Merry Christmas!

On the eve of the birth of our Savior,

The M Family would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas!

Love, J&L

Biggest Brother, Younger Brother, Big Sis, Little Sis, and Princess Aurora

...relatively speaking.

:)

Best Buddies part 4

I'm positive there's something not sanitary about this,

but Brother and Sis don't care.

They've got claymation cartoons

and a candy necklace, big enough to share!
*

If you missed the previous "Best Buddies" installments, here are the links, dating all the way back to the first ever post on this blog!

Best Buddies part 3

Best Buddies part 2

Best Buddies

*

Oh, and I almost forgot my favorite one!

Afterall, best buddies can't be best buddies all the time. :)

Nasty Grams

Horseplay

Horses really are magnificent creatures!

While I may be a bit biased, I am fortunate enough to help care for a pretty enchanting bunch.

This is Ace.
And he's hilarious.
He's just a big, sweet, dopey guy.
But lately, every time I have arrived for the morning feeding he has put on quite a show!
I suspected (especially with a new snowfall) that this particular morning would be no exception. So I grabbed my camera on the way out the door.
*
Fellow horse lovers, enjoy!

Look closely...all 4 feet are completely off the ground!

Phew, that was exhausting!

Okay Ace,

are you quite ready for your breakfast now?

:)

Backtrack to Birthday Eve

Now that I have a minute, I thought I'd go back and post some pictures from Princess A's birthday eve celebration. 1st birthdays earn one the right to monopolize the blog for a few days. :)

We decided to celebrate at home the night before her birthday so that Biggest Brother wouldn't miss out by being at school.

She loved the candle!

Not so fond of the cookie however...

"Here Daddy, you eat it!"

Having lots of brothers and sisters always guarantees a present opening audience.

Testing out the new play phone...

"Hello?"
I love how she answers the phone on the top or back of her head! :)

Also on the gift list, this inflatable ball roller, and a new Baby Einstein DVD.

I love this picture because it shows off my favorite place to kiss!

After the festivities were finished, Daddy went upstairs to put Big Sis and Little Sis in bed.
But Younger Brother lingered in the living room to share some more birthday enthusiasm with Princess A.

Younger Brother really has a gift for that sort of thing.

That scripture in Romans 12:15 that says, "Rejoice with those who rejoice, mourn with those who mourn." ..... He is very good at that.

As I mentioned yesterday, he nearly cried when he heard about Princess A's trip to the doctor.

But his most favorite thing to do is celebrate!

And he celebrates heartily with anyone who has an occasion to do so...especially a little sister!

Picket Line

Well, the not-so-fun part of turning 1 came today...
the 1yr check-up!

While I love our Pediatrician, and am so thankful that my children have access to medical care, it's never fun to see your baby get shots. And Princess A got a lot of them! She got her 4 regular booster shots; one in the tender back of each little arm, and two in her thigh. Then she got a toe stick to test her iron levels and test for lead exposure.

Then she had to go across the hall to have a RAST test (a blood draw to test for food allergies following an odd reaction she had a month or so ago.)

*

The nurse gave her one of these little stickers-on-a-stick thingies to distract her. It might have worked, except the first attempt was a botched one, and she dug the needle around (back and forth, in and out) several times before I asked her to stop and try again rather than dig around that way! By the time she got to the second arm, Princess A was totally inconsolable, obviously.

In all of the upset, she dropped her sticker-on-a-stick...which she had really liked.

The nurse made her another one. And as soon as she handed it to her, Princess A flung it to the ground with fury!

She sent the clear message of, "Oh no! We're not doing that again!!!"

Smart girl. :)

*

As I mentioned, she did really like the bribe. And she warmed up to again once we were safely out of the doctor's office. But watching her crawl all around the house with it clenched tightly in her little fist made me wonder if it was in love or protest.

Given the preceding events, I think I'm leaning toward protest.

Happy 1st Birthday, Princess A!!!

Hey, hey, it's your birthday, Princess A!!!

Good morning baby girl.

We love you so much.

Happy Birthday!
xoxoxoxoxox

Rumor has it...

It's a very special day!!!

"Piggyback"

Tights

Today, I learned that tights are tighter on some children than others!

Poor Princess A....I borrowed this pair from Little Sis's wardrobe, but there was no hope of wriggling that stripey part all the way up her legs. So she had to contend with ankle bunching, floppy feet, and vacuum sealed buns, until I had pity on her and changed her into sweatpants.

*

It is nice to see though, that even though she lost about 3lbs over the last two weeks while she was sick...

she did manage to retain a fair amount of chub-a-lovin's!
:)

Bustin' (Lamb) Chops

Before J left for work today, he told me to get my camera and sneak upstairs because I was going to want a picture of something in the room where Big Sis was napping. He said, "I don't know what the Lambies did, but they're in deep trouble apparently."

Um, yikes, Big Sis!

What on earth?!?

Big Sis woke up when she heard the shutter on my camera, so I asked her.

She explained that the Lambies had run off to Paris when she laid down to take a nap.

So she went to Paris and retrieved them.

And tied them up

(using Biggest Brother's Obi Wan Kenobi costume by the way)

so they wouldn't run off to Paris again while she was asleep.

*

Well, obviously!

I mean, how could I not have guessed that?!

M Family Dental

Well, as I'm sure you have gathered from the previous post, someone at our house got a smile makeover this weekend. We were sitting at the kitchen table playing UNO when Little Sis got down and walked around to the other side. I have absolutely no idea how she achieved this with such flair. But somehow, while walking not running, her feet flew out from underneath her and she hit the floor face first. She cried of course, but not outrageously. So J picked her up and put her in his lap. And then we saw the blood. A LOT of blood! And a dark gap where I was not accustomed to seeing one. That's when we found her tooth, root and all, laying on the kitchen floor. BARF! OH MY GOSH! Not too many things faze me at this point, but this one did for sure! Want to see?

Want a closer look??

Actually, I'm sure you probably don't.

But I'm going to show you one just so you can experience the lurching feeling in your stomach that I had when I saw it.

*

You didn't know this was an interactive blog did you?

No need to thank me.

:)

*

*

*

*

*

*

Ta Da!

I called the doctor on call and put her tooth in milk while we waited to hear the verdict regarding whether or not to replant it.
(Personally, the thought of ramming that whole big thing back up into the socket sounds even worse to me than getting it knocked out!)
Meanwhile, Sis's tears subsided almost immediately and she realized that she would be getting a visit from the Tooth Fairy. She began happily feeling the gap with her tongue, mmm.
I'm pretty sure her brothers were still upstairs crying at this point.
They were just a little bit freaked out!
*
The doctor and dentist came back with the unanimous decision to do nothing.
They said the risk of infection was too high to make it worth trying to replant a baby tooth.
It will grow back after all.....in 4 years!
*
So we gave her some ibuprofen and two bowls of pumpkin ice cream and tucked her into bed...

These were the goodies she awoke to in the morning.

(The magic wand was under her pillow, the Barbie was at the foot of her crib, and the balloons were covering the floor around her crib.)
As I mentioned, the Tooth Fairy is very good to losers of teeth under these circumstances!
She called me at work to excitedly tell me, "I got a Tooth Fairy!!"
Okay, so she's a little young to grasp the concept exactly.
But I'm pretty sure she isn't regretting having given her tooth the ol' heave ho!

Fact:

When a firmly affixed tooth is knocked out, the Tooth Fairy pays big time! And if the root is still attached, you get double presents!!

More to follow on this one...

Give me an A!

Sometimes I am humbled by the goodness of my children.

And I don't mean because they are perfectly behaved, proper little cherubs, finely sculpted by my superb parenting skills!

But I digress.

*

Big Sis is so infectiously sweet natured.

I watch her win hearts everywhere she goes.

Most recently, it was at the dentist's office, which is what prompted me to write this.

Yes, yes, I know. I'm mom. I'm biased.

But I really am being objective here!

She is such a sweet, innocent, bubbly, good-hearted little girl.

I am so blessed to have her in my life.

And when I kissed her goodnight (as is the case with all of my children), I was reminded of how truly honored I am that God picked me to be her mom!

*

So here's a shout out to you, Big Sis!

I will (well, in competition with Daddy...and probably Grandpa too) always be your biggest fan!

4 x 4 = ?

Perfect Attendance

...at the Pediatrician's office that is.

We have officially set a new family record with four trips to the Pediatrician in four days; Friday, Monday, Tuesday, and today. This was Princess A looking sweet in her pink parka right when we got back this evening.

Thankfully, it appears we now have an answer as to why she has been so sick.

Her doctor determined on Monday that she has a kidney infection, and put her on the most common antibiotic to treat it. She seemed a bit better yesterday, and then had a really rough night of shivering and vomitting again last night.

I called the after hours service at 4:30 in the morning, and ended up taking her back in today. Thankfully, the official lab report came back in time for our appointment this time.

It showed that while 98% of kidney infections are caused by E.Coli bacteria that responds well to the antibiotic, Princess A happens to be in the other 2%, with her infection being caused by a strain that's resistant to that particular antibiotic.

She was given a big' ol loading dose injection of a new antibiotic, and will begin a new oral prescription tomorrow. Now that they know how to treat it, they expect her to be feeling a whole lot better in 24hrs. Thank goodness!

The doctor complimented her on her sweet disposition, and said he would not be so pleasant if he were feeling like she must be feeling.

She's such a good girl! She barely even cried when she got her big shot.

We're going to get you fixed up right quick, Princess A!

Mommy loves you!!!