Christmas 2011: Twas' the Night before...

I just love Christmas Eve! The day was spent visiting with my family from Colorado, visiting Greg's family, Mass, and gearing up for Jesus' Birthday Celebration and Santa Claus!

Unfortunately, my hubby got sick! He got a terrible migraine while we were at his parents' house that morning. When the kids went down for the naps, I drove Greg home where he spent the rest of his day sleeping in our closet since it was the darkest room large enough to hold him. Poor guy. He was so upset to miss Christmas Eve because he only gets to spend Christmas Eve with us if it falls on a Saturday...so basically once every 7 years.

After I drove Greg home, I went back to the Koerners' and picked up the kids and we headed to my mom and dad's house. This year my Grandma, Pap, and Great Grandma came to celebrate with us. For as long as I can remember, we have always held fast to the Italian tradition of spaghetti for Christmas Eve dinner, and my Pap's homemade sauce and meatballs were DELICIOUS! :-) We hung out with them until Mass. I LOVE Christmas Eve Mass. I love the music, the readings, everything! Both of the kids were in the nursery the entire Mass (usually I get them to come to Communion with us so that they receive a blessing) since I had to get Communion for Greg at the end of Mass. It was a beautiful Mass, and even more beautiful since I got to celebrate Mass with my Grandma and Pap!

Greg, Maria, and I headed home after Mass and got ready for bed. And then Santa came...

Our stockings were overflowing...we must have all been VERY good!

We didn't put out all the presents, just the ones from Mommy, Daddy, and Santa. We piled the rest of the presents for all of our families in the car, so that we were ready to go in the morning to visit all of our families.

Christmas 2011: Santa Claus

We ventured back to BassPro a weeks and half before Christmas to have a a visit with Santa! We love BassPro Santa. He is free. For reals...FREE! There is NO sitting fee, you can take pictures with your own camera, and they take one and give you a 4x6 print of it FOR FREE! My hubby and I also think that this Santa is the best looking one in the area! :-)

Greg was very excited to see Santa. He did great with him last year, and this year was even better. In the professional picture he looks a little confused and he really wouldn't smile. But after picture taking, Santa talked with him and he asked him what he wanted. When we had asked Greg what he wanted from Santa, he has always told us juice...he's weird. Well...when Santa asked him Greg told him he wanted a BIG FRUCK...except he was was so excited, he didn't pronounce the R very well! Santa just laughed, and told Greg that he likes TRucks, too! :)

Maria...she was not a fan of Santa. At all. As I walked her up to him, she grabbed my arm tighter and tighter. As I pried her off of me, and sat her on his lap, and walked away....she LOST it! She was fine the second I rescued her from the jolly old man!

And the professional shot of 2011...

(This is a picture from my phone of the picture...my scanner is having issues...sorry it's kind of blurry!)

Growing Fast!

This sweet girl started taking her first steps around 10 1/2 months, and was a full time walker by 11 months. She is now practically running...crazy. With this being said, it was time for some shoes for our sweet girl. As many of you know, I refuse to buy my children shoes until they can walk pretty consistently. (I took too many developmental classes as part of my Special Ed degree...and having shoes on all the time can hinder little ones ability to walk early since they aren't able to feel the ground as well. This didn't bother me at all with Greg, but it was SOOOOO hard to resist with Maria since all the little girls shoes are so stinkin' cute!!)

So off we went with Grammy to Stride Ride to get some new shoes (about 2 weeks ago...late posting). I loved watching her with her new shoes...it's like I added hundreds of pounds to her legs and it was an effort to lift them up off the ground. HAHA! She is a pro now...although she still tumbles when trying to run in her shoes.

HMMMM...these are new!

And we are off!

She had to check them out...she likes to undo the velcro when she is in her carseat!

Two walking/running babies certainly has made life interesting. Maria is defending herself more around Greg which has caused some frustration on his part. They are both into everything all of the time, and they certainly keep this Mommy on her toes! Lots of tumbles and spills and collisions, but in the end...we are blessed to have two happy, healthy little ones who love to be active and on the go!

Boo and Papa

Greg loves his Papa! He LOVES to work with Papa in Papa's new office. He is fond of the highlighters, and anything else he can find in the desk! Papa does not get a lot of work done with Greg in the office....but how can you resist time with Greg sitting on your lap relatively still and content?

They work hard for the money!

Greg wanted my phone.

Back to work!

Operation Playroom Loft!

Our playroom is our formal dining room. True story. It works for us, and we don't have anything to put in the formal dining room anyway. :-)

I decided a couple weeks ago that it would be cool to have a loft in there to accommodate the crazy amount of toys my children have. We have gone through toy boxes, donated toys, and even donated some of the larger items around the playroom...and still...there is so much. I originally brought the idea of lofting the playroom up to my hubby, and he thought I was crazy. Maybe it was because I wanted the entire room lofted. I realized that this would be a crazy project, and so we talked realistically and came up with a reasonable idea! :-) Our next step was finding someone to financially support my vision...thanks Mom and Dad! And then we needed to hire the help.

We recruited cheap help. They work for beer. Thanks Papa and Pappy!

They worked hard!

Complete with carpet!

She thinks she is like 2 or something!

He loves it! :-)

Peek-a-Boo!

This girl is growing up way too fast! She plays peek-a-boo without me prompting!

She loves to grab something and hold it over her head. She waits for someone to notice, and say, "where is Maria?"

And then down the cover comes!

She has also started to say uh-oh when she drops things! AH! Time is flying!

I swear....

.....this cute boy (pictured below) will give me a heart attack before I turn 26 in June (or cause me to go grey prematurely!)

Tuesday night I tucked my sweet children in their beds, and off I went to get Mommy things done. I folded some laundry, worked on some paperwork for Mary Kay, and was balancing my check book when I heard a scream/cry. I had never heard this sound come from either one of my children before, and I quickly looked at the monitor to see which one was having some issues. It was around 10:15, and both kids had been asleep for over 2 hours. Maria was sleeping in her crib, so I changed the channel to Greg's camera, and he was moving...almost like he was readjusting himself...and then I did a double take...yep...I knew it! He was not readjusting, he was having a seizure. Lovely.

I jumped and ran as fast as I could to his room, swept him up on his side, and ran back to my room. As I was holding his body, I knew it was another febrile seizure (fever induced seizure from his temp spiking too quickly). His body was so hot. I grabbed my phone as I held him on his side and called my neighbor who is a pediatric nurse. I hung up the phone, and walked (okay, ran) downstairs with Greg in my arms to the door. I laid Greg down by the door as I opened it, Michael and Nicole were on my doorstep. Nicole and I stripped Greg by the door to get his body temp down, Michael called 911, and I ran and got my thermometer, medicine, and water....all the time praying that he would keep breathing...I didn't think I had it in me to do CPR round 2 on this sweet boy! At this point, it had been one minute...maybe 90 seconds since I gotten Greg from his bed. His seizure stopped, and it took him a minute to come to. I told Michael to tell the 911 dispatcher not to send the ambulance, as the seizure had stopped. I gave Greg a dose of ibuprofen, and took his temp. He was right at 100 degrees. Not super high....but these seizures are not about how high the temp is, just how fast it get there. This made me feel better since his last febrile seizure his temp was 103. I also was so glad he continued to breathe through the seizure. He was beyond tired, so we hung out by the door a little longer to cool him down, and then headed inside to get him back to sleep.

I sat with him on the couch, called my mom to have her pray, and got a hold of hubby Greg at work to have him come home. Little Greg kept falling asleep in my arms, but just would not stay asleep. Hubby came home from work, and at this point it was 11:30. I took Greg's temp again and it was 98.8...YAY! I asked him if he wanted to go to his room to lay in his bed. He said yes, so up we went. As we got upstairs, I went into my room to drop my phone on my bed, and then....he threw up EVERY WHERE!!! Grossness EVERY WHERE! Vomit on Mommy, vomit on Greggy, vomit ALL OVER the floor, his blankie, his stuffed animal...ewwww! This is the first time he has ever thrown up, and it was almost comical watching it happen. There was nothing I could do to stop it, and it was obvious he was confused (and scared) as to what was coming out of his face!

We got some water, and got changed, and he was asleep in minutes. Needless to say, I did not get much sleep that night, and was up every hour checking on him to make sure he was okay. Several days later, I am still not sleeping, and find myself lying awake at night just praying he never has a febrile seizure in his sleep ever again.

The next morning he woke up, and was fine. A low grade fever...but he was his normal, happy self. I gave him fever reducing medicine most of Wednesday and he has been perfectly fine since. I talked with his pediatrician and she told me several things:

1. Because Greg had his first febrile seizure before the age of 2, he had a good chance of having another one.

2. Because he has had another one, he will most likely have more...they can last up until age 5 (three more years??? AHHH!)

3. They look scarier than they are. There is no neurological or developmental issues with these seizures and the seizures do not damage his sweet brain in any way! (PHHEWWW!)

4. Keep washing hands, etc. because he gets these seizures when he had a virus that he can pick up from any where (playground, grocery cart, etc.)

Let me stand on my soapbox for a moment: PLEASE parents. Do not bring your children out and about when they are sick. If they have a virus with a fever they should not be playing at the playground, or in a shopping cart, or at the mall, or out to eat in a restaurant. They are contagious and spread germs. Although it may just be a fever that runs its course, they can still pass it on to other children. Maybe your child does not seem bothered by being sick....but they still need to be at home away from others. When you bring your child out, you risk the health of all the other people and kids around you. Some of these kids have seizures when they get viruses with fevers, so please do us all a favor and keep your sick kids away from the healthy ones. And done. Sorry...I needed to get that out of me.

Greg is doing just great now. I am terrified that another one will happen in his sleep and I will not hear him...which is why I lay awake at night....I know that I cannot put him in a bubble and he is a boy who gets into everything. I know that I can handle these seizures when they happen. It makes me feel better as I have heard from others who have had children with febrile seizures. My cousin Mark had 4 before he turned 5, and my mom's friend at work had two boys who had them often as well. Although they are common, I would appreciate prayers that we have no more! :-)

This sweet man is giving me a good run for my money...but I love him to pieces anyway! :-)

Watch Me Grow...11 months!

How is it that this sweet girl is a month away from being 1!???!! Time is simply flying and Maria is growing and changing every day!

*Maria is still probably around 20-21 pounds. I am guessing she is about 29-30 inches tall.

*Maria is squeezing into size 3 diapers, as we finish what we have left of this size before jumping her up to size 4.

*Maria is in size 9 months clothes still, but we will be transitioning into 12 months soon!

*Maria is still a very good eater. She eats three meals a day of table food, and two bottles (one after nap and one right before bedtime).

*Some of her favorites foods: chicken, anything with cheese, sweet potatoes, all fruit, all veggies...she really loves it all! :-)

*We tried to move her to whole milk two weeks ago...she wasn't ready...we plan on trying again when the formula we have left is gone.

*Maria has 3 teeth with a 4th one coming soon!

*She LOVES to have her teeth brushed.

*She takes 2-3 naps per day.

*Maria does well with bath time, but does not play long like Greg did (does!)

*She is a great traveler in the car and plane!

*She still likes her space when falling asleep. She loves her dog Violet for lullaby music as she goes down for a nap or the night.

*She is WALKING!!!! She has been consistently walking for almost 2 weeks now. Although she took her first step nearly a month ago, her confidence has come through, and she is all over the place!

*Maria climbs on everything.

*She likes to be barefoot. She takes her socks off and carries them around with her.

*She loves to clap.

*She waves bye bye when you say good bye to her or tell her night night!

*She hates having her headband bows in her hair.

*She is developing quite the personality and is very dramatic!! She cries if Greg makes her mad and then comes within 2 feet of her. She can turn her tears on and off like a pro!

*She is much more expressive when Greg takes things from her.

*She plays well on her own, but prefers to have you on the floor with her.

*Maria likes to put objects into containers. She LOVES to play with the Tupperware!

*Maria understands the word no. She gets in trouble for standing in her highchair. A lot.

*Maria drinks like a pro from her sippy cups.

*She loves to smile at strangers and LOVES the attention she gets from them. She puts on quite the show with lots of smiles and giggles.

*Maria is a very easy going baby.

*She gives kisses! So sweet and wet...

*She gives hugs by burrowing her face into your body.

We are blessed to be her parents and have loved watching her grow into such a sweet little girl! Her smiles and giggles bring so much joy to our lives!

Double Trouble!

With two little ones who are both very mobile (as in both walking), it is only natural that one or the other, or both are getting into things! I am sure it will only be a matter of months until they are both conspiring against me as a team! :-)

She's a climber.

Just hanging out on this small lego table.

Yep, he got a hold of the medicine (no worries, he can't open it...yet!)

He is sitting where my DVDs go.

Tupperware Destruction.

It always starts with just getting out one lid!

A little too close to Grammy's Christmas decorations!

Playing around in Papa's office!

For reals she does this all.the.time!

I love them...even their messes!

Brotherly Love

It just makes me laugh to see Greg and Maria play with each other. Greg likes to try new things out on Maria....like fixing her hair! :-)

Let me comb your hair with this musical instrument. Maria seems okay with this!

Perhaps, I could curl your hair for you, Maria.

Too Much?

And done. Please stop, brother Greg!

13.1 Challenge: Success!

Well...I did it!!! :-) And I didn't die! :-)

Thanksgiving morning was a change of pace for me for sure. Instead of sleeping in (as in waking up with the kids), I was up and ready to walk out the door at 5:30! We headed to pick up my dad, and off we went! It was cold. Much colder than when I normally run! We arrived at Turner Field with time to spare, and hung out in the car before heading to the corrals!

As we got into the corrals, I was still pretty chilly, although it was only in the low 40s. When the first corral started, there was so much excitement in the air...it was an awesome feeling. As we approached closer to the start line my adrenaline started pumping! They announced our corral would be starting in 1 min, so I turned on the music to get myself excited...what was the first song on my shuffle? "Build me up Buttercup" This song immediately made me smile and get excited! My dear friend Natasha and I (affectionately) would sing this song to one another. As the chorus started in the song...."WHYYYYY DO YOU...." I crossed the starting line. I forgot I was still cold, and got pumped up to run!

I was nervous how I would feel about running with 8,000 people. I am rather claustrophobic, but the people energized me and pumped me up! After a few minutes of weaving to get in to my groove, I settled on the left hand side on the edge for most of the race. I did not stop for water, but opted to carry my own. This was a good decision for me, as the 2:15 pace team stopped and I never saw them again after I passed them. It was great to be running and the first 9 miles were pretty great for me. I hit mile 9, and began to think..."this is getting a little tough" but I kept running through it! There were a million hills and it seemed that at mile 10, I had only been going uphill on a slight grade for the last 2 miles. I was hoping and praying for a downhill...or even flat land at this point. And then, from behind me, Greg comes up....yes, behind me...I had passed him and not even known it! This was a boost to my confidence. We ran together for a little bit, and then he had to walk again. Mile 11 came and I thought to myself, "I am never doing this again. I am an idiot." I saw Mile marker 12 on the top of the hill, and decided to walk the small hill. I made it to the top, turned the corner, and reminded myself...one.more.mile. The last mile was amazing. Most of it was flat, and then you turned the corner, ran up a small hill, and then....downhill to the finish line. Glorious. As I ran down the hill, I thought, "I can't wait to do this again!" Amazing feeling, as I stepped across the line. I got my medal, some water, powerade, and snacks!

Although I could barely walk the rest of the day...it was great! I felt so proud and accomplished. I had set my ultimate goal at 2 hours and 20 minutes. My official time was 2:14:58! My average pace was around 10:18 minutes per mile. I ran my 10K in 1:00:51.

My Dad did awesome! He clocked in at just seconds over 2 hours, and my hubby ran it in 2 hours and 22 minutes. Although he was disappointed in his time, I was so proud of him!

A special thanks to all of you who have encouraged me through this whole journey! I could not have done it without you!!

(the only pic from race day)

13.1 Challenge: 4 days out!

I can hardly believe I will be running my first Half Marathon in 4 days! I am anxious and excited to do this and to see my 3 months of training pay off! So how has training gone? I ran my last big run last Sunday! I ran 10.02 miles in 1:53:08! I was pleased with this, and hope to do as well on race day! My goal in to finish in under 2:30:00. I think that this is doable, and would love to be closer to the 2:20:00 mark...really, I just will be happy to finish, as this running thing is new to me! :-) I already have my eye on another Half in March! :-) Update to come after the race results are in on Thanksgiving!

On another note...I am done with GRAD SCHOOL! YAY!!! I will be receiving my diploma sometime in December! Not to brag, but I have graduated with a 4.0! I am thrilled to be done with this, and know that my hard work will pay off when I go back to work some day!

So what do I do with my free time? I read what I want when the kids go to sleep...or play on Pinterest! :-) I have also started selling Mary Kay! Check out my website

If you have any questions, want to try products at no charge, or order contact me!

So there is my quarterly update on myself! I will be back to posting about my sweet babies tomorrow!

Surprise, Eryn and Mark!

At the beginning of the month, the kids and I ventured out to Colorado to surprise my cousins, Eryn and Mark! It was awesome! Eryn's 16th birthday was the 5th and Mark turned 15 on the 12th! It is crazy how old they are now....I guess that means I'm getting old, too?!

My Grandma and Pap picked us up from the airport and drove us down to Ronda's (GARs)! Grandma walked in first, and I could hear Eryn ask her what she was doing there. Grandma just replied that her and Pap were invited for dinner. Eryn continued to talk with Jenni, Savannah, Ronda, and Ed...and in I walked! She looked at me quickly, and then continued talking. I looked at Jenni, and said, "did she not see me?" Eryn looked back over, screamed, threw the stuff she had in her hands, and ran to me! It was AWESOME! She had no idea, and it was a wonderful surprise!

Mark was at football when I came, so I surprised him when Eryn and I picked him up from football practice! I crouched down in the front seat and put my jacket over me. Mark saw the jacket and thought I was his Aunt Jenni since we have similar jackets. When he opened the door, I popped up and said hey! He jumped back and screamed, "Oh My Gosh! Alyshia, what are you doing here?!" Again...AWESOME!

It was so much fun visiting with everyone and sharing in celebrating Eryn's 16th birthday! I have never been able to celebrate any of their birthdays with them, so it was great to be at her party and go out to dinner with the family to celebrate! Not to mention...I got to hit up my favorite two restaurants in the world that we do not have in Atlanta...The Armadillo and Noodles!! YUM!

GAR took off work while I was there so it was so much fun to spend time with her just being lazy and hanging out! It is always nice to spend time with my Grandma and Pap and Great Grandma, and I am so glad that my little ones were able to spend time with all of these people, too!

Ready for the plane ride!

Time for take off!!

Both kids did AMAZING on the plane! They are great travelers in the car and in the air!! YAY!

It was 30 degrees and there were 6 inches of snow on the ground when we landed! We had to get bundled up before going outside to the parking deck!

Bundled up Baby Greg!

Smiles!

Walking through the snow with Eryn and Great Pap!

He had a BLAST playing in the snow while we watched Mark's football game!

Mark looked so grown up playing football, and their team won; beating an undefeated team! I guess I was good luck! :-)

Greg may or may not have run on to the football field during the game!

Checking things out with Eryn! Greg ate a lot of snow this day!

:-) 'Sup!?

Maria and Great Grandma!

Greg liked to play with all of GAR's cups!

Great Pap and Great Grandma!

Piano time! Both of the kids were obsessed.

Eating sopapillas at The Armadillo.

(Please note: GAR does not were florescent purple eye shadow! The light was reflecting from the window.)

We even had a great visit from Great Aunt Shelly!! It was so great catching up with Shelly and hanging out with her! We missed you, Great Uncle Porter!

Diaper bags are fun!

Night stick = cool stuff!

Great and Grand Ed with Greg!

Great Great Grandma and Maria!

Great Pap and Maria!

Great Grandma and blurry Greg!

Snuggled up on the couch!

It was such a wonderful visit! I wish all of my family lived closer, but it was great to be with all of them! I am kind of sad I didn't get more pictures with Mark, Eryn, and Dillon! Each time I leave my family, it breaks my heart and lots of tears are shed! Colorado is forever my home, but it is nice to be back into our routine here in GA!