Christmas 2013

Christmas is always a hectic time for us, but there was also lots of fun to be had.

Putting the Angel on the Tree

Santa's Elf

Auntie with her favorite Christmas present, the quilt I made for her.

We made sure that Santa and his reindeer had lots of yummy treats.  Santa set me up this year though.  When we saw him at My Gym, we asked him if there was anything special we should leave out for the reindeer and wouldn't you know it, he didn't mention carrots and oats...  he said peanut butter balls!!  So of course I had to make some!  Just in case, we left plenty of all three, and the reindeer managed to eat them all just fine!  Santa had no trouble eating his cookies and drinking his almond milk either!  :-)

Leaving cookies for Santa

Leaving the magic key for Santa, and snacks for the reindeer,
including the peanut butter balls!!

Santa came!!

Jocelyn's gift to Mommy, a special "Mom" plaque

Happy girl on Christmas morning!

Merry Christmas to all!  Next up...  New Years Eve!  Don't hope for any exciting posts for that night though.  Pat and I usually can't stay awake past 10:30!  :-)

Day Two in DC

Pat and Jocelyn were in DC Monday night into Tuesday, for the White House tour, but they headed home Tuesday night and I stayed another night at the Arlington, VA hotel so I could join Uncle Steve and Uncle Clayton for another day touring Washington DC.  I'm embarrassed to admit how little I have seen of it, even though we live so close.  After two days and very much walking, I can say I've rectified that problem just a bit!

We took the Capital tour on Wednesday.  It was a very interesting tour, a close second to the White House the day before.  Our tour guide was wonderful.  It's always great to meet someone that you can tell really likes what they do and finds the subject fascinating.   He made it all so much more interesting with his enthusiasm.

The Washington Monument from the front of the Capital Building

We also checked out Union Station, the Library of Congress, the Washington Monument and the Air and Space Museum.  Yes, all in one day!  It was a crazy amount of walking, and it was SOOO cold, but the company was wonderful and the experience was worth all of it. 

The White House

I'm a little bit behind, but there's much to tell about our holidays, starting with a trip to Washington DC the week before Christmas.

Uncle Steve and Uncle Clayton came for a visit from Georgia, and brought passes for us to go on a Christmas tour of the White House.  I decided this was a pretty good reason for Jocelyn to miss a day of school.  So Pat and Jocelyn and I went down to Arlington, VA to meet them for the early morning trip into DC.

We were originally told that we wouldn't be able to take any photos, but once we got inside, they let us use our phone cameras to take all the photos we wanted!

Here's a few of the best ones.

On our way in

Bo and Sunny coming through

Wearing Uncle Clayton's hat

The East Room

The White House Gingerbread House

The White House Military Honors Christmas Tree,
 through the door and under the President's Seal

 

With Uncle Steve and Uncle Clayton

Merry Christmas from the White House!

(Not words you ever think you'll get to say!)

We found the Big Guy and had fun too!

I've been a little worried about how we would manage to visit Santa this year.  We're spoiled with the free days of previous years.  What better time to see Santa at the mall then 10:30 am on a random Tuesday?  But with Jocelyn in full day Kindergarten now, we don't have that luxury anymore.

My Gym to the rescue!!  Tonight Jocelyn and I spent a fun hour and a half playing at the My Gym Holiday Party, and who should appear, but Santa himself!!  Jocelyn always loved her classes at My Gym, so even after a busy school week and a long Friday, so still had a great time.

Surprisingly, she was actually a little shy with him this year, but he was really good with her.  He let her start out on the rocking horse.

And then he convinced her to have a chat with him 

about what she wanted for Christmas.  

Mommy is thankful there were no surprises on the list.

Jocelyn and Santa pose for Mommy.

It was such a fun night.  Merry Christmas Santa!!

Thanksgiving 2013

Happy Thanksgiving!!

The holidays are upon us.  Wow!! Where did 2013 go to???

Last week we ventured off to western PA to visit my in-laws for Thanksgiving.  Of course, the biggest reason we avoid going out there at Thanksgiving is the risk of bad weather, and wouldn't you know it, Wednesday, the day we planned to travel, there was a big storm between here and there!!  We were debating up until about 8:30 that morning whether or not we would risk it, but we did and we were glad we did.  The roads were fine and we hit very little snowfall on the way.  Now that's not to say it wasn't cold.  It was FRIGID!!!  But we made it.

Traveling with all 5 of us for a trip like that requires two cars to carry all of us and our stuff and two hotels rooms for all of us to sleep.  Not an "on-a-whim" excursion for sure!!

But despite the weather, we were so happy to finally see everyone.  It's been over a year!  My brother-in-law and his wife were there from Indiana, so it was the whole family.  My Mother-in-Law got a new house this year with some help from her kids, and we were so thrilled to finally be able to see it.  She has lived in the same mobile home that Pat grew up in, with horrible insulation, old furnace, leaking roof.  But she's on SSI, so there was no way she could afford anything on her own.  Well, now she is in a wonderful new mobile home and she is beyond happy.  She hosted Thanksgiving in her new house, and despite the fact that we completely took over her house, she couldn't have been any happier.

I am so thankful this year that my Mother-in-law is comfortable and warm in her new home, and that we could all be together for Thanksgiving.

Jocelyn was thankful to spend time with Uncle Scott and Aunt Rachel and Nemo the fish.

 

Jocelyn's Procedures

It's been a stressful few days, but it's over.   Now the waiting begins....

On Thursday Jocelyn went into John Hopkins Pediatric Gastroenterology for an Endoscopy and a Colonoscopy.  She has been dealing with belly pain for months and as any parent knows, it's been so hard to see my baby girl in pain.  But it's been a process.

After numerous conversations and visits with the Pediatrician, she decided to send Jocelyn in for bloodwork. We thought that would be really scary for Jocelyn, but she had been with me to get bloodwork a few times so she knew what that was about.  When her turn came she watched the whole process barely phased.  Little did we know that was the easy part.  I guess it's good news that the blood test results came back negative for everything - allergies, infections, Celiac, ulcers, etc.

We started to suspect that Soy was an issue because many of the complaints came after she drank a big cup of soy milk.  And sure enough, we discovered, , that after years of drinking soy milk and eating soy cheese - as the replacement for a dairy intolerance - Jocelyn has become intolerant to soy products as well.  Yippee.
So we switched her to Almond and Rice products and thought the problem was solved.  But then a few weeks later, we were STILL dealing with belly complaints.  So at that point, the Pediatrician sent us off to the Gastroenterologist.

And that is how we ended up with the procedures this past week.

It's very hard as a parent to watch your little girl go through such grown up scary stuff, but let me start by saying, I could not be more proud of Jocelyn.  For anyone that's had these procedures, the prep is not much fun.  We told her what to expect, and she just went along without complaint.  I'm not sure I would have!!

Reading and waiting...

The next morning we were off to the hospital.  We tried to avoid describing the actual procedures.  It was all about trying not to scare her.  But she was doing great!

Waiting with Stripes our new trip-to-the-hospital friend.

Lots of people came in and out of the room to talk to us, and her.  Every single one of them was great with kids, but this lady, Jessica, brought her friend Lucy the hand puppet, and together they showed Jocelyn everything that was going to happen, so she would know what to expect, and hopefully not be afraid.

Learning about blood pressure cuffs with Lucy.

We had to wait a bit for the patient procedure that was scheduled before Jocelyn's, so she watched TV, and I got more and more nervous.  Eventually it was her turn and I went with her to the OR.

Looking MUCH calmer than I felt.

I kept my brave face until she was asleep and then I fell apart.  She did amazing.  She told me that night that she was afraid when they put her to sleep "because it's not normal to take a nap in the daytime!"  But you would never have been able to tell that she was scared by looking at her at the time.

When the procedures were over an hour later, the Dr. told us that everything *looked* normal.  Which is a good thing because some of the worst possible outcomes are visible.  She took numerous biopsies and now we wait for results.  It's going to take a week to 10 days.  Guess we've waited this long...  but I just want answers so Jocelyn can stop having belly pain and get on with her little girl life.

Waking up after the procedures was probably the worst part for Jocelyn.  Not because she felt bad, but because I did not bring her lovies and she wanted them BAD!  I had made the decision to leave them at home because I didn't want to risk losing the only four "Big Heart Lovies" in the world.  BIG Mommy mistake!  So when she was ready, they sent us on our way, and she was much happier at home with lovies in hand.  Of course, my no-nap child did not nap that day, but she slept like a rock that night, and other than a sore throat, she was back to normal yesterday.

I know I've said it before, but I am so proud of this girl.  That whole experience was so scary and unknown for her, and yet, she was a brave, strong, wonderful girl through all of it.  I hope so much that we never have to put her through something like that again.  Now I just hope that something comes back from the test results, that gives us an answer, and makes all this worth it.

Mommy Volunteers!

I'm sure this comes as no surprise to anyone that I am volunteering at Jocelyn's school a bunch!

I am on the PTA, and have been since May (yes that's 3 months before she even started Kindergarten!), and I love it.  I have two jobs on the PTA.  I change out the PTA bulletin board at the front of the school.  It's the first thing everyone sees when they walk through the door!   For me it's like a giant scrapbook!

October's Bulletin Board

November's Bulletin Board

I'm also on the Teacher Appreciation Committee.  A few times a year we give luncheons, or gifts to the teachers.  It's a great way to meet the teachers and they appreciate it so much.

Jocelyn helped give out plates at the teacher luncheon

I've also been volunteering in Jocelyn's Technology Class on Thursday mornings.  Having 22 Kindergarteners trying to log in to their computers all at the same time is a challenge for one person to handle, let alone the two of us!!

Annndddd...  starting last week, I'm volunteering in Jocelyn's classroom once a week doing whatever the teacher needs help with.

And then of course, there was the Halloween Parade and Party, and the Farm field trip. 

So really, I'm sure you're not surprised!

I love being on the PTA.  It gives me something to work on with grownups, and I get to hear the school news often before other people do!

And I am so happy to be able to spend time with Jocelyn at school and she is so happy to see me each time I come in.  It's exactly like I had hoped it would be.  I get to share her day, and feel involved and spend time with her.  It's perfectly wonderful!!

Our Weekend Projects

We had a busy weekend around here.

Anyone who has ever been to our house knows we have LOTS of trees in our backyard.  During the summer this is a wonderful thing.  Lots of shade!
During the fall, it means one thing -- LEAVES -- and lots of them!!  It takes two rounds of leaf raking to manage them.  If we let them all fall before doing any raking, the entire back yard would be a foot deep, no joke.

So round one was this weekend, 14 very large leaf bags later and we found the grass, for a fleeting moment before today's windy day.

But lots of leaves also means lots of fun, with Aunty of course!

Remember the Recycling project we started a couple weeks ago?  Daddy and Jocelyn finished it this weekend.  We've decided next year we're going for a smaller project - much smaller.  But Jocelyn was pretty proud of her Princess Castle.  And yes, that is Prince Ziggy on the tower!   ...and Goldfish in the moat.

So it was a busy, but productive weekend!

The fun part was getting the castle into school!