Christmas #1

This year we hosted the annual Lawler Family Christmas Eve celebration. It was a really fun time with family, although we really missed the Stewarts who were unable to attend because they are awaiting the arrival of the new Stewart baby boy (affectionately referred to as Stewie Stewart by his loving auntie). Check out a few pics from our day.

To prepare for our celebration we made a never-ending supply of frosted Christmas cookies.

The girls. They played so sweetly together.

The boys. They had great fun too.

Great Grandpa Lawler who reads the Christmas story from the Bible every year. It is one of the very best parts of Christmas Eve.

Visiting Santa...

Some people were really happy to see Santa and put in their requests and other people were not that happy...

O Christmas Tree!

We had a lovely Christmas tree this year. It was the perfect height and shape and had just the right amount of spacing between its' branches! It did come with some visitors (tiny spiders) that we are glad to be rid of now, but it was a spectacular tree. It should be noted however, that we do not have a fancy tree. WE have a story tree because each and every ornament has a story - when it was received, what it meant, who made it or gave it and whose favorite it is. Our tree is a mish mash of old and new, tacky and treasured and I love it. Here are some pics...

My new ornament. I am mildly obsessed with Jonathan Adler and this ornament is part of his menagerie collection. LOVE IT!

Alex's new ornament this year. GO DUCKS!

Isaac's new ornament. Like father, like son.

Jackson's. I love a good sock monkey!

Reiley picked her own this year and this ornament is all Reiley!

Here is one of my faves from Christmases past. This was Isaac's ornament when he was one. He has been played with and has a missing ear, but he is so sweet.

This is George Washington who always graces the back of our tree. Who knows why, but Alex LOVES him. I think he is holding a little holly in his hand, so I guess that makes him Christmasy.

Lest you think all the tacky ornaments belong to Alex, here is one from my childhood. What does a clown with really bad hair have to do with Christmas you ask? I HAVE NO IDEA, but every year there he is on the back of the tree.

The Crazy Days of Christmas!

These have been some crazy days at our house. I got an early jump on the Christmas shopping BEFORE Thanksgiving. Then I got all proud of myself about how far ahead of the game I was so I didn't do anything else for A LONG TIME and then I was totally behind... And then Isaac got walking pneumonia and I got the cold that won't go away and the baby cut his eye teeth! All I can say is thank goodness for online shopping, rush shipping (although it is painful to pay for it) and the housekeepers that come and really deep clean my house twice a month.

Even though it has been crazy, we have had some really good times this holiday season. Alex and I went to a few Christmas parties with friends and co-workers and we celebrated the one year anniversary of his company, WBI. We also enjoyed Reiley's Winter Dance Showcase! Those little girls are so darned cute. Check out the pics below. A few nights ago, we all got into comfy clothes and Christmas jammies, picked up a warm drink at Starbucks and drove around for over an hour looking at Christmas lights. This is one of our kids' favorite things to do. It was funny this year, because we had a couple of little light critics in the backseat. "Those are beautiful." "This house did a really good job." and "What no lights, don't you love Jesus? Aren't you going to celebrate Christmas?" and other random comments from my daughter who never fails to have an opinion and always makes her opinion known! I am so glad she associates EVERYTHING at Christmas with the birth of Jesus, but questioning people's love for Jesus based on their light display is a little off-base. We may have some fine tuning to do.

But, despite all the chaos and the busy-ness, we are having a fantastic Christmas season remembering that Jesus is the reason, loving our kids, loving our life and rolling with the punches.

Winter showcase- Reiley's ballet class

Isaac's classroom party!

This is how Jackson feels about Christmas shopping with mommy...

Reiley's classroom party!

Kicking and Screaming

So this is the way the conversation with Reiley went...

Reiley: Mom, does dad ever carry you up the stairs at night, like when you're really tired?

Me: (Laughing at the mental picture of that) Nope, I just walk up.

Alex: I only carried her like that after our wedding.

Reiley: Was she screaming?

Me: Yep... kicking and screaming...

We laughed till we almost cried. That kid is funny even when she isn't trying!

Thankful

Thankful doesn't even begin to cover it....

Some weeks are better than others...

And this week was not one of the better ones.... In an effort to document reality, here is what our week looked like:

Jackson loudly and with much drool and dissatisfaction welcomed a new tooth into his tiny mouth.

Isaac ran a high mystery fever for several days. After missing several days of school, I hauled him to the pediatricians' office just in time for the fever to disappear entirely. He proclaimed to the doctor, "I feel fine, I was hot but I'm not anymore and I have no idea why my mom is so worried or why I'm here." Thanks buddy...

While helping Reiley shampoo her hair, I was horrified to see a ping-pong ball sized bulge on her groin. Reiley had no clue what I was talking about and in response to my "HOW LONG HAS THAT THING BEEN THERE???", said only "Oh, that... I don't know." After some panicking and googling on my part, I guessed that I was looking at a hernia. So, off to the pediatrician and guess what...My 6 year old daughter has a HERNIA. Now, I know this is not a medical oddity or an emergency, but it will have to be surgically repaired and I am not thrilled about general anesthesia or any type of surgery for my 6 year old. Reiley is also NOT thrilled about the prospect of surgery and in between her yelling "you can't make me" and the ever popular "IT'S NOT FAIR!" I tried to reassure her that the doctor would not, in fact, "CUT HER IN HALF." That girl is nothing if not dramatic. So, sometime in the not near future, when a surgeon finally has an appointment open up, Reiley will have to have surgery. In the meantime, we are managing the newest member of the hypochondriac club. I am a platinum, lifetime member but would prefer it if my daughter NOT join the ranks of this particular club.

And to top it all off, the cat has started pottying outside of his litter box AGAIN. Tucker, our wonderful kitty is 16 years old and is experiencing dementia... He had a several weeks-long episode about a month ago where he pottied all over the laundry room (thank goodness for hard surfaces and bleach) and forgot to eat or drink for a week. This kitty is reaching the end of his life and the decision to part ways with our long-time friend is proving to be harder that we ever could have imagined....

Good times this week. Bet you're glad you're not me!

Just an additional note... if you google "crazy mom cartoon" (to get the picture at the top of this post) you get a frightening number of pictures of the octomom... heeheehee.