Well it's Dec 28th and we have a snow advisory the whole day. Supposedly it is going to snow 5 inches or so. We'll see, that would be nice as all of our previous snow melted. The kids are watching an animal DVD from San Diego Zoo that I got from Aldi. It's cute. It shows all the animals from the zoo and what they do in the zoo. Jack likes it more than Shay...she likes more ACTION. I have tons of laundry to do today but that's fine because we'll probably stay in today.
The snowflakes are BIG and it really is pretty. I am so thankful for a warm house. I always think about all the homeless people during this bad weather. Chris met with a couple the other day who were homeless with a newborn. It was really sad. He referred them to a family organization down the street so hopefully they were able to help more longterm. That always breaks my heart when babies are placed in those situations.
So long for now.
Okay, so it did snow all day. I changed the theme to snowmen because all Jack wants to do is make snowmen after is snows. Chris and I will have to "google" how to make a snowman. =)
Well it's two days post Christmas. What a fun time we had. This year we stayed here in the Chicago area. It was our first time in a LONG time to be here for Christmas. Chris's parents came up to celebrate with us. We spent our Christmas eve at our friends house having a birthday party for Jesus. There were 8 adult and 11 children and two dogs (who stayed in their kennels). Jack was in heaven as our friends had a train set up. Shay loved walking on the hard wood floor with her fancy shoes, holding various baby dolls. We had a "nativity" play which my children opted to NOT participate.
Christmas AM was fun. The kids received three gifts each from me and Chris. We decided to do this 3 gift limit like Jesus received 3 gifts from the wise men. Of course Nana and Papa, Grammy and Auntie/Uncle also bought them gifts. Jack's favorite..hmmm it's hard to say. He loved everything at different times. I would say anything related to Thomas the Tank is a hit. Shay loved her stroller and baby doll. She was sooo happy. She also loved her slippers from Grammy and two cute bears from Auntie. Oh, just so I don't forget, Jack kept calling the stockings "boots". For some reason that tickled me.
Now that Christmas is over we are just trying to put the house back together and just enjoy this quiet week between Christmas and New Years. Chris's parents went back to Tulsa today. We went to Geneva to get Shay a pair of shoes. She grew one and a half sizes since September! I knew her shoes were tight but I felt horrible when I realized she was a size 6 wearing a size 5...that explains the constant tripping. Well she now has some hot pink numbers which weren't my first choice but Chris reminded me "she's only going to wear them for 3 months".
So that's our Christmas week in a nutshell. We are soo thankful for the birth of Jesus and it was really fun to see Jack all excited about Jesus' birthday. We hope all of you were just as excited and were able to focus on the real reason for the season, which is Christ our Lord.
The kids found the antlers that we used for the dogs one Christmas. Who knew that these "deer ears" as Jack calls them would be so much fun. Shay loves to wear them on her head and so does Jack, but he also likes to shake them and make the bells jingle while singing Christmas songs. It's too cute. Here is Shay striking a pose after a nap one afternoon.
Today Jack and I and Shay went to our friend's house, Hannah and Mrs. K, to play. Both kids had a good time. Jack loved playing with Hannah's play food. Since we don't have any at home and have to "pretend" using a plastic ring or a nesting cup, Jack really loved that he could really play with a cake, donut, pie, banana etc. Shay loved the baby dolls and getting in and out of all the different chairs that Hannah had. She also loved being chased by Hannah. Too cute. It was cold and raining today. Both kids are down and I'm trying to do some things on the computer for Christmas with not much luck. I need Chris.
Tomorrow my friend Kristin is bringing her two girls over to play while she runs errands. It should be another fun morning of play!!!
I am hoping to paint the bathroom and stain the doors in the next week. We'll see how that goes.
enjoy
Well it's officially winter time. We had our first snowfall last night. Jack was super excited this morning to see the white blanket outside. Shay was equally excited to be outside in the snow. We ventured out early today to buy the kids some snow boots. After we returned from Kohl's (it's great having stores open at 8am) Shay was walking around and lost her balance and went FACE first in the snow. She couldn't get her arms out quick enough to catch herself with all her "gear" on. It was a pitiful sight. She recovered quickly all things considered... Jack has been super excited about all the Christmas trees and lights. He discovered the joy in say "merry Christmas" to people so he started doing that. His favorite song is "Joy to the world". Whenever I play Christmas music I have to keep hitting "repeat" on the same song. Sometimes I can get in silent night or we wish you a merry Christmas. SInce Shay loves music and is not partial, she'll clap her hands and dance to anything. She is so fun lately. She is just talking like crazy even though we don't understand all she says. She imitates what you say or tries to. She likes to say "choo choo" and no and baby etc, She loves to put on glasses and hats and carry her doll and push things. She is a little girl but with a definite interest in her brother's toys (trains, cars, etc.)
I just found out that I am in need of knee surgery. I have a torn medial meniscus. So I have surgery on Jan 8th. My mom was coming out anyway during that time but now she is coming a little later so she can stay longer to help me with the kids after surgery. I've heard it's not bad (recovery) so I'm hoping that is the case. We have our house decorated despite the fact that the tree has fallen over twice. Now I have the baby play yard in front of it so the kids can't pull the ornaments and make it shake. The kids had nothing to do with the tree falling over, just gravity.
We are staying here in IL for Christmas. It will be our third Christmas here in 9 years. I guess it's time to start traditions here with the kids but it's still hard not going back to CA to be with family. However, there are a ton of fun Christmas things to do here in Chicago. We want to take the kids downtown to Lincoln Park Zoo to see the lights. There is also a free gospel choir concert in Millinium Park in a couple weeks. We have some stuff going on at church too. This Friday Chris and I and the kids are supposed to go help some refugee families decorate their Christmas tree. I know both kids will love that.
I guess that's all for now. There are often funny things that happen during my day and I think "i need to post that so I don't forget" but then time slips away and I don't get to the computer. Anyway, so long for now.
A video will come soon.
Here is a clip of Jack making a train out of our kitchen and dining room chairs. He came up with this on his own. Shay loves little chairs so she is in the background enjoying herself as I took Jack's booster chair off the chair and put it on the floor. She thought that was just great.
Well we received Shay's one year pics a couple weeks ago. They turned out great! I would love to post them all but here are just a few. Enjoy
Well I believe that there are certain events that happen in a parents life where one feels as if they have truly "arrived". I believe that I experienced that this week. On Monday night Shay woke up with the stomach flu. We spent the night together sleeping in her rocking chair (which is leather and reclines..quite comfortable and perfect for this situation) in between her vomiting spells every 10 minutes. After a couple hours her body started to calm down and she only threw up every hour. By 5:30 AM she had stopped throwing up and was ready to play. During the day, she took two 3- 31/2 hour naps and went to bed early. The next night she slept through but when I went to get her in the AM I was greeted by that wonderful aroma. She had gotten sick sometime in the night but I guess she decided not to let me know about it. On Wednesday night I came down with what Shay had. Thursday Chris stayed home to help me. By noon I was feeling less dizzy and nauseas and Chris came down with something at noon. At noon, Jack then came down with diahhrea which almost put me back into relapse mode but we made it through. Well Thursday Chris and I recovered and the kids seemed okay. Friday Jack had the flu in full force (diarrhea). Today, Saturday, he seemed liked he was "off" but no yucks...but at 5:00pm we were greeted again by diarrhea and then at 6pm with the pukes (while at a restaurant). He managed to do this rather discretely and we managed to clean him up, our area and sneak out without too much attention. He is sleeping now, as is Shay. We can only pray that he feels better in the AM and that Shay will not get the bug back!! We hope to leave for Tulsa on Monday and are really praying that all will be healthy.
Whew! It's been an interesting week. I will say that despite all the "yucks" we have had some sweet times of just hanging out, cuddling, watching DVD's, reading books and just being "cozy" at home. As I was sleeping with Shay on my chest Tuesday night, I was thinking how sweet and tender our time was even though my thoughts were often interrupted by heaving! As for Jack, he kept wanting me to hold him today and kept saying "mommy help my tummy please" It was heartbreaking. As Chris and I were tucking him in I was getting teary eyed because he looked so sad. My mind instantly went to thinking of those parents who are truly struggling with terminally ill children. Oh my goodness, I can't even imagine. As I was praying tonight for the kids, I had to lift up all those families who have children that are so sick.
On a positive note, Chris and I went to a parenting class this AM. It was super good and very helpful. The website is www.famtime.com
Anyway I have to go finish packing and I just need to go to bed. I will post some pictures of the kids from last week tomorrow.
So last night Shay girl decided to wake up at 1:30am never to return to sleep until Chris's powers took over at 7am. She feel asleep at one point, 4:30 but when I pulled up the rail (quietly) she awoke and that was that. Jack has a cold and sounds terrible. He is playing super sweet right now though and just being very lovey. We are heading to the doctor in a half hour. Shay is napping I think. Anyway, I wish there was some magic potion I could give Shay to get her to fall back asleep once she wakes up. She goes down for bed relatively well it's just if she wakes up in the night forget it. I have let her cry up to 45 minutes but maybe I just need to let her cry until she falls back asleep. I'll talk to the doctor today.
On another note, the weather has been beautiful. We are enjoying the outside and just the fall feel. We don't have anything major planned this week. I have to work here and there so our days are kind of chunky. I would like to finish our basement project but we are at a point where I can easily just blow it off which isn't good because I can sense "procrastination" in my blood.
Jack is making me a "party" with the mega blocks. It's a cake and he says I'm turning 8. That's a good age. Well I hope everyone is doing well, please send me a comment, I would love to hear from whoever is reading our blog.
