Tis the Season

Christmas music playing, hot chocolate drinking, gingerbread house making.  We love Christmas!

                             We made Christmas cookies again with sweet friends!

 And Santa was able to stop by again this year!  All the kids did so great with him.  Caleb calls santa "ho ho" and he walked up and said "hi ho ho".  Norah was enchanted by him, she didn't move after he looked at her :)

The Clouds Parted

The day Norah turned 6 months I called the Dr. office and said we need to be seen today.  She still cries...screams... all the time, waking up 3-4 times a night, only poops every 1-2 weeks...plain and simple she is miserable and surely colic can't last for 6 months.  They got us in and we decided to do a trial run with a reflux medicine, the dr. also wanted to do a x-ray of her tummy and that baby was filled with air all the way through.  She told me to give her gas drops every hour for the rest of the day and then with every feeding after that.  And my friends that has made all the difference.  We had tried the drops before but just wasn't giving her enough (she gets the max dose everyday) she feels so much better and is happy and funny and curios and giggly and sleeping and cuddly and just wonderful.  We have had an amazing month, she doesn't need the reflux medicine but if we miss the gas drops she pays for it.  

She can get anywhere she wants to now, puts everything in her mouth and says momma, mommomooomm....  Yes she said MOM first!!!!  The only one, everyone else's first word was dada

It is so wonderful having a happy baby!   I have never been around a baby as miserable as Norah was and it was hard.  But the clouds have parted, I'm a more patient person and can completely empathize with moms of crazy hard babies now.  There is NO DOUBT at all the Norah is going to do incredible things, a baby to have the stamina and will to cry as long and loud as she can will surely rock the world

Nature Sing

I have renamed him pomegranate monster

Norah has discovered the dish washer, her little face melts my heart

 My Christmas cactus.  Every time I look at it I sing "let heaven and nature sing".  It blooms at Christmas and Easter, and I believe 100% its praising Jesus, in the only way it can, which is beautiful.  My M.A. has a huge one which my mom broke off a few pieces and grew a huge one and then I broke off some of hers and grew one but left it it Memphis.  Last March my mom brought up two little pieces of hers and it has grown into this!

 Michael is sick now :(  Tonight I was putting Norah down and told the kids to go lay with daddy, I thought they were watching TV.  I came in to Michael completely out and the kids pretending to be asleep.  They make life so fun

Baby it's Cold Outside

We were going to have a garage sale Saturday but the HIGH was going to be 10!  It has been so cold but beautiful, no fog and sunny and the mountains look like someone poured marshmallow cream over them :)

snow bunnies

Younger two have been out for the count this week.  Luckily we got Caleb on antibiotics early so he is doing better and little miss Norah is on the upswing too.  She had her first fever and it was so sad, she had trouble sleeping and just didn't know what she wanted :(

Savvy still wants to be an elf.  I found this letter on her dresser,

"Dear Santa Claus,

I want to be a elf.  I was wondering if I could go to the north pole.  I would like to meet some of your elves.  If you can't it is ok maybe another night.  Thank you Love Savannah Rose Clay"

She was in her bed with her pants on and told me that if she was gone in the morning to not worry because she would be with Santa.

She wants an elf costume, shrinking and flying powder for Chrismtas

She has started writing songs as well, I was a little surprised when she showed me this one....  it's supposed to be "Santa's Reindeer"

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 I got a birthday weekend!  Michael gave me the best gift possible... a hotel... by myself...aka.. SLEEP.  This was the first night since April that I have slept all night and it was glorious.  I was a bit nervous because little miss Norah has refused to take a bottle but Michael was determined that he could get her to take one.  She woke up at 3am and wouldn't take the bottle :)  So michael put sugar on the nipple and that girl downed 3 bags of milk!  I had 6 bags in the freezer and they were all gone when I got back the next day... :)

 The kids wrapped a pen, play ring and a few other things I can't remember :)  But sweet Savvy asked Michael if she could get me a new phone cover, mine has been broken for months and she thought of the gift all on her own :)  But my favorite gifts were my letters, the top is from Cohen and bottom is from Savvy

I am one blessed lady.  This was my 13th birthday with Michael, 7th birthday as a mom, I have amazing parents, family and friends... It was a very happy birthday

Thanksgiving

I put on my big girl panties and hosted Thanksgiving this year :)  Being responsible for the turkey made me feel like I was a grow up.... not graduating college, buying a house, having kids, or moving across the country... but cooking a turkey did it.  And just for the record, I bombed it.  It was so dry it should have imploded like the one did on Christmas vacation.  The dressing was the consistency of jello, sweet potato casserole was runny, rolls were hard.  But, But, love was there and it was wonderful and fun and full of laughs:)

                                       The Nelson's and Scarbrough's came over

After lunch the kids and dads had a serious dodge ball game that lasted over an hour, then Michael pulled out his banjo.  It was a wonderful day...minus the food ;)