To Friends and Family

Merry Christmas

and best wishes for a happy healthy 2009

This is three hours after surgery...

talk about a quick recovery!
He did great, and continues to do very well.
He didn't sleep well last nite, but I think it was
because he had forgotten that daytime is for
eating and nite time is for SLEEPING.

Goodbye, bucket.

We loved thee well, but this boy is WAAAAAY
too big to fit in you any more.
So we've moved up, but we won't soon forget you.
12.23.08

My little elf

12.22.08

Winter Garden Aglow

Last nite we went to the botanical garden Winter Garden Aglow
and witnessed first hand what Clark W. Griswold aspired to.
It was amazingly beautiful.
The temp was about 40 degrees, which was nice,
but the wind was gusting about 20 miles an hour--so
it was an interesting experience. Marcus stayed with
Granma and Poppa, so Z and Chris and I enjoyed the
lights and some hot cocoa as a threesome.

Chris is holding the "snow cat" that Zac made...he had to carry
it around for about 20 minutes before he convinced
Zac to let him put the cat somewhere safe...

Love this

I uploaded the memory card to the computer
and was thrilled to find this picture that daddy took
while I was gone yesterday....SOOOOOOO cute!
What a wonderful surprise. :)
12.21.08

Home safe and sleeping

Chris and M made it to and from surgery just fine...and now M is sleeping peacefully upstairs. Whew.

T minus 9 minutes and counting

...till Marcus' surgery.

I'm not there with him this morning for two reasons:

1. I didn't handle Zac's surgery very well and I don't want to go thru THAT again

and

2. Zac is home and obviously can't stay by himself. Tho I guess he IS four years old, and in some circles, that's practically the age of consent...

Anyway...here's hoping all goes well. Fingers crossed.

And again, he goes for the beard...

Marcus had the opportunity to sit on Santa's lap
at Chris' office party (this time, I got some pics of just him--forgot
last time)...and you can see, he goes for the beard.
Checking authenticity, I guess.
12.12.08

Baby loves snow globes

12.14.08

Trimming the Tree

What, doesn't everyone have a plastic hanger in their tree?
(this was Zac's contribution...it's Luke Skywalker's ship--yeah, he's
totally into Star Wars right now)

12.14.08

First winter snow

12.14.08

I know, I know...we had a bit of snow back in October,
but snow belongs in December, so I'm calling this one the first winter snow. :)

Tower

In traditional kid fashion, Zac has learned that once the
presents make an appearance under the tree, hours must be
spent organizing and arranging them.
Of course, Z has a rather different take on that..

Of course, daddy's on hand to offer some engineering advice

The finished product.
(and for the record, it's still standing in our family room)
12.16.08

Then and Now

3.14.08

12.14.08
Love you buddy!

Pretty much....yup.

12.14.08

Monkey boy

Where does he get these ideas?
Good lord, child.
12.14.08

9 months old already?

Where did the time go, child???
(the pictures this month were very difficult to get
as Mr. M has decided he knows how to crawl,
and he is very busy and has places to go, don't you know)

Marcus makes a friend

December 2008

New trick

I don't remember Zac having this phase (but perhaps I haven't scrolled back far enough in the old blog posts), but Marcus now thinks it's supremely hilarious to spit his food out. And not simply spit it out. But PROJECTILE SPIT it out. (Think a raspberry with a mouth full of pudding--that's what I'm talking about)

I have to admit I have a hard time not laughing when he does it because it is pretty funny...but I also recognize that laughing once or twice is all it takes for the little shaver to make a permanent habit out of it. So now I'm working on Stern Stone Face Mommy--but it's SO hard when I get that huge gummy (+ two bottom teeth) grin from him.

Little monkey.

Sippy cup fun

December 2008

We're starting to transition Marcus toward a sippy cup
and he is LOVING how much fun it is to drink water!
He doesn't quite get the tipping part, but he thinks
the water that comes out is just too much fun!

All I want for Christmas is tubes

Another ear infection. Same song, just the dance remix.

So...took M to the doctor today and much to my surprise, I didn't have to beg for a referral to the ENT. I didn't even have to ASK. It was offered. Outright.

So we have a consultation next Friday (19th)...two days after his current (10th? 11th?) round of antibiotics ends, so his eardrums should be good and inflamed for the doctor to see.

If he could have the surgery before Christmas, that would be simply wonderful....so let's keep fingers crossed and hope for a miracle.

Santa almost blew it

We have known for MONTHS what Zac wants from Santa. Months. He wants a green Lego four-propeller airplane. We've seen sale flyers from TRU come and go, seen it at Walmart and Fred Meyer, but always figured we had plenty of time to get it.

Well, not so.

Toys R Us is sold out. Fred Meyer, Walmart, Target...none of them have it. On ebay, they're listed for quite a bit more than the MSRP. But God love Google.

Found the Lego Store online. And they had it in stock. And I ordered it today. So, provided all goes well, Santa will come thru like a hero again this year.

Whew.


Let's hope Santa is a little more on the ball next year.

Santa

Today was our annual pilgrimage to see Santa--Zac for the
fifth time, and Marcus for the first. It was a smashing success
and we got some cute shots.
(For the record, this guy is the REAL Santa Claus--Marcus
checked his beard thoroughly, and we love him.)