Let it snow

"Can we make snow angels?" was the question they asked first when we told them we were spending Christmas in New Jersey this year. We were quick to answer, "yes, as long as there is snow!"

Matt and I also hoped there would be a little snow so the kids could enjoy the winter fun, but we also hoped that it wouldn't snow the day we arrived or the day we left as not to hinder our travel plans. However, all we heard leading up to the holiday was a forecast of a light dusting of snow on Christmas Eve, but that was it!

Well, as it got closer to Christmas Eve, the forecasts changed from a light dusting to heavy snows. In fact, once the words, "blizzard conditions" showed up in the forecasts, we began to worry. Even our relatives in from Virginia began to change their travel plans. They left after dinner on Christmas Day and drove all night to avoid getting caught in the storms. And we waited, hoping that it wouldn't turn out as bad as they were suggesting.

On the 26th, the snow began early in the day. It snowed and snowed and snowed.

By 6pm that night (the night before we were due to fly out), it was full-throttle blizzard conditions and they were estimating 10-16 inches for our area. We were not going to be getting out the next morning. Matt made several calls to the airline to get our flights changed as we did NOT want to spend the better part of the next day at the airport with three small kids only to find out our flight was going to be cancelled. We were able to change our flights to Wednesday because that was the first flight available with 4 seats on it.

This wasn't terrible news. It meant 2 extra days with Matt's family. Best of all....the kids would get to make their snow angels!!!!! I think the snow was a better present to them than any other they received this year!

The next morning, we woke up to 18 inches of snow, 29 degree weather, and the giddy smiles of two very excited children! Once the driveway was cleared away by Matt's dad's snowblower, we headed out to the store to buy the kids snow pants and boots. Lucky for us, it was 2 days after Christmas and 50% off sales!

We got them bundled up and ready to head out into the blanket of deep snow to have hours of snowtubing, angel making, shoveling, snowball making good time!

Even though he only lasted about a minute and a half...Will got to see his first snow, too!

Year in Review - 2010

This year was a hard one (bedrest and emotional stress) but a special one, nonetheless (birth of Monkey)! As 2010 comes to a close, I thought I would join the bloggy carnival hosted by Jo-Lynne at Musings of a Housewife. To look back at the year, I will post the first line of the first post of each month. Some may be good, some may be boring, some may be totally random, but here it is! Just click on the month to see the post!

January

Seeing how much fun she had at the Christmas Tea, I decided to do something special for my sweet Cate for her 3rd birthday.

February

Well, school registration is upon us again. I can't believe how fast this year has already flown.

March

Feeling pretty good.

April

Today was Max's school program for Holy Week.

May

The last couple of weeks have been rough with ups and downs.

June

My niece, who is 16 months younger than Cate, has been sporting some very cute pedicures this spring.

July

Well, it was fun while it lasted...

August

Early in the morning on Tuesday, July 27, 2010, I woke up to some harder contractions that were finally closer together.

September

Today, while watching a commercial on TV for a hotel/spa, Cate asks me, "Why does that lady have pickles on her eyeballs?

October

The Lighthouse.

November

Hello?

December

Can you hear it, Mom?

_______

Well, that's it...I told you, some really good and some boring, but there you have it. I hope each one of you have a blessed and healthy 2011!

Be sure to visit Musings of a Housewife to take a look at other bloggy recaps!

Santa's Promise

He kept his promise.

We came home to these wonderful gifts from the big guy in red!

Gimme those peas!

On December 19th, Will had his first taste of solid food. I have been nervous about this day since I found out he had a cleft palate. Even though I have done this before with Max and Cate, this time it would be different.

For those of you who don't know what a cleft palate is, it means that his soft palate in the roof of his mouth is non-existent. Therefore, feeding has been an issue from the beginning. He has no suction power since it is all open into his nasal cavity and sinuses. When he drinks his bottle, he doesn't actually suck the formula out of the bottle. Rather, his bottle nipples have been manipulated to have a very large hole so the formula actually pours into his mouth and he manipulates a swallow. As the months have gone by, he has learned to pace himself as not to flood himself and choke. In the beginning, we had to do the pacing for him by tipping his bottle every 4-5 swallows. When he burps, it often comes out of his nose, too. We have come to get used to this, but it was a bit terrifying in the beginning.

So, feeding solids and how he may eat differently than the other two has been somewhat of a daunting thought in my mind for months. The doctors and therapists have been very up front about explaining that he will eat like a normal child, it will just take a little practice and a few more steps along the way.

First, we are starting him on vegetables first instead of cereal. The reason for this is the cereal can tend to be thicker and get trapped in his nasal cavity and drying up there. As many of you moms know, dried cereal can turn into a thick paste that is hard to clean off a feeding bowl...imagine that happening up in his sinuses! Vegetables tend to be smoother and more liquidy.

Next, we have to "flush" his mouth and nasal cavities with swigs of water after 5-10 spoonfuls. This sounds worse than it really is. Basically, we just give him some water in a sippy cup and after a few swallows, he tend to breathe out of his nose and it "flushes" out the food in a very messy but effective manner. Again, as I mentioned before, he cannot suck, so spill proof sippy cups are not an option, since he can't suck the liquid through that valve. We simply take the valve out and give it to him. The only catch is that it can come out pretty fast, so we have to tip it for him until he gets used to it.

Lastly, we are to "hold off" on some fruits, such as peaches, apples, plums, as they can be more acidic. Imagine having orange juice come out your nose. Yeah, not a pleasant thought! We were told by his surgeon and therapists that these tend to burn up in their sinuses and nasal cavity. So, until he gets down the rhythm of eating and getting less food up in the roof and nose, we will hold of those. However, we might try bananas soon.

So, far, he loves eating!!! Despite the messiness and occasional uncomfortableness (is that a word?), he devours these solids. He has tried peas and green beans and the next is carrots and squash!

Christmas Day 2010

Early Christmas morning, we heard the pitter patter of little feet in the hallway above us, so Matt and I jumped up to get the cameras before the kids beat us to the living room. We caught them at the top of the stairs and told them to hold on until we could get Will up. Then, they ran down the stairs to find a letter from Santa which read:

Dear Max and Cate,

I have been checking my list and the elves have checked it twice and both of you have been on the nice list. Moby Dick has been watching extra carefully and letting me know how hard you are both trying to be a good boy and girl. When I saw you at Breakfast, you both told me you wanted bikes for Christmas this year. Max, I believe you asked for a blue and white big boy bike and Cate, if I recall you asked for a Barbie bike with streamers and a Barbie pouch. You have both earned these bikes. I know you are here visiting your grandparents for Christmas and that you had to fly on an airplane to get here. So, I delivered your bikes to your house in Plano and you will see them when you get home. In the meantime, I left you a bunch of goodies in your stockings!

Merry Christmas,

Mr. C

PS Those cookies were especially tasty this year!

They were very excited to hear about the bikes, but even more so to get started in the stocking and present mayhem!

Among some of the favorites were kooky pens, R2D2 Trouble and teething toys...

Clue Junior, Mini American Girl Felicity, with hugs and kisses galore.....

barnyard stackers, a seashell and sand keepsake (picked out by Max for Cate), Stormtrooper bobblehead, and Old McDonald fingerpuppet glove....

Other favorites not pictured were:

Matching sleeping bags for Cate and her dolls

Nintendo DSi games

more teething toys

puzzles

American Girl Bitty Baby doctor kit

Magic Treehouse books

How to Train Your Dragon DVD

Annie DVD

We opted this year to refrain from giving the adults gifts as we don't really need anything. However, I did get a fun gift from the kids to their grandparents....a street sign that reads: Nonnie and PopPop's Place, which was a huge surprise and a hit with them!

After all those gifts were opened, we got dressed and headed to Matt's brother's house for brunch, which was followed by Christmas Day Mass and dinner later that evening.

Our Big Fat Italian Christmas Eve

As many of you may know, I married into a very large Italian family! So, when it comes to Christmas Eve, they do it big!!!! It is the feast of the seven fishes. Not sure that we get all the traditional seven but we sure come close!

This year, Matt's cousins and aunt came up from Virginia. As you may remember, two years ago, we were in VA for the holidays. Everyone got to my in-laws home around 4pm. We gathered, caught up, and enjoyed some wine before the feast began.

Then, THE MEAL! It starts with shrimp cocktail, calamari, and antipasto dishes...then they do the dishes....then it is linguini and clam sauce...then another round of dishes....next up, fried flounder, baccala (salted cod), and vegetables (in years past there has been salmon and swordfish)...then more dishwashing and raw fennel to ease digestion!

Before dessert, we play a gift exchange game with white elephant gifts my mother-in-law has wrapped. It is a lot of fun and this year, the kids really got into it, especially considering what they ended up receiving!

After dessert, we got the kids ready for bed in their matching pjs and they were super anxious to get to sleep so Santa could come! Nonnie read "Twas the Night Before Christmas" and quickly afterwards, they were "snug in their beds with visions of sugar plums dancing in their heads!"

Merry Christmas

from our house to yours!

How many reindeer antlers?

The other night, we bundled up the kids to drive around and look at Christmas lights. We stopped at Starbucks and got hot chocolate, cider and some cookies and cranked up the Christmas tunes in our car.

This year, to make it fun for the kids, we asked them to rate the houses on a scale of 1 to 5 reindeer antlers...1 being "not so exciting" to 5 being "WOW, those are amazing"! We headed to a pretty popular area in our town that is known for their neighborhood lights! It was funny to hear their ratings of what they did and didn't like.

The houses that I just loved...very tasteful and pretty, they would give a 1 or 2, whereas the gaudy and tacky they would give 5 antlers!

Unfortunately, in this particular neighborhood we didn't see any "Griswold" houses, but I am sure if we had seen THIS....

my kids would have given it a big fat 10 reindeer antlers!!!!

Farr Family Christmas

When Matt and I began dating, we also began the system of switching off holidays with our families every other year. So, this year was Christmas with Matt's family, since last year, Christmas with here in Plano with my family.

So, a week before Christmas this year, we went to brunch at our new country club with my parents, brother, sister-in-law and niece. We had a great time eating together in the beautiful holiday atmosphere.

Later that afternoon, we met back at my brother's house for dinner and presents. My aunt, uncle and cousins also joined in on the fun. We have such a small family compared to Matt's side of the family. My dad was an only child and my mom has one brother, so it makes for very small family functions.

Passing out the gifts

My aunt, uncle and cousins

Matt and the sign I got him ("Lemme, all because two people fell in love"

with our kids' names underneath),

my brother with the mug his daughter painted for him, I got my Disney Dooney,

and my mom with the sign we got for her and my dad.

My parents and their gifts from us (a handpainted platter made with the grandkids' footprints,

and a photo collage that spells their last name)

The older kids had fun after we opened presents and Will fell asleep.

We may be a small family, but that doesn't mean we don't have TONS of fun together!

A KNIGHT to remember

For Max's 7th birthday, we took him and 6 friends to Medieval Times in downtown Dallas for the dinner and tournament. For weeks, he watched the little promo on the website. He was super excited to go and share the experience with his closest friends. The day of the party, the parents dropped off their kids at our house and Matt and I, along with another dad, my brother and my dad, drove all the kids down there.

The doors open about 90 minutes prior to the show. We were urged to get their early to be able to see all the stuff in the castle first.We had purchased the birthday package that included a photo op, so when we got there the boys posed with "Father Christmas". Then, we went through the Medieval Torture Museum. Each boy took a turn in the stocks and several of them chose to "play dead" rather than smile. It was pretty funny.

After that, we passed out some glow necklaces, glow wands, and beads for them to wear during the dark show. We purchased Max a special light up sword since he was the birthday boy!

Once it was time to enter the tournament arena, we were escorted to our 2nd row seats in the yellow/red section. They were literally front and center! Great seats!

Our wench, told us how dinner service would go and then told us to root and holler for the yellow/red knight! On a side note...they got the choice of Pepsi or tea....this was Max's first time having a soda! It was a HUGE treat!

Shortly after this, the lights dimmed and the show began! I have never seen those boys so engrossed in anything as they were at that moment! They hardly spoke to each other as they watched on intently!

In the middle of the show, they made special announcements and they announced his birthday to the crowd. When they called his name, he turned to me (as I was taking his picture) and said, "That's me!!!" They then brought him his birthday cake. It was a little too chaotic and loud to sing happy birthday, but his friends all cheered for him as he blew out his candle!

After the show, I got this great shot of him with his namesake (he is named Max RANDELL after my dad, Randy) and my brother, his Godfather!

It was truly a night to remember! Several of his friends have told us since that it was the BEST birthday party they have ever been to!

Bedtime Stories - Christmas Faves

I just wanted to share some of our Christmas bedtime favorites. I bought this series of books last year at Lifeway Christian Bookstore. The kids loved them and have requested them most nights this holiday season. They call them the "Legend" books. Each one has a very good Christian message and I am glad to have them in our collection to read to them for years to come.

Legend of the Christmas Tree by Rick Osborne

Legend of the Candy Cane by Lori Walburg

Legend of the Christmas Stocking by Rick Osborne

Legend of St. Nicholas by Dandi Daley Mackall

For more of our Christmas bedtime favorites, click here to see a post I did several years ago!

The Monkey Report

Many of you have asked for an update on the baby. So, here goes.

• He is 4 1/2 months.
• Weighs 12 lb.
• In the 10th percentile (huge for MY kids, the other two never got past the 5th).
• Smiling and giggling.
• Sleeping through the night (as of 10 weeks).
• Eats really well.
• Starting solids later this week.
• Turns to the sounds of our voices (the kids in particular).
• Still on Zantac for acid reflux (and you can tell when it gets close to medicine time!).
• Pushes up on his tummy.
• Rolling over as of Dec. 11th.
• Grabbing at toys.
• Recognizes his bottle grabs for it!
• Loves to snuggle.
• Likes to pull Mommy's hair.
• Has a ticklish spot on his chest.
• Is a morning person!

He'll be 5 months on the 27th and we are looking forward to his first Christmas!

No Snail Mail Required - 2010

I present our Christmas card.

Then twist....

twist again...

Voila!

I handmade them (130 of them, to be exact!). I had the idea for the format last year, but didn't come up with the theme until Will got these footed pajamas when he was born. I then got the other two pajamas to match. I posed them this way to ensure that I would get a decent picture with all of them looking at the camera at the same time and the sunglasses completed the theme (as well as ensuring that I wouldn't get a good shot with blinked eyes).

For a look back at past years' cards, click here for 2009 and 2008!

Nutcracker Prayer

Tonight at dinner, Cate insisted on saying our prayer. She said it was the "Nutcracker Prayer". So, we bowed our heads with our hands folded in prayer, not at all sure what was about to come out of her mouth!

So, here is her prayer, just in case you are interested in using it one night to bless YOUR food! You're welcome.

I pray that I promise to see baby William in the nature of corn on the farm forever. Amen.

After we all kept from giggling out loud, she proclaimed that, "It was so pretty, I made it myself."

And if that prayer wasn't strange enough, Max asked if he could have a hot dog bun for dessert!

This humorous little story had me remembering this comment from Max!

Happy 7th Birthday, Max!