I Love This Season!!!

There is NOTHING better than Christmas time! I love the lights, music, festivity, excitment, fires in the fire place, peppermint lattes and hot cocoa, snuggling under rag quilts, watching movies, eating "comfort" foods, appetizer parties, fancy parties, Bears games, eating chili, SNOW, spending 25 minutes getting the girls in their gear for a 5 minute play outside, sleds, sledding down hills, sharing, time with family, giving, receiving, sales, after Christmas sales.

Today (Black Friday) we spent the morning and afternoon at Grammie and Poppy's new place. We enjoyed hanging out, helping (somewhat), and having good company. Now we're home and Pete is outside hanging up Christmas lights while "Jingle Bell Rock" is blasting from our porch, the kids are outside riding bikes, Rowena is sleeping, and I've just made a few appetizers for our small party for Joe's show that's on tonight--WHITE COLLAR. Tonight's episode was actually written by him, and he will have his first ever by-line. Woo-Hoo! We're excited to have our first fire of the season, enjoy some leftovers for dinner, and snack on appetizers (crab dip, spinach artichoke dip, and pigs-in-a-blanket) for the show.

We're realizing that sadly our family room will be Christmas-free this year (we don't care to try to keep Rowe away from them for the next month or constantly tell her "no"). We'll have our stockings hung on the mantle, but the rest of the decorations will be limited to the front room, and maybe the girls' room this year. And, of course, the outside. I'll post a picture as soon as it's all done. Tres excited. What a wonderful day...I LOVE THIS SEASON!

What We're Thankful For

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Yesterday before our "feast" we went around and all said what we were thankful for. Highlights were the following:

Delaney: Charming Uncle Wesley (pause), and Uncle Joe
Katie: For my Mommy because of all the yummy food she makes me, and for my Daddy for being so fun and playing games.
Peter: For my three awesome daughters
Wesley: For my fiance and for my neices

I am thankful for my amazing husband, wonderful daughters, supportive family (both near and far), outstanding and loyal friends, my GSU family, fun napkins, fine china, fancy table clothes, a gorgeous home, a big deck, our private playground, our health, a slobbery dog, our fourth addition on his/her way, and the idea of starting my internship in January.

Below are pictures of our table--Delaney made each person's fancy turkey place setting. We used our AWESOME china, crystal, and flatware. The dinner was AWESOME! We had the usual: Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce, and then a candied sweet potato souffle, and then three delicious pies-apple crisp, mountain berry, and pumpkin. The meal was devine and the company was awesome. We talked to almost all of the far-away relatives: Grandpa & Paula, Nana, Uncle Brian and Uncle Joe. We finished the night with a double feature: The Neverending Story and UP!

Using our beautiful china, crystal, and flatware. Delaney's touch...homemade turkeys

Uncle Wesley and Rowena

Delaney "flavoring" her turkey by smashing in the cranberries. Her fave: candied sweet potato souffle...she had two helpings!

Pete cutting up the girls' turkey. Rowena sat near the "adult" table and really took part in the feast! She really enjoyed the potatoes, stuffing, and turkey.

Some Cute Pictures

Just some random pictures taken in the past couple months...

Rowena trying out the doggie cage Katie ready to go out and play on a chilly day

Rowe in the big girl bath

Our newest Star Wars fan...

Crawling through her homemade obstacle courseSo happy!

Cutie Patootie

Delaney and Rowena

Katie and Rowena

Daddy VS. Mommy

A conversation I had with Katie this past week:

Katie: "I want to be a Daddy when I grow up, not a Mommy."
Me: "Why is that?"
Katie: "Because Mommys have to clean all the time, and Daddys just get to play."

Damn...I think she's onto something.

Proud Parents: A Moment To Brag

Yesterday I went to Delaney's first official Parent-Teacher Conference (yes, she had them in preschool, but this is "real" school). Delaney's teacher, Mrs. Vargacko, had nothing but great things to say about Delaney. She's already at the point where Kindergartners are supposed to be in May. She's writing words that they haven't even learned yet in school. She listens well, follows directions, helps others understand assignments, and likes to sit in the front. She is definitely a great student, always giving her best and wanting things to be "perfect." (We do try to stay away from using that word, as I think it sets up children-and people in general, for failure and unrealistic expectations). One thing that really stood out is this: Delaney really loves writing books. She makes a series of pictures, and then staples them together to create a book. She even creates her own title page. She usually has Peter or I write in the words for her story as she tells it, but whenever there was a word she knew, she wanted to write it. She was making these books for her teacher, and she would have Delaney read them to the class. By doing this a few times, Delaney inspired everyone in the class to go home and create their own books for Mrs. Vargacko. Her teacher stated that she's never had a student to inspire an entire class like that before. *tear* Such proud parents are we!

Why Not Sell It To Delaney?

Well, it's pretty well-known that my parents are moving out of Park Forest and the home I grew up in. They've been in the co-ops, Court E-4 for about 34 years. They're closing on their new townhome in Plainfield tomorrow (11/25), and we couldn't be more excited for them. We're happy that they'll have more than 1 bathroom, will be on just one level (ranch-style home), and will be less than 10 minutes away. One person who is a bit disappointed: Delaney. She's pretty upset with Grammie and Poppy for not selling her the co-op! She wants to live there now.

Oh Goy! Four and Final...

Do we need to say more? Yep...

...we're expecting...AGAIN! :) We couldn't be happier. We saw the doctor yesterday and everything with "Goy" is looking good. We are 10 weeks into this fourth and final pregnancy. Goy is due to arrive on Saturday, June 19th, which just so happens to be the same day as Delaney and Katie's dance recital. Once again we will not find out the gender before the arrival...sorry. And, again, we won't be sharing names. We are thinking Pete will be having a "V" at the end of June. Obviously we will need some assistance since the pill is no longer effective for us, and with Goy we got pregnant a month after I stopped nursing. We are very fortunate at how easily we are able to conceive, which is why we need to take extreme measures in order to stop our family from becoming a "Jon & Kate + 8" family. And we all know how they turned out--Yikes!

So, that all said, we are very excited to add one more time to our awesome, loving, crazy, crabby, fun, smart, and energetic family.

Kid's Connection's Thanksgiving Feast

Yesterday, November 18th, Katie's class put on a Thanksgiving Feast for the parents. Since Pete was at the hospital with Rowena, I was able to attend. However because of the choas on Tuesday, we sadly didn't prepare or bring anything. :( The feast was great. The kids made cornbread during school on Monday and Katie could not wait for me to try some! The first picture is of the placemat, place setting, and headdress that Katie made. The food was delicious and hanging out with just Katie was a nice treat. The poor girl has gotten lost in the shuffle. :( She's actually been telling us how she wants to be sick too--I think because of the attention that's been based around Delaney and Rowe lately. Poor Kate.

She displayed great manners and ate a ton of fresh cranberry sauce. The cheesy potatoes and the apple cinnamon was my favorite. The turkey was also delicious...which is making me really look forward to Thanksgiving this year, despite not going to L'Anse.

Damn You, H1N1!!!

On Monday night, Rowe was having trouble sleeping. She was really congested, had a runny nose, and was kinda warm. Tuesday she woke up with a bad cough, very runny nose, and hot. I called the doctor, who wanted to see her right away. We went in and he said she was on the verge of bronchitis, but she still had energy and was bright-eyed. He sent us home with a script for her to have the nebulizer every four hours and allergy meds twice a day. That was at 10am.

Around 2pm, Rowena was getting bad. She was on fire--except her feet were icicles, her face was very flushed, her eyes were swollen and pink, and her poor nose was bright red. She was becoming very lethargic and lisless, and her fever wasn't breaking, even with tylenol. I called the doctor again around 4:30 or so, and they said they would see her on Wednesday at 10am. When asked if I was comfortable with that, I didn't back down and thankfully stayed with my "Mommy's intuitition." They told me to bring her in right away. Dr. Paul checked her out. Since she hadn't had a wet diaper since 9:30a.m., her fever wasn't breaking, she was super lethargic...sleeping for 20 minutues, then up for 10, and only napping on me (she couldn't sleep in her bed because laying flat made her cough worse). The doctor looked her over, said her chest sounded better, which made him worry because it meant that something else is going on, especially since her fever wouldn't break. So, he stuck a long swab ALL THE WAY UP HER NOSE (for those that know me well, you know how much I can't stand things touching or up the nose). I was gagging, as was she. About 1/2 hour later, they confirmed she had H1N1. So, since she was so dehydrated and the fever was so high, he had us admit her to the hospital. The nurses and staff at St. Joe's were GREAT. When we got there, Rowena temperature was at 103.7 and her heartrate was racing at over 200 bpm. I was a bit nervous, but I held it together well. Had Peter been able to go to the hospital with me, I probably wouldn't have held it together at all. The night was rough. She was up every 15 minutes or so because every time she coughed, she was in pain and would start crying. She did get a good sleep from 2-4am and from 5-7. While at the hospital, her fever fluctuated between 98-104.

We tried giving her a bottle while in the hospital...docs wanted to make sure she was absorbing and keeping down her fluids. However, she seems to be a bit picky with the nipple. They provided the brown rubber ones, and she just got pissed off with them. On Wednesday morning, Pete got Delaney and Katie off to school and headed to the hospital with her bottles...which she was very grateful for! She downed 2 oz. pretty quickly. Since she kept that down, Pete gave her another 2 oz at 1/2 hour intervals. Things were looking up, although she still had a fever of 102. I left to shower and head to Katie's school's Thanksgiving Feast. Pete called me while there and told me that despite her fever, they were discharging her! Whew! Doc said her fever would fluctuate for the next week or so, and since she was hydrated, we can do all the meds and monitoring at home.

We were hoping for a good night's rest last night, but that didn't happen. Rowena was up every hour or so. Probably frustrated because she can't breath through her nose and therefore can't suck her thumb. She's on lots of meds (Delaney and Katie are also on Tamiflu), and is on the mend. Hopefully her sleeping patterns will come back soon. We're just very grateful that she's doing so much better!

Too Cute Not To Post

Rowena and Kate were playing on opposite sides of the basement door, and it was so cute and funny...I had to get a picture of Kate.

Our Little 80's Girl

A few weekends ago, it was super nice out, and Kate dressed herself. She matched pretty good: pink shirt, pink stripped shorts, and grey and pink Nike shoes, with a pink headband. She also put on stripped socks, but they were purple. All day, all we could think of was FAME or an 80's workout girl with the theme song: "I'm So Excited." It was hilarious. So cute.

There's Something About Uncle Wesley...Or Is It Leann?

Tuesday was Uncle Wesley's birthday--the last one in his 20's. In the morning I told the girls so they could get excited to call him and wish him a Happy Birthday...and this is the conversation we had.

Me: "Guess who's birthday it is today?"
Delaney: "Poppy's?"
Me: "No, but he's someone very special to you because he's your Godfather."
Delaney: "Charming. Uncle Wesley."
Me: "Yep!"
Katie: "I wish he was my Godfather."
Me: "Why? Katie you're so special you have TWO Godfathers! Uncle Brian and Uncle Joe."
Katie: "You mean Teddy Bear and Uncle Joe."
Me: "Yeah."
Katie: "But if Uncle Wesley was mine, then I would get Leann."

Awwwwwwwwww!

Always Uncle Wesley

So, Pete got home from work yesterday and the girls were all ready to go to Gymquest (Wednesdays Katie has gymnastics and Delaney has jazz). I leave for GSU around 4, so Pete takes them...and this was the first time. This is the conversation between Peter and Delaney:

Pete: "Guess who's taking you to Gymquest? Who has two thumbs and is good looking?"
Delaney: "UNCLE WESLEY"
Pete: "What? No. This guy." Then he turns to me. "What the hell is with her always wanting Wesley?"

aahahhahahhahhaha