December Recap

Christmas came and went quickly. As we are preparing to say goodbye to 2019 and hello to 2020, I can't help but reflect on how this year has gone.

It's been fast, my friends, so very fast. But I suppose that happens with 3 kids. This year held some super sweet moments and some very hard moments. Some of the harder moments came more at the end of the year, like saying goodbye to our beloved family dog. In the same week we said goodbye, our youngest was also diagnosed with pneumonia. But there was so much good in there. Like, if one believes an animal chooses when to go, Christmas and between snow storms was totally our dog's way. He loved the tree, frolicking in fresh snow, the blazing fire, sitting as close to heaters as one can possibly get, snuggling under blankets with one of his humans, and eating ice. Yes, winter was his favorite, hands down. And in the same month our son had pneumonia, he also turned 2. Two!?!? Yes, two beautiful years with our miracle NICU baby who had surgery on his first day of life. Perception can be a beautiful thing even in hard times.

Life is sweet. So very sweet. When you choose to view it that way.

So, to finish out this year. Let's review how December went for our little family.

Wrapping up school before break

Before break started, Payton had a ton of fun stuff going on. Pajama day, her school concert, her Christmas party, and I even snuck in and ate with her (as a surprise) for her holiday feast lunch. She had a blast and we were all ready for the break to arrive.

Her hair one day before school with her matching mommy and me shirt we got (see those in the November recap under matching clothes). I had to document as it wouldn't (and didn't) look like this when I picked her up.

 Leaving for her music concert at school! She was so very excited!

Surprise lunch at school with Payton

A whole lot of festive activities before Christmas

I loved having Payton home for break and she just joined into all of our fun preschool art activities and holiday traditions. Gingerbread houses, Christmas trees, watercolor painting, wreath bagels. There was just so much fun to be had at our house over the holiday season.

Annual Goody Delivery

Each year I try very hard to get homemade dessert trays made and delivered. This year, with everyone's schedules, it just was so hard to do. But, one morning, Riley and I found the time to get this all done. Monte watched Jayden and Payton was at school. We made 4 trays and delivered them to a few of the people we are so thankful to have in our lives.

Of course, Riley insisted on taking one to the library. Those librarians are just so good to us and super important to us. They loved getting treats from him!

We also pulled a few extra trays together for Payton to take her teachers. Because, life just wouldn't be the same without their sweetness in our lives either. They have become so important to us in just a quick 6 months.

Quick shopping trip before Christmas

We made a random trip out of town to do some shopping one weekend in December. It was a total regret from the parents because, man, is that when people shop. The stores were so full and that just made it too crazy to get anything done besides try to keep our eyes on our kids. 

 But... on our way home that night, Monte randomly found a purse on the side of the road. A little story about him is that he will always pick up random trash and items he finds. Always. It may or may not be a pet peeve of mine. In this case, it was an empty purse and I laugh about this even every time I see the picture.

Our Sweet 2 Year old

Earlier, we mentioned our baby turned 2. We celebrated him all day as a family. And it was just the sweetest and exactly how I think a 2 year old wants it.

The day was so nice we got outside for a bit with no coats and took some pictures before playing. The big kids also picked out a cake pan (star shape) from the library and we baked our own cake. It was as sweet and as simple as a party can get. I will treasure these times always.

It's break so we'll nap if we want to

We have just spent so much of our time together over Christmas break lounging and resting. We have had so much sickness and Jayden was still recovering from Pneumonia so we decided to stay home. My in-laws did stay with us 3 nights over the break but outside of that was just some well needed family time at home.

I can't even begin to tell you how much I love these 3! They make my life so worthwhile.

I tried to spend quality time with each child whenever I could!

A trip to the ER

Since Jayden has entered into our lives, ER trips are just so much more common. We earned another trip for an allergic reaction and will now be looking at working with an allergist in the next few months. This boy, he keeps me on my toes.

It was our fastest ER visit and we were only there for about an hour and were able to get it under control fast. It's during these hard and scary times that I have really come to appreciate times of good health.

Just so much fun together

We try to keep things fun around here so we offered one evening where the kids could make supper. They love to do this! They made corn dog muffins (a popular choice for them) and I loved watching these little chefs come to life! Monte was super excited for a picture opportunity as well (ha ha):

 The few days the weather was nice, we were outside. Fresh air, even when ill, just feels so good.

Merry Christmas

We fully enjoyed our day celebrating Jesus's birthday. I love this time with my family. We made Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve (when the grocery stores were still open, just in case we needed them) so Christmas Day itself was super laid back and easy with leftovers and presents to enjoy. 

The boys got busy playing with their toys but Payton took the time to pose for some pictures of a few of her gifts:

A new dress and an American Girl doll. She is super excited. 

Riley did pose with his new sweater for about half a second:

Santa was also good to us and wrote us the sweetest letter:

We did see him earlier in the month and grabbed a picture of all three with Santa:

We are now looking forward to the New Year. Payton is on break still until 1/6 and you can bet our household is soaking up all the time we can with her!

For ringing in the New Year, we plan to stay home and celebrate as a family. We got a huge snowstorm and have 5 foot drifts. We also want to soak in being healthy for the moment. We have had so much sickness in the last few years that we have really come to appreciate and fully enjoy our times of good health. 

We hope your Christmas was very blessed and merry! Happy New Year!

Saying Goodbye to Our Dog, Wes

Every day for the last week I have thought about writing this post. But each day I just couldn't bring myself to do it. Death is hard. Last week, we said our final goodbye to our sweet family dog, our rescue Westie, named Wes.

The funny thing about love is that it can hit you when you least expect it to. One day, many moons ago (11+ years ago to be exact), my husband (then boyfriend) and I decided to stop in at the local vet clinic to see if they had dogs for adoption. We had no intention of getting a pet yet. But, they had one pet. One sweet Westie dog that they said and I quote, "had already been there too long that he needed to be adopted or alternatives may be arranged." They convinced us to do a trial run where I had no idea that they had no intention of ever actually taking back. But, we were hooked. Really, right there and then our story was already panning out with Wes.

This wasn't just any dog. It was our forever dog.

I get this post isn't going to interest everyone. I have made it no secret that this blog is for my children. But, they most likely won't remember Wes. He lived most of his life before them. The kids are young but Wes knew us the best before we had children. And then he was blessed to welcome in our babies. He loved our children wholeheartedly. We were all family.

 But this post, this post right here, is really for my husband and for myself. We will always remember Wes and the love we had for him.

I have spent so much of my adult life with this sweet puppy at my side that I don't even know how to continue on this journey without him. Yet, I must. I still hear him come through our back door, hear him crawling out from under my bed, and feel him beside me as I walk. So many walks we took together.

There was a period of time when Monte and I were dealing with infertility and during those times I would cuddle with Wes. His love for us was alway constant. He got me through that extremely rough period of time. When we became pregnant with our daughter, I swore he knew it first. He continued to support our family and loved our children hard.

Wes loved adventure when he was younger and as he aged he preferred his routine more. Always a "grumpy old man" at heart, he liked control, to take the lead, and have everything done his way. We loved him for that. He thought he was the fastest dog and loved chasing toys and animals and running with me. He looked fast but he was not so fast at all. Wes also loved to swim and would start to paddle as soon as you put him near water. The best cuddler, pull out a blanket and he would lay with you all day. Ultimately, Wes just wanted to be where his humans were.

Through my tears, I went and rounded up photos I could find of him. These are in no particular order but they encompass so much of who he was to our family:

Not just a dog but a family member to our household. 

Wes started his life with us at that vet clinic over 11 years ago when he was just a baby. We said our goodbye to him in that very same vet clinic. It just wasn't enough time with him. I wanted Wes to have stayed with us for the rest of our lives. But, his life came full circle, right there in that vet clinic. And, I am hopeful he connected those dots as we did.

As the saying goes, "if love could have saved you, you would have lived forever." We loved him so much. In the last few weeks of his life his health was poor. It was so hard to watch him go so quickly. We went to the vet and worked with them on a plan to save him but, in the end, he was ready. I'm not sure we would have ever been.

Goodbye my sweet Wes. May you feel no pain now. Until we meet again in Heaven, watch over us.