Christmas recap

WOW! The last week for us has been busy, busy, busy! I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. My Grandparents are in from Florida, we had to finish Christmas shopping and wrapping gifts, and of course, we work full-time. I absolutely love Christmas, but I am not too sad to see it pass. I am already excited for Christmas next year, but I'm ready to get the house cleared and life back to "normal" (whatever that is).

So much for not playing up Santa too much - the kid is sold. He cannot get enough of the guy in the big red suit. I realize now that if we're going all out, then I should have used the "Santa is watching" line much earlier in the year. Damon is still trying to use it and Christmas is over! Damon and I have also decided that next year we'll pack up toys we no longer need for Santa to take with him. We have so many toys now that I honestly don't know where to put all of it!! I can only imagine how crowded we would have been in our old house that is half the size of our current home...

My friend Jessica came up with a great idea that we used this year...we all got together for a toy exchange. Everyone brought at least five toys and we took turns picking out toys. It would have worked better if we had more moms with children of varying ages (our kids are close in age), but otherwise it was awesome!! I was able to get a lot of toys that Wes was excited to get for Christmas. I'm not ashamed to give him used toys (and neither is Santa)!!

Wes is eating fabulously!! He continues to eat more and is chewing more consistently all the time. We've been feeding Wes small bites, but he just swallows them whole and sometimes (well, usually) gags. Amazingly when he's fed larger bites, it forces him to chew and he doesn't gag at all. Wes hasn't been to feeding therapy in over 6 weeks, and I'm not sure that we really need to go anymore. He won't eat in front of the therapist and since he's making such progress at home, I just don't know that there is a need. I'll probably call the dietician in the next two weeks to see if we can cut back on the g-tube feedings. On days when Damon and I are home all day, he usually only gets a can of Pediasure anyway. I'm sure we could just feed him a can of yogurt to get the same calorie content in.

I know I have more say, but I'm heading to bed. I just wanted to post an update because my Grandma checks every day and she asked me to post more often :)

Happy New Year!

Staci

Wesley tearing into his first present (I love his little tongue sticking out)

one of our Christmas trees (we have two up and we purchased two more for next year)

I thought that Wesley might like a Cabbage Patch Doll - I was wrong. I do like the "are you kidding me?" look  :)

It's so tough to wait for your turn to open gifts when you're two years old!!

Wesley with his cousin Lillie and his Great Grandma and Great Pawpaw

everyone on my Dad's side of the family

just the three of us

Wesley with his Uncle Scott

the family (us, my parents, my brother)

update and boring talk about the weather

The breakfast with Santa went well. Wesley could hardly hold in his excitement as we waited for Santa to arrive. Of course Wesley didn't stop moving long enough for me to get a good picture (even with the sport setting on the camera). We did a little shopping after breakfast, then came home for Wes to nap. When he woke up, he asked if we were going to eat dinner with Santa too. Well no, that's not quite how this works. Or maybe it is because he ate dinner with me and Damon...

Wesley and Daddy at the breakfast

Wesley hugging his Daddy

I just like this picture

I think my Aunt Donna said it best when she said that Wes looks like a politician in this picture. I have to wholeheartedly agree :)

Wesley couldn't stop waving to Santa

Much different than last year's Santa picture...

the three of us

Wesley is now eating dinner with us in restaurants!!! We went to O'Charley's last Friday night, and Wes ate all of his children's macaroni and cheese. The trouble is that I am not sure that most restaurants serve much variety in terms of children's foods that he can eat at this point. I also realized that we are again going to need to cut back on eating out because it's expensive when you have a child who eats! Who knew?

The weather here in Ohio is FREEZING!! Last night when I went to bed (around midnight), the temperature was -12 degrees with the wind chill. It's weather like this that makes me want to stay inside ALL the time and never leave. I think that I really mean it makes it harder for me to leave the house, but not impossible. Anyone with a very active almost three year-old knows that you cannot stay home for days at a time without the possibility of losing your mind or becoming temporarily insane. Before we had Wesley, I could have stayed home just snuggled on the sofa reading a book for days at a time, but now we get out at least once a day. Last winter when we had an ice storm, the three of us were stuck in our house for a day and a half - the stress was palpable in this house. I have to add also that this was before Wesley realized that he liked television so much, which may have made the time inside easier on us all.

But anyway...the weather is just cold and windy, no real snowfall. We did have snow on Monday morning, but Wesley told me it wasn't snow it was rain. My bad...(even though it really was snow). I always think that I want snow until it really happens. So right now I am thinking that we should at least have snow with the chilly weather.

I'm heading to bed now because I am even boring myself to sleep talking about the weather. Guess that's what happens when you are in your thirties :)

Staci

talk about the jolly guy in the red suit

Tomorrow is the big breakfast with Santa! Wesley has been excited to see Santa this year, but I don't know that he "gets" the whole Christmas theme. Which leads me to something my girlfiends and I were discussing tonight...what is the best way to handle the role of Santa in Christmas? I want him to know that Christmas is to celebrate the birth of Jesus but at the same time I know how exciting it is to think about Santa bringing gifts on Christmas morning. Its a little tough because all of our friends are handling the situation differently, so when the kids are all old enough to talk to each other more, they'll be able to put the pieces together. What's a parent to do? We could definitely use some advice!!

I could really use prayers regarding my work lately. It's a difficult time right now for my employer, so to say that the situation is hostile might be an understatement...I am just struggling to conduct myself in an honest and upright manner befiting a Christian. Others are saying many things that are not true and trying to destroy the reputation of many hardworking, wonderful people. Please just pray that those spreadsing mistruths are exposed and those of us working for a cause will stay strong and keep our sense of humor. I am not sure I can say much more than that.

Thank you!!!

Staci

family picture for Thanksgiving (better than the previous one I posted)

Wesley LOVED jumping off the trailer. He would jump off and climb right back on to do it again.