Snow at last!

All of Teddy's prayers for a SC winter wonderland have been answered. Although a far cry from the deeper snow I grew up with in Arizona's mountains, we thoroughly enjoyed our dusting of powder. The only way to get them back into the house was by bribing them with cocoa and candycanes. While Levi did get to dress up like an eskimo and play with a cuddly snowman, we didn't dare let him venture outside so we waited until he was ready for a nap. Today is Levi's last day of Orapred. He is due to see our pulmonologist tomorrow and receive his monthly shot. We will follow up with our pediatrician the next day. Prayerfully, this will be Levi's last illness for a long time. (Just wanted to brag on my friend Anna in the slideshow seen with Snowzilla for a moment - She was a friend I met on the soccer team at Cochise College. Truly a woman of character and wisdom. She is a pilot trained in the Armed Forces and currently residing in Alaska. Her family has had a great deal of influence on me and I am thankful that God placed such amazing people in my path).

A Special Christmas . . .

Christmas was so much fun this year!!! I was unable to see Levi last year on his first Christmas due to waking up that morning with a terrible cold. Needless to say, this year we treasured every moment with our kiddos. Teddy and Naomi are amazing and truly understand what Christmas is really about. They are so thankful for baby Jesus and realize that He is the reason for the season. We allowed them to help trim the tree (I didn't even rearrange the ornaments when they were finished =]). It was obvious which branch Naomi liked the best because all of her ornaments hung from that branch. Teddy made sure that all of his were evenly distributed and even got to help operate the train. We made it a tradition to read a different Christmas book each night by the light of the tree and then watch the train go around and wave at Santa each time he passed by. This year instead of a Gingerbread house, Auntie Rebecca brought over a train kit. The kids did great and didn't even try to consume it like last year (although they did get more than their fair share of icing). Every night Teddy would pray for snow on Christmas morning only to be devastated by Brooks Garner's news (WIS) that it would not be snowing here. Teddy has never been so interested in the news until now. Each evening he would sit on the edge of the sofa and say "Let's see if he's gonna change his mind" - he never did. Fortunately, we live by Edventure, an amazing children's museum that just happens to have a neat town called Snowville. The snow is made of bubbles and is dispensed by a fan up above. The kids had a blast playing ice hockey, checking out the penguin and polarbear exhibits, making an igloo, riding a snowmobile, and "sledding" down snow mountain. They even got to do some Christmas baking inside the little cottage with a fire place and a black and white TV that plays a video of SCs most famous "snowstorm" in the 70s. One day when Levi is big enough and strong enough to enjoy a truly snowy winter, we will travel to the White Mountains of Arizona to celebrate with my family. Right now, Levi is still getting synagis shots on a monthly basis. We had a scare a month ago when he broke out with a rash that he might possibly be allergic to it but fortunately he did well after the most recent shot.
We celebrated Christmas Eve at Granny Betty's and Grandad's in Newberry. We stayed at home on Christmas morning and had Grandma over in the afternoon. I finally caved and allowed Justin to get the kids a miniature 4 wheeler. Of course that meant brandnew professional helmets and goggles as well. For as long as I can remember, both Teddy and Naomi have been fascinated with skateboards and scooters. Even walking down the River Walk, Naomi will take one foot off of the platform on our big sit and stand stroller and say "I just want to skate" with the sweetest, most persuasive voice. We got them radio flyer scooters and they feel like such big kids actually getting to go out to the culd e sac with us to ride them. Levi got the cutest radio flyer rocking horse. Not only is it plush (can be removed for washing - a super bonus) but has a waist support to use while he is so small. He absolutely loved pulling apart the wrapping paper and riding on his horse like a sweet little cowboy. One of the gifts that I will cherish forever is a heart necklace from my babies. The next night we celebrated at Justin's mother's house in NE Columbia with Uncle Dan, Aunt Jen, "Baby Daniel" - who isn't at all a baby anymore and Grandad and Grandma Betty. The kids were overwhelmed with gifts and a month later are still playing with some of them for the very first time. Justin decided to go against his better judgement and his wife's endless nagging for him to get rid of the dirtbike he purchased this fall. We ended up in the ER on the 27th of December with a shoulder seperation after he took a bit of a fall on the beloved bike. Needless to say, he finally listened to me and sold the thing. He is doing much better now but it really brought him to a hault for a few weeks. He knows he is just blessed that nothing was broken.
We had a fun surprise last week when one of my aunts from AZ called us out of the blue to see if she could fly out to visit. Two days later, we were in Charlotte picking her up at the airport. We had the best time with her. This is the first Christmas we have had to endure without both of her parents/ my maternal grandparents. I am so thankful for the Christmas' we used to spend at their home in Globe, AZ. Some of my favorite memories are playing with the little iceskaters my grandmother put on a circular mirror under the tree (sometimes she put it on the piano). They would set up a beautiful nativity scene in a little cave at the edge of town and light it up for all to see. We would also go to the courthouse and ride around in a horsepulled carriage to help support the local foodbank (My mother started this tradition in our own town growing up - another amazing memory =] ). The train around my grandparent's tree made me insist on one under our own - Christmas just isn't the same without them here. I believe it was good for my aunt to get away since she and her son are our only living relatives left in Globe. My aunt wanted to see the children's museum and surprised us with another membership - truly a gift that keeps on giving. We took her to Charleston to see the sights and spent a big portion of our day at Folly Beach. There was hardly a soul on the beach and the weather was beautiful. A woman had two little bunny rabbits on leashes there - she said it was their first time on the beach. The kids thought they were the cutest thing and tried to convince me that we needed some rabbits of our own (Sorry . . . not gonna happen). They have enough fun torturing Jericho - our black and white kitty, our Calico - Patches (AKA Mamma Kitty), and Chester our Chocolate Lab.
Unfortunately, we all got a touch of a cold this past week. It hit Levi harder than the rest of us. With his Chronic Lung Disease (a result of prematurity/ a lot of oxygen/ and his PDA) a cold for him requires around the clock breathing treatments and usually a steroid like Orapred to help him out. This was just confirmation that we need to steer clear from church just a little longer - no need to rush things. (We had planned on resuming at the beginning of the year - Justin's mom would watch Levi while we took the older two to Sunday School - as much as we miss being in church, we realize that we can not take the risk of exposing the kids to additional germs). Levi was running a temp of 103.7 degrees the other night. He has done well taking all his medicine and actually enjoyed his luke warm bath that Justin and I gave him at 1:00 in the morning. Ofcourse, when I took him in to be seen he was 98.6 degrees and his lungs sounded perfectly clear. Tonight however, even the breathing treatments aren't helping so much and he has been coughing a good bit making it difficult for him to rest well. First thing in the morning, I am calling the Drs office again. It is so nice to have a pediatrician's office that takes his health as seriously as we do. I'm so thankful this one opened and we were able to switch practices when we did! I trust all of you are enjoying a fabulous New Year. God Bless and Good Health to all of you.