Christmas 2013

I never get good pictures of Christmas.  They are always of washed out, unshowered people sitting in piles of what appears to be trash.  Probably blinking.  Always.  But we did have a good day.  Quiet, at home, just the five of us.  We had cinnamon rolls and a venison roast per our holiday tradition.  There were Legos and baby doll strollers and lots of chocolate.  And I give you this, the best of the bunch.  Where two out of three changed out of their pajamas at least:

Toddlers & Elbows

In early December, I added another weird medical condition to my repertoire, one that only a kid can bless you with.  I was shopping with Cedar, and she decided the floor of the mall (mall being a subjective term in Juneau) was a good place to lay down.  She was goofing off and rolling along when I decided we really had to go.  I gave her my hand to help her up, and halfway there she did that awesome toddler dead weight sack of potatoes thing.  I heard a little pop, and there was crying.  It was an action with such little force that I just couldn't believe it was an actual injury.  We got in the car, and there was more crying.  We picked Molly up from a friend's house, more crying.  We finally got home, and I realized that she wouldn't use the arm, not even to grab some coveted chocolate.  She was also pretty pathetic, and I felt horrible.

One trip to the ER later, and there it was: nursemaid's elbow.  I guess it is pretty common with kids this little, as it doesn't take much to dislocate the arm right there.

They popped it right back in, and five minutes later she was good as new and spoiled rotten by the hospital staff.

They told me when I left that once this happens, it can happen again very easily.  So I've been paying close attention to not grabbing her arms or hands.  And then the night of Porter's birthday party a couple of weeks later, she was playing with Bryce, and out it popped again.  Same pathetic scene.  I had my coat on to make another ER trip, when we thought maybe we'd try looking it up first.  Two YouTube videos later, and Bryce popped it right back in himself.  It's actually very easy, although not very fun.  Here's to hoping she grows out of it soon!

The Thanksgiving Report

Thanksgiving, how I forgot ye already.  We slaughtered the turkey, thank goodness, as I was starting to feel kind of sorry for it and its best friend the mirror.  Turned out to be not too difficult (at least from what I could see behind the sliding glass door while Bryce did it).  The kids were a little sad, but not for long.  They knew what the turkey was for, and the girls were kind of scared of it in the end (turkeys get as big as toddlers).  She was 25 pounds cleaned, and made a magnificent feast.

My parents and sister's family came for the long weekend, so we had a full house.  Kids ran wild and much food was consumed.  We had plans to hire a professional photographer to get a picture of all eleven of us, but delayed flights and bad weather made sure that didn't happen.  So instead we got this slightly awkward (note to self, don't put the guys behind the couch) family photo without my mom.  Some day, right?

As a side note, it just took me 24 hours and the installation of google chrome to get this dang picture to show up.  I know I'll be glad to have this record of our life twenty years from now, but occasionally it just feels like a huge time suck during which the girls stare blankly at the iPad.  Moving on.

Happy Birthday Porter

January 6.  I'm a little late.  School has started again, and the seemingly month long binge of meat and cake and no exercise or discernible sleep habits is finally over!  I think I have a near toxic accumulation of sugar and booze working its way out of my system, but good times were had for sure.  So this begins my week of catch up blog posts.  And there is a lot to catch up on.  First things first:

Porter turned eight years old.  It seems fitting and crazy at the same time, and I am so grateful for where he is in his life.  It doesn't feel like that long ago where I was worried about potty training and preschool, and now he is so independent and smart and big.  I took the kids to the library the other day and while I was chasing the girls around and trying to find them books, Porter was nowhere to be seen.  But it wasn't a big deal!  I knew he didn't wander off into traffic or get lost.  He knows how to use the computer and read and find the books he's interested in.  And eventually he came back with a big stack and checked them out with his own library card.  And I saw the future!  Where I wasn't constantly checking diapers and counting heads and yelling at someone to use their inside voice.  And I just had to give him a hug.

So happy birthday Porter man.  We love you more and more every single day.

A big thanks to Mikaela for the awesome picture, and to the best group of boys ever for making Porter's birthday party so much fun.  And yes, that is a Skylanders portal of power birthday cake yo.


This has also been a season of babies amongst my friends far and wide.  Big congratulations to Lise and Emily, I am so excited for your new adventures!  And Mary, we are waiting on news any day.  Good luck girl!

And Happy New Year to all.