the last few weeks...

The last few weeks have been a whirlwind! I went back to work, Dhillon got to stay home with Aunt Karri, we celebrated Christmas with family, and now it is time for the new year! whoa! So...here is a recap...

Dhillon was very lucky to have the pleasure of hanging out with his Aunt Karri for three weeks.

When I went back to work, we were going to start Dhillon at daycare, but all signs pointed to that not being the best choice. Instead, Aunt Karri was able to fix her schedule so she could come to our house and keep him here. It worked out so wonderful! Honestly, I did not worry at all. It felt so great knowing that he was home and safe. I knew that Karri would take care of him and she would know exactly how to help him if he was upset. She was so wonderful to work around our crazy schedules, stay until we needed her to, and just be his security blanket for those 3 weeks without mommy. (I think he enjoyed seeing Mikaila and Makenzi everyday too!) Thank you to Aunt Karri for making Dhillon laugh, taking awesome care of him, loving him, holding him, keeping him safe and healthy, putting him down for naps in his crib, visiting Granna and Nanna, and continually texting pictures of our little buddy during the day. We are most thankful (and grateful) for this time that we will look back on and know that he was VERY WELL LOVED and TAKEN CARE OF.

School was out and I got to spend some time with my little man too! I honestly LOVE my Dhillon time! Sometimes we just hang out at home and snuggle or play or giggle or napped. Other times we were out and about meeting friends for lunch, shopping, or just enjoying a drive in the car. Either way, I wouldn't trade it in for anything and most days I wish I could have Dhillon day, EVERYDAY.

Of course we had many Christmas celebrations to attend with friends and family; however, we quickly found out that is not easy on Laela. She is so much of a routine kind of girl that starting on Christmas Eve, she was horrible! Laela acted out so much for two days that I was ready to turn in my mom card and hang her by her toes from the ceiling fan. One funny thing that happened…Laela was being so bad on Christmas Eve, but she finally started to calm down that evening when we were all home and settling in and getting ready for Santa. Well, she asked us to open the gift she made us from school, so we did! Too ironic… Yes…it is Laela’s picture on an angel that she made out doilies and what-not. Super cute. Ro and I looked at each other when we opened and we just laughed! What a wild ending to an awful day!
We did make it through the weekend, with some memorable moments. Here all of the kids exchanged gifts with each other at Granna and Gramps' house. What fun! Laela left Santa a wonderful plate of cookies and big cup of milk! (Thank you to Mikaila for making the reindeer cookies. Laela said Santa would LOVE them…and he did!) Oh and don’t forget Santa’s reindeers. Santa specifically told us that they like to eat carrots during their travels. :) After opening gifts from Santa, Christmas morning was spent with Nanna. We ate an awesome breakfast with Nanna, LeAnn, and the Fatheree’s. YUM! Here is Laela rockin’ her Tinkerbell shirt from Mik and Mak. She loves it and wore it two days in a row (Yes. I said two days in a row. If you know me, even half way know me, you know that we would never wear something twice in a week, much less two days in a row. That is how beaten down I was. I didn’t even argue with her. I just let her do it. I succumbed and hey! Everyone is still alive.)
Just the other day, we wanted some Laela time, so we hit the zoo! Mikaila and Makenzi joined us, while Aunt Karri spent time with D. (They were both thrilled to be back together again!) Anyway, the Dallas Zoo was AWESOME. We went one morning and it was such beautiful weather. Sunny and a high of 65 in Decemeber. WOW! Perfect weather for the zoo and that is probably why they sucked us in with the year long meembership! All three girls had a blast! We got to see many animals, including penguins, chimpanzees, elephants, and zebras. We fed the giraffes and we all rode the mono-rail together. So much fun! (Oh! btw...We decided our next trip would be somewhere on an airplane!) All in all. Wonderful day with the girls!

In just a few hours it will be 2012. This year has flown by. Once again. One year gone and a new year is beginning. We had a crazy year and I am glad to be starting a new one. Several tough, testing, real-life, figure-it-out, kind of moments. We are very thankful that Dhillon joined our family and we couldn't imagine it without him.

Here's to 2012....a year full of happiness, prosperity, hope, helping others more than helping ourselves, friendship, laughter, and love.

Dhillon...3 months!

Happy 3 month birthday to our sweet little guy! •He is somewhere between 14-16 lbs. We don't go to the doctor until 4 months, but we are almost certain he has gained weight since he went last month.
•He wears a size 2 diaper.
•He is in size 6-9 months in clothes.
•He wears a size 1 in shoes.
•He drinks 5-6, 5 oz, bottles each day. Currently he is drinking mostly breastmilk with 2 formula bottles before bed time.
•He loves to stand in your lap and he sometimes thinks he is running a race!
•He just grins ear to ear when Big Sister, Laela, talks or sings.
•He is a momma's boy and I wouldn't have it any other way!Big accomplishment this week...Dhillon has slept in his crib the last two nights! We give him his last bottle and get him to bed about 9:00. The first night he cried a bit and needed us to give him his paci and console him. The second night, he put him self to sleep with no paci. WAY TO GO Dhillon! He wakes up about 5:30-6:00 ready for a bottle and then goes right back to sleep until 9:00ish. What an awesome way to start the new year. :)

More Prayers...

Dearest friends and family,

I wrote to you a couple months ago asking for prayers for a family that is very close to me. Well, here I am again. Doing the same.

Yesterday, Lynn and his family had a meeting with the oncologist to determine the outcome of all the testing they performed last week. Sadly the results are not good - he has stage 4 pancreatic cancer. We need your prayers right now for Lynn's strength to fight this CRAZY disease, for Barbara to be strong and stand by his side at every minute, for Brooke to be able to understand why all of this is happening and also to be able to explain God's amazing plans to her 3 year old daughter, and for the doctors to plot a successful course of treatment.

Lynn will start chemotherapy as early as next week for a duration of six months. The family prays that whatever happens it's God's will and they will continue to know that he has a plan for each of us.

Your mission today:
Pray.
Then, call or talk to someone that you have not talked to in awhile. Be sure they are safe and know that you love them!

Love to all,
Kelli

A few more Georgie sightings...

Georgie has been all over the place and according to Laela, this little guy should be in time out! He has made quite a few messes, but Laela does enjoy seeing what he has gotten in to and we love listening to Laela tell Georgie how much trouble he is going to be in when Santa finds out about his mess. HA! HA!

He built a cup tower...and did a really good job!Georgie must have gotten hungry after he visited the big guy. He made himself a bowl of cereal, but I guess that wasn't enough, so he went in for more! This elf had a few boo-boos, so he got in the band-aid bag and went CRAZY!He still has a smile on his face, even with all those owies. Of course Georgie would need to play with Laela's big sister doll and diapers. He figured he would be the baby and get a diaper & bottle.We love having him around each day, but only a few more nights for Georgie to be with us.

Hello...Ladies!

Happy Birthday, Nanna Jo!

Happy Birthday to Nanna (AKA Jo Mama).We had a fantastic celebration at the house tonight, complete with music dancing, food, dessert, gifts, family, and more! Here are a few pictures that we snapped to share the occasion with you. Again, Happy Birthday to Nanna!!! We hope you had a wonderful day!

Our MOST Favorite Santa...

YES! Sunday we got to visit with our most favorite Santa. He is so special to us because we have had Laela's picture with him every year...
200820092010This year was even GREATER because we have two kiddos to share with him. Laela was literally running circles around the house, she was so excited to go see Santa. On the way, we had a discussion about what the reindeer would be doing while Santa was taking pictures with her. We get to the Eung's house and Laela hides behind our legs. She does not even want to be within 5 feet of the Big Jolly Guy. Then, we talked her closer and closer. As you can see, she even let me hold her close to Santa. Laela really wanted to let him know what she wanted, so she got a little closer to share with him that she would really like two Dora dolls. :) Then, we finally got her to stand in front of him so I could catch this picture. What a beautiful memory. Santa is WONDERFUL because he is OUR Santa. This Santa is awesome because we don't have to stand in a line for hours. This Santa is outstanding because he didn't given up when Laela was being stubborn about getting her picture. This Santa is one of a kind. This Santa is special because he is Lynn and we love him! Oh...This Santa is the same special man I blogged about a few weeks ago. This Santa is very special to me and my family and your prayers are still welcomed as he continues to battle an illness. You would not have known it from these pictures, but he was in the hospital just two days before this picture session. I believe that he truly loves being able to talk to the kids. He lights up their life (as they light up his) and he really gets to interact with children in a way no one will ever know. This Santa is stubborn and he will continue to fight; however, all thoughts and prayers will be helpful too.
Much Love and Happy Holidays to all!

Here he goes again...

This week has started out busy already!Georgie has TP'd the dining roomand watched all of Laela's movies!
Oh man...this may be a LONG week at our house!

Happy Birthday, Ro!

We celebrated Ro's birthday this week with a little family dinner at Texas Roadhouse, opening a few presents, and joining Georgie for a little birthday celebration. All in all, I think Ro had an awesome day!
Oh! btw...Laela decided that Ro needed some Spiderman items, so he ended up with a Spiderman tackle box (to keep his pens and papers in), as well as a Spiderman puzzle. :)

Happy birthday to Rohit!!! The most wonderful husband, phenomenal daddy, and awesome best friend. We couldn't imagine life without him.