what the heck?

Lucas:

cough/cold

ear infection

allergic reaction to antibiotics

good for 3 days

cold

Lila:

cough/cold

ear infection

antibiotics don't work

ear infection is worse

stronger antibiotics

cold

yeast infection

all that, 8 prescriptions, and 5 doctors appointments all in 4 weeks.

All I can say every time a new thing comes is "WHAT THE CRAP?"

Though I will say, we are finally on the road to recovery, I think. Keep your fingers crossed!

Cuties

Lila has learned how to jump in the jumper, let me tell you, she loves it a WHOLE lot more than Lucas ever did. Well let me take that back, he loves to play with it now, whenever she is in it. ;) Lila is one chubby girl, so when she started jumping Matt lovingly said "YEA! Thats how you use those chunkers!" (obviously referring to her massive thighs!) Yes I know you can't see her face, but, that was the point. Every time I get the camera out, she stops jumping. Except for this adorable picture.

Lila has also learned how to clap. She loves when anyone claps, she gets so giddy! So I have been working on teaching her how. She finally got it! But she was upset because she wanted the camera, so it isn't a 'happy' clap. :)

Then there is this guy:

Ain't he a stud!? Well, we were playing with his "monster Bowling set" When he lined the pins up, and told me "the first one is Grandma Andreason, the second one is Grandpa Andreason, and the third one is Sadie (the dog)" I asked him who the last three were, and he told me they are Grandma and Grandpa Andreason's friends! I thought it was SO funny!

Christmas Day

Christmas is SO much fun with kids!! I love the anticipation, watching Lucas open his presents, and seeing how happy he is! This year we spent Christmas Eve with Matt's parents (thank you Bruce and Sandi!). Lucas was pretty excited to open his gifts. He got a shirt, couple PJ's, some books, a movie, a helmet and a bike! Santa left a note telling Lucas that he needs to wear a helmet every time he rides his bike, and then hiding in the other room, was the bike! Lucas was so happy! He wore his helmet for most of the morning, and then he wore it more at my parents house. Its a shame it is so cold and snowy, he can't ride it much, but come spring time, we will have lots of fun! :)

Lila, obviously doesn't get it. But she still had a little Christmas too. She got some PJ's, a couple outfits, and a toy. She was pretty happy with the paper though. :)




Though Matt and I had a lot of fun playing Santa this year, we tried to continue to teach Lucas that Christmas is Jesus' Birthday. We talked a lot of the Birth of our Savior, and sang Christmas songs, about Jesus, not just fun/playful ones. I don't think Lucas understands much of it, but hopefully each year he will understand more and more. We are thankful to our Savior Jesus Christ, for His birth and life, and for his death. Our Brother has given such wonderful examples of how we should each live. He has made it possible for us to live as a family forever, and we are very grateful for this. I pray we can always remember Christ, and always follow his example.

Quick catch up

I always do this, I don't blog for months, then I have tons of stuff to put up. So I keep putting it off, waiting for a chance to sit down and take the needed time to blog, but it never comes. So, I am going to to be very quick and to the point here. ;)

In order of farthest back:

Lucas' Birthday! 3 Years!! Holy cow, I feel old! My friend took some adorable pictures of Lucas for his Bday, if you want to see more, check out my Facebook page. Luke got SO spoiled from family members! He is one loved little boy!

Playing in the snow:
We had a snow storm, not the "big Blizzard of 2010" That they closed the U of U for, that we only got maybe two inches of snow. But a few days after that, we had a big snow fall! So I took Lucas out in snow pants and all, and we played. It was hysterical! We walked out, and Lucas can't even walk in it, it is up to his waist. So I had to help him, but heck I am so short I can barely even walk. So we were both falling all over the place. We made a snowman, that was A LOT harder than I remember it being. Lucas kept knocking it over too, so I had him make his own, which consisted of a pile of snow like 2 inches high. But somehow, our snow came out with a face! we didn't do this, but looking at it, especially in the pictures, there is a very distinct face. Creepy!

First time bathing together:
So, there was one night when both kids needed a bath, badly, but Lila was in one her demanding moods, when she wants to just be held and played with. So, I tried bathing them together. She wasn't sitting very well yet, so I used the bumbo. It worked great until the seat, with Lila in it, started to float. So I had to keep one hand on it. But both kids had so much fun! *Please ignore the R-rated body parts. :)



We went to Temple Square to see the lights, it was raining and cold, but it ended up being perfect. There wasn't too many people there, and the rain slowed down for us. We enjoyed it! We also made a Snoopy Gingerbread Doghouse. That was messy! Lucas, and Matt, kept picking at the marshmallow Snoopy, the poor thing looked pathetic! And Lucas got to see Santa at our ward Christmas party! Of course he was too shy to talk to Santa but he loved it. His favorite part? Santa gave him a candy cane! Goofy kid.

See Lucas on Santa's List

Lucas made Santa's List "http://family.go.com/santas-list/video/210699-brookiecookie58/" - Send your Picture to Santa and See Which List You've Made This Year

recipes/traditions

So....I am putting together my meal list for grocery shopping for early next week. I like to try new recipes out, as long as they are easy and fast. Of course I can look some up on my own, but last time I asked for recipes, I got some AWESOME ones from you guys! Many of them have become favorites and others are great "go to" meals. So, I thought I would ask again:

What are your favorite recipes, that are fast and easy? They can be your favorite because they taste so good, or because they are easy to do while a toddler is getting into trouble and a baby is crying, or because they have special meaning to you because of memories, or how you thought of it, or for whatever reason, what are your favorite recipes?

Also: At this time of year I love to hear peoples traditions. I have a few favorites of my own, though Matt and I butt heads on them, he doesn't care for them. But I would also love to hear what your traditions are. I am open to the idea of adding new traditions to our family. So...What are your favorite traditions, and why?

A raccoon got in....

The Mess....

The culprit....

The story....

Lucas and Lila have both gotten some nasty sleep habits as of late. Lila has been waking up numerous times during the night, keeping Matt and I up as well. Lucas has been waking up earlier and coming into our room to watch cartoons. On this particular day, Lila was up so many times I lost count. We were SO tired. Lucas woke up about 6:30 (not terribly early, but after a night like that, it was too early!). Since we can't sleep while he is in our bed, I (yes me, I am taking the blame here) decided to have him watch a show on the couch. I turned it on, I got him a blanket and drink, and I went back to bed. Next thing I know he is waking us up an hour later (don't know how we didn't hear him the whole time) and he is covered with gooey stuff. And saying he is eating cereal on the couch. So we went to see. Here is the list of things he did: got into Lila's thermometer and probe covers (opened every one of them), into the butt creme, into three different kinds of hydro cortisone (both kids have really bad skin issues), got into a BIG tub of vaseline (enough said), opened a box of cereal (more like destroyed it), got into strawberries and cream oatmeal and ate all the strawberries from it, poured an entire container of saline solution into the vaseline. I keep finding little greasy hand-prints in random places throughout the house. Needless to day, we will not be doing that again. The pictures are terrible, I was laughing to hard, I about peed my pants, so it is very blurry. :)