Merry Christmas (ok...a day late)

Merry Christmas Everyone! We hope everyone has a blessed and safe Holiday Season!

Sorry folks, that's as good as it's going to get. Between the move and the kids, I just didn't have the patience, time, or energy to get out Christmas cards this year. So, I think I'll start writing them out for next year...that way I can send them early...like October!

We had Family Christmas on Joe's side on the 22nd and that was really nice. The food was excellent as always, although somehow my containers of meatballs got left behind...bummer.

I talked to my sister-in-law on Sunday and she mentioned that both her and my father-in-law were sick with a stomach bug...throwing up like crazy and a general feeling of yuckiness and exhaustion. I was hoping no one in our household would get it. But Monday morning about 2am Dom woke up vomiting all over the bed. Since I was nursing Mia, it was the first time Joe has ever had to do solo clean up duty when one of the kids were sick. About an hour later, Tasha woke up vomiting all over too. They both woke up feeling a little better, and we were hoping the rest of us were in the clear...but it wasn't to be. Monday night, Zack starting saying his tummy had an owie, then promptly doubled over and puked all over the living room floor. He couldn't even keep water down the poor guy. At least Dom and Tasha got to mostly sleep through their ickiness. We were basically thinking at that point, "Three down, one to go." Sure enough, about an hour later, Mia started in with the gut crunching vomiting. They both got really lethargic. I put Mia on the couch and she just sat there, which she never does. She actually fell asleep just sitting there, so we knew she wasn't feeling right. Christmas morning however, everybody seemed normal, with the exception of stuffy or runny noses on everyone. Knock on wood, Joe and I seem to be in the clear.

We've got my family gathering this Saturday, and I think we're all going to be there this year, except my brother Steve, since he's in Iraq...and my brother Tom, because his work schedule stinks. I'm looking forward to seeing my family.

On to a potential milestone...we've decided to move Dom to his own bed. So yesterday, we debunked them (and they just barely fit in the room) and put him in his after he fell asleep last night. I fully expected him to be in our bed in the middle of the night, but he slept in there until Joe started the shower at 5:30! I was shocked. I know it was only one night, but I'm hoping its an indicator that this will be an easy transition for him.

Thanks for reading!

Vehicle News

My poor van. We finally got around to getting it into the body shop. I won't see it again until at least the 4th of January! That's over two weeks away!! Now granted, I don't go out very often with the three of them because it is pretty tough, but not even having the option to go anywhere is really quite disturbing. We've not yet decided if we're going to get a rental or not. Joe is going to see about possibly carpooling to work a couple of days, so I'll have the truck. Oh yeah, that's the other vehicle news. Joe bought a truck...a big truck...a very, very big truck. It's a Ford F250 crew cab diesel...so in addition to being big, it's loud. It's quite nice, even if it is a boring grey color. It has a cap on the bed and Rhinolining, and these funny orange lights across the roof of the cab. Which I don't quite understand, but they did make it easy to find in the parking lot. I was hesitant to let him get it at first, but I figure if he's going to put in the overtime to pay for it, he can have it.

The kids are all good and are counting down the days to Christmas. I spent two hours wrapping stuff last night, and I'm still not done (I was wrapping everything, including the gifts for the extended family). I also haven't finished all the shopping yet and probably won't until after Christmas, but really, what else is new?

Mia is officially rolling over onto her side. I should say she's officially rolling over on her side intentionally, because I think she's been doing it accidently for a couple of weeks. I'll put her on her play mat, and she'll eventually roll over, then get mad because there isn't anything to look at where she rolls to. Oh well...guess she'll figure it out eventually, the other two seemed to.

Well, I guess that's it for now...time to go play Little People with the boys!

Squealing girl, boogers, and oatmeal, OH MY!

I want to update on the kids, since it's been a while since I posted any details on them.

Mia is doing beautifully. It amazes me how quickly they change when they are so little, and I love seeing it when she does new stuff. She's kind of figuring out that she has hands, and she squeals and gurgles at us all the time. She's also figured out how to roll from her back to her side. She's getting much longer, and while she's definately putting on weight, I think she's going to be like Dom and never get that chubby baby look. Because she's so tall, she's been in 3 mos. clothes for about a month already, although I wind up pinning the pants sometimes because they'll slide right off her skinny little butt if I don't.

On to Dominic. Dom currently has a fixation with picking his nose. Now, it's not like he's digging around up there all the time, but usually at least once a day, he'll come over, proudly show me his index finger and say with great joy, "Look mama, I got a booger!" I'm happy to report this is something Zack never did, but that means we've not had to break a child of this habit before. On a good note, we've discovered that if we let him go without a pull-up on, he'll go potty on the toilet every single time. Yay! Zack went through this phase too, and was potty trained shortly thereafter...another milestone almost reached!

I just had to post this picture of them in their Halloween costumes. Dom's costume was a "one size fits all" kind, and it came to within an inch of touching the ground. So he really did look like a train engine since it covered his whole body! Zack insisted on the motorcross racer costume because of the helmet mask it had. While we were trick-or-treating, however, he decided that he didn't like it, and carried it in his goody bag the whole time. It was kind of chilly out, so we only went to about a dozen houses, but they didn't care, they had fun.

Now to Zack. I'm happy to report that he has apparently decided to expand his food choices. After steadfastly refusing to eat green beans for two years, he's decided they aren't so bad. And last week, he pointed to a box of oatmeal and said he wanted some. Zack is easily the texture nut in the family. Anything white or squishy doesn't get on his plate, let alone in his mouth so I was more than a little skeptical that he would eat it. But he was insistent, so I made some up, and watched in shock as he ate the whole bowl! Hopefully this is a sign that we can start to try more veggies...I'm kind of tired of carrots, beans, corn, and broccolli all the time!

Last but not least, Tasha. She is doing pretty well in school, and really likes it. Her volleyball season just ended, so now we're into basketball. She stays overnight most Wednesdays, and starting in January we will be having her every other weekend. I think she likes having us closer, but it's an adjustment having three siblings in a smaller space.

That's it for now!

And the score is...

Snow Storm: 1
Minivan: 0

In the first good snowstorm of the year last night, I managed to spin the van out on the freeway. Mia and I were the only two in the van, and we're just fine. We do not, however, know the full extent of damage to the van, and probably won't for a few days at least. I honestly don't know what happened. It had been snowing almost all day, and there were about four inches on the ground before I hit the road at 4:00. When I left, it wasn't really snow, it was a blowing ice coming down...like little BB pellets. They hurt too. You couldn't really see the lane lines, so people were sort of driving all over, although thankfully, everyone was going fairly slowly...my speedometer didn't pass 30 the whole way home. I only saw one person spun out, and was thinking that was pretty good for as covered as the roads were..the plows hadn't been through yet.

About 20 minutes later, we were driving along fine, and the next thing I know, I'm spinning. I spun completely around and the rear passenger corner of the van hit the median. Thank God, no one behind me hit us, or got into an accident themselves. I called 911 and they said they'd get someone out to help me get turned around. I then called Joe, and wasn't on the phone with him for 30 seconds, when a sheriff's deputy pulled up. The deputy was very nice, and said they were quite busy that night with so many people sliding out. On the remainder of my way home, I saw two other vehicles on the side or in the ditch. One SUV was a good 20 feet off the road in a grassy area...can't really figure how he made it that far off the road, unless he was going really fast.

As for damage, the bumper on that side is smooshed in and scratched up, and the rear door is not sitting right in the frame. I haven't tried to open the rear door for fear that it won't shut again, but we'll be trying that this morning. We'll have to get it in to determine how much is screwed up, and with the holidays fast approaching, keep your fingers crossed that it isn't too bad.

On to family news: well, there isn't really anything new to report. The kids are all doing fine, and are really excited about the snow, and Santa's impending visit.

The neighbors are still jerks, but haven't threatened anyone lately. As I write this, Joe and I are taking glee in the fact that his snowblower just broke and he's having to shovel the drive the old-fashioned way...is that wrong? ;o)