Christmas Pictures

I love Christmas! It was so nice to be with family and eat such good food. Cole was really into opening presents this year. Scott and I let him open ours too. He didn't even care what was inside. He also understood more about Santa. He was very concerned when he found out we don't have a chimney. My friend said we have to get a "Santa Key" that you hang on the door. Santa brought Cole a new four-wheeler and Ella a huge teddy bear. Ella had fun taking the ornaments off of my tree and she loved all of the candy and treats. She saw a cupcake at Nana and Papa's house and cried ,"Me, Me, Me..." We hadn't even eaten yet.

Everyday Ella took off at least one ornament.

Cole made this shirt at preschool.

If you are good Cole, Santa will come!


Chef Nana delivering food for the children.

At the Morris' we put the kids in another room to eat. It is so nice because we all can talk and eat in peace. We told Dalton to yell if anybody was choking... just kidding. We can see the children from the kitchen.

When she finally got her cupcake she sure did enjoy it.

Papa Lewis and Nana B. with the grandchildren.

Family Photo

At least the red matches her dress. Stickey!

Cole waiting patiently to open his presents.

My dad got a few gag gifts because his real present was a big screen TV. We were trying to throw him off. Thanks to my brother who organized this surprise.

I think this knight costume is Cole's favorite present. He has played with it everyday. I have gotten a few swords in the back. Thanks Aunt Lisa.

Santa ate his milk and cookies.

Ella's bear is as big as her.

Cole's new four-wheeler

At other people's houses Ella tends to get in a lot of trouble. She puts everything in her mouth and she even broke Baby Jesus.

I got a new tripod, camera bag and camera strap from Scott and the kids.

Cole helped pass out presents.

Everyone looking at Cole's new book.

Papa and Nana holding Ella to help keep her out of trouble. Really they just like to hold her because she is so sweet.

Cole's favorite thing.... unwrapping presents.

He also got to decorate cupcakes.

Ella loves dogs. She followed Grandma Frances' dog around all night. I wish I had gotten a picture of her because at one point she followed him under the table while everyone was finishing up dessert.

This year Christmas came and went so fast (I think partly because we got our tree late and I've been in the black hole.) Speaking of my tree, I need to take it down because it is starting to turn brown. Maybe I'll work on that tomorrow. Hope you all have enjoyed Christmas and have a Happy New Year!

The Best Christmas Present

Christmas Eve Ella took her first steps and Christmas Day she stood from sitting and took a few steps toward me. I never thought the day would come. Her friends have been walking for months but Ella just crawls everywhere. Now I have a feeling crawling will not be good enough and it won't be long until she is walking all over the place. Funny how she waited until Christmas. I have been telling her for weeks that all I wanted from her for Christmas was for her to walk. We are very excited for her. Her little dresses and tights are not meant for crawling!

Update

I thought we were on our way out of the black hole, but poor Ella has an ear infection and Cole now has a stomach virus. I was up with him last night. He has been very weak and laid on the couch all day today. About 5 o'clock he seemed to be doing better. Now Scott and I are so paranoid. We know we are walking time bombs. Who will get it next? I'm especially worried since I decided to catch throw-up in my hands. Why do mothers do that? Wouldn't it be better to just let it go on the floor? Anyway, I pray that we make it til Friday. After that we can get sick but just not during Christmas. I don't think that has ever happened. Hopefully we can all get some much needed sleep tonight.

Cole at 3 1/2

Cole at three and a half is a handful. He is still very calm and easy-going but we have had a few terrible three moments. Mostly from him being sassy and mischievous, nothing really major. He has given up his nap, which I miss desperately. I often find him asleep in his chair at 5:30 or 6:00. His little body is just plain worn out by then.

He still hates loud noises and runs and hides in the kitchen if a scary monster comes on TV. He makes me laugh everyday and really keeps me company. He is very talkative and not shy at all. He will talk to anyone. He loves his blue blanket and asks for it when he is tired. Scott wants to take it away but of course I say no way. The thing that amazes me the most about Cole is how kind he has been to Ella. I really think he likes her and enjoys her being around. I'm hoping that one day soon they will play together.

He is still attached to Scott but I am gaining a little ground. They have their special games and every night Scott reads to him. One night I tried to do bedtime when Scott was out of town and Cole kept telling me I forgot to swoosh him. Scott swooshes him from the bed to the basket of books. Then they go through every book and Cole says yes or no if he wants Scott to read it to him. Then he swooshes him back to bed. Whew! That is too exhausting for a mama who has been with children all day. That's why daddy's are so great.

But every night he always asks for me when they are done reading and I still rock him just a little. I know he is too old but I do it for me. Then I lay him down and just look at him. I often get emotional because he looks so little in his bed but I know he is growing every day. You know, when he was born I never imagined how much I could love him or how much I would worry about him.

Funny Things He Says:

• When you ask him how did he know that. He always says, "My brain told me."
  
• He once asked me, "Mama do you know my cousins Dalton, Parker, Spiderman and Dash?"


• In the car we had a conversation about death. And Cole asked me if he was old. I said no Cole you are not and he said yeah that's right I'm new.


• He always says, "Yeah that's what me and my daddy dos."


• For some reason he points with his middle finger. He is always giving people the bird and I can see their eyes get really big, but he has no idea.


• He is always saying, "That is just nonsense mama," and when I tell him to do something he says, "no, never." Not sure where he has heard these from.
  
• I still have to carry him everywhere and he has promised me that when he turns four he will walk. Funny thing is Mrs. Oliver has told me that Scott wanted her to carry him until he was about four.
  

So that's Cole at three and a half. He sure does bring so much love and joy to our lives. I thank God every night for him.

He loves to trace names, numbers, and the alphabet. Ms. Beth (his old sitter) let Cole have this desk and he loves it. It has a tracing light.

Ella thinks Cole is funny. And he really cares about her. She gets on his nerves every now and then but for the most part, he loves her.

Asleep at 5:00 with his blue blanket. He is very hard to wake up too. Sometimes we just put him in the bed and he sleeps until morning.

The Black Hole

This is what Lisa and I refer to as a time in your life when you are completely overwhelmed and the light at the end of the tunnel is far, far away. We have been in the black hole now for about a week and 1/2. Me, Scott, Cole and Ella have been very sick with runny noses, fevers, coughing, sneezing, chills... You name it, we've had it. It all started with Cole. Last Monday he wakes up with a swollen eye - took him to the doctor and they said he had pink eye. Then that night he gets the croup, fever and all. I will tell you one thing, the croup is scary and if it were not for Scott's ability to remain calm I would have called 911. I have dealt with the croup before but this time Cole was throwing up because he couldn't catch his breath. Throughout the week he continues to get sicker. Took him to the doctor on Thursday and they said he has an ear infection and his chest sounded congested. They put him on an antibiotic. MAMA'S BEWARE: If your doctor ever prescribes azithromycin for your child. Tell them to please pick something different. Trust me! That is the worst medicine I have every had to give. I pretty much had to hold Cole down and force it down his throat. Scott and I both get sick next. I rarely catch what my children have, even those awful stomach viruses. But even I was not immune to this nasty stuff. I have had a fever and chills for 5 days. Finally went to the doctor myself. Now my sweet Ella is sick. She is coughing and has a runny nose. I'm sure I will be at the doctor with her by the end of this week. This has been rough, especially on me because we all know mamas cannot be sick. I just kept thinking what does a single mom do? We are so lucky to have family close by because they did help me alot....
1. Thanks to Papa Rudy who rode Ella around in the car while I took Cole to the doctor the first time.
2. Thanks to Nana B. who watched Ella while I took Cole to the doctor the second time and left supper and chicken noodle soup on my front porch.
3. Thanks to Aunt Lisa who let me bring my sick children over just so I could get out of the house. She may be mad at me later for this.
4. Thanks to Scott who came home early from work to rescue me.
5. Thanks to Nana Wina for the presents that cheered everyone up.
6. Thanks to Nana B. and Papa Lewis for watching Cole and Ella while I went to the doctor.

Two very sick children.

Needless to say we constantly ran a vaporizer, even during the day.

Ella was sitting on the couch, waiting for me to lay her down for her nap. While I was pleading, bribing, forcing Cole to take his medicine, I turned around and she had fallen asleep. She just gave up waiting for me. Pitiful.

I cannot even enjoy my Christmas tree because I cannot smell anything.

Thank goodness I am finally feeling better tonight. Maybe I can see a little light in this big black hole.

Happy Birthday Papa Rudy

Dear Papa Rudy (snowcone head),

Thanks for ....

*the hat games
*the books you've read
*the times you carried me
*the times you let me feed the birds
*never leaving my side at swimming lessons
*swimming at vacation
*letting me stick my fingers in your cup
*loving us unconditionally
*and just for being you~

We are so lucky to have you for our Papa and we love you so much. Hope you have a Happy Birthday!

Love Ella

Love Cole

What have you done?

This is the question I asked my three year old when he went missing for a little while. Cole is normally very responsible and I can pretty much trust him. Well, this is one time he just didn't think..... I had just laid Ella down for a nap and Cole was going to rest on my bed and watch a movie. I was up all night with him because he had had the croup and I was exhausted. I laid down beside him and you guessed it. I feel asleep. I'm not sure how long he had been gone but I rolled over and noticed he wasn't there. Then I called his name. No answer. Then I see his little feet poking out from behind the computer chair. "What is he doing," I thought to myself? I walked over to him and smelled permanent marker. Oh no! To my horror he had colored all of his fingernails and toenails and up the side of his leg with a black permanent marker. Marker no big deal. But permanent, how do you get that out?

I went to get the fingernail polish remover and he ran and hid in Scott's closet. He just had his fingers poking out.

Into the bathtub he went. It really wasn't that bad. Some of it came off but he is going to have black under his fingernails and toenails for a long time.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I'M SO THANKFUL FOR MY FAMILY!

Thanksgiving started on Wednesday night and three days later it is finally over. We went to three Thanksgiving celebrations, survived and managed to have some fun! We are so lucky to have our family so close. But honestly, tonight I'm just plain tired. My body is worn out. It can be very stressful at family events, especially with two small children. This is when my parenting style really comes back to haunt me. They are not used to sitting still and eating until everyone is finished. (I can take part of the blame for this.) I also have to keep Cole from running in the house and jumping off of furniture, which he is allowed to do at home. And by the third day both Cole and Ella were getting tired. Cole gets really silly when he is tired. At Grandma Frances' house I heard him say, "Hey Grandma thhhhhthhhh (spitting while sticking his tongue out)." Ella just gets whiny and wiggly. We really did have fun and it was nice to see everyone and I know they were glad to see us.

Nana B. and Papa Lewis' House

We seem sweet don't we? Don't let us fool you. Crazy things happen at this house. You can see where I get my parenting style from. This picture was very hard to take. I only got two shots and everyone was done. Mama said, "Well Michelle, there is always Christmas."

From top left: Scott holding Cole, Joseph (my brother in-law) holding Parker, Papa, my brother Steven, me holding Ella, Dalton, Lisa and Nana

The kids had a blast and the adults got to relax and talk while they played. Nana B. served delicious turkey and fixins. The kids enjoyed turkey cupcakes which I did not get a picture of. And Papa said he made the pecan pie, which I had and it was surprisingly good.

Chocolate plus a sucker, can't get much better than this.



Nana has all kinds of toys. For some reason these teeth were a huge success.





Thanks Nana and Papa for a fun night!

Nana Wina and Papa Rudy's House



From top left: Geoffrey and Amanda (Scott's brother and his wife), Nana, and Papa, Grandma Frances, Grandaddy and Grandma Holt, and us.

Nana served breakfast which was a nice treat!

Thanks for my dress Nana! (Mrs. Oliver made Ella this dress and she wore it on Thanksgiving.)


Grandma Frances' House

Here we are sitting in Grandma Frances' swing that she got for her ninetieth birthday. Can you believe that this special lady made a complete Thanksgiving meal by herself for all of us? She had turkey, fried quail, butter beans, rice, homemade macaroni and cheese, chicken salad, peas, homemade biscuits (which I love), stuffing and lots of homemade desserts. We loved the food and enjoyed seeing everyone. We also celebrated Papa Rudy's birthday which is December 5th. She made a cake for him too. After he blew out the candles, Cole stuck his finger in the icing right there in front of everyone. Papa said that was fine. But I wondered what everyone else was thinking. Oops. Thanks Grandma Frances for having us!

The children loved playing the piano at this house.



Happy Birthday Papa!




My words exactly. Hope you had a good Thanksgiving. Goodnight everyone!