Hi everybody!
I hope this Christmas season has been enjoyable and peaceful for you all. This year my goal was to get a lot of stuff done early so that the last few days before Christmas don't get too stressful. All in all, I think I did a pretty good job. I still have presents to wrap (a couple to buy), and a few special things to prepare like a special note to Brennan from Santa. He has finally decided to be done with his bottle. He is going to leave them in his stocking for Santa so that he can bring them to babies who need them. I'm very proud of him and I want him to know that Santa is proud, too!
The kids are doing a good job of leaving the wrapped presents under the tree alone, which completely surprises me. I have to give them credit. They are beautiful, so I'd be tempted to touch and tear if I were them!
Brennan is really growing up. Everyday he gets funnier and more mature. I love the little man he is growing into. I'm noticing an improvement in his art/fine motor skills as well as imagination. He is suddenly attempting to stay in the lines when coloring and painting, which is a completely new concept for him. I love it. His imaginative play has absolutely blossomed into something super cool. I love listening to him play with his stuffed animals and hearing the conversations that they have with each other. The new game that he just created is 'Campfire Party'. Basically he gets into an old pop-up dog kennel with ALL of his stuffed animals and camps. He builds a campfire out of the nails, screws and construction pieces from his tool bench. I'm told that I won't fit in the tent so I'll have to sleep in the dark. I'm also instructed to call him if any ghosts, bats, etc. come and scare me. If I do, he bursts out to save me. My little hero. :)
Bryleigh is something. That's a funny description, but there are so many choices I could use, it is hard to choose. She is a spitfire! She is 1 3/4 years old going on 17- such a little attitude. She loves to play roughie toughie with her brother and Daddy, but is also a little girly girl. The other day I was playing music and she ran find a skirt and put it on so that she could spin circles in the living room to the music. Her speech has absolutely exploded. Within even the last month it seems that most of her baby words have evolved into real words. I'm sure a lot of people couldn't understand what she is saying, but I get most of it! Some of her latest phrases demonstrate her attitude- "I don't like that." and "Stop it!". We also hear a lot of individual words as well as questions like, "Where are you?", "Daddy at work?", and "What was that?" I know they say that the second child commonly doesn't talk as well as the first... I beg to differ with my kids. I think Bryleigh wants to be JUST like her brother and talk all day!
Ryan broke off a chunk of his tooth yesterday. We thought is was just a filling breaking, but found out that it was actually the tooth itself. He'll be getting a temporary crown tomorrow morning. So fun! :\
Our nephew, Evan, had to have an emergency appendectomy last week. The appendix did actually rupture. He was really in rough shape for a while, but to make a long story short, he finally got out of the hospital today after a 10.5 day long stay! So happy he is home and doing ok. He still has a long way to go to get completely back to normal, but it is so much easier to do at home. This whole event has impacted one thing in my own immediate family for sure. It has helped Brennan's empathy skills. He has been asking to pray for Evan during his nighttime prayers which we all think is wonderfully sweet. :)
Well, that's about it! Thanks for reading!
