2014 Christmas Card

Hopefully all of our cards have made it to their destinations so I can finally share our Christmas card.  With so much on our plate I didn't have time for family pictures so we just used my favorite picture that my friend, Jen took.  Our boys already look so much older now, but I still love it.  I really need to find time to take new pictures of the boys.

 

I know a lot of people don't send cards out anymore, but I just love it.  It is something my mom has always done and sure enough all three of us girls send cards.  Most of my cousins send cards out as well.  I just love checking the mail each day this time of year.

 

Each year I say I will be on top of it and have it all ready for right after Thanksgiving...I never do.  Maybe next year!

 

 

You can also see our 2013, 2012, 2011 cards.

 

 

Now time to start thinking about my new year's resolutions.

 

Randoms

There is a house near my in-laws that every year goes CRAZY with outside decorations.  I am sharing two pictures so you can get the full effect.  It is awesome and ridiculous all in one.  I wonder what their electric bill is like with this stuff up.  More importantly I wonder how they neighbors feel living next to the Griswolds!

 

Last Sunday we had dinner at Aunt Jen Jen and Uncle David's.  The boys got their over due haircuts.

 

I am so grateful that Kyle loves things that smell good.  I got this cinnamon candle one year and have never burned it.  I pulled it out this year and it is always burning.  I am pretty sure lighting it is one of the first things Kyle does when he gets home. 

 

We also use wallflowers and Kyle is always great about making sure they still have oil in them.

 

For the past couple of years I have used the cheap foil bows on my gifts.  This year I decided to buy a roll of tulle and make bows. I learned how to make these bows when I worked at a specialty gift shoppe in Ennis.  I loved working there and loved making these bows.  My only regret this year is that I didn't buy other colors and maybe some glitter tulle.  I will buy some day after Christmas half price hopefully!

 

I bought iron-on transfers from one of those cheap deal websites.  I had never done iron-ons so was kinda intimidated by them.  I finally found the white shirts for them and decided to make them last week (I needed to hurry before Christmas was over).  I was in a rush and didn't really think through how they worked....can you tell which one I did first?

 

Poor Casen got a backwards C on his shirt.  These shirts were for my boys and my sister, Melisa's girls to wear to their school parties.  I considered (really considered) letting Casen wear his anyway because I was set on them all matching. However, Kyle said he shouldn't and I realized that this new day-care doesn't know me well enough yet to send my kid in a messed up shirt.  However, they will be wearing them to some of our family holiday parties because my family knows that it is my fault not his and will get a good laugh out of it.  Poor second child always gets the shaft! The good news is that in 2 years he will fit in Cooper's shirt that is correct!

 

The boys got goodie bags from their cousins party. They loved these 'Frozen' jelly beans and Cooper kept making this goofy face!

 

Below is a tray of the homemade candy that I sent to work last week. My mom and I spent all day one Saturday making these yummy treats.  The tray was empty before 10am!

 

We bought these snowman stickers and some reindeer stickers for really cheap.  I sent them to Cooper's school and they enjoyed them.  We also had them this weekend at a family Christmas party for the kids to do.

 

Last week I had to take Casen to the doctor to see about a possible ear infection.  He did have drainage but I was already using his prescription ear drops and things were looking better.  They did get us some much needed cough medicine.  Casen hadn't slept well most of the week because of his cough.

 

Afterwards the receptionist offered him a sticker.  He walked right up to her with his hand out for the sticker.  Then he realized his jacket was partially covering his hand so he hurry and pulled his sleeve up.  He was so proud of his sticker.

 

A blog I read HERE said that she shops for her daughter by the saying below and I love it!

 

"something you want, something you need, something to wear & something to read"

 

 I need to remember this for next year!

Weekend Recap

This is my weekend recap from the first weekend of December.

 

A friend of mine from college, Emily came to town with her daughter Grace.  She was staying with my college roommate Jodi for the weekend.  Jodi and her daughter, Hannah brought Emily and Grace to see our new house and have dinner.  Jodi made one of our favorite recipes from college (Chicken Enchilada Pie).  Both of these girls are originally from out of state so they often went home with me on the weekends and my mom would make us this recipe.

 

 

How different we look 10 years later!

 

 

Both girls were so good and I loved getting to hold babies.  It was so much fun catching up in a relaxing place instead of a restaurant.

 

The next morning the boys woke up to goodies to celebrate St. Nicholas.  I only bought a set of pjs, a Christmas book, and some candy for the boys.  But Babi contributed another set of pjs, some toys, movies and more!

 

Notice at that point my tree had no ornaments or even a tree skirt!

 

Then went to my parents church and had a breakfast with St. Nicholas.

 

Mac wasn't this eager originally to meet St. Nick, but she eventually warmed up and got this cute picture!

 

This sweet girl wanted NOTHING to do with him!

 

This is as close as they would get at first! Ha!

 

Casen had no problems meeting St. Nick

Cooper wasn't so sure.

 

We tried to get him close by asking him to give St. Nick these bells...it didn't work.

 

Sunday Casen helped me put ornaments on the tree.  Somehow he only chose the unbreakable ones.  Unfortunately I was the one to break and ornament.

 

He was so excited!  And I swear he looks about three in this picture below!

Update on Casen

 A few weeks ago we went to Casen's follow-up appointment with his ENT.  This is the first time we have spoken to the doctor since his ABR. 

 

He was so cute and such a ham at the appointment.

 

Dr. Bauer checked his ears and said they looked great.  (5 days later his ear started draining! Yuck!) Without even asking Casen any questions to get him to talk he said 'have you seen a speech therapist?' I said 'no, we recently moved and wanted to find one in the area.' And he said 'okay, well it is time so I am going to refer you' and we discussed where we needed to go in our area.

 

I was a little taken aback at how quick and assertive (but not rude) he was about getting a speech evaluation.  At the same time, I am not at all surprised because I have known this was the next step.  And his pediatrician had said the same.

 

 

Casen is scheduled for a speech evaluation on January 16th. They told me it is a 2 hour appointment.  From there we will figure out if he needs therapy, how much, and when.  I will definitely keep you updated.

 

I absolutely love the picture below! I have a similar picture with Cooper.

Thanksgiving Day

On Thanksgiving day after my run we went to Mimi and Grandpa's house for Thanksgiving.  We ate a lot of yummy food, played cards, opened prizes (for the winners of the games), played with lots of toys, and did a lot of laughing.

 

The day was a little tough for Cooper because lunch was during his nap.  I hated that he was whiny and moody, but sometimes we just don't get our naps.

 

This cheesy little guy is just too much.

 

Cooper loved played marbles with Uncle Ron

 

And then they played legos

 

I tried to get pictures of the boys in their shirts but neither was interested.

 

This was our attempt at a picture of Cooper and Mimi.

 

I wish I had gotten a family picture, but once again I am not good at this.  I need to get back on track.

Leaving CL

After more than 3 years we said goodbye to our day-care.  The boys' last week was the week of Thanksgiving.  I cried about it multiple times leading up to the big day and then it was finally here.  I purposefully didn't put mascara on until I got to work that day.

 

Here is Cooper giving his card to his favorite Ms. Jamie.  These two have had a special connection since day 1.  Cooper first started at 12 weeks old.  Ms. Jamie would go hold him during her breaks and any chance she could get.  She would often be late getting back to her classroom because she didn't want to leave him.  His teachers would get on to her for waking him up to snuggle.

 

 

She gave him the nickname 'mini coop' and even made embroidered the name on a cute American flag lovie for him.  Then when Casen was born she had two boys to love.  She would help hold Casen in the mornings while I tended to Cooper.  She made drop-off easier with two.

 

 

 

We think the world of her and hate leaving her.  We definitely plan to keep in touch and get together soon.

 

 

Here is Ms. Joyce.  She was Cooper's infant teacher and Casen's infant teacher.  She is amazing!  I always knew my babies were in great hands with her.  I remember feeling so peaceful about leaving Casen for the first time because I knew how great she was with Cooper. 

 

She was the drop-off teacher for the younger kids.  So even when they were older she made sure to take care of each of their needs.  Casen insisted on sitting in the high chair each morning and she would have a cup of milk ready for him. I loved that she watched my boys until they were about a year and a half each morning until they went to their classrooms.

 

Silly Casen and moody Cooper. I told him it was his last day of school and he thought he was going home with me.  A little misunderstanding.

 

And the awesome Ms. Christina!  Like the others she was so great with my boys.  She was in the infant room with both boys but then was in the older room for Casen also.  She was sweet, but tough which was perfect for my boys.  She was the only teacher that could make Kyle talk regularly.  And anyone who knows Kyle knows that he is a tough nut to crack.  She was great about making sure Kyle relayed messages to me or knew what was going on.  Christina and Joyce always enjoyed giving Kyle a hard time about hunting, camo, deer jerky, or how quickly he would try to get in and out of day-care with Cooper as an infant.

 

 

These teachers are what made CL the perfect place for us.  They love my boys like their own and were so amazing.  So often I struggle with finding the balance as a working mom.  Sometimes I wish I was a stay at home mom and other times I know that I wouldn't last as a stay at home mom. These special women made my struggle easier.  I knew my boys were loved and cared for.  I created friendships with each of them.  Thank goodness for Facebook so hopefully we can keep up with each other.

 

I am really going to miss these ladies and I am forever indebted to them for taking such great care of my boys over the last 3 years. 

Randoms

One night Cooper and I enjoyed ice cream together.  We were doing our part to clean out the freezer before the big move.

 

 

Casen loves to take pictures and Cooper.... well he is 3 and I think that explains it all.

 

This is my sexy husband wearing the shirt I randomly bought for him.  It is his favorite shirt and it was less than $15 from Gap.  Of course because it was a clearance item, I can't get anymore for him. Darn!

 

I saw this set of blocks on a discount site and thought they were pretty cute.  I didn't buy them but might have a friend make some for me at some point.  I don't normally decorate for all of those holidays but these are simple and easy to switch from one to the next.

 

random picture of our kitchen backsplash

 

my cheesy baby boy

 

Casen likes to throw food and therefore Ranger likes Casen.

 

This was our first real meal in our new home. 

 

We were crowded around Cooper's little table until our new table comes in. Unfortunately I found out Wednesday that it is backordered.

 

Me with my silly boys

 

Casen took an interest in this book twice this week which is a big deal.  He doesn't care for books.  My mom said I was the same way.

 

December 1st the boys started their Advent/Christmas calendars from their cousin Jakob in Germany. They love getting their special candy each night after dinner.

 

My secret santa left these on my chair today.  They are little sleds made with brownies, Hershey bars, candy canes, and little bear chocolates.  Very cute!