Holiday Traditions

Today I am linking up with Neely and Amber for day 2 of the
FABULOUS HOLIDAY BLOG CHALLENGE!

Today's topic is: Favorite Holiday Tradition New or Old

I LOVE the holidays and tradition…so this is fun for me! Blake and Olivia are so young that we have really not developed many traditions YET….but I am really looking forward to starting some with them :)

For the first time this year we are doing Elf on a Shelf! I think that the concept is so fun…and Blake is starting to catch on!! We have a tradition of putting the Christmas decorations up the weekend after Thanksgiving. Blake was a big help this year! I have gotten the kids an ornament for each year….I write their name and the year on it. I think that it will be fun to look back at them all each year. So far Blake only has 3 and Livi 2….but in years to come there will be lots :)!!This is our tree from last year....it seems to have WAY more stuff on it this year!

On Christmas Eve we celebrate with Ryan’s family. His mom is Christmas Crazy so there is lots of chaos and presents….it is fun!Blake opening present at Sander's on Christmas Eve 2010

After spending time with Ryan’s family we go to my parents’ house and spend the night there, so we can wake up there on Christmas morning and spend the day with them! My sister is coming home, so we are really looking forward to that! We always have lots of great food and fun. Mary with little 9 day old Olivia on Christmas Eve 2010

Blake got a "hot rod" from papa last year!!

Playing outside on Christmas day
My parents live on a lake so we can skate and ice fish!

All of these holiday traditions will just get more and more fun as the kids get older (not that I am wishing away the years...just something to look forward to!)

Olivia’s Check-up

We went down to the UofM Children’s Hospital yesterday for another check-up for Olivia. We were hoping that this would be the last one…but it isn’t. That being said, she IS OK! That is all that really matters.

Dr. did another scope to look down at her throat. I have to say that that is one of the most painful things to watch and be a part of. The older she gets, the harder it becomes. She fights us like crazy now. I have to hold her legs between my legs and her arms down at her side. A nurse has to bear hug me from behind and hold her head. The dr. goes in with the scope…and poor Livi just screams the whole time!! The whole process only takes a few minutes, but it is the longest few minutes EVER!!

The doc was very thorough with Livi yesterday, and that makes me feel good. She still breaths very raspy…but he doesn’t think that is because of her larynx or anything in that region anymore. He assumes that it is just congestion.

He looked long and hard at one specific spot at the base of her throat…and he couldn’t really tell what it was. He said that he couldn’t say for sure, but that it MAY be a cyst. It really looked NOTHING like the first one. That one was huge and looked like a balloon about to pop. This spot now is more of just an abnormality. It isn’t big or protruding into her airway. He doesn’t think that there is anything to worry about.

That being said, he want to see her again in 4 months for another scope and to see if anything has changed with the spot. Hopefully it looks the same (or better) then and we are good to go!!
She is SUCH a good baby and I am so proud to take her anywhere with me. Aside from the few minutes during the scope…she was a perfect little angel!!

So Long Fall....

It is so hard for me to believe that today is November 15th. Where is the time going?! NEXT week is Thanksgiving?! That just blows my mind! I feel like it JUST turned to fall...and now it will be winter! We had one day with a few snow flurries, but nothing that stuck around. The weather has been very nice, so maybe that is why it doesn't feel like the holiday time to me yet!
I actually have started some Christmas shopping....thank goodness...because Christmas is only 5.5 weeks away!I am really looking forward to Christmas with Blake this year. He is already so excited about it! We talk about it every day...that and his birthday which is on Dec. 13th!

I am looking forward to starting some holidy traditions with the kids...decorating, baking cookies, looking at Christmas lights, etc. We have so much to look forward to! I am ALSO looking forward to Christmas because my sister will be home! Although I was just in Denver to visit her, I feel like she hasn't been home in forever...and I am SO excited to have her come here :)

These are a few of the pictures from our Fall Photos! I have some more good ones...but I am saving them for holiday gifts, so I want it to be a suprise!

My baby girl is growing up!

Just within the past couple weeks Olivia has changed SO much. She is on a major growth spurt and is learning tons of new things.

She is pulling up on everything and standing for such long periods of time. I think that she is going to be walking in no time.

She has 2 teeth and one more on the way!

She is clapping, waving, and dancing upon request.

She is the sweetest baby girl EVER!!

Fun with Nana

If there is one thing that my kids love..it's their Nana!! My mom came over to babysit on Saturday night while Ryan and I went to a Halloween party. I snapped these pics before we left. Livi was ALL smiles and Blake was so wound up and I couldn't even get him to say goodbye to me.

Livi is happy because her nana is here for a sleepover!! Blake wants to be JUST like his nana. He tries to wear her glasses and thinks that he is really smart with them on. My mom got him a pair of fake glasses to wear instead. He thinks they are real and tells me everything is really BIG when he is wearing them!!
So cute!

We sure are lucky that my mom is around to take care of the kids all of the time! I just know that they will share a special bond with her their whole lives!!

Happy Halloween

We had a fun Halloween yesterday. This is the first year that Blake actually understood the whole trick-or-treating thing, so it was fun to watch him do that! He kept saying "One more house!!"...he got LOTS of candy....and we had lots of fun :)

My little bug....
With cousin Addyson...

Cheese!!!.....

Livi was a trooper and just watched everything happening around her!!

Can't wait til next year...events like this make me excited for them to grow, because I know that it is just going to be more and more fun!!