Some Wii entertainment...

At my family Christmas get together on Saturday my sister brought her Wii and it was as if all the men went to a whole different house. Besides eating they were all into the game and never even knew any of us were there. Did I mention they were loud too! They never let me play!

Tegan in the middle of all the action. He would start dancing b/c that is what it looked like the men were doing! IT was cute!


Lamar in the Blue and Paul in black playing some Wii boxing!



Darrin and Mike getting their Wii action on!

MckMama Prayer Time

I think just about everyone that has Internet access is a MckMama and Stellan fan and lifelong reader. Well once again our little Stellan is in great need of your prayers. Click the link above to stay up to date on the little guy and pray as hard as you can!
Here is a quick catch up of Stellan's history (wrote by MckMama herself) just in case you aren't caught up on his past:
"In the womb, he was diagnosed with heart failure: premature atrial contractions at 20 weeks; supraventricular tachycardia, hydrops, and intermittent advanced secondary heart block at 23 weeks; and enlargement of the heart at 32 weeks. When the doctors told us at 24 weeks that our very ill baby would surely die, we chose to give our son completely to God, for He alone knows best. We have not stopped praising our Lord since then, for MckMuffin was healed and was born a well and whole full-term baby!! "

And so it is over....

All the shopping, wrapping, decorating and cooking! Whew....it's over and I am tired. We started Christmas on Wed. (Christmas Eve) and finally finished on Saturday. My kids were both just so ready to be at home. For four days Tegan would wake up, leave, come home for a 3 hour nap (that would start 2 hours late), get up and go again, come home and go back to bed for the night. So he is ready to be home. Rylee was so ready to be home that when we told her at 4:00 yesterday afternoon to get out of her p.j.'s b/c we were running to walmart, she just fell to pieces. She did not want to leave. She informed me that we were not leaving the house all week! She doesn't realize there is more holiday festivities this week!

We had a wonderful Christmas and the kids got more stuff than any kid needs. It was great that lots of people gave them nice clothes b/c they really needed them. I bet each kid got about 15 outfits a piece, 4new sets of pajamas, 2 pairs each of new shoes and new coats.
Rylee got her REAL digital camera, mp3 player, karaoke machine, movie, Taylor Swift CD, lava lamp, baby doll and some small filler stuff. Then from family she got to much stuff to list!
Tegan got a baby grand piano, a rather large wood bead maze (love this thing) and just a few small filler items. He too got to much to list from family.
I received my most favorite gift ever, a Northface jacket. Paul got a scope for his gun. We both got lots of other stuff too! It was great to be us this year!
Picture overload below...


Looking at what Santa brought!


Monkey see! Monkey Do!



Hiding from the Christmas Eve Crowds!


Want to see my Belly Button???? A new trick he learned!


Every time Rylee plays with one of his toys he just goes and sits on her and takes over.

Family picture. We are all looking a little rough after not really getting ready on Christmas morning before going to grandma's. It is like 12:00 in this pic but everyone is in the pajamas.


Tegan's most favorite toy of Christmas!


Her very first sewing machine from her mommy!

What a difference

"Test me in this," says the Lord Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it." Malachi 3:10

It was Christmas day last year when I could not even think about much less guess what Tegan's future would hold. After a month of feeling like something was not right with my sweet little boy I finally wedged my way in to his Dr.'s office. I say wedged b/c I had already called several times and they kept assuring me everything was o.k. and that I didn't need to see the Dr.. Finally when I got an appointment it was with the nurse practitioner who immediately was alarmed. His body tone was poor, he couldn't make eye contact or track items and his eyes were constantly scanning the room and he couldn't hold his head up at all and was over 3 months old. That day spiraled in to a whirl wind of Neurologist, Eye doctors, MRIs, blood work, urine test, Emory, and Medical College of GA. We had no idea what was going on at Christmas time last year, we just new it wasn't looking good. I remember my dad had given him a big play mat for Christmas. At the end of our night I had him laying on it and we were watching Amanda dress my nephew Taylor in his pj's before leaving for the night. I remember watching that healthy little boy and how cute he was standing there in his pjs. I also remember that I was holding back tears as I looked at him and then looked at my boy on the play mat literally just laying there as if he didn't see the toys hanging above him. We went to dr.'s appt and dr.'s appt and therapy sessions after therapy sessions and maybe those helped but one night I decided to stop begging God to help my child and started praising God for the healing of my son. It was at that moment my and Tegan's world changed. He began to follow toys and show interest in toys. He began to hold his body up better. He began using his arms and trying to reach for things. It was amazing. at 10 months he began crawling and has never slowed down since. We were told it may be 18 mths to 2 years before he could ever walk but at just 15 mths he took off and just one month later crawling is a complete thing of the past. This year is the best Christmas ever. I have two amazing blessings here on earth and one amazing baby angel in heaven. What more can anyone ask for. This year I get to look at my son and think of his future and all that he can accomplish and overcome. The sky is the limit! Hope you all have a great Christmas!

I saw the following quote on Amazing Ivey's Blog and just fell in love with it!
"Some luck lies in not getting what you thought you wanted but getting what you have, which once you have got it, you may be smart enough to see it is what you would have wanted had you known." ~ Garrison Keillor


Silly boy! This is from Rylee's Hannah Montana stuff. He will wear this all day!




He will climb on to the rubbermaid container beside the couch and literally dive over the arm of the couch over and over and over again! I tried to video it but that was the one time he landed on his head on the floor.


He loves his Rylee! She is the best therapy for him. They are eachothers blessing!

I've been blog crazy today so don't miss the entries below!

Hours of Cheap Entertainment

Yes...after years of saying I wanted to do a gingerbread house I finally gave in and forked out a whole $10 for a kit. Apparently I got the hard kit b/c my frosting had to be made. A friend told me that their frosting was already made and easy to do. NOT MINE! Of course I put to much water in the powder for the frosting b/c as we were decorating the frosting was running down the sides before it could harden. But who cares....it still turned out great and not to mention kept me and Rylee busy together for a solid two hours. She loved every minute of it. Tegan has been walking by it and picking candy off it even though it has been sitting on our kitchen table to weeks now. I am sure that the candy is old but just try to keep a 27 lb sixteen month old away from it.

TO CLEAN OR NOT TO CLEAN

THAT IS THE QUESTION! So there is nothing like having a whole bunch of people descend on your house at lunch and then a whole new bunch of people come at supper on Christmas Eve to get you in the cleaning mood. Usually we don't have much at our house but this year was our turn! I have been cleaning for days. By cleaning I don't just mean your common scrubbing but a complete declutter. See I must confess that I am a clutter bug...useless mail piles are all around my house and tons of stuff I could live without are tucked away in every corner. Well not anymore. I have since Sunday released about 5 bags of just trash. Not your nasty trash but your typical Happy Meal Toys, mail and things of that nature. I decided that instead of tucking all the clutter away in my room before the company came that I wanted to get rid of it all so that it did not have babies and then come crawling back out after everyone left. AHHHHH....Clean. Well sort of...I'm not done yet but hey, interventions don't just happen over night. I kept waiting for the cleaning fairy but it didn't look like she was going to make it this year! (MOM, I know the cleaning fairy visited Shannon yesterday) Well I'm back to cleaning! Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas Eve and Christmas Day! I know I will!
A post about my sweet Tegan coming soon...if I have time!

"Not Me!" Monday

My poor children...

I did not literally sit on Tegan's upper body twice a day and hold him down to the floor so that I could put his ear drops in after having tubes put in last week.

I did not let him play in the recliner and after being called by Rylee to come over the baby gate and hear a VERY loud boom only to see that Tegan hit the floor head first tonight. He did not get mad at me and just crawl to a corner in the living room and lay down and not move for a few minutes. I was not getting ready to get out of my warm pj's to rush him to the emergency room when he suddenly jumped up as if nothing happened. I think he was mad at me....or would have been had this happened.

Noticing a theme....poor Tegan!

I do not have to check facebook at least twice an hour to make sure I am still caught up on every ones mood for the day! FACEBOOK IS A BLACK HOLE!

Join in, go to McMama's site and take your turn. Get there before midnight!

Visit my Etsy store Polka Dot Pixie

IT'S A GIVEAWAY!

A few months ago I hosted an internet party for a friend of mine that sells for Usborne books. I didn't know what to expect when I placed my order of lots of books b/c I had never ordered anything from them before. WOW was I shocked. I have never seen prettier or better made books in my life. At a great price too! I got lots of books as Christmas gifts! They are going to make the best presents. To make a long story even longer, my friend that sells these books is having a free giveaway at her site. You should stop by and enter...what do you have to lose???? Just click the link below....
The Burp Cloth Babe

So far....

I have recently started buying and selling (or attempting to) fabric in my etsy shop. I always order some of my best fabrics off of the internet. The kinds of fabrics that you can't find in the stores. So I thought...Hey, why not start selling them in my etsy shop. I have just recently gotten most of it listed so it is just getting going. I still plan to try and make stuff to for my shop but with all this getting ready for Christmas and filling Christmas orders there hasn't been much time for my etsy store. Stop by and see the new fabrics. If you want a purse, diaper bag or pillowcase dress made out of any of the fabrics then you can leave a comment here to place your order!

The boy got tubes...

So this morning we were at the hospital at 7:00 am (to early for me) to meet up with Dr. McDreamy! By 7:30 a nurse came in to take my little man right out of my arms. I was very worried about this b/c he has such anxiety about going to anyone. It was weird...the whole time we were waiting he was cool as a cucumber and just sat very still playing in my lap. Then the MALE nurse came in to take him back. Tegan reached quietly for Paul and then Paul handed him to the nurse and they walked away WITHOUT a sound! It was amazing. He was so grown up and just looked at the nurse with the funny looking scrub hat like he was curious. By 7:50 Dr. McDreamy, I say this b/c...well...you would just have to see him....I digress. Anyway McDreamy was out and talking to me and Paul and said everything went great. They came to take us back to him and I could hear him screaming from afar. Bless his heart he was trying to wake up but apparently couldn't get his eyes to open yet. He continued to scream for about 15 minutes then suddenly calmed down and woke up. By 8:30 we were on our way home. He was great once we got home except for some very messy diapers and a whole lot of screaming when I put his ear drops in. Let's just pray that this helps so that we can stop this rotation of ear infections and antibiotics. I hope my little boy is back tomorrow.



I posted twice today...see the post below.

Rylee has it figured out

This is the first year that Rylee has ever sat in Santa's lap. In the years past she has been afraid and wouldn't hear of it at all. But this year she has sat in three different Santa laps and has it all figured out. She has told each Santa something different that she wants for Christmas. No two things are the same. Some of which are a REAL digital camera, MP3 Player (let's not forget she is 5), a Karaoke machine, etc... You must notice the trend of electronics. Santa has definitely had to do some shopping around for some stuff at some great prices.

Also Rylee was Mary again this year in our church program and she did great. My niece was one of the Angels wearing a dress that I made for all the Angels. Fun!

"Not Me!" Monday

The weeks just keep going by. How does this keep happening....tomorrow it will be Christmas. Or close enough.

Anyways Not me Monday is underway and I have decided to join in yet again but I have definitely had my fair share of things that one should not post about on their blog.

It did not lightening one time at my house on Wed. only to fry my computer and mess up my phones. I did not have to go to Best Buy and pay a small fortune for a new computer b/c I am so addicted to the Internet that I could not live without it.

I do not go back to bed every single morning after Paul and Rylee leave and sleep until 9:00 while Tegan is hanging out and playing in his bed.

We did not shop for 11 straight hours on Saturday while dragging our kids from store to store just b/c I couldn't stand not being done with all my Christmas shopping.

For the big one of the week... I did not chase Tegan all over our church last night while also trying to watch Rylee in the Christmas program. I did not pick him up when he wasn't exactly wanting it just so he could throw a fit and bust my lip open with his very hard head. If this would have happened it probably would have bleed a lot.

Therapy...a thing of the past!

Well I figured I would do a little update for those of you who care since I may not have a computer for a few days after today. It's been raining here for two full days now and apparently there was one strike of lightening all day yesterday and that one strike got my computer. Go figure. It is at the repair place seeing if anything can be done....if not then I guess we are due for a computer upgrade. I borrowed a laptop but I have to give it back tonight so I won't be internet connected tomorrow. I must say that I had an anxiety attack at the thought of not having internet. I mean....what else will I do? I'll tell you what I did before I got the laptop yesterday, laundry, cleaned the kitchen, cooked supper, played with Tegan, made Rylee a pillowcase top for Christmas, etc... Yes that's right, it has came to my attention that I spend way to much time on the computer looking at useless things it like an addiction to the this black hole where all my time goes and I can't seem to get it back. So maybe I will get lots done tomorrow while I have no computer at all!

Now for the great news that Tegan has officially graduated out of Occupational therapy. That means he is done with both physical and occupational therapy. I am so excited, not just the fact that I don't have to sit there and watch him suck on toys that goodness knows who has touched but b/c he is doing so well that he doesn't need it. She hadn't seen him in about two months b/c he has had one ear infection after another so I kept having to cancel his appointments so when she saw him yesterday she said she seen nothing wrong with him at all and he really showed off by walking all over the place. It was a good day. He smiled and waved and said bye bye all the way out the door like he knew that he had accomplished something great! That boy amazes me everyday!

Birthday and "Not Me!" Monday

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY MOM! HOPE IT WAS A GOOD ONE!



I did not have to completely pull all the decorations off my tree this past week so that I could string up some lights b/c the lights on my pre-lite tree decided to only work for a minute each day. I do not have a whole bunch of lights that are not working still on my tree.

We did not take Rylee and her friend to the Christmas Parade Sunday. There was not a long line of old cars (they should put a limit on those)in the Parade at which time we told Rylee and Emma it was over and got the heck out of the cold. I would never do that to her....especially before Santa even came by.

I did not try to hold Tegan down just to get a good Christmas card picture.

For the Grand Finale....I did not have to hold a cup under Rylee at the Dr.'s office and let her practically pee all over my hand and get almost none in the cup. Then I did not have to take her back for another test and make her stand there chugging water while running her hand under hot water (it worked when we were teenagers) just to get her to pee all over my hand again so that I could get the heck out of there! I would never do that!

Hope you enjoyed my taste of parenthood this week!

Why do I do this to myself???

So while Paul was hunting this afternoon I got this brilliant idea that I wanted to dress the kids in their Christmas outfits and try to get a Christmas card picture. Well let's just say it went like this.....









This picture says it all about how Rylee is feeling!



Look at that tear on his cheek!

The pictures say it all. I may have gotten one or two workable pictures but I am going to try again one more time before deciding! I was thinking of using one of these....at least it would be showing the truth....what do you think? Ha!