wanting to give her more attention, I have been wanting to put her into a setting where she needs to follow the rules from an adult. So when Miss Diane offered, I jumped. This would allow her to be in a rule-following setting, and get some attention she needs. I was sorried what Scout would think, but he was excited for her, and especially that she could bring his work home. So the next morning, Icka was up and getting dressed for school before she even knew what was going on.
Before she left, I pulled one of her presents for Scout to give her.
It was her very own backpack!
When she got there, Miss Diane made her feel really comfortable, and although she was nervous, she walked right in.
It took a few minutes for her to get in with the crowd, but after I left, Miss Diane said she fit right in.
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When I picked her up, she said she loved it. She said Riley (Scout’s best bud) was her favorite friend. She got to paint, sing and read. She was super excited for day two. I was so happy to see that everything was working out, and that she was a fan of this change. I couldn’t wait for her day two. Too bad she threw up on that day. Poor Miss Diane. Poor Icka. Poor me.
I’m just glad that it was the day before the Christmas break so that everyone at school will hopefully forget before school is back in session!
Heaven Sent
Thank goodness for:
her
and her!
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