All I Want for Christmas.....

.....are my 4 big molars! Four molars times three boys....that's a lot of teeth coming in! Ian is getting all of his 6 year molars, and Caleb and Levi are both getting at least their bottom two (I can't get a good enough look to see the top). They don't seem to be bothering Ian, but Caleb and Levi haven't been eating much and Caleb has been pretty grumpy - his tooth has been red and bothering him. But maybe they'll get them all at once and be done!

The NICU has a Christmas party every year and this is how much Caleb and Levi liked it! They didn't even want to sit on the chair by Santa. Ian, on the other hand, was very excited to see him and gave Santa a letter he wrote him and had a nice little visit. They also had some crafts at the party and everyone was happier by the time we left.

I just like this one :)

Caleb loves the vacuum attachment - he uses it to take pictures - with his nose :)

We decorated "trees" - a lot of fun!

Caleb was watching Ian and Daddy shovel snow - we've had enough snow and cold temperatures that the snow has stuck around for over a week!

Ian was a shepherd one day (he has three blankets tied around him), and Levi saw, and for days afterward needed his blanket tied around his head too.





Just thought it was cute! Caleb likes the antlers around his waist, since they won't stay on his head :)

I love how versatile toys are for toddlers! The missionaries can drive/ride in the tractor, and the wise man can catch the bus driven by the angel, with Joseph, Mary, and another wise man as passengers :)

November 2008

Looking back at pictures I took last month, I'm actually surprised at all that happened during November! Really all I remember is sickness and recovery. Levi had a hard recovery from getting his tonsils out, we all had the stomach flu (John even missed two days of work - the first sick days he's taken since I've known him!), and I had the real flu over Thanksgiving. But we're all back to normal, and we did actually do a few fun things along the way.

It took Levi until the 11th day after surgery that he finally looked like he might return to normal. The 12th day I tried to get him to eat but he wouldn't; we went to Grandpa and Grandma's house that night and they had ice cream...Levi went running into the kitchen, sat down, and ate more than his brothers did! So after that he slowly ate more and more until now he's back to eating what he was before (still mushy food) but he's eating much more of it! It took him 2 weeks before he drank anything on his own (so for 2 weeks he was force fed with a syringe, while watching hours and hours of Winnie the Pooh!). He lost at least 2 pounds (10% of his body weight) but now, 5 weeks after surgery, 3 weeks after starting eating again, he's gained back those 2 plus 2 more!! He's passed up Caleb on weight by about a pound (it's easier to add higher calorie things to his mushy food than it is to Caleb's "real people" food).

Here's Levi about 1.5 weeks after surgery, when he wasn't eating yet, and then a picture of him at the end of November, much happier!

Levi did feel good enough to play a little, he and Caleb took turns giving each other hair cuts :)

Enjoying a little "snack" - they usually pretend to eat ice cream....could it be because daily ice cream is what is helping them gain their weight??

I'm not sure how Aunt Deb knew when she made these blankets (before they were born) that they would be Winnie the Pooh fans....notice the blankets, toys, and book.....Winnie the Pooh and friends are all they talk about!

Since I was sick, we didn't go out of town for Thanksgiving. But that gave some time to work and play with Daddy! Ian loved being on the roof helping him clean out the gutters.

In their "one-horse open sleigh, singing "Jingle Bells", their favorite song.

Of course, as soon as Thanksgiving was over Ian was ready to put up the tree! There was a lot of help this year, and the tree is heavily decorated on the bottom few feet :)

Caleb with his hat and antlers.

And, I can't get it to let me write below the picture, but Ian made this belt out of paper and found his boots to be Santa. He was a little sad he didn't have a red coat. Last year, he didn't like the idea that Santa came to people's houses. For some reason, this year he's all excited about Santa coming.