Christmas 2012

Christmas Eve the snow started falling and we were one happy bunch.  We love the snow, especially at Christmas.  We had the annual Kresser Family Christmas party that night.  There were a lot of people and a lot of good food to be had.
After we ate and chatted for a while we had the kids do their gift exchange.  After they got their gifts they all go back down stairs so the adults can do their gift exchange.  I got a game that I plan on re-gifting next year and Tony got Lord of the Rings Pez dispensers.  They seemed silly, but the boys have already played with them and liked eating the candies out the the people's head.
After all the extended family left we stuck around for while.  Margie handed out the pajamas to all the grand kids.  I love seeing them all in their pajamas, especially when they match each other.  That is like to official sign that Christmas is here when the kids are in their pajamas playing at grandmas.  After they played a little bit we headed home to put the kids to bed so that Santa could come.  While tucking in the boys I asked Tyler if he wanted to say the prayer that night and he said he was trying to get to sleep quick so that Santa would come.  So I just said the prayer.  Tyler wasn't kidding around, he fell asleep pretty fast and so did Josh.

Megan had another hard night (now we know why) so Tony and I were up pretty early with her before the boys woke up.  Josh woke up first and came in and sat in my lap.  It took him couple minutes to notice the presents by the tree.  He first noticed the new scooters that him and Tyler got.  He went right to them and tried them out.  Tyler woke up a couple minutes later and came into the front room and asked if Santa had come.  We told him to come in and see.  He got so excited when he saw everything.  He went to the tree to look at the presents and then he started reading off the names..."T-Y-L-E-R...T-Y-L-E-R."  It was so cute and funny to hear him spelling out his name on each package.  He's such an awesome kid.

So then Tyler and Josh passed out presents to everyone and then Megan started off the presents opening party.  She wasn't too into it because she was sick, but she did still open a couple things.  Josh and Tyler had the most so we pretty much just let them take turns.  It was fun to see the boys reaction to the gifts that they got.  After all was given and received we ate some breakfast and let the kids play with their new toys.  After a while of hanging out we decided to get ready and go to grandma's house.
We hung out for a while and then we opened some more gifts from grandma and grandpa.  They are always so generous and we were all very happy with our gifts.  They got the boys these cool Innotab things that are kind of like little i-pads for kids.  The boys both love them.  Definitely a home run from grandma.  Then we made some lunch.  After eating, the rest of Tony's family came and then we passed out the cousin gifts.  Then all the cousins played until it was time for us to go over to my parents house. 

The kids went right to playing with cousins once we got to my parents.  We chatted a little while and then we passed out our sibling gifts and opened our stockings.  Grandpa almost cancelled doing stockings, but he came through in the end.  I don't think he realized just how much we like getting stockings.  We are very thankful for all the fun things that we got from our family.  I got to talk to my grandpa in Oregon and he seems to be doing well, so that is very good.  The kids got to do their cousin gift exchange where Tyler got a Bey Blade from aunt Wendy and he went crazy.  This is what he asked Santa for and he didn't get it, so he was a little bummed.  But Santa knew that Wendy got him one, so Tyler just needed to be patient.  Josh was super funny about his gift.  He got some bigger legos from Uncle Kevin and Josh said, "I don't like it...want Bey Blade."  Him not being grateful wasn't funny, but it was funny that he wanted a toy for bigger kids and not the little kid toy.  He likes to be just like his brother.
We then ate dinner at my parents and then went home.  Megan ended up eating better that night, so we were hopeful that she was starting to feel better - it was a false sense of hope.  Then we came home and put the kids to bed.  We all had a great Christmas and enjoyed spending so much time with our family.  We are so lucky to live so close to our families.  Can't get any better then that.  Merry Christmas 2012...until next year.  Let's hope we're all healthy next year.

Megan + RSV = Primary Children's Hospital

We had a very nice Christmas.  I will have to post about that later.  The day after Christmas was a nice casual day.  Tony went back to work and poor little Megan had another hard day.  Her cough had gotten a lot worse and she was feeling terrible.  Tony came home early from work and we wondered if we should take Megan to the doctor's.  We decided to wait until our neighbor came home so he could come check on her and then follow his advice.  He said that she didn't sound good and that we should take her in.

Tony took her in about 7:00 pm and they checked her oxygen level and it was really low.  So the doctor told Tony that she needed to go to the hospital right away by ambulance.  Tony refused the ambulance (that's an expensive ride) and decided to take her there himself.  I called and asked Margie to come and watch the boys so I could go with Tony.  She got here before Tony was done at the doctors office.  Margie decided to just take the boys (and Koda) to her house to sleep so we didn't have to worry about her being stuck at our house.  It was so nice not having to worry about the boys or Koda while we were dealing with Megan in the hospital.
So I sat in the back by Megan while Tony drove up to Primary Children's Hospital.  The pediatrician sent him with an Oxygen tank for Megan for the drive up to the hospital.  The doctor wasn't happy that Tony didn't want to take an ambulance but we felt that she would be okay until we got there, and she was.
Tony's dad and brother beat us to the hospital to help give Megan a blessing when she was ready.  It is so nice to have such a great family that would drop everything to help you out.  I love our family.  We got Megan checked in and only had to wait a minute until they called our name.  They checked her Oxygen level and it was down to 78% (which is really low and bad).  They put her on Oxygen right away and then moved us into a room in the ER to be seen by a doctor.  We didn't have to wait too long before the doctor came in.  She suspected Megan had RSV and said that they would suction her out to try and get some of the gunk out of her lungs.  They took a sample from that gunk and tested it for what virus she had.  It was confirmed, she had RSV.  And to top that off she also had an ear infection...in both ears.
They then told us to wait for a while to see if they wanted to admit us or have us hangout and wait to see how she was doing.  While we waited Tony, Lloyd, and Nate gave Megan a blessing.  It was a sweet blessing about her healing and getting better.  We are so lucky to have the priesthood in our lives.
After waiting for about an hour they told us that they were going to admit Megan but that it could take a while to move upstairs.  Boy were they right.  It took over two hours to move us after they said she'd be admitted.  While we waited I made a lot of phone calls and our Bishop stopped by to see how we were doing.
We got Megan's room after midnight and they did some more sucking up of the gunk.  Megan hadn't really eaten much all day, but after the first suction she ate like a champ.  She ate about 12 ounces in about an hour.  We were happy about that because that meant she wouldn't have to get an IV to keep her hydrated.  So after they suctioned her again we all tried to get some sleep.  The room had a couch that you could sleep on and then a rocking chair.  Tony and I shared the couch for a little while, then he slept in the chair, then he ended up on floor.  Tony was so nice to let me have the bed.
Megan continued to be suctioned out and needing Oxygen.  I think she was suctioned out seven times that next day.  She hated it.  I couldn't blame her, I would hate it too.  It got so bad that if a nurse even came into the room Megan would start crying and try to get away from them.  It didn't help that they wore masks and a big yellow cover when they came in to see her.  But all the nurses LOVED Megan.  They said that she looked like the Gerber baby and that she was their cutest patient.  I totally believe it, she is a doll.
For being so little Megan really is so strong.  She did so good with all the suctioning and all the check ups and cords and tubes stuck to her.  By Thursday afternoon she started feeling a little better and wanted to get down and play.  So we put her in her little bed/crib and let her play.  It was so nice to see her more active and her silly self. 
Thursday night was a little bit better then the night before.  She slept more on her own and only needed to be suctioned once during the night.  She got suctioned out one more time at 9:00 on Friday and that was the last time that she needed it.  Megan was even more playful on Friday.  When we would put her down to play it would mess up her Oxygen readings so they finally just took it off and let her play.  When Megan got stuffy later that day Tony had them use the bulb syringe to see how that would do, and it worked great.  So about three the doctor came and said since Megan's Oxygen use was low enough and she hadn't needed to be suctioned in a while that we could get ready to go home.
It took another couple of hours to get everything ready for us to leave.  We did have to take Megan home on Oxygen so we had to do a little training on that.  We even had to call and have an Oxygen machine brought to our home.  We have an appointment this morning with a pediatrician and then it will be up to them how long Megan will be on Oxygen.  Megan still coughs quite a bit, but she is doing tons better.  I hope we can loose the Oxygen soon and get back to normal.
Tyler and Josh have been super troupers through this process too.  Tyler was really worried about his baby sister, who he loves so much.  Margie was able to help him through some of his fears and concerns.  Mostly I think that they have enjoyed the extra sleep overs at grandma's and getting to play with their cousins, Matt and Lydia.  I am so thankful for Margie and Lloyd for taking such good care of our boys (all three with the dog) and we are thankful to Tony's brother and sister-in-law who took the boys downtown on a fun outing and even brought them by to see us.  That really meant a lot to us and made us feel really special.
Also we are so thankful for all the calls, posts, prayers, and thoughts that came our way.  We know that it is part of the reason Megan got better so fast.  We have awesome friends and family, and a pretty awesome ward too.  Thankful to "Uncle Max" our neighbor who encouraged us to not wait and take Megan in that night.  Hate to think what would have happened if we waited.
Tony has been amazing through this whole process.  He is such a rock and such a giver.  He was so good to me and Megan.  He always puts us and our needs before his.  I couldn't ask for a better partner in life.  Were not out of the woods yet, but were getting there.  Now we pray she continues to get better and doesn't have any set backs. 

Christmas Parties

On Saturday we went to the annual Steenblik Christmas dinner at Tony's aunt Cynthia's home.  It was a pretty good turn out with lots of aunts, uncles, cousins, and their children.  It was nice to see family that we don't get to see very often.  We had some good food and their was even an activity for the kids.  They got to put peanut butter on a pine cone and roll it in bird seed.  The boys liked doing that.  Tony and I were super happy that they didn't do the "talent" show that they normally have.  In the past the talent show has been mainly little girls dancing around in circles - super lame.  But the party was quite nice and we had a good time.
Then yesterday was also a fun day.  The primary sang two songs in sacrament and Tyler and Josh both went up on the stage to sing.  It was fun to see them both up their so big.  Then Tyler had a talk in Primary.  Tony did a good job writing it and helping Tyler give his talk.  Megan had a super hard night that night and started getting a cold so Tony took her home after Tyler's talk.  I wish I could say that Megan is doing better today, but she's not.  The poor girl does not feel good and has a mean cough.
Then Sunday evening we went to my parents for the annual Clark Family Christmas party.  We had lots of yummy food and then did a gift exchange game.  For my gift I picked a Christmas game that we played and it was really fun.  The boys liked playing with their cousins and Megan was pretty much fussy the whole night.  Besides that we all had a good time.
Now today is Christmas Eve and we are going to go to the annul Kresser Family party soon.  It should be fun and I sure hope that Megan is not so fussy.  Poor girl.  Merry Christmas.

Thoughts

A friend of mine had this on her blog and it really sums up what I have been thinking about since the terrible shooting of 20 small children.    

"Be near me, Lord Jesus; I ask Thee to stay by me forever and I love me, I pray.  Bless all the dear children in Thy tender care and fit us for Heaven to live with Thee there."

 

I am so thankful for my knowledge of the gospel and that I know that these beautiful children are now with our Heavenly Father.  I have really loved just holding my kids longer, kissing them more, playing with them more, and just enjoying them.  What a beautiful time of year it is that we get to celebrate the birth of our Savior. 

Our little Stars

Tyler got a "Rising Star" award at school.  I think that the kindergarten teachers chooses a couple kids each month from each class to get a Happy Meal from McDonald's.
So Tyler got a little certificate that said why his teacher thought he was a "Star" and then he also got a cheeseburger happy meal.  We had to go to the cafeteria after his class and wait for the man who went and picked up all the meals.
Josh REALLY wanted to eat lunch at the school.  It was really hard for him to see all the school lunch and not have me get him some.  I felt bad, but I didn't have any money on me - even if I did I don't know if I could have bought him food.
So I tried to make the yogurt that Josh ate once we got home super exciting for him.  My friend took and got her three year old her own happy meal after she picked up her sons, but I am not that nice.
While Tyler was at school our sweet neighbors, The Simpsons, brought over three candy canes filled with candies.  All the kids enjoyed playing with them and eating them.  Before they were all eaten Megan was playing with all three and it was super cute.  I wanted to get a picture of it, but by the time I showed up with my camera all she then wanted was to play with my camera.  So these are the best two shots I got of Megan and the candy canes.
Megan is getting better and better at cruising around the furniture.  She has taken maybe three or four steps before she falls down a couple of times.  She is one determined little girl.

Tyler's Christmas Program

Tyler had his Christmas program today.  Their was suppose to be a really big storm last night and today, so I got Tony to take the day off and come see Tyler's program.  The storm ended up being nothing but rain - super bummed about no snow.
We took Tyler to his class and then we went and found a seat to watch the program in the cafeteria.  The stage is in the corner of the room so we were not sure where he was going to be while he performed.

Of course he ended up being on the total opposite side of where we were sitting so we had to get up and move to the other side to see Tyler and video tape and take pictures.  We did get to sit by our cute neighbors and friends, so that was fun.
Tyler did a pretty good job.  Their first number was a song.  He didn't really sing very much of the song, but none of the kids did. He did get to shake a jingle bell during the song, he did that very well.
After the song they had a dance number.  Unfortunately Tyler went to the back of the stage and we really didn't see him dance.  It was super sad, but I am sure he did awesome.  He would show us parts of the dance at home.  He's got some mad skills.

Gwen, Ava, and Megan waiting for the show to start

We stayed for almost all the other performances.  We had to leave before the end to take Josh to school.  It was fun for Tony to be the one to take Josh in and see Josh's classroom and teachers. 
It was nice having Tony home on a Tuesday. 

Megan's First Steps

Megan took her first step last week and took another step yesterday.  She is getting really good at walking while holding on to the furniture and is doing much better on her balance.  It is very exciting to see her learning all these fun new things.  It's only a matter of time until that girl is walking...heaven help us.

Citizen of the Month

 Tyler got the Citizen of the Month award at school yesterday. I guess that each teacher chooses one student each month to receive this award and Tyler got it for the month of November.
Tyler got a certificate and four free kids meal coupons to four different restaurants.  I cannot forget to two free pencils and the folder that it all came in, those were Tyler's favorites.

Tyler said that his teacher said that Tyler tries very hard on his work and he's very nice to everyone.  I thought maybe part of the reason she gave it to Tyler was because the day before her nail and Tyler's head accidentally ran into each other.  But I think that she had to have picked the person before the whole nail/head situation.
Tony and I are very proud of our little citizen of the month and are very happy that he is doing so well in school and with others.

Breakfast with Santa and Gingerbread Houses

 This morning we had our annual Breakfast with Santa at our Stake Center.  I had to go early to help finish setting up and Tony and the kids met me there when it started.
We had ward members bring breakfast casseroles and then I got some muffins from Costco and Milk from Deseret Dairy.
We had a pretty good turn out and ended up with just about the perfect amount of food.  I was a little worried we would run out, but we didn't.

After eating and singing we got to see Santa once again.  The kids were all sitting in the front of the gym singing and waiting for Santa.  It was fun to see Josh and Tyler reaction to when Santa came in.  It took them both a minute to figure it out but Josh was really excited when he finally saw him.
 We had the kids line up by families and we actually ended up cutting in front because Megan was ready to go home and take a nap.

Tyler and Josh both did really good again sitting and talking with Santa. I wish I was right there to hear what they were saying to him.  Mostly Tyler because I am pretty sure Santa had no idea what Josh was saying to him.
Megan was not happy at all with Santa today.  She was just too tired and is definitely in that stage of life where she has stranger anxiety.  Santa showed her the sucker but that didn't really matter to her.  So we quickly scooped her up and tried for a family photo with Santa.

Note to self...NEVER bend over in a photo, it is not a flattering look for me.  The person taking the picture didn't zoom in at all so it isn't a very good picture, but hey we got it and no one was crying and everyone was looking forward.  So I would say the picture was a success.
Pretty much right after they saw Santa Tony took the kids and went back home while I stayed behind to help pick up.

I thought that we had a really good turn out and it seemed like everyone had a good time and had plenty to eat.  It is always a fun event, but now that I am part of the committee that puts it on...I am glad that it's over.

We decided to decorate our gingerbread house (and tree) today that Tony's mom got us.  I tried to have Tyler tell me what he wanted me to do and where he wanted the candy placed.  Tyler was good at putting on the treats and Josh was good at eating all the treats.  Tony and Megan watched for a little while, but then Megan was ready for another nap.  Josh didn't want to be part of the picture, so here is Tyler with our beautiful creation (Tyler promptly asked if he could start eating it right after I took the picture).

11th Ward Christmas Dinner

Last night we went to my parents ward for their annual Christmas dinner.  They decided to have the kids meet Santa first, so after we picked our dinning table we got in line to see the Jolly Man.
Tony was still working the late schedule so he had to meet us there at the church.  He got there just in time to see the kids visit Santa.  Tyler and Josh did really good and told Santa what they wanted (Josh mainly just wanted the treat).  Megan did pretty good the first minute, but then decided that she didn't want to sit with Santa anymore and wanted her parents.

Santa was super nice and gave each kid a stuffed animal and a marshmallow candy cane-thing.  I thought it was a pretty good score and so did Tyler.  Josh and Megan didn't really care about the stuffed animals, just the treat.  I'm afraid they both got my sweet tooth.
After seeing Santa we had some yummy food with the family.  After the kids ate they joined the other kids in running around in circles - they had so much fun doing that.

We decided to change the kids into their pajamas and then head home.  I stopped to help decorate for our Breakfast with Santa at the Stake Center and Tony took the kids home to go to bed.  We had a good time and enjoyed visiting my home ward.