Jingle Bells

Erik bribed Caleb to sing "Jingle Bells." Unlike his previous school performance, Caleb does show that he knows how to sing the song.

Christmas Fun

Here are a few pictures from our past week. We had a fun-filled week with lots of different Christmas celebrations. Lee, Caleb, Graysen, and I celebrated "Christmas" on Sunday since we will be in Tennessee on Christmas Day. This is the first year that Santa visited our house in the middle of the night. Caleb has warmed up a lot to Santa this year, as long as he doesn't have to see him and he brings presents.

Caleb evaluating the Santa situation. Lee and Caleb baked cookies for Santa, and Caleb is studying the crumbs that were left.
My least favorite gift received this year. My sister told me that I would be receiving a gift card in the mail. This is what I received instead.

Christmas Village

A new addition for this year, the White Swan Inn.
Caleb's school bus driving by the chocolate store.

My blog would not be complete without a post about my Christmas village. This year's village is dedicated to Uncle Bob. I have been buying Lemax piece for years now and have not thought to order from Americansale.com until this year. I have to give Uncle Bob a "shout out." Americansale.com had an AMAZING selection and prices were half of what I had been paying. I ended up ordering 17 pieces for my village. I wanted to order more, but Lee said that I couldn't have my village expand at an uncontrolled rate, so he reined in my order. I even let Caleb pick out whatever he wanted for the village. He ordered a school bus, of course.

Caleb's Christmas Sing-A-Long

Uncle Sean, Graysen, and I went to Caleb's Christmas Sing-A-Long at his school this morning. Caleb's class was in charge of leading "Jingle Bells." Caleb was supposed to turn around and face the parents, but he was more interested in the other classes. It was cute to watch and we are very proud of Caleb!

Uncle Sean Visits!

Uncle Sean has been staying this week with us and we have had a really fun time with him. He came into town to interview with Greenville Hospital System's med/peds residency program. He absolutely loved it and we are very hopeful that Sean will "match" with GHS on March 5th. It would be great to have Sean nearby!

Lee has been out of town since Tuesday, so Sean has gotten to enjoy the "mommy life" with me. We made Christmas cookies yesterday, and Sean decorated half of them. Although Sean should probably stick with medicine, he did have some pretty good cookie decorating skills and "inspirations."

We are spending today Christmas shopping at the mall and then we will go to GSP airport to pick up Lee from his trip to Utah and Las Vegas. Sean will stay through Saturday so that he can spend some time with his brother.

Overall, it has been a really fun week and the boys have loved having Uncle Sean here.

Belmont Christmas Parade

Monday evening, the boys and I went to the Belmont Christmas parade with Lisa, Emily, and Todd. It has become our tradition each year to hit at least one parade in North Carolina. In the past three years, we have been to Gastonia, Cramerton, and Belmont. Belmont's parade is by far the best!

All three kids had a great time. Graysen sat very nicely on the curb for the entire parade. Caleb enjoyed the parade, but did get scared at some of the loud noises. Emily liked the dancers the most. It was a fun time!

Happy Birthday Dad, Cory, and Caleb!

This past weekend we celebrated Dad, Cory, and Caleb's birthday with a Chuck E. Cheese party!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I forgot to take pictures on Thanksgiving. These pictures are from our stop at J.L. Belue Farms where we bought fresh apples, blackberry cider, and sweet potato bread.

We had a great Thanksgiving dinner with my family. It was the first holiday dinner that I made by myself and I enjoyed cooking and spending the day with family.

Fun at the Taylors' House

Caleb spent last night at Aunt Kim's house. He had a "slumber party!" He spent the evening having fun with his cousins and making a special necklace for Mommy and Grammy. I love the necklace and have worn it all day! Caleb always enjoys his time with the Taylors.

Almost Back to Normal!

I am finally starting to feel back to my old self. I still tire easily, well... Maybe it is just that I am enjoying being spoiled by my mom and Lee. Today is my last day of "vacation" and I am back to "work" tomorrow!

Clarification

As clarification, "vagiled" means that Laura passed out. After she
got her IV, she started seeing stars, her eyes rolled back into her
head, and she blacked-out for about 30 seconds. It was amazing.

Taking It Easy

My surgery went well, that is after I walking into the wrong room where an elderly man was getting ready for surgery and after I "vagiled."

The surgeon said that I had two hernias, both an inguinal and a femoral. He put in a big mesh to cover both areas. I should be done with surgeries for a long time! That is, Lee says, until I damage my left side!

I am at home now and resting up. I will not be allowed to do a lot for a while. I plan to sleep most of the day since I feel weak and tired and the pain meds make me sleepy too.

Honestly, I am really enjoying the peace and quiet and the excuse to rest!

We're home

Well, we're finally back home and settled in.  It took a long time to get discharged form the hospital and then we had to get food and medications.  Laura is doing well but is understandably worn out.  It was a long day!

Out of surgery

I just spoke with Laura's surgeon. She's out of surgery and doing
well. She has to rest up a bit before I'll be allowed up to see her.

Second Hernia Surgery

Today is my second hernia surgery of the year. I am not looking forward to the recovery period or to being cut open. Hopefully this will be the last surgery that I have for a long time.

Graysen's surgeries put everything into perspective for us, so this surgery is minor in our eyes. However, the recovery period will make the next few weeks difficult.

Well, it is time to go take the boys to Aunt Kim's house for two nights and then Grandma flies in for two weeks to help!

Happy Birthday Caleb!

Caleb had a great 4th birthday. The day started with Mommy bringing cupcakes to his class. Yes, I did forget to put eggs in the cupcakes, but they tasted OK. Perhaps I should be admitted to the PDD (Pervasively Developmentally Delayed) class.

Then, we went to Caleb's favorite restaurant, Applebee's, for dinner. Applebee's was one of his first words and he has loved that restaurant every since he was two years old. Afterwards, we went to to Toys 'R Us where Caleb picked out a new Batmobile and Imaginext submarine.

Happy Birthday Caleb!!!

Happy Birthday Papa, Kaydee, & Caleb

Caleb's Birthday Party

Yesterday we celebrated Caleb's 4th birthday at McDonald's with friends. Here are a few pictures from the event:

Football

Graysen is obsessed with football. Lee and I find it fascinating, since we do not watch a lot of TV and very little football. Graysen has discovered it on his own and spends a significant amount of his time "playing football." He discovered last Monday that Grumples' (Build-A-Bear) helmet marginally fit his head. (HE did this, not me.) He has worn it ALL week and says "football" at least 100 times a day!

Farm Day at School

Halloween Weekend

As usual, we had a blast with Kevin and Erica. All four of us ended getting in the Halloween spirit and dressed up to go trick-or-treating with the boys. I was a fairy, Lee was a zombie, Kevin was Magnum P.I., and Erica was a zebra. When Erica, Kevin, and I came upstairs this morning, we discovered that even Elmo partied too hard this Halloween. Here are a few pictures from the weekend: