Christmas Eve Eve (Yes...Eve Eve)

Anytime you have the labels "Christmas" and "sickness" on a post you know it's been one heck of a holiday. And there is no way I could condense this down to one short, simple post so I broke it up into a few. Enjoy with some hot cocoa!

Our first Christmas was scheduled to happen on Christmas Eve Eve (aka: December 23rd) with Tim's parents. About 2 pm that day Brenden was snuggled up under his covers, enjoying a later nap and I had just stepped out of the shower when I was overcome with a not-so-pleasant wave of nausea. I thought I had overheated so I laid down on the couch to see if it would pass. Then I thought I must need food and water, so I grabbed an apple. By 2:30 pm I was violently ill, but I thought it would pass. Wow...I was wrong.

Tim came home early to help me finish packing to leave and the first words out of my mouth were "I'm not going anywhere." Unfortunately, the Oklahoma Blizzard of 2009 was upon us and if we didn't leave that night then there was a very good chance we'd be snowed in by the next day. So I sucked it up, grabbed a bucket, and got in the car. We eventually made it to his parents' house and the entire time poor Brenden was so worried about me. I couldn't even turn around to reassure him.

By the time I crawled to their bathroom I knew it was food poisoning or a bug, which we had a few years ago, and I thought sleeping next to the toilet, swaddled in 3 comforters, dressed in a hat and my thick coat would keep the chills away and make me feel a little better. Not so much. After an hour of being sick every 5 minutes Tim decided this was NOT ok and took me to the emergency room at Bailey Medical Center, which is where we went for his wonky eye problem back in March. In 20 minutes they had me through triage, an IV in my arm, and lovely, wonderful Zofran (an anti-nausea medicine) in my system. Seriously, I love those people.

Within 5 minutes I felt 1,000 times better. I could hold my head up, my stomach wasn't cramping anymore, and I was coherent. All I wanted was a glass of water but I had to settle for 2 bags of fluid through my IV. When they finally decided that I was going to be fine they sent me up to labor and delivery to check on Lauren. The little stinker was all over the place and they had a really difficult time getting her heartbeat for longer than a few seconds. They eventually brought in a doppler, which they can use with babies when they are smaller, and her heartbeat was perfect. She also kicked the heck out of the monitor so we all knew that she was fine.

They finally gave me some Sierra Mist and crackers, which I shared with Tim. He thought he was getting really hungry but it became obvious that what I was suffering from was definitely a virus. I hit the call button so the nurses could help him since I was still attached to 3 different machines. They were so very nice and so were the nurses and doctors back in the ER. They asked if he wanted to be admitted but promised that the medicine they were sending me home with would help him as well. For some reason a nurse handed him an alcohol swab and told him to sniff it. Apparently it's supposed to help when you feel sick to your stomach, but Tim assured me that it never made a difference.

Eventually I was discharged, but not before the patient across the hall introduced himself. He was an old man that hadn't slept in months and was having breathing problems. His family members were some of the meanest people I have ever heard speak through a curtain. They informed the doctor that he had just been released from a nursing home that day and that they wanted the hospital to take responsibility for him and have him transferred to another home. The doctor was just as shocked as I was to hear this. He tried to explain that the hospital wasn't where you dropped off your parents when they get old and you don't care to help them. We left before we found out what they did with him, but I hope he's ok.

The final diagnosis: stomach virus which led to some pretty bad dehydration. Dehydration is awful for anyone. Add in being pregnant and it gets really scary.

After a lovely stop at Walgreen's at 1 a.m. where Tim became acquainted with the location of the bathroom, we headed home. Even though I know the medicine helped it sure tasted awful. The "slight mint taste" that it was supposed to have wasn't entirely accurate. When we finally got home poor Tim had to be sick a few more times before it really kicked in. Thankfully we both felt almost normal later that morning, although we were exhausted.

It was definitely NOT how we planned on spending part of our holiday but we feel lucky that it didn't start when we were trying to drive out to Colorado, or during that lovely blizzard we had. Next up...Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, which was filled with much more family and a lot less being sick.

(Mostly) Wordless Wednesday

On this day...last year.

Opening presents with grandpa Rick.

Boxes...the best part of Christmas!

Whee!

Big hugs from grandma Karen!

And we're having just as much fun in Colorado this year, too!

Merry Christmas!!!

A Very Merry Christmas and a Very Happy New Year!!!

Neighborhood Newsletter

Look who made the front page of the neighborhood newsletter! :)

If you'd like to see a slightly bigger version (on Facebook) click here. :)

Things I Miss (a photo post)

When Brenden would actually sleep somewhere besides a bed, in a completely dark room, with no toys.

When we could dress him up in all sorts of goofy outfits and he couldn't complain, even about the hats.

When he would actually WEAR hats for longer than 2 seconds. (Seriously, you'd think we were trying to force him into a torture device or something now.)

When he didn't scare kids by running at them, trying to hug them, hold their hands, and "box" them.

When we got big, happy smiles in front of the camera...

...instead of crazy, "can you see all my teeth? and up my nose" smiles.

When a simple box made one of the best toys.

Oh wait! :)

I wouldn't trade my 2 year old Brenden for anything. But I sure miss the little stuff!

Meeting Santa!

Yay! He didn't flip out like a crazy child and scream his head off! He wasn't excited, but he sat on Santa's lap and even told him he wanted Mickey Mouse and a train for Christmas. We couldn't get him to look straight, he kept wanting to look at the flash. I still think it's a cute picture.

So here you go...Brenden and Santa!

Merry Christmas from Brenden!

Our Family Christmas

We always try to do a Christmas with just us and it usually ends up being a few days before Christmas day. It's always hard to wait until after to give each other our gifts, plus sometimes, like this year, there are gifts that you would rather someone had to use close to Christmas. (more on that in a bit)

This morning was busy, but not due to Christmas. It was Parker, our friends Wes and Anna's little boy, 3rd birthday. We missed the previous two so I was very happy that we could make it this year. We all had a great time. Brenden went nuts chasing after the other kids, loved the cake, and had a hard time realizing he couldn't open Parker's presents. He was really late in taking his nap but didn't have a full blown break down until we tried to leave. He almost instantly fell asleep in the car on the way home and didn't wake up until dinner was almost ready.

Patiently waiting for cake.

Happy Birthday, Parker!

Christmas dinner this year was supposed to be rotisserie chicken, but even the smallest chicken I could find wouldn't fit in the rotisserie. Into the oven it went! Truthfully, I think it turned out better. We sat it on some onion and yellow pepper, injected it with some butter sauce and basted it a few times. Tim managed to make gravy with the drippings on the bottom of the pan, even though we had to strain it because he messed up when he put in the flour, but it really didn't matter. It was awesome. Definitely one of the best dinners we have cooked in a very long time. Sweet potatoes, corn and biscuits and we were good to go. Even Brenden ate a ton, although not on his own.

Ready to eat!

It wasn't hard to convince Brenden to open presents since he was so ready to open them earlier. He loved everything we got him, from his baseball glove, to his new Wii game, to the beanbag toss, which he is a lot better at than I expected. Tim seems really happy with his Wii game, too, although I think he was happier to open the underwear in his stocking. I think I was definitely the most spoiled, though. My big gift, which was WAY bigger than I could have ever expected, was a brand new camera. A beautiful, fabulous, super new camera. Really...I cried. My favorite thing? The one touch video recording. Click that button and it almost instantly captures video...in HD! Amazing.

Yes, that is a goofy smile.

You got me Medal of Honor?? :)

VERY excited about his baseball.

Yep, I cried. :)

So now I'm sitting here typing up a recap of our night while Tim argues with his new video game and Lauren jumps around in my belly. I don't even have to put my hand on my belly anymore, I can just see her jumping. We are so excited to have her here next year! Maybe that's why she's so excited...she's ready for some presents, too!

Brenden's ornament for this year and Lauren's ornament from Gigi and Poppy. (aka Ginny and Dan)

Merry Christmas!

Holiday Party

Tuesday night Brenden, Tim and I headed over to Incredible Pizza for his civil group's holiday party. I had been hyping up pizza and games to Brenden all day so when he jumped out of the car he was ready. "Pizza!!! Pizza!!!" Yeah...he's so my kid.

We wandered in, found our party, and waited to be seated. Brenden kept making flirty eyes at someone and I finally got curious. "Who are you flirting with you silly boy?" I asked. "That girl over there!" he said, pointing to Tatum, Tim's boss's daughter, who I think is close to 12 years old. He likes the older ladies! And it's funnier because Brenden sleeps in Tatum's old room since we're renting the house from Tim's boss.

Eventually we visited the buffet, found our seats, and dug into our food. Brenden decided his favorite people were Tatum, of course, and her older brother, Drake. He was so excited that they were eating pizza, too, and kept telling them about it. Eventually he got worried when their plates were empty and even offered to share his pizza, jello and drink. They thought that was hilarious. Then they tried to get up to play games and he had a fit. Mona, their mom, offered to take him with them while Tim and I finished eating. A free babysitter for a few minutes. Yes, please!

By the time we made it over to the games he was running around like crazy, having a ball. Eventually we pried him away from the bouncy toys so that he could play ski ball, bowl, golf, drive go karts, etc. His favorite things were bowling and the go karts, which didn't surprise me at all. I was more shocked that he was actually allowed to ride in them! He even "won" a ribbon. (Big thanks to the guys running the game! They must know what a big deal a ribbon can be to a 2 year old.)

DIVE!

Bowling!

I did it!

FORE!

His favorite ride!

Even though we were late for bedtime by over an hour it was totally worth it. We all had a great time and we're so thankful that Tim works at such a great office. Hopefully we can head back to Incredible Pizza soon. Anyone want to join us to run after Brenden for awhile? :)

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday

Comparisons:

Brenden at 20 weeks

Lauren at 21 weeks

Yes, I had to flip Lauren's picture so they would be facing the same way. Your eyes are not playing tricks on you.

My mom flipped out when she saw the newer ultrasound pictures. She immediately said, "Wow! She looks JUST like Brenden!" I guess we'll see!

Santa?

I've been a little nervous about taking Brenden to see Santa this year. Last year he saw the Santa at Tim's Reserve Center Army party and was not at all impressed. He wouldn't go anywhere near him, not even if Tim held him. But then he had an awesome time meeting the Easter Bunny so I thought maybe he had turned a corner.

This year he met Santa at the Reserve Center again. Although it wasn't nearly as traumatic as last year, he still wasn't too happy about it. He quickly blurted out that he wanted Mickey Mouse for Christmas and then said "Candy!" because he had seen other kids getting candy. I'm pretty sure that's the only reason he sat on Santa's lap at all. He jumped right up and headed off to try to stuff candy that was still in the wrapper in his mouth.

Not sure about this, mom!

Of course there were other things to distract him. Twister, the concept of which he does not grasp, and face painting, which they actually did on the little one's hands because they are smart.

Left cheek blue.

Serious business!

He'll let Santa be painted on his hand!

Race car!

It's hard to understand how he can be so excited to see Santa on TV or in a book but not want to meet him in real life. I have a feeling that he would not feel this way about Mickey Mouse or Curious George, who is his new favorite cartoon character. I'm not sure if it's because he's so much bigger or looks a little different from pictures.

I guess we'll just have to go try it out at the mall. Maybe he'll be happier if this Santa has a real beard. We'll see!

Chatter Box

Brenden has started having complete conversations with people on his "phone" when we're in the car. Tim finally got to hear him yesterday. Usually they consist of Brenden saying hello to whomever he decides is on the phone, asking if they are there, some random jabbering that I don't understand yet, and then a swift "Bye." At least he's entertaining himself!

Disclaimer: We were in a moving vehicle so it's a little bumpy and kinda sideways. The sound probably isn't great either. Sorry! :)

And her name shall be....

Lauren Suzanna Leigh Kelly!

I tried to name her a few other things. Addelyn (but I was NOT a fan of Addy) or Alivia. But those just didn't fit. My head hurt every time I thought about them. But Lauren, since the time I texted it to Tim, has stuck.

Suzanna is a mash up of Tim's mom's middle name (Sue) and my mom's middle name (Anna). Leigh is for my grandpa Halter, whose name was William Lee. We decided to change the spelling to the more feminine version. The "ren" even links her to Karen! :)

You may already know this from Facebook or from our Christmas card, but if not, then, surprise!

Yes, we named her a lot faster than we named Brenden, but it was just something we felt we wanted to do. I like knowing her name and I like knowing that I can teach Brenden who she is before he can really see her. A name just makes her that much more real in my head.

We can't wait to meet our little Lauren! I hope she likes pink! :)

Happy Birthday Shelly!

A very happy birthday to my long time friend Shelly!!! At the moment she's also my boss. She owns the dance studio that I work at part time and she's an amazing dance instructor.

Want to make her day? Come see the Bartlesville Christmas Spectacular! It's tonight, December 12th, at 7 pm at the Bartlesville Community Center.

Of course you can always check out the dance studio's website. Lots of great stuff on there!

Hope you have a great day, Shell!