A very special Christmas Ornament - PART II

Many of you have commented on the post, listed 12/7/08, titled "A Very Special Christmas Ornament". I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for reading our blog. It is heart warming to know so many of you care and want to share in our day-to-day endeavors.
If you read "A very special Christmas Ornament" you'll all be happy to know I made good on my promise...Carly and I have made a new snowman ornament. As you can see from the picture, she is very proud of it. You'll also be happy to know (picture two) the ornament has found it rightful place at the top of our Christmas tree. I look forward to reliving this story in the years to come as we decorate our Christmas tree each Holiday season.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Happy 1st Birthday Alayna Rose

Those of you who frequent my blog or know me well know I have many nephews and nieces. Today Leah's daughter (Leah is my sister) turns 1. Last weekend we had her birthday party which was fantastic. In our family it's tradition for my mom to make an extra special birthday cake for the grandkids first birthdays. Alayna, obviously born in Dec, had a ice castle cake - it was magnificant. Alayna had a good time at her party and most important dug right into her cake - Good girl! So today I wish Alayna a very happy 1st Birthday!

PS- I have no idea why my text is underlined and honestly, I'm not awake enough to figure it out so I'm posting this as is. sorry. Stacey -help!

Quick Update

A quick update on what's going on with the Douglas'...
A few of you have asked how my Dad is doing. He is still in the St. Cloud hospital. While he's making progress it seems to be, as his wife puts it, "one step forward and two steps back." Right now he's fighting an infection. He's been walking a bit but as of yesterday he was running a very high temp which made him weak. We're not yet sure when he'll get out of the hospital. It's been three weeks since he's gone in.
On a lighter note - I added the above picture of Carly and Nolan. We so enjoy watching them play together. Carly is a very good big sister and Nolan adores her (as you can see from this picture).
That's all for now. Hope everyone is staying warm.

Second Annual Graham Cracker House Decorating Party

Last Friday we hosted our second annual Graham Cracker house decorating party. A house full of kids and kids full of sugar made for a great time. Each kid (the ones who were old enough anyway) decorated their own graham cracker house with frosting and candy...each house as individual as the child. Thank you everyone for coming! We are blessed to have such great friends.
PICTURES:
Top Left:
1) Angela (Colt) Hultgren and her daughter MaKenna (not shown, Peyton Hultgren) 2) Evie Montgomery (not shown Stacey and Eli Montgomery) 3) Jenni and Abby Ryan 4) Ashley Ryan
Bottom Left:
1) Carly decorating her house 2) Nolan enjoying his frosting 3) Katie (Milne) Rackiewicz with her daughters Sylvia and Hattie

Partners In Crime

Alright, I admit I'm a little "blog happy" today. But it's hard not to be when there are so many cute photo opportunities. Plus, I know my sister, Leah, is checking the blog to see if I write anything about Alayna. I know she misses her daughter so I thought she would like to see this picture.
As I'm getting dinner ready in the kitchen the two little ones are roaming around and playing together. They found the cabinet with the pretzels in it and decided to stop and have a snack. I thought it was cute so I snapped a picture.

Alayna Rose Windom

For those of you who don't know Alayna Rose, she is my niece. Alayna is the 12 mo old daughter of my sister, Leah. Leah is away on business and her fiance, Dale, works early and long hours so Leah was kind enough to let us have Alayna while she's traveling. There's just one problem...I don't think I can give Alayna back.
Alayna Rose...you are the most well behaved easy going little girl. Everything and everyone gets a smile. If you fall down trying to walk, you laugh. If I hand you a new toy, you laugh. If the cat walks by, you laugh. If I look at you I get a huge toothy smile that melts my heart. I am so enjoying having time with you. As I write this you're sitting next to me laughing because the keys on my computer make a funny noise.
My kids love Alayna. Carly loves to "babysit" and nurture/mother Alayna. I thought Nolan would have a hard time with Alayna but I couldn't have been more wrong. He adores her. When Alayna woke up this morning Nolan got all his toys out and showed her how they all work. While Alayna ate breakfast Nolan stood next to the highchair holding her hand. Yes, I'm not joking here. Unfortunately when I got out the camera he ran towards it (he always does, trying to see what his picture looks like). Nolan is, however, starting to realize Alayna is a no nonsense type of lady and she'll take what she wants (GOOD FOR HER!). She has taken a few of Nolan's toys right out of his hands and he's not sure how to handle that. He has yet to take it back from her. I'm trying to stay back and let him figure out how to deal with it on his own. All in all, they are so far the best of friends.
Okay, Nolan is now up from nap so I'll list this post. La, if you're reading this please prepare yourself for a fight when you come to pick up your daughter.

A very special Christmas Ornament

Last Friday Carly brought home a very special gift for Justin and me. Justin was still at work but Carly was too excited to wait so we opened the gift a little early. Out of the reindeer decorated brown paper bag Carly pulled out a beautiful red snowman ball ornament. The snowmen were made out of her sweet little finger prints. I squealed in delight which made Carly beam with pride. She very carefully walked the ornament over to our tree where it was to take it's place at the top, where everyone could see it. On her way over she dropped the ornament on the wood floor. It shattered into hundreds of small pieces. I'll admit, I was devastated but could tell Carly was too so I tried not to make a big deal of it. "I'm sorry Mom." Carly repeated over and over as I cleaned it up. Poor little lady felt so badly. I gave her a hug. We decided to make a new ornament to replace the one she had made at preschool. She seemed content with that idea.
A few hours later Justin came home excited to see the gift Carly had made for him. When he asked her about it she started crying saying, "No Daddy, I don't want you to see it!" He looked over to see the broken ornament on the counter and realized she felt badly about what had happened. Justin picked her up and told Carly, "Honey, even if it's broken I still love it because YOU made it for me." A huge smile came over Carly's face and she squeezed her Dad tight. I could see the relief and pride come over her.
In the car and on our way to Target that night Carly tells me, out of the blue, "Mom, my Dad loves broken presents." I giggled and then she said, "and he really love me."
I hope our kids always know no matter what mistakes they make we will love them unconditionally. Even if they break a teacup (that's for you, Janie).

In other ornament news...our Christmas tree is becoming top heavy. The kids keep sneaking ornaments off the tree. Swiping of the ornament is usually followed by three minutes of me chasing Nolan (yes, it's usually Nolan) around the house trying to get the breakable item back. I pry the ornament from is chubby little fingers and place it back on the top of the tree so the kids can't reach it. The top 1/3 of our tree is now packed with ornaments. I'm sure you're asking yourself "why doesn't Dana just move all the ornaments to the top of the tree then Nolan won't get them?" Good question, I ask myself that as well...my answer...wishful thinking. Maybe one of these days he'll listen to Mama and not touch the ornaments. Hey, a mom can hope, right? Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone!

This is the strep that never ends....

.....yes it goes on and on my friends!
I (Dana) tested positive for strep last night. AUGH! I didn't think I could get it since I had my tonsils removed when I was 19. Guess I was wrong. Now I pray Nolan and Justin don't get it.
Have a great weekend everyone.

Getting ready for Christmas

Last weekend we put up and decorated our Christmas trees. This year is extra special because Carly is SOOOOOO excited about every little light, ornament, branch and, needless to say, present. Because of her excitement we decided to put a Christmas tree in Carly's room. She loves that tree! Together Carly and I made a button garland for her tree. The plan is to decorate her tree with all homemade ornaments. It may take us years but we'll do it, eventually.
The best part is every time we turn on the Christmas lights Carly jumps up and down yelling, "Yeah! This is the best Christmas Tree Ever!!!!" I love it.
In the picture on the left Carly is standing in front of HER Christmas Tree. She's holding her favorite ornament which is a nest with three little eggs in it. (the ornament is a little blurry, sorry.)


I also included this picture of Nolan.
We took this picture when we went shopping for Christmas trees.

These kids crack me up

First - Ellie, I hope you had a great Birthday yesterday! I cannot believe you're already 11.
Second - I added the above because I see a lot of this throughout our day...Carly hugging her brother a little too tight ad Nolan trying to wiggle away.
CARLY:
This morning Carly was very sad to see her Dad go off to work. I asked her, "You know why Daddy has to work, right?". I was expecting she'd come back with something along the lines of...so we can have toys, or food, or clothes. Nope. Her answer was, "Yes, so we can live in this house. If Daddy didn't work we'd have to live with Grandma and Grandpa." I have no idea where she got all that.
Some other things Carly has been saying lately.... "Okay Mom (or Dad), I'll listen to you.", "I love Nolan that baby.", I love you Mom (or Dad)", and "You're the best Mom (or Dad)". It doesn't get much better then that. However there is another side of Carly. If things aren't going her way she'll say, "Oh Mom, it's not that big of a deal."
SIDE NOTE: Yesterday Carly went to the Dr. and we got a new antibiotic for her strep. Hopefully this one won't cause a reaction. We should be on our way to recovery.
NOLAN:
Nolan turned 18 months yesterday. I am admittedly bias but Nolan is hilarious. He has a funny, and sometimes sassy, personality. Nolan spends most of his day pushing around a chair in hopes of climbing up on something before Mama spoils his fun. I hear a lot of "No, Mama No!" as I peel him off the counter tops, take away the telephone, tell him to NOT touch the Christmas tree, etc... When he's not climbing or getting into trouble Nolan likes to show off by flopping around on the floor and making us laugh. He also loves to cuddle his Mama (he's sitting on my lap as I write this), watching wrestling (much to my dismay), and chasing Eddie, our cat, around the house. Nolan can say pretty much anything he wants to. Everyday we hear him say something new. Oh, and he LOVES "Pup Pups".
Alright, I think I got it all in. I know this post is a little random and I apologize for that but I suspect most of my posts will be this way. Since I'm not a scrapbooker this is my way of capturing all the small moments of our life.

Strep Throat, again!

I had originally planned on having my Thanksgiving Post up by now. However, since becoming a Mama I've learned (the hard way) plans often change.
As the title says - Carly has strep throat, again. On Nov 13th she tested positive for strep. She was givin amoxicillian and was able to get better. Yesterday she tested positive for strep again. Since she just took a round of amoxicillian she was giving a different antibiotic called Cephalexin. Last night Carly started itching which is a reaction to the Cephalexin. So now we're off the medication and going to see our Dr sometime today. I'll let everyone know what comes of this.
Just wanted to give a quick update.
I promise to get our Thanksgiving post up soon. Hope everyone is well!

Thanksgiving

Hello Everyone. I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving.
Our Thanksgiving was spent at Justin's parents house. His entire family was there which always makes for a lot of excitement. It was a great time. We ate great food, had a heated Wii bowling tournament, decorated cookies, played games, went for a walk, ate more food, and ate even more food. The kids had a great time playing with their cousins.
Thanksgiving Day was fantastic but our drive home took a turn for the worst. I received a phone call that my Dad wasn't doing well.....let me back up
My Dad has gastric bypass surgery on the 25th of Nov. Post surgery he had problems with swelling, blood pressure dropping, etc... On Thanksgiving Day Dad went septic and was brought in for emergency surgery. The surgery came up "empty"... in other words they couldn't find the reasoning behind his organs starting to shut down. It was a very scary time for us. It's hard to believe something like this could suddenly happen especially when this was an elective surgery. As of today I'm happy to report Dad has come out of the ICU and is recovering slowly but surely in the St Cloud hospital. This scare made me even more thankful for family. We're so blessed to have each other.
On a lighter note... I had planned to do a collage of Thanksgiving pictures for this post. However, I have started saving my pics in the iPhoto instead of Picasa - mistake on my part as iphoto doesn't offer as options as Picasa. Anyway, I'll figure it out eventually. Until then I've included a picture of the 12 Douglas Grandkids.

Small Moments

I have many fond memories of my childhood. My fondest memories are of what I call the small moments. Moments like going grocery shopping with my mom, playing chess with my Dad, cruising with my oldest sister and playing barbies with Leah. Not to mention, reciting nursery rhymes before bed, making cookies, doing crafts, sewing, roasting marshmallows, walks around Lake George, lappy time, etc...I could go on and on. All these moments I shared with someone who loved me. Whether it was my Mom, Dad, sisters, brother, or Grandpa these times are near and dear to my heart. These memories may not be huge life changing events but they're the moments that make up my life and remind how loved I truly am.
That's why I snapped this picture...
My mom was visiting last weekend. She went through our magazine at least five times pointing out every single "pup pup" (translation: dog) she could find. Why?, because pictures of dogs made Nolan smile. Watching the two of them together warmed my heart. Nolan, and Carly, are loved by so many. The proof is in the small moments. These are the times they'll look back on, and smile, because they'll know they're loved.

Night in the ER

Last night I was spinning Carly through the air when I heard a "pop". Carly started crying and couldn't move her arm. After a 15 minute assessment we opted to take her into the ER. Turns out she had Nurse Maid's elbow. The Dr was able to snap it back into place and Carly is back to her old self. Thank God! Carly and I spent over three hours in the ER waiting room which was not our idea of a fun night. Seeing my baby girl in pain was the worst pain I could ever feel. I will say, however, having the opportunity to spend 1:1 time cuddling my baby girl made the long wait well worth it.
Carly is all better now and back to her old self. Swinging her around was a "bad idea!", as Carly and William would say. Needless to say we won't be doing that again.

"Color"

This week Carly has been given the responsibility of taking care of her cousin's turtle named "Color". We have had a great time watching over Color. Carly is very good about making sure Color is well fed. In fact, I went to check on Color last night to find his water filled with food pellets. Seems a little blond haired girl thought Color might be hungry again. When asked who fed the turtle Carly proudly stood up and said, "I did it Mom. He looked like his tummy was empty." Needless to say the food is now well hid so little hands can't get a hold of it.
Having Color here has really turned Carly into a little mother. She talks to him in a high pitched, sweet voice saying things like, "Oh aren't you cute?", "It's okay honey, I'm here for you." and "I love you, baby - you're so sweet, yes you are!" Nolan has even started "talking" to Color in the same high pitched voice.
We're going to be sad to see Color to back to my sister's house. Lucky for us we can visit him anytime.

Family

I am so thankful for my family. Last night my mom, who is babysitting my sister's three kids while she and her husband are on vacation, invited us over for dinner. Josie (my mom) made a fantastic meal but we expected nothing less from her. My other sister, Leah, was there with her husband and daughter, Alayna, as well. Seeing my children play with their cousins is heart warming. I am thankful they have each other.
This picture is of Nolan and Alayna. Alayna so wanted to hug Nolan but he wasn't havin' it. She finally got those little arms around him and she hung on tight. I don't blame her for wanting to snuggle his sweet pumpkin head.

First Blog

Am I really doing this? Am I really going to attempt to start a blog? The idea of keeping a journal of our (me, JD, Carly and Nolan) daily activities to share with friends and family ...it sounds great. But am I kidding myself? Do I really think I can keep up with this? I hope so. It's so easy to loose track of the funny things our kids do and say. I want to make sure I keep track of these times because a) the kids are at such a fun age b) the kids are growing so fast. Well here we go...let's see how this plays out. Wish me luck.