Decorating For Christmas!

Yes... I said Decorating for Christmas.... My husband is Crazy!!

I wanted this to be the first picture because for me this is what Christmas is all about :)

Followed by some of my blessings... Alyssa thought since my mom called them "socks" she should put them on her feet... Afterall that is where socks go :) She is also sporting a Santa hat I made in high school :)

 Brittany noticed we were laughing at Alyssa and wanted to get in on the fun :)

 Kaitlyn never to be outdone had to start acting silly..... 

 Brittany wanted to be an over achiever and was in my face begging for me to take more pictures!

 We were reading Yes, Virginia there is a Santa Claus (one of my favorite books)

 Meanwhile Daddy was working.... He is the Christmas lover in our home... We all love Christmas, but he LOVESSSS it!!!!

 Poppy just laughing at all the girls!

Meanwhile Grandma is sneaking in extra snuggles :)

 All of our stockings hung by the Chimney with care!

                           Before                                                                     After

 Not really any great pics because it was after bedtime and they were acting up quite a bit, but I think they are gorgeous anyways.... Also The girls always choose their own PJs so I do not take any responsibility for that part :) 

 All in all it was a great time spent loving and laughing.... Only one thing could have made it better.... If my entire family could be here for Christmas this year. Hoping to have our boy home before we decorate next year. All night my girls kept trying to hang up a stocking for him and find an ornament for him.... It was sooooo cute! (visit my adoption blog to see some super cute necklaces to buy ... http://adoptutah.blogspot.com/)

A sick week for Alyssa

If this picture doesn't make you sad..... I don't know what will...... notice the tear.

I think that picture pretty much sums up how Alyssa has felt the last few days.

She woke up Wednesday night/ Thursday Morning at midnight. She has thrown up everywhere. So, I went to pick her up to put her in the bath. When I picked her up she was burning up.... Super high fever :( 

The bath was still necessary, so I tried to make it not too hot but not too cold..... After a few minutes she was shaking soooo bad. I grabbed her out of there and she had some snuggle time with daddy. She would not take any meds to get her fever down :( We finally tricked her by putting it in my mom's pepsi.

At around 2 am this mom headed up for bed knowing that I would be woken up by my other 2 angels in about 4-5 hours....... Poppy and Grandma sat up with Alyssa.... She did not go back to bed until after 7 am :(

I took her to the doctor Thursday night at 8:40. They said she had an ear infection and a sore throat. I mentioned that she usually gets croup this time of year, and they told me to come back if she got it. They sent us on our way with some antibiotics and some meds for our breathing machine....

She refused the meds despite the best efforts of 4 adults.....

She went to bed around 11:30 p.m. which I was thankful for because I was exhausted.... Around 2 am, I knew..... I heard the barking coming from the other room. Since we don't have a dog, I knew the barky croup cough had made it's appearance. She was miserable ALL day. She wouldn't take her meds, wouldn't eat, wouldn't drink.... All she did was cry and drool :(

At 5:40 p.m. we went back to the doctor.... After much debate they decided to give her 3 shots...... 1 steroid and 2 antibiotics.... Since she has a tricky blood disorder, they do not like to play around with her being sick!

The picture above was taken after 2 nurses came in and gave her 2 shots at the same time....

She kept saying that was not nice, they gave me 2 at a time. She NEVER cries for shots. I think the tears were because they ganged up on her :)

Please pray she will be better soon.... Croup and RSV are our worst enemies this time of year.... This is her 8th (I think) time with croup and she has had RSV 4 times (I think.... it becomes hard to keep track)

Trick & Trunk or Treating & more!

My little lady bug.... Alyssa age 2

 Beautiful Snow White..... Brittany age 5

 Our Scary Vampire.... Kaitlyn age 6

 All the cousins on Kev's side... Emily, Ian, Kaitlyn, Mikayla, Sarabeth, Brittany, Alyssa, and Gabriel.

 Our 2 little lady bugs.... Mikayla (6 days) & Alyssa (2 years)

 Trick or Treating at Silly Grandma and Grandpa's in Vegas!!

 A cool costume at Mom and Dad's trunk or treat.... He was at least 8 feet tall (on stilts).

 Maamo, paapo, silly Grandpa and Aunt Veronica

 One of the cool decorated trunks

 Some of the kids trunk or treating.

 My girls in Grandpa's trunk!

 SB, Ian and Em in Grandpa's trunk

 Maamo and some of the kids!

 Alyssa with her pumpkins

 Brittany with her pumpkins

 Isn't she the cutest lady bug ever!

 A beautiful Snow White!

 Kaitlyn with her pumpins

 My 3 angels and their pumpkins!

 A mean vampire :)

 Trick or treating at our Local Walmart with Poppy and Grandma

 Trick or treating at the mall

 All of this was in the back of a truck at the Trunk or Treat for Troy and Veronica's ward.

 Then on to our neighborhood trick or treating..... Daddy was off work and wanted to visit a few of our neighbors.... This is when Alyssa really started getting the hang of trick or treating.... no more stroller for that girl. She was dragging us from house to house. She would run up to the door and knock. Then she would proudly say Trick or Treat when they would open the door. Quite the shock since she is normally quite timid around strangers. I think she liked the idea of only having to say 3 words and getting a treat :)

 Just to prove I was there too :)

 Trick or treating to Grandma :)

 Alyssa dancing when we got home.... I think the sugar was starting to kick in :)

 Kaitlyn's stash

 Alyssa's stash

 Brittany's stash

 I think I am going to need a bigger table next year when we have our sweet boy home too....

If you want to leave him a trick or treat surprise please visit our chip in and donate even $1 :)

 Our kids got everything from: popcorn, otter pops, play dough, crayons, free frostys, goody bags, silly bands, full size candy bars, stickers, and sooo much more. The most important thing they got was some fun time with family and friends!!! 

I'll borrow this from a friend: Goal of today: not to eat all of the kids candy :)