christmas day

These babies slept in as usual, which was fantastic.  Brooke was so anxious to go downstairs, though! They were both happy with what Santa brought for them, and then they opened up their other gifts.  I didn't buy many gifts this year because I felt like my house was FULL of toys, and I knew that they would also be getting gifts from all the family. 

Funny story about this camera stuffed toy:  I actually bought it and had it under the tree last year, but Brooke only wanted to open a few gifts.  So, I just put it in the closet and pulled it out this year. She loved it, haha. 

We facetimed with my parents so that they could see the kids open the gifts they sent.  Colby was cracking us up because he kept kissing the animals on the lego box. He really couldn't be any cuter. 

I really loved our slow morning, but eventually we had to get ready for church. Jerry had asked that we all attend their ward with them, so we headed up to Flower Mound.  Colby had lots of snuggles for Papa, which clearly made his day. 

While the adults finished getting dinner ready, these two cute girls looked at books. 

After we ate, we opened gifts, and just enjoyed the rest of the afternoon together.  It really was a beautiful day, and obviously the most important thing to be grateful for was the birth of our Savior.  Trying to teach that to my kids (mostly Brooke since Colby doesn't get it yet) has been a very tender and humbling experience.

And let's talk about how spoiled my kids are...

christmas eve

Kevin and I started the morning off by getting a roast in the crock pot. We have started using the Pioneer Woman Pot Roast recipe, and it is a winner!  Once the roast was ready, we woke the kids and quickly got ready to leave the house.  We had coordinated a morning of bowling with the family, which is a tradition my family used to do growing up.  Except that we didn't live by family, so we got together with a bunch of other families (who were our super close friends) and the missionaries for an afternoon of fun. 

Brooke is always so excited to spend time with her cousins, which makes me really happy. 

Colby just wanted to "hold" all the bowling balls, haha. 

I love this tender picture of Colby just staring up at Kinley!

We had two lanes, one for the kids and Grandma and Papa, and the other for the big kids (Melanie, Jeff, Kevin, and I). The bowling alley had a really cute ramp for the kids to use, but I encouraged Brooke to try to bowl the correct way at least once.  She was hesitant at first, but eventually tried it, then decided to put the ball on the ground and kick it.  

After bowling, we headed to In-N-Out for some lunch. You can take the people out of California, but you can't take the California out of the people, haha.  Kevin was thrilled when they started building In-N-Out restaurants in Texas. 

We ended up driving to some model homes near our house with the Peacocks, and then they came over for a bit so the girls could play. Then it was time for our dinner (which was delicious), and decorating cookies. This is a tradition we started for Brooke's first Christmas Eve, and I hope we always stick with it. Kevin was super into it this year, and I had to reign in my OCD nature when he wasn't frosting the cookies to my standards, haha. Brooke's technique was a whole other story!

Once the kiddies were bathed and dressed in their Christmas jammies, it was time to read the Christmas story.  What better place to do that than on Daddy's lap?  

Brooke has grown up so much this past year, and it was fun to see her experience the excitement of Christmas.  She picked out some cookies for Santa, and left them on the fireplace for when he came down the chimney.  Once last picture before bed, and I just wanted to kiss Colby's delicious cheeks!

Sometime after everyone was asleep, Santa delivered some toys for a good little boy and girl...

daddy's day off

Kevin took a personal day the first week of December, which was perfect since it coincided with Parent Observation Day at dance.  The last 15 minutes, they allow parents and families to come observe, and the girls perform a little bit of their dances and tumbling. (They also let the girls wear Christmas colors that day.)

As her teacher, Miss Emily, was guiding them through their ballet routine, she said that Brooke won an extra sticker for remembering the term for a large kick (Grand Battlement, pronounced bat-MAHN).  I was proud :)

When they were done, she ran straight for her Daddy. I am always the one that takes her to dance, so having her Daddy there was a special treat.

We then went to CFA for a lunch date.  Having Kevin around really is a nice change, and he really enjoyed having a random day off. This is such a busy time of year for him, so I'm glad he was able to take a personal day.

ward christmas party

The first Saturday in December, our ward hosted their annual Christmas program and dinner.  Brooke had been having a rough day, but for some reason, while I was fighting with her to get dressed and ready to go, she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror and all of a sudden, her demeanor changed. I'm not sure if she just felt cute or something, but all of a sudden, she was totally compliant and eager to do what I said.  It was super weird, but at least the evening took a turn for the better. She wanted to wear matching red lipstick with me, and I was a little obsessed with her outfit.  I bought it last year at Janie & Jack, but worried that the pants were going to be too short this year because she has grown SO much!

Once Colby was ready, I took a picture of the littles, and we headed out the door to get Kevin on the way to the church.

The dinner was delicious, and when the Primary kids went on stage to sing, someone told Brooke that she could go up there.  I was really surprised that she wanted to, but her and Brooks stood next to each other and sang their little hearts out :)

The final event of the evening was a visit to see Santa.  I pretty much knew this was how the encounter would go, but I figured it was worth a shot. Santa talked to her, commented how tall she was, and we were on our way, haha.

Maybe next year she'll actually look Santa in the eyes :)

north pole express

For months, we had been excited about going on the North Pole Express to visit Santa. This was going to be in lieu of our annual show at Casa Mañana, so Brooke knew it was a family day!  Sadly, she came down with something the week before.  She was running a low grade fever, had no appetite, and was so tired.  I gave her Motrin for her fever, and she would be fine for a few hours, but the fever always came back.  She didn't have any other symptoms, so I wasn't sure what was going on.  I was seriously praying that she would recover quickly because I didn't want her to miss out on a fun event. The night before the event, I came to the realization that she may have another UTI.  It was the only thing that made sense.  When I had called the doctor earlier in the week, they mentioned that a virus was going around that gave kids a fever for 5 days.  I had accepted that as a cause, but the more I thought about it, the more I noticed similarities to her last UTI.  We decided to play it by ear, and see how she was doing in the morning.  

Thankfully, she was doing okay, so we decided to continue with our plans.  It was a rainy and cold day, but  the kids were cozy because they were supposed to wear their pajamas on the train :)

We boarded the train...

Wrote letters to Santa...

Had a visit from Mrs. Claus, who handed out silver bells to each child...

Sang Christmas carols together, and watched (fake) snow fall outside the windows.  The whole thing lasted 15-20 minutes I think.

When we arrived at the North Pole, we exited the train and were COVERED in snow!  It was fun, but when I realized that the snow was made out of soap, I was a little upset since it was running my suede shoes :/

We then entered a big room where they had a Christmas Show and a visit from Santa. Following the show, they gave us cups of "ice cold snow milk", and we jumped in line to take pictures with Santa.  Brooke was going downhill, and was super pale again.  I wasn't excited about waiting in a long line with Brooke in that state, but thankfully it was pretty quick.  Brooke wouldn't look at the camera, and I didn't even care because she felt like poop.  I got a picture of Colby with Santa, and we were on our way.

The next stop was a late breakfast at Waffle Way. Auntie Mel Mel are prepared with activities for the kids, and it was nice to finish off our morning together.

On the way home, I felt like we needed to take Brooke to Urgent Care.  I was certain that she had a UTI, and I didn't want to wait until Monday to start antibiotics.  I was kicking myself for not thinking of it on Friday so that I could have avoided the Urgent Care fee!  You snooze, you lose, I guess.  So, $75 and almost two hours later, we finally saw the doctor.  She was super rude to me, and basically made me feel like an idiot for using the term "lethargic" to describe Brooke's lack of energy.  I asked that they also check for strep while we were there, and the test came back negative  The rapid test for the UTI came back positive, so they put her on antibiotics right away. They sent the urine culture to the lab, and told me that they would have the results in 3-4 days.  Based on what was growing, they would call me back only if we needed to change antibiotics.

It was so hard to see her feeling miserable!  We went home and just took it easy for the rest of the day.

After 5 days, I called back just to make sure that we were using the correct antibiotics.  She seemed to be doing much better, but my gut instincts told me to call anyway.  The nurse said that they didn't have the results yet, which was weird, but she assured me that they would call me back as soon as they were in.  Well, they never called me back, and life got busy, so I continued giving her the medication for all 10 days. I called them again because I wanted to get the culture results to take with me when I went to her pediatrician for the repeat culture (to make sure the infection cleared).  After waiting forever, this nurse told me that the culture actually came back negative, as in, SHE DIDN"T ACTUALLY HAVE A UTI!  I was livid!  I had just given my daughter antibiotics for 10 days, for absolutely no reason.  When I questioned why I didn't receive a call back, she told me that "they didn't have the leisure of calling back on negative test results." and that "it wasn't their procedure to call back on negative results."  That made zero sense to me, so I kept asking questions.  Why would they not call me back if she didn't need medicine?  The nurse then said, "Honestly Mom, it's not that big of a deal."  I WAS TICKED!  I told her that it was a big deal, and that I would never bring my daughter there again after being treated that way. After I hung up, I called back and asked to speak to the office manager.  She listened to my story, then said that she would follow up with the medical staff and call me back.  A week went by, and I had to follow up again.  She said she had a family emergency, which is why she hadn't gotten back to me, but that they should have called me with the negative results.  The procedure is to not call if the rapid test is negative, and the culture is negative.  Since Brooke's rapid test was positive, and then the culture was negative, they should have called me.  She apologized for the way the nurse treated me, and assured me that she was coached on the correct way to handle situations.  I was still upset, but at least felt justified for questioning what the nurse was saying to me.

That night, as I was recapping everything to Kevin, he suggested that I ask for my money back.  That had crossed my mind, and so the next day, I called the office manager back.  She agreed to refund me the $75 since they hadn't followed protocol, and then I felt slightly better. It still doesn't explain why she had that fever and felt so awful, but I guess it was just a virus. And I worried myself for nothing since I was a little downhearted about ANOTHER UTI after putting her on antibiotics for a month during the summer!

little moments

The days sometimes feel so busy, but I love when I look through my camera roll and see the little moments that make me feel so complete as a mother. Like when I see this picture of Brooke helping me water the plants that she helped me plant :)  She loved to be my helper, and she loves to be outside.  And clearly, she loves her dance clothes.

Whenever I get ready, Brooke spends time in my closet trying on scarves, putting on my bracelets, and trying on my shoes.  She has become quite good at walking in heels, which is pretty impressive.  I just had to take a picture with her little leggings in my huge shoes.

I've said this a million times, but I love seeing my babies sleep.  They are just so peaceful and angelic, and I love that they can fall asleep so quickly in my arms.  I like to think that they feel safe in my arms, and are able to just relax and allow their little bodies to fall asleep.

Kevin and I still lay by Brooke as she falls asleep, per her request.  Maybe we shouldn't do that, but we both love that time at the end of the day to snuggle together.  The majority of the time, one or both of us fall asleep as well.  One night, I had been putting Colby to sleep (which took longer than normal), and I walked into Brooke's room to find her and Kevin fast asleep.  I risked the bright flash and took a picture of these two.  It's these little moments that make me grateful to be a parent. It's a big responsibility, and not always glamorous (ha!), but it makes my heart feel complete.