Christmas at Home

We opened family gifts on Christmas Eve. Luke's favorite gift - Toy Story 3.

Luke was super excited to open this big box from Gabe.


Mommy and Gabe - He's not really sure what to make of all this.

Two handsome boys dressed for the Christmas Eve service.

Family picture time! Gabe was so interested in us that he never did look at the camera.

First Trip to the ER

We had to take a break from holiday celebrations on Thursday night to take Luke to the doctor. He'd had a cough and needed some inhalers a few weeks ago, but had been off of them for about a week. He kept having coughing fits and the inhaler wasn't helping so we drove him to the urgent care clinic. The doctor there recommended either some elaborate set of inhalants with a machine at home or taking him to the er since his wheezing had gotten audibly worse while we were there (that might have been due to him crying that he didn't want to be there). So we opted to go ahead and visit the hospital to be on the safe side and to get meds into him sooner. Once we finally calmed him down, he did great at the hospital! I think he was the highlight of the evening for his doctors and nurses. He kept asking them questions, looking at their id badges, and talking up a storm. You could tell he was definitely feeling better after that first treatment. He also enjoyed walking through the hallway attached to a cord that I was holding and calling it his leash. He thought it was really cool to get a picture of his lungs (which were fine). Several hours later we finally made it back to grandma and grandpa Miller's house for some sleep. I'll try to post his lung pictures once I scan them in.

Holiday Travels

Gabe's first Christmas was a success! This was also Luke's first Christmas where he was really into Santa and traditions like making a birthday cake for Jesus. We had a lot of fun visiting family Wednesday and Thursday. I think Luke was a little present crazy by the end. He kept asking for his next present. Gabe was happy just to try and eat the wrapping paper!

Day 2 On My Own with the Boys

This isn't the first time I've had the boys on my own as Matt travels for work, but it has been the most eventful and it's only day 2. Luke's cough came back again and seemed even worse on Monday so I managed to get him a 4:45 appointment at the doctor. This meant that I had to haul both boys in after they'd been at Miss Julie's all day. Gabe really wants to eat close to 5. So I figured I would just feed him while we were waiting, but realized that I forgot to pack a spoon! The waiting room was as full as I've seen it in a long time. Luckily, it didn't take too long to get called back. We found out that not only did he have a double ear infection, but was also showing some asthmatic symtpoms in his breathing so he would need to use an inhaler at least temporarily. After the appointment, I decided that I needed to feed both boys before trying to drag them to the pharmacy. So we went home, ate, and headed out to get Luke's medicine which included the yummy pink Amoxocillan and 2 inhaler treatments.

Today began with me calling in for a sub and frantically preparing sub plans to email to a colleague. I am so blessed to work with people who are willing to jump in and help out in a pinch! I think the biggest problem was that he was so tired from not sleeping well. I didn't sleep well either because he was on all of this new medicine so I kept checking on him. Then factor in Gabe's regular stirrings and I'm amazed that I was awake with my alarm. It was kind of nice to stay home with them for the day though. We hung out, watched movies, made cookies, played, and made art! Luke's iswas much better, but still flares up when he gets too active. He was a little crazy at bedtime though curteousy of one of the medicines I'm sure. At one point he was growling loudly to get me to come in. Then he told me he was growling because the medicine made him growl! I think he heard me make an offhand comment about the medicine making him a little "crazy." A little after 9 though both boys were finally asleep. The trick for Luke was giving him 3 pillows to prop him up and reduce the coughing. He made the connection that it was like the hospital and then started talking about a baby coming out - that's his association wiht hospitals (me having Gabe).

On an unrelated note, he was writing his letter to Santa today but refuses to tell me what's on it. He simply said he wanted lot of presents. I asked how many and he said 5. Then he asked if that was a lot and I said yes. He changed his mind anyway and decided that 100 would be better. Then he upped it to a made-up number that sounded really big!

Things That Made Me Smile :)

After a long day at work, Gabe decided to show off and manuever himself all over the family room. While not quite crawling, he is quite proficient at scooting, rolling, and inching his way around. He also started calling Luke "Bubu!" Now if only we could get mama...

Luke was also quite entertaining. During bathtime, he suddenly decided to call me "mother" which he has never done before! He later asked daddy to shave him. To top it off he insulted daddy's reading by telling him that mommy would read the big book of nursery rhymes because it was "a little too hard for him!" He handed daddy a normal length story and told him that he needed to read the easier one...hilarious!

Finally Sleeping Well!

Gabe is finally sleeping soundly through the night (at least most nights)! This means more rest for everyone. Oddly, though my body seems to struggle to adjust to having sleep - you would think I would have more energy, but sometimes it makes me even more tired! Gabe is also very enthusiastic about his ability to say "dada" and says it ALL the time! We keep trying for a "mama," but no such luck. He sits very well and is beginning to manuever around the room (though not quite crawling).

Luke continues to be an awesome big brother! He loves to teach Gabe how to use new toys and tells him how big he is getting. His vocabulary continues to expand and he is really interested in learning about people's last names. We also discovered that he didn't know his birthday so we're working on that. Now he calls it "26th July." He is a little artist. The other day he asked to paint his birdhouse and his paint job looked good when he was finished! One of his favorite things to do is to add glitter and glue to all of his art. Now he is able to write his name and sign all of his artwork. The countdown to Christmas has begun and he is SUPER excited this year!