merry christmas!!!!!

things i love about christmas...

christmas decorations- lights, tinsel, glitter and all that sparkles. as a kid (and even now) i always loved driving around and looking at all the houses, trying to find the house with the most lights.

christmas music- i love o, holy night and as much as it is my favorite, nothing says the holidays to me more than my good ol' mariah carey cd (i upgraded to the cd a few years ago from my original cassette, and now i have it on my itunes too)

christmas movies & specials- i love 'em all! christmas vacation, elf, charlie brown, home alone 2: lost in new york...even the lame made for tv movies on lifetime and abc family!

yummy food- sugar cookies, see's candy, candy, canes, white fudge covered oreos, apple cider, hot chocolate. on christmas day we would have brunch- cheese strata, chips, salsa, guacamole, sooo good and for dinner was ham and potato casserole with cornflakes on top (i am a fan of ham on christmas- we just had turkey & stuffing on thanksgiving!)

i do love all the commercialism of christmas- i admit it. i think it's fun and festive. i like giving gifts and getting gifts, i like all the music decorations and events. but as charlie brown says, "i won't let all this commercialism ruin my christmas!" and as much as i love all that, i never forget the reason we celebrate- the birth of jesus. and i am always amazed and grateful.
now that i have my own little boy, i wonder more about mary & joseph and what jesus was like as a toddler- did he cry or have tantrums, or was he perfect even then? did he walk or talk early? i imagine being the son of god had it's advantages in the development area. was he a picky eater? what were his favorite toys? it's hard to wrap my brain around it all. when i look at ollie, it is truly amazing to think that god came to earth and for a time, was a little boy, just like him.

i hope everyone has a truly magical christmas! enjoy the lights & sparkle, a cup of cider, and take a moment to remember why we celebrate and what it's all about.

Merry Christmas

morning playtime

nothing better than playing with your cars and trucks while wearing your cars & trucks pajamas:)

update

ollie is much better:) the last few weeks have been a little rough, though. he pretty much slept for a week, then for another week he was really cranky and clingy and did not have quite as much energy as usual. and now it seems he has about 4 teeth coming in at once...so sleep has been a lost art. but he seems more cheerful and back to his crazy self!
sick and cranky or healthy and happy- either way i am thankful for him this thanksgiving! and i am looking forward to a fun holiday weekend with my family!
happy thanksgiving everyone!!!

ollie's er adventure

well it was bound to happen. ollie has been healthy for 15 months so we are lucky he made it this long without getting sick. but he sure has made up for it this week!
sunday afternoon i thought he felt a little warm. i didn't worry too much about it, because he wasn't acting sick and he had his 15 month check-up in the morning, i thought i would ask the dr about it then.
he still felt warm when he woke up and by the time we got to the dr his temp was just over 102. the dr was surprised because he was acting so normal. then she looked in his ear and was even more surprised when she found a nasty ear infection. which is odd because he had not been acting sick at all- no ear tugging, he wasn't fussy, the plane ride didn't even bother him! and he was had played and ran around like usual all weekend.
we went home with antibiotics and orders to rest. that afternoon, he finally started acting like he didn't feel well. maybe it was mental- hearing that he was sick:) he woke up from his nap and just wanted to lay on my lap and didn't want to move for the rest of the day. and if you know ollie, that is not normal.
then it happened around 1 am monday night, one of the most scariest moments of my life. i woke up to ollie convulsing and not responding; having what i thought was a febrile seizure. after it ended, he was pretty of out of it, so we ended up in the er all night to have him checked out to make sure it wasn't something else. it was a long night, but ollie was a trooper and thankfully the dr confirmed my suspicion and said it was most likely a febrile seizure, which is fairly common in kids when they have a fever and not too serious. and by then ollie had a little spunk back in him and had no other symptoms, so our worries began to subside.
so we have been home, trying to rest- ha! keeping an eye on him, giving him tylenol and antibiotics- which is not fun. his fever has gone down, but he is still cranky and not quite back to his energetic self yet.
we are thankful for our normally healthy boy and that it was nothing more serious. we hope and pray he will be running around again soon. we will keep you updated!

the most wonderful time of the year...

i love, love, love this time of year! i think "the holidays" start off with halloween. the pumpkins, the candy, the costumes, so fun. it ushers in the season and thanksgiving and christmas are not far behind.
this year we were in phoenix with our friends from college, cameron and megan, who have a sweet little 1 year old girl, marissa. we had a great time hanging out and of course enjoying the fall festivities- even in the warm desert air:)

ollie & marissa at the pumpkin patch.

ollie meeting the cow.

ollie kicking and throwing the "balls" or pumpkins as you may call them.

getting lost in the maze.

ollie of course got down and dirty.

HALLOWEEN!
rock star ollie and his punk-kin:)

ollie and his ladybug groupie, marissa:)

ollie & marissa got along well and ollie really loved to share, as you can tell:)

family portrait

i don't have much to say, i just like this photo:)

impromtu mommy & me photo shoot

call me vain, but i like having photos of me, especially of me with my family and friends, but i often seem to be behind the lens, or too busy chasing ollie around! so here are a few photos of ollie and me, during our reading time... with the help of my tripod and my long arms:)

i just love his face..."mom you are so weird! are we done with all these pictures yet?"