Thursday, December 26, 2013

Christmas

Wow, that went by so quickly.  What a wonderful holiday.  We spent Christmas Eve going to Mass, and then came home and Marc's Dad, brother, and my Mom joined us for dinner.  I set the oven to go on while we were at church to warm up a ham. Well it wasn't successful and we came home to a cold oven.  So we enjoyed some appetizers and had dinner a bit later.  The kids loved playing with Marc's half brother who is 16.  As they were leaving Sara was very upset she said we needed to sing "O' Christmas Tree", she then wanted us to join hands and circle around the tree as we swayed and sang the song.  I think she saw this on Charlie Brown but it was very sweet and a wonderful way to end the night.  She may have started a new tradition. 





 
    Christmas morning, Marc and I woke up at 5am.  I turned the Christmas tree lights on and we waited... until 6:50 when Evan awoke and I told him to wake up Sara.  The kids were ecstatic to see the tree.  Evan kept searching for the Lego Marvel game he wanted, he was funny he searched his stocking and presents looking for the game.  He was getting very nervous that it didn't arrive.  Luckily it did (I had to make a last minute trip to Best Buy since this became the number one item on Friday and I hadn't bought it).  I did order one online and it still hasn't arrived from WBshop.com.  Sara loved her Sophia desk and her doll bunk beds.  We relaxed at home until around 1 and then headed to my Mom's.  The kids exchanged gifts with their cousins and Grandma gave out gifts.  Sara received a American Girl (Target version) and instantly fell in love with it.  She is very impressed with her American Doll and has dressed and redressed her all day long.  She asked if we could go to the American Doll Store and leave Evan at Grandmas today.  Since the closest store is 6 hours away this isn't happening anytime soon!
     We went to lunch today with the retired teachers aide I used to work with.  She was my savior last spring when our babysitter quit unexpectedly and over the summer during the wake and funeral.  The kids chose Applebees and we ran into the babysitter who quit on me last year.  We had a lazy day at school exploring the new toys, games, and remote control cars.  I bought Sara a very basic one and Evan a more advanced one.  The basic toddler one is the winner.  I think I ordered it over the summer from Amazon for under $10. 
    Tomorrow we head to the dentist for the kids check up.  Evans lower teeth are getting  pretty loose.  I don't think we will make it to his birthday in February without loosing his tooth.  Sara has asked to go to Viddlers an old fashioned 5 and 10 store.  We may stop at my Aunts to see her Christmas tree too.  Saturday Marc is working all day, his company was bought out and they have a mandatory meeting.  I may call Evans best friend for a play date.  He has a younger sister that is 3 and the four of them have a blast together. 

Sunday, December 22, 2013

Christmas is coming

The excitement is building at our house. Each morning we have bounced out of bed asking to open advent calendars.  Evan has a Lego City one and Sara has a playmobile princess one.  There have been no complaints about getting up for school each day.  I told my mom we need these year round.  We have also done Elf on a Shelf.  Although the kids love it, I find it stressful!  Some days they are very excited about "Gordon" the elf's activities.  Some favorites have been a naughty and nice list on the bathroom mirror, toilet papering the bathroom, a spoon under the pillow (hoping for a snow day) and mustaches and funny faces drawn on their pictures.  We have also done PNP.com and had video messages from Santa.  The advent season and the coming of Jesus has been a daily conversation at our home. 



     The lists for Santa continue to grow by the day.  This week our number one item by Evan changed dramatically.  I ordered on online but am afraid it won't arrive in time, so Sara and I headed to the busy big mall at 8:30 this morning.  We were fortunate and didn't wait in line. 
     Sara has been busy playing with her dolls the past few months, our doll is named baby, and goes everywhere with us.  She has been referring to her as my daughter the past few weeks.  Evan is often the dad and when they argue she is in tears because he won't be the dad anymore. 
     I am determined to find some new foods for Evan this week, and am very frustrated by his limited diet.  He does eat good foods out of each food group but they are repetitive.  Tonight we had roast beef, mashed potatoes and gravy, and broccoli.  It sounds great right but ... we have this at least once a week.  It is the one meal he will ask for seconds with.  Other than beef, he eats pizza minus the cheese, chicken noodle soup, chicken fingers, turkey (real turkey not lunchmeat), chicken (grilled or rotisserie ), and bacon.  He will eat corn, peas, and broccoli, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, grapes and sometimes oranges.  His diet also includes noodles with butter and rice.  He eats cookies, crackers, chips, and some chocolate.  We gave up on apples after he had the stomach flu in the fall.  He won't eat eggs, cheese, or anything he deems as sticky or messy.  He won't even eat a fruit snack or gummy since it might be sticky.   He still insists on having a wet washcloth close by to wipe his fingers.  His lunch at school is even worse, raspberries or blackberries with a small amount of sugar to dip them in (they are often sour this time of year, and expensive), Italian bread from Tops (without anything on it), and some chips/Doritos.  I know its terrible but he refuses everything else and will go hungry.  Last year he would do a half of fluff and peanut butter or a smore made with fluff and nutella on a graham cracker.  The pickiness is not improving.   Bribes, threats, holding food back does not work, he just refuses and becomes miserable from not eating.  So we continue to eat our limited diet.  At times I think its OCD but he will get his hands dirty outside or painting at school.  He just likes to be neat and tidy all the time. 
    He is not neat and tidy with his toys.  We can find legos in every room of our home.  Sara is not so fussy.  Lately she has refused all cooked vegetables.  She will eat tons of raw vegetables so I am not going to battle her at this time.  She will taste anything Marc eats.  She eats shrimp, crab, chili, any fruit even pomegranates.  Sara will drink milk, have milk in her cereal, but has not been eating cheeses like she did as a toddler.  Hopefully we can make some small progress over the next few weeks. 
    Evan is reading everything these days.  He is constantly trying to sound out words and spell them.  It is so fun to see how quickly they do this.  He won the coloring contest in Kindergarten for his Thanksgiving book. 
    We have had observations days at dance and you can see Sara with her best friend from prek Abby.  Also a video of some ballet.