Wednesday, January 12, 2011

SOME CHRISTMAS FUN

Brooklyn and Alex had fun getting under the tree
and passing out the gifts to everyone.
It started out very neat and orderly...

and, at some point....Riggs was lost in all the wrapping!

Aunt Tammy brought over a 'Gingerbread House'
to put together with the girls. They loved it!

Aunt Jessica joined in all the fun too!


Santa gave the girls umbrellas in their stocking.
Finally!
They have wanted their OWN umbrellas for a long time.


Scott even got caught "dancin' in the rain"!

SANTA'S CHRISTMAS EVE VISIT

Santa always makes a special stop on Christmas Eve to drop off PJ's.
There is a knock at the door, a 'HO-HO-HO'
and a gift left for each kiddo.

Riggs was more excited about the wrapping than the actual jammies.
Get to sleep little ones....
it will be time to celebrate Jesus' birthday in the morning!

HEADING SOUTH FOR CHRISTMAS

It is always exciting to start the trip to Florida and watch the temperature slowly creep up the farther we go. The girls watched a lot of movies with their 'ear muffs' so the rest of us could listen to any sports talk radio show that the car happened to pick up...
guess who was driving??

Riggs kept me busy making sure he was entertained and happy. But, I found the trick for helping him fall asleep....my pillow. When I would lay it on top of him, he would grab it and snuggle.
So sweet....and quiet :)

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

WELL, HELLO THERE 2011

I've had a few gentle suggestions to start blogging again. But, now I have started receiving threatening emails...you know who you are! I seem to have a difficult time getting back to this after vacations. Anyhoo...thought I might catch up anyone who might still be checking on us.


We drove to Florida for Christmas with my family (pictures to come). The kids were all troopers. They have become quite the travelers. So thankful they are now all ~ not to point any fingers, Riggs! ~ easily entertained. I have no idea how my parents did it....driving completely across the country with all of us and NO DVD's! What were they thinking!?!?

We spent New Year's Eve heading back to Iowa, watching the temperature drop and driving through horrible storms to eventually stop in Sikeston, Missouri. We missed 2011's first several hours. We were all snoring at that point. I know. You don't have to say it....
Yoders are party animals!!!

So what has been going on for these first few days of 2011?
Well......let's see???

Scott is back to work, blowing snow and just testing to see how heavy the trash bags can be to have them still take it away. He lost last week. Too heavy. The things that entertain my husband??? See, he is of a generation with no DVD's! ha.

Brooklyn is back in school...loving to read and is working on telling time with analogue clocks. She has also started to petition to have her kindergarten teacher invited to her birthday party in August. The girl likes to plan!

Alex had her first chance at being snack helper in her pre-school class. And, seems to enjoy the independence of making her own friends without her big sister. She is getting to be a "little mommy"...which Brooklyn has informed me means bossy. Geeschh!

Riggs is 9 months old, weighs almost 27 lbs...crawling around getting into everything, wanting to eat his food and any other food that is close. He is seemingly getting bigger every second.
At least that is what my hernia says.

Yep, for me...in the first 11 days of 2011, I have already been to 3 appointments concerning my back and abdominal pain. OB doc says pain is due to scar tissue from c-section and 2nd operation to remove infected blood clot. PT says nope....maybe slight pain from scar tissue but mostly because my abdominal muscles are not connected and nothing is where it is supposed to be. And, the surgeon I went to yesterday says...yep, all of that plus he threw in a hernia as a bonus. Although, I don't really feel like I 'won' anything! I go back this week for a CAT Scan in order to make a plan for upcoming surgery. I don't suppose they can do the surgery without IV's, huh????

So there you go.
Our update.
More to come.....

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

NOT FAIR

Today is the day.
The bags are coming out of the closets.
Clothes are ALL over.....in the washing machine, dryer, on my bed, on the floor of Riggs room.
Bags of food and drinks are on the kitchen floor. The 32.5 tons of equipment an 8 month old requires (most of it food) is stationed throughout the house.
Needless to say, the time of 'CRAZY' has begun.
So, what is not fair?
I have been running around for days just to start the initial stages of getting ready for our trip. And, this morning, I inform Alex that I have LOTS to do to get us packed today. She quickly asks if she can go pack her bag. Yep...have at it, kid.
She ran upstairs, found her bag, packed all the essentials (her Bible & Devotional book, stuffed buddy "Hippo", along with 3 other books and of course a hairbrush) and was back down in less than 3 minutes. WHAT???
Why can't it be that easy for the mom????
SO NOT FAIR!!!!

Monday, December 20, 2010

HE LOVES HIS DADDY

These two are something else...

they both just light up when they see each other.

I expected that with the girls. They have their daddy wrapped around their little finger just like I did with mine. (Right, Dad? "me fry"....blink, blink, blink)

But, I love to watch this bond being created between a dad and his son.

OUR CHRISTMAS

Our little family Christmas celebration was Sunday.
Santa came early to our house and dropped off gifts
that he knew wouldn't fit in our car on the way home.
Isn't Santa so thoughtful!
Big hits this year?
New Bedroom Stuff...

Can you find Alex?

And, UNO Attack. Hours of fun.
Many, many, many hours...in a row...of fun.

We had a great day of hanging out, playing games
and enjoying time together.
Wish everyday was like this!