Our list of goodies made by my family this season (and only my family, not my sisters’):
sugar cookies
spice cookies
oatmeal raisin craisin cookies
chocolate covered pretzels
fresh pumpkin pie
buttermilk chess pie
cherry cheese danishes
peanut brittle
toffee
tiger butter
peanut butter rocky road
toffee chex
peppermint patty cookies

Still on the list:
peanut butter fudge
candy cane shortbread
almond joys
peppermint brownies
peanut butter rice krispie treats

And this isn’t counting the store bought yummies:
chocolate covered cherries
advent calendars
heath bars
shortbread cookies
chocolate oranges
20+ pounds of imported chocolates & gummis my mom flew back
2lbs of fruit salad gummis from emily

Someone asks for a cookie. I responded they’ve already had two and three is too many (especially since we’ve not had lunch yet!) The response? “Two not too many. One hundred is too many!”

“Handpuffers.” Want to guess what those are? Think “Buppalos”
Handcuffs.

Critter also has pink eye now.

Moira has been not herself lately - fussy, clingy, cranky, weepy, throwing temper tantrums. She’s been stuffy and congested, too, but over the stomach virus she had a week ago. Then this afternoon I notice her eyes are goopy and we call her pediatrician. They ask us to bring her in to make sure she has no ear infections and I had no idea there was a connection.

Yep, Moira has a double ear infection and pink eye. Gee, wonder why she was so unhappy?? I feel terrible, this poor kid has been suffering in silence. Okay, relative silence because she’s been screeching a lot but I didn’t think she was in pain. She never lets us know what’s wrong and really, how could she tell us other than just acting out of sorts? She was pulling on her ear Sunday and I wondered about it but she never ran a fever and stopped touching her ear so I didn’t think about it again. I need to figure out how to read this child better!

New photos up from Christmas & from Bennett’s escapades that are non-stop and ever more scary.

All the family is heading home and things are getting back to “normal” for us.

Well, Christmas Eve was great but Christmas Day we woke up to discover a whole new batch of family had caught the virus and were out of commission. I took the older kids to Christmas Day dinner and Kit stayed home with Bennett and then after dinner another crop of people got sick! So we’ve spent the last couple days recovering and napping.

All the kids are now healthy at least and Bennett is starting to cruise, giving us new heart attacks. He’ll pull to a standing position on something then let go with one hand and reach for something else.

We’re hoping for a peaceful and quiet and healthy new year!

Happy Christmas Eve! We didn’t have to postpone because everyone was healthy. We started our day by picking Jenny up at the airport at 2am (delayed flight) but it was okay because Becky (Jenny’s friend that flew in for the weekend) and Emily (my littlest sister) were with me and we spent hours talking and I think I stayed up later than I have in years, not counting nights with sick kids. It was fun!

But anyway, we woke up and made cherry cheese danish loaves, then headed to Tammy’s place while Dad, Cesar, Jenny & Becky went shooting. We wrapped presents and made a ridiculous amount of candy & Rebecca (my sister, not to be confused with Becky who is now an adopted sister) and Tom & Allegria came up from Fort Worth and much madness and candy and joyfulness ensued.

Then I came home and passed out while all three kids napped. We headed back down for dinner and more goodies and we exchanged presents with family. Mom flew back from her trip to Germany with 100+ pounds of candy & chocolate and cookies & I’m only slightly exaggerating. So Jenny, Rebecca, Emily and I sat in the nursery dividing it up while the Dads attempted to distract the kids - since the nursery has glass french doors and they could see what was happening - and I think all the husbands were laughing at their crazy wives and the candy stash.

We headed home at bedtime but our kids were wired and we decided to uphold the Thaden family tradition of opening presents on Christmas Eve (which I think is a cross between the German ancestry and farmer schedules.) Kit read the kids some of the Christmas story while I put everything under the tree then we rang jingle bells and they came out and it was so cute seeing their reactions. Christopher ripped through everything willy-nilly, flinging presents aside to reach the next one. Moira meticulously unwrapped presents and then played with each one before moving on - she had presents left unwrapped over an hour later!

We started getting them ready for bed around 10pm and after family prayer Christopher announced, “My felt the Holy Spirit. My was so quiet, my hear him.” It was so sweet!

We hope your holidays were filled with as much peace & joy & candy & love as ours!

In the Thaden & Pierce household. Christopher just caught the bug and between Mo’s slow recovery (she started getting sick again last night) and Kit & Bennett’s cold and now Christopher… we’re just not thinking they’re ready to celebrate. We decided to push everything back 24 hours and pray they are all better. So Sunday evening we’ll do our Christmas Eve celebration and dinner with yummy bratwurst and Monday morning we’ll open presents and Monday evening we’ll do our Christmas Dinner.

But hey, we’re all home together and what more could we ask for? This is still better than last year’s madness (of course, I’m not sick so that’s easy for me to say) and this shall pass.

We hope your holidays are healthier than ours!

We had a couple hairy days but everyone seems on the mend. Moira came into my room as I was changing for a meeting Tuesday night and with no warning threw up in the laundry basket. She spent the next 24 hours whimpering and sad and unable to keep anything down. She was exhausted so she wouldn’t even lift her head, she was just laying on her pillow being sick. She was too worn out to even try speaking so she was signing to us that she needed juice or was cold or after being sick she would sign “All done!” It was heartbreaking. Thankfully it appears to have been a 24 hour virus because Weds night she came bouncing out of her room at 11pm bright eyed and bushy tailed and ready to play.

Bennett’s been ridiculously congested but seems better, too. He’s been unable to sleep laying down so he’s either on our chests or in his swing and he’s struggling to eat and cranky PLUS those four teeth are still pushing in so he’s been miserable.

Christopher was up and down all Tuesday night because he’s not use to sleeping alone. We set up Moira in the study on a different bed and he kept coming out telling us he was lonely and needed someone to sleep in his room! This morning, after his second night minus Mo, he comes racing out at 7am and yells, “I slept alone in my room ALL NIGHT!” He was so proud of himself. If not apparent, Christopher is an extrovert in every sense of the word. He wants people around, all the time. He gets his energy from interacting with others and talking and sharing everything. His greatest consequence for doing something not allowed is to be put in his room alone. Funny seeing how different the kids’ temperaments are.

We’re hoping everyone is well by the weekend so we can see some family coming into town for the holidays.

Okay, I’ve decided it’s not an ear infection because his fever went away and never went over 100.0 F so now we think it’s teething combined with congestion so he’s breathing harder and we aren’t taking him in because he’s acting fine. Hooray! Nurse said call back if he’s acting cranky but she said we’ve got it under control. That’s validating.

Moira, however, is weepy and clingy and insists on being held and rocked and currently I’m trying to see around her head because she won’t get out of my lap.

Despite this, I’m thankful every single day to have my three relatively healthy and generally happy children home for this Christmas season AND I’m not on bed rest so really I couldn’t ask for more. Kit could use some sleep, though, since he was up all night rocking Bennett (who couldn’t sleep laying down and was angry at his swing) and trying to get Moira to stay in bed and trying to console Christopher (who was deeply upset that Moira kept leaving him because he didn’t want to sleep alone.) Poor Kit got no sleep and I had no idea because he let me sleep through all of it. I’m a very, very lucky woman.

Bennett is sick. He’s been congested for most of the week but we’ve all had allergies. However, this morning he woke up with a low grade temp (100.0 F) so we called Tiny Tots and we have to take him in tomorrow. Mostly he’s just really, really sad and weepy and clingy and pulling on his ears and very slimey. I’m guessing the allergies & congestion caused an ear infection BUT the part of me living with post traumatic stress from July thought RSV so I did some more research…

So, come join me on the paranoia-inducing journey into scary medical information:

“Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) infection is caused by a virus. The virus can enter into the body through the nose, eyes, or mouth. RSV attaches itself to the upper portion of the respiratory tract, including the nose, mouth, throat, pharynx or larynx. RSV can then move to the lower respiratory tract, the lungs. RSV is highly contagious. The virus can be spread through physical contact such as touching, kissing, or any close contact with an infected individual. When infected individuals cough or sneeze, RSV can be emitted and travel in the air to infect other individuals as they breathe in the same air. The virus can also land on objects such as tables, toys, or drinking cups or glasses. RSV can then enter your body through your eyes, nose and mouth after you touch or use those objects. Unfortunately, RSV can live from 4 to 7 hours on a surface.”

“Viral shedding in nasal secretions continues for 6-21 days after development of symptoms. The incubation period is 2-5 days.”

Gee, isn’t that lovely? It’s not just passed through contact, but also through the AIR! And it can be passed for up to 3 WEEKS after you feel better. Makes me not want to leave the house until April.

NOT that Bennett has RSV, but it’s what we currently live in fear of and hope to not ever face again.

However, we checked his oxygen saturation (and I’ve decided to never give back this monitor because I love it) and he’s actually satting 99 (and I’m only satting 95) so he’s good.

Moira lined up all eight IKEA toy trains and was trying to drag them across the carpet in the living room, down the tile floor hallway, into the study. Bennett, of course entranced, was chasing her. She’s frantically trying to keep the train cars together and he’s gaining on her and she’s yelling, “No, baby, no!” as they race down the hall. She beat him to the study but Bennett didn’t give up - he kept following. Every few stretches he would pause and rest on one arm and I could see his little chest heaving as he panted and tried to catch his breath, then he would keep going. I was so proud of his persistence! Even if it was making his sister nuts, I couldn’t believe how hard he kept trying and it made me sad to see how he was struggling to crawl that far (it was probably 15 feet) but as always, I’m amazed at his strength.

Moira, too, shows such determination and creativity as she deals with the Apraxia. We’re starting her back in nursery on Sundays and I stayed that first day to translate because she was signing to her teachers and they had no idea what she was saying. They’ve asked me to show them the signs she’ll use and we’ll bring her book of picture cards to help her communicate. She’s doing a great job between verbalizing, signing, and charades! I adore her dramatic facial expressions, they always crack us up. She just keeps trying.

Christopher is being ridiculously cute as always. He was asking Kit about skinning buffalos with sharp rocks (no idea how they got on that topic) and he pronounces it “Bubbalos.” He’s spelling everything he sees which means soon we cannot spell words to try and hide things from him. He’s an enormous help with both kids and I often find him trying to sign or use the picture book with Moira to help her tell us what she needs. The downside being sometime he’ll hand her something and say, “Go tell Mommy you want this!” when it’s not easy to accomplish, like swinging when it’s 20 degrees outside or a bath when I’m feeding Bennett. Luckily we didn’t put any pictures of candy or cookies in the book!

Bennett has decided to put on some weight! He gained a pound since his last visit to Tiny Tots, putting him at a whopping 13lbs 13ozs and we are thrilled. We’ve stopped two of his meds, leaving him with just breathing treatments, vitamins & zyrtec for allergies (like Christopher) AND they don’t need to see him again until his BIRTHDAY!! This is the longest he’s ever gone without doctor’s visits and we are couldn’t ask for a better Christmas present. His PNP said, “Well, he’s growing up into a big healthy boy!” I wanted to cry, I was so happy to hear that. He’ll see an eye doctor and dentist in January for early check ups and he’ll still get his Synagis shot but most of those are just because of his birthday. He’ll be ONE! Amazing, but really I don’t consider him one year until May.

We dropped off Christmas cards to my doctor, his doctor, his nurse, the NICU, the Family Care Coordinator, and my lactation consultant. They took pictures of him for their wall and everyone was so excited to see him. We even ran into some of his nurses, nutritionist, and his respiratory therapist and they couldn’t believe how big and healthy he is. It was really, really good to go back and celebrate today because it was one year ago yesterday that I first went to Baylor and we learned how bad the situation was and after that visit things took a turn for the worse and we almost lost Bennett. So it was just what I needed to go back on the anniversary of that terrifying day and celebrate with the people that know just how far Bennett has come. Hooray!!!

Kit has kindly posted a link to the right, under Bennett, of the details of Bennett’s birth. I wrote it up the week he was born and it’s really just a run down of events, not our thoughts or feelings on it. We haven’t put that part into words yet! We’ve had some questions about the pregnancy & delivery so if you are curious, the time line is now there.

Kit here with a little annotation on the movies. This group is a little different. My kids have really enjoyed this little skit from the original Muppet Show. Manah Manah.

I managed to record Mo and Critter singing a duet of the same song.

Short Manah Manah clip

The Duet

(If you want to see the entire Manah Manah skit, click here. It’s 8 MB large. Classic!)