Christmas Vacation

This is Steve's artistic picture from our trip! We went to eat at AJ Spur's the first night and saw this on the fence. Steve thought it looked pretty cool!

Our first day was great! We got to Solvang with time to go to Buttonwood and shop around. We then went to dinner. We unpacked and settled in with no issues! But then around 9:30pm Steve's stomach turned sour. That continued the entire night and into the next day!

So Jocelyn and I set out alone. There is a great park that everyone must stop at with kids. It's called Sunny Fields Park right past Solvang but before Los Olivos!


They have really cute little houses to walk in and out of!

Day 3 Daddy was still so sick! So we set offagain alone! All he coulddo was sleep & I couldn't exactly keep Jocelyn in all day!

So I took her to the very spot daddy had proposed to me 3 years ago exactly!

Then we found some mini horses!

After that we went back to the park! Thankfully Steve was a little stronger & we were able to get him home on Day 4! So as bummed as I was, Jocelyn & I made the best of it!

Christmas #2-Happy Birthday Jesus

We can't forget the reason for the season! It's Jesus' birthday! We let Jocelyn known the true meaning of Christmas but look forward to when she will actually understand it! Happy Birthday Jesus!

On Christmas day we set off to Ryan and Kelly's house! My mom had spent so she was already there! We had SO much fun! What a great day spent with family! Emma had already gotten her kitchen and Jocelyn took right to it! She literally played with this toy all day! We got her a Step 2 50's Diner Kitchen so now we know she will like it. We didn't think she would be old enough just yet for it but now we know she is! So we will put it together next week and take picture's then!

Sweet baby Jack!
We also opened a few picture's with each other! So fun to watch the girls! Of course they are at the age they want to open one gift and play with that. So we were left to open a few presents for the girls. But this was by far my favorite picture of the day! I caught Jack doing a "surprised" face! So funny! Looks like he was so excited about his new PJ's from Grandma and Grandma!
A BIG Christmas hug from Daddy!
Then we had a super yummy brunch! Cheesy potatoes, pancakes, bacon and eggs! Nothing better!

Then it was off to take some naps! But Jocelyn had other plans! She only slept about 20 minutes on the way to their house and that was it for the day! Yikes! Surprisingly no meltdowns! Thankfully she had tons of distractions!
She got to try out Emma's new sit and spin! Good thing she got one too this morning!
Emma learned how to do it really quick!

Kelly had to try it out too! Ryan did as well but I missed getting photos of that! HA! Cracked Emma up!

Jack and Jocelyn under the tree!
Look at the sweet smile!

Jocelyn loved the oven mit!

We turned on Yo Gabba Gabba later in the afternoon to entertain the girls a little more!
Grandma's grand babies!
Oh no, in a Yo Gabba Gabba coma!

and then it was nighttime...
We took a very sleepy Jocelyn home to her crib! She was out before we even hit the first stop sign! What an amazing day! Such a great Christmas we had! To end the night a nice good rain after we were home snuggled in our PJ's! Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

Christmas #1

Our first Christmas was on the 23rd spent at Steve's mom and dad's new house. They just moved this summer so it was our first time all gathering here! It was nice, warm and cozy! We had dinner and then let the wrapping paper start flying!

Nicolas is really into Christmas this year so it was fun to watch him open his gifts! He even helped Jocelyn towards the end of hers since she was pretty tired by then!

Jocelyn got so pretty cool stuff including the baby doll carriage above. Although she thinks all these new accessories are for her. She wants me to put her in them!
She also got another baby doll that she held tight all night. It had a pacifier just like her! She tried several times to use the babies pacifier instead of hers!

Nicolas continued his Great-Grandmother's tradition of having bows on her head. Except he put them on other people's heads!

Nicolas also got lots of good shots too!
Oh no, she's fading fast!
One last shot of the kids in their Christmas PJ's!
Jocelyn slept until 7am the next morning! She normally wakes at 5:30! I got to sleep in! What a treat!

Meeting Santa 2010

Jocelyn was not a fan of Santa tonight! We showed her Santa's picture several times before our visit! She would always get very excited when I said we were going to see Santa! She was even more excited when we put on her pretty dress! This looked promising! Before we sat her on his lap we even let her get a good look at him! None of that helped even in the slightest bit! She immediately started to cry very hard so Daddy quickly gave her the pacifier and she stopped for a few seconds for us to snap one "good" photo! Thankfully no one was there and they didn't rush us!

Poor thing! Afterwards I said, "Did you see Santa!??" and she shook her head "no"! Tramatized for sure! Ha!
So maybe next year!
Posted the below photo from last year to show the difference! Yes, it's the same dress! Still fits so why not!?

Jocelyn Update

Part of our weekend was spent at Coco's! We never go there but Steve was craving it so we went for a late lunch! So super kid friendly too which is always a plus! I took these picture's because it reminded me of when my sister and I were little and would go to Coco's with my mom and Grandma Jane. We would "wash the windows" with the napkins after they had gotten wet from the condensation from our drinks! Coco's always reminds me of my Grandma! Great memories!

We had two of Jocelyn's doctors appt's on Friday! Steve took the day off too and we got to take her together! We saw her GI and her Pulmonary Specialist. Here are her latest stats:

14 1/2 months

19lbs, 1oz (10% on the weight chart now-BACK ON THE CHART after 9 months of being off of it and her weight at .8%! WOOHOO)

She technically lost 3 oz from a week ago but we think it was the difference of two doctor offices scales-plus the Pulmo and GI said that kids tend to drop some weight in the winter (wish that was true for us adults) and they don't get worried about it.

30 1/2" in length (constantly in the 50% for height)

Words: We've counted up to 19 now. Here are a few-Hi (to literally everyone we see while out and about during our day), Hi-ya, Mommy, Daddy, Tickle-Tickle, Dog, Cat, Duck, Ball, Bird, Jocelyn (or Yacyin), Stop, Go-Go-Go, ByE-bye, "whatda?", "whoooa!", "Ohhh!" and sometimes she will repeat what we say.

So finally Jocelyn is back on the weight chart which makes the doctors VERY happy! I always tell them, "But someone has to be on the bottom..and someone has to be on the top, or you would not even have a chart!"

GI UPDATE:

GI dr thinks her first ear infection (that she had last week) could possible be due to her reflux as well! UGH! I hate reflux! He said that many kids who have acid reflux start getting ear infections bettween 1 and 3yo's old. He said the reflux meds only controls the amount of acid in the stomach and can't control the actual food coming back up her esophagus. So something it can come up and some of the liquid will get in her ear canal, sit for awhile and then cause an infection. So he ends up getting aggressive with the reflux meds. He decided to double her reflux meds now. Also because she was starting to throw up more often again.

PULMONARY SPECIALISTS UPDATE:

He was concerned that she got the congested cough while on two breathing treatments a day but happy she fought the ear infection well. However, he wants to keep her on two breathing treatments a day still until we get through winter. So we will try and ween her down to once a day not until Feb now. But he said that is all depending on the weather and how raining that month ends up being.

It's been so dry lately that her excema flared up again! But thankfully we had the new perscription ointment so it cleared it up overnight!

All in all a great weekend!

Weekend

Jocelyn waving to Nicolas when she saw him on the video monitor! So funny!Jocelyn sharing her toys with Lucy! She is 2 wks older than Jocelyn! Her brothers are best friends with Nicolas! Nicolas wanted to take a picture with Jocelyn since they were both in their PJ's!

What a crazy weekend! On Wed I started getting really bad vertigo. Steve drove me to the urgent care that night and turns out I had an inner ear virus which explains the vertigo! Great, so give me a pill to stop the world from spinning. Nope! Doctor said that there is nothing you can do but treat the symptoms and let it "run its course"..really?! Oh man! So come Thursday and it was even worse. I couldn't keep down the meds the doctor did give me so he said to try dramamine! Ugh! In the end it lasted 4 days and I'm still a little dizzy and unbalanced. My ears are plugged on and off. Neck is super stiff from sleeping sitting up for so long but glad that the vertigo has finally stopped! It's the worst and I feel horrible for anyone who suffers from it everyday!


Steve had his big conference in San Diego too this weekend! I made him go! He wasn't going to miss this because of some momma dizziness! So off he went and over came Grandma E to help with Jocelyn! She was obviously moving way too fast for me! My mom stayed with me Thursday night and Friday night and on through Saturday afternoon until Steve got home! Whew! What a help! I could not have done it without her! Thanks Grandma!!!!


Steve did great as always and met more contacts. He has 3 more conferences which he will speak at in Jan! So exciting!


We need to post this video but on 11/30 Jocelyn took 4 steps! Woohoo to baby ...err...toddler Jocelyn! She has since insisted on holding at least a finger to walk around everywhere. She's extremely active now and all over the place as any normal 14 month old would be I guess!


We have to see her GI and Pulmo doctors this Friday so I'll give full updates on her health then. She is working through her first ear infection now which lead to a congested cough but the Pumlicort (breathing treatments) is doing what it's suppose to and keeps her lungs from reacting to things. Which is great news!


We ended the weekend at Nicolas' Christmas Choir show at his church. He sang 3 songs with his class! It was really cute! We only got picture's on Steve's phone so I just posted one above. That is us hanging out in the family room at the church since Jocelyn lasted all of 10 minutes into the performance. Thankfully they had a video monitor and other kids to keep her entertained! Best seats in the house!

Let the Christmas season begin!!!