Aedan: 56 Months, Week 2
Owen: 14 Months, Week 4
Going into the Christmas season, things always get so busy with sending Christmas cards, buying presents, making cookies and other special treats, as well as the Christmas programs and special events. I love all of these things, as Christmas is definitely my favorite time of the year, but sometimes I find myself wishing that time would slow down and that I wouldn't feel so pressured to do so many different things.
This week started with Owen not sleeping well again. Saturday night Owen was up from 12:00-1:30 a.m. with Ben, and then I was with him from 4:45-6:15. He woke up burning up with a fever, and it took me until 6:15 to get him back to sleep. Ben and I were both supposed to serve at church that morning, but now one of us had to stay home to be with Owen since we didn't know what was going on with him. I went back to sleep for a few minutes, but then had to get up to get ready for church so we could be there by 8:45. Needless to say, I was very tired that morning, and I was worried about our little boy and what was going on with him.
That afternoon I was hoping he would take a good nap, and even propped his bed up to see if that would help, and he went down for his nap okay, but then he woke up crying twice and was very unsettled and very unhappy. I was afraid for what that might mean for our night that night and how much sleep we would get. It was hard to know what was going on. He definitely has some molars coming in on the top, but he also was congested and cried when we tried to lay him down, which made me think it could be another ear infection because that's what he does when he has an ear infection. With Samantha being sick last week, he very easily could have caught a bug from her.
Ben and I were unsure about what to do with small group that night. We didn't want to do it at our house because of whatever was going on with Owen having a fever, and then we ended up just cancelling it for that night. We had a lot to do that day with making a special Christmas snack of Rice Krispie trees for Aedan's preschool class the next day and making Christmas cookies for Aedan's Preschool Christmas Program as well as Ben's study sessions coming up that week. After being tired from a rough night and a rough nap time, it was nice to just have an afternoon and evening at home together as a family.
Ben worked really hard that morning and early afternoon to get all the cookies baked. The kids helped use the cookie cutters to cut out the shapes, and once all the cookies were baked, it was time for the best part: the decorating! We were smart this year and put the cookies on cookie sheets while they decorated to help contain the sprinkles a little more. (I don't know why I never thought about this before.) The kids love decorating the cookies, and Owen even got in on the action some by standing on a chair right next to the counter so he could watch everything that was going on. Here are the kids in action. :)
And here is a sample of our finished cookies. Don't they look delicious? I like our tradition of making these cookies from a recipe passed down from Ben's Grandma.
I braced myself for another rough night, especially when he was already up screaming and crying twice in the first two hours of putting him down. I decided if he had another rough night, I probably would take him in to the walk-in clinic and get his ears checked. He ended up not waking up as much as I thought, just the two times before we went to bed, and then I was up with him from 3:00-4:00, but you could tell something was still bothering him.
Monday morning I had to go to church to get everything set up for MOPS the next day. It took me a little longer than normal because I had extra stuff to set up for our Christmas craft, but that morning I noticed that Owen had some gunk in his ears and I looked in his ears with the otoscope and it looked a little red and cloudy. So instead of going grocery shopping like I was going to do after MOPS set-up, I took the boys to the walk-in clinic instead. Luckily, we didn't have to wait for too long, and Aedan was content just sitting and watching cartoons on TV. I got the NP that I like, and sure enough, Owen had an ear infection in his right ear. She prescribed the same antibiotic that she prescribed last time, Cefdinir, and again mentioned that we might be heading towards getting tubes in his ears due to his frequency of ear infections. I wanted to get his medicine right away so he could take his first dose before putting him down for his nap, so I was then off to Meijer to pick up his prescription. I felt so bad for the little guy, but I was glad that I decided to take him to the doctor so he could get some relief and feel better soon. We had gone a few months without an ear infection, so we will see what the winter has in store for us.
Here is one of Aedan's papers that he worked on at school. I mainly took a picture of it because of how neatly he wrote his name at the top of the page. I'm so glad he is enjoying and learning at preschool.
The two blond boys sitting next to him are Thomas and Henry. They really like him, and always run to give him a hug when I come to pick him up. His other little friend, Kate, is in the red dress in the front row. Those are the kids he talks about the most.
Here's the first song, "You are My Snowman" (like the song "You are My Sunshine") and the poem "Five Little Christmas Trees." Aedan is on the right side, sometimes blocked behind the girl with the green dress and pigtails. However, I could hear him singing out loud and clear, and he was very animated with the motions of the song.
The last song was "We Wish You a Merry Christmas," and this time Aedan is more in the middle between the two girls in red dresses. He kept turning around so that he could look at his teachers and make sure he was on track with the songs, but he was singing his heart out and was very serious about his performance. I was so proud of him for getting up on stage, even though he was nervous, and doing such a nice job looking at the audience, singing loudly, and doing all the motions like they practiced in class. We made such a big deal of his performance afterwards, and he was really happy that everyone was there to watch him. We all enjoyed some cookies for a treat while we talked with Ken and Linda, before heading back home.
After getting the kids to bed that night, I had a busy night of making treats for MOPS the next day. I decided to make chocolate covered pretzels and buckeyes to give to all the MOPS childcare workers, along with gift cards for the volunteers. I always have great ideas like this that end up turning into me biting off more than I can chew. I am so lucky to have a husband that is willing to help me in my crazy endeavors. Even though I'm sure he had other things to do that night, he lovingly helped me make all these treats. We ended up being up until midnight letting all the chocolate dry in the cold garage so that I could package them up in the Christmas bags and have them ready for the next day.
Tuesday morning I was tired and busy trying to get to MOPS early so I could make sure everything was set. With Jill not being at meetings anymore, I am trying to take over more of the childcare portion of things, so I wanted to actually be there ahead of time, which somehow is difficult for me to do with the boys sometimes. We had yummy food that morning, a video about the true meaning of Christmas, and then we did our white elephant gift exchange. There were a lot of pretty nice gifts, and I ended up with a handmade sign that says "gather." It was a good meeting, but it took longer to get everything cleaned up. We also had an incident with one kid biting another kid that I talked to Brooks about afterwards to make sure we dealt with it properly. I was still at church at 12:15, so it was a rush to get back home, get the boys lunch, and then get Aedan off to preschool.
For however crazy the morning was, we didn't have gymnastics to go to anymore, so our evening was much more relaxing just being home together as a family. Ben had a review session that evening after the kids were in bed, so he helped get a fire started before he set off, and I was able to sit and enjoy a warm fire and a view of our beautiful Christmas tree. I love this season of lights and warmth and memories and celebrations.
On Wednesday Samantha was super excited because she could wear her pajamas to school. The boys and I went grocery shopping that morning since we didn't go on Monday like we planned. The internet ended up being out for most of the day, so I spent the afternoon working on stuffing envelopes with our Christmas cards and putting labels on them that Ben printed off for me on campus. I played "White Christmas" on my computer, drank coffee from my fancy latte maker, and had a really enjoyable afternoon while Owen took a longer, much better afternoon nap.
The kids didn't have AWANA that night due to Sault Schools Christmas programs, so we decided to have Aedan go to hockey since he didn't go on Monday because of his Preschool Christmas Program. Ben took him that night, and Samantha ended up staying with them because Aedan really wanted to show her how well he was doing at skating quickly. After dropping them all off at the Big Bear, I went to Meijer with Owen to finish up some Christmas shopping for the kids and to buy some candy and small toys and games for the kids stockings. Owen wouldn't tell my secrets! He got his hands on the candy canes full of M&Ms and ended up whacking it on the cart so hard that he almost opened it up, so I had to take that away from him. I let him out of the cart when he started to get antsy, but then he found the display of bouncy balls and started throwing them down the aisles. After cleaning up all the balls, he was put back in the cart so we could check out and go pick up the rest of our family. Shopping with a toddler is always an experience!
We ate dinner early that night before Aedan went to hockey, so we decided to go back home and eat a little snack before getting ready for bed. The kids had grapes, and even Owen got to sit at the table like a big boy. he was so happy sitting there with his big brother and sister.
On Thursday I had quite a few errands I needed to get done, including dropping off a couple gifts for MOPS volunteers that weren't there on Tuesday. I also discovered that Samantha forgot her snow pants at home, so I decided to be nice and take them to school for her so she could play outside at recess that day. She doesn't usually forget things like that at home, as she is usually pretty careful about packing her backpack, so I decided to bring them for her. She was really surprised to see me when I peeked my head in her classroom, and she was really grateful that I brought them to her. After stopping at her school, I dropped off the gift cards and then went to church for a MOPS play date. I asked Aedan if he wanted to go, and he did, so we stayed at church for about an hour while the boys got to play with some other kids.
Here are my two cute big kids posing for a picture after getting dressed on Thursday morning. Aedan was excited to wear this shirt with a number 16 on the front because Ben told him that it is Ema's favorite number. I feel like these two look so similar in this picture.
Izzy had to get in on the picture as well. :)
On the way home we stopped at the post office so I could buy stamps and send out our Christmas cards. I stayed in the post office to put all the stamps on, and Aedan helped me out a lot by following Owen around and making sure he wasn't getting into too many things. It was nice to check that task off my list. From there we went home for lunch before dropping Aedan off at preschool. Owen was a stinker with napping that afternoon. I got him back to sleep at about 3:20 after being with him for half an hour to get him back to sleep. (Silly ear infections that mess with his sleep!) Luckily, Ben was able to come home from campus early so that I didn't have to wake him up to go pick up Samantha and Aedan from school. I was even able to convince Ben to take them to Payless after school so they could pick out new tennis shoes and also boots for Samantha. Both kids had holes in their shoes and needed the next size up. It's like they're growing or something!
After doing bath time that night, Owen found these Mickey Mouse ears that Samantha got one of the times we went to Disney. He loves putting her her headbands on, so he was very eager for us to put these on his head. He was so adorable with them, and I figured he would enjoy seeing what he looked like, so I turned my camera around so he could see what he looked like on my screen. You can tell that he thinks he's pretty cute.
Since we planned to be out of town over Christmas, we decided to do our own family Christmas that weekend. With that in mind, Aedan and I spent most of Friday morning wrapping presents while Owen just walked around the house making messes. (It's hard doing things with Owen left to his own devices. Sometimes I feel like when we stay home, all I do is clean up everyone's messes all day long.) However, Aedan was very proud of all the gifts he picked out for his family and wrapped them all very carefully. He had a certain reason why he picked each of these gifts, and he remembered which gift was for who and why he picked it. He has such a kind, loving heart, and he loves to show others how much he loves them.
Here is Izzy enjoying laying in the sun that afternoon while the house was nice and quiet. She draped herself over the edge of couch and was falling asleep with her nose propped up on her hands. It was pretty cute, and I had to take a picture of her.
That afternoon after school, we ate dinner together before heading down to Northwoods Camp to meet up with Ken and Linda for a sleigh ride that they invited us to. They had huge horses pulling a wagon with hay bales stacked on top, and it actually was not super cold outside so it ended up being the perfect night to do something like this. It was really sweet of them to think of us and invite us along, and the kids really enjoyed spending this time with them. Ben tried to get a few pictures of us as we looked at the lights strung along the path, but it was hard to get a picture in the dark on a moving wagon. Owen was happy being held on my lap under the blanket, watching all the lights. Samantha commented on all the stars she could see in the sky, and Aedan mostly sat quietly and looked around.
After the sleigh ride, the kids had a cookie and hot chocolate in the lodge, enjoying time to just walk around, chat with Ken and Linda, and warm up by the fire. When we got home, I helped Samantha wrap her presents for our family so they would be ready for our Christmas the next morning. I wrapped all our presents the night before, so we were all set. After the kids were in bed, I got all the presents out of the guest bedroom and stacked them under the tree so the kids could see them when they got up in the morning. We don't do Santa at our house, but it's special to see the kids' reaction when they see presents they've asked for or special things that we thought they would like.
Even though we were out later and got to bed past bedtime, Aedan was still up at his normal time, just a little past 7:00. I got up with him so Ben could sleep in a little bit. Aedan wanted to get dressed right away in his white shirt (his favorite one right now), and he was very eager to go out into the living room and see all the presents under the tree.
He got busy going through all the presents, making stacks for each person, and he was in the middle of doing that when Samantha came out of her room for the morning.
Samantha and Aedan did a good job of waiting patiently for Daddy and Owen to get up before opening anything. We read some Christmas books together, and after Daddy came upstairs we let them open their stockings before eating breakfast. I love the look of anticipation on Aedan's face before he opens his stocking, and I love Samantha's smile when she pulls out the Hatchimal package. Sharing Christmas with kids is so fun. Their excitement is contagious.
After eating breakfast together and Owen finally waking up, I convinced the kids to sit in front of the tree for a picture before opening presents. I love these three kids so much, and I think this first picture is so wonderful of them, all with true, genuine smiles. These kids are the best gifts I could have ever asked for.
We let Owen open his stocking, and he was pretty excited to play with the rubber bouncy ball that was sticking out the top.
The first present Aedan opened was from Samantha. It was a set of six super hero puzzles. I love how enthusiastically he opens the paper.
And here is Samantha opening her present from Aedan, which was a 3D ladybug puzzle. She is so gracious in being excited about anything she receives as a gift. Aedan was excited to show her how the ladybugs popped out, and Samantha made sure to tell Aedan how much she loved the present.
Here is Owen opening his present from Aedan, a play guitar. Owen didn't know quite how to tear open the paper, and Samantha and Aedan were more than willing to help him out.
Samantha got Owen a Sesame Street book that played sounds. Once she showed him how it worked, he was very eager to look at it, and you can see him touching it with his thumb like he is trying to push the buttons, too.
Aedan also got Samantha a new hat. She wanted one with a fluffy ball at the top and the strings that hang down the side. I think it fits her pretty well! My girl is so pretty.
I picked out this Preschool Writing book for Aedan because it has more than what our old one has, with numbers and shapes as well.
Owen scooted himself backwards to sit on Samantha's lap, (he's been doing that a lot lately, and she loves it when he wants to hug or cuddle up with her),and she was more than happy to snuggle with him for a little while.
I also ordered these two "I Survived" books from a book order as a surprise. Samantha was very excited to see these books, and I'm glad I picked ones she hadn't read yet.
I bought them a few things as presents for both of them to share, like these markers and Twistables.
I got Owen his own Harold the Helicopter since he likes that so much in his pop-up Thomas book.
Then, Samantha and Aedan opened another present for them to share, a Hangman game that they can take along in the car to play when we make long trips.
Of course we couldn't forget Izzy. I got her a new chew bone that was chicken flavored, and a new rope toy with a rubber bone part. Izzy was excited to get to work chewing on her bone. The last one we got her she chewed down to a nub, so it was time for a new one.
Here's Ben opening up his present from Samantha, a nice shirt and tie, that she picked out and matched up all by herself. She was pretty proud of it and couldn't wait for him to wear it.
And here's the present Samantha got for me, a blue and grey shirt. She picked this out all by herself and even found the right size for me. I'm really glad that we decided to take the kids to Goodwill this year so they could pick out inexpensive, but meaningful presents for everyone. It was cute to see what they picked out and why, and they were so excited to give their presents away.
Here are Aedan and Daddy taking silly pictures together. :)
And here I am opening my present from Aedan. (I helped him wrap it, so I already knew what it was.) He was very adamant about picking this present for me, and it will be fun to serve some fancy drink in it some day.
Next, Daddy opened his present from Aedan, which was a pan to make cakes the shape of bunny heads. As you can tell, Aedan was pretty excited about making some bunny cakes or cookies, and then when Owen sees Aedan roughhousing with Daddy, he wants to join in, too. Falling off the couch didn't phase him at all.
Ben and I gave each other our presents earlier. (Ben got a Kindle Fire, and I got the fancy coffee maker.) But I also got Ben some new cologne because he dropped the hint awhile back that he was almost out. It's a special talent to be able to open a present while having a toddler climbing all over you.
Owen then opened up the books that I got for him, also from the book order awhile back. Samantha was eager to start reading it to him right away. I think Aedan was interested in it, too.
The big kids then opened the coloring books that I got them to share to use with their new coloring supplies. Most of our coloring books are used up or scribbled on too much, so we needed something new, especially with how much Aedan is enjoying coloring lately. Plus, I figured these would be good to have on our upcoming trip to use in the car or at the hotel.
This was Owen's big present from Mommy and Daddy. But who needs to open a present when you can just stand on it?! He thought that was pretty fun.
We got Owen this fun ball toy because it would be easy for him to do, and it even rings a bell when it gets down to the bottom. This company (Hape toys) seems to make really good, solid products.
And here's our big present to Aedan, a huge Bumblebee Transformer. When I asked him what he wanted for Christmas, this was always the first thing he would say. I'm glad he was excited about it. :)
And last, but not least, our big present to Samantha was a Kindle Fire, Kids' Edition. On her list she wanted a camera and a computer, so we kind of combined those things, along with her love for reading books, into one device where we could enforce parental controls and encourage reading more than just silly games or apps. I think you could tell she liked it by the way she was just frozen staring at it when she first got it out. She will really enjoy having access to so many books on one small device, and this will be something that will grow with her as she gets older.
Here are our happy big kids with their big presents from Mommy and Daddy.
The rest of the day was spent playing with new toys, figuring out how to transform Bumblebee (after I watched a YouTube video for half an hour), and just spending time together relaxing and playing together. We had a pork roast and baked potatoes for dinner, followed by watching "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" and making some Grinch Punch. It was a good day, and it was so fun to spend the day celebrating Christmas together as a family.
(Blog about December 9-15, 2018)
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