A Wonderful Christmas!

Well, Christmas morning came, and although the sickness wasn't totally gone, we were feeling MUCH better, which was a HUGE blessing! We really had a wonderful Christmas in every way! We were able to spend time with family, enjoy the kids, pulled off some great gift surprises, and got so many great things ourselves! Whew, but were we worn out when it was all over!

I even remembered to take pictures this year (if you will remember, by the end of the day last year, I hadn't taken any, and was quite sad about it!)

Here is Allie opening up her first gift. She went on to carry that bag around as purse all night, and had much more fun with it than the gifts that were inside! =)

We were all occupied with our gifts, and Allie felt like she'd take advantage of the situation! She is happily entertaining herself with all of the contents of mimi's wallet!

Here she is at Jannie and Smokey's with her new rocking elephant!

And, of course we can't forget little Rudolph!

Here's the whole fam on Christmas night. If we look a little rough, please remember that we were sick, going on little sleep, and on gathering #4 for the day. I'd say we were doing pretty good, all things considered!

What a wonderfully full day! Our schedule may be a bit crazy, but we're so glad to be able to spend Christmas with both our families every year! We love them all and are so blessed! Our kids were also pretty much as perfect as they could've been! So, despite the yucky sickness, we had a wonderful and blessed Christmas! I hope you did too!

An upgrade.

Well, I've now traded my spot from laying in bed all day and upgraded myself to sitting on the couch! After 4 days of being in bed, with no makeup, hair brushing, sore throat, achy, fevers of 102+, I'd say this is something to celebrate, despite the fact that's its Christmas eve and I'm STILL sick! (And for those curious, I'm flu and strep free.. just some other infection) The good news is that I only have a few more hours to go until I've been fever free for 24 hrs! Yay!

The bad news? Hubby has taken over my spot on the bed and is not quite so fever free.

So, I figure, as long as I'm not contaminating people, why let a silly thing like knife-shooting pain in my throat wreck my most favorite day of the year? I think ill just have to toughen up and push through it! Hopefully tomorrow ill be looking a little better than today!

Sick

This has been my view from my bed for the past two days now, and let me say I'm very grateful to be able to lay here and at least enjoy Christmas in the form of movies, since I'm missing out on our family Christmas festivities. Tonight, the crummy sickness is causing me to miss Christmas lights in the limo bus with my family. Being sick at christmas time just plain stinks. I am, however, immensely grateful to family who have been helping me with my kiddies. Here's to hoping I get better REALLY soon. It's just hard to enjoy your favorite time of year when you feel just plain miserable.

A Pictureless Post

Yesterday I put allie down for a nap in her adorable Christmas nightgown. The downside to this nightgown is that she apparently discovered that her diaper was easily accessible.

So, you can see where this story is headed... Yep, I find her in her crib diaperless in a puddle of pee. I should note here that we were playing with stickers before bedtime. So, there allie was naked and apparently ashamed, because instead of a fig leaf, she made do with what she had and covered herself there with a big pink flower sticker. What a sight! But I'm sure you see now why, unfortunately this had to be a pictureless post!

A Productive Day:

I've come to the realization that this is all relative. You, for instance, may complete a large project, make a gourmet meal, do spring cleaning, run loads of errands, etc. in order to consider it a productive day. What does a productive day look like for us in this stage of life?

Well, let me share. Today, I:

• Cleaned the bathrooms for the first time in about a month. (can anyone say gross?)
• Did laundry for the first time in over a week.
• Took a shower for the first time in TWO days.
• And, maybe, just maybe might be about to take a nap for the first time in what seems like a year!

Productive? I'd say so!

Disclaimer: I know that you are sitting there with all sorts of judgmental thoughts pouring through your head right now regarding my uncleanliness, but you are definitely not allowed to judge unless of course, you find yourself in this same stage of having young ones. And, if you are, and try to tell me that you've never experienced a day or two without bathing or clean clothing, well then I'd just say you are most likely one big fat liar! =)

Since angie hasn't...

I just figured I'd take this opportunity to introduce you to sweet baby Graham Luce! Now, I'm sure you've been cutting Ang some slack, thinking, well that's ok that you haven't updated your blog... you are probably overwhelmed with the newness of being a household of 5, and just trying to get sleep while you can, and blogging is the last thing on your mind... Well, don't be fooled my friends, yes, she has been busy since their homegoing, but not so much around the house. In typical Angie style, they've been out and about running errands, going to my family's and the inlaws' homes, etc. So, yes, she apparently has been too busy to introduce Graham to the blogging world, just probably not the busy you were imagining! So, I'd say it's safe to say that mom, baby, and family are adjusting quite well to being a family of 5!

Graham was born on December 10, weighing in at a respectable 6 lbs. 11 oz. While he was only a pound below his cousin at birth, I'm afraid that Pierce is at least DOUBLE his size now! YIKES! Hopefully that will not hold true throughout their lives!

Isn't he just adorable?

Sweet sisters anxiously waiting to be able to hold their precious little bro:

Well, Adrienne may not have been quite so anxious to do this as Marianna, but she definitely warmed up to the idea of it by the next day!

Aunt Rach holding this sweet bundle of joy! It's amazing, because I feel like we are really still in the newborn stage ourselves, but compared to Pierce, Graham felt like a little feather!

It's Quite the Accomplishment

To not only catch ONE kid smiling in a pic, but BOTH of them! Aren't they cute!?

Oh, dear...

Allie is all about her hair, makeup, and jewelry these days! We just bought her a play makeup, curling iron, and battery operated blow dryer set, and she has pretty much abandoned all other toys to devote her time to these the past few days. She will happily brush or dry your hair for you at any time, whether you need her to or not (brother has the bump on his little bald head to prove it...)

Hopefully we haven't created a monster... =)