The Big Kid Bed

The benefit of having a child who refuses to eat or grow is that they can stay in their toddler bed way past most other kids their age. So Griffin (who is 4 years and 2 months old!) has only recently outgrown his (and really, he hasn't, it's just that his stuffed dinosaur family has grown so immense there was no room left for him in the bed). We had to decide between a normal twin bed or bunk beds. So what did we end up with? The totally impractical loft bed complete with slide and fort! We found it on craigslist and paid $175 for it, but we've seen it new for $600, so I feel pretty good about the price. And what boy wouldn't love this bed? It's in great shape, and thus far, Griffin is in love. He keeps his most of his "family" up on the bed with him, and the overflow lives in the fort below, along with a comfy beanbag chair and a bunch of books. As soon as we come up with a good light down there, it will be an awesome reading nook. He looks so little in that bed at night, and he's still getting used to the idea of a top sheet and comforter, but I think it's a match made in heaven right now!

Less.

What's your word?

I follow a blog by one of my favorite scrapbookers, Ali Edwards (http://aliedwards.typepad.com/) Every year, she suggests finding a word that best encompasses who you will be, want to be, strive to be for the new year. For instance, some people on there have picked "patience," "nurture," "balance."

I think there is a very intrinsic value to consciously picking a word that you want to BE, and sharing it with others to help hold yourself accountable. As soon as I heard the idea, I took the process seriously. I have been struggling for three weeks now to choose my word. Chad and I have had lengthy discussions about what I should pick (he really does humor me!). I had it narrowed down to "play" (because I wish I would relax and enjoy the kids more than I do), and "blessed," because I really want to just enjoy what I have and realize how lucky I am. But neither of those was absolutely THE word.

And then...I started freaking out about money. And worrying. And I was talking to my mom, and I told her I needed to "spend less, eat less, and own less." And that was my epiphany. My word is less!

So that's my goal for this year, and I'm writing it here to help hold myself accountable. I started with spending less (one day down!), and next up is owning less. I've been in the mood to have a major purge for months, so that one shouldn't be too bad. Eating less, well...I love my food, but I'm vowing to work on it!

Well, what's your word?

Christmas Morning (Christmas Pictures, Part II)

We woke bright and early at about 7 a.m. on Christmas morning. Luckily Griffin is still young enough to be willing to snuggle in bed with mommy and daddy until closer to 8! We and he went downstairs and started opening presents even though Cooper was sleeping, and it gave us some nice alone time with him. The very first thing he saw was Kota sitting in the corner, and he was very shy at first. It was almost like he couldn't believe it was finally in his living room after months of waiting and hoping. He wanted to feed him his leaf right away.

After Cooper woke up, he opened presents too, with a bit of assistance. One of his favorites was these maracas that light up. He is really musical, and he had a good time making a ton of noise.

Funnily enough, he absolutely loves brushing his teeth. So he had about 4 toothbrushes in his stocking, and I am pretty sure those were his favorite new "toy."

After we opened presents, we enjoyed these yummy overnight cinnamon rolls. They are super delicious, and I love that I can prepare them the night before and just pop them in the oven while we open gifts. It's become a new Christmas-only tradition (and a good thing, since there must be 10,000 calories in it!)

After breakfast and some playtime, we headed over to the Solomons for more gifts with Grandma Kathie, Grandpa Jim, and Uncle Dan, Uncle Jeff, and Aunt Meagan. What a great start to our Christmas!

Waiting for Good News...Updated

Well, we heard back from the doctor's office and Cooper's test results were normal (kind of). His lymphocytes are high and his neutrophils are low (do not Google this, every result screams Leukemia, but after my brief panic Chad assured me his white blood count wasn't high enough to put this on the differential list). Chad says it means Cooper has a very nasty virus and is having a heck of a time fighting it off. The doctor's office did say he will probably need to repeat the bloodwork again at some point, so yay for that since it was such a good time! He has been really sick since Sunday, and I am finally taking him in this afternoon to get his ears looked at again. I am actually praying an ear infection is the problem, so he can get meds and start to feel better (also start eating and sleeping and whine less!). Does it make me a bad mom to root for illness?

Hoping for Good News...

Chad and I agree, we had one of the worst evenings of our life last night. Cooper had his 18 month well-child check-up in the morning yesterday, and when they weighed him, they noticed he has lost a whole pound in the last three months. When you only weigh 23 pounds, this is a good bit. So our pediatrician ordered a round of tests to make sure there is nothing going on. We took him and Griffin around 4:15 to the hospital lab (the one that's "better with children" according to the ped.!) to get his blood drawn. Despite asking when we registered to be taken to the Peds. unit straightaway, we were told the general lab could handle it. An hour and two sticks later, we were on our way to Peds. I knew it. Well, we then waited for 45 minutes in the hallway up there, feeling horribly sad for all of the sick kids around us. We said a special prayer for them and their families last night. When the nurses finally had a chance to help us, it took an hour, 3 sticks in the arms, an attempt to get it from his head, and a last successful attempt in his foot to get enough blood for the tests. Cooper pretty much screamed for two and a half hours, and was poked a total of 6 times. It was the worst parenting experience we've had. We're waiting, hoping to hear results today. Wish us luck!

Christmas Eve (Christmas Pictures, Part I)

I have roughly 350 pictures of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, so I thought I would spread them out a bit. Here's part one!

I love Christmas Eve. Growing up, we had a lot of traditions for this day, and I have tried hard to keep many of them and start some new ones for my boys. This year we went downtown and did some last minute shopping at Circle Centre Mall, followed by a morning at the Children's Museum. After naps, we had an early dinner with my family, followed by evening church service. Then home to open Christmas jammies (matching, of course!), a new ornament for both boys, and their gifts to each other. We put out cookies for Santa and carrots for the reindeer, left out our stockings, then off to bed!

Then Santa and his helpers waited for Griffin to fall asleep. We waited, and waited, and waited. Finally around 10 p.m. he was out, and the real work began. It took over two hours to get a few last-minute toys assembled and everything out and organized. We had gifts for both boys, each other, as well as 10 other family members. Our tree was loaded down! This year I ordered Santa bags for them, and they are SO cute. I love the way they look.

We were very tired when we finally got to sleep after midnight, but excited for the morning to come!!

Our Trip to WonderLab

Thanks to Chad's awesome sister Amanda, we had free children's tickets to go to the WonderLab in Bloomington. We finally got around to using them this Saturday, and we had a blast! If you have kids and live in the Indy area, you have to check it out. It's like the Children's Museum on a much smaller, quieter, less crowded scale. There was a huge climbing apparatus that Griffin loved (and mommy and daddy braved as well!), a bubble area, and a huge area for kids under 6 that Cooper and Griffin both had a blast playing in. Here are some pictures of our little explorers!