Catch Up

So, I bet you thought I fell off the planet. Well, probably not, since the ones that read this "see" me everyday on Facebook. But, I've found that my memory sucks, and I'm glad I started this blog b/c I need it as a reference sometimes.

Here's what we've been up to...

Izzy turned 4 in July and we had her party at Chuck E Cheese.  I worried that she was too young for that, but she had a blast.  Sure, we had more adults than children at the party, but that's the way we roll.  She asks about once a week if we can go back.  That place was super crowded, but it was on a Saturday.  If we ever do go back, it will be on a weekday afternoon!

Maggie is running all over the place now.  I can't leave the room without her chasing after me... shower, laundry, bathroom, kitchen, she wants to be there.  She has finally decided that talking is a good idea and is slowly building her vocabulary.  It's not very big, but you've got to start somewhere.  She's almost 18 months old and is still waking up some nights.  We started a new bed time routine that both girls go to bed at the same time and Maggie will cry herself to sleep.  I hate it, but that's the way it goes.  She is too big to be held on the couch until she falls asleep.

Izzy started back to school in September.  This year she has 2 other girls in her class.  I took a few days off and was able to take her to school a few days.  It's nice to see her interact with the other kids (and her teachers).  She really seems to enjoy going and she's already excited to start kindergarten.  As she says, she "can't wait to be 5." 

We had Ariel and a Garden Gnome for Halloween.  This was the first year that Izzy went to more than our immediate neighbors.  She had a good time but ended up in the wagon for the last stretch.  We have a ton of candy and I don't think the girls have had any of it.

Now we start the hectic and stressful holiday season.  I actually got a good head start on my Christmas shopping this year.  Thanks to my boss actually paying my bonuses (semi) on time this year, we had some extra funds and I got to it.  Last year I had a hard time buying for Maggie b/c she was  little and we already owned every toy known to man.  This year should be a little easier for her.  She LOVES baby dolls and pretty much anything Izzy has.  So, it looks like I'm already starting the "2 of everything" shopping rule.  Similar, but different -- I'll take it.  Bigger and smaller -- I'll take it.  I probably only have a few more things to get for them and I'll be done with the girls.  I'm done with my mom.  We will be DONE by mid-December, at least I hope.

This weekend, we are going to invade Terry and Sam's new house for Terry's birthday on Saturday.  Izzy is really excited.  It's a short trip, but I'm ready to get out of here for a little bit.  I like road trips, probably b/c I don't have to drive and I can actually read a book or a magazine for a little bit.  Until then, I have to work...

Vacation

In case you didn’t know, we went on vacation. We went to Oak Island, NC and stayed in “our” house, Due South. We took our time on getting there; we drove about 7 hours on Friday and finished the trip on Saturday morning.


After taking care of the grocery shopping (Saturday evening) and a trip to Wal*Mart (Sunday morning) for fishing supplies, we were ready for fun and sun. Maggie took to the beach much better than I had expected. She was most happy sitting in my lap or between my legs right where the tide rolled in. All she needed was a shovel and a bucket full of water. Izzy spent her days running (on her tip-toes) up and down the beach and having someone walk out in the water with her.

We did take a short trip to South Port to shop at an awesome toy/candy store and look at some water. We also took a day off from the sun and sand to visit the aquarium. This is our 3rd time at that aquarium. It’s pretty much the same fish every time. I think next time we go, we’ll skip that trip.




We all slept in one room. I worried about how that would work, but it did. One of us slept with Izzy every night and Maggie started in the pack-n-play each night, but would end up in bed with one of us by the morning. She only had one rough night.

There was less card and game playing this time around. With 4 children under the age of 4, once we got them to bed we were all too tired to play cards. That’s a shame too, because I would have kicked some serious butt.

I, of course, got a great sunburn. My back is itching like crazy these days and I leave skin everywhere I go. The girls both got tanned, since I was smart enough to put sun screen on them. Luke got a small burn on his back and a pretty good one on his legs from the day they went out on a chartered fishing trip.

We were all very sad to leave at the end of the week. Izzy was very sad when we went to the beach one last time, on Friday evening. The tide was high, it was getting dark, and she was in regular clothes. No more getting in the water for her. I won’t lie; I shed a tear while packing up our suit cases. Saturday morning, we finished cleaning up the house and set home at 8:30am. After just a few stops, we were back home at 10:30pm.

It was so wonderful to spend an entire week with my family. We work all day during the week and are so busy on the weekends; we hardly get to concentrate just on the girls. We had nowhere to go, nowhere to be at any specific time. The girls got to spend time with their cousins and we got to spend some time without dogs or alarm clocks.

I’ll let the pictures tell the rest of the story…..

Will (age 9 months), Grammy, Maggie (age 1 year), Granddaddy

Henry (age 8 years), Izzy (age 3 years), Laney (age 2 years)

Think twice

If you ever receive an invitation to a party at my house, you should think twice about accepting it. 

Let's back-up to April.  Izzy had a 24-36 hour bug.  A few days later Maggie and Luke had it.  A few days later, I thought I was getting it.  I ended up with bronchitis that stayed for 3 weeks.

We had Maggie's birthday party on May 15.  Since then, everyone has been sick.  Here is a list of the people that were at the party and their illnesses.....

Me - Sinus infection, double ear infection
Luke - Sinus infection, strep throat
Izzy - Ear infection, pink eye
Maggie - Pink eye
My Mom - random, unconfirmed, symptoms
My Dad - sinus infection
Luke's Mom - bronchitis
Luke's Dad - nothing reported
Carin - was feeling bad yesterday, reports to be ok today
Terry - nothing reported
Jim, Janell, Henry - nothing reported
Nikki - sinus infection, ear infection
Brad, Laney, Will - nothing reported

Thats 8 people who got sick after the party.  So, if you want to come to our next party, whenever that may be, do so at your own risk.

A Thanksgiving Turkey

Maggie had her one year appointment today.  She is 26 pounds, 30 inches.  She's a big girl.  As big as a Thanksgiving turkey that would feed a small town.  But, she is healthy and that is really all that matters.

Today, I officially became that mom.  That mom that sends her kid to school with pinkish eyes.  The one that wants to infect the other 6 kids in her class.  We've never dealt with pink eye.  I have no idea what it looks like.  She also complains of a sore throat and has a runny nose.  Luke thinks maybe it is allergies.  I don't have allergies, so I don't know what those look like either.  Either way, I sent my daughter to school with possible pink eye.  NICE ONE! 

You know what else I did?  I signed her up for an "end-of-the-year" field trip.  Not so bad of an idea on the surface.  I found the permission slip in her bag, it was due last week.  I filled it out, got money for the fee and dropped it off at school.  This trip is for the 4-5 year old class, but all kids are invited.  So are their parents.  I was already late to work last week to take Maggie to the doctor.  I was late today, and now leaving early, for doctors appointments again.  I can't possibly take Friday off to go on this field trip.  I signed my 3 year old up to go on a field trip and I'm not going with her.  Who does that?  I wanted her to go and have fun.  But I didn't think it all the way through.  Now that I have had time to think about it, she is not going on the trip.  There is no way.  First, she is still so young.  I know the teachers will take good care of her and watch out for her, but I fear that she will wonder why everyone else has a parent with them except her.  Second, I don't know if any of the other kids in her class will be going.  She would be with a totally new group of kids, with no parent.

So far today, I'm not winning mother of the year.

Eviction Notice

On Saturday, September 13, 2008 I was home with Izzy while Luke was off at a corn-hole tournament. I had purchased and used several home tests that had all come back negative. I had one more and I used it on a whim. It came back positive and I got so excited that I dropped my cell phone and the battery went sliding across the floor. Izzy had no idea what was happening and was jumping right beside me. I went to the store and bought another test, just to be sure. When Luke got home, he was a little drunk, but I had to tell him. He ran out the next day and bought Izzy a shirt that said “Big Sister.” She wore that shirt to the Hunter house and then again to the Baker house to make our announcement. It was also my mom’s birthday. I didn’t want to steal her thunder, but what better gift could I give?

I’ve never had the opportunity to say “my water broke.” I’ve been induced twice. On May 12, 2009 we arrived at the hospital at 8:30am. Things probably got started around 9 or 9:30. I was happy it was a weekday because there would be more to watch on television. I was in labor with Izzy on a Saturday and there wasn’t much on. I don’t remember the time line of things… when they started the drugs, when they broke my water, when I got the epidural. I do remember the epidural hurting a lot worse this time, shooting pains down my back and legs, but once it was in, there was no more pain for the rest of the day. My brother got to be there this time. I think he was amazed and confused all at the same time. The Hunters and the Bakers filled the waiting room, once again. Filtering back to our room, two by two, just to see how things were going. I’m sure they kept Tim Horton’s in business that day. The fire alarm went off at some point. I announced that the baby could be born anytime between 4 and 8pm, after General Hospital but before American Idol.

They “checked” me and I was around 7 centimeters. Luke decided to visit the waiting room, perhaps get a cup of coffee, and he told everyone he would keep them posted on my progress. When he came back in the room I was at 9.5. He was gone for maybe 10 minutes. He ran back to the waiting room to let everyone know it wouldn’t be much longer. On cue, my mom showed up. So excited she was crying. They had to shoo her out of the room. SHOW TIME. As we were waiting for the doctor to get there and for them to get the room ready for our new arrival, I got really nervous. I started to panic about how Izzy was really going to handle the new baby. I started feeling bad for her because she was use to being the only child and the center of our world. But, the time had come; it was time for the baby to be evicted. I don’t think I pushed for too long, but it didn’t matter because I had the epidural! At 6:22pm, Maggie DeeAnne Hunter was born. And instantly we were a family of 4. After meeting her family, Aunt Nikki gave her her fist bath and then it was just us.

Luke wanted to stay but he needed to be home with Izzy too. I was nervous about being there the first night alone. My epidural hadn’t worn off completely and I was afraid I wouldn't be able to get to her if she needed me. She slept long enough for it to wear off and we got along quite well.

I’m sad that the day is hazy to me now. The next 6 weeks are also a bit hazy, except for that 3 day stay at Children’s for the eye infection. As per usual, I’ve taken a ton of pictures, but haven’t had time to make ONE scrap book page for Maggie; Izzy’s last page is from March 2009.

We have successfully kept 2 children alive for a year. They are wonderful and challenging and healthy and everything I ever wanted.

To see Maggie's 1 year pictures, click here.

Hey Girl Hey .....

It's been a while, but there really isn't much to report.  We are just living life and raising children. 

We had our 6th anniversary on March 27th.  It fell on a Saturday this year and we went to dinner.  The Hunters kept the kids and we went to dinner.  We picked up our children and I was blessed with a shower of hot puke from Maggie.  Yum!  She picked up the 24(ish) hour bug that Izzy had earlier in the week.  That Sunday, Maggie and Luke were both sick on the couch for most of the day.  Just before Easter (the Friday before) I thought it was my turn with the sickness.  I had a fever most of the day but rode it out b/c it would be gone by Saturday afternoon.  Well, here we are 2.5 weeks later and I'm still hacking.  I was the lucky one to get bronchitis.  It's just plain awful.  No fever to really speak of, so no real need to take off work.  Because if I'm going to take off work I'm going to keep my kids at home with me, so either way, I wouldn't be getting any rest.  I've been to the doctor twice.  This last time I got some anitbiotics, something to supress the cough during the day and some more hopped up cough medicine.  I hope I kick this soon, it's wearing me out.

Luke has been nominated and accepted into the FBI citizen's academy and is learning classified secrets.  Well, probably not.  But, he is in classes on Thrusday nights and is pretty excited about it. 

We did have Easter in there.  In an effort to spread the love, we did Easter on Saturday with my family and on Sunday with Luke's family.  On Saturday we, and by we I mean Luke and my dad, put up a swing set for the girls at my mom & dad's house.  Hopefully this will help keep Izzy busy during the summer and allow my mom to maybe sit down for a second and breathe!  The girls got more candy then they could eat in 10 years, so as good parents, we are trying to help them out.  The big hit, as always, were the bubbles!  Sadly, since I was hacking up my lungs, we didn't go to church.

Maggie also turned 11 months old on the 12th.  She has 2 bottom teeth and one top tooth and is working on 2 other top teeth right now.  She eats anything.  But, don't start her with finger food and then expect her to eat baby food from a spoon.  She won't have any of that.  Most nights, she eats what we eat for dinner.  She's getting the hang of a sippy cup and we have given up formula for plain ol' milk.  She has FINALLY learned the art of pulling herself to standing and is starting to walk around the furniture.  She is also crawling at full speed and wants to be in the kitchen all the time.

Izzy continues to do well at school.  She is starting to sound out words to figure out what letter it starts with, for the most part she does really well with that.  Now that it is nice out, she wants to play at the park all the time.  Even though we have a swing set in the back yard, she would rather go across the street to play.  Every night when we put her to bed she says "If I have a bad dream, I'll just come downstairs."  And sure enough, she will show up.  Sometimes at 2am, sometimes at 4am, and sometimes at 7am.  I can just picture what it will be like when Maggie is no longer in a crib.  They will either be in bed together or Izzy will go wake her up to come sleep in our bed.

We have a few things to look forward to in May... Terry & Sam's anniversary, mother's day, and of course Maggie's 1st birthday.  After that, we can put all of our focus into our beach trip!

2 months to go

Well, it's been a month since I've put anything new up here.  March has flown by.  We have been busy every weekend and the weeks are just as busy.  We have had a lot of Masonic stuff going on, 2 birthdays, and life in general.

The girls are doing great. 

Izzy is starting to identify more letters by the day.  She can say her ABCs but knowing what they are when they are in print is a different story.  They work on writing their names everyday in preschool and she is getting pretty good at it.  She sometimes writes her letters in reverse, meaning she will start from the far right of the letter and move to the left.  They aren't backward, just unconventional.  She can spell "mom" and "dad" and she wrote mom on the chalk board at church yesterday.  We got a letter from the preschool that they will be doing evaluations with the kids during the first week of April.  I hope she does well.  I worry about her because she is the youngest in the class.  It's a 3-4 year old class, but most of the kids will turn 4 before the year is out.  Izzy won't turn 4 until the next school year is about to start.  If she can't grasp the concept of what they are trying to get her to do (count to a certain number, name the letters in front of her) she will just quit.  But, I try to approach everything as a learning situation.  So, she has been helping find the numbers on the microwave when I use it and I have her tell me the letters she recognizes when we read books.  I know she will be fine, she just has to feel like working with the teachers on the day of the evaluations!

Maggie is now 10 months old.  She is finally crawling forward.  She would go in reverse or just pivot around until she got where she wanted to be.  She's not going super fast, but she can do it.  Her favorite thing to do is go straight for the DVDs and either push them all in or pull them all out.  I've given up on keeping them in a neat line and pulled to the front.  It's just not worth it!  She has two bottom teeth and at least one of her top teeth have broken through.  She has slept a little better the past 2 nights, but last week was rough.  These teeth are causing her a great deal of pain and she just has a hard time eating and sleeping because of it.  She is down to just 3 (or 4) bottles a day and in a few months we will take her off formula (YEA!) and start taking away her bottles all together, if she hasn't done that on her own by then.  She would rather feed herself then to have you feed her with a spoon.  She loves mac & cheese, either the baby food version or the real stuff.  She loves green beans, hates peas.  The other night we fed her beef ravioli that Izzy wouldn't eat.  She loved it!  She wouldn't let me leave her in the nursery at church yesterday, so I took her into service with me.  She actually did pretty good, charming all of the people behind us, but then she was a mama's girl all day and didn't want me to put her down.  I love those moments, but she is a HEAVY girl!

I mentioned 2 birthdays.  Mine was last Monday and Carin's is tomorrow.  I am now 22 and Carin is 24.  We are growing so fast :)  As a result of these birthdays, I have had 2 straight weekends that involved "adult time" and went to dinner and a concert one weekend and then went out to dinner and a bar this past weekend.  I had my dinner with the Hunters on the 14th and Carin and I did our joint birthday dinner at Mom & Dad's this weekend, complete with decorations that Izzy picked out.  Everyone got party hats...

Next up, CARIN'S BIRTHDAY TOMORROW and our wedding anniversary on Saturday.  But, please don't forget CARIN'S BIRTHDAY IS TOMORROW.

9 months and 6 teeth and wet beds

Oh hi.  We've been a bit busy and I haven't posted an update about Maggie turning 9 months old. 

The weather here has been crazy.  Depending on your feelings about snow, you would either love or hate the month of February here in Columbus.  Last week was a shortened week due to President's day, but then I was off again on Tuesday due to the massive amounts of snow we had on the ground.  As a result Maggie's doctor appointment got cancelled and moved to Thursday and I was out of work for another half day.  It's amazing I still have a job.  Since we moved our office, I have been late every day (except for today) or off to the doctor with a child. Here's hoping March looks a little better.

So, Maggie is now 9 months old, as of the 12th.  Where has the time gone?  We switched doctors and I feel so much better about that decision.  Our old doctor was a very nice guy, but he missed an ear infection.  How does that happen?  The new doctor is excellent and said Maggie is great.  She is 24 pounds and 29 inches.  I've been worried about the flat spot on her head since she was about 3 months old.  The old doctor, my cousin Traci, and the new doctor have all told me not to worry about it.  Since they are all in the medical profession, I will stop worrying about it.  We started giving Maggie some table food.  She loves shredded cheese and bread.  We diced up some carrots for her over the weekend and she seemed to like that too.  She now has her 2 bottom teeth and her doctor informed me that she has 4 top teeth coming in.  This is bothering her a lot.  She is not sleeping well at all.  And in turn, neither are we.  But, we will get through this.  She is trying very hard to crawl, and I would bet that it happens pretty soon.  My daydream of her and Izzy wearing the same clothes is over.  Maggie is wearing 18 month clothes.  She is a big girl!

Izzy has been out of school for most of this month.  She is not happy about this!  We thought for sure she would be going back last Thursday as the school district was only on a 2 hour delay, but then they closed.  When I broke the news to her she cried.  She misses her boys, I suppose.  She will go back tomorrow and have a delayed Valentine's party.  She had been sleeping in pull-ups since we started potty training.  She had been waking up dry.  So, we thought it was time for her to start sleeping in her regular underwear, her "big girl unders."  She did so good for a full week.  And then, I bragged.  And she wet the bed that same night.  She was very upset by it so I didn't yell at her.  We got her cleaned up and I let her sleep with us.  And then she did it the next night.  And then she went back to pull-ups.  I"m not sure, but I think maybe she just wanted an excuse to sleep with us.  So, after a week of pull-ups, I put her back in her big girl unders last night.  I even went back an hour after she went to bed to make her go again.  She had already done that on her own.  Shd didn't flush, because she didn't want to wake her baby sister, so I did see the proof that she went again.  On my second trip up to get a crying Maggie, Izzy was awake, and wet.  At 12:10am, I sent her down to sleep with us while I got Maggie back to sleep.  So, it's back to pull-ups for her.  She will get the hang of it, I know she will.  I think she is still adjusting to Maggie. 

But she is doing so good with everything else.  She loves her sister but still needs her one-on-one time.  She has a wonderful imagination and is helpful around the house when she wants to be. She is starting to identify more letters and numbers, which is GERAT!

I can't believe we will be having a birthday party for Maggie soon.  And then, we can go to the beach!  And then have a birthday party for Izzy.  Time goes by so much faster when there are kids involved.

Score Card

Incase you are keeping score....


Hospital Visits - Izzy - 0, Maggie - 2
Prescriptions - Izzy - 0, Maggie - 4 (2 for her eyes, twice on antibiotics)

One of the joys of having two children would have to be the fact that they can pass a cold around for weeks. Once we think they are over it, it comes back. Izzy complained that she wasn't feeling well on 1/26. She had a pretty bad cough along with some excellent gunk in her lungs. She would cough and cough and eventually hork up something that would cause her to think she was going to throw up. She learned to spit it out and eventually got better. Sorta. That cough shows up every now and then, but it's not too bad. No fevers, no actual puking, just a chest congestion cough.

Then Maggie decided to take the reins when we thought the cold was exiting our home. She started coughing on 1/29. The days have all run together, but I think she may have thrown up all over one of us that night. Then on Saturday, she coughed so much she threw up at least 8oz of milk and some chest gunk all over me. Twice. Repeat on Sunday. She would get so worked up crying and not be able to calm herself down she would just throw up. We changed a lot of clothes that weekend.

She didn't have a fever, just coughing and pretty much refusing to eat. Tuesday I decided I would take her to the doctor Wednesday afternoon, just to have her listened to. Tuesday night she had a fever, so I changed the plan and took her in Wednesday morning. I figured I would run her in there as early as possible then head in to work. I was just going for piece of mind that it would eventually clear up.

After the doctor listened to her lungs a few times and checked her ears and mouth, he said he could hear congestion but nothing too bad. After he timed her breathing he said she was breathing a little fast so he had the nurse take her pulse ox. The best reading they could get was 92 (out of 100) and we did 3 breathing treatments. When her last reading was 89, he decided we couldn't go home and I needed to take her to Children's hospital for a chest x-ray and possibly more breathing treatments.

They checked her oxygen levels again at the hospital and they were 97, no more breathing treatments needed. The doctor's office was using the type of monitor you would clip to the finger, but her fingers are too small to get an accurate reading. She did perfect through her x-rays which showed a possible spot of pneumonia. No big deal, just keep an eye on it. But, here is the kicker. The nurse practitioner that looked her over found an ear infection. An ear infection! Pretty common in little ones. Pretty common to the fact that her pediatrician should have found that during his exam. That explains a lot as to why she wasn't sleeping well, why she kept batting at her ear, why she wasn't eating. We were sent home with an Rx for antibiotics and wouldn't you know it, she is feeling so much better. She was so tired by the end of the day, she fell asleep in her high chair.

This morning, I found the girls a new pediatrician. He should have caught an ear infection. He should have caught her eye infection at 5 days old. She has a slightly flat head that I'm (a little overly) concerned about and now I worry that we have waited too long, on his advice, to correct it.

On top of all of this, she has finally broken through with her 2 bottom teeth. I'd love to show you a picture, but she is too busy feeling it with her tongue.

Rock & Roll all night

If Maggie could have a song lyric to describe the last few weeks of her life, it would be “I want to rock and roll all night and party everyday.” It is true that she has a crazy tongue, along the lines of Gene Simmons, but that is where the similarities should end.


This sweet, 8 month old, daughter of mine use to be a great sleeper at night. I tried very hard to always put her down when she was sleeping. I started putting her in her crib at 6 weeks. That first night she slept a full 4 hours and it felt like heaven. Before we knew it, she was sleeping until 7am when we had to wake her. Occasionally she would wake up. But it was nothing a quick diaper change didn’t fix. The past few weeks she has been waking up around 2:30am after only a few hours (4-5) in her crib. We don’t run to her immediately. Sometimes she is just rolling over or crying in her sleep. Most of the time, she is up and can’t get back to sleep. So, we go to her. We change her diaper. We walk with her. We sway with her. We rock her. She falls asleep. We lay her down and she wakes back up. And then we repeat it all over again. And eventually we feed her, because nothing else has been working. Oddly enough, she slept the best when she was sick for 2 days.

I’ve tried cereal in her last bottle of the day. I’ve tried feeding her solid food closer to bed time. We keep the same routine with her almost every night. It is so frustrating that she now won’t sleep at night. I dread night time now. I know when she wakes up it is over for one of us. No more sleeping for the parent that gets the call. Last night, my sweet Moo Bear, woke up at 12:30am. At 2:10am, after trying all other avenues, including “crying it out,” I took her down stairs. I gave her a bottle, she didn’t fall asleep. We watched General Hospital and The Biggest Loser from last week, still awake. FINALLY at 4am she fell asleep and I put her in our bed. I was too tired to try putting her in her crib and having to start all over again.

I get frustrated with her. I want to be angry because she is keeping me up. But then I think of the parents that will never hold their children again, or babies that don’t have someone to comfort them in the middle of the night. I read too much. I start to worry that maybe there is something going on with her that we don’t know about. Maybe there is something seriously wrong with her that we haven’t discovered yet. And then I remember that she is a baby that won’t take a pacifier, that hasn’t learned to sooth herself, that sometimes has a hurt belly because she hasn’t pooped in days, maybe she is hungry or needs a diaper change.

Maggie is 8 months old today. And I love her. I just wish she would sleep better. She can live out her rock-n-roll life style once she is in college.

Holiday recap

HAPPY NEW YEAR!




The Christmas and New Year festivities are behind us and now it is time to get back into the routine of our daily lives. I say boo to that! So, let’s relive the past 2 weeks briefly…

Christmas Eve got off to a rocky start with Maggie’s all-nighter, but the day did get better. I had to work part of the day and then headed to my mom and dad’s to spend some time with them since we were having dinner at Luke’s mom and dad’s that evening. In the past we have hit up both places and it is hard to do and we are always rushed, so this year we made some changes and I think it worked out well. I took a short nap in the chair with Maggie and I think we were both refreshed after that. Luke met us there and we hung out for a little while. Izzy was of course excited because Uncle Terry was there to meet us in the morning. He’s always worried that the girls won’t remember him since he lives far away, but Izzy always remembers Uncle Terry and misses him greatly when he has to go back home.

We spent Christmas Eve night with the Hunter’s. The kids each opened one toy and got their Christmas pj’s. Izzy got a Snow White doll and Maggie got some nesting bird houses. Both were perfect! It was a fun night for everyone and the kids were on Santa Watch all night. We headed home around 8 or 9 and it took no time for Izzy to fall asleep. I’ve actually considered telling her it’s Christmas Eve every day so she will go to sleep easier, but we would be poor because she would also expect gifts the next morning!

Christmas morning came and Santa had made a very special visit to our house, leaving stockings full of goodies and gifts under the tree. Izzy didn’t care much for the boxes that contained clothes, but she will appreciate them when she starts back to school this week. I think Maggie liked her first Christmas. She didn’t quite have the hang of opening her gifts, but you could see the excitement in her eyes. I found it hard to shop for Maggie. I had to find toys that we didn’t already own but were the right age range for her. I could have bought tons of stuff for Izzy, but I had to try to keep it even between them and not go broke in the process.

After we were done at our house we headed up to the Hunter side and did it all again. Izzy and Maggie cleaned up… coming home with a new toy box (which is now full!), 2 play-doh sets, a new Disney Princess play center for Mags, and lots of other cool things. Luke & I, we got new (and much needed) silverware. I know it is Christmas, not a wedding shower, but that is what we asked for. Now we have more than 5 forks and everything matches! We had planned on only staying for a few hours, but stayed until almost 2 in the afternoon. A nap for Izzy was out of the question by this point.

We headed to the Baker side around 2:30. Luke dropped us off and went home to unload the loot from Grammy and Grand Davey and grab a few things for the rest of the day. Izzy started getting a bad case of the gimmies and started asking for more presents. I had to remind her that it wasn’t all about the presents, but she is 3 after all. I helped mom get dinner on its way, Luke returned, and away we went with more gift opening. Izzy was a mad woman, trying to open everything under the tree. I saw shades of Terry, when he use to rip into gifts without checking the tag and then be the proud recipient of a nice girly item. I had to tell her to slow down, take a deep breath, and read the tag. The hit toys from Grandma and Papaw were Izzy’s vanity and Maggie’s ball popper. Luke & I received another set of silverware, and will be keeping it, as well as many other gifts. We stayed and played “Apples to Apples” until both of our children were having complete breakdowns and we packed it in for the night.

New Year’s Eve was uneventful. In light of Luke’s recent broken rib (please, never take out the trash, in dress shoes, after it has snowed ) he was drugged up on pain killers and I was drinking pre-made margaritas while we played Super Mario Bros for the Wii. We watched the ball drop, played some more Wii and went to bed. Party central!

Uncle Brad turned 30 on Sunday. Unfortunately both of their children were sick, so his big birthday trip was cancelled. I sure hope Laney and Big Will are feeling better. Sick children are no fun.

This has gone on long enough. I hope your Christmas and New Year’s celebrations were delightful. We have a lot to look forward to in 2010.

P.S. Maggie still doesn’t have any teeth. Not sure what the Christmas Eve-eve thing was all about.