New Year's Eve

We had a laid back day for the most part.  We spent a lot of time inside cuddling and keeping warm.  It was below zero when we woke up, but totally gorgeous outside.

Tonight Evan had to work, so Graesen and I headed to my parents' house for games, pizza, and a movie.  Graesen is not so helpful with games.  We tried to get him to play with some of his own dominos while we played mexican train, but it didn't last long.

I even brought his ball pit with us to try and keep him out of trouble.  It wasn't long before he was out trying to climb everything again.  This kid really knows how to party of New Year's :)

Burning off energy

Graesen has an abundance of energy. He moves nonstop and spends his days trying to climb EVERYTHING. I am constantly trying to think of ways to keep him busy. One night this week I took his slide, some blankets and pillows, and his ball pit balls and made a ball pit at the end of the slide.  He loved it and it kept him out of trouble for an hour or so.

Evan and I also took Graesen to the jump and bounce place again this week.  We could not believe how strong he has gotten.  He could climb everything by himself.  We just climbed right behind him in case he fell or needed some help.  Here he is in the toddler area.  He definitely did not need any help in there :)

Christmas 2010

We woke up as a family on Christmas morning to do presents. Graesen was so cute. He literally said "oooh" or "wow" after each gift he opened.

After that we went to my parent's house for brunch and more presents. The big hit of the day was Graesen's bag of ball pit balls. We put them in the play pin and the kids went crazy.

In the afternoon we went to Evan's family's house for presents and dinner. I think Graesen started to get a little overwhelmed by all the gifts. By the end of it I had to open his presents for him.

We finished off the night by heading back to my parent's house to watch a late movie. Graesen slept through the whole thing.

It was a great Christmas. We were very blessed to spend it with those we love. I have to say Christmas with a kid is so much sweeter than every before.

Merry Christmas!

*It looks a little better when our last name and last initial aren't edited out :)

Lots of holiday fun

We have been so busy this week with holiday fun.  On Sunday we went to Evan's family's annual Christmas party.  Graesen got some fun presents from Santa, and was super excited that Phoebe joined him for the party.

My sister, Rachae, came in town that night with her family.  We took the kids to a local greenhouse that had been decorated.

We also enjoyed some sledding with the cousins.

And pajama story time at the library (thanks Aunt Shannon for the new pjs).

Tonight we went to church, of course, and attempted to get a picture of the kids in their clothes my mom made for them. 

We also went to my grandparents' house for dinner where Graesen ate way too many sweets and had a sugar high until about 11 tonight.

We did a lot more stuff, but that is just the stuff I got pictures of.

Now the little guy is finally sleeping and I really should too.  We have a full day of celebrating Jesus's birth tomorrow.
Merry Christmas!

Meeting Santa 2010

I found out that a local farm was having Santa pictures for free this weekend (if you took the pictures yourself).  I decided to give it a try.  The pictures at the mall cost 17 dollars for the cheapest package, and last year the picture was a bit early.  I am so glad I chose this route.  Graesen was terrified and screaming, and I'm glad I didn't spend money to get a picture of that.  I did get some pictures, and they are very typical for kids this age.  Screaming and adorable. 

Phoebe and my parents were there too.  Phoebe was so terrified she wouldn't let go of my parents and wouldn't even eat her pumpkin doughnut snack.  Needless to say, she did not sit on Santa's lap.

I love this barn.  It's so pretty I think I could live in it.

North Pole Lights Cruise

We went on a little cruise to the North Pole tonight.  It was cute.  The lights were pretty impressive, and Santa even read off the names of all the kids on the boat who made the nice list.  We enjoyed hot cocoa and watching Graesen attempted to cover every inch of the boat while falling every 2 feet (he apparently does not have good sea legs).  Evan's parents asked if we would mind some company.  The extra help was needed with our wild child tonight!

*The neurologist said that Graesen is fine.  The pulling the legs up thing is mostly behavioral and he will grow out of it.  He still has some tummy issues (reflux, constipation) that we will continue to see the GI doctor about, but thankfully nothing worse.

Perspective

I was an elf again this weekend for fantasy flight. For those of you who don't know, it is an organization that takes homeless and low socio-economic children from the area and takes them on a trip to the "north pole."  On Saturday the kids fly on an airplane to "get there," meet Santa, play games, get all kinds of gifts (including some they specifically asked santa for), eat more treats than they could ever want, and get some basic items (sweatshirts, school supplies, hats, gloves, etc) that they need.  It is really a dream night for these kids.  I was assigned to a young girl who lives in a homeless shelter.  She couldn't believe it when she met Santa and "he was real" with a real beard and everything.  It is a very exhausting day, but so wonderful for both the children and the elves.  These kids cannot believe that they are getting stuff that is "just for them," and are sadly terrified to part with their coats at the beginning of the night over fear that they won't get them back.  We write their names in permanent marker on everything they get so it can't be stolen or sold by family members.  Even though the over all theme of the night is fun, fun, fun, reality sets in every once in a while.  You suddenly realize that these kids go "home" to homeless shelters.  There is the occasional kid who wants nothing more from Santa than a new blanket because they are cold at night.  And this year a fear of mine came true.  I am a substitute teacher, so I see many kids from two different districts.  I always worried that I would see a kid I knew.  This year I saw a kid I taught only a few weeks ago.  Luckily, he didn't seem to notice (which would have led to me making up some sort of story about how I am and elf and a teacher).  However, I was hit with one of those lessons that only God can give.  This student was challenging the day I taught him.  I remember really struggling to keep my patience.  If I had known what life outside of school looked like for him maybe I would have been more intentional about showing him love and care.  Maybe it shouldn't matter.  Maybe I should treat every person I meet like their life is truly difficult, and like they are in need of extra love and encouragement.
My favorite station at the North Pole was the petting the reindeer. 

This morning I was an elf for a new, related event.  The activities were very similar, only we didn't fly on a plane this time and the kids had their families with them.  And the kids have terminal illnesses.  This was so much harder for me than working with the homeless kids.  These kids are literally dying.  Some came with bald heads, others in wheelchairs.  Their siblings all acted far too mature for their age.  Like they have experienced more hurt than anyone should ever have to face.  The parents hugged each other and fought back tears.  We elves had to fight to pull it together, too.  The family I worked with had five kids.  The little 7 year old boy who was sick in their family couldn't make it.  He had a tumor removed on Wednesday, then turned 7 the next day.  He told his parents that getting his tumor removed was the best birthday gift he had ever received.  His family was still invited to come even though he was stuck in the hospital.  One of the kids mentioned that it was their last Christmas all together.  The kids wouldn't even open their gifts until they got to the hospital with their brother.  The parents thanked us profusely for giving their kids a chance to just be kids and be happy.  I wish I knew that all the kids today would be okay, but the truth is that most of them won't.  In fact, the head elf decided to remove one of the stations from Saturday night.  The "fix it" station was one where kids got to meet the elf nurse and get little first aid kits to take with them.  The head elf said that it didn't seem right to have a "fix it" station for kids with illnesses that cannot be fixed.  It is so hard knowing how these families are hurting everyday.  Illnesses like we saw today affect more than just the ill child.  Even the little 3 year old boy in our group understood that his brother was dying.  I found myself asking "why them?"  Why do they have to be sick?  Then the scary thought came to mind-why not us?  Why did God choose to spare us such pain up to this point?  It could very easily be my family or yours at the North Pole with terminal kids, yet for some reason God has spared us.  It gives a whole lot of perspective to life. 





















Fo

Results, shirts, and a box

I talked to the GI doctor today.  He thinks that since Graesen is not refluxing his food/liquids that the acid levels he has are within a normal range.  I am not so sure what I think about this.  I have done a lot of reading and have read stuff about children who reflux while active instead of while eating.  Graesen had very big pH drops while walking around and playing.  While this is not typical, it does happen, and it makes reflux much harder to diagnose.  When I called in to ask about Graesen's results the doctor just happened to be right by the phone, so he talked to me right away.  I'm not sure he was even looking at Graesen's chart or results at the time.  I realize that I am not a doctor, but I still feel uneasy about the doctor thinking the acid levels are normal.  I mean I heard Graesen have wet burps around the times his pH levels dropped and saw him arch his back a little during some big drops.  That makes me think that while Graesen is not refluxing food, he is having high levels of acid flowing into his esophagus.  On top of that, why would Graesen's esophagus be inflamed (even with meds) if he didn't have a significant amount of reflux?  But, what do I know?  Anyway, for now the doctor said to go ahead and try the reflux meds again since Graesen has been extremely fussy.  We will see if the meds seem to help with it.  Then he wants me to try and wean Graesen off the meds.  I just feel like we are getting nowhere.  I feel like since we are not getting clear results from the tests, the doctor is just kind of giving up and saying "lets just wait."  Really, today he told me that "we" will just "get him through the holidays" then deal with his pain.  I am thinking about inviting him over to my house for one night of Graesen in agony during dinner and then waking up every hour ALL NIGHT LONG.  Then maybe he will rethink the whole "we" part of that statement and realize that for us this is no fun at all.  I am glad we are going to the neurologist next week.  Maybe he will know something.

I made shirts for all the kids in our family this year for Christmas with the first letter of their names.  I finally finished them this week.

In one of the few moments Graesen was not crying or screaming tonight he played in a box.  It was cute.  It was even more cute that he was not screaming.

Oh, and Graesen said "I love you" yesterday.