Jinxed

Well, I have learned my lesson - no month will ever be declared "boring" again! Last Thursday at 6am I woke up with a sharp pain my my back. I thought it was just a failure to evenly distribute my pregnancy weight while sleeping, so I told Chris not to worry as he headed off to catch his bus to work. About 20 minutes later, though, it was clear that I was not going to be fine, and my self-diagnosis was the dreaded kidney stone. I had one when I was pregnant with McKenzie, so I recognized the pain, the throwing up, and my whining like a little kid. Despite recognizing what it was, it still took all day Thursday in the ER, and then all day Friday admitted to the hospital, before the urologist agreed to surgery to remove the stone. (It was not showing up on an ultrasound and they'd rather a pregnant woman languish on heavy narcotics then have an x-ray...)

Anyways, my own grumbling aside, the saddest part was having my kiddos come visit me before my surgery. Kenzie brought me this picture she'd colored. (Top says: "To Mommy From McKenzie." Bottom says, "To Mommy I love you I'm sore [sorry] that you have a kidney stone.") She looked so worried seeing me hooked up to an IV, oxygen, heart rate monitors and who knows what else. Of course I tried to reassure her, but it still was obviously concerning for her.

My little guy was very concerned as well. Even this morning he still told me, "I miss you at hospital!" He got to ride in my bed with me as they wheeled me to surgery, so he did think that was fun ("I have fun in the bed!"), and he also got to ride in the wheelchair with me as I was discharged on Saturday and push the button for the elevator. He was very proud of himself for that. He's still worn out from the ordeal, though, and has gone back to napping during the day. I've just been puttering around very, very slowly. We have some great neighbors around here who have taken Kenzie to school and even brought us dinner a few times, and of course we really owe my in-laws for watching the kids all day while Chris sat by my side in the ER. (Some date! We spent all day together and I remember only a little of it!) Anyways I have an appointment on Monday to have the stent removed, so cross your fingers I will start feeling better after that!

January Sure is Boring!

I have not had anything to post about all month! So here's a random selection of recent things:It's cold in the basement. I did take a lot of "before" pictures as we slowly begin finishing the basement, but since there are no "after" pictures yet, there won't be a post on that for quite some time.

I love that in family pictures, Kenzie draws Parker as the tiny baby and Allison is closer to her size. The other day she looked at my growing belly and told me, "You just look like a real mom now!" It was better than calling me fat so I just thanked her!

One of my many sweet notes that come daily from McKenzie. Although I did really like the one where instead of Mommy I was "Tefne." I taped that one in my journal.

Here are the goofballs themselves, growing up some more. Each has been going through a growth spurt; I haven't had time to update the blog because we're always in the kitchen for snacktime!

Using the coffee table as the basis for a fort. I was sad I cut Kenzie's face off in the picture, but in my defense, it's increasingly difficult for me to get under a coffee table! And there you have it, January in a nutshell. When's Spring?

Arnold Family Christmas

My three favorite people, getting ready to head to Grandma and Grandpa Arnold's for more presents!

Torry and Wes trying out the lock-picking set I got for Geeb. It's only illegal in some states, by the way.

Every year there's a horrible gift my mother finds and calls it the "Mother-in-law" gift. This year it was a book about pee. Hayden always is amused by the gift of the year.

Kenzie getting ready for brunch.

Parker ate two croissants and quite a bit of hot chocolate. For my picky eater, this was quite impressive.

Megan, Camille, and Kenzie hanging out by the present pile, waiting for their turn...

...Kenzie's gift was a Barbie horse!

Parker loves Buzz Lightyear, and now has a Buzz and a spaceship.

Brilee and Lacie are arguably a little old for footie pajamas, but it was kind of funny. This family is not normal by any means, anyways. (Insert joke here about why I fit in so well.)

The rest of the day was spent snacking on various cheeses and treats. A great Christmas as always! Such a bummer to have to wait a whole year to do it again...

Christmas Morning

Christmas morning!! Kenzie headed straight for the presents when she woke up at 8:15, but she did wait patiently for her little brother to wake up a few minutes later. Parker surveyed the living room with new presents and said, "Look! A mess!" We loved that.This was the most enjoyable Christmas so far with these two - both could open presents on their own (although we did have to keep reminding Kenzie to slow down or she'd be done long before Parker) and were thrilled about everything they got.

Case in point - this was the face Kenzie made for every single thing she opened. Here she's showing off her new Ariel lip gloss.

Here's Parker's face. Pure cheese.

Snuggling with their new pillow pets.

One happy girl with her haul.

One very happy little man.

Parker loves Blue's Clues, especially Periwinkle the kitty. Santa brought him a stuffed Periwinkle, and I loved his reaction. Kenzie has wanted the orange Zhu Zhu pet, Nugget, for a long time, too.

One last video, because I loved Parker's reaction to his panda pillow pet. Somehow he guessed it as he was about to open it, too. That is pretty amazing to us.

Christmas Eve

Parker was my kitchen buddy on Christmas Eve and helped roll out the dough for breakfast. He was very excited for Christmas this year, and understood more than last year.

Grandma and Grandpa Arnold joined us for dinner. I didn't think to take a picture until everyone was mostly done, but we had bacon-wrapped pork loin, au gratin potatoes, brioche rolls, roasted cauliflower and brussels sprouts, and several bottles of sparkling cider.

Parker showing off his new sword.

We let the kiddos exchange a present from each other - Kenzie picked out Parker a set of cars with Nick Jr. characters on them - he was very happy.

Parker helped pick out a Sleeping Beauty for the tub for Kenzie - she was happy, but when she realized the hair and dress change color in the water, then she was really happy!

Still with chocolate ice cream cake all over her face, here's Kenzie putting out some vanilla-dipped Oreos for Santa, along with the note she wrote in school. I wasn't allowed to open it, but Kenzie told me she asked again for a Rapunzel Barbie. Both kids were exhausted and had no trouble going to sleep despite their excitement!

Kindergarten Christmas Program

Here's Kenzie entering the room for her class program tonight. She was so excited to sing a few songs, say her line, and give her Daddy the present she was carrying (calendars they numbered and colored).

I was behind the piano (Kenzie volunteered me for the job!), so I was glad Chris was able to take pictures so I could see how cute the kids were. I got to practice several times a week with the kids recently, and it was always quite entertaining.

And here's an excerpt from their song, "The 12 Days of Winter". Tomorrow is Kenzie's last day of school before Christmas Break! I know I'm ready for a break from school, too!

Holiday Lights Again

Apparently it has become a tradition for us to drive through the lights at Thanksgiving Point each Christmas. We did go the past two years, and McKenzie was not about to let us forget this year. So tonight we headed out...

...but not without bringing a few friends along. I thought it was cute how her teddies were buckled in!

Parker said his panda wanted to see the lights, and his Gingkee (blanket) too. We can't go anywhere without either! Parker did fall asleep on the way there, but he didn't mind being woken up to see lights.

I thought these looked funky, so I took a picture. While I had the window rolled down, I could hear the sprinklers going and realized they were made of ice. Kind of different I guess. And there you have it - I think we are officially ready for Christmas in our house! Only one week to go!