Christmas in full swing

Christmas is one week away and I can hardly stand it. It's so fun to experience Christmas with kids. I'm so excited for Santa to come because Joseph is so excited for Santa to come. And it's so wonderful to be able to teach Joseph about "baby Jesus." Joseph summarizes, "Baby Jesus growed and growed until he was big and he helped people." Here are some of our Christmas tree pictures. This is the first year we've had a big tree. We've always just put up the little 2 foot tree that my mom sent me one year I was in college. I don't really have enough decorations to fill it up but I was surprised to realize how many decorations we have been given through the years that we've never used because they were too big for our little tree. It is an artificial tree and most of you will think I'm horrible to live in Seattle and not buy a beautiful live tree. But we got an amazing deal on a used tree that I just couldn't pass up. It just looks so beautiful in our family room. I will be so sad to take it down.


I just love the pictures of babies grabbing at Christmas trees with the lights lighting up their faces. I didn't realize how dark my pictures were. I'll try to get some better ones for you.

ER

One week ago today I was sitting in the ER with my 6 month old baby. My first trip to the ER as a mother. Want to hear the not-so-gory and embarrassing details? I was clipping Justin's toenails and decided to trim his fingernails while I was at it. This was my first attempt at his fingernails because I'm a professional nail biter and I usually bite off his fingernails. I'm not sure why I decided to go for it on this particular afternoon. So he was starting to lose patience and I told him I was just going to do one last trim on his thumb, when I notice the bleeding. Ahhhh! I punctured my baby's thumb and made him bleed! I couldn't really see the cut; he was screaming and it was bleeding a lot. I grabbed a tissue and started applying pressure, but everytime I looked at the wound, it would pool up with blood again. After 10 minutes of this I started to get worried and called the nurse line. She told me to use a wet washcloth to apply pressure for 5 whole minutes before looking at the cut. She said every time I took the tissue away, I would reopen the cut, making it bleed. Good to know, huh? It's about this time that I realize that I've damaged his right thumb, the one he sucks himself to sleep with! So I've not only hurt my son, but also taken away his ability to comfort himself. Great job, Jill! Thirty minutes tick by and I hang up with the nurse having decided to have Justin seen today. The bleeding hasn't stopped and she's worried about possible infection and stitches on top of that. Right about now, I start to lose it. Darren isn't picking up his phone and his pediatrician can't see him for an hour. Justin is losing patience as I try to bandage his thumb he wants to suck so he won't bleed all over himself. So I call up a neighbor who graciously comes over to sit with my napping Joseph, and we head for the ER. By the time the nurse sees us, the bleeding has stopped and I'm feeling like an idiot. Two hours later, the doctor takes a look and says, "Let me put a bandaid on it for you." How humiliating! And I just felt so awful for my little baby that I caused pain! But in the end, I am happy to report that Justin is fine (can you believe how fast kids heal?) and I've learned a few things: 1)I'll stick to biting his nails. 2)I'll take humiliation over a serious injury any day! 3)And hey, now I know exactly how to get to the ER for the next time...? Let's not think about that.

Baby update

I must brag a little bit about what my baby can do. Justin is 6 months this week and now sits up on his own, rolls over from his tummy to his back, and he's eating solid food. I can't believe Justin is getting so big. It seems like it's going even faster than it did with Joseph. And I also can't believe that watching your baby learn how to do these things is just as amazing the second time around. The cutest thing is to hear Joseph praise Justin when he learns something new. He'll say, "Great job, Justin! You did it!"



I know this video is not very action-packed, but it's for the Grandmas. Justin was so ready for baby food. No funny faces, you say? No spitting the food out? No way, he just downed it like a pro. FYI: Joseph's excited exclamation is about the fact that Justin is wearing a Mariners bib. He's so silly.

Cute Giggles

Look! The brothers can play together! Joseph is often on the quest these days to make Justin smile and laugh. It's not that difficult anymore. If Joseph is paying attention to him, Justin is thrilled.