Christmas tree and such

Sophia has always enjoyed helping to decorate the house and trees for Christmas. Here she is helping un-roll the lights to allow Justin to place them on the tree.



Miles was excited that he was allowed to help this year.

Sophia took the time to unwrap all the ornaments.

Miles took the time to review all the ornaments, especially the angel.

Miles attempted to string the lights on the tree as well, with less luck.

Firetrucks galore!!!

While in IL, we had the priveledge to visit the local firehouse. My friends son is a volunteer firehouse chief. He invited us to the firehouse on Thanksgiving day to see the truck. This was a GREAT experience for all the 'kids'.

They both LOVED driving the big trucks.

Thanksgiving

Over Thanksgiving, we traveled to IL to visit with Justin's parents. Sophia and Miles took the time to make the pumpkin pie for the big day. Everyone had a turn stirring the pie mix.

Back to himself

Yesterday Miles had new ear tubes placed. Unlike any other trip to Childrens Hospital, we were only there for 2 1/2 hours. It was actually an in and out procedure. Miles did great and we got to see some of our Cardiology Dr.'s. Everyone felt that he looked great. We are glad to be home, watching Laurie Berkner DVD's, eating donuts and recovering. He is getting closer to his usual self, not fully there yet, but i assume by tomorrow, there will be no stopping him.

Taking a Christmas card picture.....

is never actually easy. Here, Sophia and Miles are dressed to get a "formal" picture taken at the local photo studio.

Here they are practicing their yoga doing 'downward dog'
Tried to get situated sitting next to each other.

A little TOO happy and squeezing each other TOO hard.

Not quite the best smiles,

We are getting closer.....

and finally, the best picture for our card this year.

Ear tubes please

we are now officially scheduled for sometime in the morning of Dec. 17th. Wish us luck.

Wedding Photos

Our great friends, Kevin and Margie, finally got married after only 9 years. Here the kids are all dressed up for the wedding.

Miles looks very handsome in his jacket, vest and tie. Let me just tell you that it is hard to actually tie a tie for a 2 y/o. the longer part of the tie was tucked into his pants.

Miles completely enjoyed the ice cream bar at the end of the night!!

Waiting for the ceremony to begin, Miles and G.G. sit together.

A few days before the wedding, we had to practice to make sure that everything would work together and fit.

We tried to decide about wearing the tie with the vest or without.

Look at the little Republican.

Ear tubes anyone???

Miles already has ear tubes, but they became dislodged and blocked. Therefore, he is in need of new ear tubes. We can only hope that it goes better than last Jan when he was scheduled for tubes, cath, and bronch, only got the tubes because he was too sick for the rest and then ended up getting admitted for observation because he would not bring his o2 sats above 90%. I mean really, getting admitted for ear tubes, that is an in and out procedure. Right now, we are scheduled for the 20th of jan, but it might need to be sooner. we will know more tomorrow

Halloween Pictures

A few days before halloween night, we decided to carve the pumpkin. Sophia was a pro at this, since she had worked with many pumpkins in the past. However, Miles had never experienced "carving" a pumpkin. He was happy to have his picture take with the pumpkin, but did not enjoy actually reaching in and getting the 'guts' out.

The weather was actually great for being late Oct. in OH. Our kids did not have to add any extra warmth to their outfits. Our little pirate, decided that he would sit on the curb before getting too tired. We had not even made it to ONE house yet. But he looked so cute, i had to take his picture.

Sophia was showing Miles the ropes on how to go to the house and ring the bell.

The before pictures were so funny. Miles did not know what he was about to do, but he was excited no matter what!!!

Getting ready for the evening, he decided to study the pumpkins.

and this little pirate starting eating before we even left the house.

He continued to check out the pumpkin (not lit of course), even closer!

he was happy to get to go out with sister.

then he learned that they would be getting CANDY!!!

By the end of the night, he was a pretty happy kid! The mustache had started to wear off.

At a pre-halloween party, Miles wanted to be THomas the Train. He did not wear Thomas outfit for actual trick or treating because it seemed to drag in the front and trip him up. Not worth it when there is CANDY at stake.

And here the kids were trying to decide what to be, SpiderMan.

Or SpiderGirl.

q

my fun job....

If I had the opportunity to have a FUN job, more fun that the one I actually work in, I would love to be
1. personal shopper. The idea is that I would find out what people want to pay, find it at a better price, keep the difference and charge a shopping fee. That would combine 2 great hobbies, shopping and bargaining.
2. work on personal photo albums for people. I always love designing my family photo albums on www.mypublisher.com each year. They are fun to put together and re-arrange.

so if you need any ideas or help with Christmas shopping, just let me know

and what would your FUN JOB be????

and we are back.

I was expecting to work on the blog while we were in IL, but I did not get my pictures uploaded before we left, so that did not happen. Here are just a few miscellaneous shots for your viewing pleasure.

Miles was so EXCITED to "DRIVE" the big truck that my parents brought back from IL with all my grandmother stuff in it.

Miles is looking very dapper in his button up PJ's.

Miles needed to be told to smile and show his teeth for this family picture.

And so he did. I love when he smiles that big.

So busy.....

So much has happened since my last post on Oct 22nd. I am hoping to catch up on my postings over thanksgiving week while we are visiting family. So this is why i have not posted and been so busy.

Oct 29th: new niece born, Lily Grace
Oct 31st: Halloween pictures
Nov 1st: Al Boyll- Justin's grandfather passed away.
Nov. 3rd: finished Christmas gifts for parents.
Nov 4th: election and kids were out of school.
and new kids pictures were taken, and swim lessons began.
Nov 5th: Kevin and Margie made it in for the wedding activities
Nov. 6th-7: helping margie with wedding stuff
Nov. 8th: Wedding
Nov. 9th: Pig Roast at our house. Great party with lots of friends.
Nov. 10th: my parents went to IL to pick up my Grandma to come to OH to live.
Nov. 11th: Veteran's Day, more swim lessons
Nov. 13th: all kids at school/daycare and full-day work. Parent made it back with grandma.
Nov. 14th: Moved grandma into her new apartment
Nov. 15th: 8 hours of home projects, but the house looks great.
Nov. 16th: b-day party for one of Sophia's friends
Nov 17-19: working on getting things moved around a grandma's apt and buying needed items since she moved from a 3 bedroom house into a 1 bedroom apt, needed many organizational items. Also there were many trips to goodwill to give away what she did not need.
Nov. 19th: Beat Michigan pep rally at work, Miles really enjoyed it!
Nov 20th-21: working 10 hours
Nov 21st: Taking the kids to see "when elmo grows up" on stage. Should be fun
Nov. 22nd: OSU vs Michigan game

and we are leaving for IL on Nov. 25 for a few days. So, hopefully i will be able to highlight the best parts of my busy last month. Thanks for your patience.

writing

Sophia has really taken to writing about everything. She is having a great time drawing pictures and then writing the details about the picture. This is something that she does in school daily. Today, she was dressed, had breakfast and it was not time to go yet, so she got out a dry erase board and began to draw. Then she asked me for help to spell something. The picture was of a princess and a witch. The caption, "Please don't take me witch."

I am thinking it is from the Jack and Annie books that she reads at school, or she has a very creative mind.

waiting

two years ago today, we sat, family and friends that are like family in the surgical waiting room of Children's Hospital. We were waiting to hear that your open heart reconstruction surgery went well, that you would be okay and our lives could move forward. Today, we celebrate all that you are and all that you will be. You are a miracle.

Thomas the Train

Miles has recently experienced Thomas the train. He loves looking at the Thomas books and looking for all of Thomas' friends. In one of his books is a train called Cranky. Miles has decided to point at the picture of Cranky and then point at his dad and continue to repeat, "Cranky, Cranky" until his dad acknowledges the fact that he is saying Cranky.

Justin thought that I taught Miles this one. I did not teach him this, however, i would not be surprised if Sophia taught Miles.

the roller coaster of 2006

2 years ago today, oct. 6th, we found out that you had truncus arteriosis. There were many signs that we were able to deny, attempting to believe that you were healthy. As your mom, it broke my heart to think that you were not healthy and whole. Yes, you had all of your fingers and toes, but it was your heart that was broken.

I cried while we were at the cardiologist, knowing deep down that something was wrong. The echo brought more tears while the technician began to label the parts of your heart, this is never a good sign. You were just so peaceful and innocent. your doctors told us the worst news, "your son has a very rare heart defect. Only 1-2% of the population is affected by this heart defect. " and then the best news, "but it is treatable." At that is when the roller coaster began. We were wisked away to Children's Hospital to meet too many people. Even thought it was a Friday, everyone that needed to see us, i.e. doctors, surgeons, chaplins, nurses, social workers, discharge planners were all there. It was all such a whirlwind and we hoped that it was all just a bad dream. But it was not a bad dream, it was real and it was OUR life. I pray that you never remember all that happened to you when you were just 5 days old. All the needle, monitors, tests, etc that you had to deal with. It was hard to protect you and keep you away from pain, but it all needed to be done, so that you would be here with us today. As a happy and healthy young made. The roller coaster has made you a very special boy and has made us as a family and all of our friends, and extended family even stronger. You have helped us to know of friends that we did not know that we had and found a common bond with many. I would not trade this roller coaster life with anyone, but i am glad that the roller coaster portion is slowing down.

Happy Birthday Miles!!

Miles, today you are 2. You are a very smart cookie that has turned our life upside down. You came into this world a little early and decided to make life really interesting for us 5 days after being born. We would not change a thing!! you have brought so much change (in a good way) to our family and so many more. You keep us laughing at your humor ("beat you") and keeps us on our toes with all of your new words and using them correctly. You are our miracle kids!!!
Happy 2nd Birthday--- love
mom, dad and fia

C-R-A-B-B-Y

Miles is working on pronunciation of many new words. He will often repeat himself until you repeat it back to him. He wants to make sure you understand and know EXACTLY what he is thinking.

Last night he looked at me and said very clearly, CRABBY PRINCESS.

I think that he was talking about Sophia, because then he just started laughing.

He has also started to run ahead of you and stop on a dime and say, "Beat You".

His words are just great. My mom's favorite is JAMBALAYA. Miles loves her jambalaya and continues to want more.

He is definately turning into a fearless 2 year old boy. Loves to jump, run, play in dirt, chase bugs, climb, hide, chase sister, and play jokes. This kid will definately keep us busy!!

145 hours of darkness

Yes, we were without power for 145 hours, which is 8700 minutes, which is also 522,000 seconds. This happened on Sunday afternoon. I had taken the kids to a birthday party at the park and the winds were pretty crazy, even then. What had happened was that 2 weather systems collided, Hurricane Ike and a cold front coming down from Canada. This did not turn out well for anyone that lived in columbus, ohio. Most people that I know, lost power for a long time.



What we did:

1. went to be early without any guilt (9:00 p.m. to be exact.)

2. slept in late because it is hard to get ready without power (7:00 a.m. - wow 10 hours a night for 6 nights!)

3. had slumber parties in Sophia's room

4. got a lot of outside work done, including staining our fence.

5. drank a bottle of champainge at 4:00 on a Thursday, because it was going to go bad.



what we missed:

1. just watching even a little tv.

2. some extra noise in the house

3. cold food and drinks in the morning, we lost everything.

4. Sophia missed 3 days of school since the school had no power. Only 2 more calamity days left.



what we now have:

1. a new appreciation for those who have gone thru hurricanes

2. a very clean fridge and freezer (both upstairs and downstairs)

3. empty fridges that need filled

4. knowing that we never want to live in an Amish community

Getting taller

This morning, Sophia woke me up due to the thunder and lightening. I crawled into her bed and we just talked. She was really excited to be awake. We just talked about stuff and she said "When you go to work next, I bet people notice that you have gotten taller."

I was a little confused, so I asked her what she meant. She told me, " Your older now, so you are taller too."

Yesterday was my 31st b-day. We have continued to tell her that she looks taller now that she is older. I guess she thinks it works for everyone.