Merry Christmas 2014

Like every other year, we excitedly counted down to Christmas, but this year we were also seriously praying that all the sickness would be kicked before the Christmas Eve festivities began. The night before Christmas Eve, we realized that probably wouldn't be the case. The girls still had fevers and a bad cough. Chrissy and Terry opted out of dinner at our house and we were too sick to head to church, so we looked forward to Papa arriving for our low-key Christmas celebration.

The girls and I made Jesus' birthday cake earlier in the day. They were sure Jesus would choose Funfetti.

We might not have a fireplace, but we have the Netflix fireplace on our TV that adds to our cozy.

We were all excited to see Papa and the dogs. The kids (and dog) sat and waited until they saw his car pull up.

When did my baby's legs get so long? Doesn't she look so grown up in this picture?

Papa is here! We enjoyed some yummy appetizers before the girls totally crumbled and had to get to bed. It wasn't a conventional Christmas. The girls didn't even join us for dinner, but we tried to make it special.

The girls opened up their Christmas Eve present. They each got a pair of new PJs and cozy socks to wear, as well as a new ornament. This year, Abby's ornament was a poodle and it said Oliver 2014 to remember the year we got her little buddy. Ella's ornament was a little girl ballerina to remember her first year of dance.

After the girls were in bed, we curled up on the couch for our annual Christmas Eve movie night. We were missing Cory who had to work an overnight at the police department. Nothing else about our night was "normal", so we ended up watching a few episodes of Blue Bloods instead. My dad was a real trooper hanging out with us sick-os. It wasn't long into our show watching that I realized Joe was the next domino going down. He started to get pale and tired and...you guessed it...he went to bed on Christmas Eve with a fever! I went to bed even earlier than him with a headache.

Ollie hung out in Papa's lap

puppy love

Cooper loves me. He followed me to bed.

Joe and I curled up in bed, our Santa duties complete, and I realized we hadn't taken our "before" tree picture. Glad we caught that one. I've love that moment right before bed on Christmas Eve, the magical feeling of anticipation for the morning mixed with the stillness and quiet of the night.

Christmas morning: Girls were up early and excited! This was Ella's first year really understanding the fun and excitement of what was happening. We took the morning a little slower than normal because Joe was sick and having a hard time getting out of bed and Uncle Cory wasn't going to arrive until 9. We had gingerbread and chocolate chip pancakes, bacon, lots of fruit and hot cocoa for breakfast.

We were not all smiles like everyone would hope on Christmas morning. The girls were not 100%, which made the morning a bit of an emotional roller coaster.  One minute, Ella was really excited and squealing over her new toys. The next minute, she was hysterically crying.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6YznR5zVpw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jGzmtFVnso

Oliver was feeling pretty cool in his new Christmas shirts. He is our little "rufferee" and "linebarker".

My favorite gift on Christmas morning was the pine cone ornament Abby made me at school. She had it wrapped up in a special decorated bag and was so excited to see me open it! Abby informed me it was especially for me because she covered it with lots of extra glitter.

drawing spiral art with Papa

Oliver was wiped out after a morning of presents. He excused himself for a nap in the sunshine. 

checking out her Barbie convertible from Papa

Abby and Ella were really excited to open their new suitcases from Nagymama. Abby opened it excitedly and said, "Mom, this is all I could have wanted for Christmas."

 

Oliver wasn't the only one napping on Christmas Day. Joe took a long nap to sleep off his fever and Cory slept for a while to recover from his overnight.

cozy Christmas day in our PJs

Grandma, Casey and Grandma Irene decided not to come up with everyone being sick, so we rescheduled for later in the week. We missed our usual Christmas Day meal together, but was glad to not pass on this virus to anyone else. It also meant we stayed in our pajamas all day!

While everyone napped, Papa helped the girls put together their new playmobil from Uncle Cory. This was especially special for me because my Nagypapa gave me my first lessons in Legos when I was about the same age. I'll never forget the day he taught me how to "lay bricks" (my legos), so that I constructed the strongest building foundation possible! :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTWRnsV9RsU

The girls were excited about their new Doc Mobile and all their new princesses.

Papa got Abby the game, "Hedbandz" for Christmas, which has made for some really fun game nights. Abby is really good and has beat me more than once. She asks great questions and is a natural detective. Ella doesn't really understand that you aren't supposed to tell the person what is on the card they are trying to guess. So, if you ask her questions, she laughs at you and tells you you are an umbrella.

After our Christmas feast, Papa and Uncle Cory headed home. Our party of three were pretty wiped out and ready for bed.

At the end of the day, Christmas didn't go exactly as we had planned. There were last minute changes and sickness. We didn't go to church. The girls never got to wear their beautiful Christmas dresses. We missed those who couldn't be with us.  We didn't even get to eat Jesus' birthday cake, but we celebrated and made memories as a family. We enjoyed time together, laughed, cried and fought to remember what Christmas is truly all about. We went to sleep that night, still sick, but thankful for the gift of hope and joy we have in all of our circumstances because Jesus was born that first Christmas night. It was a great reminder of how God is faithful to meet us right where we need him most. He reveals himself right there in the broken and messy, imperfect and unplanned moments. He is Christmas.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTUX02dSi6U&feature=youtu.be

Christmas Cookies, Sick Girls and Charlie

As sad as the sight of sick girls is, these pictures are sweet reminders to me of how little and precious our babies are. Oliver is the most faithful little buddy taking care of his girls when they are aren't feeling well.

 

It's always a good day when Uncle Cory calls and decides to spontaneously comes to visit. 

 

crafts with Uncle C

Throughout December, thanks to a virus and some nasty ear infections, we visited the pediatrician four times and urgent care once. If there was one picture to sum up the week before Christmas, it would be this one. We were feeling pretty toxic already, but then when we showed up to the doctor and got masks...

Dr. K gave us a nebulizer shaped like a dog to help Abby with her terrible cough. So...we did what we do to all animals (real or not) in our house, we named him. Meet Charlie. It's much easier to convince you children to cover their face with a mask and inhale patiently for a while, when your nebulizer is a dog named Charlie

 

Lindsay and Mike stayed at our house for a night while they were in town for some meetings. The girls barely allowed Lindsay to get out of bed before they were passing out books for her to read. It's no secret that Abby and Ella love visitors. 

Without as much time to bake multiple batches of cookies this year, I opted for a brand new recipe. It seemed easier than picking just one of our many favorites. Thankfully, these Red Velvet Crackle Cookies were delicious! I'm adding them to the master list.

One afternoon, Joe took Abby to the store with him and at the same time Ella and Ollie unexpectedly fell asleep on my bed.  In the rare moment of unexpected free time with little else to do, I decided to play with my new volumizing velcro curlers. The house was totally quiet and I enjoyed a good thirty minutes of curling my hair and doing my makeup while watching Beat Bobby Flay on the Food Network. Of course, the minute my hair was all set, Ollie decided he needed to go out. Hey hey neighbors!

the before

I was getting some chores done around the house before taking Abby to her friend's birthday party. Then, Abby and Joe came home and had a little laugh over my head of curlers. About ten minutes later, Abby came into the kitchen and in her most serious, but loving voice asked, "Hey Mom...you're going to take those out before we go to Kendall's, right?"

It was so sweet, but also the first time Abby ever showed any sign of "I might be embarrassed if you come like that". I had to play along for a moment, but I never expected her response to get even better.
M: Oh...do you think I should?
A: Ummm....yeah....I really don't think it's appropriate.
Then, Joe and I collapsed in a pool of laughter! :) I love this girl!

The after. Abby approved of me leaving the house like this.

When you are sick, you just need your momma. 

Umm, excuse me missy, I know your toes are some of the cutest around, but this is still yucky!

Our big scare came a few days before Christmas, when Ella's fever skyrocketed to 105 with another hour and a half before she was due for more fever reducer meds. Joe took her to Urgentcare while I stayed home with Abby who had a more manageable fever. It turns out Ella's fever wasn't caused by the virus at that point, but a double ear infection. That wasn't a fun afternoon, but it was the start of some answers to our prolonged sick days.

best daddy ever taking care of his girl

Home from Urgent Care and back in her mommy's arms.

We have some serious bed head around here.

face painting at Kendall's birthday party

In the midst of our downtime, I started finding places for our new family photos.

I came out one morning to find the nativity left like this from the night before. It made me laugh out loud! :)

Recovering from days of sickness next to twinkling Christmas lights makes it all a little easier.

And...last, but definitely not least, I leave you with Ella reading stories. Who needs to know the words? Ella's interpretations are even better! 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwLON73var8

Sending Out Love

This year, Abby participated in her first school Christmas program, "Sending Out Love". She practiced with her Pre-K class for weeks and came home singing all the songs in preparation for the big show. The songs were performed around our house so much in the weeks leading up to the show, that I'm pretty sure any one of us could have stood in as Abby's understudy (especially Ella). Abby was really excited for all of us to see the performance. Grammy and G-Diddy came up for the night to see the show too.

The musical was adorable. The message of Jesus was strong. Abby loved every minute of it and did a such a great job. I was definitely the mom on the brink of full blown waterworks when my baby filed into the gym with her entire class. This girl has my heart.  The night was also a sweet reminder to us of how thankful we are for Abby's school. It was fun for Abby to show Grammy and G-Diddy around the school and her classroom too!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2SOt916zEI

Interviews (2.5 & almost 5)

Abby (almost 5):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5snL8ucGUQ0

Ella (2.5): 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9zXnisE79o

Then, it was time for a dance party. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mg48CvHlmCU

Snapshots and Quotables (December 2014)

These are a few pre-Christmas gems from December. We had lots of sick days that kept us in the house. Sometimes curled up on the couch with fevers and tv shows. Sometimes with contagious coughs that kept us playing together in our pajamas all day. And sometimes we would venture out when we were feeling healthy again for a Target trip to get some Christmas business done.

It's hard to figure out a time to leave the house when the girls just need their mommy because they are sick, but I had to pry their sweet little arms from me and make a trip to the grocery store STAT. Joe curled up with the girls on Saturday morning, while I loaded up on tons of fresh immune system boosting fruits and veggies and some proverbial chicken noodle soup (since our kids are in an anti-soup stage). Normally, Ella's favorite thing to do when I come home from any store is unpack every item from my bags. She usually ooohs and aahhhs over her findings. The kids hadn't been hungry for days and hadn't been interested in anything I had to offer, so Ella's response when she pulled the blueberries from the bag was even more priceless.

E: You bought BLUEBEBBIES! You're the best mommy in the whole world ever!

Then, she ate some berries and ten minute later she was like this...

One night, Joe and I were watching the Country Music Christmas Special when Ella woke up uncomfortable and sick, so we brought her out to the couch with us. She came out just in time to catch Carrie Underwood (a family favorite) perform. I can't remember what Christmas song she was singing, but it was beautiful and all about Jesus. Ella was captivated.

Me: Carrie Underwood is singing to Jesus. 

E: Ooooo I want to tell her thank you! 

Oliver doesn't miss out on any of the action. If we are snuggling on the couch, he finds the warmest spot in between our bodies and cozies right in. OR if I'm doing some work on the computer, while sitting on the couch, he improvises and uses my neck.

Not all trips to Target include a stop to Starbucks, but when it is your first time out of the house in a while...that calls for a yummy peppermint cake pop.

Ella (as we get ready to go to the mall): I want to see Santa. Can I go give Santa a rocket pound?

Just another dinner table conversation. No pressure. If you listen closely you can hear Abby whispering brother in the background. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EyOqZ0DHl_Q

Ella reads Daddy the card she made him.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iREpjWJ6aqg

Ella shows us some of her ballet moves:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzwOjbUptfE

Some Dreams Really Do Come True

Abby was just two when her love for the Fresh Beat Band started. We discovered the show one afternoon and have been singing the songs and dancing along ever since. It wasn't long before Abby started giving us our own Fresh Beat roles, Abby as Kiki, Mommy as Marina, Daddy as Shout. Then, Ella was born and she became Twist. We like to switch it up every now and then.


Abby told us all about her love for the Fresh Beat Band in her three year interview. Oh my goodness...I could watch this video on repeat forever!

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nj7nLpk6Q80 

All that to say, Ella has known all about the Fresh Beat Band since she was born. The morning of the big surprise, I found her practicing just like Abby. Both girls knew this was the morning of a big surprise, but neither had any idea what it could be. Joe and I had way too much fun hearing them try to guess where we were headed throughout the day. All they knew was that it was going to be a really really fun family date.

It wasn't even hard to keep the secret. Joe walked around the house all day breaking out in familiar songs from the show and no one thought anything of it because that is so normal in our house. That's also why they weren't phased by the blasting soundtrack we played in the car on the way to the show. It happens all the time in our car! 

   

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gL0dEotkWXg 

After a quick dinner at home, we parked downtown and started walking toward the bright lights of the theater. Abby was trying to guess, but still had no idea. When, we got inside there were a lot of posters and a merchandise table that I was sure would give it away, especially because we bought them each a light up microphone with the Fresh Beat Band logo on it. It must have been the smell of popcorn filling up the place because when I handed Abby her microphone, she looked up at me with a huge smile and asked if we there to watch a Fresh Beat movie. It wasn't until we walked to our seats just ten rows back from the stage when I saw things starting to register. 

"Mommy, why are Twist's turntables on the stage? Is that Marina's drum set? Mom, are we at a Fresh Beats concert?"

As it all started to kick in, you can imagine how hard it was to get two beyond excited little girls to sit in their seats and wait twenty minutes for the show to begin. Ohhh...but the buildup made it all worth it. This really was the perfect early Christmas gift for all four of us.

"Did you say we are here to see the Fresh Beat Band LIVE in concert?"

So excited!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhiUkqhnyDA  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLt3QcuZ6Ug  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yxsm1RwNo94 

Some dreams really do come true.