Friday, January 02, 2009

I'm Back!

What a holiday season this has been!

Christmas was good... it would have been better if Dad and Stacie were here but such is life. Speaking of which... Dad is doing better. If you have been reading my blog for a while you will remember Maverick... a lovely Shiba Inu with an attitude all his own. Dad was walking Mav and slipped on some wet grass on a hill. One leg went one way and the other stayed behind... turns out the one that stayed behind lived to regret its decision. In a split moment Dad shattered his ankle, broke his tibia and fibula and completely tore a tendon that holds the 2 together.

Everyone cringing?

He had emergency surgery the day it happened because the doctors were concerned that it wasn't setting correctly. Dad now sports a bionic foot, complete with metal plates and screws, encased in a fantastic plaster cast. A cast which will be on for the next 3 months. I can't imagine going from training for the Livestrong Challenge to completely sedentary... it's like taking 2 steps forward and being tossed back 5. Dad is taking it in stride though... he has already made some brief trips out of the apartment (in a wheelchair right now) and if anyone can handle this, he can. Nevertheless, if you feel so inclined, please keep him and Stacie in your prayers!

Christmas morning was a blast! As soon as Chase realized that he was allowed to rip the paper, it was a frenzy! He got a sled, snowsuit, clothes and a big ole Lego truck from Grandma and Grandpa... a Radio Flyer wagon, alphabet blocks, stacking toys and Google swag from Grandpa and Aunt Stacie... and a pop up sports tent, clothes, shoes, and a musical guitar from Adam and I. He also got clothes, more toys and an interactive pony from Kare Kare and a singing cookie jar from Aunt Mary and Uncle Dave. Chase definitely made out like a bandit!

I was very lucky this year... my dad got me a negative scanner so now I can work on digitizing all my negatives... especially my wedding ones. I have been wanting to do this for years now! Yay for a new project!

I also received a very thoughtful gift from my MIL. She knew how much I wanted to make my blog into a book form... it's been on my mind for a very long time. She took the time to copy each post, the comments, the pictures and the screenshots of the video and put it all into a Word doc... then printed it all out on a heavy card stock and put it in book form for me! She got through 06 and 07! Here I am with my books...



Dad and Stacie wanted to be sure their east coast family were sporting the Google paraphernalia...




On New Years Eve we (MIL, FIL, Adam and I) played our traditional game of Texas Hold'em. This is a photo of a rare occurrence. I went up against Adam and won! Called all in and he folded! Score one for wifey!


Here is Chase enjoying New Years Eve! Adrienne... this is the only picture I can get of Chase at midnight... a picture of the video monitor ;~)


Chase rides in style.


Chase enjoying his sports tent... NBA scouts, feel free to leave your contact information in a comment.


One of the most used gifts has been the Radio Flyer wagon (which was a popular gift... Lilyanna was sportin' a new RF wagon this year as well!)

Even though it was cold on New Years day we decided to bundle Chase up and take a walk around the neighborhood. Chase was totally decked out in his snowsuit, new mittens, Adirondack slippers (they are warmer than any shoe out there!) and ski hat. What happened next will surely be told many times in our family history... enjoy!


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The past few days have been good... well, I am kind of lying. They have been good insomuch as Chase has been fighting napping with all his might. We actually had gotten to a place where he was napping for 2-2.5 hours. That lasted about 2 weeks (I was too afraid to mention it here for fear of jinxing it). The past few days he has basically had no nap at all which really throws me off course... to say the least. Let's just say that sometimes I think it might be less painful to ram my head into a brick wall then deal with a baby who has not napped. Not only is he not napping but he has discovered the tantrum. Oh how I hate the tantrum. My nice sweet boy has now learned to scream so loud and dramatically throw (albeit carefully) to the floor. He hasn't had the full out kicking and screaming tantrum but I fear it is on it's way. He also smacks when he doesn't get his way... me, daddy, the dog, the table, whatever is in front of him. He actually smacked the table so hard it hurt his hand... I tried not to gloat, he is after all only 14 months. Anywho... anyone I tell this to nods in agreement and launches into how their child hit the terrible 2's around 14 months... so apparently Chase is right on course!

I see discipline books in our future.

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year!

9 comments:

asuthrngrl said...

Yeah..so we were at the ped's office for Savannah's 15 month three months ago and she threw an on the floor-kicking-screaming tantrum right in front of our pediatrician. the doc looked at me and said "she's right on target developmentally". uh, thanks?

JenniferW said...

Looks like you guys had a great Christmas! We've already started on the discipline books. I recommend "Don't Make Me Count To Three." The Baby Whisperer for Toddlers has a good chapter or 2 on discipline as well.

Caleb and Adrienne said...

Look at that little head bob up and down until....he.....falls....asleep! The irony!

Love the midnight picture! Any which way you get it is a memory in and of itself.

Good luck with the discipline books. Ben hits something fierce when he is getting tired and not getting what he wants or your attention. Very frustrating because no amount of "Geeennntle" or "Soooooft hands" seems to work. =0) He just laughs his little tired head off at me.

SissyKristin said...

o my gosh jessi...cutest video EVER!! At least you have a new trick in your arsenal to get Chase to nap! It's the fresh air knock-out. Absolutely ADORABLE. praying for your dad's quick (or at least not-so-boring) recovery. I can't even imagine...and don't want to after that description. Ick! LOL

xoxo Happy New Year G Family!

chocolate hug said...

Well I don't feel so bad about the terrible two stuff...Sam is 20 months yesterday and the last two days have been full of crazy crying and well, basically all the things you described with the hitting and laying down on the ground. I've taken to putting Sam on the naughty chair whenever he hits, that's something I will not tolerate. I think it's working too! This morning he was upset and I could tell he was thinking about hitting me, but he didn't.

If you want to learn some parenting techniques in a fun way watch a little "Super Nanny"!

I totally feel your frustrations! So many parents before us have survived this, we can too!

diana

the assistant said...

oh savannah goes into full fledge tantrums its bad but kinda funny too but shhh dont tell amy that I laugh

emily ebeling said...

sounds like you had a fantastic Christmas/New year! Way to go with the Poker game!- I have yet to beat my hubby at Hold 'em :(
still keeping your dad in our prayers- hope all heals quickly and he keeps his spirits up!
~em

Carrie and Scott said...

that is so cool about your blog books...I was thinking of doing that as well. huh? what did she do with the video's?

Michelle said...

I was cringing as you described your dad's accident. That sounded horrible. Hope he heals fast and soon!

The video of Chase is priceless. I was cracking up as I watched. All I will say about the discipline thing is that consistency is key once you find out what form works best for Chase.

Glad y'all had such a fantastic Christmas!