My Christmas girls

This was on our way to our playgroup annual Christmas party (which was incredible, more on that later).  I got 2 half fake smiles, that counts for something right?  :-) These girls crack me up.

Christmas Tree Lighting!

This past weekend our town had their annual Christmas tree lighting. We absolutely love the town we live in as they have lots and lots of holiday lights up.  They line the walkways that are on the water with garland and lights and have a huge (gigantic) Christmas tree.

A very short year ago we went and had a great time with our two babies.

We were both shocked it was already time to go again. The girls were really excited!

We arrived after they lit the Christmas tree.  We thought we were being smart because last year our town Mayor talked for about 2 hours and it took forever to get to the tree lighting.  I'm guessing he got a lot of people telling him not to do that this year because when it started, they lit the tree! Oh well!

Ruthie really loves to hug a Christmas tree!

We weren't able to get a full family pic so I think I'll have to photo shop us together!

It was absolutely freezing and windy, but Ruthie was all over the playground.  This picture makes me so happy. It has taken a LOT for her to be able to go up the playground if other kids are up there.  This is a big deal folks.

Something I never thought I'd see! Hair blowing in the wind!

 Really unhappy that it was time to go home.

After seeing the big Christmas tree Ruthie really wanted to put up our tree, so we decided to go ahead and do it the next day.  She was pumped about it.  Hopefully that will be up tomorrow! I love Christmas time (and keep having to remind myself we haven't even had Thanksgiving yet).

Christmas Tree Lighting 2011

Last year we took Ruthie, dressed as a cow, (a lot can change in one year!!)
to our towns Christmas tree lighting. We had a great time and I knew I really wanted to take both girls this year.

We planned a really fun day with Grandma and Grandpa, and our awesome friends, Chelsey, Dan and Callie. The guys spent the day out fishing, and the girls had a fun playdate.

We decided to have an oyster roast and had a great dinner of oysters, clam chowder, a delicious crab chowder Chelsey made, and scallops. It was awesome.

We thought we were late for the tree lighting, and after listening to the mayor talk to 15 minutes (after the tree was supposed to light), we were glad we weren't early. I think next year, I'm going to take my squirmy toddler up and let him hold her while he thanks everyone he's ever met :-).

Anyways, once the tree was lit, Ruthie absolutely loved it. It was really nice because it wasn't as dark and Ruthie could run around. And did. she. ever.

Remember, this post. Years ago, I said I would never put my child on a leash.

It keeps proving true. Never is the magic word.

A leash was made for me in situations like this tree lighting with a baby and an 18 month old. We could hardly keep up with Ruthie running at full speed continuously. She was wild and It was hilarious.

She was beside herself when she spotted this dog.

We snagged a few family pictures and headed home. It was a great night and I love this family tradition!

Christmas Recap-Part 2

We were fortunate enough for Ruthie's Grauntie Bron and Gruncle Jeremy to come over from Boise, ID for a few days. Ruthie really loved her Gruncle, it was cute! We had a great time catching up and learning Bron's cooking tips.

She even brought over part of her starter, which she has had for years. She refers to this as the Mothership :-). I love that. We unfortunately, weren't able to fit it in our suitcase, but thankfully Judy may be able to bring some out when she comes to see us in April! Bron taught me how to make her famous biscuits, and then made us some of her delicious applesauce pancakes, all using starter from the mothership :-).

We went for walks in the snow with a bundled up baby

Unfortunately, Ruthie was still not feeling good and we had some really long nights passing her back and forth. We finally decided to find a doctor and take her in because it was so out of character for her. We found a great Doctor in town and off we went.

Side note, the doctor we found was a family practitioner. I called a pediatrician in the area who was covered by our insurance, and was told that because Ruthie was not an established patient, we could only go to the urgent care (it was a mega-practice with general, peds, ob, etc.). No, thank you, I'd prefer not to wait in an urgent care all morning in the middle of flu season plus pay twice as much bc urgent care visits are twice the price! The doctor we saw was fantastic, she was sweet, kind and caring. It was a really good experience.

Diagnosis: First ear infection!

Thought: I should have known sooner! I am thankful we took her when we did, but I felt terrible for not taking her sooner. Live and learn!

We got amoxicillin filled for her and started to get her on the mend. It was a huge relief to me. I do wish I had known (which I should have) that the amox. would upset her tummy, leading to a terrible diaper rash. Again, live and learn!

We were also lucky enough to have Jacki, Ed and Emma come up from Oregon. Jacki and I have been wanting to get the girls together (2nd cousins) and were excited to be able to. Jacki brought tutu's for the girls and thankfully Judy snapped some great photos. I have no idea where I was during these pictures. I didn't know it happened until I saw the pictures and am so thankful it did! How cute!!We continued to have a great time. The next big event was the New Year's Day party, which is an annual event now at my Mother in laws. Side note here, Judy is a fantastic party thrower. She does not get stressed, it is always a great time, the food is always delicious, her house is always open to anyone and everyone and Joel and I really want to be like that.The party was a hit of course, there was lots of great friends and family. Ruthie did well for the first 2/3, then she had enough and had a full on meltdown. We ended up having to go for a drive to try and get her to calm down! It worked, thankfully! She got upset some more, but thankfully we had the magic touch of Grandma. Which we took advantage of many times and during the long nights! Thank you so much Grandma!! You saved my sanity!

Jessica and I decided also to try and make bread again and it was a success!

As our trip started to come to an end, I decided to take Ruthie back to the doctor before we flew home just to double check she was healed since she still was not sleeping well. Thankfully her ears were clear and we didn't need to go for a follow up once we got home. After the doctor, Joel, Judy, Ruthie and I headed to Ikea to get ideas for our house. Wow, that place is awesome....and crazy. I can't believe they have a daycare at the store, but I can see how it would be great for older kids (or their parents to be able to take their time).

The day before we left, Judy, Joel, Jessica, Ruthie and I went to town to do a few errands, and then have lunch at the teriyaki place in town. On the way there, I thought I getting carsick. Oh I wish! :-).

While Joel was packing since we were flying out at 6am the next day, I was laying in the bed in a dark room. Then I lost it and the throwing up started. And went on all night. It was awful and for those of you who've had the stomach flu this season, wow. It is brutal. I couldn't hardly get of the couch. Ruthie had a rough night, so Joel and Judy were up almost the entire night also! We were a mess.

About 3AM, it was time to get up to head to the airport, and I couldn't. SO...unfortunately we missed our flight. Joel spent the morning on the phone with American Airlines (who we will NEVER fly with again).

NEVER. Never. NEVER.

In my fog, I heard things like, "This is extortion", and on and on. It wasn't good. American wouldn't cut us a break at all and when Joel told them how sick I was (in detail), the managers response was, "People fly sick all the time, thats no reason to miss a flight." Keep that in mind the next time you fly American, especially with a baby who you do not want to get sick. They do not care about spreading terrible sicknesses across the country.

With American, to change our flights to the next day, with the change fees, some other ridiculous fees and a fare change it was well over $500.

OUCH!. That doesn't include the baggage fees either!

We decided to scrap American (and not pay them another dollar) and book (cheaper) one way flights with Southwest. By about 10am, I was coming out of it and had stopped throwing up. We found a flight at 1:45 that afternoon, booked it, threw everything in bags, left the house a huge mess (So sorry!!) and took off by 10:30am. Thankfully, Jay, Judy and Jessica all rearranged their plans to exchange vehicles and get us to the airport. We really appreciated it!

Our flights home were much better, Ruthie slept the entire first flight (the long one), and played the second flight. We landed in NC at midnight, my parents (THANK YOU) met us at the airport at midnight with our car, our dog and Gigi had packed a cooler of jello and ginger ale for me and snacks for Joel. That Gigi is so thoughtful. Joel drove until about 3am to get us home and I am so thankful he did. It was so nice to be home, in our bed and most importantly Ruthie in her crib! She loves her crib. I have no idea why she can't sleep in a pack n play, but we're so thankful she can sleep in her crib! I think Home is always sweeter after you're gone for a while!

All in all, we had a few hiccups with sickness, but had a fantastic time with family and friends. It was a great Christmas/New Years with lots of fun times, good food, great games of dutch blitz, Grandma snuggling and reading. Ruthie loved it!

Christmas Recap

Our Christmas recap: It began with my family on Dec. 22-23, however, I'm going to have to snag the pictures from my parents and then do a separate post on that! Ruthie racked up there and had a great time with all her cousins.

On Christmas eve, we got up really early and headed to the airport on our way to Seattle. We were really grateful to be able to catch up with one of our favorite people and have Jeff see Ruthie.Our first flight was to Chicago, and Ruthie was angel. We arrived to Chicago with no problems and were at our gate for the second flight when they announced it would be delayed an hour. It was no big deal at all, we were just really relieved we would be leaving soon. We boarded the plane, all was good, until about 1 hour in.

Then Ruthie's ear's must've been killing her. She was miserable. Wouldn't eat, wouldn't sleep, just screamed and pulled her ears. It was pitiful and we felt completely helpless. I thought once we landed it would stop, but she screamed the entire way to Grandma's house. It was really sad.

The rest of the day she still wasn't feeling good and just wasn't herself. She wasn't able to sleep, which made for a really long night. She did not have a fever.

On Christmas morning, Ruthie racked up! She got a kitchen from Grandma and Grandpa which she absolutely loves. It sings songs, identifies objects, has a light. She can use it to stand up, its great! She received a ton of gifts from Grand-Santa, and loved them all!

That afternoon, we headed over to Great Grandma's house for a few days of fun. Ruthie was still out of sorts, not sleeping, and just not herself. My Mom radar was seriously going off, but I wrote it off to traveling, new time zone, sleeping in a pack n play, a lot going on, etc.

We were so suprised to see John and Linda had made the trip from Arizona to surprise everyone for Christmas! It was great to see them and have them meet Ruthie (even though she a little scared of John....sorry John!!) That evening we had a great time and a delicious prime rib dinner! Its a fantastic tradition ;-).
We had decided on stockings for everyone, or each person contribute to each person's stocking with small things. I thought it was a great idea, and helped on the holiday budget! There's usually an intense game of dutch blitz going on (have you tried it yet??)
The next morning, I was excited! It was bread making day! Joel's Grandma, Phyllis is famous in the family for her bread, and thusfar no one else makes it. Jessica and I decided we would learn (and remember) how to do it, so we can carry on this tradition!

We each had our own bread making stations and ingredients. (I would also like to state that thank the Lord, I got my haircut soon after this picture was taken. Thank you.)

Mixed and Let rise
then Kneaded and shaped to rise again

and Baked

Success!

Phyllis also taught me how to make jam, which is something I had been wanting to learn. She is a great teacher and while it will be tough to make bread as good as hers, I'm definitely going to give it a go and carry on the morning toast tradition.

We spent one more night there, and snagged a picture I think is so cute of Ruthie, her Daddy, Grandma and Great-Grandma.

Then we headed back to Grandma and Grandpa's house. The next few days, Joel, Jessica and Grandpa went skiing, while Grandma, Ruthie and I stayed at home. One day, we went to the Tacoma zoo. Judy and I really enjoyed it, we also enjoyed Ruthie knocked out sleeping :-)! She woke up for the last part of it, and had a so much fun with Grandma all over but especially in the big jaws!

And that is Part one!