December 2019

As expected December is flying by and it is almost Christmas already. Here's the over view of our very busy December so far. Thatcher started the month by getting his second set of ear tubes. He did smashingly and thoroughly enjoyed a lazy day on the couch "recovering." He was fine but no one does a lazy day quite like Thatcher.

 Super hero socks!

 This year in an attempt to not spend as much money, and also because Zane has substantially more teachers now that he changes classes for everything, we baked lots and lots of goodies to hand out at school. I'm sure the teachers get sick of cookies, but my kids love baking, it's cheap, and it's easy. So that's how we showed our appreciation to most of the teachers this year. Zane chose pumpkin chocolate chip cookie to handout to most of his teachers, which was a little outside of the box for cookies and I think everyone enjoyed it. He also baked a full cherry pie for his absolute favorite teacher, Mrs. Austin.

 Teachers presents went out in waves this year, with three separate delivery days. The last one being Friday, their last day before break since we had to wait for everyone to be well again to finish taking everything to school. This process of preparing and giving gifts to all their teachers really helped me realize just how many wonderful people are caring for and loving my kiddos. I'm forever grateful for each and everyone of them. For their patience, for keeping them in line, for loving them when I can't, and for teaching them all of the things. Just in awe of these people who do it all for next to nothing. Hope they enjoy their cookies and time off from school this Christmas.

Before everyone started getting sick we went on our annual drive around to look at lights trip through our neighborhood and the surrounding neighborhoods. I told the boys to get their Christmas jammies on and this is what happened. It's perfect. Thatcher is always in his scary jammies so it's only fitting he was this evening as well. Here's what I've learned. I need to drive when we go look at lights because for the past two years I come home from this adventure nauseated and feeling like I might throw up everywhere.

The second week of December was when Zane had his holiday choir concert. This is one of his favorite things that he gets to do in school. This is his second, and sadly his last year, since he will be going to a different building next year. They go and sing at two different nursing homes then they come and sing at the mall to round out their day. Zane's best buddy was once again in the choir this year he, along with pretty much all the rest of the third grade boys, got to be in my chaperoning group.

The middle kiddo is Zane's best buddy E and the kid on the far right his a sweet little boy who said Zane was the reason he was in choir this year, which I think is just darling.

Like I said I had all the third grade boys to keep in line while they ate lunch and wasted time until it was their turn to sing.

All I Want For Christmas Is You, yes they sing the boy harmony part and it's fantastic.

My two favorite guys. Zane's friend E got a little nervous and teary eyed so he needed extra hugs afterwards.

Grandma and Daddy were able to come watch Zane sing this year.

And of course is it really a music concert if there isn't ice cream afterwards? Rowan will get to be in choir next year and will do amazing since he went to all the practices with Zane for the past two years. I hate that they won't get to be in the choir together though.

December means lots and lots of movie nights. We've done a lot of snuggling on the couch until this past week when everyone got sick. I now have a mask on for any and all cuddling. We've watched all the Christmas movies, in all their various forms, tv specials, and anything that vaguely may include scenes of Christmas I think we are ready for the big day.

Last Sunday was the Cub Scout Christmas Party. We were supposed to wear ugly sweaters, decorate gingerbread houses, all sorts of Christmas fun. I had put off buying sweaters because I just wasn't in the Christmas spirit, but Saturday afternoon we went and spent a solid $80 on sweaters and festive clothing for everyone. So it's no surprise that Zane woke up with a 102 fever Sunday  morning. I did not get to wear my festive outfit and neither did Thatcher. Look at his darling Snoopy shirt. He's worn it out and about though don't worry. When you're two you can pull off anything, any time.

Before we were hit with fevers we attended Abbey's open house party. She invites her neighbors and her friends and it's loads of fun. This is us in her neighbor across the streets sleigh.

T found a Captain America outfit that he got to take home, which was his favorite part.

And we can't talk about December without reporting on Gary the Elf. Let it be known that I love Gary and frankly I'm sad that so many parents hate their elves. This year Gary's cousins, Jingle and Jangle, have been at our house all month which has lead to loads of elf fun.

Playing cards with the Toy Story gang

Dressing up in JB's many different hats with his reindeer. One reindeer has gone missing, which is slightly concerning.

Elf snowball fights, which Mary and Joseph are a part of for some reason.

My favorite elf tradition is the candy cane hunt. Zane was decently sick this morning but hunted and ate some candy canes none the less.

This was the first year Thatcher understood what was going on and it was just as cute as you are thinking it was.

Working in the food truck! Thatcher is loving Gary this year as well.

Elves play bop it!



For the past week it's been all sickness at our house. Zane got a fever last Sunday and it didn't break until Thursday. Tuesday the boy's school was closed because so many people were out sick. They did a deep clean of the school and were back in session Wednesday. Rowan himmed and hawed about his head hurting and being tired but didn't actually have a fever until Friday when he got home from school. So he's now on day three of fever with no end in sight. Zane's flu swab was negative, but it sure looked like the flu to  me. Terrible headache, fevers, lethargy, and just generally feeling miserable. As of this evening Zach and I have not gotten sick. Fingers crossed and knock on all the wood because we are supposed to leave for Missouri on the twenty seventh. T is still feeling good as well, but who knows how long that will last. I have gone through two bottles of Lysol and probably two big tubs of Clorox wipes as well. I am wearing masks, wiping all the things done, and keep my distance from my boys. It is no fun and is sucking all the Christmas spirit right out of our house. I'm hoping we can stay well so we can have Christmas with my family Wednesday and head to Missouri as planned.



At some point Santa came to the boys school. I bought pictures of Zane but he missed that paper being handed out while he was sick, so who knows if I'll ever see them. I didn't remember this was happening so they were not dressed for the occasion at all.

The last December happing has nothing to do with Christmas. Before Zane got sick he managed to hit a baseball into a window and break it. This is a first in our baseball playing family. It's a double paned window so lucky only the outside pane broke. I was inside an thought someone had been shot, so I was relived to come outside just to find the window broken.

The boys are out of school now for three weeks and I'm hoping everyone starts to feel better tomorrow and that no one else comes down with it. That seems like it will take a Christmas miracle, but here's hoping. I cannot believe it's almost Christmas. It always goes by so fast.



Ten Things to Tell You: Ten Questions for the End of the Year/Decade

This week on the Ten Things To Tell You Podcast there were ten questions to ask yourself, or discuss with family and friends, as another year, and another decade come to a close. I've been thinking about them and trying to reflect on these questions and I think I've learned a lot so here's the list if you'd like to think back on your year as well.

1. What were the best parts of 2019.

• Watching the boys play baseball: Nights at the ball field can be exhausting, long, hot/cold, and during the season it seems like we live there at times. However, once the season is over I find that I really miss it. I love watching my kids do what they love. I love watching them work hard and then get to see the fruits of that labor as they get better throughout the season. 
• Cooking with the kids: This year Zane's love for cooking has really flourished and I have loved getting to share this passion with him. Zane wants to be involved in making dinner almost every night. Over this year it has gone from me having to try to find a way that he can help and be a part of it to him actually being a huge help in the kitchen and being fully capable to make things all on his own. The younger
• St. Louis Trip Going to St. Louis always feels like going home. We hadn't been in almost two years, since last summer Zane had surgery. After all that time it felt just the same. Our friends still feel like family, all the places still bring me so much joy, and I loved sharing it all with my boys once again. 
• Hamilton After years of listening to the music in the car with my children it was an absolute dream to get to share that experience with my boys, specifically Zane, who the music had been so important to during such difficult times. As a bonus I got to see it for a third time with my best friend and got to introduce her to the amazingness of Hamilton. What a joy!
• Days home with T: I feel this phase of parenting ending so I'm trying to soak up every minute. Thatcher and I had the best, calm, boring, but extremely fun days at home together this year.
• Zane's First Communion: This was such a special day, minus losing Rowan.

2. This is a two part question. What worked this year?

• Working weekends in the summer: I was so determined to have a good summer that I spent a lot of time planning and thinking about ways to make it memorable, but also survivable. The summer went so smoothly which leads into the next thing that worked well.
• Summer Themed weeks: I spent tons of time coming with with different themes, most of which we didn't end up using, because the kids ended up coming up with themes on their own. I just let myself go with whatever ideas they came up with and it went so well. Being flexible and able to fly by the seat of my pants was key to this being successful, but it ended up working so well and being so much fun. 
• Optavia: I haven't written much about this and I'm not really sure why, but optavia is the meal plan/lifestyle change/program that I started in January and have lost almost eighty pounds using. This truly deserves a whole post, but the short version is this year I decided to invest in my health. This was a huge financial investment, but has paid off in droves. It's completely changed not just my appearance, but my relationship with food and nutrition. 

What didn't work this year? 

• Working out- It's strange to say, but while on this program I was told to not do any intense exercise. For the past two or three years I would go to the gym and work out hard for at least an hour, three or four times a week. That was the routine I was in and I never lost any weight. There is lots of science behind this, but once I started optavia and was losing weight without having to workout I got out of the habit. Now I need to get back in that habit, but for the first time in my life my exercise doesn't need to be done to lose weight, but to get stronger and work on heart health. So far I haven't found a plan or routine that I love so for most of the year my working out/gym plan has not been working. I have to sort this out next year and get back into a routine.
• Picking up extra shifts- My job has lots of perks, one being I can work two days a week and that's it. I could work less than this if I wanted to. The flip side of that is I can pick up extra days all I want as well. I had lofty goals of picking up extra shifts a few times a month to try to get a little ahead during a year that didn't hold any sort of disaster. Historically I have been terrible at picking up extra shifts. That remained true this year as well. Next year Zane turns ten and we are trying to take a trip for his tenth birthday. So my goal for next year is to pick up enough weekends to be able to pay for most, if not all of that trip. I have my doubts, but it's a goal. 
• Spending money on food: With the lifestyle change came a change in the groceries I buy, specifically much more fruits and veggies and no longer eating out. I have to find a way to cut down on grocery costs because it's a huge chunk of our monthly budget and there has to be a better, cheaper, way.

3. What were your best conversations this year? I love this question, both to think about what impactful things have been said to me as well as what impactful things might I have said to others. Words matter and hold great power to hurt or to heal. 

• Heart mom conversations -This year I've have a few great conversations with new heart families at work. For a long time I never mentioned my experiences as a heart mom at work. Over this past year, as I process our most recent hospitalization more, I've become more open to talking to families about my personal story. There have been a few families that I feel like I might have given a glimmer of hope to in some of their darkest days. It's a profound privilege to get to speak to parents and children on some of the worst days of their lives. I go into work everyday knowing that I'm meeting people in these moments and if my  personal story can help them, why not share it and give some hope. 
• Conversations with friends -This year I was determined to see friends more. This meant scheduling my hair cuts on Tuesdays because that's the day  my best friend is off work. This means finding a free Wednesday every month to meet up with friends I use to work with. This means texting my best friend from grade school/high school and making plans to meet in the city. This also means being willing to pay for extra days of daycare so that I can have these moments and these conversations without a two year old there. This has lead to great conversations and these friendship have really fed me this year. I hope to bring this into next year and hopefully over the next decade find more time to spend with the people that are important to me as a grown up, not just with them and our children.
• Conversations with my children: I wish I had written down all the wonderful things we've talked about and explored this year as the bigger boys start to ask some very deep, intense questions and while they start to experience more of the world around them. We've spoken a lot about kindness and empathy this year. I've continued my tradition of asking them what they did that was kind at school which leads to all sorts of conversations about different ways to be kind.

4. What did you discover this year?

• On a deep level I discovered how to take control of my eating and my weight. This has been a huge life long struggle that almost a year after starting my optavia journey I can say I feel so much more confident about. I've learned so much and discovered so many things that I had been doing wrong or that I missed understand. This discovery feels like freedom to me, it's been amazing.
• On a less deep note Audible books. I started listening to audible books that were being read by the author and were all nonfiction books. I enjoyed this and listened to quite a few very insightful, thought provoking books that I ended up buying a copy of so I could make pages and things that I wanted to remember. Then this fall a friend suggested listening to the Harry Potter books. I LOVED it. I probably listened to about sixty percent and read the other forty percent, but loved the audible experience with Jim Dale narrating.
• On this same theme I discovered some new authors that I love. Through Glennon Doyle, who you know I love, I found Jen Hatmaker, whose audible books I listened too then promptly had to buy. I love all her books and all her social media content. She's funny, she's a mother of five, she's a Christian with the same thoughts and opinions on the current state of mainstream Christianity that I have. She's open to everyone, is all about loving and supporting everyone and her content has been a breath of fresh air for me this year. 
• Relay - This is a fun thing I discovered this year which gives me a way to let my kids have more freedom to roam the neighborhood while still being able to be in contact with them. It is a great alternative to giving children phones. I want to be able to talk to them but they do not need a screen of any kind. It's been most handy now that our bus stop in half a mile away.

5.Who did you find most influential this year?

• I touched on this above but Glennon Doyle continues to inspire me daily. Her online content is often the just the right bit of inspiration, motivation, or humor that I need in any given day. My walls are lined with her quotes and are the mantra that get me through most days. Her charity Together Rising is doing great work in this crazy world and I donate to it every month.
• Jen Hatmaker - See above
• Brene Brown- She's so inspiring and influential to me that I can only handle small amounts of her books/content at a time because I get overwhelmed by it. I read a little bit or a whole book, or watch a video/listen to podcast and then I need to sit with it for awhile before I can read anymore. So I think I'm still at the tip of the iceberg of Brene's genius, but it was very influential in my life and my parenting this year.
• Lin-Manuel Miranda- This year I've started most days reading an uplifting tweet from Lin-Manuel Miranda. Also this year I swear the sound track to my life has been his music, from Hamilton, to the songs he wrote for Moana, to the songs he sang for Mary Poppins. I have ended pretty much every night this year singing Dear Theodosia, Thatcher's top requested lullaby. His voice and his music have for sure shaped myself and my children this year. He's a positive voice in the dark hole that the internet has become.

6. What was the best entertainment you saw/heard this year.

•  Abbey Wambach wrote a book this year Wolfpack about women using their voices, supporting each other, and coming together to demand what they deserve which was inspiring and I highly recommend to everyone.
• The book Tell Me More: Stories About the 12 Hardest Things I'm Learning to Say By Kelly Corrigan was very inspiring to me and I've taken a lot of lessons from it. I seriously use the phrase tell me more with my children on a daily basis and it works wonders. All the phrases in the book come with their own stories/short essays that are thought provoking and inspiring.
• The Clockmaker's Daughter By Kate Morton-  This was probably my favorite fiction book (besides Harry Potter) that I read this year. I love all Kate Morton books so it didn't come as a surprise, but I highly recommend this book as well.
• Stranger Things- This doesn't really require an explanation, but let me just say it was the only show that I for real binge watched this year.
• Lion King - I wept in the new Lion King. This was one of my favorite movies growing up and was the movie Zane wanted to watch on repeat the year after dad died. "He lives in you" gets me every time. With that being said I only go to see children's movies so I don't know what kind of actual movies came out this year.
• Frozen 2: Anything that's message is 'just do the next right thing' I am here for. I loved the music, I loved the message, and I loved getting to take T to his first movie in the theater.

7. What are you letting go of this year.

• Expectations about how I think people should behave or respond to any given situation. This goes for pretty much everyone in my life except my children. I have clear expectations about how my children need to behave and those rules are pretty rigid. As for everyone else I have no control over their behavior or their choices. I need to let go of the expectations I have and focus how  I choose to respond. This goes for coworkers, family members/patients at work, friends, and family.
• I have begun to try to let go of the baby phase of parenting. It's over, whether I'm ok with that or not, and it's time I start to let that go. I need to find a way to remember it fondly, not burst into tears every time I think about not having any more babies, while at the same time start to try into embrace this next phase. This next decade of life I will be in the next phase of parenting, for better or for worse, so I need to try to embrace it.

8. What behaviors do you want to change?

• I need to find a better workout routine as mentioned above.
• I like to journal more, but writing hurts my hands and typing seems weird, maybe blogging more, who knows if anyone reads this.
• We need to be more disciple with our budgets, saving, paying off debt, and make head ways to be able to do more things we want to do. We've had a rough decade and some big set backs, I'm hoping we can dig out from that somewhat this next year and definitely this next decade.
• I want to focus on being more present in my day to day life. Slow down and be present in my moments with my children as I know they are fleeting.

9.Where did my beliefs shift?

• I don't have a great answer for this one, but I'd say the biggest belief change came in my belief that there was nothing I could do to lose weight changing. I belief that I'm fully in control of it now. I believe that my desire to be healthy is stronger than my desire to eat potato chips. I no longer believe that I'm just destined to be a bigger girl. This is freeing and powerful and a huge blessing of the past year/decade.

10. Who/what do you want to be this next decade.

• This next decade I strive to be a present parent. I want to be there not just for the big events but the little moments as well. I want to listen and truly hear my children. I have a limited time with these tiny humans and I want to make sure that I am setting a good example of kindness, compassion, empathy, patience, and love for them. I want to be healthy and strong. I want to be around for a long time and I want to continue prioritizing my health. This decade I want to travel and show my children new places. This means working hard and sacrificing, but this is deeply important to me and we've been unable to financially make this happen as of yet due to all sorts of unfortunate events. I want to be happy. I want my kids to be happy. I want us all to be safe, healthy, and happy that's really it.

Thanksgiving Break 2019

The boys were off all last week for Thanksgiving Break and I'm happy to report we had a wonderfully fun week together. Monday morning we went and played with Able and his sweet little babies. We played in leaves, played ring around the rosie, played on the swings and in the sand pile. It was loads of fun. Somehow, when I wasn't looking Rowan became a big kid. I swear it was just yesterday that he and Everett were the little boys. Now he's pulling the wagon, leading games, and holding little hands. It warms my heart and breaks it to pieces all at the same time.

Mom came over one day and sewed with Rowan, who has been requesting to do this for quite a while. I had a couple rows of quilt squares left over from Thatcher's baby blanket and Rowan made all the blocks on the left side of this piece. He sewed all the pieces together sewed the whole row to the bigger piece. Rowan is focused and methodical. He is great with tiny details, building things, and intricate details. These are completely different talents than his older brother. It's so interesting to see them grow into their own little selves. 

Now that Thatcher is officially potty trained he has inherited all of Rowan's size four undies, which technically still fit him, but Rowan got all new boxers. My children rarely are in clothes and this particular night all three of them were wrestling in their boxers. The size difference between these three is mind boggling. There are four years between Thatcher and Rowan, but somehow it looks like they are maybe two years apart. Thatcher adores his big brothers and had a blast with them home for an entire week. He frequently could be heard yelling, "Rowan, play with me, I love you!"

Wednesday of last week the big boys and I went to see the first Harry Potter in theatres. I was beyond excited to share this experience with Zane. I am embarrassed to say that I didn't read the books as a child when all my friends were wild about them. I wasn't a big reader then and the thought of having to wait years between books seemed like a terrible idea. So this year I set a goal to read/listen to them all. I would highly recommend the audible version of the books read by Jim Dale. They are so good and is a quicker way to get through the whole series. I have also read a lot of the books, but have listened to them in the car for the past few months and have loved it. So I can officially call myself a Potter Head. The theatre in town is playing a Harry Potter movie once a month next year through June and I cannot wait! Zane's fellow Harry Potter Club members from his school were the ones who invited us to join them. I love Zane's friends. They are all just the sweetest kids and I love that he has just as many friends who are girls and friends who are boys and sees nothing weird about that. I hope that never changes.

Yes, Zane came in his robes!

With the start of December came the return of our beloved house elf. Yes, I've started referring to him as our house elf, because as I mentioned I'm a full blown Potter fan now. There has been lots of push back to the craziness of the elf craze on social media the last few years and I've given lots of thought to our friend Gary. Is it insane that I move this elf around the house and we pretend he's doing funny things? Maybe, but I love Gary. He's a part of the family and I love the joy it brings to my kiddos. He's a member of the family and to quote Rowan, "he's a national treasure." Zach and I might refer to people as national treasures frequently around the house. It's fun and it's festive and I love it. I don't know if Zane knows we move him. I assume he has his guesses, but he has such a wonderful imagination he plays along and doesn't say a thing and I'm just going with that joy for as long as possible.

Jingle and Jangle have been at our house for a few weeks with their entire wardrobe because Zane took Jingle Boy to school for show and tell. So Gary of course is getting into the clothes, which are really helping with the intense hiding that he's been doing this year.

My favorite is always when Gary gets other toys involved. Here he is reading to all the guys last night. The assortment of guys is also one of my favorite things ever. They range from all the Star Wars guys to every Pixar character, Muppets, random animals, and everything in between.

It's the busy season at the spice shop which meant we got to spend the entire day Saturday with the Blakley children, who are jus the cutest little nuggets ever. Look at Worth in his striped overalls.

Worth is a big fan of his big cousin Zane.

Alice took a nap which meant she got to watch a movie, have candy, and popcorn with cousin Zane.

We also made Christmas ornaments for their parents. There is nothing I love more than a little tiny hand print painted to look like Santa Clause.

These two are the best of friends and are growing up so quickly I can hardly stand it. They have little conversations with each other now, they both try to boss the other one around, and the do sweet things like this. Here they are looking at a book together. That reached around and gave Alice pats on her bag at one point. I mean come on, they are just the sweetest, best friends.

To avoid having to work Christmas I work Thanksgiving every year. The past three years I have held babies and watched the parade and it has worked out nicely. This means that our family Thanksgiving is always moved back to the following weekend. This year was no different. I ate more carbs Sunday than I have all year and felt absolutely miserable the rest of the evening. I can't do it and we're going to have to change our menu or I am going to have to learn to resist delicious homemade bread.

The kids had their very own table this year and it was as crazy and rowdy as one would expect. I maintain the kids table should be in a completely different room. It always was when I was a child and that way they can be crazy and the parents can feel like they don't have to parent during the meal. Sure no one will eat anything, but whatever.

This big boy turned one on the November twentieth, can you believe it?

Then we headed back to school and work on Monday. Now it's full Christmas craziness for the rest of the year.



Laying With Christmas

With Thanksgiving being so late this year we started Christmas decorating before Thanksgiving. I have been sick all week and was struggling to get into the Christmas spirit, by that I mean I have no energy and don't want to do anything. Also, this year has gone by so quickly, it feels like we just took down the Christmas decorations yesterday. However, I had forgotten how magical everything Christmas is when you have an almost three year old. I had brought the boxes in with no real plan to get anything out until the big boys got home from school, but Thatcher managed to open one and started pulling stuff out. With every tiny thing he pulled out his face would light up, with a great look of surprise, and he would exclaim, "Mommy look it's CHRISTMAS!" He'd pull out one little berry and get so excited. I sat on the couch watched as Thatcher decorated. "Mommy look, I lay out Christmas." When he found the fabric advent calendar he laid it out and said, "Mommy look I lay with Christmas."


So that's what we've been doing this week, we've been laying with Christmas, slowly easing into the season. I put up a few decorations everyday, instead of going crazy and trying to do it all in one afternoon. We had a family meeting to make sure everyone remembers what the season is about. Everyone was reminded that this year we're trying to reign in the craziness, there will be fewer presents, but that's ok because no one needs anything and we've historically gotten them way too much stuff.

 Earlier this fall I read the book 7 Days of Christmas: A Season of Generosity by Jen Hatmaker. It talked about seven ways during the Christmas season to practice both generosity and restraint. There were ideas ranging from figure out ways to donate to local charities to ways that you can cut back on spending and not get lost in all the craziness of the season. There was a lot about the book that I really loved, but my goal after reading it was to not buy any new Christmas decorations and maybe even give some that I don't love away. If you've been to my house in December you know it gets a little out of control. I have told my children to slap my hands if I try to put any decorations in my cart. With all that being said, the Christmas tree that we've had for the past ten years died and we had to buy a new tree this year. So.... not exactly not buying any new decorations, but I'm determined for that to be all I buy this year.

Getting the tree was a classic make time to do it twice situation, or more appropriately make time to do it four times. We ordered one from Target. Zach went to pick it up at the wrong store, then went to the correct store, brought it home, put it up then I got home from work and hated it. Zach took that one back Sunday. Monday I went to Hobby Lobby and found one I liked, got it home and it wasn't the right tree in the box. It was all labeled correctly, but it was not that tree. I distribution center error which meant I had to take that one back as well and get the right tree. Finally, Monday afternoon we had a tree up and ready to decorate.


Monday evening we decorated our new tree. Below is the perfect representation of the difference in parenting a first child and a third child. The first photo is of Zane at roughly the same age as Thatcher is now, being carefully lifted up to place ornaments on the tree. The second photo is Thatcher standing on the top step of a five foot ladder, leaning over the front, to place ornaments on the tree. All while I'm taking a picture and not being concerned about how terribly dangerous the situation is.
Thatcher's fine, no one fell off the ladder and the tree looks great.



Also, you might think that it's late at night since Thatcher is in full PJs. Nope it's ten till six, Thatcher just wears pajamas all day everyday. They are truly his favorite thing at this moment, besides his Batman costume of course, and I fully support it.

 See Batman costume mentioned above.

This year while decorating the Christmas tree I felt more nostalgic than in previous years for some reason. We've been through a lot of Christmases now and there are lots of cute memories that stir up once you start getting out old ornaments from years past. I'm going to miss having toddlers at Christmas, each boy was so cute in their own way when they were little. I looked through old pictures and remembered all their Christmas joy. Now they are older and less cute but I'm still very excited for another year to make more Christmas memories. 



T's November

There have been so many things happen in Thatcher's life over the past two weeks it's kind of hard to wrap my head around. The first weekend in November we haphazardly decided we'd start working on potty training in earnest. This came about because Thatcher was terribly constipated so I think for the first time really could tell when he might need to poop. After a pained filled Saturday of trying to make that happen he finally pooped in the potty and there was much rejoicing. He'd been able to pee in the potty for awhile, but had never figured out that other half of the equation. So we headed into the first week of November with him in undies, thought we'd just see how it'd go. Things went great, minus him being terrified of public toilets causing a accident right when we got home from running errands for two hours.




It should be noted here that during all the insanity of October I had a stretch of eight days off that was the light at the end of the tunnel. It was when I was going to get rested up before all the end of the year, holiday insanity started. I didn't plan these eight days off for that reason, my schedule just so happened to work out that way, but they were what got me through all the horribleness of my October schedule. I worked the first Monday and Tuesday in November then headed home for my much needed eight days off to REST!!! Fast forward to Thursday at lunch time with Thatcher. He bit his tongue when he was eating. He cried a little bit, quickly recovered I thought nothing of it. Then on Friday he woke up a crabby cuddly, mess of a baby who didn't really want to eat anything, but managed to keep some ice cream and yogurt down. We went to the doctor and on top of the conquer sore he now had on his tongue from biting it, he also had double ear infections.




Let me just say that my first child had had two heart surgeries before he was eight years old. My middle child broke the same arm twice in one year. I have never in my almost ten years of parenting had a child cry so much, be so miserable, or sleep so badly as sweet Thatcher that Saturday-Wednesday of that week. He didn't drink anything at all on Saturday until almost four in the afternoon when we tried giving him milk from a syringe. He decided he could handle milk as long as it was fed to him from a syringe, like a little kitten. So we narrowly avoided the ER Saturday then spent the next three days forcing him to drinking and trying to get him every soft food imaginable. He didn't eat anything for a solid three days. He screams in pain and had to be held this whole time. For four days he never slept more than maybe an hour at time, then he'd wake up screaming in pain. It was the craziest, worst, saddest, most exhausting week of our parenting bar none. Much worse than any post heart surgery recovery. Insanity!!! We took him to his pediatrician and to the ENT on Monday just to make sure there wasn't something else going on that we were missing. They all agreed he had just bitten his tongue and the whole side of his tongue was a massive conquer sore that we just had to wait to heal. His ears were looking better from a few days on antibiotics, but the tongue would take awhile to get better. The only silver lining was we did get him scheduled for new ear tubes before the first of the year when all our insurance stuff starts over.



Through all this he learned how to draw up his own drinks with the syringe and give it to himself. This is not a life skill he really needs, but it came in handy. 

This was after two days of screaming and having to be on my body. Thatcher finally allowed Rowan to cuddle him long enough for me to get the dishes done.

 Through it all Thatcher wore his Batman costumes, alternating back and forth while we washed the other one.

 On day three we set up a toddler wet bar of sorts. He reverted back to the baby sippy cup, but had to pour his own drinks, of course.

 First bite of food in days!



So six of my eight days off Thatcher was a screaming, sad mess. In no way were these days off restful at all, but on to the craziness of the holiday season we go. No one will be surprised to hear that now I am sicker than a dog after a week of no sleep. Through all these debacle Thatcher continued doing phenomenally with potty training, all be it he wasn't peeing much since he wasn't eating or drinking. He told us when he needed to pee and frequently would go an poop all by himself. Miracle of miracles. The second weekend of November, while trying to plan for upcoming Christmas decorating, we decided we'd switch his toddler bed out for the twin bed that was in the office, freeing up the office to house all the playroom toys that will need a new home when the Christmas tree goes up. No one sleeps in our guest room anymore so it seemed like a great time. This meant that within a span of two weeks our two year old went from being in diapers in his crib to being potty trained and in a big boy bed.



This wouldn't be such a huge deal but he is our last baby so this meant the end of all sorts of things in one fail swoop. We moved his changing table dresser into my room, got rid of the changing table top Zach had made, and took the crib down for the first time in almost ten years. My Grandpa sent me money to buy a crib when I found out I was pregnant with Zane. This meant we got to by a nice crib and a matching dresser. I loved it. I wish my bed was a bigger version of the crib. That crib has been moved multiple times and transformed from infant crib, to toddler crib, to toddler bed multiple times. It kept all my little babies safe for a decade. I can't believe we won't ever need it again. Rowan slept in the crib until he was four and we moved into our current house. He was tiny and still fit in the crib, as a toddler bed, just fine. We didn't have another twin bed for him to go into so it worked out perfectly. Our years of baby parenting have been nicely housed in this decade. As we start a new one it feels right to be tying up all the lose end of that phase of life. It feels right, but it also feels so sad to me, but here we go!