Christmas Tree 2010

Zane has been hounding us for several days to put up the Christmas tree and since I am not one to ever dissuade Christmas stuff I agreed that today would be the perfect day to set up the tree. This year will be Gwen's first year with a tree where she is mobile enough to get at it. I am not really anticipating it being an issue with her. She is not terribly mischievous but we still fishing line attached the tree to the wall. It is practically invisible and it does keep me kinda sane knowing that it would be extremely difficult to pull over.

Anyway, the kids had a great time with the decorating and I am glad that it is done for another year. 4 sets of little hands putting on ornaments is TONS of fun. But it is also a wee bit of a mad house while it lasts! I fully see my boys loving the tree and decorating for Christmas for years to come. No "BAH HUMBUG!" allowed at our house!!!

I tried to get a picture of all the kids for a Christmas card. It was pretty much not happening as you can see from the photo above. And that one was my best shot! So my card will be different this year but that is ok. I think they turned out quite cute. Creativity is a necessity!!!

More Matchy-Matchy

Lucy the Flower Girl

Lucy had the distinct honor today of being a flower girl at our friend Karris' wedding.

She was very excited about the pretty princess dress and the necklace and the tiny hair crown that she got to wear. She was not super excited to actually do the walking down the aisle part though. I was nervous about how she would do since she is a wee bit shy in large groups and honestly at rehearsal last night she absolutely refused to walk down the aisle at all without me holding her hand.

At the wedding this morning Eric and I worked with her several times with him at the back and me at the front to coax her down the aisle. During the real ceremony she walked about 4 steps and stopped. Looked around and noticed everyone looking at her and then burst into tears and ran the rest of the way to me. She spent the remainder of the ceremony by my laying on the ground coloring or begging for the M&M's I had promised her for walking down the aisle.

Fortunately Karris didn't seem to mind her lack of proper flower girl behavior.

She was just happy to have a cute little girl be part of her wedding.

The reception was a lot of fun. Lucy got to show off all her princess-ness to her very best buddy Gabe.

They are quite the couple. Best friends and yet they fight like cats and dogs a good portion of the time. Gabe's big sister put rings on them. Don't they look like quite the couple!

I missed Gabe and Lucy dancing together. While the first dance was going on they put their arms around each other and danced their little hearts out for about 30 seconds. Quite adorable. I don't know if Lucy will be a flower girl again. It was quite stressful for me. But I suppose if someone else were to ask I would have to say yes. It is too much fun in the long run!

Turkey Day 2010

At our house Thanksgiving means it is time to do the Turkey Dance. Last year Lucy was a bit put off by the turkey dancing. But the boys loved it. This year it was Gwen's first time to watch all the insanity take place and understand what was going on. She was a bit thrown off by the excessive gobbling and head bobbing but I have a feeling by next year she will be in full turkey dance rhythm like the rest of us. At least this year she thoroughly enjoyed marching around the living room after Eric. She kinda gave me the evil eye most of the time so I guess my dancing must not have been fully up to par.


Lucy held up her dancing quite remarkably. She even really liked the hat this year which is quite a miracle. You never really know what you are going to get with her. If you think the hats look familiar you would be right. They are the same from last year. Our week did not lend to new turkey hat designs.


Zane asked all morning to do the turkey dance. I think it is one of his very favorite family traditions. He certainly was a dancing fool this year.


Andrew decided that he was too big to turkey dance this year. Somehow I thought we would have at least a few more years before he figured out that Eric and I are woefully geeky when it comes to this tradition. Maybe he will embrace it again in a few years. It is just nice to see him with so much sparkle in his eye again!

Have a wonderfully blessed Thanksgiving!!!

Gwendalyn Lily 15 Month Check

On a much happier doctor note! Gwen had her 15 month check today. This was the one time this month that I have been thrilled to go to the doctor. Gwen is doing great but is still tiny compared to our family standard. She is hitting all her developmental milestones and in many cases far, far surpassing them. She did amazing with the two shots that she got today. A small fuss and then she was done. Hooray for Gwen!!!

Height: 31" (62%)
Weight: 22# 4 oz (40%)

What a Day!

The day started like almost every day of this whole month. Someone had a fever. This time it was Andrew and Lucy. No problem. Fevers I can handle. I was making breakfast and I noticed that Andrew had what looked like a spider bite on his neck. I asked him if it was itchy and he said no. It looked kinda suspicious so I unzipped the front of his footie pajamas only to discover his entire chest and back covered in what I would later discover were hives. On and off all day long Andrew would get hives and then they would recede. They looked terrible. The pictures really do not do them justice at all. 4:15 that afternoon I took Andrew into the doctor. She told me the spots were hives and probably just a reaction the virus that was giving him the fever. Once again, not too big of a deal. Andrew and I got home and ate some dinner. He was pretty knocked out due to the Benadryl he was given at the doctors office. We hung out after dinner and then got the kiddos ready for bed. At this point Andrew told us that he needed to use the bathroom. He had been having diarrhea on and off all day so I didn't think much of it. He is 7 and totally takes care of himself and kinda seems to take his time, if you know what I mean. So after awhile I asked Eric if Andrew had just gone to bed and we had missed it. All the rest of the kiddos were already asleep. Eric went to check on him and then he called down to me. My first thought was that he must have fallen asleep on the potty because he had been so sleepy all night. But unfortunately that was not the case. What we discovered was that Andrew's rectum had prolapsed at some point and was stuck. What followed was a trip to the ER in an ambulance, lots of tests, IV's and the eventual correction of the prolapse. No surgery was needed, they were able to manually fix it. The whole thing was not ideal but Andrew was the biggest trooper EVER. He was a champ through the blood draw and IV stick. He didn't fuss at all. I am so thankful that he is feeling MUCH better today and the fever and hives are both gone. This was an experience I hope we never, EVER have to repeat!

Daddy's Girl

The older Gwen gets the more and more in love with her daddy she is! She spends most days wandering around the house asking for him. Totally adorable, seriously makes my heart melt!

Who Would Have Thought?

I have mentioned in the past that Lucy spends a lot of time sleeping on the floor in our room. Last night was no exception. I have no idea when she made it to our room but I do know when she woke up.


Eric and Lucy have been playing this game lately that I find strange and unusual but somewhat fitting for both their personalities. Lucy will shape her hand like a gun and shoot at Eric. Now Eric tends to think it adorable and shoots right back at her. They have lots of awesome shooting positions and can pull off the most amazing shots such as: the around the corner shot, the behind the head shot and my personal favorite the double handed shot. I would have thought the boys would be the ones to play this type of game but no. It is my darling princess that has picked it up. Heaven help us all, Eric encourages it.


Since Eric seems to think this game is adorable I suppose it is only fitting that Lucy woke up this morning and the first thing she did was pretend to shoot Eric. The first sound I heard out of her was "pkew, pkew!" He had to ignore it or be awake at 5:05 am. I laid in bed and grinned.

And for your viewing enjoyment: Zane was upset that I was taking pictures of Eric and Lucy. This is what Zane looks like when he is NOT crying as his picture is taken!

Full of Vision

Andrew's soccer party was tonight and he was very excited to get another trophy for his collection. He is extremely proud of all of his trophies and medals. They are a highlight of the season for him.

Andrew's coach had a word for each one of the boys on the team. Andrew's word was "vision". According to his coach, Andrew has the ability to see what is going on during the game and knows where to be at the right time. He also knows what to do with the ball when it is time for him to act. It must come from his dad because when it comes to sports I have absolutely zero vision at all.

Hooray for another year of soccer! I can hardly wait until next season and I KNOW that Andrew feels the same way!

New Piano and New Outfits!!!

Due to some AMAZING generosity of friends we got a piano today! It is funny how sometimes God provides you will something you never thought you would have. I have always dreamed about having a piano in the house and just never really thought it would happen. I wonder which one of my little darlings will take to it like a duck to water. I imagine someone will and as we add kiddos the odds just keep getting better and better!

Also my mom made the girls these super adorable outfits. They are so comfy looking and the girls seem to really like them. Plus I think my mom had some fun in making them!

15 Months ALREADY?

15 months ago Miss Gwendalyn Lily joined our family. What can I say about Gwen? She is an absolute joy. She is a champion sleeper. She is chatting up a storm. I estimate she says about 20 words. She can climb on chairs and tables and couches occasionally. She can take her shoes off by herself. She loves her baby doll and walks it in the stroller. She is totally a daddy's girl. She is my slowest to get teeth.


She is excellent with a spoon and fork already. She can show you where her nose and eyes and mouth and ears are. She loves Thomas the train (sigh). She loves looking at books and being read to. She has a hot little temper when she doesn't get her way and occasionally has been known to hold a grudge. She has the sweetest little belly and chubby butt. She is perfectly delicious in just about every possible way.


I often forget that she is as young as she is because she is very self-reliant and acts older than her age. I am so thankful that God brought Gwen into our family!

The Day Has Come

Andrew spent all of last week sick with pneumonia. It was not fun. He was fever-ish and had a nasty cough too. He missed an entire week of school before we finally got an antibiotic that seemed capable of tackling the pneumonia.


Since Andrew had been so sick he really didn't have a very good appetite for most of the week and even now is still kinda picking at his food. The appetite will return. I am sure of it. But because of this lag in eating a momentous event occurred at our house. Zane now weighs more than Andrew.

Andrew 53# and Zane 55#