We've got something great going.

Don't read if you have a terribly sensitive stomach. There is poop involved. 

On Christmas Eve we were on our way to Tim's maternal grandma's house.  Oliver had an upset stomach in the car on the way there.  We were not able to pull over soon enough and he a minor accident in his pants.  We had extra underwear but I put a diaper on him just incase it happened again on out 30 minute drive.  Of course it did.  He was yelling "poop" from the back seat.  I told him he had a diaper on so just let it fly.  He did.  

We got to Grandma Marie's house and immediately went to the bathroom.  Poor Oliver felt to embarrassed that he had a poopy diaper on.  No only that, but the diaper was no match for his upset stomach.  There went his undies, pants and his socks!  Oh and I used all of our wipes.  My son had to walk around in too small navy blue sweat pants and infant socks.  Come on, he has been reliably potty trained for 5 months.  Good thing he is too young to care.  

He seemed to be feeling better and had a great time chasing his cousins around. We stayed there for a few hours and then packed up. Off to Buffalo to Tim's paternal Grandma's house for dinner.  Oliver was still in his adorable sweater and blue sweat pants and Amelia had pooped in the car  so we decided to stop at Target on the way. They were closing soon so we had to hurry.  I took Oliver to find a some new pants and socks and Tim bought Amelia to the changing area.  After our purchase we headed to the bathroom to change Oliver.  I heard Tim in the Family Restroom so we joined him.  The poor guy had been in there trying to change Amelia's diarrhea diaper with no wipes.  He couldn't call me because my phone was in his pocket.  I helped with what I could and got Oliver changed and off we went. 

After we got back on the road I had a realization.  We have a pretty great thing going because at no point did any of us become crabby or raise our voices.  In fact we were still singing along with the Christmas music on the radio.    I think we can roll with the punches really well.   I love my little family.

Merry Christmas

I know, I know, it's been a couple weeks.  Believe me there is not a day that goes by that I don't think "I should really blog about this".  I just have not had the time.  I used every spare minute the in past 2 months to sew re-usable grocery bags for Christmas gifts.  I made 18 total.  I think the bags turned out great.  I am really proud of them.  

We had a great Christmas.  It was busy, but the kids handled it extremely well.  

Saturday, Dec 20th: Christmas in Eau Claire with the Seipel's. We all reserve hotel rooms and stay the night.  We are up the 13 rooms!  There is a reason no one wants to host for our huge family.  Santa came and the kids were scared to death of him.

Sunday, Dec 21st: Dinner at my dad's sister's house. There were a lot of people there.  All of them are related to me, but I don't know them very well.  Both of my parents come from families with 8 kids. 

Christmas Eve:  

2pm: Tim's maternal grandma's house.  We had a lot of fun. We played a White Elephant sort of gift exchange. (Look for a future blog regarding our diarrhea adventures)

5pm: Off to Buffalo to Tim's paternal Grandma's house.  There was a lot of great food there.  Amelia had so much fun chasing their beagle.  She was laughing hysterically. They both fell asleep on the car rid home.  Sorry Santa, no cookies for you this year. 

Christmas Day:

6am: Oliver is up and ready to open presents.  Amelia has to be woken up at 7 or risk Oliver opening all of her presents.

9:30am: Out to Tim's sister's in Hanover. Tim's parents, grandma, sisters(2), their husbands and kids (6) meet for breakfast and presents.  The caramel rolls, egg bake, GOOD coffee and great company are always something to look forward to.  I love the laid-backness of this get together. 

4pm: Dinner at my parents. This one is just my parents, sisters (2) and their husband/boyfriend.  There are no kids except mine.  Although this is by far the calmest event, I have to use a lot of energy entertaining my kids.  Oliver loves playing with other kids.  I think we all had a great time.  

Our holidays were very busy, but it makes me realize how luck we are.  We are fortunate to have our families live close.  We are fortunate to have everyone in good health.   We are fortunate to have kids that are easy going enough to make these adventures doable. We are fortunate that we want to make it to every event because everyone is so special to us. We love our families. 

Bath Time

Ameila was having  great time in the bath until she decided to dunk her face.  She was very tired and did it all on her own.  

Two weeks

It took my Amelia 12 days to take an ornament off our tree.  That took way longer than I thought it would.  Both of the kids have left it alone for the most part.  I even situated all of the ornament in a kid proof fashion.  Don't worry, the one she is holding is a plastic cheapy from IKEA.    

Here she is putting it back up on the tree.  I think she is way smarter than I give her credit for.