Shrek the Halls

A few days after Christmas we headed to Ft. Worth to take Rachel to get her back checked out for scoliosis. She had a good check-up. We will have a follow-up appointment in nine months. While we were in Dallas we managed to squeeze in a fun family day too. We headed to the Gaylord Texan to see Shrek the Halls ICE exhibit.

We walked around enjoying all the pretty decorations while trying to find our way to the ICE show.
A real live Gingerbread house!!



We found the ICE!! The Gaylord Texan flies in Chinese artists to carve these sculptures. They are really amazing!!
We have to wear parkas because they keep the temp at nine degrees...brrr.



Ice slides...


It was a little too cold for the kids. Luke was crying at the end.
My favorite part was The Nativity Scene. It was really beautiful.

Kate wanted her picture with Kong Fu Panda.

We had a great day! If you noticed in the pictures that someone was missing, he stayed with his Aunt Cara and Uncle Beaubie and took a nap. We were very grateful they offered to keep him...we are sure he would not have enjoyed the ICE show.

Did Santa Come?

Why YES he did!!

Kate wanted a big trampoline and that is just what she got. The kids have really enjoyed getting to jump and play on the trampoline.
Rudolph was guiding the sleigh through the snow storm.

"Wade-o the Tomato" got a battery powered Tow Mater...how fitting. They are even holding their mouth the same. He also got a little track set for his cars.
Luke got lots of Legos and a couple of video games.
Rachel got her backpack, golf set, video game, and necklace.
Kate got a doll and pony set and a train.


Group shots...

We had about six inches of snow on Christmas morning!!! A White Christmas!!!
Wade riding his truck.
Luke spent a few days building his new Lego sets. Here they are all built.

Christmas 2011

We had several Christmas's this year. Starting the first part of December, Dena was visiting and she wanted to take Rachel out for a special day. They bought a little tree for Rachel's room and decorated it. I thought it turned out so cute, decorated in pink and purple of course. It was a fun idea, and Rachel had a great time with her Aunt Dena.

Dena and my Mom came another day when she was in Snyder on vacation. She also got her hair cut while she was in Snyder. She donated it to Locks of Love.

Christmas Eve we joined our big kids in Snyder where they had been staying while Wade was in the hospital. Christmas in Snyder was a whirlwind this year to say the least. We open presents at Grandnanna and Grandpa's first.

This picture of Luke is blurry, but I had to include it because he got something he was really wanting, and I was really not wanting. Nobody had even mentioned to Grandnanna that he wanted it. She said she knew it was for him the minute she saw it. This little dog sings and makes a certain favorite noise of Luke's throughout the song. He was thrilled and it was the first gift he opened!!
Grandnanna and Grandpa picked out the perfect gift for Miles too. Everybody had to check it out. Tenley looks like she might throw up.
Ian was trying to help his Dad by shining the light so he could see better.
Wade with his new camera....now he can be just like mama.
Tenley wearing her frog hat.
Sydney wearing her cow hat.
Mac snuggling with Grandpa.
Grandpa found something to interest the kids on the computer.
After the party was over at Grandnanna and Grandpa's we headed over to Memaw Linda and Granddad Bob's for more presents.

Kate was glad to see Memaw.
Luke once again lucked out and got something he had really wanted. This time he had wanted it bad enough to cry when I would not let him buy it the week before Christmas....you don't buy toys before Christmas!!
Rachel got a pretty new dress.
Mom got pictures.
Their gift from Aunt Dena.
Wade eating Cherrios from his new bowl sitting on his new Mater truck.
Kate with her ponies.
My dad in his shirt that was a little small. The other gift he got was just the right shape, size, and color!!


This was the view from the front seat of the car on the way home. We drove thru snow most of the way. It got pretty heavy too.
Next, we will see if Santa Claus visited our house this year!!

We Would Like to Interrupt Your Christmas Plans for a Short Hospital Stay

Poor Baby Wade got put into the hospital on the Thursday before Christmas. He had been having diarrhea for over a month. We had taken him to the doctor after Thanksgiving with this problem. She treated him with Flagyl, an antibiotic, which did help but did not completely clear everything up. The doctor then thought that he may have some food allergies. First, we switched him to soy milk. That did not help. Next, we tried almond milk and a gluten free diet. Everything just kept getting worse. Nothing we were doing was changing the fact that he was having six to eight really bad diapers a day. Finally, the doctor decided to run some lab tests to see if it was allergies or something else. Chris took him in on Wednesday for the tests. Thursday morning the doctor called and Wade had tested positive for clostridium difficile, a bad intestinal bug. She wanted to admit him to the hospital to give him some fluids. Wade's CO2 was at 12. The normal range is 20 to 29. He was just a LITTLE dehydrated!

I made a phone call to Grandpa to see if he could help us with the big kids. He was here in an hour and a half. He did not mess around! He picked up the kids and I headed to the hospital. I was glad that they found out his problem and they would be able to help us, but the timing was kind of bad....CHRISTMAS!! I got him all checked into the hospital and we were taken to our room. Then the fun began!! Turns out Wade is not a fan of sharing his blood. Poor little guy...it was awful...everybody that needed to get blood had a hard time getting any from him. He was poked three times each time they tried to get blood. What a coincidence three was his lucky number each time! All I can say was Wade is a fighter and VERY strong!!! It took three people to hold him down every time. All this fighting did tire him out some.

Look at his eyelashes.

He got caught up on his reading....


He looked so cute in his little gown.
This is what Wade did most while he was in the hospital....throw fits. He was really agitated the whole time. Every time somebody came in the room it set him off....he knew they wanted blood.
We were in the hospital for 36 hours getting Wade re-hydrated. The doctor told us he did test high for allergies too. We are just going to watch him and see how he does when he finishes his new medicine. We were released at 9pm on the 23rd. We were getting nervous that we would have Christmas in the hospital. We all came home and went straight to bed. We woke up to snow!
Wade out of the hospital and a White Christmas....things were really looking up!!
Wade is our first baby to be sick enough to be admitted to the hospital. Rachel and Luke have had day surgeries, but we have not spent the night.