November-March Booth Happenings

I have a LOT of catching up to do but instead of doing a big post on every single event, I'm going to one huge post to summarize it all and then try to stay caught up so I don't have to keep doing this.

I'm working on Elloitts' birth story so that will be a post all on it's own because it is something I want to remember in detail. That way when she's being a little stink I can show her and then tell her, "I went through this and that and this to get you here so you better shape up" :) haha just kidding! It's just a story I never want to forget.

Where to start, where to start. Let's go just after Elliott was born.

The day before Thanksgiving-

In the wee early morning on the 23rd I woke in a LOT of pain. I laid there trying to go back to sleep but the pain was just too much. I woke Tom and told him. When I finally forced myself to stand it felt like the origin of the pain was coming from my lower right side. I started thinking it was my appendix. DANG! NOT before Thanksgiving! I won't be able to eat! NOOOO! So... long story short Tom ended up taking me to the emergency room where I found out it wasn't my appendix, phew, but that I had a REALLY bad UTI (urinary tract infection). My OB/GYN put me on a prescription that I had to take for 5 days and in those 5 days I couldn't nurse. That made me sad and a little nervous. I had not yet tried giving Ellie a bottle and didn't know how she would take to it. She did great! So for 5 days I pumped and dumped. What a pain to have pump only to dump it down the drain. But hey, I got to eat Thanksgiving dinner!

Thanksgiving-

My mother-in-law came the day Elliott was born so she was able to spend Thanksgiving with us. My sister and her family joined us as well. We had a lot of great food, obviously because it was Thanksgiving where there is ALWAYS great food, and because we couldn't decide on a deep fried or a smoked turkey we had both! Delicious! I do have to say though, that I think the deep fried is my all time favorite. That was also the day my sister took Elliott's new born pictures.

It was a great Thanksgiving, although it was the last holiday we spent with my sister and her family before they moved back to Utah. :(

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My mother-in-law was here with us for 2 weeks. What a help she was with everything while I recovered! Such a blessing!

Christmas...

was also very nice. We spent the morning opening gifts and enjoying that time with the kids. Later that day we had our friends the Vautier's and Tricarico's over for another yummy dinner. As is our tradition we had Sukiyaki, thankfully our friends where welcoming to our tradition even though it wasn't the traditional Christmas dinner. We promised them a deep fried turkey for New Years Eve though. ;) After dinner we enjoyed each others company. Vautier's ended up staying until about 3:00 in the morning playing Wii. So fun!

New addition to the swing set, the club house.

Cole wanted a mustache for Christmas 

My silly family

December 27th...

was our 12th year anniversary. To celebrate we went and got a much needed couples massage. Then we went and had a delicious Italian dinner! It was a great night, even if our order some how got lost and we waited an hour for our food. Just being with my love made it great. :) Life doesn't get much better when you are married to your best friend. Love you Honey!

December 29th-

My youngest brother Ren got married! The last of the bunch! Unfortunately I was unable to go because Elliott was still too young. I did however get the chance to meet his new wife Brittany in February. She is perfect for Ren and they are such a cute couple! Congratulations you two!

New Years Eve-

We had Vautier's and Tricarico's over again and as promised we had deep fried turkey. After dinner and after we got all of our kids down for bed we played Cranium. We played guys against girls best 2 out of 3. Of course the girls won because...GIRLS ROCK!! We took a break at midnight to count down to new beginnings and drink our crystal-ling ciders. Once again Vautier's stayed until about 3:00 am playing Wii. New Years Day we spent as a family!

Tom's birthday, grandma's visit and Elliott's blessing-

January 4th was Tom's birthday and that night my mom flew into town. Before she got in we had time to celebrate Tom's birthday with a nice dinner without the kids. After dinner we picked up the kids so they could be with us to greet grandma at the air port.

While she was here we did some shopping and more shopping and the weather was so nice that one of the nights we went to Kemah Boardwalk. The Kemah Boardwalk is home to fabulous waterfront restaurants, amusements, charming retail stores, festivals and seaside shows every day. Lots of family fun. While we were there we went and fed, ok Tom fed we watched, the stingrays. We all got a good laugh out of that.

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Elliott was blessed on Sunday January 8th. She was the first of our three kids that wasn't surrounded by family for her blessing. Luckily we were able to plan it around Grandma Child's visit. I'm so glad my mom was able to be there. That was also the first Sunday we took Ellie to church. None of us had been going. Even just sending the kids with Tom they were bringing home all kinds of germs from primary and we didn't want to chance it with Elliott still being so young and being RSV season. It was nice to be back!

My mom left on the 9th. The kids missed her as soon as we dropped her off at the airport. They sure love their grandparents! It was a short trip but we loved every minute of it!

February 3rd-6th-

January 28th my dad and Jen got engaged! That next weekend they got re-married. Jen payed for me to fly out so I could be there with them on their special day. The wedding was very nice! This was a short trip but it was so fun to see family and for them to all meet Elliott. We are happy that Dad and Jen are together again! We love you guys!

So there you have it! Quite long, but at least I'm caught up until March! Lets just hope I can stay caught up.