Lydia's 9th Birthday With Friends

Lydia's friends came this evening to celebrate her 9th birthday. We all went to see Yogi Bear in 3D. Everyone enjoyed it. Lydia then opened her presents. Lydia's class wrote letters to Santa last month, and the local newspaper published them. In her letter, Lydia explained to Santa that if she didn't get a webkinz for Christmas, her account would be shut off. Her friends obviously read the letters because she got a Webkinz for each of them. The girls then ate cake and are planning to be at our house for most of tomorrow.

Trying Out His New Sled

Dad took Seth to a local reservoir today to try out Seth's new sled. They had fun, but it was really cold in the wind.

Half-grown!

Lydia turned 9 today! She's half-way to being an adult (if you consider someone who at 18 will still be in high school living at home an adult :-) ) We had lunch today with Grandpa (also celebrating his birthday today,) Grandma, Uncle Bryan, and Aunt Sasha. We went to Red Lobster at Lydia's request. Lydia's gift from Mom and Dad was an American Girl Doll, Kit. Tomorrow she is having a party with her friends.

Christmas Morning

It's 10:00 am and we've been up for almost five hours. The kids have had a great time. Lydia got lots of stuff including a gymnastics mat, lots of things for her American Girl Doll, and an MP3 player. Seth got things including a DSI XL, a lego set, a sled, and art stuff. Morgan's favorites were a balance beam, things for her dolls, a pillow pet, and a princess dress. Morgan is sick, and we're hoping she feels better soon! Sydney loves her new red car! She hasn't had much time to play with other things yet.

Either turn your computer or your head sideways...

and enjoy Sydney enjoying "Ice Ice Baby."

Snow Day

Today was the first snow day of the season. We got about five inches of snow with high winds and extremely cold temperatures. Lydia, Seth, and Morgan all had a friend over until 1, and Lydia's friend stayed for the day. We made gingerbread houses, and Lydia and her friend played outside for a few minutes this afternoon. We are expecting a snow day tomorrow as well. The roads are bad, and the school has already announced a delay. Lydia has a another friend spending the night in anticipation of another fun day.

We have a problem...

This is Morgan in what she believes is the new pretty pink carseat Dad bought her for his car....

This is Sydney in what she believes is the new pretty pink carseat Dad bought her for his car....

This is Morgan and Sydney fighting when they realize there is only one seat, and they both think it belongs to them :-)
Dad needed another big carseat for his car. He bought this one thinking he could give it to Morgan, and Sydney would be happy with the black one she has in his car. His plan isn't working out very well... Mom forsees a trip to Walmart in his future...

Waiting to decorate the tree...

The kids sang their favorite Christmas song this evening while Dad put lights on the Christmas tree. The song is from their favorite move, Alvin and the Chipmunks.

Visit With Santa

Santa came to Dad's work today, and the kids decided to go see him. Seth told Santa he wants a pillow pet, electric doodle, and spiderman DS game. Lydia told Santa she wants a webkinz. Morgan was scared of Santa. She wouldn't sit in his lap or look at him. Sydney waved to santa.

Lights at the Toledo Zoo

We went to the Toledo Zoo this evening to see the Christmas lights. It was our first trip out since Morgan's surgeries. It was a lot of fun! Morgan was able to ride in the stroller and enjoy the lights. The rest of us had fun too!

Mama's Girl

Morgan got out of the hospital Tuesday night. She was there for 12 days. During this time Mom was only home for a few hours total. Sydney developed a serious case of separation anxiety when Mom was gone. She now gets upset when Mom leaves which she didn't before. She's also more affectionate than ever. She hugs and kisses Mom all day long :-)

Big Sissy Comes to Visit

Lydia was really excited to come to the hospital this evening to see Morgan. She hadn't seen her since she went in the hospital over a week ago. We went for a walk around the children's floor of the hospital, and Morgan showed Lydia the things that she likes. Morgan is still sore from surgery today, but she looks really good. Lydia then went back to the room and helped Morgan earn stickers by breathing into the breathing device.

Recovering From Another Surgery

Last night they did tests and found out Morgan needed another surgery to clean out infection. When her intestines were open, the contents spilled into her abdomen. This probably led to the infection she had. She had surgery this morning. The doctor said it went well. He said the infection wasn't too deep. If all goes well, he expects her to be in hospital until early or middle of next week, and have a couple weeks of home health visits after that.

She's resting right now drinking apple juice and watching Blue's Clues.

Still Hanging Out at the Hospital

Morgan is still in the hospital. We're not sure when she'll get out. We hope no more than a day or two. She's looking much better. He favorite game is to start (quietly) yelling, "beep, beep, beep." This is what her IV does, and she thinks it's funny when the IV starts beeping and nurses come to see her. She loves to go to the playroom and paint pictures and crafts. We haven gotten our money's worth of our netflix subscription this month. She uses the Ipad to download kids' movies through netflix since the hospital has Internet. This has been very fun for her. One day a therapy dog dropped by to meet her which was nice. We're hoping to return home soon.