Life is getting easier....

Being a mom to a 4, 2 & 1 year old I witness many milestones in their young lives.  The majority of these milestones are so small, but HUGE to me because they make my life EASIER.  

Some of our most recent. 

• Jimmy is walking....and I mean all the time.   
  
• Jimmy can go up and down the stairs himself.  Good-bye BABY GATE!!
• Lucy can get herself OFF her stool at mealtimes! 
• Lucy is OUT of diapers!  Even at bedtime. We are going on two weeks with NO accident!
• Lucy can get dressed herself.  
• Eleanor can get herself ready for school all by herself, with the exception of a ponytail in her hair. 
• Eleanor is reading. 
• Eleanor has learned AND ENJOYS cleaning!

Here are a few milestones that are making my life a bit more trying...

• Jimmy has learned to open doors!!!!!
• Eleanor & Lucy have learned to play the games on my iPhone and will go to great lengths to get my phone out of my purse. 

Dearest David,

Dear David, 

While driving our children around today running errands a few comments made me think.  Eleanor screamed for Lucy to look out the window when she saw St. Peters Church.  "Look, Lucy it is a skyscraper."  David, I am thinking we might need to take our kids to visit Uncle Mark in "The Windy City" so they no longer think that this is a skyscraper!

Still looking out the window at the 'skyscraper'.  Eleanor noted, "It has a little t, like our church. Mom is that a church? It has a little t like our church." Now that she knows the Lords Prayer, maybe we need to start telling her the story of the cross before Easter. 

Love, 

Sara

My doctors both asked prior to surgery if I was working out and drinking enough water. Om no, I have three children were my thoughts. I sleep as long as I can and drink Dt. Pepsi to stay awake during the day.  Well, now that I am healed it is time to get into shape.  My alarm clock woke me at 5:50 and I got 30 minutes in on the treadmill. I really enjoyed the quiet time with my iPod.  My goal is to keep this up for about eight weeks and see if I can tell a difference. Anyone want to join me in trying to get a little healthier?

With Love, Mom

I love following blogs by other people who love to sew. And a few have recently made some homemade dolls. Eleanor and I went to the fabric store today to get some fabric and decided to make a doll.  She helped me stuff the legs and then it was time for her to go to bed. I am excited for her to see her new doll when she wakes up in the morning.  

She also told me today that she wants to learn to sew.  YEAH!!! I remember my mom teaching me when I was really young how to sew.  I lost interest rather quickly and stopped sewing for about 18 years.  I am so glad that I have started up again.  

Christmas was great!!!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. It was great to see it this year through the eyes of a 4, 2 & 1 year old. Eleanor was so excited for every single thing.  Here are the kids on Christmas morning. They were in our room waiting to go and see what Santa brought!

Here are Eleanor & Elisabeth, her American Girl doll, on Jimmy's trampoline from Santa. This is a HUGE hit and they get exhausted! 
Here is Miss Lucy with Kit.  They have on their matching pajamas.  The girls each got American Girl dolls from Grandma Patti & Grandpa Doug.  I love her dimples!!!!
What a big boy!!! Jimmy is finally walking.  He still enjoys crawling, but is about 50/50 on walking/crawling these days.  
I will post more later, but need to go and get things ready for New Years Eve!  The kids are all napping in their rooms and the house is quiet!!!

OUCH!!!

First off, this is Eleanor on the potty, not me.  But, this story is about me!  For those of you directing yourself to our blog for the first time, via our Christmas Card - Welcome.  Let me first apologize for the tacky photocopied letter this year. I had BIG plans for that card!!! But, sometimes things to do not go as planned.  Just as the party was ending and I was getting the card ready...I started to get some pain. Turns out I was more stressed about the party than I had originally thought.  

This past Tuesday I had my regular annual physical with my Physician.  Everything was great, but I was in some pain and wanted him to take a look.  An old monster had come back...hemorrhoids. I had them really bad with all my pregnancies and was even induced at 38 weeks with Lucy & Jimmy because of 'them'. When he took one look at 'them' he said, "You need surgery and need to see a Colo-Rectal Surgeon today."  Now, I knew I would probably eventually need surgery.  But, many people had told me it was the WORST pain I would ever experience in my entire life.  And I could imagine...surgery down there would not be my first choice.  So, I was scared when he said surgery.  But, I was also in tears and could barely sit down.  

I went home and then David and I went to the Surgeon that night in Omaha for our appointment.   We finally got into see him around 7pm on Tuesday night. He took a look at 'them' and quickly told me that surgery would be TOMORROW!  He wanted to take a closer look, but I was in so much pain that he would have to wait until I was under anesthesia and we were in the OR.  

Wednesday night, I had surgery around 8pm.  It was supposed to be about one hour from when I went under, to when I woke up in the recovery room.  Well....I was in the OR for NINETY minutes.  Things were bad, really bad.  Turns out I had a thrombosed hemorrhoid, another hemorrhoid, 3 fissures and a skin tag.  I was able to come home the next day, but with a catheter!  YUCK!  I was able to have the catheter removed on Friday and my doctor told me he had received the surgery notes and it was the worst case he had ever seen and one of the worst my Colo-Rectal Surgeon had ever seen.  

Anyway...I am on Oxycotton & Percocet for the time being. Needless to say...those cute cards were put on the back burner. And rather then stress about them, David volunteered to finish them. And I let him! 

He has been so wonderful during all of this. As have my parents and my sister.  I am unable to lift anything...so basically someone has to be with me at all times to help Jimmy.  I am also unable to drive.  

Everyday I am feeling a little better. I have to say the surgery was not at all fun.  But, not nearly as bad as I thought it would be.  

So please, scroll through this Blog to see the CUTE pictures of our kids that would have been included in this years card. 

(I am sure there are typos and grammar issues with this blog...I blame it on the Oxycotton!)

Oh what a night - Cookies & Cocoa with Santa!

We had our cookies & cocoa party with Santa last night.  It was such a magical night to see the excitement through the kids' eyes.  Here are the kids before the guests started arriving.  The kids all wore their pajamas to the party. 

Here are some of the kids decorating their cookies. 

Santa & Mrs. Claus were so great to the kids. Everyone had their picture taken with Santa and got a present!

Eleanor had the biggest smile on her face when it was her turn.  I think we are done sitting on Santa laps for the year. Every time...she asks for something different?!@*#&@$

The kids were so patient in opening their gifts. They waited until everyone had theirs to start opening. 

This was the reason I had the party...to get this picture! Isn't he a happy baby? And Lucy would not get her hand out of her nose!!!

Here are some of the party animal's children, playing in Eleanor's room.  The kids got their second wind around 11:00 and did some songs for us!

Myself, Becky, Laurie & Jami

David and myself.  We had one goal, make sure everyone had fun. He was in charge of the adults & I was in charge of the kids.  I think we did our job!!