Blowing Rock

In mid-December, we headed up to Blowing Rock to do an early Christmas and Dad's bday celebration at their Tweetsie House. Mike & Jenn were there, too, so it was fun to spend time with them!


Jackson loves to sit beside Westie any chance he gets, and loves to lovably kiss all up on his face. Westie, on the other hand, isn't such a fan!


The only snow we could find was blown snow at Appalachian Ski Mtn. After playing in the slush for 5 minutes, we were asked to leave because we were "damaging their snow base."


Aunt Jenn & West


Jackson to rocking his new Wolfpack football jersey. He'll be able wear this one until he's 10!


As the Isaac tradition goes, the birthday boys gets wrestled to the ground and trapped under the kitchen table. In this case, its Poppy. He's the one buried until three 7-year olds and a 3 year old.


After managing to ward off his attackers, Poppy saves the day by dosing Westie up with a little cake icing.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Valley Fall Ct,Greer,United States

Family Adventures

Ben has been off work since last Friday, and doesn't go back until January 2. We are trying to be intentional about doing fun activities as a family.
Christmas Eve day, we went to Waffle House for breakfast and immediately decided that was our new Christmas Eve breakfast tradition. The kids loved it and I got off the hook for cooking both breakfast and lunch.




We have also been hitting up Lowes, Target, Costco and yes, even Walmart (on a Friday night no less) as family outings...I just didn't realize how much easier it is to run errands 2-on-2! I do admit that we spend at least 25% of our shopping time on the toys aisles when Daddy's with us, but no complaints here!












Today, we went to the Kroc Center to take the boys swimming at their really cool indoor aquatics facility. They both had a blast and swam like crazy for nearly 2 hours, followed by a picnic and indoor basketball. Too bad we don't live closer to the Kroc Center or we would definitely be members!













Lots of roadtrips -- Blowing Rock in mid-December to celebrate Poppy's 61st birthday and an early Christmas with GiGi and Poppy -- and to Conover on Christmas Day to celebrate with Bebe & PopPaw. These two love it when we put their seats side-by-side.







Lots of lazy mornings snuggling on the couch with the boys, and cherishing every minute of it!




The boys have also been working on playset additions (Ben has high-hopes of making it multi-level platforms) and have been busy digging post holes, setting posts and swinging on the new monkey bars Santa brought.
Ben also hopes to take Jackson ice skating before he goes back to work.
All of this playing and my house looks like a bunch of frat boys live here. Skimpily-stocked fridge, laundry everywhere, dust and dirt galore and 3 potties that need to be swished. But they always say there is plenty of time to catch up with the dirt & dust, so right now I am trying to live in the present and enjoy time with my 3 boys.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Christmas Crafting

Without even realizing it, I've managed to squeeze in a few Christmas projects that are worth noting.

I had signed up to help host J's class Christmas party, so I made a Pinterest-inspired fruit tree that the kids were pretty stoked about. They only issue was that the toothpicks aka mini-swords kept coming out of the tree whenever a child would take a piece of fruit. I'm sure DSS would be less than pleased with this arraignment. It was cute, however!




Secondly, I made coasters for our family & close friends using either family pictures or scrapbook papers. I purchased 3.5" tiles from Lowes, mod-podge & scrapbook paper from Hobby Lobby and printed the family pictures on my printers on plain paper and cropped them down to 3.25" squared.



So simple: cut the pictures/paper to a 3.25" square,mod-podge the tile and center picture on top of tile. Coat top of paper and edges of tile with a thin coat of mod-podge to seal. Let dry for several hours, then use a spray acrylic protector to finish them.
Once dry, cut cork squares to fit bottom of the tile, and hotglue them in place.




I typically give neighbors and close friends a box of goodies at Christmas time. This year, I was way behind the ball and could not find cute metal cookie tins anywhere. So I settled on some relatively plain-Jane ones, but added a streak of chalkboard paint across the face of the tin, which allowed me to personalize it and just step it up a notch.



As for the kids artwork, they have been doing some fridge-worth masterpieces lastly and I am definitely using their perfectly-imperfect art to help amp up the Christmas spirit.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

You can't make this stuff up!

{As I'm getting undressed to hop in the shower}
Jackson: "Mommy, your belly is getting biiiiiiiiigg. And LOOK at those big b--bies!"


{When praying before bed one night this week}
Jackson: "Thank you God for my life. Thank you God for this earth.
Thank you God for the trees. Thank you God for Weston and me.
Ahhh-Mmmeen!"


{Being silly & snuggling 3-deep with my boys at the mountain house recently}
Jackson: "Mommy, this morning, Baby West to me that Poppy's people name is Clark."


{Driving home from his class Christmas party last week}
Jackson: "Mommy, thank you for coming to my class party. I am glad you were there."
melt.my.heart.


{Runs up to me in a quiet voice}
Jackson: "Mommy, I want to tell you a secret! I love you so much, to the moon and back." And he tops it off with a sweet kiss. Man I love that little boy so much.


{Dinnertime conversation}
Jackson: "When I am 5 I will be a big boy and go to kindergarten and get married."


{Jackson, hands on hips, looking at his grits}
Jackson: "I didn't want butter in there, how did you mess that up?"


{I was feeding Jackson breakfast and he was playing with his toy phone.}
He looked at me and said, "Mommy, don't feed me when I'm texting my dad!"


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Christmas Fun

We have started getting into the Christmas spirit around here and the boys, especially Jackson, have really been into it this year. Three years old is the perfect age to get excited about the season and be old enough to enjoy the crafts, carols and stories that go along with it. And 15 months old is the perfect age to take ornaments off the tree, take baby Jesus out of our nativity and wreck havoc on my window candles :)

We kicked of the season by putting up our tree over Thanksgiving weekend. We used to go to the mountain, pick the perfect tree and have it freshly cut. Fast forward 3 years...its SO much easier (and cheaper) to go to the local produce stand and buy one. The kids still have fun running through the trees and "helping" find the perfect one so its no difference to them at this point.

Jackson was dying to decorate the tree THAT night so after Weston went down, we strung the lights and let Jackson decorate the tree.







We also put up our Jesse Tree, which we started using last year after I participated in a Jesse Tree ornament exchange. Starting December 1, we read a devotional & put a corresponding ornament on the tree each night, leading up to Jesus' birth. Each ornament symbolizes a part of Jesus' lineage and its quickly becoming one of Jackson's favorite things to do. He never lets me forget that "we need to put another decoration on the Jesus Tree".




{Last year, I participated in the ornament exchange with some friends from church. Each of us was assigned a particular day with corresponding story and symbol and made 25 identical ornaments. Then we all exchanged, leaving each of us with 25 unique ornaments and really engaging way to celebrate the true meaning of Christmas.}

Earlier this week, we attempted to make homemade ornaments using a baking soda/corn starch recipe I found online. It seemed to work well at first but once they started drying, they cracked in places. Its all good because for my kids, its more fun to actually make them then use them.




Rusty, our holiday elf, has returned for a second year. He isn't a mischievous elf like some may be, but this is largely due to his lack of movable limbs. Since he is homemade, his body & legs are cardstock so snow angels and bubble baths are out of the question. But he does enjoy relocating every night and bringing the boys the occasional surprise.







We had a neighborhood playdate earlier this week while Jackson was at Bebe's...it was refreshing to have time with just Weston and his friends. We decorated sugar cookies and the tots had a blast sampling their creations.



Weston, Anna & Emmerson are all within 6 months in age (he's the youngest by a landslide). Its fun for him to have friends his own age rather than just hang out with Jackson's buddies. Although he is the only boy of the group.



And wrapping presents, I found the only little girl I'll ever have....





Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Cutest.Card.Ever

I received my favorite Christmas card of all time yesterday from my super-creative BFF...


Better than Pinterest, no?


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Breakfast with Santa

Last Saturday morning, we attended a Breakfast with Santa hosted by the City of Greer and held at the newly opened special events center here in downtown. It was pretty nice -- comparable to the Breakfasts-with-Santas of my childhood at the club. The served a fully catered breakfast and it was refreshing not to have to stand in line forever to get a mere 30 seconds with Santa.


Jackson was so excited to see Santa and could hardly stand it as we waited our turn. He raced up to "Ho-Ho" (as he calls him) and jumped up on his lap like he was an old friend. He chatted it up and surprised us when he asked Santa for a toy airplane and a firetruck, both of which were news to us. The photographer for the newspaper was there and snapped a few pics of Jackson in all his glory so hopefully he will be in the paper this week or next :)



Weston, on the other hand, wasn't so eager to see Santa. We had to get that obligatory crying-on-Santa's-lap picture but it wasn't pretty. He already has issues with me leaving him at preschool and church nursery, so it was no surprise that he wasn't crazy about me plopping him down on a bearded strangers lap. But Westie did enjoy the breakfast that was served, and ate several pieces of sausage, hashbrowns, eggs and two powdered donuts. We got our moneys worth!!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

3-year old funnies

Jackson's been a motor-mouth these days, chatting constantly and its exhausting to remain engaged as he chatters about anything and everything that comes across his little 3-year old mind.
Some of the funnies he's recently spouted out:

We had gutter guards put on our house recently, and the hispanic fella that did that work was still up on the roof when Ben and Jackson pulled in the driveway. After listening to Ben and Guermo to chat for a few minutes, Jackson looked up at Ben and said, "He speaks good English."

When saying our prayers the other night, we were thanking God for all of our grandparents, then Uncle Mikey and Aunt Jenn, and Uncle Jon. Jackson thought for a minute as asked me, "Mommy, who is Uncle Jon's wife?"

Ben and Jackson were chatting it up in his room last week, and Ben was (randomly) telling Jackson how is boss's name was Stella. Jackson told him that he had a friend in his class at school named Stella and she has a big head.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Another Baby Boy!

We think Jackson has occasional divine prophesy, mainly because nearly 1 week before we found out we were pregnant with Baby #3, Jackson looked at me and said, "Mommy, you have a baby in your belly." I asked him if I just looked fat and he said no, he just knew there was a baby sister in there.

Fast forward several weeks when it is confirmed that yes, wer were pregnant. We told J that there was definitely a baby in my belly and he was unphased, just saying something like, "I already know that Mommy, thats my sister in your belly."

And as Christmas toy catalogs start rolling in, he picks out gifts for himself then also circles pink kitchens and doll babys for "my baby sister".

I mean really...how could you not at least buy into the innocent desires/premonition of a 3 year old? He had me convinced.

So last Monday, December 19, my hopes & dreams were crushed when the ultrasound tech confirmed that yes, indeed, we were expecting our third baby boy. I was devastated. I had let myself put my hopes in what my THREE YEAR OLD predicted. Really, Missy?

It took me several hours to process and even still, I made Ben call our of our family to share the news because I could hardly speak without losing it. My first stop after leaving the OB was over to Julie's....she was home with her 4 day old baby boy and I knew the minute I got my hands on that sweetie pea, I would realize what a wonderful gift I had been given, boy or girl, and I ached for that perspective. You know you have a dear friend when you can knock on her door, unannounced, bawling your eyes and cry on her shoulder and know she understands your pain, although she doesn't feel it herself. After talking to her for a while and snuggling baby Liam, I felt 100% better and definitely needed the reminder from her that God's plan is perfect, and if I am not intended to have any daughters, that is good and true and its okay for me to be disappointed and saddened. I just have to accept that God has created 3 precious boys for me to grow, nurture, love, raise and lead.

And despite the disappointment and momentary sadness, we are thrilled!


Now with that being said....I met a lady today who had a 5 year old daughter, twin sons and was expecting #4. Turns our her first ultrasound for her daughter looked like it was a boy b/c the umbilical cord was positioned between the baby's legs and looked like a boy part. At their follow-up scan several weeks later, they discovered that "he" was actually a "she". So this little glimmer of hope has me cautiously hopeful. I realize is highly unlikely that my ultrasound was a case of mistaken identity but I am going to ask them to triple check on Dec 18 when I go for my 20 week scan. I mean, wouldn't that make for the absolute best Christmas gift EVER??!!?


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Mom's botched procedure

As the title indicates, my mom recently had a fairly common medical procedure done and it went waaaay wrong. She had been having issues with her neck and left arm, and her doctor recommended a steroid shot into her spine, targeting the space between her bone but outside of our spinal column. Within minutes of having the injection, mom started getting dizzy and was finding it very difficult to breath. She could hear everything that was going on around her but basically, the medication had gotten injected into her spinal canal and she was given an accidental epidural from her neck down. She was essentially paralyzed.

Her lungs were paralyzed so the doctor started mouth to mouth until EMS could arrive. Apparently her heart rate never decreased, nor did her oxygen levels so that was positive. When the EMS arrived, they intubated her and put her on a ventilator immediately and rushed her up to the ER. She was on a ventilator for a few hours until her lungs recovered from the paralysis.  However, at the time, the doctors were not sure of the severity of the paralysis and were unable to definitively tell us whether or not she would ever regain use of her limbs or pulmonary functions.

Throughout this experience (before she regained consciousness), Mom had been talking to God...mourning the loss of her children, grandchildren and spouse. The mourning quickly turned to disbelief....disbelief that she was deserving of inheriting the kingdom of heaven. She felt that God was not finished with her here on earth and that she had so much left to do before it was her time. When she regained consciousness, she was overcome with emotion, bursting at the seams to share this testimonial of how she had a brush with death and how this is going to shape her future.

Dr. Liljeberg, the doctor who administered the procedure incorrectly, stopped by the ER to check on her and entered the room very remorsefully, even admitting that it was his fault this had happened and he was very sorry.

Mom was discharged from the ER that same evening and Mikey & I both had come in town to help she & Bruce. Mom was slow moving but I knew she was going to be okay when she disappointedly pointed out that the paramedics cut her new red that went so well with her Chico pants & vest.





On Friday, Mike & I went with Mom to interrogate question her doctor about the previous days events and how things may have been better handled. His story lined up with what Mom had been able to recollect, although there were still discrepancies between his transcript and what he told us actually happened, and what mom knows actually happened. He was much less forth-coming with an outright admission that he made a mistake but instead offered multiple excuses that "it could have been this", "maybe it was this" and "this is part of the risk you take".  And he was not at all concerned about her residual "cloudiness" that she was experiencing.  She felt like she was getting words mixed
up, having a slow processing time and just coudy-headed in general (sounds like my 2005 PC).

Fast forward 2 weeks: Her cloudy-headedness is improved but she is still not back to normal. She gets tired quickly and can only do about half of what she used to do in an afternoon before having to head home and rest. Her self-diagnosed spinal headache has dissipated but her left shoulder and arm are still numb and she uses them as little as possible.

We are now at the point of trying to decided where to go to seek better/more thorough/more comprehensive care. Do we stay local or go to Charlotte or Winston? And where do you start? And is Dr. Liljeberg liable for any of the damages (current, future, physical, psychological, etc) and should we expect or press them to pay the hospital charges related directly to this botched procedure? What are the long term affects of this, not just physically, but when Mom goes to buy new health insurance...will her premium spike due to this incident? Same goes for life insurance. All these questions and no answers, and not even sure who to consult with to head in the right direction.

Mom is back to being her old self, at least trying her best to be. She is coming to Greenville on Friday to spend the day & night with us and go to Breakfast with Santa on Saturday. I'm sure we will wear her hiney out in the short time she is here but we can't wait to see Bebe and for her to get back to her old self!!
.



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Table Time

Last year, I discovered a little gem of a place that is an art studio that offers toddler & preschool open art time on weekday mornings. We have not been since last spring, but I boldly decided to venture there last week with both kids. Yes, I realize I was outnumbered 2-to-1, and yes, I realize there was alot of messiness they could get into, but it was worth the risk.

Let me start by saying that Jackson loves arts & crafts. He had the best time using glue & glitter (both of which I use very sparingly in our at-home crafts), stamping with paint and pretty much engaging in all the activities that were offered. 3 1/2 is the perfect age for this type of thing.






Mischief, I mean Weston, on the other hand, had more fun running around trying to flush the potty, eat paint and generally cause destruction. That little rascal's face says it all!!









He was IN.TO.EVERYTHING. Thankfully, the sweet ladies who own the studio are super okay with inquisitive, destructive, messy toddlers and did not mind at all that he was a tornado that I was not really managing all to well.

I did let him experiment with painting, which he preferred to taste rather than create with. At the station where we blew bubbles in the paint, he slurped up the red paint then immediately pulled over the bowl of paint. Then rubbed his red hands on his head, my shirt and anything else within reach. Needless to say, we all got baths the minute we got home.




We all 3 had fun creating/eating art together but this was an excellent reminder as to why I stick to crayons, glue sticks and stickers inside at home :)



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Halloween

I realize its several weeks late, but wanted to share some pics of our neighborhood trick-or-treating. It was FINALLY cold enough for the hand-made monkey costume to get some wear so regardless of the gobbs of candy we got, I considered the night a success :)



We met up with our neighborhood friends and attempted our annual Halloween pictures:





{Jackson was being especially uncooperative for pictures}



Our crew of nearly a dozen tykes went from house to house, collecting obscene amounts of candy. Jackson & Nolan were BFFs for the evening, racing about 2 houses ahead of the rest of the kids.






Weston thought he was tough stuff walking up and down the driveways and trying to hang with the big kids. Thankfully he was still content in the stroller for the most part, though he did enjoy rifling through his candy and trying to eat it through the wrappers.



And 30 years later, the highlight of trick-or-treating is still the same: sorting through the loot at the end of the night. Ben and I had to "inspect" & confiscate the kit-kats & Reeses cups because they looked suspicious.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad