The Month of December (Part Three)

 A thoughtful gift from a thoughtful friend.

 A $6 HomeGoods splurge.

Come on, is there anything cuter than this little hand painted owl in a scarf!? 

Ellie had an asthma attack in the middle of the night in early December, and after nebulizing her with 2 different medications and giving her an oral steroid (leftover from Maddie's ER visit due to a bad case of croup, and only given to Ellie after consulting with her pediatrician), I had to take her to the hospital. She bounced right back the next day, and has not had any trouble since. Managing asthma is a process with a learning curve. But we are figuring it out and finding what our kids respond to best, which is preventative care for now. 

"Waiting for daddy to come home." 

A particularly long day, which ended with children in the tub and shower after an early dinner. I sipped tea on the bathroom counter in an effort to collect myself. 

Christmas shopping at the mall. I must have been having a wonder-woman moment to have even attempted such a thing.

Gathering their courage as they waited in line to see Santa. We had rehearsed how it would go down the entire morning, even printing out a picture of each of the gifts they wanted to ask Santa for. Robbie: "A lego city police station." Ellie: "A fresh baby." (meaning, a new one) Maddie: {mute}

 This year's picture with Santa is a little misleading.

Ellie was the first to climb up on his lap. Maddie followed her up, and was hesitant to sit with this strange man but because she was with Ellie, she was OK (enough). Robbie on the other hand had a death grip on the line stanchion and was begging not to go anywhere near Santa. I may or may not have said "If you don't walk up to Santa and show him your lego city police station picture, how will he know what to bring you for Christmas!?". I'm not proud of this, but it worked... and look! He's so happy in the picture! Fear conquered. And even better, Santa picture acquired. Haha.

Last year, Maddie was screaming her little baby head off. This year she's graduated to 'stoic'. I love it.

Christmas crafts and drawings to send to our family in New Jersey!

 Just another day walking the big hill to and from preschool at church.

 She looks old, no? I love her ponytails.

And finally, pictures of sisters before bedtime in matching pj's.