Merry Christmas!

I know, it's a little early. But if feels like Christmas is already over for us. We had my mom visiting this weekend and decided to let the kids open presents on Saturday morning since she wouldn't be with us on Christmas day. She brought lots of presents for the kids and, combined with the ones we got them, they had a field day. The big hit of this Christmas were "car movie" cars (that's what the boys call the movie "Cars"), especially "Mac". He's Lightning McQueen's big rig trailer. Mac's trailer opens up to feature a big screen TV, car wash station, toothbrushing wash basin, weight lifting station, and kitchen, complete with a mini refrigerator stocked with oil cans. It's really cute! The little matchbox size Lightning fits inside perfectly. The only problem is that there was only one Mac under the tree (translate: the boys fight over him constantly). Here they are before the paper tearing fun began.

We also had a major milestone reached this weekend by David. He had his Christmas program at his school on Saturday afternoon. After the program they had a cookie reception in the fellowship hall complete with the opportunity to sit on Santa's lap. In the past David has wanted to sit as far away as possible from the big guy in red. We haven't pushed it with him as he has been scared of most costumed characters (hence the reason we have never taken them to Disneyland). So, I asked Luke if he wanted to sit on Santa's lap and tell him what he wanted for Christmas. He didn't hesitate with his "Yes" answer. When Luke said yes, David asked him "Are you sure Lukey?" He seemed concerned for Luke's safety! Ha Ha! Mark took Luke over to wait in the line and after about 5 minutes David said to me that he wanted to go to. I was so suprised. I told him that Santa was a nice guy and I guess he decided to trust me. Maybe seeing that his brother wasn't scared helped too. So, the boys sat on Santa's lap for the very first time! I was so proud of both of them. I only wish I could have heard what they told Santa because they spent a lot of time talking to him! I wasn't able to get the classic "smiling at the camera" shot, but here is the one I did get. It's really priceless!

I'll leave you with the Christmas gift my mom got from me. It's an 18x24 size canvas. I used acrylic paint, Basic Grey and My Mind's Eye patterned paper, Heidi Swapp flower and hearts, Li'l Davis wood frame, Doodlebug posies, Maya Road chipboard letters and some rhinestones. I love doing these. They are so much fun to work on. She is planning on hanging it in her office. I hope it brightens up her space.

Keeping Up!

Wow, it's hard keep the blog updated with 3 kids to take care of! Mark has been working like a dog lately too. Most nights he is home by 7 or 8. Just enough time for the kids to see him before they go to bed. Some nights they don't see him at all. We are getting pretty tired of this schedule and can't wait for Christmas vacation!

Luke had his first dentist appointment on Monday. He had x-rays taken of his front teeth (the side teeth x-ray films didn't fit in his mouth!), his teeth polished and an exam by the dentist. He did great! I was so proud of him. He cooperated, he wasn't scared and he had a grand old time chating it up with everyone. He's such a character.

After the exam the dentist informed us that one of his front teeth was turning grey and pushed forward a bit. Probably from some sort of trauma to it (although we can't figure out when that happened). The other front tooth is a normal color, but it is pushed back a bit. As a result of that pushed back tooth, Luke doesn't have an overbite. So, when he closes his teeth, the top tooth rests on top of the bottom tooth. That means that his molars don't touch when he chews. Ding, ding, ding! Yep, that's why Luke takes forever to eat anything. He has to shift his jaw to chew properly. We go back in 3 months for another evaluation. I'm not sure what they want to do about this problem. We do know that if his grey tooth gets any greyer, gets loose or infected, they want to do a root canal on him. Ugh. Let's hope that we can avoid that.

On a happier note, Hannah is sleeping about 8 hours almost every night. It's so nice to feel somewhat rested during the day. Her reflux seems to be getting better too. She's not spitting up as much and has been nursing just fine. She goes in on the 21st for her 2 month well baby check.