Christmas Morning!

We had a pretty good Christmas morning. How about yall?
Santa had been pretty good this year and brought each of the kids a couple of gifts. He brought Tyler a "train with a remote" and a flash light (just like he had asked for). He got a couple of other things and was very happy.

Haylee got a cute pink piano purchased at the resale shop! :-) and some cute Strawberry Shortcake books as well as a snow globe. She LOVES her piano and will sit down at it and play for 5 minutes at a time. So cute....I will have to post a pic later of her sitting at her piano.

Katelynn got a light up sea horse that plays music (kinda like a glow worm) and a snow globe too. She had no clue what was going but really enjoys her light up toy. They each got some fun stocking stuffers too.

I had already been awake with Katelynn for a little while and had just put her back to sleep. I was in the kitchen checking my email and heard Tyler open his door. He went straight to our bedroom and got Daddy up and I heard both of them come running into the living room and I came around the corner and Ryan flipped the light switch and the tree lit up and his train came on and started going around the tracks. Ryan yelled Tyler, he came! Tyler yells, Momma...Santa came and he brought me my train and my flash light!! It was priceless.


















Playing with the train!













Check out his cool watch that was in his stocking.













Just saw her piano...













Testing it out.













Her Disney princess ride on toy from Ryan and I.
Hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

A little bit of Katelynn.....

Katelynn has really been enjoying the exersaucer lately. I will put her in there along with plenty of blankets around her and she will stay content in there for at least 15-20 minutes. Long enough for me to feed the older kids or to do some dishes or whatever it is that I need to get done.













I cant completely walk away though because of the crowd she attracts (ie Haylee). Haylee still has her moments of not understanding gentle and I will catch her hitting Katelynn or just being rough like she is with her brother. Or she will grab the exersaucer and just rock it making Katelynn very startled.













Here in these pictures, Haylee is enjoying popping the little apple up and then pushing (more like HITTING) it back down, also not so gentle. Poor Katelynn.













Tyler and Haylee finally get bored and go off to do something else. Katelynn can relax and smile!













Katelynn and her daddy. Everyone says she looks allot like I did but I totally see Ryan in her. I'm sure it's the dark hair and brown eyes but to me she just resembles him so much.

















Poor daddy has been working mad, crazy hours and looks very tired in this picture. They are trying to finish his project and having lots of "big pushes" to get done which means late hours and working the weekends. Also crazy for me! I absolutely cannot wait for him to get home and am almost nuts, well not almost, I am nuts by the time Ryan gets home. I would say 4 out of 6 work days I am without Ryan while the kids are awake. He might get home in time to kiss them goodnight as I am putting them to bed but most of the time they miss him. I totally don't know how single mom's do it and I don't know some days if I can continue. Pray for my patience and my sanity as I am by myself so much.

Also, pray for Katelynn that she will get better soon. I cant tell if what she had is just lingering or if she's got something new. She has never really gotten better from the RSV and I might need to take her back to the doctor. I have been putting it off because she acts fine and is happy, no fever or anything. She just continues to have this horrible cough that sounds almost as bad as it did right when her and Haylee got sick. She has had some kind of cold symptom since Tyler's birthday (Nov. 21st). A FULL MONTH! It's time for my baby to feel better!

Ain't no mountain high enough......

Haylee has been up to allot lately! She has discovered a new and exciting adventure. She learned how to climb up into our chairs at the kitchen table.















But that quickly was not good/high enough as she stands up to climb up to the table.


















To a place where I put everything that I don't want on the floor for her to get as well as some plates and food left from lunch. In fact, the first time she decided to do this, neither Tyler or I saw anything until she was already up on top of the table. She discovered Tyler's cheetos (crunchy...not good for a baby without any molars) and was just eating away on them. YIKES! I screamed and got her down and said NO Mam! After pulling her off of the table 5 more times and spilling my cup of Koolaid on my freshly professionaly cleaned carpet I realized I needed to push the chairs all the way up. The 2 chairs on the end won't scoot up all the way because the legs are in the way and that is how she was getting up there. Problem fixed! Except when we get up from the table and we forget.....Haylee always notices it!!

















As I was taking pictures of one of her adventures for my blog she found all of the stuff she is not allowed to touch. A knife.....oh good. This girl knows how to push over any boundary which is not a good sign for the teenage years.

















Okay, got her down and pushed the chair in. Oh well, I'll climb up and see what bubba's doing. Yikes, so finger painting can only be done during her nap time.

















She just amazes me! From splashing in the toilets, to the climbing....things that Tyler never even tried. So, she has successfully climbed the bookshelf, up my KING size bed, up any couch/recliner, on Tyler's desk and into his window, her changing table, the kitchen chairs and now the kitchen table. What will she climb next?

And finally the Christmas tree.....

We have finally gotten the Christmas tree up. We have all been sick and I am ready to be well for a while. Katelynn started to get something all the way back to Tyler's birthday (Nov 21st) but it was just a typical cold. No fever just tons of snot and lots of coughing. I put off going to the doctor seeing that I am on my 3rd child and I know the drill. Nothing the doctor can do if it's just a viral thing. Finally right before Thanksgiving I was ready for her to sleep at night and I didn't want to get into the holiday weekend and her get worse so I broke down and took her into the doctor. Just as I had figured....there is nothing we can do it will just have to run it's course. They did check her for RSV and it was negative.

Then Thanksgiving evening I came down with probably what she had. I had no voice for literally 7 days. Horrible cough and lots of chest congestion. I was miserable and was still having to take care of Katelynn who was STILL sick. Well the following Wed after Thanksgiving, I am still sick, Katelynn is STILL sick (and now getting worse) and now Haylee started showing the same symptoms. I called and got a appt for the next day. I knew what they were gonna say. It's viral....YES but when does it go away? PLEASE make it go away!!!

We got to the doctor after having a horrible night with both girls! Mind you, I am still sick myself. They start to do the RSV test in the nose and I said, umm...I was just here last week and they tested Katelynn and it was negative! She said we have to do it again. The doc came in and said they both have RSV!! WHAT? From where? We don't go anywhere except for church. How did they get that? After examining the girls she said they both had Croup too! Okay, getting scared now b/c that is what Tyler was rushed to the hospital with by ambulance and had to stay for 3 days!

She thought we caught it early enough and gave both of the girls a steroid shot and then some steroid medication to take for 3 days. Thank God my mom was there to help me with these sick girls who both desperately want to be held. The key with Croup is to not let them get upset which triggers the air way to constrict which is what happened with Tyler. I was scared!! It's enough to be sick yourself but then to have to take care of not one baby but 2 babies who have this illness that could be dangerous.

I have the best family in the world. My mom was able to stay the night with me and my sister in law came and stayed with me that Friday which was really a hard day. Ryan and I both slept in the living room that Friday night b/c Katelynn was sounding really bad and we kept having to run and stick her in the Freezer so she could breathe. We were very close to going to the hospital that night. My mom came that Sat. morning and by this time Haylee was doing about 50% better. Katelynn is taking a little longer but I could hold her I just knew I couldn't hold both of them and that is what they were needing!

Now Haylee is 90% better with just a lingering cough and Katelynn is still struggling. Her cough still sounds just as bad. Her spirits are up and I can't tell if she is feeling better or if she is just getting used to feeling this way and trying to make the best of it. :-) I am hoping that next week we are mucho better!!! I personally am 100% better too by the way.

So with just one child sick I was able to get the tree up over the course of a few days. Here are some pictures of Tyler decorating the tree. This pic is of a picture ornament I bought a couple of years back. It is a snowflake and came as a set of 3. We thought who other than Tyler do we put in these ornaments. We ended up putting a pic of daddy in one and another of daddy kissing mommy in the other. Now we have 3 kids to put a picture of in the 3 ornaments. Funny how that worked out!













If you click on this picture, you can see the other ornament of mommy being kissed!














Haylee liked eating on the Christmas beads!

















Nice hair Haylee


















The finished product!!


















Our tree topper the Star! (this one has the ornament with the picture of daddy!)

HAYLEE WON!!!!

About a month or two ago I entered Haylee in a "Got Cute" contest (basically a cutest baby contest.) She won 1st place!!!!! For winning 1st place we got a free photo shoot and a CD with all of the images for free. I was so excited and my first thought was I wonder if she would take some family pictures too so we could get a picture for our Christmas cards. She was happy to take a few family shots for us and this is the only good one we got. I am SO thankful we got one family pose that was good. It was really a impossible hour. The culprit.....HAYLEE! We were at a park and she wanted nothing to being held for a family pic. This is the first one we got in our casual clothes. After dirty diapers from both girls, chasing Haylee everywhere and changing our outfits into our dressier Christmas outfits Haylee was a basket case. Throwing herself all around and crying huge tears. Not good foe Christmas card pictures. So we didn't get any in our Christmas outfits. :-( I was so bummed.
















As you can see in this picture she is totally pulling away from her daddy. Cute picture though.



















I love this one.


















Tyler was GREAT for his pictures. I was so glad because it has been a long time since I have gotten his pictures made. It was perfect timing for his 5th Birthday.


















This was also in the beginning before she got too upset and she was FREE to roam.






















This is my favorite!

You have a Heart of GOLD!

My big sweet boy is 5 years old today!
Ryan recently gave me this Willow Tree figurine along with a set of figurines for the girls as a present to me. This one for Tyler is perfect. It is exactly how I view him. He has such a sweet servant heart. Don't get me wrong, he's not perfect and we definitely have our moments but just his overall attitude every day truly shows his heart of gold.

His little routine every day is to wake up in the morning and get "sugars". Stinky breath and all. And it's not just momma sugars but sugars from his sister's and his daddy if he is home. He can't have enough sugars. In fact if he wakes up before Haylee, he will ask me over and over "when is Haylee going to wake up?" He can't wait to see his sister. During the day, I will catch him stealing kisses from Katelynn who WAS sound asleep. Or he will be "tackling" Haylee on the floor which makes start to fuss all to get sugars from her. Where did he get all of this love?


His favorite thing to do is help me with ANY task or chore during the day. This is where I certainly see how God has gifted him with a servant's heart. He loves to help me with laundry by putting clothes into the dryer or by taking clothes out of the dryer and sorting/matching socks for me. He is always asking to do dishes but we just recently got a dishwasher (well I still am the dishwasher but we got a electric one to help me) so it's easier for me now and I don't need as much help. He always wants to help me make my bed but wants nothing to do with making his bed which I don't understand!?! Vacuuming would probably be his favorite "chore." He even has his own little Dirt Devil that he follows my Dyson around with. I keep wondering when does this end, when does he turn into a normal boy that wants to play all the time and not help with chores. I am hoping it doesn't end anytime soon.



Another aspect of his heart of gold is how he cares for others. The minute he finds out someone is sick it's "can I make him/her a card mommy?" or he says "that makes me so sad!" When his grandma was in surgery recently I told him that grandma was at the hospital and going to have surgery on her neck like what happened to daddy's back. He says "NO, I don't want them to cut on her!" "They are going to hurt her!" Or the time when we were relying on MY grandma (Tyler's Great Grandma) to watch him while I was going to the doc when I was pregnant with Katelynn. She had fallen in her driveway and by the time we had drove up she the firemen were there. She eventually had to call 911 and the firemen had to come help her up. Tyler was SO distraught over this. I told Granny that I would just take Tyler with me so she could rest b/c she was pretty banged up. OH NO, Tyler was not leaving Granny. "She needs my help mommy, I need to take care of her." "I promise I will be good" Okay Tyler, and Granny agreed that he would be more help than harm. He still to this day will say, "my poor granny." "I feel so bad that she fell and there was no one to help her." He has mentioned that about 3 or 4 times and it happened early this past summer.

As we get near to the age of him being able to make the decision to come to know Christ. My heart leaps for joy just knowing how God has already equipped him with such a servants heart and a heart to want to help others. I can't imagine how much more God will equip him when he becomes a child of God and how his love for others will grow. He is very curious about God already and wanting to "talk to God." In fact the other day we were in the car and I was getting onto him for something. I told him that Christmas was getting close and Santa was watching him. He said, "No momma, God is watching me!" Just a huge smile all over my face. Here I was trying to bribe him by being good to get Christmas presents and he was remembering that God was watching us. I am amazed by all the little things he is picking up and learning.

Tyler, you are such a joy and you will always have my heart. You are going to start school this coming year and you are going to begin a journey of so much influence. I pray for you to keep this sweet spirit of just being who God made you to be with all of your wonderful gifts and your sweet sweet attitude. I pray that it will never change or be swayed. I pray that you see your need for your Heavenly Father at a early age. With the gifts you have now I see wonderful things being done for His kingdom. I know that you are scared to start school because of being behind a little bit in learning due to 3 years of speaking Vietnamese. (Lord, that's gotta help for something in that little brain of his!) But, you are going to bounce back and do fine. You make me so proud to be your mom and I know your dad is so proud too. You just keep that Heart of Gold and God will do wonders in your life.

Just some recent pictures of us......

Sister is getting so big! :-( "Sister" is what we call her all of the time. I even call her sister!













My next post will be a pic of Haylee and Katelynn just like this one in the swing to see if you can tell them apart. They look so much alike!


















Mr. Ty showing off his Pez.


















Miss Haylee bug


















All she wants to do is run for the street. How does she already know that it is off limits?


















Tyler actually smiling for a picture.


















Tyler took this picture of me.....Nice!

I totally feel like the mom in this video.....

MAN, do I need a shower! If my girls would take a nap at some point I could get one. Not been a good week. If you saw me you would say who is that poor frazzled woman. (Pause the music before you watch)

ALL Haylee....

A few words I use to describe her......


















a party waiting to happen......


















Miss Mischievous.....













a little pistol....


















BEAUTIFUL!
These are just a few pictures of her lately!

Katelynn, Katelynn......

why do you have to grow so fast? I wish you could just stay the size you are right now for at least a couple of months. You don't have to catch up to your sister. Your not even 3 months yet and you have outgrown all of your 0-3 month outfits. Something Tyler and Haylee never did. You are growing faster than your brother and sister did and your my "baby". Please slow down now because I want to remember and stay in each moment with you. Poor Haylee had to grow up so fast and I hate that I cant remember when things happened. I hate that I helped rush things along but I also knew you weren't far behind. Also, because I was pregnant with you her whole first year, I slept through allot of milestones I feel like. I don't want to miss those things with you and since you are my last I want it to go slow and I want to treasure it and enjoy those things. So I am asking you to please slow down.





















































































Look how big she has gotten. Anybody else feel this way?