December 25, 2008

On Christmas morning the boys and I woke up a bit later and after eating breakfast and playing a bit with their new toys, we went over to Nana's.

At my parent's house, we have a card giving tradition. Probably 10 years back my Dad put Christmas cards in the tree for us- my sister, myself and my mom. We would receive these beautiful Christmas cards that he picked out -they meant much to us- knowing he chose just the right one. The tradition has evolved and Leigha and I now also give the cards to my parents, as well as each other. We all put our cards on the tree as we fill them out and they sit on the tree until Christmas morning, where -in probably the only silent moment of the whole day -we all sit and soak in the words written in the cards.

This year the boys got their first cards. Too young to understand, of course. But wow, how wonderful that this is a meaningful tradition we can pass down the line.


Then it was time for opening gifts! A big hit was the Doctor set Auntie Leigha got the boys. All three wanted to be Drs, not a patient in sight. So, Pops was a good sport and acted as the patient for them. Shots to be given, band aids to be applied, and blood pressure had to be checked -all at the same time!





After the presents were opened and loved on, we decided to kill time while waiting for Don to get off of work. Play doh was the obvious answer. The kids loved all the colors of dough and the new toys that cut it up and sliced it out. Me, on the other hand, I am not a big fan. It was not so much the annoyance of all the swirled colors, but the mess! Goodness, the mess. The boys loved it all though and even helped clean it up in the end- just in time for Daddy to come join us!

For the rest of the night we just had great family time. Grandma and Poppa (Don's parents) were here in town to have a family Christmas and the boys had such a fun night playing with them on the activity center Aunt Leigha had given them for Christmas.

We can also thank Aunt Leigha for this picture. Without all of us sitting and playing foosball at once, we would have passed through an entire Christmas holiday without a single picture of the five of us.


Finally the night had settled down as we all sat in the living room and took turns playing Dad's new game of Ms Pac-Man. A memorable Christmas for all, and I can't wait to do it again next year!

Wii have been busy

Besides Wyatt's tonsil/adenoid/ear tubes surgery, why has it taken me weeks to get Christmas posted? One of a few reasons -blame it on the Wii! Even though we have had the Wii for a while, we got a couple new games that all five of us have been enjoying.

First off, the boys (ahem) got Outdoor Adventure for Christmas. It comes with a mat that can be walked or run on, -even jumped on. The boys like to play the log game where they can run up to then jump over the log. They are all pretty good at it, but it is pretty funny to see them do it.

As if we weren't having enough fun on the Wii, Don went and got us the Wii Fit! The boys love doing all the balance games and we can even talk them into doing yoga exercises. My personal favorite is one I just discovered the other day. It is the running exercise. You just run in place, holding the Wii remote and it takes your Mii through the trail. Or in our house, I give Jax the remote and watch all three of them run themselves silly. They love it, it gets out their energy, and I get to sit back and watch.


See, it is a win-win for all!

Christmas Eve 2008 part 2

On Christmas Eve, I awoke to Wyatt lying in bed next to me. He whispered, "Mama, Santa was here!". Still tired from the late night before, I told him it was still sleepy time and we both went back to sleep. Soon the three of us were joined by the other two and we all got ready to go downstairs and open our stockings. The boys were a bit unsure of what they would find at the bottom of the stairs, but went right for the stockings to see what Santa had left for them.

The boys were thrilled to get the particular Thomas trains they asked for. They also got a huge string of licorice, crazy straws, doodle pads, play dough, and a few other items inside. The big gift Santa left the kids, was their workbench. It has a working drill, lots of screws and nails, and a little car that they can screw the wheels on. Plenty for all three to do at the same time, thank goodness!



We stopped opening presents long enough for the seven of us to go out for breakfast. Once we got back home, it was time to get back to the presents! They had fun opening even more Thomas trains and Hungry Hippos was a huge hit, too. Puzzles, a doctor kit and a few fun computer like games rounded out their new stash.

After a few hours of playing, we all went to my parents house to have a big family get together. The boys ran around the house with little Reagan and there was lots of yummy food and Don's famous homemade oreo cheesecake. The night was rounded out with a (not so) serious poker game in the dining room.

The day was wonderful and full of lots of fun. It was really nice having so much family around -both sets of parents, lots of cousins, aunts and uncles. Lucky for the kids, they would do Christmas again the next day at Nana and Pops house. What more could a kid ask for?

Christmas Eve Eve 08

Don's work runs 6 days a week. Sundays are sacred and no trucks run that day, but any and all holidays that don't fall on Sunday, are still work days. Last year Don worked Christmas (the tips are plentiful at Christmas time) and even though I was thankful for the money, the holiday just didn't seem the same without him. This year he decided he would rather miss his Wednesday route than his Thursday route and we celebrated Christmas on Christmas eve. We figure the kids are little and they won't know the difference, and it still gave us a family day to celebrate on.


So on December 23rd, we opened a few presents mailed from family out of state and then hung the boys Christmas stockings up on our toy cabinet since we are without a fireplace. The boys were excited and ready for Santa to come, so we quickly brought the boys upstairs to go to bed. Don told his Mom to jingle a big bunch of bells when he gave her a signal and told the boys that when they hear the bells ring, it is Santa here with his sleigh. Well Vicky gave the bells a good jingle and all the boys got super still and silent -as if they were sleeping. They Wyatt popped up his head and started crying out, "no thank you, no, thank you!" He was scared, I think from a talking to he got earlier in the day regarding opening the door without Mom or Dad around. I told him that some people were not safe, and we needed to keep the door closed. Well, I think he put the scary people in the same category as Santa and got really scared of the ides of Santa in our house.

Here is a video of their before bed excitement.


Soon we got him settled down and all three went right to sleep. I started putting their tool workshop together and Don went with his Mom to do some last minute shopping. They were on the hunt for all things Thomas. After a few hours of wrapping presents, we all went to bed and got ready for the boys reactions in the morning.

Time Warp

Back track to 2008
Some how time has flown by me the past month and I have fallen way behind on my blog. I downloaded all my pictures (took me a half hour!) and can’t believe all this has passed me by, so I am going to dedicate the next few entries to catching back up. Bear with me please :)

Wyatt- Post Op

After Wyatt had surgery on Wednesday, he slept a majority of the day away. He would wake for a few minutes here and there, but the anaesthesia really knocked him out for the most part. At about 7pm he started to come around, only to fall back asleep for the night around 10:30pm.

Then yesterday he started the day out with a whole cup of yogurt, followed by some scrambled eggs for lunch. We were surprised he ate so much, but thrilled he seemed to be do better than expected. Slowly during the day he started to decline. It became obvious he was very uncomfortable and he just looked so sad.

Last night was hellish. Wyatt (he is sleeping in our room while he recovers) woke at least once an hour all night long. He now wants nothing to do with his medicine, telling us it is "yucky". When I tried to get him to eat some food to put in his belly before he got his medicine, he gagged it up and ended up spitting it out on me, which in turn made him cry.

About 3am, I decided to try some tylenol instead of the "yucky" heavy duty liquid Lortab. Wyatt took it after a bit of coaxing, but it did little to relieve his pain,as he has been waking at least every 20 ins since then crying for water.

I woke up about 7:30 to a quiet house, jumped in the shower and when I came out, Wyatt was sleeping on the floor outside of the master bathroom door. He has been sleeping since (it is 9:15 now) and I am so thankful he can get some uninterrupted sleep. I know this surgery was the best thing for him, but it has been so hard to watch him be in so much pain for such a long stretch of time.

Hopefully, today will go better and he will not fight the pain medication so much. This is not easy for any of us.

Operation Day

Last night as we were driving home from Target, Don and I had a talk with the kids about today's plan. I let Jax and Luke know they were going to go to Nana's while Wyatt stayed with Mommy and Daddy for his operation.

Jax got real snotty and told Wyatt he was not going to Nana's THEY were. Wyatt was not allowed to go to Nana's tomorrow.

I was a bit irritated with Jax, but didn't want to make it into an issue, so I reminded Wyatt that yes, he had to stay for his operation, but after his operation he would get lots of ice cream, yogurt, pudding and other yummy treats. Wyatt thought that sounded good to him.

Apparently Jaxon thought so, too. The next thing we heard was Jax saying, "I love getting operations, too".


**Please say a prayer for Wyatt and his Doctors this morning. It would be much appreciated.**

Merry Christmas!

More Snow

I know all your snow pros out there are wondering what the big deal is all about. Snow is snow, get over it. But hey people, remember I am in LAS VEGAS. Where we got about 5 inches of snow today. Schools are closed, the airport is closed. Major roads are shut down, people can not drive or fly out of Las Vegas tonight.

Makes me kinda wish I had a fireplace :)

Snow Fun

Yesterday we took the boys up to Red Rock Canyon when Don got home from work. It is a bit higher in elevation, so we were hopeful we would find the snow there. Jackpot! The snow was so fresh and powdery, and the air was crisp and luckily without any wind.

First we did some sledding


Then Don taught the boys how to pack the snow into a snow ball


Uh oh, looks like someone is going to get ambushed!





After an hour of fun, Wyatt had enough and sat in the car to warm up


Don had an idea to bring home a tub full of snow home, and the Jax and Luke used team work to fill it up.


The view of Las Vegas through the mountains on the way home.

Las Vegas Winter Wonderland

Last month the preschool taught the boys about fall/autumn. Realistically, looking for a tree with changing leaves is not that easy here in Las Vegas. Mostly it is the mulberry trees that change out here, and those are frowned upon because they are bad for allergies, there for they are short in supply. If you are lucky, you can sporadically spot one while driving down a street in the older parts of town.

Sometimes it is hard to remember that we are in December right now. Until last week, the boys were able to play out front with short sleeve shirts on while Don put up the Christmas decorations.

I think all of Las Vegas was shocked to wake up and see there is a "Winter Weather Warning" for Las Vegas until 11pm. It is supposed to be a high of 42 with a 70% chance of rain and the forecast actually calls for SNOW. It wouldn't be the first time it snowed out here, but to have it forecasted -that is new to me.


Getting the boys ready for school today was a new experience. How do you dress a kid when it snows? Layers? Big sweaters? Just a long sleeve shirt and a winter jacket? Better yet, what was I going to wear to keep warm? Do I bring the kids gloves in case it actually does snow? I wanted to just dress them like normal, thinking they could just run from the car to inside the preschool, but I didn't want them to get chilled so I went the opposite route. Tee shirts under sweaters, under a huge double layered winter jacket. And I brought their gloves just in case.

And the umbrella.

Today was the boys last day of school for December. Each of their teachers are going through hard personal times and they had decided to end the session a little earlier. One of the men that works at the school dressed up like Santa and passed out candy canes.


When we walked out of school, there were huge fat snowflakes falling. It was such perfect timing and the boys were just loving it. After a few minutes, the cold set in and we ran off to the car. Hopefully we can get some more snow tonight. Who knew Las Vegas could be a winter wonderland?

Wyatt's ENT Visit

Like the other boys, Wyatt has his own personality. He has always been a bit more of the "baby" -more cuddling, more pouting, more drooling and less talking and a bit less inclined to be the first to learn things. I noticed he was stuttering the first word in a sentence, almost as if he couldn't remember what he was going to say and would just keep repeating the first word over and over and over again.

After speaking with a speech therapist, we started talking (much) slower and made our words more pronounced. A few months of this seemed to almost completely take care of the stuttering issue. Then in the past week or two, I noticed his speech was now becoming warbled- almost as if he was talking around a marshmallow in his mouth.

I decided that being he had both the stuttering and the warbling issues, I would call and get him evaluated, but first I wanted to bring him to an ENT (ear, nose and throat Dr). For only $20, we could make sure everything was in it's right place before we moved on to speech therapy.

As the nurse led us to our appointment room she asked Wyatt what his name was and how old he was. Just from hearing him answer those questions, she said, "Oh, you're here for his tonsils then?". I just looked at her and didn't know what to say. Then she told me that is why Wyatt's speech sounds like it does. Kids who sound like that generally are having tonsil issues. Wow.

Shortly afterwards, the Dr came in and looked at Wyatt, and then sent us down the hall for an ear test. Imagine my surprise when he sat back down with us and told me Wyatt needs both his tonsils and adenoids removed -as well as tubes in both ears!

Apparently right now Wyatt has about a 20% hearing loss from the fluids in his ears. His speech is suffering from both the tonsil/adenoid situation as well as not being able to hear as well as he should be. He snores like an adult man and drools like a baby who is teething. As a plus side to having his tonsils taken out, we may see an improvement in his asthma.

It is a lot of news for us. We had only gone to cover our bases and were just blown away by the diagnosis and the speed at which everything will be done. He will have surgery at the end of the month and by the middle of January he will be able to breathe easier, drool less, hear better and speak clearer. It is a big change for such a little boy.

Oh Christmas Tree

On a recent trip to Walmart Don and I bought a box of about 40 assorted ornaments, all shatterproof for about $15. Our tree is a little 6 footer, so those ornaments along with a few unbreakable ones we had already collected were plenty to cover our tree.


Don and I attached the hooks to the ornaments, stuck them in a basket and let the boys have at it.





Wyatt really got into it. He was speedy and a little bit of an ornament hoarder as well.


Jax looking for an ornament that rolled under the tree


Luke's finishing touch


All done!

Did I ever show you...

I don't think I did. My last class was only the night before Fresh Squeezed Tarts open house, so I think this beauty was forgotten. She sits in my kitchen, but I have no idea what to do with her. I want to make more, but I need a reason for a project before I just jump into one. Any ideas?

Good bye Radiator Springs

It has actually happened. My kids seem to have lost their obsession with the movie Cars. Their obsession started about a year ago when they watched the movie going to Baby Jake's birthday party in California. It was the first movie they had ever quietly sat through and once Don and I realized that single movie could buy us a full two hours of silence, we latched on to it.

Who knew that encouraging the addiction of the movie would become so costly to us? I am sure Don and I have have purchased the full town of Radiator Springs as well as at least 8 Lightning McQueen cars and a bunch of random others. Somehow only a handful can be found any given time, but I bet if Don took his metal detector out to the sandbox, he would find most of the town hidden underneath a few inches of sand.

So goodbye, Sally. I am so thankful I no longer hear Wyatt whine about you every morning until I groggily walk into their room to lift up his mattress to find you where you must have been hiding from his drooly spot at night.

Good bye Lightning. All 8 of you. The kids fought over every one of you constantly. The "owie" Lightning, the Bug Lightning, the "hot dog" Lightning (Nana called him that when he did the tongue sticking out jump and it stuck), Dinaco blue Lighting, and all the original ones as well. Hopefully you never get recalled because I am sure Jaxon has eaten the paint off at least three of you by now.

Goodbye Chick and King. Luke lost his first green Chick during a garage sale where some kid stole it. That incident helped us get the kids to keep toys in the car from that moment forward, but it did cost us almost $4 to replace you. Ah, but I guess the lesson was priceless. As was the only one toy in the car rule we implemented because the boys would try to take no less than 4 of you into the car every time we drove anywhere.

I hope to never forget how excited Jaxon was when Don found his Nitro car in the sandbox one day. Jax came in screaming about how "Daddy found it, Daddy found Nitro!" and then Jax loudly proclaimed that "Daddy Rocks!".

So I have to admit, even with the obsession of this movie and the toys that go with it got overwhelming at times, it was such a major part of this past year. Don and I really enjoyed the movie (all 200 plus times we have watched it) as well as seeing the boys use their imagination with the cars while they played. I am sure as time goes by and the boys begin to uncover more of the lost Cars in the sandbox, each will be celebrated and the interested renewed a bit for a little while. But for now, I just wanted to document what has been such a huge thing in our house before it is completely gone.

Thanksgiving 08

We had such a busy day today! Don worked so we just hung out at the house this morning until he got off. I prepped the food for the sweet potatoes and stuffing (seriously- you have got to try these recipes, they both were delicious and fairly easy!). Once all the prep work was done and Don got home, we were out the door and on our way to celebrate.

It was pretty idyllic at Nana's house. Leigha helped the boys make a Ginger bread house while the rest of us watched and got some of the food ready. Having my fill of the ginger bread last year, I really didn't want much to do with it -the trying to get the boys to not eat the candy and hoping they don't crumble the house while they help, is a bit much for me with all the other things going on. Leigha had tons of patience and the boys love her so much. The house turned out really well!

After that, Aunt Judy and Uncle Ray showed up and we had a delicious dinner with way too much food. The noise level was through the roof as all the men with full bellies started to radiate testosterone and take on the tremendous trio. Apparently when you are a full grown man, having an opponent only three years old does not deter the rush you get thinking you can take on three people at one time. Both Uncle Ray and my Dad tried to wear the boys down. Each took their turn, but the boys came out as the obvious winners.