Saturday, December 27, 2008

Going to Georgia

Hello to all....

I will not be posting for about 10 days, the kiddos and I leave first thing in the morning, heading to visit family in Georgia! My dad and Debbie bought us our tickets, and we are excited to go! Unfortunately poor Chris being the new guy can't take any leave so he will be staying home working : )

I will be able to check my blog and email when visiting my brother or grandparents, SO if you live in the Atlanta area and want to get together shoot me an email at fbkspeach@yahoo.com

Thursday, December 25, 2008

Christmas Day photos

WARNING TOO MANY PICTURES


Ohh, Santa did come!










Love his sleepy
face










Hers too : )












So excited about
her new baby
and high chair!








Awww!
























A cool scooter with
flames on it!

Hunter loves flames!










My grandmom got both
of them these really cool
chairs, they are a big
hit!







See










Cash register, the
boy LOVES numbers
and money!








Hard to tell but
Ella is holding a
little mirror and
looking at herself
while wearing her
tutu





Hunter on his
chair










Checking out his
name








and reading










Ella's cheesy smile










My budding photographer
got a new camera from nana
and g-pa, I think he has taken
about 50 pics : )






Helmet Hero!
Thanks a lot Aunt Tami,
he loves it, me however..
I need ear plugs : )
Issuing me a citation









Feeding her baby,
































I'll share the story
about the blanket
and baby at the end....










O Christmas tree..













Ella was SO tired
that's what she gets for
going to bed at 1am







Playing with her new
doll house Aunt Tami
got her!









"MOVE OVER BUBBA
this is MINE!!!"







The chairs again, this
time used as tunnels









Hunter with his new
"campfire" lantern that
has a remote!







Whew! We had a busy morning. We started at 6am, have I ever mentioned on here that we are SO NOT morning people???, so Chris could see the kids Santa stuff and we could all open gifts before he headed off to work at 8. Needless to say the kids (and the grownups) were very sleepy, but Hunter was very excited so it all went great!!!
The blanket and Cabbage Patch doll story.... Ella's school, Spokane Guild School and Neuromuscular Center, allowed every family that fell within a certain income bracket to "shop" at Mrs Santa's Workshop. It is so cool. They get toys donated from private donaters as well as buisnesses, send out invitations to the family and the parents are allowed to come in and get a gift for all of their children. So, Ella got the baby and blanket and Hunter got a LeapPad Learning System. I know I always say this but her school is just so wonderful, not only in the services they provide Ella but also in the way they treat the families!!
I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!!!!

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Merry Christmas!!!

I figured I would post some pics that Mary and I had taken of Riley and Ella a couple of weeks ago in their Santa and Mrs Claus outfits that Riley's grandma bought for them. Let me just tell you that these two were impossible!!! Neither of them found the poor photographer very amusing, and therefore were not inclined to smile, neither wanted to sit or stand or lay still, they were just very uncooperative in general. Mary and I got quite the workout at Sears that day, but we got some cute pics despite it all!!



























































































































And last but certainly not least I want to post 2 pics of my cutie baby niece!!

Monday, December 22, 2008

Kids at the same age

Last night my mom was showing me the pictures she took of my niece Paige while they were down in Georgia last week (so cute by the way!!) and on her camera card she still had some old ones of Hunter, so we took a look at those too. It just so happens that these particular pictures are of Hunter when he was exactly Ella's current age (well, off by 2 days but you get the point.) I got teary looking at those pics, Hunter looked like such a baby, little did he know how much his whole life would change when his sister was born the next month. Here are the pics of Hunter, age 2 years 4 months.

Holding up the
number 4 because
it's the 4th of July.































And of Ella today, age 2 years 4 months. Just to let you know before you see these pics, Ella is SICK. She hasn't been feeling well since Wednesday of last week. Well, Saturday she had a fever of 104 so off to the ER we went that night, yipee. After checking her over, doing a chest X-ray to rule out pneumonia, the doctor came up with 2 ear infections. Her ears were very waxy so he removed some of the gunk and said her ears were red, prescribed us antibiotics and said to follow up with her ENT in a couple of weeks. Well fast forward to today and she is still just not Ella. Even through all her sicknesses last winter she has never been quite this pitiful. She doesn't want to eat, or she seems like she wants to but when she actually does she starts screaming. So, I called the ENT today and they squeezed us in, did some more removal of gunk from her ears, which she SCREAMS while 3 adults pin her down, and said that the ears didn't really look infected, there was fluid but no infection. So then we had a tymphanogram done to see if her tubes were blocked (because of course her ears are still SO small they can't see all the way in them.) and low and behold one is blocked. So, new tubes for Ella, but not till we get back from Georgia. The ENT did not think her ears are the source of her fever or pain. Sinus infection maybe? Who knows. I just know that the antibiotic she is on is the one they used to give her for pneumonia so it should wipe whatever it is out. Anyhow, my point to all of this is that Ella isn't looking so hot in these pics but I wanted one today so they are of them at the same age, so just ignore the hat hair, the red splotchy face and the paci : )












So, besides the sickness, do you see the resemblance? I guess it's a touchy subject with me. Both of my kids in my mind look a lot like me as a small child minus the curly red afro (one day I will scan in a pic to prove it.) I think it must be the Down syndrome thing, I want people to see past that and see that a lot of her features are the same as mine, Hunter's, my moms, my brothers..... Just another one of those quirks of mine. Last time I took Hunter in to Walmart to get his haircut the lady cutting his hair kept looking at Hunter, looking at me, looking at Ella, looking at me, over and over and finally she says "well HE looks a lot like you." What the hell is that supposed to mean. I've decided that I am way too sensitive.