Nice Way to end the Year

December 31, 2008
We've had a wonderful last day of the year today. The weather in Tahoe was pefect with crystal blue skies and the kids were in good moods.

Mikey snowboarded all day, usually with a big smile. Comments ranged from, "He's wicked!" to "He's gonna be a pro." Jaden's snowsuit made her hiney look enormous and her boots were hard to walk in. Aside from this, she was a charm and made lots of people smile at her antennae. She especially got a kick out of watching Mikey come down the hill, pointing and squealing, "Kee! Kee!"

And tonight she's still in a good mood kickin' up her heels to Hannah Montana.

Me? I had a blast on my new 'Double Wide.' snowboard and was able to reach heights I never thought possible.

Well, OK. This was more like it.


Leaving you off with a Happy New Year and a video of Mikey tearin' it up.

J's First Snow Boots

December 29, 2008
These were just too stinkin' cute to pass up.

Christmas Wrap Up

December 28,2008
It's hard to believe Christmas has come and gone already. Yet another magical day, the 2 new family members, Jaden and Rodney (cousin), acted as if they've been here for all Christmases past and it felt that way for everyone else, too. Without further ado, here's the few pictures I got.

Our festivities usually kick off on Christmas Eve. Friends stop by to exchange gifts and warm up with groovy juice before being on their way to the next destination. Don, my lifelong friend and man-of-honor at our wedding, took this picture which is now a favorite of mine. I could say a lot about it but I'll let the image talk for itself. I'll simply caption it with "Feels like home."
Christmas morning, J and Mikey opened their gifts from Santa. In the background, J is playing with her princess vanity. She loves looking at herself.
Here's Jaden combing daddy's hair with her new hairbrush. She never caught on.Here's Mikey "playing" the real violin his grandma got him. This morning he said he's been dreaming about taking violin classes. What's one more appointment?Jaden playing with her cousin, Rodney.

Me with my precious nephew, Rusty (Rodney's bro). 9 months older than Mikey, he and Mikey are the best friends taking each other's pictures to school for show-and-tell.

The princess posing in her 'Baby's 1st Christmas' outfit.

Yesterday we attended a celebration for Gracyn who came home from Taiwan about 2 months after J. I kick myself for not getting ANY pictures. She looked so beautiful in her zebra patterned dress with a matching colar on her hot pink sweater. And her smile was so big - as if she knew all these people were coming to see her. Her brother, Peyt, took care of business as the meeter/greeter. He marched through the crowd with square shoulders and a 'plan'. Seeing how smoothly things went, I'd say he's an expert party planner. The only picture I got was of J and Mikey in their party clothes before they got all messed up.

Off the beaten path, here's a pic of J at her physical therapy appointment.

Her entire right side is weaker than the left side so we do lots of right side work. I wonder (and will ask next time) if maybe she has a mild case of CP (cerebral palsy) which is common in preemies. Either way, she's pure perfection. Her Infant Development specialist has us practicing signing with her. When I said I'd rather work on words, she said signing and speaking go hand-in-hand and may expedite her speaking skills. Didn't know that! So we're trying to be more diligent with signing now. For example, when she gets frustrated and starts swinging her arms, we're to hold her hands and signal 'all done'. Her occupational therapy begins the 2nd week of January. Only one more therapy after that to schedule - music therapy. Will keep you all posted.

To close this off, we're preparing for the last phase of our holiday traditions, a sabbatical to Tahoe sponsored by my employer.

This picture reminds me of the 3 bears, one's too big, another's too small but the last one's just right. My brother's got me a new snowboard for Christmas this year. They keep telling me to overlook the 'Double Wide' model name on it because 'K2 is a really good brand!' I fail to see the humor.

Christmas Eve

December 24, 2008
Tonight we'll be wrapping up the last of our traditions - setting out cookies & milk and placing the big gifts under the tree after the kiddie-monsters have gone to sleep. Somebody suggested leaving Santa's footprints across the floor and I love this idea but the thought of vacuuming up all the flour has me indecisive on this one. I'm also worried the 15 year old might figure it out. :-)

Yesterday we delivered goodies to the hospital where Mikey was born, first visiting the high risk maternity ward then the NICU to thank the caregivers for saving Mikey's life.

Usually a nurse brings out a weary mom or dad who's been pulling vigil to meet a family with a *successful* preemie. "See? There's light at the end of the tunnel." But this year, it's a good year. Normally filled to their 70 bed capacity during Christmas, there are less than 50 babies in there right now. So it was relatively quiet and we were able to visit the nurses and doctors in a relaxed atmosphere. They get a kick out of seeing Mikey and this year, our 2nd preemie, Jaden. Shy at first, she snuggled her little head into Mike's shoulder and peeked out with one eye. This always brings a big 'ahhhh' from everybody.

Oh, wait. It just dawned on me why they didn't bring any parents out to visit with us...Mikey went into his regressive mode - a stage we've been tolerating since J got home. I thought we'd made great strides until the group of doctors and nurses greeted the 'General' (as he was known) and he responded with, "Meow." That's all he would say, with every question, comment, whatever, "Meow. Meow. Meow."

I lovingly stroked his head, smiled, and said, "Really. He's doing extraordinarily well." The whole time my eyes plead with him, "Dude. After all I do for you - please please give me this ONE moment!"

"Meow. Meow. Meow-meow."

Definitely not the proudest of moments for the mom of a *successful* preemie.

On to other kiddie-monster news. The gang of 2 has started a bad habit another tradition - midnight snacking. OK, not actually midnight but everyone's already snuggled into bed when Mikey announces, "I'm hungwy." After listening to me grumble about how he should have eaten all his dinner and 'it's dark and I'm not going with you!' (why on why am I such a freakin' %$&#* late at night???), he puts on his brave face and carefully makes his way to the kitchen turning on every light as he goes. I know he's reached his destination when I hear him foraging through the pantry. When he returns, J crawls into his bed and they proceed to crunch crunch crunch. No talking, no fighting, just crunch crunch crunch for at least 10 minutes.

This has been going on for about a month now. I'm on the fence about allowing this because as cute as it is THE NEXT DAY, it's oooogly when mama's already comfy in bed and on the brink of going to no-kiddie land.

Merry Christmas to you all!

In Celebration of 5 Months

December 19, 2008
I follow so many blogs, especially those with SLC babies, and I'm amazed at the moms who celebrate the monthly Gotcha Day anniversaries. Quite frankly, it wasn't until Jaden's 5 month mark that it hit me. In 2 days, she'll will have been with us for 5 months, only 5 months. It's signficant because everyone is finally settling in and it seems she's been here forever. So in celebration of our little T-Wonst who is such a beautiful, silly, cuddly and, yes, tempermental little girl and is so loved by her family, here's a Gotcha Day picture:
And here's one taken 2 weeks ago:
It's like a whole different baby. She's amazing, absolutely amazing.

SO many things have changed since she came home. Aside from the obvious, little things have happened, too. For example, we can always expect to find a surprise in nearly every basket of newly laundered clothing. She's also showing interest in technology, filling the 4th chair at my company's conference table. She's still in her probationary period but I think she might be a keeper. Hmmm, maybe CFO?
We surely got lucky and thank everyone and everything everday for our precious little daughter.

More Tradition, Habits & Rituals (OCD?)

December 17, 2008
Another Christmas tradition we have is everything Polar Express. We watch the movie and at the end Mikey spots a new box under the tree. He opens it to find a big silver bell from Santa's reindeer. He takes it gingerly in his hands, brings it slowly to his ear, closes his eyes and gives it a light shake while reciting, "I believe." The relieved smile is priceless. Last year we rode the Polar Express train in old town where dancers served hot chocolate and the hobo and santa visited the passengers. There was an extra bonus when we attended a NICU charity showing of The Polar Express at IMAX. Mikey was a featured success story in the preshow clips. He was in disbelief when he saw himself on the big screen.
This year, we did the movie/bell thing and, once again, the bell rang because he still believes. The bonus this year was replacing his mock Polar Express train (actually a plastic Santa Express train seen in yesterday's post) with a real die-cast Polar Express train. Godzilla Jaden damaged his other train by derailing it and stomping on the tracks (just imagine the screaming going on in THIS house over the last couple of days) so we drove to the downtown plaza last night and bought the real deal.

Speaking of traditions, habits & rituals, Jaden will pick up on them just fine. She already has a few of her own. For example every morning she dances to the music from this little farmhouse magnet. Please excuse Mikey's special effects in the background.

Non-Christmas related but still within the realm of Tradition, I've been going through our Taiwan/Japan footage and thought you all might enjoy these. While visiting family in Japan we attended a centuries old festival near where my dad grew up. In the first clip, Ryan (my brother in the green striped shirt), Kayla (my 5 year old niece in the red kimono), Mikey (in the blue kimono) and me holding Jaden (we're both wearing kimonos, too), are doing a traditional dance. Jaden had been with us for about 2 weeks by this time.

This second clip shows how much Mikey enjoyed these festivals (we attended 3). Here he is dancing with his cousin, Kayla (to his right). He was definitely a popular one in Japan constantly approached by people who wanted to talk to him or take his picture. Enjoy!

Aren't Haunted Houses for Halloween?

December 16, 2008
Slowly but surely I've been spreading the Christmas cheer inside our home. It's been much slower going this year than past years, maybe because I'm ten times busier with not one but two kiddie-monsters now. But IT IS gettin' dun up.

The garland has been hung over the windows.

The kids' stocking are filled and guarded by Santa's newest elf (who, by the way, can't resist rummaging through them on a daily basis).

The Polar Express Christmas train, brought out only for this holiday, is up and running.
The angels adorn the corner bookcase.
With the exception of what Santa's bringing, the gifts have been wrapped and placed under the tree.

And the last of the collectible ornaments has been purchased and hung. (Mikey's 2008 Snowbaby).
Christmas music from Bing to Il Divo to the Chipmunks plays faintly in the background nearly all day long.

Then I step outside and

scrrrreeeeeeecccchhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

DESOLATION ALLEY.

StEpHeN KiNg NoVeL.

BAH Humbug!

A single red ribbon on the light post flaps in the breeze. The lights have been strung on the gate but are dark because we haven't run the extension. The illuminated sleigh and reindeer display that spans our entire yard and is much admired by passerbys is incognito (i.e. still in storage) and the twin porch trees have yet to see daylight. No holly = no action under the garden arches this year. In my defense, I did run outside one late, rainy, cold night to hang the door wreath. With freezing hands, I wrangled with the hook only to have the wind blow it out of my hands. It crashed to the porch and literally shattered. I was so DONE I just left it there. (It's still there - really must clean it up today.)
Thus, there will be no Christmas cheer from the outside this year.

But inside

~ we're celebrating BIG TIME ~

because this year it's all about our newly completed family.

Little more about Christmas

December 15, 2008
My kids are way too comfortable at Costco and we spend way-way too much time there. Below is a picture of Jaden (left) with her buddy Allie on their first Christmas spent at the SLC orphanage (thanks Lora!). I'm so greatful they had Christmas for the babies and took pictures. No wonder Jaden was terrified of Santa this year - he underwent an incredible transformation!

Speaking of firsts, here's Jaden's first collectible ornament, the 2008 Precious Moments figurine. I'm debating whether I should get the 2007 one since it was technically her first Christmas or if I should start with 2008 since it's her first with her family. Hmmm, decisions, decisions.

V Day

December 12, 2008
Mikey's preschool is having Alphabet Shopping Day today where each child will Christmas shop for their family members. Two weeks ago each child drew a letter of the alphabet and was instructed to bring items to school that begin with that letter. The quantity of items is determined by the number of family members the child will be shopping for and the item must be appropriate for the gender & age of the family member. Mikey drew 'V' so we bought Violet gloves for a mom, Vanilla candles for a dad (some macho dads DO like candles!), a box of Very small books for a one year old and a Variety of jelly beans for a 4 year old. The night before Mikey's items were due, it dawned on me I'd forgotten an item representing my 15 year old stepson (he's with us every other week). I asked my wonderfully innocent husband to stop on his way home from work to buy an item that starts with 'V'. He picked up a jar of Vaseline........ALLRIGHTY. I made him exchange it for a tube of vaseline lip ointment.

Christmas craft #3 - chocolate cupcakes, 1/2 of which were licked by Mikey during the process. Anybody want one?

Dare I?

December 9, 2008
I got this in my email this morning. 'Book your long-awaited getaway TODAY!'

I can't quit staring at it let alone delete it.