December where did you go???

Well hold on to your hats this is going to be a long one. I have my calender out and am ready to fill you all in on all the happenings with the Harper Household this busy month of December. We started out the season going great, I had almost all my shopping done and all house was decorated by very early in the month. Then the 1st slight glitch Austin came down with the stomach bug the over the 1st weekend. We had a ABF (Sunday school) party that Friday night and since Austin was at the early stages of the bug I thought it was just teething and so we went. We had a nice night getting to visit with other adults with no kids around. On Saturday Allie and I went to a mother daughter tea party at Nieman Marcus that her friend Claire and her mom do every year. It was so nice and there was a ton of food. (sorry all my pics have other kids in them so I do not want to post them without there parents OK). They typically have the tea at their house but they are trying to sell theirs, and so we could not do it there. From there we made a quick stop at Target for Pedialyte for Austin and then home because we were having a party at our place that night.

Every year before Christmas we have a party with 3 other couples and their kids and we rotate houses. These girls are some of my closest friends, we all worked together at our 1st job out of school and have stayed close over the past 10 years. This year was our turn, so with the adults and kids we had 8 adults and 7 kids ranging in age from 51/2 (Allie is the oldest) to 11 months, so alot of kids pretty close in age at our house that night. Since it was our turn to host we also did the meal and then everyone else brings the desserts. We also do a gift exchange for the kids (we draw names since we all have so many, it's just to much to buy for all) and a gift steal for the adults. It was so much fun, a little crazy when all the kids started running around but ton's of fun. Allie got an easy bake oven and Austin got a fridge farm, a shirt and balls. They both have had a ton of fun playing with their stuff since then. I am so glad us girls are all able to still hang out and our husbands and kids have gotten to be friends also.

Since we were up late that night we decided to sleep in and then take the kids to see Santa. You have seen the official pic but here are a few that we took. On the weekends at this place they have real reindeer and they were so pretty and soft, I just had to include a picture of Blitzen. Also I just loved the outfits my mom got for the kids this year. Allie's had a Santa in his sleigh and the reindeer and Austin's had 3 reindeer faces on it, so they were not identical but very similar.

Austin was still sick on the following Monday so Heath stayed home with him and then back to the sitters after that. Just when i thought he was getting better on Wednesday he had another flare up . Then on Thursday I was supposed to help out at Allie's school, I had already talked to the Dr and they said I did not need to bring him in but just to watch him closely. Then when I got home I mentioned to my mom that Austin's toe had been really red that morning, well, I went to show her and it was not only red, but swollen all over the bottom , so off to the Dr, we go. They found blisters and had to put him on antibiotics and send off a sample to the lab, which meant we could have the stomach issues back, thankfully that did not happen and the lab results did not show anything so i have not idea what was going on, but it cleared up on it's own. That weekend, we had family movie night on Friday and watched Elf. We all just love that movie it is so funny. On Saturday we ran a few errands and then that afternoon went to Six Flags holiday in the park with another family. It was really nice out and Allie and the other kids had so much fun. This was the 1st time we had taken Allie to six Flags and we will have to do it again this summer, she loved it. She road all the rides in the kid area and even a few of the big rides she was tall enough for. We also all went down the snow hill. We had to wait about an hour to go down this hill for 30 seconds but the kids really enjoyed it. I unfortunately only got a few pictures and my friend Michele got the rest and they are on her camera. I will try and add some when I get them. The next morning Allie sang with choir a couple of Christmas songs in church and then that afternoon we had our church's annual outreach event called 3 Trees. This is a huge event where we have families come in and the church has games and activities for the kids while the parents get to collect a payless gift card and toy for each child plus they get either a Target or Walmart gift card for food. Heath and I served as host's again and this year we had a single mom with one little girl, so it was a pretty easy time (last year our couple spoke very little English so it was difficult). All of this made for a very busy weekend but we all enjoyed the family time.

That week was my last work week for the year so I was super busy with work, making Christmas goodies, wrapping presents, and going to parties. On Friday (the 19th in case I have confused or lost you) was Allie's last day of school and they had her class party. I went to that and really enjoyed seeing the kids interact and her teacher did a cute video show from the first 1/2 of the year. As soon as it was over we got the car loaded up and headed to Arkansas for our Christmas with Heath's mom and grandmother. This is typically about a 4 hr drive but I-30 was shut down just outside of town and by the time we got past it we had already been in the car over 2 hours (it should have been 45 min.max) The rest of the drive went OK and we did not stop for food or potty breaks. The kids napped and watched a movie. Right as we were exiting the highway about 5 minuted from their house I hear throwing up in the back seat. I turn around and see him doing it again. So we called Heath's mom and told her to get the towels ready because it was ALL over him, his seat, and even managed to run down under the car seat and onto the actual car. We thought he might have just been car sick since this was his longest drive without stopping but as soon as he ate he was sick again. Over the next few days he started running a fever, got a runny nose and started coughing.

For any of you that know my son you have probably hear the stories of him not sleeping in his pack and play but thankfully he did pretty good overall this time until the last day until he was sick and could not breath at night. The last night was pretty rough but otherwise he slept good which was a HUGE relief. We had a great time visiting with family and we got a ton of great things, including a gift card for me to get scrapbooking stuff.

As you can see the kids got some great stuff and we had a really nice time, the only down part was Austin kept feeling worse and would not let anyone but mommy hold him, so we do not have any pics of him with Heath's mom or grandmother. Our drive back on Monday afternoon was uneventful (thank you Jesus) and it was time to get ready for Christmas. I took him back to the Dr. on Tuesday but our regular DR was out so we had to see the fill in one and he said he just had a really bad cold, and there was really not much we could do.

On Tuesday we did dinner and Christmas with Heath's dad, and then Allie and I went over to my sisters for a girls night with my mom, grandmother, aunt and cousin.

My grandmother came in on Monday and my brother got here on Wednesday just in time for us to go to Christmas eve service. Considering how much snow Seattle has had lately and the fact that that morning another plane had to be evacuated we were pleasantly surprised that he was only 2 hours late. After church we all came back to our place and my aunt, uncle and cousin all came over and we had soups and played games, so I could get Austin to bed at a decent time. We played a Christmas Carole charades, then around 11 everyone left so Santa could come. I do have to mention a few really cute things Allie said that night, first Heath asked her if she wanted to go outside and look for Santa before bed and she would not go outside, she was sure if she saw him he would not come to our house. Then before bed we called the Santa hotline so we could find out where he was and when it said he was coming soon and that she needed to get to bed, she almost tripped and fell she was running so hard to get to her room.

On Christmas morning we got up around 7:30 and Angie came over to watch the kids find their Santa gifts. Austin was still sick so he was not really into it at first but perked up later that day. Allie's big gift was a doll house that folds up and Austin's was this indoor slide/play center. It was a great to see them excited to open their stuff. They both are so cute to see the new toys and Allie was so happy to find that Santa had brought she and Austin both new slippers (this was the only thing she asked him for). As you can see Santa likes to do things big at our place. So between Santa, a few things from Heath and I, my family and Heath's we have way more stuff than any of us needs.

After we did presents we went over to my parents house and had brunch. Then Austin napped and we did stockings and started to open presents. We do things the slow way in our house where everyone watches as 1 person opens and then on to the next person so by the time Austin got up we were about 1/2 they way through. I still have more pictures but my mom took them with her camera, so i will have to add them later.

As you can see it has been a very busy month for us, there has been a few other things we have done, like going to see the King Tut exhibit at the DMA, reading a new book etc, but it has also been a great one filled with lots of family time and LOTS and LOTS of love. God has blessed us so much this year and it is my prayer that be can bring glory to him through our actions.