Let it Snow!

Christmas

We had a blessed and wonderful Christmas. It was a busy week with lots of fun activities. We started the week with our church's Christmas cantata and play on Sunday. Wednesday we had a really neat candlelight Christmas Eve service and then went to my parents for dinner, games, and gift opening. Mom told the kids the Christmas story and let them help put up the flannel graph characters. They loved it! Thursday we opened gifts at home and then we all packed up and went to Rob and Sarah's for Christmas dinner. Friday we took the healthy kids (flu has been going around) to the snow. Allie was such a grump! She hated it. Last year, she couldn't get enough. This year she didn't want anything to do with it (except eat it).

Daddy and his girl

Papa
Allie and her new babies

(which she named "Ling" and "Mommy")

Ryan on Claire's new bike


Maddie

Listening to the Christmas story

Grandma telling the Christmas story

Classic

Big Day

Allie had a BIG day on Saturday.

We started the day off with breakfast out with the entire McCullough family. Then we headed out to pick out our Christmas tree. We trudged out in the cold, searching the forest for the perfect Fox Family tree...well, at least one that would be acceptable. We finally found it on our third stop. But by then, the snow that had started to fall and the cold that was stinging her tiny little hands had put Allie in a bad mood. Once we got her loaded in the car and got her warmed up her mood turned around.

While Tim unloaded the car and I put things away, Allie was happily playing until she locked herself in our bedroom. She started pounding on the door, "Mommy, mommy!" We couldn't find the key so it took us about 10 minutes to get her out. I think she was actually having fun in there and she never panicked.

Then, we went Christmas shopping and had a blast...Allie cried when I pulled her away from a toy she was playing with, making a total nuisance in Toy's R Us. Then, she got behind a big wooden kitchen set (in the box) and pushed it on to the floor. I'm sure the entire store could hear it hit the floor. As she turned to run, she hit her head on the corner of one of the metal shelves and put a whole in her forehead....and of course, the screaming started. Then, I dumped fishy crackers all over the floor and Allie tried to step on them. All I could think was, "we have to get out of here." People must think I'm a terrible mother...I'm sure I would agree with them if I was standing in their shoes at that moment. While Tim checked out, Allie dumped fishy crackers all over the checkout floor. What a disaster. Big Lots and Wal-Mart were a lot less dramatic and we made it home without too many more incidences.

Allie was so tired that she fought going to sleep. She screamed and cried and threw a fit when we left her in her crib...and then we heard a "thud". A few seconds later we heard pounding on the door of her bedroom. She learned to climb out of her crib that night. She hasn't done it again since Saturday but I'm sure she will the next time she doesn't want to sleep. Overall it was a fun day but I was certainly glad to finally put my head on my pillow that night!

Echo Results

Allie's echo came back fine on 3 of the 4 points. The other wasn't visible so I dragged the poor kid to one more doctor...a pediatric cardiologist. Praise God, after examining her he said her heart murmur was nothing to be concerned about.



On another note, she had another UTI and seizure and is back on antibiotics. She's doing much better now though.



I have pictures and more to post but that will have to wait for another day. :)

Echo

Allie had an echocardiogram today. We won’t get the results for about a week since they send them to the pediatric cardiologist in Sacramento. But I'm not too worried about it.

She’s had a heart murmur I believe since she was born. The pediatrician said it sounded like it was an “innocent heart murmur” but since we have met our insurance deductible for the year we should go ahead and have it checked out now. I’ve been putting it off for a few months but finally decided to go ahead and get it done before the end of the year.

I was postponing it because they needed her to lie completely still for about 40 minutes to get everything done. Allie can’t even get through a meal without wanting to run around like a wild child. They took pictures, sound, and video from about 5 different angles. They were really great. They turned off the lights, turned on cartoons, left the room, and let me give her a bottle and rock her to sleep. Then once she was a sleep they came back in and did the echo. So, she pretty much slept through the whole thing. From my perspective, it couldn’t have gone better. It was trauma free.

Politics Through the Eyes of a Child

My family talks a lot of politics especially lately. The little ones of course are always listening even when we don't realize it.

A couple of weeks ago, my 3 year old nephew James, was listening to a conversation his aunt was having with someone. They were talking about the current condition of the economy. Lesley said something about whose fault it was and James piped in and said, "Well, it's not MY fault." Lesley, said "No, of course it's not your fault. You weren't even born when those things were decided to cause this. So, if the economy isn't your fault whose fault is it?" James says, "Obama".


5-year old Claire has also been listening to the political conversations going on at her house and she has a prophecy for Americans if Obama is elected:

After a conversation about how getting a job is important to make money to support the family she added her political insight.

Claire: You want to make money, but not too much money, not like 100's....
Lesley: Why not too much?
Claire: Because if you have too much money they might throw you in jail.
Lesley: Why would they throw us in jail?
Claire: Well, not me, but the parents.
Lesley: Why would they throw the parents in jail?
Claire: Because there might be poor people and the police might throw you in jail to take your money to spread it around.

So, if you can't tell who I'll be voting for based off these conversations I'll make it simple...it's McCain without a doubt.

Rock-A-Bye Your Bear

Allie loves to dance with the Wiggles. This was the first day she did the motions to one of their songs so I had to get it on video.

Providential Provision

The company Tim has been working at for the past year has really struggled with the current condition of the market. They've had to layoff many people. Tim and his boss are the only two left in their department. His boss told him honestly that Tim would probably be let go with the next round of layoffs.

Within about 2 weeks of being told that, Tim was offered a job with the county. Full benefits start immediately. Praise God!

Rock n Roll

I don't know what it is about my darling daughter, but every time I turn around she's got a rock in her mouth. Even when we're inside! She must bring them in with her and stash them for chewing on later. Rocks of all sizes fascinate this one.

The other day she had about 2 inches of a huge rock crammed in to her mouth. I figured it was better than the little ones she usually samples, so I didn't stop her.

I didn't think I was that bad of a cook. In fact, I've rarely had any complaints but maybe this is her way of trying to tell me what Tim wouldn't dare to. She hardly eats anything I put on her plate but I can't keep sand and rocks out of her mouth. Maybe I should try putting those on her plate for dinner. It might be a hit!

The "Taunted" House

WARNING: Lesley, you may not want your oldest child to read this....

Tim has been picking up my 2 nieces from school a couple days a week. On Wednesdays, they stay until church and we eat dinner together. Tonight at the dinner table we were talking about the games for Patch and Tim said something about taunting. Then he turned to Elise and said, "Do you know what 'taunting' means?" "Yes," she said, "it's something scary." Tim said, "No, that's not what it means (he did explain it later)." She said, "But the Taunted House is scary". I tried so hard not to laugh. It was just too cute.

It's Fall

Well, it has been for a while but I've been so busy enjoying the fall activities that I haven't updated this blog in quite some time.

Our church had a western Sunday with a chili cook-off, pictures on horses, and fun skits. Allie was adorable in her cowgirl outfit.

Last week, Allie and I went with friends to Bishop's Pumpkin Patch. We had a full day of fall fun. Allie loved the petting zoo and feeding the goats. She jumped in the hay stack, rode the farm train, and panned for marbles in the stream. I wasn't sure if she was brave enough for the huge hill slide but I shouldn't have questioned her. She jumped on like it was no big deal and zipped right down again and again. She had a blast! We sipped fresh apple cider from a cute pumpkin sipper and shared a yummy ice cream cone. We also took a ride on a hay wagon out to the pumpkin patch to get those adorable pumpkin patch pictures that I wanted and let Allie pick out a pumpkin. Unfortunately, the day's activities caught up to her on the wagon and she feel asleep. Ryan and Allie slept the whole time we were in the patch. Maybe we'll have to go to another pumpkin patch just to get those cute pictures. :) It was a fun day and we were all worn out by the end.

Sarah and her tired boys

Becky and Paul

James found the perfect pumpkin

James and Paul showing off their pumpkins

Ryan (isn't he adorable!)

My little dare devil

Panning for marbles

James and Allie "riding" the rooster

Allie and Mommy headed out to the pumpkin patch

Ryan giving the goat a hug

Drew in the petting zoo

Allie's Famous Goofy Grin

"Bing"

Alyssa's vocabulary is expanding all the time. Almost every day she says something new. The funny one for this week is "bing". While she jumps on the trampoline she says, "bing", "bing", "bing". That's her pronunciation for "boing" which is what we' say as she jumps across the trampoline.

Allie's 18 Month Stats

Allie had her 2nd set of shots yesterday and developed just a tiny fever. Her legs were sore all day and she didn't want to walk much on them.

She weighed 22 lbs 5 oz which puts her in the 23rd percentile for weight. She is 32 1/2 inches which puts her in the 100th percentile for height. She's up quite a bit in height from last time so we'll see where she falls once she turns two. Her head was in the 65th percentile. Must be all those brains!

Klutz!

Oh boy does this run in the family. McCullough's are notorius for moving too quickly which often results in something getting broken or someone getting hurt. I'm afraid I've passed that on to my daughter. She's constantly bruised and scratched up. I took her for her 18 month appointment yesterday with a big scratch up her back from a fall on Sunday, but the pediatrician didn't even seem to notice. Poor kid's always a mess.

But, this week it's been me. On Tuesday night, some friends were sitting around the table at Sarah's house playing Catan. I was just getting ready to set Allie on the floor when the chair broke and Allie and I both ended up on the floor. Granted, that wasn't really my fault but things like this seem to follow me.

Today, I was expecting a call but had forgotten to take the phone with me when Allie and I went to jump on the trampoline. I heard the phone ring and jumped down off the trampoline, zipped Allie in, and ran for the phone. BAM! I ran right into a thin string that Tim had running between the new fence posts he put in. I didn't even see it. It clotheslined me right across my face! It knocked me to the ground, split my lip open, and bruised my arm and chin. And no, I didn't make it to the phone.

Hopefully, Allie will learn to slow down and watch where's going and what she's doing....I'm still learning.

Bathing Alone?

Last week we were up at Dad and Mom's house. Allie is usually allowed to go outside with the big kids but this day we needed her to stay inside. I hadn't seen her for a minute or two and thought, "Where's Allie? She was just here." I ran outside looking for her and didn't see her so I came back in. Now that she's able to open doors it's hard to keep her in one room. Mom's bedroom door was now open. As we walked in through the room Mom said, "I bet she's standing at the tub waiting to take a bath." Right then we hear a sweet little voice, "Bath!" and then "splash, splash, splash". We went in to the bathroom to find Allie completely clothed sitting in a bath tub full of water. Her cousins had taken a bath earlier and hadn't drained the water. She was just having such a blast, I let her stay and play for a while...but this time, with adult supervision.

Allie and the Puppy

Allie loves to help with the puppies. She watched me take their pictures when they were 2 weeks old. I put a ribbon on them and put them in a basket to make them all cutsie. The next time I took them out to take their picture, Allie was all over it! She tried to put the ribbon on the puppy and pose them for the picture. Then she wanted to be even more involved and got right in the picture with the puppy. She just laid her little head right on the puppy and cuddled up with her. I loved the picture so I passed it on to some coworkers. One of them was so sweet to play around with the picture and do some black and white with a touch of color and some other things. I loved it so much, I decided to use it as my main picture on my blog. Here's the original:

Camping

We went camping this weekend and Allie had a blast. She and her cousins got SO filthy but they loved every minute of it.





Look at those faces. Matching "Mud Eye"




Even Maddie is filthy!




Daddy and Allie trying out her new lantern



Ride Sharing

Barbie Girl

Last year when we were in Mesa we bought Allie a bunch of Barbies and Barbie accessories at a thrift store. They've been in a drawer waiting for her to be old enough to play with them. We got them out this weekend for Hayley, Bailey, and Shaley to play with and Allie LOVED the Jeep with a Barbie and Ken in it. She drives that Jeep all over the house now. Ken stays put, but Barbie is constantly in and out. Allie pulls her out and then tries to put her back in but when she can't she gets to frustrated. She stands there screaming at Barbie and the Jeep until Mommy our Daddy puts her back in where she belongs.

The "Faith" of a Child

This morning I put Allie in her highchair for breakfast and sat down next to her. I was about to start eating and Allie started making motions with her hand. I watched her, trying to figure out what it was she wanted since her "sign vocabulary" is expanding. I watched as she cupped her hands together. "Oh! Yes, I forgot to pray for our breakfast. Do you want to pray?" She nodded her head, "yes". That's what she was trying to tell me. We had forgotten to pray for our breakfast. How humbling to have a tiny child remind me to pray for my food when I'm supposed to be teaching her.

A Picture's Worth 1000 Words

Sarah and I took James, Ryan, Allie, and Maddie to the park today. The sprinklers were on and James and Allie had a blast running through them together. They giggled and screamed and had a great time.

Then there are these "fun" pictures. These were actually taken before the sprinkler pictures, so as you can tell, these two don't hold a grudge...at least not against each other.


This is all over a juice box...

(check out that face!)

Not sure what this is about...

The cousin rivalry continues.