Family Pictures

Some shots from last month's family pictures:

 

Drew's birthday & Ellie's eyes

,A month ago today, on Andrew's birthday, Ellie went cross-eyed.  I noticed it while we were at lunch and, naturally, I was concerned.  I called our pediatrician and left a message for the advice nurse.  It took awhile to hear back and when we finally did the advice was to go to Fairfax Hospital's Pediatric E.R. because they could do the proper testing.  Awesome. We were in the E.R. for a few hours, with various medical personnel examining Ellie (who was surprisingly cooperative--I think she liked the attention).  In the end they decided to admit us so that Ellie could have an MRI the following day to check to check things out.  When I pressed them for the worse case scenario they said, tumor on her brain stem (because both eyes were crossing).

I was supposed to go my friend's annual ugly sweater party that night, instead I spent the night in the hospital with Elle.  Andrew was supposed to go to dinner with his buddy, Dan.  Instead Drew and Dan headed to the E.R. to give Ellie a blessing then Dan and his wife, Sharon, took Lainey home with them so they could watch her the next day (thanks again).

Spending the night in the hospital wasn't too bad.  Gabrielle was pretty excited for her first night solo in a big kid bed.  Plus, she got to watch all the cartoons she wanted.  One of her favorite things to do was call daddy on the phone (not my cell phone, the big one with the fun cord).

Ellie was surprisingly compliant with all the doctors, specialists, nurses, and so on who poked, prodded, and otherwise check her, except for the pediatric neurologist.  By the time she came around Elle was just done and she refused to open her eyes.

Since she was going under anesthesia, Gabrielle had to have an IV.  I was worried about how she would respond--after all, IV's hurt.  I held Ellie and covered her eyes because she refused to look away, but she didn't even flinch when the needle went in so after that I let her watch.  Mostly she was upset that blood got all over her gown and the bed (kept saying "messy!").  The nurses were impressed with her response and said, "maybe she'll be a doctor or a nurse."  I was thinking, maybe, more likely she has no idea what blood is so it doesn't freak her out.

 We were anticipating an MRI first thing in the morning so Ellie couldn't eat after midnight.  We didn't actually get have the MRI till about 3:30 p.m.  Lame.  Sometimes Ellie asked for food and I just reminded her that we couldn't eat yet.  To my surprise she just said, alright and went back to whatever she was playing with or watching at the moment.  I did feel like a bit of a jerk, though, sneaking out into the hallway for a bite to eat when Drew came to sit with her around lunchtime. 

After we dropped Ellie off at the MRI room we were shown to the parent's waiting room.  The t.v. was already playing and that's when I learned of the school shootings in Connecticut.  It was a shock and certainly put all our anxiety over Ellie into perspective.

Ellie's MRI was normal so we were referred to a pediatric ophthalmologist who, surprisingly, was able to get us in the same morning I called to make an appointment (really like him).  He diagnosed Ellie as "extremely farsighted" and gave us a prescription for glasses.  It took over two weeks to get those darn glasses.  I went into two stores only to be told that they didn't carry glasses for toddlers.  After that I wised up and started calling ahead.  The next four places I tried didn't have glasses for toddlers either so I trekked back out to the ophthalmologist's office in Fairfax and ordered them from his in-house shop (if you are ever in this situation learn from my mistake and just order them from the doc on day one).

Ellie's had her glasses for a little over a week now and she's been pretty good about wearing them (expect when she's in the van and knows I can't reach her then she plays with them or flings them to the ground).

And Andrew's birthday?  It wasn't a total bust.  We got home from the hospital just in time to race around and collect our children, put them to bed, and make it to a 10 p.m. comedy show at Arlington Drafthouse.  I had purchased the tickets months ago and was really glad we didn't have to abandon them.   We saw Tommy Johnagin and he was hilarious.  On Sunday the girls made Andrew his favorite, "Better than Sex Cake" (I told Liz it was called "Better than anything cake").

Temple & Zoo Lights

We were kind of lazy about our holiday activities this year.  We never made it to the National tree or the train display at the Botanical Gardens (holiday staple until this time around).  Drew didn't mind too much, but I felt a little guilty.  We finally made it to the up to the DC Temple Visitors Center for the holiday display the Sunday after Christmas.  We saw it all: lights, nativity displays, musical performance.  Andrew and I weren't too fond of the performance (Drew leaned over during it and said, "We really need to be more selective next year"), but the kids loved it.  Well, not Ellie.  Mid-way through she started saying "get me out of here!" (loudly).  So I did.

Our New Years Eve was pretty lame.  We got take out and watched DVD of Bill Cosby's stand up routine.  Liz was the only one that stayed awake for the whole showed.  She woke us when it was over, about 11 and we all went to bed.  New Years Day was more fun.  Drew let me sleep in and I woke to him making this homemade apple pie just for me:

 In the evening I took Liz and Lainey to see the National Zoo Lights .  It was the last night so it was crazy!  I got lost in DC, made a wrong turn down a long narrow alley (my GPS's fault, I swear), and almost started to cry when I realized that I had to back out.  We were stuck at one light for over five minutes, watching every other direction but mine get multiple green lights, when I finally gave up waiting and just made an illegal left.  Liz was scared.  She said, "Mom, please don't break any more laws."  But we made it and it was worth it.  The girls had a lot of fun which meant I had fun seeing them so happy.

Below: Lego replica of the Smithsonian Castle (I believe it contained over 45,000 pieces--Liz was impressed) and live Sno Globe.

 We took the train ride and it was a total bust.  Luckily while I waited in line Liz was able to take Lainey to the nearby carousel.  I'm not sure how she managed to get Lainey onto her animal, but she did.  They never saw me in line, but I could see them and I thought it was so sweet to see them reach out and hold hands while they went around and around.

We also tried the snow tubing and it was the girl's favorite.  It was another long line so I sent Liz into a nearby fast food restaurant to get us some dinner.  It's so nice that she's old enough to help me like this.  Lainey initially said that she didn't want to go on the tubes, but I hauled her to the top anyway and she didn't object when they guy shoved her over the edge.  I worried that she would be crying at the bottom of the hill, but thank goodness she was laughing.

Christmas Morning

  Before we went to bed Christmas Eve I asked Andrew what time was okay for the kids to get up in the morning.  I was thinking, if it was before seven or even eight we should send them back to bed.  Andrew said he'd defer to me.  Well, Liz and Lainey woke up (noisily) at two a.m.  Two a.m.!!!  They had already opened up their books and were ready to go downstairs (Santa always leaves them a wrapped book at the foot of their beds that they are allowed to open immediately and read while, in theory, we sleep in).  I went to the girl's room and sent them back to bed.  Andrew had to do the same thing again at three a.m.  When Liz crawled into my bed at six a.m. and announced that her sisters had gotten a play kitchen and she had gotten lots of Legos and that she knew all of this because she had gone downstairs and shaken her presents, I just gave in and got up.

Holiday jammies and stockings:

My siblings and I did a joint gift for my parents this year: a copy of some artwork my grandpa used to own.  It's an original painting of his cabin (originally built by his father in the 20's) done before he expanded it.  It was really fun to have my parents in town for the holidays.  It's the first time we've ever had family visit us for Christmas.

The usual present opening chaos:

I intended for the girls to exchange gifts among themselves (homemade with help from parents or purchased with money they earned themselves).  Only Liz participated this year.  She bought all the girls bracelets (Nana and me included).  Liz also regifted to Lainey a set of fairy books she had enjoyed reading and promised to read a chapter to Laines every night.  You can see how excited Alaina is about it.

Santa gave Liz lots of Lego sets which she was pretty excited about.  She also got a Monster High doll (a "scary doll" according to Lainey who also wants one).  Drew and I gave her a photo book commemorating her baptism the previous year and Nana and Papa gave her some money to spend at American Girl Doll store.

Lainey also got a couple small Lego sets from Santa (and boy did she give a good reaction--squealed and hugged them). She also got an Ikea kitchen to share with Ellie, a couple food sets, and something to trace letters on (I had actually purchased that last one for Liz five years ago and had never gotten around to giving it to her).  From Andrew and I she got an alphabet book (as did Ellie) and Nana and Papa gave her money to spend at Build a Bear.  The best thing about Lainey was she didn't get anything that she had specifically asked for (a train and a teddy bear), but she was so incredibly excited about everything she did receive and never mentioned the train.  Well, Christmas Eve when we handed her pajamas to open she said, "I wonder if this is my train or my teddy bear."  We were like, um, neither.  Remember every Christmas Eve we give you jammies?

Once she found the candy in her stocking, Ellie refused to open any gifts (though she did seem to like them after her sisters unwrapped them).  Elle didn't have that many to open really--just a couple food sets and some blocks from Santa, and a giant stuffed monkey from Nana and Papa.  It's kind of silly that Drew and I worried so much about Ellie having a gift that was meant just for her (the blocks) since everything else from Santa was meant to be shared with Lainey. That darn monkey was her absolute favorite (and Andrew's least favorite).  She picked it out herself at Costco and carried it through the store, hugging and kissing it, periodically saying "I love you monkey."  Adorable.

My sister-in-law sent the girls a tea set (plus fun stuff like fancy hats, hot chocolate mix, and cookies).  They loved it and insisted on eating their breakfast of monkey bread on the tiny plates (and filling the tea pot with milk).

Christmas Eve

Somehow I barely got any pictures of Christmas Eve.  I'm especially sad that I didn't get any shots of my parents dressed up as wise men for our nativity play.

Ellie was Mary, but much to her sister's chagrin she refused to put her baby doll in the manger or allow it be wrapped in swaddling clothes. 

Alaina reprised her role as angel.  I think she enjoyed the play more than anyone else.  As soon as we finished she asked if we could act it out again and (and made the same request throughout the week after Christmas).  She keeps referring to the halo as a hulu. Cracks me up.

Other Christmas Eve activity: the girls opened up their holiday jammies, Andrew and I put on our candy cane p.j.'s, and we ate a ham dinner having braved the line at Honey Baked Hams earlier in the day (I also went to Toys R Us around mid-day--huge, huge mistake, never do that to yourself). Late that night my mom helped me wrap the Santa gifts and Drew and my dad put together the little girls kitchen because we hadn't gotten around to that stuff earlier (never again will I wait till the night before).

Christmas Dresses & Nana's Birthday

The girls actually ended up with two sets of Christmas dresses this year because I bought a set back in August, completely forgetting about the set I bought the previous year during the after Christmas sales.

I liked the black dresses the best.

Lainey wanted to take a picture all by herself so of course Ellie had to have one too 

(we've had a lot of that sort of thing lately).

The Sunday before Christmas was Nana's birthday so we had a nice dinner and let her open her present (normally we celebrate her birthday in June, but I wanted to do it on her actual birthday this year because it was a big one and because she would be with us).  We (my siblings, their spouses, the grandkids, and I) gave her a book listing 60 fun memories/things we love about her.

I compiled the book so it was pretty fun to see all the things my brothers and sister submitted, especially the ones from my youngest brothers because I was out of the house for half their childhoods and missed some of the things they reminisced about.  Some of my favs:

"I remember I always had the sweetest Valentine boxes in grade school.  It seemed whatever I thought of, you could make.  Sorry I blew one of them up with a dry ice bomb in the front yard and made a huge mess."

"I'll never forget the time when Mike and his friends set the field on fire behind our house. Mom was understandably furious. The funny part came when she started spewing out a string of obscenities in front of all the neighbors and their kids. It was very memorable."

"One of my favorite ways to earn money growing up was to either kill grasshoppers from your gardens or bring in a praying mantis from down the hill.  It was 5 cents for each grasshopper killed or 25 cents for each praying mantis.  You always believed whatever number we told you though."

Also that day, Liz learned that the Elf of the Shelf is not real, thanks to some lame boy in her Sunday School class (two days before Christmas?!  Really?!).  I was there when it happened and Lizzie looked a little sad/pensive, but that evening she excitedly asked to move it herself that last night.  

Of course, it also didn't help that throughout the month we frequently forgot to move ole Sparky for days at a time.  The first time it happened Liz stormed into our room and angrily said "The Elf isn't real! I know you move it because he's in the same place as yesterday!"  We gave her some sort of lame cover story and she seemed to buy it till her classmate spilled the beans Sunday.  Still, as with the tooth fairy, learning the truth about Sparky didn't seem to affect her belief in Santa one bit which I suppose means she still wants to believe.