Rockin Around the Christmas Tree

It is that time of year again!! I love the holidays. When I was growing up in Wisconsin we spent most of our Christmases in Ohio with my extended family. I can still picture and recall the feelings I got as I walked up the sidewalk of Grandma and Grandpa Niekamp's house. The entire outside of the house was always decorated in RED lights. My Grandpa only used red lights to decorate the outside. 25 years ago, they did not even make only red lights so my Grandpa would paint each light bulb red by hand! They had a HUGE pine tree in the front year that he would decorate with the red lights. It was the most beautiful sight I had ever seen. I aspire to have my house decorated like that is an homage to my grandfather and the wonderful feelings that those memories bring. Another thing that I took away from Grandma and Grandpa Niekamp was their tree. I LOVED that their tree was decorated with those old school glass ornaments. Since I can remember, I have been slowly but surely collecting glass ornaments for my tree. It is funny because when I started this, I still lived in Wisconsin and was still going to Ohio each year for Christmas. Now that I am so far away from my family, I am so glad that I began that tradition. It brings me closer to family with all of the memories it brings back. When we would enter my grandparents house, the jingle bell on the door would go off and whoever was down the hall in the kitchen would yell, "Ho, Ho, Ho Merry Christmas" without even knowing who it was. They lived in a town where you didn't ring doorbells, you just walked in. My grandmother passed away many years ago. She was such a special and wonderful lady- way before her time. Every time the jingle bell on my door rings, I think of her and miss her and thank God that I have the wonderful family that I do. My hope is that my children will enjoy the holidays like I do and will cherish the many traditions Steve and I have created for them.

One of our traditions is decorating the tree. I get all the ornaments out and carefully unwrap them and lay them out for the kids to decorate the tree. I am so happy that even as David and Megan continue to get older and more mature, they still love to decorate the tree. It is fun to hear them argue over who gets to put the large Santa head on or who got to put on more of the big ornaments.

New Things

Yesterday we went to out to eat with Steve's boss and co-worker. We went to Modern Steak in Scottsdale-great place. The service was fabulous and the decor was nice. Megan would like her bedroom decorated like the women's bathroom!! We got a seafood tower appetizer that had lobster, crab, shrimp, and oysters. It took a moment of prodding, but both kids decided they would try the oysters. These were not cooked in any way, shape or form. We coached them on how to swallow them, that they tasted like sea water with a splash of lemon, and Megan tried to down her first. Now, Megan has a hard time swallowing things such as medication. Anything that is a little on the large side, and she just has a really hard time. She tried, she put forth her best effort, but alas, the oyster did not do down. Of course David saw this and then he wasn't so sure he wanted to try the oyster, but he did. He had no problem swallowing it. I was very proud of both kids for trying something that a lot of adults would not have tried. We had a wonderful evening and Joelle was a very good little toddler. By the time we got home, it was WAY past her bedtime. Her bedtime ritual is to use the bathroom, and then we put a diaper on. She is not able to get through the night without peeing. I put her to bed, said goodnight, and then I crawled in bed. At 1:30 I woke up because Joelle was calling me on the monitor, "Mommy, Mom, MOM!" I got up, got my bearings and walked to her room. I opened the door and asked her what was wrong. She told me in a voice filled with urgency that she had to go pee on the potty. I quickly got her out of her room and in the bathroom. She went to the bathroom and back to bed. I was surprised that she woke up and called to me. I gave her a lot of praise so maybe this will be the beginning something new. We'll see:)

Cleaning House

So on Black Friday, instead of shopping, I cleaned house. I moved Joelle's toys in the loft and explained to her that this is now her "play room"! She was very excited. I also rearranged her room and explained that now her room was a big girl room. She loved it:) When she woke up from her nap, she took her dad on a tour of her "new" room. She showed him where her animals were, how her bed was moved, and she even showed him all her princess dress up dresses in the closet! About 10 minutes after I put her to bed, she was standing at the top of the stairs saying, "Daddy.........DAD!" I asked her what she needed and she told me that she wanted Daddy to come upstairs. Daddy obliged. She told him she wanted to show him her animals. As he walked up the steps I told him to tell her if she did not stay in bed, he would have to take one of her animals. As I listened on the monitor, I could hear her show him her animals. He came back downstairs, and we got settled in to watch some football. About 5 minutes later I hear, "Mom...... Mommy." I turned and looked at Steve and said, "You didn't tell her you would take an animal did you?" He said no. I walk over to the steps and she says now she wants to show ME her animals. I went upstairs and saw her animals. She lays on her bed and says, look at all my animals Mom. As I tucked her in, I told her that if she did not stay in bed I would have to come back and take an animal. She was in for the night!

So Much to be Thankful for.....

This year Steve and I did not go to LA for our traditional Thanksgiving with the Pratt family. Luckily, we will be seeing them all next weekend. David and Megan spend their Thanksgivings with their mom and her family. This left Steve, Joelle and I to fend for ourselves. Initially the prospect of not having a big Thanksgiving was a little disappointing. We decided that we were still going to do turkey with some works-thank you Steve for being a great cook:) I made my favorite desert from the Pratt Thanksgiving-banana cream pudding/pie. There will be no curry chicken, goat, or oxtail this year, but there will be love. The day has been such a relaxing day of just spending time with my husband and daughter. And being able to really enjoy that time. I am so thankful for Steve. When we got married 5 years ago in my vows I stated that he was the missing puzzle piece that made me whole, my knight in shining armor. A truer statement was never said by me. He brings me up when I am down and he also knocks me down when I need it:) What more could I ask for? When I married Steve I got an instant family. I have been so blessed to be a part of David and Megan's lives. They are wonderful children who will grow to be wonderful adults, just like their dad. And when I did not think I could be more blessed, Steve and I were lucky enough to have Joelle together. She is the light of my life and when I don't think I could possibly love her more, I do.
I am also very lucky to have wonderful parents and siblings. Our family is very close, and that is something that a lot of families can not say. I am thankful that my father is a cancer survivor. I am thankful that we are all healthy of mind and spirit. I am thankful to just be able to take a breath every morning and kiss my loved ones goodnight. I have so much to be thankful for.....

Look at My Wet Hair Mom!

So, all soon to be 3 year olds are very adventurous right? Joelle went running to the bathroom saying, "I have to pee, I have to pee!" Sometimes when she does this, she doesn't make it to the toilet before beginning to pee. I went to go check on her to make sure she did wet her pants, and as I walk in the door, she says, "Look at my wet hair mom!" with a huge, happy smile on her face. It is then that I notice that her hand is in the toilet water. She has soaked her hair with toilet water. USED toilet water. The water she peed in. We have had several conversations about the water in the toilet and how it is dirty and she should not put her hands in it. When she used the little potty it was right next to the toilet and she would sit there and reach her hands in the toilet and splash the water. Every time she did this I explained how "yucky" and "dirty" the water was. She didn't get it apparently. She has a thing for the nastiest stuff in the bathroom. Once, when she called for a wipe, I walked in and she was playing with the scrubber for the toilet bowl. Who does that?? I freaked and told her how dirty it was and how nasty and she got mad at me for taking it away. I know she is only 3 and just doesn't understand the disgusting aspect of this, but for the girl who freaks out when her hands are dirty or when she climbs in her booster seat and there are remnants of the previous meal, why is she okay with the nasty toilet?

Sunday Mornings

When Sunday morning rolls around, Joelle is usually ready to get up at like 6:30am!! We try to combat this by having her come into our bed for little extra lay down time. It usually doesn't work. Today she was taking her stuffed animals and brushing her Daddy's face and arms!! She ends up playing with us until we are ready to get up. Once I get out of the bed, she takes over my spot and says "I wanna watch a movie" She loves to watch TV in our bed. She enjoys her "Daddy Time"!

Coughing the Night Away!

So Joelle has had the worst cough for the last 4 days. The kind of cough that doesn't really begin to get going until night falls and it is time for bed. The first 2 nights I gave her Benadryll and elevated her bed. That worked great until the Benadryll wore off. So at midnight and 5 am guess who was up to get her more medicine? And guess who was awake because the coughing was so constant that her whole body was shaking? Yup! Then I had a hard time falling back to sleep until the medicine kicked in because she was having a hard time coughing, like she wasn't able to breath. Needless to say, after 4 nights of disturbed sleep, it was time to take her to the Urgent Care to make sure she did not have an infection. Last night I timed her coughs as if she were a pregnant woman and was having contractions. I wanted to make sure I really needed to take her to the UC. During a 20 minute time period she coughed every 30-60 seconds. At 5 am when she woke Steve and I up again with her coughing I decided we were going first thing in the morning. Now a days when you have a cough like that, you get to wear this beautiful accessory! Joelle actually did pretty well with keeping it on while we were waiting to be seen. After 2 hours, because apparently another patient had a heart attack, we left. No infection, no wheezing, no real reason as to why she is coughing like this. At least when the Dr. had her lay down within 2 minutes she began to cough so they did not think I was nuts!! Well, more Benadryll and some added cough suppressant and hopefully she will be able to sleep through the night:) PLEASE!

Be Careful What You Say! Part 2

TGIF! After a long week at work, I love to get comfortable on the couch and watch TV with Steve. Joelle has had a cough lately and I had to give her medicine the last 2 nights so that she could just sleep at night. Her cough is ridiculous and almost non-stop the minute she lays down. Got her dosed up and crawled into my comfy spot and Steve and I watched some DVRd shows. We have surround sound and sometimes the sounds are so real. All of a sudden in a very ethereal voice I hear Mom? I look to Steve to see if he has heard the same thing or if I am a little too tired and sure enough he says you better go check on her. I walked up the stairs and as I rounded the landing to second set, I see Joelle standing at the top of the stairs. She says, I need a cup mom. When I asked her why she said she needed the orange cup. As I walked her back into her room, again I asked her why. She said, "because I coughing mom." Sweet girl. I talked her back to bed and this time she stayed there for the rest of the night:)

Be Careful What You Say!

So Thursday night Steve and I are talking and I mention to him that this whole big girl bed thing seemed to be a pretty smooth transition. He said yeah, she seems to be doing really well. Of course, I wake her up at 6:10 am each morning and she is still asleep, so that could be why. Anyway, off we go to bed. My ritual each night is to open her door and check in on her. I have to walk entirely in the room though, I can't just peek in. If I don't do this, I can't sleep. So, I open the door and look at the bed, only Joelle is not in it. Her sheet is pulled back and the bed is empty at this split second 2 things happen 1) I realize that I did not put the monitor on when she went to bed so she could be anywhere in the upstairs(which was pitch black) and 2) the panic that sets in something so dreadful I don't even have words for how far my stomach dropped into my feet and how fast. Then I scan the room and there she is. By the rocking chair. I said by the chair, not in it and this is why. I have a blanket that my friend Jennifer Wright made for Joelle when she was born. It is white and has little baby animals stitched into it and it hangs on the back of the chair. I don't want Joelle to ruin it, I want it to be a keepsake. Anyway, Joelle must have wanted that blanket because she was standing in front of the rocking chair facing it, and then she must have leaned forward to grab the blanket and smell it. Side note: If you don't already know, Joelle loves to sniff her blankets and her babies, it helps to calm her and comfort her. So she has the blanket shoved in her face and she is literally facing the chair and leaning on it. And she is sleeping. Completely, totally asleep. I called Steve and told him to look at her and he said I guess we need to be careful what we say!

Sweetness

Baby It's Cold Outside

Joelle loves the cooler weather. She is infatuated with hoods! While we walk in to the daycare, if her hood falls off, she totally freaks! As soon as I open the door to the car she tells me "it's cold out mom." If you can call 55 degrees cold:) Which we do!

My First I.V.!

Well, Megan went to the Dr. with a sore throat and ended up with an IV for being dehydrated. I wasn't there, but I can imagine that there was a lot of anxiety about a big 'ol needle going into her arm. She doesn't even like to get flu shots!! Oh yeah, she also has strep. When it rains it pours for her.

What a FACE!!!

So, yesterday we were at The New China Buffet for a lovely dinner and Steve decided that everyone needed to try a craw fish. David brought a plate of craw fish and french fries "in case we didn't like the craw fish!" Steve took one and began to crack it open, not be out done by her father, Megan grabbed one and dug right in. Of course when she got the head off she was wondering what the brown stuff dribbling out was!! After proving that she could hold her weight with craw fish, she moved on to crab legs. As you can see, this was a bit more difficult. I did not even know that my beautiful girl could make such a face:)

And, ta-dah, all the work was worth it. The rewards were well deserved. Needless to say, when I showed the family in the restaurant the picture, EVERYONE was looking at us because we were laughing so hard. It was a great night at the buffet for the Pratts.

A Crafty Girl in the Making

Megan is channeling her inner Crafter. Her friend Alexis has a sleepover scrap booking party for her birthday. I was so excited that Megan was going to have a chance to make her own scrapbook. We got pictures for 2010 and she began a book for this year. We will complete it later. She really liked scrap booking. When she is older and can look back on this book, she will not only have the memories of doing all the things in the book, but also of creating the book. I hope she decides to stick with it:)


Over fall break she was at a day camp and she began making earrings. She said she really like to make jewelry, so for her birthday, Grandma Ginny and Grandpa Bob got her a gift card to Michael's. She bought an All in One jewelry making kit. You can see her first necklace. It isn't done yet, this is tedious work so it may take a few days to complete.

Mom, I Wanna Go Shopping Mom.

It is amazing how fast they grow up. We were driving to Megan's soccer game yesterday and as we came upon the mini mall with a Dollar Tree and a Ross, Joelle pipes up from the back seat and says, "Mom, I wanna go shopping, mom." I guess I deserve the blame. In an effort to keep happy and compliant when I have to run errands, I make it seem like such fun to go "shopping."

And She Scores! Twice!!

Megan had a great game yesterday. It was a blustery 55 degrees at the beginning of the game. As a fan, it was cold!! Megan did a great job. She was one of the captains for this game and the girls won the toss. The day only got better for Megan. She was able to score two, yes count them, two goals. One of her goals was a long shot from about the middle of the field. It rose over the defenders and bounced right in front of the goalie, and then it bounced it way into the net!! It was amazing! Megan has really enjoyed soccer this year. Last year she was the star goalie, but never really got to play the other positions. This year she has been rotated to all the positions and has scored several goals through out the season. We have discovered that she can be a tenacious forward:) Great Job Megan!

The Big Girl Bed

After school today I took apart Joelle's crib and made it into a "big girl bed". She was so excited and proud of herself. I told her I would get it all set up and then call her into her room. She got a big girl pillow as well. As you can see she is pleased as punch.

Here she is practicing. I think if I told her she had to go to bed right then, she might have.

And here we are ready for bed. I told her that big girls did not get out of their beds. And if big girls did get out of their beds, then their stuffed animals had to get out of the bed too. I think she was sufficiently worried about not having them to sleep with that she just may make the transition without too much trouble.

It is funny, how emotional I became. I thought back to when she was about 3 months old and still sleeping in the bassinet in my room. All of a sudden she began waking up more during the night and I realized it was because she was too big for the bassinet and I was going to have to switch her to the crib. That was hard. At that time I felt that a part of her infancy was gone forever. I had lost something that I wasn't going to get back. As I watched her walk to her "big girl bed", I had that same feeling. In gaining something as wonderful as a growing child who was ready to begin sleeping in a real bed, I had lost my little toddler who needed her crib. It was like saying goodbye to the last of the baby in her. And I know this will not be the last time I feel this way.

So Silly

So tonight as Joelle ate dinner (or rather played with dinner), she had to have her little pumpkin from the patch next to her. The next thing we know, she was talking to it. After the pumpkin patch I drew a jack-o-lantern face on each side. One side was smiling and the other side was the wicked toothless grin. Joelle turned the pumpkin to each face and would say nice pumpkin and mean pumpkin. I love my pumpkin. Then she took a picture of a bunch of us from David's Bar Mitzvah and shoved it in her pumpkin's face and she said, "look at my family". She tried naming everyone for the pumpkin. Then she would pick the pumpkin up and hug it:) It was so entertaining to watch her. I love that she is able to occupy herself and that she has an imagination.

Kids Say The Darndest Things

Joelle: I have a big butt mom. Me: You what? Joelle: I have a big butt mom. Me: Why do you think you have a big butt? Joelle: My butt is strong mom:)

Oh Damn It!

So, you know what they say, you are what you eat. Well, I guess you are what you watch as well. I was watching TV and Joelle was in the room playing with her barn. On the TV, a child was trying to do math. He couldn't do it and he said it is too hard damn it. His dad says you know you can't say that and the child says but mom says it all the time. Then the show cuts to the mom in the kitchen and as she is pouring wine, she spills and says.....you guessed it Damn it! Well, I turn around and there is Joelle and she has dropped her candy and she says..... Damn it. I just look at her with no expression so she says it again. Still no expression. She furrows her brow and I tell her that is not okay to say and she says okay mom. They soak up soooo much!!

Happy Halloween

For the past 4 years we have spent Halloween with the Schlabachs. The first time I was still pregnant with Joelle. It is so much fun to get together and have good times with good people.
The big kids and Joelle. You won't see many photos with the big kids in them. Once they get the go ahead, they are off. We wouldn't be able to keep up with them.
Isn't this the best looking pirate you have ever seen???
The set up. We couldn't ask for anything more. Mike and Michelle have wonderful neighbors and they even put the TV outside so the guys could catch the World Series and the football game!!
And the little ones. Can you tell that Joelle was so proud of her HUGE glow stick.
The first house. Joelle was so excited to finally be able to Trick or Treat. She had been bugging me all week long about when she was going to get to Trick or Treat. She loved getting candy for doing nothing but being cute.



I am not sure what is happening here. She was coming down the driveway and she was bending backwards like she was belly laughing. I caught it perfectly on film, but I am at a lose for the words to describe it:)
Here she is showing Daddy her goodies. She was very proud of her haul.
The big kids actually needed to take a break. They got a little tired and a little thirsty! They were off in no time.

At the end of the night while we waited for the big kids to come back, the little ones watched some Scooby Doo and relaxed a little. I think this helped Joelle because she went to bed pretty easy. Also, big lollipops are good when you want your child to only have one piece of candy but be occupied for a LONG time!
I had a wonderful time watching Joelle get such delight out of the simple act of trick or treating. I felt my heart swell with love and pride so many times as I realized that my little baby is no longer a baby and barely little any more. When she was lagging behind the others, she would bust out a run that would make world class sprinters jealous. Her little legs moved so fast I laughed every time. It is an absolute JOY to be her mother and I am so blessed that she is my daughter.