I think I'm a few weeks behind this time. So... We had Andrews parents in town a few weeks ago. They got to spend a few days with Emma & Drew. One of the nights we went to my parents for dinner and to help decorate the big tree.
Shauna & Drew
YiaYia & Drew
Our finished product! (This tree is like 13 or 14 ft tall, and real!)
Last weekend Andrew and I went to the annual Holiday Metra train bar crawl with the crowd from work. (Brooke, if you're reading - I've been meaning to tell you thank you as always for your hospitality and all of the effort you put into it and the time to organize it for everyone.) We start at Brooke's for brunch, jump on the train and go to the bars along the way that are within walking distance of the train stops. It's always a good time. This year we did the first 2 stops with everyone but then we headed home... so it was a much shorter (and less crazy) experience. Last year I think we hung for close to 8 hours.
We went home after that and took the kids out to dinner.
Em & Daddy
There was a little boy across the aisle at a another table right around their age that Emma was flirting with the whole time. It was so funny to watch. She would giggle at him, and then make crazy faces.
(With her chocolate ice cream all over her face...)
My little man & I
On our way home we went by a house near our neighborhood that goes ALL out for Christmas. I mean, it puts Clark Griswold to shame. It's tacky as all hell but it's just amazing the production they go through every year to set up their property. They have a 'U' shaped driveway and they have it set up so that you can drive through. They have Christmas music playing, and tons of little scenes set up. So we drove the kids through to check it out on our way home from dinner. They loved it.
The next morning (so, last Sunday) we really didn't like the way Emma was acting - similar to the day before she was admitted to the hospital with her kidneys. So I contacted her kidney specialist and he wanted us to get her into the ER asap to have tests done. Sure enough, her white blood cell count was elevated and once they started getting more labs and test results back they did confirm it was what we thought. Thankfully we were able to catch it really quickly and it didn't impact her kidney function nearly as much as last time.
They were able to get her hooked up to an IV and get a strong antibiotic into her IV drip to target exactly what it was. Although this time was a lot harder because she knew what was coming. She fought every single thing. I don't blame her. She's terrified of that place. She had a rough couple of days, with high fevers, throwing up, etc... but is now feeling much, much better. She's still on an antibiotic. After the holidays we have some tests scheduled to determine if (and what) procedure will need to be done to avoid this from occurring.
I grabbed this little foam tree thing at Target that came with little foam sticker ornaments and stuff for the kids. I figured it was something for them to do. So they decorated their own little tree.
One of my besties from college was in town, so I ran into the city on Monday to have lunch with her and catch up for a little bit. That was a nice break and I loved being able to see her.
I'm off for a few days (Friday, the regular weekend... and then Monday & Tuesday) So maybe that will give me a chance to actually feel somewhat prepared for Christmas! In my mind I feel like I should still have weeks left.
I have a few things I want to make sure to get done over the next few days while I'm off - baking, our Christmas cards and anything else that I have left to do before Christmas. Today we did 'fake' baking... I didn't have the time, patience, or motivation to deal with the mess of doing the 'real' baking - making the dough, doing cookie cutters, icing, sprinkles, etc... which we will do at some point this week but I remembered I had gotten some of the slice 'n bake cookies to make with the kids, so we did those tonight.
Reindeer cookies. They were a pretty big hit.
We also did candycane cookies. Sugar cookies with like a peppermint bark mixed into the dough.
Well... until next time!!
I wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays and hope that everyone is lucky enough to have family, friends or loved ones to spend time with.
I'm really looking forward to this Christmas having (almost) 3 year olds, because they are SO excited this year for Santa and all of the traditions that come with the holiday season. They get excited every day to open one of the doors on their advent calendars, they love singing and dancing around to the Christmas songs, and helping with all of the baking. Reliving all of the holiday traditions through the eyes and hearts of little kids is so much fun.
So, regardless of where you are or what you celebrate, I hope all of you get to spend some quality time with loved ones during the next few weeks.
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