Thanksgiving Weekend

We had a wonderful four day weekend for Thanksgiving! On Thursday we hosted both familes at our house for Thansgiving dinner. The dinner turned out great and everyone had fun hanging out, watching football and playing with the kids! At dinner we took turns saying what we were Thankful for. Alex said he was thankful for "everybody" and "eating". Aurora said she was thankful for "Thanksgiving!"

Thursday afternoon Alex started not feeling well. He started non-stop coughing - couldn't even talk without coughing. Then he came down with a fever. He coughed all night long Thursday night and was miserable on Friday. So Friday we just laid around the house and I took him to the doctor that afternoon - double ear infection, tonsilitis, and a respiratory infection! His fever got up to 103 at the doctor's office. We left with prescriptions for antibiotics and nebulizer treatments.

We took it easy on Saturday as well and after several nebulizer treatments Alex was clearly feeling better, and his fever broke. So we did some Christmas crafts and wrote their letters to Santa.

On Sunday, my best friend Megan came over and we had a fun-filled day of decorating for Christmas, wrapping presents, and baking sugar cookies! Alex and Aurora enjoyed decorating the trees - we have a family one and they have one of their own (so they can play with theirs and leave the family one alone!) They also enjoyed pulling out all the Christmas books and movies. At naptime Megan and I wrapped presents - it took us three hours! There are lots of presents under the tree already. I only have a few more to pick up.

After nap we made sugar cookies! The kids loved cutting them out and putting frosting and sprinkles on them. Alex made two, licked all the frosting off of them, and decided he was done. Aurora decorated all of hers with mountains of sprinkles. Megan makes the BEST sugar cookie dough!

Overall it was a fantastic weekend! Alex is feeling much better and I have a beautiful, festive, yummy smelling house. I love Christmastime!!

Santa!

On Sunday we went to the mall to see Santa and let the kids pick out their ornaments for this year. It's usually crazy every weekend after Black Friday so we thought this would be the time to go.



Our mall has a great play area so we got there about twenty minutes before the mall opened and let the kids play before it was flooded with kids. They had fun playing but I think Aurora is almost too big for it!

Santa wasn't scheduled to arrive until an hour after the mall opened, so when the stores opened we went to Hallmark first to pick out ornaments. Every year they get to pick out an ornament to put on the tree. When they grow up and move out of the house, they can take their set with them. Hallmark had some great ones this year and it was hard for them to decide! Aurora finally decided on Bolt and Alex got another Rocket (big surprise)!



After that we did some shopping and had lunch, and then the kids got to ride the Christmas train! It's a little track with a kid sized train that is there only at Christmastime. Alex is so into trains right now, he was crazy excited and loved riding in the engine and ringing the bell.



Then we went down to get in line for Santa. Good thing we were there right away - we were third in line and it quickly filled in behind us. I'd say there were at least 25 kids behind us by the time we got up there! I wasn't sure how Alex was going to be. This is the first year he is really learning who Santa is, and he didn't look too sure about going up to the big guy! He followed Sister's lead though and got up there and told Santa he wanted a "choo choo train" and a "dinosaur." The he smiled big for the camera! I was so proud of him!

Aurora told him she wanted "play-doh" and "bendaroos" - she's a pro at this now. They got candy canes and coloring books and were on their way! They talked about Santa and the train and their ornaments all the way home. It was a fantastic day.

Break a Leg...

It's been exactly a year since one of the worst days of my life. I've been thinking about it all week. I was looking back at the terrible X-rays, the videos of him using his walker, and finally walking again after months in a body cast. Those were some of the hardest few months! We went through all the baby stages again, twice. While in the 40 pound cast he learned to roll over, crawl, and then walk again - only to have to learn it all again when the cast came off. He spent Thanksgiving day laying in a bean bag chair. Today I am so thankful that nobody would even know that he broke his leg a year ago. He has recovered completely and doesn't even have a limp. I love watching him run around and play, and I am looking forward to a "normal" Thanksgiving where he can wrestle with Grandpa and sit on the counter while I cook!

Christmas Card Photo Shoot

Two weeks ago I called our usual photographer to schedule our family Christmas card session - and the number was disconnected. I drove down to her office - and found an empty office space. She must have gone out of business! I am sad - she's been taking photos of the kids since Aurora was 1 years old, and I can't believe she didn't call to let me know.

Anyway, I don't have the time nor want to put the effort into finding another photographer this late in the game, so I decided I would just get a picture of the kids myself! I went down to the Dollar Store to get some "props" first, for the kids to play with and make the picture look festive. Then I did what any desperate mother would do - I bribed them! I told them if they were really good for the photos and listened, cooperated, and smiled nicely they would get a big piece of candy afterward!

I spread out a big white tablecloth and pinned it to the wall, got the kids all dressed and groomed and set out the props. I have to say they did really good! They played with the props and looked at me when I asked and behaved as well as they could!

Let me also note that I have a very old camera - we bought it right before Aurora was born! In fact, a new one is on my Christmas list this year. But I had to make do with what I could. I also don't have any cool photo editing software. Despite that, I think the final photo came out pretty good! A little blurry, but hopefully not too noticeable on a small Christmas card. Still, I don't see a career in photography in my future!

Here are some outtakes, and then the final photo to be uploaded to Snapfish for our cards:

Note: Thanks for the potty training tips!

Potty Training...

So Alex and I have been working on potty training. Let me be honest - I don't think he is ready. But his teacher thinks he is. Plus, his school is split into two sides - a daycare side and a preschool side. Three-year-olds move to the preschool side, but not until they are potty trained. Alex is the only three-year-old still on the daycare side. :-(

[Let me just mention here that Aurora pretty much trained herself at 2 1/2, shortly after Alex was born.]

When Alex started back at the school in August, they told me to bring him in pull-ups and they would start working with him. We (his teachers and myself) set him on the toilet at each pull-up change. Then we started taking him every hour. He eventually started to go on the toilet occasionally, but he still wouldn't tell us when he had to go.

A few weeks ago his teacher suggested we put him in underwear, so that he would really feel it when he has an accident. I am seeing the same results. He'll go when you put him on there (although sometimes he has a HUGE meltdown when I ask him to sit on the toilet), but he won't tell us when he has to go. He has no problem playing in wet (or worse) underwear and pants. His teacher says he'll get it in time. Meanwhile I have to do laundry every day to supply them with 2-3 new outfits each day and rinse out poopy underwear.

I'm tired and frustrated. He's not happy and is being held back in school. Where do we go from here?

One More - Pumpkin Carving!

One last October post that I forgot to post - Pumpkin Carving! The Thursday before Halloween we met up with Grandma S. for our annual pumpkin picking and carving. On that day, it was actually snowing when we went to get pumpkins! It was crazy; it snowed for about an hour and then was melted before we even got home to carve! Gotta love the Southwest!

We went to a small pumpkin stand that we always go to, put on by a local church. The kids had fun romping through the pumpkins and playing with the turkey and ghost signs. They were very serious about picking their pumpkins and looked all over to find just the right one. It was a little difficult with snow on them!

Finally we got our pumpkins and headed home. In addition to the big pumpkins we also had the two little pumpkins that Aurora and Daddy got on her field trip. The kids had picked out pumpkin tattoos to put on their big ones, but wanted to carve the little ones. Aurora was much better about scooping out the pulp this time than previous years but she still refused to touch it! Alex didn't want to touch it either but was a trooper about scooping it and shaking it out.

We did the tattoos and then I let Aurora carve for the first time, with me helping her. I think she did a great job! Alex was pretty bored by then and went to do something else. I carved a dragon in mine and Grandma did a silly face. I think they came out great!

First Field Trip!

With all of the Halloween excitement, I forgot to post about Aurora's first field trip! On October 27th they went to Wagner's Farm, a local farm and pumpkin patch! Aurora was so excited, and Daddy got to go with her!

They pet and fed animals, played in hay bales, and of course, picked their own pumpkin! Aurora's teacher warned them that they would have to carry their pumpkin all around, so Aurora was careful to pick a small one that was not too heavy.

Overall it was a great time, and I'm a tiny bit jealous I didn't get to go. But I'll go next time - we're taking turns!

Thriller

Here's the video that wasn't working in the previous post. Aurora's in the black and red.

Halloween!

The kids had a great Halloween this year! Alex was Buzz Lightyear (as if there were any doubt) and Aurora was a Jester like her daddy!

The day started with Grandma S. coming over and presenting them with "Best Costume" awards and their first bit of candy! Then we got the kids dressed up and went to Aurora's Hip Hip class, where she performed "Thriller" for us! She did a great job and was so proud of herself. I am proud of her too! Here's the video:

[Video REMOVED - See above]

In the afternoon we dressed the kids up again and went to see Grandma and Grandpa K. and Auntie Charissa. By the time all of this was done their buckets were already full!

We ran home to empty the buckets and then we joined Megan and the boys for Trick or Treating! We roamed the streets with Buzz, two jesters, a rat, and a skunk! The kids were so cute - Alex would keep saying "Trick or Treat!" from the time they opened the door until he got his candy. Then they both would say "Thank you" at the end. Alex lasted about an hour before he started getting tired so we went back to the house while the others did a bit more. He had just as much fun handing out candy as he did getting it! And he was very generous too - he gave out huge handfuls!

Aurora came back with even more candy and was very pleased. We got home, handed out a bit more candy, and then everyone crashed for the night!