Christmas pics

On Christmas eve, Nick picked up the mail and in it was 2 letters for Ash and Preston from SANTA CLAUS!!! Ash especially was SO excited, especially because it said in the letter what she asked the Mall Santa for Christmas...it just confirmed to her that he heard her and that he will bring what she asked for. Click on the pictures to make them bigger and you can read the letters. The one for Preston even mentioned his cousin Cooper. ;-) Preston got really excited that Santa knows Cooper too! It was fun for them to get the letters and I think it'll be a tradition that we continue every year!


We went to Gma and Gpa Calls for Christmas this year--here we are on Christmas eve....their tree is TALL! Look how little Preston is in comparison...
Nick on the computer putting together some Christmas music for us all to enjoy.
Then we checked out NoradSanta.org to see where Santa was in the world....we showed the kids...they were SO excited to see Santa!!!

Then we got ready for the ABUNDANCE of food! so yummy!

Then we opened our gifts from the Calls...and the kids opened theirs. And then they got to see the new playroom. See it here. (AMAZING!!!!)





Later that night the stockings got stuffed, and the gifts were set out, and the cookies and milk and carrots and celery were put out for Santa and the reindeer.
But, shortly after all that was put out, we heard Preston crying hysterically....he had thrown up all over his pillow and bed. We spent the next little bit cleaning him and his bed and then had to keep an eye on him for the next 4 hours while he threw up every 30 min or so....it was a LONG night!

Christmas morning came and the kids saw that Santa had come--he had some of his cookies, the reindeer had their celery and carrots, and he even left a thank you note to Ashleigh! How considerate! ;-)
The kids were up about an hour before we were, but they were good and didn't touch their stockings or gifts until daddy came down....he took his sweet time joining us. lol.

Then the fun began--opening stockings and presents......


















In the late afternoon (after a nap) we went over to the Calls again for Christmas dinner. Nick's aunt Toni and cousin J joined us too.

Here is Nick helping download music on to Quinn's new IPOD Nano.

Juli, Toni, and J

My kids did a little playtime under my legs.....



We figured both kids were feeling better, but on the 26th Ash came down with a cold and in the evening Preston started to get one too. On the 27th, Ash was feeling mostly better, but after Preston's nap, he woke up with barely any voice and a bad seal cough. After a little bit, we decided it would be better if I took him to the dr. Doesn't he look happy!?! He was such a good boy the whole time! pfew. They gave him a dose of medicine in the office and gave us a Rx for antibiotics for his ear infection and we were done. I gave both kids a tsp of honey before bed (thanks, Betsie) to help control their coughing and it worked wonderfully!!! Neither child coughed at all during the night! And, today, Prestons cough is completely gone. Both kids still have runny/stuffy nose, but are all better otherwise! YAY!
So, that's our weekend......

Merry Christmas

Our Christmases seem to always be up and down each year. This year was no different... Ash started out the evening of Dec 22 with lots of vomiting! I had to take care of her since Nick needed his sleep to work the next day. 830am was the last time she puked (yay!), but because of her being "sick" we had to skip the Cousins Christmas Party at my mom and dad's house on the 23rd! (Waaah!) My parents were nice enough though to come over and give the kids the gifts and crafts that they didn't get since they missed the party! Ash got a Beads/art kit, and Preston got a really cool car that scratches--like a DJ does with a record--it has a tiny little record on the back of the car and you can turn it and the music "scratches"...does that make sense? They got lots of other little things like mugs with baby Jesus on it, coloring things, and a craft project for them to do as their gift to us--an ornament of their hands to put on the tree. We're looking forward to doing that next week while Ash is out of school! :) The kids Played with their toys the rest of the day! They loved it! It was nice to visit for a few minutes as well.

Both kids were totally fine on the 24th so we went to the Call's for Christmas eve dinner...boy oh boy was there a LOT of food!!! We had Egg rolls, taquitos, pot stickers, 7 layer dip, Spinach & Artichoke dip, Rice, Chicken wings, veggies and ranch dip, Lil Smokies, Caramel corn, Brownies, cookies, Punch, etc.....LOTS of food!!! Thankfully, none of us really ate much during the day so dinner was a welcome sight and yummy on our tummies! :)

After dinner Gma and Gpa Call gave Ash and Preston their Christmas gifts--they got a few gifts each, but the last gifts they got were a tea set and an IKEA train set (both of which were intended to be put in the new playroom!)...and then....they got to go upstairs to the playroom in gma and gpa's house....Juli and Randy have spent hours and hours over the last month or two transforming their playroom in their new house. It looks AMAZING! I am shocked by the transformation! It feels like a little piece of heaven up there with the clouds and the tree swing, etc. It's got a little bit of everything for each kid to enjoy. I stole These pictures from Juli's blog of the transformation ....wow! I hadn't seen it at all along the way, so it was complete surprise to me as well....my emotions took over and I burst in to tears! What an amazing thing to do for my kids! What a special, wonderful gift that they will remember and enjoy for MANY years to come! I was so touched and impressed!

Unfortunately, about 20 min after we got the kids to bed on Christmas eve, Preston woke up throwing up...all over his bed...ick!! Thankfully, Nick was able to clean all that up and I took care of my sad little boy. He proceeded to puke about every 15-30 min for the next 3 hours! That was SOOO tiring! But, he stopped throwing up around 1am (but continued to dry-heave until 4am) and we finally got a little sleep!

Christmas day arrived (yay!) and the kids let us sleep until 7am. (ugh!) Then we made them wait until 8am! Preston was bouncing off the walls and seemed totally fine! (Yay!) Ash, however, seemed to have gotten a cold (waah!) Why can't our kids just be HEALTHY during Christmas!??!! We opened presents, and had French Toast for breakfast and then Nick went and took a nap since he got less sleep than I did the night before! Then we went to the Call's again (Toni and J came too!) for Christmas dinner. (My favorite) Ham, ham sauce, gma Lowe's potatoes, etc...YUM! And we played some games. By the time dinner was done it looked like Preston was coming down with a cold too! (grrr...)

Overall, we had a great time and the kids loved ALL their gifts, which was most important anyway...that THEY had a great Christmas! And they did!

Merry Christmas to you ALL.

(More pictures to come, once I download them!)

Ahhhhhhh.......
I can't wait to meet my niece Finley someday
Waah
(Isn't she sooooo cute?!?!)

ESSURE

I added a new button on the left side of my blog.

It's for a procedure called Essure. It's Permanent birth control for women. (www.essure.com)

The procedure itself has only been around since 1998! I first heard about this in 2002, had it done myself in 2007 and have been a HUGE supporter of it ever since!

If you, or someone you know feels your family is complete, then check out the website! I am also available for any questions you may have about it and if you live here in Utah, I have a GREAT, AMAZING, WONDERFUL doctor I can recommend if you want to get it done.

Anyway....check it out! :)

Santa

Did I post these? I can't find them, but I have the strangest case of Deja Vu posting them now...
We went to see Santa last week, just me and the kids since Nick had to work. I posted the picture of us all with Santa, but these we took before and after seeing him.

In line waiting for Santa--Ash was mesmerized by how tall all the displays and decorations were!

The kids in front of the "Santa Mail" drop...Preston thought it was the garbage can and promptly put his sucker wrapper in it. I had to fish it out! Probably looked like I was trying to steal the letters to Santa!
Preston and I next to the "train" display (can't really tell)

Ash and Preston in front of the "train" display---see Santa and the HUGE tree in the background?

The kids were given See's Candy suckers instead of Candy canes---YES!!! :)

After seeing Santa we went to See's for a treat and then got a pretzel from "Pretzel Time" Did you know you have to ASK for cheese sauce if you want some? (and it costs 0.79c each) It doesn't just come WITH the pretzel? Seriously, how ridiculous!

The kids and I had a lot of fun and what made it even better was it was snowing again when we left for home. ahhh...I LOVE the winter!