Jingling Bells

Our J. Howard is a rare soul ... he's an entertainer, no matter what the venue!

Our Week (or um ... weeks) in Review ...

Lights, camera ... ACTION! J Howard puts on his Santa gear ...
Ahh. My favorite people came over to help us moved the monstrosity of a desk to another corner of our bedroom. I warned them ahead of time of the duties that were to come and they still showed up! Some people just love torture!! I'll have to post pictures of our almost done bedroom later ... but let's just say ... it looks WAY better! Thanks for having big muscles, Kenton and Ben!!!
And for those of you who can remember the day when I had huge, curly hair ... this is proof that my little E did inherit a few of my genes :)
Oh ... and Mr. Skinny decided that he has a new found love of food. He now crawls into the kitchen and says, "Num, num, num, num." Today, he opened the pantry and found his way into a huge container of animal crackers. I'm weighing him later on. He's got to pass up that 20 pound mark soon!
A Christmas rock concert. Nothing says Christmas like a cheetah bongo drum!
And the GOLD TRAIN has returned for some under the tree Christmas fun!
My two little snowmen!
And our house ablaze with lights ... I know ... there's a lot going on and it causes my stomach to hurt it I stare at our front porch for too long. Bows, lights, plants, colors ... wow! And ... if you're in the neighborhood, you'll want to get out of your car and perch yourself on our porch. The lights are synchronized to music. I believe one of our neighbors said it makes him nauseous ... but the boys LOVE it!
And ... every Christmas season needs a little reindeer ...
or two!
And finally ... a cold day ... and the boys were making the most of being indoors. Playing with trains, cars and ...
Seriously ... I'm telling you ... he can't find enough food these days. He's even eating plastic bugs!
Oh ... and he hates ... HATES ... things on his feet. It's a bit of a contest for E to see how long it takes him to pull them off. Good thing we live in the desert. It will be 100 again before we know it!
Doesn't get any better than happy children (who looks like they're screaming but they're really laughing!)
And ... all good things must come to an end. Time for naps! Consider yourselves ... caught up :)

Don't Build Your House on the Sandy Land ...

And for that matter ... you probably shouldn't build one on a plastic tray. But ... I'm all about traditions. I'm not sure why. I just love the idea of a tradition. Maybe it's the repetitive nature ... or the order of things that I love. Whatever the reason, bring on the traditions. For Thanksgiving, we eat Einstein bagels in the morning and this year, we decided that the day after Thanksgiving called for nachos and indoor decorations. And for Christmas, our first new tradition was to be the annual building of THE GREAT GINGERBREAD HOUSE.
Ben was the first one to get his hands sticky. I won't lie to you ... it was hard work trying to frost faster than Joshua could lick ...
To an almost three year old, this looks like CANDY heaven. To a mom, who thought that making the house a half hour before bedtime was a good idea ... this looks like TROUBLE!
Anybody see some missing frosting?
This is me. Trying to be the Gingerbread Grinch in need of some Christmas highlights :) STOP LICKING THE ICING!
This is Joshua. Pretending to be a "first time listener" but then batting those green eyes and ...
somehow convincing me that trying one of those artificially colored, crunchy, might-break-a -tooth candies was a good idea.
And this is Joshua. Relishing in his success. And me ... oh so wishing that I had come up with a different tradition.

Next year, popcorn garlands! Now, that's a taste I can get into!

So Chic ...

Every girl needs a pair of pink shoes. I, on the other hand, have three. One is crocodile print ... fake, I assume, since I've never seen a pink crocodile. One is leather ... and the third. Well ...

I was wearing a lime green sweater and jeans. I've watched enough episodes of What Not To Wear to know ... you don't have to match ... just blend. The color wheel. What compliments green better than HOT PINK? (Okay ... so I obviously ignored the part on that show about not wearing clogs but that's another story) ...

Just as I was about to make my escape (to Target ... with NO children) ... Ben stops me and says, "Um. Aren't those gardening shoes?" I was hoping he'd go for "Wow, Carrie. That's awfully European of you. You are evening sporting black socks with those clogs. What a trend setter!"

I paused for a moment, held my head up high and marched down the stairs to let the world gaze upon my fashion statement. After all ... everybody needs a pair of pink shoes!

A Little Bit of Cheer ...

Poop. It's weird to be such an expert on things you never dreamed of mentioning in everyday conversation. I'm pretty sure my mom told me that topic was not to be discussed in any location outside a doctor's office or a bathroom.
And try as I might ... everybody is just interested in it. Eli's poop that is. So ... here's the scoop.
He's on the mend. By mend, I mean, less crazy diapers and less laundry. We still have crazy ... just a little less of it and for that ... we're THANKFUL! As you can see from his lack of CHUBBY cheeks ... this past week has taken the little chunky E had in him ... right out.
He's back on milk. Not eating much. But he has consumed 12 ounces of liquid today and trust me ... that's a HUGE amount compared to the teaspoon syringes we were pumping down his chomps just a few days ago.
And MILK must make a boy stronger ... because he's back to his old ways. Getting into everything and destroying ALL things clean and tidy. Ahh ... welcome back E. We missed you!
And ... ask and you shall receive. Our wall of pictures .... complete.

Up To Something ...

Eli is always getting into something.  We once called him our mellow child.  Our assessment was grossly wrong.  Eli could do circles around the Energizer Bunny.  He could put that little pink guy and his metal drum to shame.  

This week, however, Eli has been a bit different.  At first, I chalked it up to him getting four molars that the same time.  (I'm sure I was a perfect child ... I really think this form of "payback" is unnecessary!!)  The runny rose, tugging on his ear, the "weird" diapers.  But then he lost interest in eating and the "weird" diapers multiplied in number and a bit of vomiting began.  Okay, so he has the flu.  We can deal with the flu.  (Plus, his favorite vomit target is Ben ... not me ... which makes it much easier to handle).  But then I noticed his chubby cheeks were MIA and I called the doctor. 

True to form ... our children like to have multiple things going on at once.  Like the time that Joshua had pink eye, RSV and the chicken pox and was banned from baby prison (aka daycare) for 5 weeks!  Our sweet Eli has Rotavirus, a severe ear infection and a killer diaper rash. 

He has been banned from dairy, fruit and fruit juices.  And he now drinks Pedialyte through a syringe ... just like a little gerbil!  

We have done more laundry in the past several days than I typically do in a month.  We all smell.  (Doesn't that make you want to pop on by?).  I can now give you MANY reasons as to why you need extra sets of pajamas, more than two crib sheets and a resilient gag reflex. 

We are tired.  (My mom has been a lifesaver and has been popping by to rescue the weary troops and entertain J Howard).  Eli is still not eating much ... just sipping out of a syringe.  I slept with him on the couch last night for three hours after he threw up twice.  And ... to think the doctor said this could last for three weeks.  And really ... all I want to do is get my Christmas cards mailed out, my house from looking like a wrecking ball went through the front door, bake a cookie or two and come up with an idea to win my in-laws wrapping present contest.  

But for now ... if you'd pray for E.  For his healing.  For our energy levels.  For this virus to pass quickly and for our consumption of diapers and doing of laundry to decrease rapidly!  

And when we no longer smell ... I'll throw on a pot of coffee and whip up a cookie or two ... and you can COME ON OVER!

Three Weeks Later ....

After Jennifer and Robert's wedding ... the wedding crew went wine tasting and I ... took the kids home for a nap. I missed out on a lot of fun (so I heard) ... but I totally enjoyed the sun hitting my face as I watched the waves hit the shore. PURE BLISS!

Ben came back after one winery and we took the boys to the beach ...
Writing our names in the sand was a fantastic idea ... until Eli realized ...
Hey! This stuff tastes GREAT!
How saw a puppy and decided to brush up on his digging skills ...
A stroll along the shore ... might I add ... my feet were FREEZING but the picture is lovely!
Splish, splash!
Waving to his reflection ...
This one ... a total adventurer.
This one ... happy to coax the little one into doing crazy things like ...
MOUNTAIN CLIMBING! (Not quite as steep as it appears but Mr. E is already showing his competitive edge ... )
Reached the top!
A family foot shot ...
And I think this might just be my favorite one of all ...