MERRY CHRISTMAS

From our house to yours, have a very Merry Christmas

and a happy, safe and healthy New Year!!

the black train is loud

This past Saturday after we celebrated Christmas with my dad's side of the family, we went out to the Mower County Fairgrounds where the Mower County Historical Society was hosting Christmas in the County. My dad was supervising the steam engine for a while so that little kids could climb aboard and ring the bell and blow the whistle. We walked over to the steam engine and right as we turned the corner, someone blew the whistle REALLY loud. We all jumped and Joshua went running, crying and screaming, "the black train is loooouuuud!!!" The poor boy absolutely loves trains and the piercing whistle of the steam engine left him traumatized. We decided that we would go onto the Milwaukee Road passenger car that is there, which is the picture above. The kids were pretending that it was the Polar Express train waiting for the hot chocolate waiters to come out and serve them! This calmed Josh down a lot. However, we left the train to go inside and get warm. In a few of the buildings there were art projects for kids, cookies, a model train, and Santa and Mrs. Claus. When we got off the passenger car, the whistle blew again and Josh was in pieces. We went inside where he was crying so very hard repeating, "the black train is loud, the black train is loud." Brian got him interested in an art project and I took Logan and Lauren over to the steam engine to see my dad. My dad was happy to see us and Lauren was excited that Bumpa was there! Lauren rang the bell and then blew the whistle. Of course, Logan cried, which I expected. Then it was another girl's turn and she kept blowing it and blowing it! Lauren was in tears, Logan was screaming and I was just trying to make my way down the wooden ramp all in one piece! We survived and met Brian and Josh in one of the buildings where Joshua was STILL crying (or else crying all over again!). We decided it was time to go and as Brian was buckling Josh in his car seat, Josh exclaimed that "the black train is loud" and "I crying" and then "I shaking like a leaf"!! What? He came up with that one all on his own!! Even today he is still talking about the black train. I'm sure it's not likely to leave his memory any time soon!!

Santa

We had our annual trip to the Mall of America to see Santa today! My dad helped, which is always appreciated. In fact, I'm pretty sure that I couldn't take the kids to MOA by myself. Unless we didn't go into any stores or stop and do anything. Walking with them I can handle!! Anyways, we all had a good time and Lauren and Josh both proclaimed to Santa their hearts desire for gifts this Christmas. Logan cried in the beginning, but ended up doing pretty good. Joshua was so excited he was running around in circles. Lauren and Josh each got a candy cane and some gummy treats. All three of them got a paper Santa hat to wear and then we were off to McDonald's for chicken nuggets! And now that we are home, all three are fast asleep : )

ear tubes and food poisoning...

Logan had his ear tube surgery yesterday and everything went great! We found out that he is not a fan of nurses (sorry to all you nurses out there). Maybe it was just that he sensed something was going to happen. I don't know, but everytime a nurse walked into the room, he was start to cry! He is also not a fan of anything out of the ordinary touching him. The hospital bracelet was a 'trauma' that he relived the entire time we were there until we cut the darn thing off. He also did not like the pulsox that they taped to his foot to get his blood oxygen level.

We arrived at the hospital late (see below) at 8am and we were on our way home at 10am!! How fast!! The hardest part was watching him go to sleep. We were with him when they anesthetized him and boy, I tell you, that was really hard on me! He started breathing funny as he was going to sleep and I felt panic start to creep up. The anesthesiologist assured me that they see that happen quite often, but I've never been more ready to rip my child away and into my arms since having kids! It took every fiber in my being not to overreact to that. Walking back to our room to wait for the surgery to be over (it took 15 minutes, total), I saw another mom crying her eyes out and then I felt justified in my own tears : ) When the surgery was over, the nurse brought him into our little recovery room and he was very disoriented and crabby. So, I held him and we rocked and tried some apple juice. All he really wanted was the banana that was sitting on the table, so eventually we opted for that and all was right in Logan's world.

We arrived late at the hospital because Brian and I were both up all night long with food poisoning or something. It hit us both about 9pm Monday night and lasted an hour before we left for the hospital. We were both so dehydrated and weak, but we got the kids up, dropped Lauren and Josh off at daycare, stopped at the gas station for two giant Gatorades and headed for Minneapolis. Lauren was so excited to be going to school early and that her "Bumpa" was going to pick her up from school! My dad came up to help since I didn't know how Logan would react to the anesthesia and just didn't know what to expect. So, Brian went into Lauren's room at 5am and she jumped out of bed exclaiming, "Today's a BIG day!" Then as Brian and I were laying on the floor of the upstairs landing, we overheard Lauren tell Josh, "Logan is going to the dentist to get his ears fixed." Neither of us had the energy to correct her.