Happy New Year!

WOW! It sure has been a while! I guess that I got all caught up in the hustle and bustle of the Season and so I haven’t been here in a while! I have been a faithful reader of those of you who post regularly…and I am very grateful for those who post because it does help break up the monotony of work!

Well, we had a wonderful Christmas and New Years! I am always so sad to see the holidays go! So much anticipation and build-up and then it seems like it is just over so fast! This year was especially nice because my Dad’s family from Oklahoma came in town for Christmas…and because Jodi stayed the whole week between Christmas and New Years! So, we had lots of fun doing things together. That certainly made the holiday week seem longer, but I was still sad to see it go! I feel that way every year!

Let’s see….I am not going to recap everything for you, but just hit the highlights! The Saturday before Christmas, I started having some female issues….pretty major ones. So, I spent most of that day in bed when I had lots of baking and such to do. At the risk of sharing too much information, I was basically hemorrhaging and in a ton of pain. After talking to the doctor-on-call, I took a pregnancy test to rule that out. Still not sure what is going on there…have been having those same problems off and on for the past 2 or 3 weeks now. I go to the doctor on Thursday. So, we had that to deal with….then Faith Anne woke up vomiting on Sunday - the Sunday before Christmas! Luckily, she only had like a 12 hour virus and no one else got it. It was not fun though…and I was so worried that we were all going to get it for Christmas! But she woke up on Christmas Eve and was all better…so Praise the Lord for that! I was on my knees in prayer all day. I know that may sound silly, but we seem to have a health issue of some sort on every holiday…so I just turned it over to God because He is the only one who can fix that!

So, anyways…Christmas Eve we were kinda back to normal. I actually spoke to my doctor and they called in a prescription for me – something like a medicinal DNC to get me cleaned out. Like I said, I am anxious to go the doctor on Thursday to try to figure out what is causing this. It isn’t normal and it is making me feel horrible.

ANYWAYS….can you tell I am a bit worried about that….Christmas Eve was wonderful. We had a great time at my parent’s house…then we went and spent a short amount of time with my Dad’s family…then we went to my Mom’s family and had a wonderful time of food, singing, laughter and presents and some more laughter! We got the kids in their pjs there and then headed home. Once the kids were in bed, “Santa” visited our house. There was a lot of stuff to do this year since the kids are spoiled rotten, but it looked so nice on Christmas morning…and the kids got everything they wanted and then some for Christmas. Isaac’s Santa gifts were a basketball hoop (the big one to go outside), a remote control helicopter and a digital camera. Faith Anne got a life-size Belle doll that dances, a complete ballerina outfit for her and a family of bears (Daddy, Mommy, Brother and two Sisters). Gracie got a doll baby, a ride-on toy and a pound puppy. Oh, they all got pound puppies. Santa figured since Faith Anne is deathly afraid of dogs still, that this would be second best to actually getting a puppy! Plus, I had Pound Puppies when I was a kid and loved them….actually, one of my close friends from high school – her step-dad’s ex-wife is the inventor of PP. So, they still receive royalties from them because he helped her start and fund the business. I think that is a neat tie to them too!

So, anyways…Santa was good to the kids. And then they also got a bunch of gifts from us…too much. I over-do it every year, but I just like buying them things. We had everything out of their boxes by noon! I LOVE that! I am anal (as if you didn’t know that already) and it drives me crazy to have toys still in their boxes….that and wrapping paper all over the floor.

Since the family from Oklahoma was in town, we didn’t have our normal Christmas morning – my family (Mom, Dad, Jodi and Jim) didn’t come over to our house for breakfast like they normally do, but Scott’s family still did. So, I missed that time with my family, but we did have a nice time with Scott’s family too. We had breakfast with all of them and did our gift exchange and then his Mom and her boyfriend left to go see his family and his Dad and his wife left to go see her family. Scott’s sisters and Brayden (my nephew) stayed with us all day. We had fun playing with all the kids toys, playing Karaoke on the PlayStation and cooking dinner. It was a relaxing and enjoyable day. They left in the evening and I took Isaac and Faith Anne over to my parent’s house to see the crew over there. We had fun playing some games and then came home. It was a nice day! I don’t think we have ever just stayed home all day on Christmas before and let the kids play with their toys. It was nice!

The rest of that week was spent shopping, playing games, seeing movies and just doing stuff with Jodi and the rest of the family. It was a fun week! Scott got a lot of stuff done around the house while the kids and I were out doing fun stuff! Not sure if that is a fair trade-off, but that is what we did! LOL

New Year’s Eve was a party at my parent’s house with my Mom’s family. That was fun, as always…but there are a lot of kids now! LOL At one point, I was joking and commented on how many kids are running around and one of my cousins said…”Well, you brought half of them! The rest of us only brought one or two!” NICE! LOL It is just funny because last year, the kids were all fine entertaining themselves with little toys or whatever. This year, they needed to be entertained…so it is just the difference in ages. Next year, they will probably all be fine by themselves again. Faith Anne and Abbey had a blast playing together. Those little girls are so stinking cute when they get together. It was a fun night of food, games, laughing and some more laughing! I always love to be with my family on holidays!!!

After all of that, it was back to reality and work! BLAH! I loved having the time off, but it was hard to come back. I missed the kids like crazy those first few days! I still do, really. But it is what it is! Isaac started back to school yesterday and Faith Anne goes today, so we will be getting back into more normal routines now…except my parents are gone for the month to Florida (they are cruising next week)…so that makes my schedule more crazy with trying to figure out who is going where and when….but it is all working out so far! Isaac starts swimming lessons tonight at the Rec Center and Faith Anne starts dance class on Saturday at the Arts Center. I am looking forward to them both getting involved in something….and they are both very excited! I hope the girls do alright while we sit and watch Isaac swim….I am a bit nervous about that. They should be fine. And if not, I will just have to walk around the pool with them to keep them occupied!

So…I tried to comment on Kelley’s journal the other day, but it wouldn’t let me (I couldn’t see the word verification that I was supposed to type, so how could I type it?). Anyways….yes, adding that third kid makes life CRAZY! BUT…..it is so much fun too! Last night…I got home with the kids at 5:30. I didn’t sit down – not once – until 9:00. There is just always something that needs to be done or somebody that needs something. It is never-ending. But, when I made a comment to Scott about it, he said…”you wouldn’t have it any other way…” and at first, I thought….”uhh….”, but then I stopped and realized that he is right. God has blessed us so much. I am thrilled to have these three little blessings to take care of. So, I am going to try to remember that when I am ready to pull my hair out!

Yesterday was the 10th anniversary of our first date….can’t believe we have been together for 10 years! More than that, I can’t believe all that He has done for us in 10 years. God is good all of the time and all of the time, God is good!!!

Love you all! Happy New Year!!!