Ears

On Jan. 11th Caleb went in to get tubes put in his ears. We did that twice with Jackson so it wasn't a totally new experience. Caleb has had multiple ear infections recently and the fluid wasn't going away and antibiotics weren't really helping so in for tubes we went. The hospital let me go back with him to the OR and stay with him while they put him under. That was actually really nice. I knew he was going to scream and throw a huge fit if they took him away from me. He didn't cry at all. The doctors and nurses were way more worried about me. I think some parents tend to freak out a little...... I didn't - I was too relieved that it was going so smoothly without screaming and fit throwing. I was kind of amused by the nurses standing close to me, telling me it was ok, what to expect and constantly asking how I was doing. They said it was a lot harder on the parents to come back with the child but easier on the child. Personally, I think it was way easier on me too. Tubes don't take very long. After 15-20 minutes they came to get me so I could see him in the recovery room. He was awake and NOT happy. Coming off the anesthesia is by far the worst part of the whole experience. After they were sure he was fully awake I took him back to our room. He was still pretty fussy but starting to calm down. He drank the cup of juice they gave and a squeeze applesauce so after a little while they let us go. We got there at 6:30 am and left at 9:00. Overall it went really well.
He went from needed his blankie and pacifier constantly to just when he was tired that same day. It was pretty amazing. He is a much happier kiddo now. He is also talking a lot more. Kind of cool how something so simple can make such a huge difference.

Mohawk

 

A couple of weeks ago I was doing the girls hair when Caleb came in and wanted me to do something to his hair too. He loves to do whatever the big kids are doing. So I gave him a little mohawk. He thought it was pretty funny. He kept reaching up to touch it. Hailey called it his 'wave' and pointed it out to everyone!! It's a good thing mohawks are cute on little guys. It gets a little less attrative as they get older.... :)

Christmas morning 2011

 

I found a remote control snake that we decided to give to Caleb. We left it unwrapped by the tree. That was excellent. The kids all played with it while they waited to open everything else. I will have to remember that trick :) They had already opened their stockings..... Maggie was very excited about a towel hair wrap. She loves to wrap up her hair after a bath but the towel always falls off. Funny girl. Hailey is playing with a poingo. I gave it to them as a family gift. They have all loved it. It's just a little pen thing that has special books to go with it. It reads the books alound and there are a lot of different games to play. I love that it's simple and small. The kids have all used it quite a bit. If you don't have one -you might think about it. It was only $10. It came with 2 books and I bought an additional 2 for $5. Caleb liked watching everyone else open presents :)

 

They all got some kind of project thing to do so they spent quite a bit of the morning quietly working at the table. Another excellent plan to remember for the future. Jackson is building legoes, Maggie is decorating girls with scratch off stickers, and Hailey is painting a little teddy bear bank that Jackson got her.
They have a secret Santa shop at school that the kids can bring money in to choose presents for whoever. I let them take $10 and they each chose a present for each person in the family. They were so excited to wrap them up and kept talking about how much everyone was going to love their presents! Very cute. I took Hailey to the dollar store to get presents for the other kids. She picked out a ball for each of them :)

 

I decided to make a hooded towel for each one of them. We've had small hooded towels before and they love them so I wanted to make bigger ones. I made Jackson's a bomb bird, Maggie's a butterfly and Hailey's a unicorn. They were actually pretty simple. If you didn't do a design, you could have towel done in about 10 min.

Christmas Eve

 

On Christmas Eve we had our bigger dinner. Although it was just our family - we had ham, mashed potatoes, rolls, salad, corn..... Matt bought and apple pie and a chocolate mousse pie. Maybe someday I will make pies. After eating we opened presents that came from other people. I like opening presents Christmas Eve and Christmas morning. I think it makes it last longer.... :) My sister made a pillowcase for each of the kids. They were so excited to have their own special material - just look at their faces! We played with the presents and games until bedtime.
During the day (because I tend to put things off) I had the kids take turns wrapping presents for each other. They really loved that. I think it will have to be a new tradition. They might need to draw names to see whose presents they get to wrap. Maggie really, really likes choosing ribbons and bows to put on the presents. Then we would bring up the pile and put it under the tree. They thought it was pretty cool to see the pile grow bit by bit each time we brought some up. I was really happy that it was a laid back day. We had everything we needed so we wouldn't have to run to the store and I had wrapped almost all the other presents already. I did have to finish their hooded towels but there really wasn't much left.

ICE skating

We went to one of those free night timeshare promotions...... it was at a very cool resort. No, we didn't buy anything but we did go ice skating with all the kids for the first time. So funny to see all their personalities come out in an activity like that. I get out on the ice first with Hailey, Caleb and Maggie. Sometimes I don't know what I'm thinking..... Matt was trading skate sizes for Jackson. I was holding Caleb with both hands while Maggie held the wall and Hailey alternated between me and the wall. Caleb thinks it's great and slides his feet all over really fast. Hailey is slightly nervous but really wants me to hold onto to her so she can "go better", Maggie is fine holding the wall and happily inching along. Next thing I know Jackson goes whooshing by and crashes into the wall at the far end. Matt comes skating up and does a pretty good slide stop considering he hasn't been on skates in years. He used to work at an ice rink - just before I met him. Jackson gets right back up, takes off and falls down. He does this over and over until he gets the hang of it. By the time we get off the ice he's up more than down. His pants are soaked from falling but he's begging to skate longer. Matt helped out with Hailey and Caleb who also loved it but started to get cold. Caleb refused to wear gloves. I went around a few times with Maggie who liked it but seemed just as happy holding the wall. I look over to see her pants wet (not from ice).....shoot. All of this happens in about 15 min. So I take Maggie, Hailey and Caleb so we can get dry clothes for Maggie. Matt and Jackson stay and skate until we get back. Whew. It wears me out just reading about it again. I only have a pic of Matt and Jackson. I will add it soon. Jackson has been begging to go again. In fact everyone really enjoyed it. It was just a little rink. I can imagine the look on Jackson's face when he sees a full size rink and he's allowed out on it. We will probably try to go again this winter. We just need two more adults...... :)Rollerblades may not be too far off.

Coloring

 

Caleb has started to discover the wonders of coloring :) He doesn't really worry about staying on the paper.... but at least he's not coloring anything and everything like Hailey at the same age!! That's why we got her a little artist ornament when she was about 15 months at Christmas. The world was her canvas. She would color on the walls, the floor, books, herself, ANYTHING. She's a little better about that but has to be supervised..... just in case!

Lego Advent Calendar

 

We have done some sort of Advent calendar for the past few years. This year we got a Lego advent Calendar. It was pretty fun. Each day you would open a door and get some small lego thing to build. All the days went together to make a Christmas lego scene. Santa came out on the 24th. The kids really enjoyed it.

Oh Christmas Tree

 

We put up the tree and decorations on Dec. 1. I love having Christmas lights around the house. When we moved into the house here there were a couple of artificial trees left behind so for the last two years we have put a tree in the living room and one in each of the two bedrooms. The kids love having a tree in their room. We don't decorate those - they are just pre-lit ones. It's fun to decorate the tree with the kids and have them hang their own ornaments that we have collected for them each year. It's getting a little harder to remember which ones belong to which kids so I think I need to make little books for them to keep track. It will help to remember why we got the ornament we did. We try to get something that reminds us their interests or main events that year.

Hello Santa

 

This was the kids first opportunity to see Santa this year. They were pretty funny. However, every time they see Santa they tell him something different that they want - and usually this is days before Christmas. Hailey said she wanted Cake?? Jackson wanted a bionocle and Maggie was very careful to whisper in his ear so we wouldn't hear. She also wouldn't tell us what it was. I wonder if she's testing Santa? :)

Dance class

 

 

Way back.... just after Thanksgiving..... the girls finished their dance class. I wish I could say it was a success and they loved it :) Hailey either wasn't ready or wasn't interested. She seemed to enjoy it at times but for the most part she didn't follow instructions and the teacher had a hard time keeping her attention. I think she was the youngest in the class. Maggie liked it okay - but it wasn't what she expected. She wanted to learn real ballet dances and this was a creative movement class. She tends to be dramatic to get attention. Fallind down, being silly..... She had a hard time listening to the teacher also. In their defense, the class wasn't necessarily geared towards it's 3-5 yr old age group. At the final class we could all come in and watch. It was pretty much a disaster for us. Hailey was whiny and completely inattentive. Caleb kept screaming because he wanted out there with the girls so I had to take him out in the hall. Maggie kept being silly...... Whew. Sometimes they are well behaved and sometimes NOT. I think we will wait a little while and then, if Maggie is interested, we will try out a more traditional class. Dancing, singing, dressing up - those are her favorite things - and they have been for a long time so I would like to give her the chance to get into it a little more.... eventually :)