one for the books

or at least for my journal, (does a blog count as a journal) With all of the Snow we had in December the kids did not have school the week before Christmas break, the first day after returning to school Lewis came home with a wrapped present. He pro ceded to give it to me. It was wrapped in three different types of wrapping paper placed in random places on the package, I could see that it was a box of wheat thins. He told me I had to open the gift, that he had made it just for me. I unwrapped the package and opened the box. To my surprise it was empty. Lewis asked do you like it? I made it just for you, it's to hold your food. No you didn't miss anything apparently I have a lot of food and needed an empty cracker box to hold it all, and Lewis made it just for me. You gotta love him

Spirit Week

This week at School is Spirit Week and Jayden has been so excited, Lewis is done with it all. Monday was Pajama Day, Lewis did participate, but beyond that he wanted nothing to do with it. Wednesday was wacky hair and hat day, usually Lewis fights me on doing his hair, I though great I do not have to do his hair today, but no he wanted it done, and of course today when it is not wacky hair day he fought me once again. Today is 80's day Jayden wanted a picture then cursed me for my lack of pictures in the first few days, maybe we will have a reinactment. Jayden told me they chose the 80's becaus emost of their mom's were in high school for the 80's I told her I was only 1 year from being born in the 80's, but that the kids now are already dressing like the 80's, her outfit was far to easy to come up with. Here are the photos of Jayden for 80's day.

Nutcracker

Jayden decided this year that she wanted to begin focusing her dance more on ballet, so we changed studios and she is training in Classical Ballet. Each year the Studio puts on The Nutcracker in Downtown Portland. I was so disapointed that I was unable to attend, she performed the first weekend of December, and Reid was only two weeks old. Thankfully Grandma and Grandpa Bever were able to attend with Scott on Friday night, and Grandma and Grandpa Smith went to her Saturday performance. This is the video of some of the performance. I look forward to seeing next years performance. Jayden is the second dance to come onto stage.

Christmas 2008

Christmas was great this year, we spent a lot more time together, because we couldn't get out much with the snow. The kids got a wii this year and due to the weather it did not make it in time. (I think that the mail was not delivered for 3 weeks) Needless to say the gifts that were here were somewhat sparse, I was so happy with the kids reaction, there was no complaint about not getting enough, or not getting what they wanted, It was a proud parenting moment, and made me happy to give them the wii when it did arrive. Lewis is at an age where we can not get a normal smile, and William had other things he wanted to do. (taking pictures was cramping his style) I hope you all had as nice a Christmas as we did, and that it is a happy new year

Gingerbread Houses

Every Christmas we love to make Gingerbread houses. This is the first Year we let William make one also, I think he just liked the candy. He looks like he may have eaten a pepermint in his picture. I am always amazed at how creative the kids are, but with a dad who builds homes they knew they had to start out with a foundation. Jayden Wrapped her house for Scott for Christmas, what a great gift

Snow, Snow, and more Snow!

This year in Portland we had the whitest Christmas in recorded history, and the first white Christmas in the 9 years we have lived here. The kids loved it they played outside everyday. The photos of the snow were taken before the heavy storm hit. When the storm was over we had 20 inches of snow, and the kids had an extra week of Christmas break.

Reid is growing too Fast

I can't believe that Reid is almost 2 months old! He is a verey sweet little boy. We took him to the hospital on december 30th to run a number of test, and fortunatley we got the type pf results we were hoping for. We were able to take him off of his medication, and the concern of Kidney failure is very minimal. He has a 90% chance of healing on his own without Surgery. We feel very blessed. We will still need to have ultrasounds every few months to watch his kidneys to make sure that everything continues to progress in a positive way, but for now it appears that things are moving in the right direction.
Reid has started smiling, and in the middle of the night, I think all mothers dwell on those moments.