My Grandma makes gifts every year for us and the kids and I love what she makes. Two years ago she crocheted dolls for the kids. This year she knitted sweater vests for the boys and a sweater dress for Rilla. They are so cute. I loved dressing them in them for church on Sunday.
Christmas was a lot of fun. We do Christmas jammies on Christmas eve. Here are the kids in their jammies:
Christmas morning the kids woke up at 6:30. I was happy it wasn't earlier. I would have made them go back to bed. We had a nice quiet morning opening gifts. The kids really had fun. Rilla especially. She loved opening presents and seeing what was in side. Later on Christmas we had a couple of friends over for Christmas dinner. We all made a portion of the dinner so no one had to make a lot. That was nice. We also let the kids cut out sugar cookoes and decorate them. Here are a few pictures from Christmas day:
I am a little behind. Thanksgiving at my sister's was a lot of fun. It is always nice being with family. My Grandma was able to visit as well. My sisters parents-in-law and her sister-in-law and her family also came. It was a full house and pretty noisy, but I really enjoyed it. All the kids got sick at some point, as well as most of the adults. That part wasn't much fun. But we got to go to movies, play games, go shopping. I am happy we went. The kids even got to have a little bit of snow to play in.
We have had three Christmas parties this past week and they were a lot of fun. the first was a winter carnival on post. They had games, a free toy for each child (Walter got a soccer ball, Jem an airplane, Rilla a Polly Pocket, and Shirley a Tigger stuffed animal), crafts, and lunch. It was a lot of fun. A little crowded, but fun.
I went and saw Twilight yesterday. I really liked it. I really liked most of the characters and it did pretty good at following the book, I thought. Gil and I were going to go on a double date last night to see the movie, but we ended up having sick kids. So, Gil and I went and saw it at noon and my sister and her husband went last night. I love when a good movie comes out in the theater and I can go see it. My sister and I are going on Monday to see it again.
Walter's class and two other classes gave a Veteran's Day Program at his school yesterday. It was a lot of fun. Walter even had a speaking part. Jem loved it. He loves going to Walter's school. Afterwards, cookies and punch were served.
I had an appointment with Shirley's Allergist yesterday morning. The one that I was not impressed with at all. I thought this time would be different because his allergy test results showed he was allergic to 4 out of the 5 they tested. Boy, was I wrong. He basically dismissed the test results. According to him it was just a coincidence that Shirley's eczema got better when I stopped eating the things he was allergic to. I told him I would like more allergy testing done and he started in on a spiel on how test can come back positive when there is no allergy when skin tests are done. I was pretty upset at this point and interrupted him and said I knew that about skin allergy testing BUT he didn't get the skin allergy testing. He had blood drawn and The RAST testing was done which is the most accurate. According to what I read on the internet when researching eczema and allergies, the RAST testing can have a false negative but not a false positive. Then he started talking about his respiratory issues and went off on how it is only viral infections that are causing his wheezing. etc. He even told me to go ahead and feed him soy and wheat because it isn't good to give a variety of foods (to only give him a few things. Yeah, he actually said that. I was so mad. I decided then that I would never see him again, but make an appointment with his daughter in Tucson, who takes Shirley's allergies seriously and has helped out a lot. There is absolutely no way I am going to give my son something that he is allergic to. We have had to deal with eczema that has really bothered him to actual breathing problems where we have had to take him to the ER.
The weather is finally getting colder so I needed to get Shirley some more pants and shirts. All summer he wore the one piece short outfits. I got rid of most of Walter and Jem's warmer clothes (that are Shirley's size) a while ago. Most of them were pretty worn. I went yard saling this morning hoping to find a few clothes and I did. At one yard sale there were tons of boy clothes 12 to 24 months, which are the sizes I need. he has a long torso so 12 month shirts are too small, but 12 month pants are just the right length. I got all these clothes (all of them look like they were barely used) for $17.00, plus two pairs of shoes for $2.00. For that price I would have only been able to buy one new outfit for him. Now I have 11 pairs of pants, 5 onsies, 5 collared t-shirts, 3 long sleeved shirts, 2 church sweaters, 4 pajamas, church shoes, tennis shoes, and three bibs. A few of the clothes are 24 months so will probably be a little big, but he should grow into them soon. I LOVE yard sales. Sorry, the picture is a little blurry.
At Walter's school they have a running club. all the kids walk or run around the track during Friday lunch recess and parents are welcome to come and join them. I got to go by myself yesterday. Walter likes to run and does 23-27 laps every week(12 laps equals 1 mile). I must say Walter is very fast. I had a hard time keeping up with him. Of course, I haven't run in a long time either. I managed to keep up with him for 6 laps before I had to walk a lap. He ended up running 23 laps and I did 22. I didn't run them all. I am still pretty sore today, though.
Gil's last day of bed rest was yesterday. He only ended up having to do 30 days bed rest and he is so glad it is over. He is out with the boys taking a ride up Garden Canyon. I am very happy that he is off bed rest. He did great at not getting grumpy and frustrating. I am very proud of him for that. I know it was hard for him to be stuck in the house, not being able to work, and especially not being able to exercise. He is bummed about Monday and Tuesday being a holiday and not getting to work until Wednesday. At least he isn't stuck to the house anymore.
Walter lost his first tooth last week. Actually, it is his third tooth he has lost, but the first two (his bottom two middle teeth) were pulled out by the dentist because his permanent teeth were growing in behind them. They weren't even lose, so this was the first one that was lose. He was eating an apple and it made it almost come out. All Gil had to do was get a good grip on it and it came right out. It took Walter about 15 minutes to let Gil do it though. It was his upper left middle tooth that he lost. The middle right is loose, too and should follow soon.
We had a great Halloween. It is so much fun when you have kids to share it with. It was so fun watching how excited and amazed Rilla was when she realized that people were putting candy into her bucket. We went to the trunk or treat at church first. Then Teah and I took our kids around our neighborhood. My boys were all about getting their candy and moving on to the next house as fast as they could, while Rilla was so mesmerized by the decorations and other people dressed up that she was very slow. I kept having to tell my boys slow down and try and encouraged Rilla to go faster. She wouldn't ride in the stroller or let me hold her hand or her candy bucket. Shirley was even excited about it all even though he had no idea what was going on. Walter was a SWAT person, Jem was Link from Zelda, Rilla was an Indian Princess, and Shirley was a lion.
I have been meaning to post this post for several days now. Shirley turned 11 months old on Wednesday. He is finally starting to eat. He won't eat baby food that I try and feed him. he likes to feed himself. He is eating Kix, Rice Chex, Little Einstein Stars, and rice cakes. He will drink a little bit of juice out of a cup as well. He also crawls now. He started crawling about a week after he turned 10 months. He crawls on his right knee and left foot. It is very cute. I have never seen a baby crawl like he does. He loves to twirl things in his fingers. It is fun to watch him.
No, my kids don't have it, but I do in both eyes. Hopefully my kids won't get it. I am going to sanitize everything I have touched today when I am done posting this. In addition to my eyes, I have thrush from nursing. I haven't been able to eat yogurt since finding out that Shirley is allergic to dairy and eating yogurt everyday keeps me from getting thrush and plugged milk ducts. Luckily I can still take Lecithin, which also helps me from not getting plugged ducts, but apparently doesn't help me not get thrush. I am using vinegar in water for me and baking soda in water for Shirley's mouth (home remedies) and hopefully it will get rid of it. Aside from these two things everything else is great. Gil went to the doctor on post and found out he only has to be on bed rest for 30 days (he is so excited) and that he can stay in the military as long as he responds to treatment, which he is. He really likes being in the military and would hate to hev to get out. Plus, know we will get to go visit my sister for Thanksgiving since Mike will no longer be on bed rest during that time. Yeah! This is a picture of Gil dressing up and being goofy one night last week when he was fed up with being on bed rest. It was hilarious.
