It's Starting!

The holiday hustle that is! I love the holidays. It really redeems the first cold months for our family because we are truly spring and summer folks around here. We hosted a pre-Thanksgiving here for my dad, step-mom, brother, and sister-in-law this past weekend. We always set aside this weekend as a time to get together with my dad as it gets really busy to see three sets of grandparents and still have some family time during Christmas. I was happy this year when they suggested having dinner in Nashville because it meant one less travel for the boys, and I love to cook. It worked out especially well this year because had it been anywhere else, I don't think we could have made it due to Micah's pneumonia. He is doing much better by the way. He still has a little rattle, but his cough is mostly productive. Our weekend was full of fun. We went to ICE on Friday night. For the record, I would not highly recommend it. Seriously, as if it weren't cold enough outside, let's go walk through a few rooms at 6 degrees filled with ice. They did give us some great blue parkas to wear at least. I don't want to sound ungrateful. The ice was gorgeous, and my sister-in-law works for Opryland and so was able to get us tickets. I just don't think I will do it again anytime soon. Owen actually loved the ice (but he also loved wearing his parka, hat, and mittens. He was mesmerized by all the colors and laughed and pointed until we sent him down the ice slide. He went flying in his slick parka and got very scared. Micah hated the whole thing. He didn't want to wear the coat and was freezing. At least cold moist air is really very good for Micah's cough. I finally convinced him to have a seat in the stroller with a big blanket and a sucker. When we left, we headed to dinner at the Rainforest cafe. Both boys thankfully loved that. The animals and waterfalls kept them entertained while we ate a yummy dinner. Saturday, Matt spent the day with the boys (great for all of them since he has worked the past two weekends), and I cooked a ham (the first big piece of meat I have attempted) , corn pudding, green beans with shallots and bacon balsamic dressing, cranberry-orange marmalade, maple sweet potatoes, a streusel topped pumpkin pie and a chess pie for dessert. It was a wonderful night of great food and company. The boys had fun spending time with their family. I didn't capture too many pictures, but I did get one cute one of Aunt Jessica with the boys.

Some Funny Quotes

Micah said "this jacket is 18 months. It is Owen Knox Morrison's"
-Micah love to look at what size everyones clothes are. He will often ask if my shirt is 28 T. Oh, and the reason the above quote is funny is that Knox is Micah's middle name, not Owen's!

Owen was looking very interested today as Micah was going potty before nap time. I asked if he wanted to try and got out the potty seat. He was loving pretending to be a big boy until Micah said in a very distressed voice: "I don't want Owen to go potty like a girl!"

Micah told me he wanted to have six more brothers today so that we would have 10 people in our family. I guess we better get busy! Maybe we could have just one sister ;) ?

Owen is typically very polite, responding "tank tu" after I give him something or do something for him. Today I was closing some tops on a toy for him to open and he kept saying "tank tu gum." I was confused until I realized he was saying "thank you, you're welcome!" I thought that was pretty cute.

A Few More

Jamie, Sam, and Riley left Thursday for the long trip back to Pennsylvania. We were so glad to have them and made so many memories while they were here. I can't believe they were here for three weeks as the time flew by (one of the hopes of the trip for Jamie: to get through a month without Drew quickly). Hopefully, she can brave the long drive again in the Spring so that they can come back. I thought I would post a couple more pictures from their time here.




We got out the neat sheet and let Micah and Sam paint some Christmas ornaments for a craft one day. They did a really good job. Unfortunately, with all the paints in plain view, Owen and Riley grew quite bored with their crayons.
Some afternoons Matt would go get Riley from his nap. He would often fall back asleep on the couch while snuggling with his Uncle Matt. It was adorable. Riley is the most loving little boy and loves lots of big hugs and cuddles. Matt loved spending time with this sweet boy.

Fun with Friends

Some pictures of the fun we are having with our friends.




Riley is talking on his remote control, ie, phone while Owen is watching some Veggie Tales before night night.
Here, Owen is pointing out the "whoa! biiiiiig cucks" on Riley's pj's. These boys have been good buddies aside from the "no! mine!" about the trucks. They both have a fascination this year with all trucks. Jamie and I have been doing some Christmas shopping, and Target has some pretty cute wooden trucks in their dollar spot that will make great stocking stuffers.
Matt's "horsey" is getting a workout with four babies who all want to ride. The kids always look forward to when Dada gets home. He plays with them to try to give us Mamas a break.
On our rainy days, Matt tried to give the kids a workout to burn off some energy. They would fist line up on the stairs and do some claps and shouts before they would take off on the obstacle course around the downstairs. They all had a lot of fun following all the silly directions like touching the door knob five times and then bunny hopping around the den.

Sick Boy and New Toy

We are experiencing another first with Micah: pneumonia. He woke Monday night, after going to bed healthy as can be, with croup. It was exactly how they describe it in the books, a seal barking cough. He was really upset because he was having such a hard time breathing. We stuck his head in the freezer and then steamed up the bathroom with the shower. The next day we went to Target to purchase his new night night friend: a Crane penguin humidifier. He woke the next morning seeming okay. He woke up again Wednesday night screaming and then again Thursday night. Finally on Friday I was contemplating taking him to the doctor because of the obvious pain he was in the nights before. I asked Jamie to come listen to his chest and she said she would take him if he were her child. I am so thankful she told me to go because it seems we caught it really early. We loaded up the Expedition, (Matt's dad has been kind enough to switch cars with us so we can all ride together) dropped the Costellos at the mall, and took a visit to the doctor. He was glad we came in because he heard a rattle in Micah's lung and prescribed an antibiotic to treat his mild pneumonia. So far the cough seems to be the same, and I still hear the rattling. I am praying it will resolve soon. We gave Micah one of his Christmas presents early so he could have a distraction. It is a text messenger that is also a planner and calculator, etc. He loves pushing all the buttons, syncing it with his watch, and plugging phone numbers in.

Get Candy, Get Candy, Get Candy!

Halloween evening began with our Friday night tradition: cheese dip and fajitas at Las Palmas Mexican Restaurant. Afterwards, the children were happy to get into costumes to go after dessert! Owen was some sort of crazy black cat that Jamie brought for us, Micah was a homemade calculator, and Riley and Sam were matching monkeys. Sam had to have her banana in her hand because "it will be so cute, mommy!" At the first house, Owen popped out of his wagon, went up to the house, held out his bucket, received his candy, asked me to open his lollipop, got back in the wagon, and ate it for the next 45 minutes. It was hilarious because it really seemed like he had been listening to us explain what we were going to do to the other kids. Apparently he understood too even though I don't think he has ever heard the word candy. He loved his costume, especially the fact that it had a hat. Micah asked if he could put his calculator on again the next night and get more candy! Sam and Riley had a blast riding in the push car of Owen's. I was only able to snap a few shots because they were all moving so fast.