The Rushing in of the Holidays

I think I have given up on the other two Thanksgiving posts I was thinking of writing.  One got halfway written, but the last few days have been far too busy to complete it.  And that's okay with me.  We have been going nonstop since Tuesday evening.  Not everyone on my side of the family was available on Thanksgiving day this year, so my sweet parents  arranged a dinner for us at a Cracker Barrel midway between all our houses.  It's hard to get to talk to everyone in a restaurant setting, but it was good to see every face and hug every neck.  We had someone take our picture when we were done eating, and I couldn't believe the crowd of people.   We've been adding to our number, and I'm so thankful for my family.

Wednesday morning I made the impromptu decision to take James in to the doctor's office.  His nose has been running for 3 weeks, and he's had a cough for over a week.  Over-the- counter medicine did not seem to be helping, and I was hoping for something stronger to get rid of all his gunk.  James, as you may know, is a drool machine, and adding a TON of snot to the mix was becoming unbearable.  I'm glad I took him in, as it turned out the cold had turned to a sinus infection.  He is now taking an antibiotic and a stronger allergy medicine.  He also had some fluid in one ear, but it was not infected as of Wednesday.  I think the build-up of fluid is definitely starting to bother him, though, because he woke up several times crying for a couple of hours last night.  


Wednesday afternoon was filled with getting prescriptions filled and running errands in preparation for Thursday.  We got up early Thursday morning and drove to KJ's grandparents' hometown where we fellowshipped and had lunch with everyone on that side of his family.  It was good to visit with all the Pughs.   Thankfully, James took a decent nap on the way down and back.  He was very pleasant at the gathering, finding great joy in being allowed to roam free in the gym at the church where we were eating.  He also loved being able to walk around outside freely.  I spent a lot of time reading aloud to KJ in the car, so it made the travelling time pleasant.

He loved playing with the balls.

Pushing the chair around was also a huge (and loud!) attraction.

The best we could manage in a family portrait 

before the batteries on my camera died.

Yesterday I set my alarm for 6 a.m. and woke Ella up at 6:30 ("in the middle of the night" as she told her aunt and uncle last night), and we drove out into the mayhem.  There wasn't much mayhem left, however, by that time; we just had a fun.  I didn't really want to wake Ella up, but I did want to go out yesterday (I just think it is one of the most fun days to go shopping.  There are sales everywhere, everyone's happy [except perhaps the clerks that have been there since 3 a.m.], and you start listening to Christmas music with expectancy in your heart.).  Ella heard me make the comment to KJ the night before that I didn't have anyone going shopping with me, and she told me she would come so that I could have a friend.    I knew that if she woke up that morning, and I was gone she would be really upset, so I woke my sleeping princess.  

"Ella, do you want to go shopping with me?"  
"Oh, yes."
"I'm sorry to wake you up."
"That's okay; I already had a good sleep."


My precious girl dressed quickly and was excited to be going out in the early morning.  We had a fun time together at Target and Hobby Lobby, read books and soaked in the atmosphere at Barnes and Noble, wove our way through the throng at Old Navy, browsed the shoes at Rack Room, and bought groceries at Wal-Mart.  It was fun.  


Ella has been so excited about putting up the Christmas tree this week.  It's been really fun this year, because this is the first time she remembers really well all that happened last Christmas.  She's been helping KJ put up the Christmas tree since she was 14 months old.

We allowed her to put up a smaller tree we had in her bedroom, and she decorated it all by herself.  James was really excited about his first discovery of a Christmas tree and lights.  We had a fun time together decorating the house last night.  KJ really did the bulk of the work.

Meeting Santa Claus for the first time

Later last night I had these fun kids sitting on my couch.  We watched How to Steal a Million, and it was so fun to be with Olivia and Kam.  It had been way too long since they last sat on my couch.  I'm so thankful for all time with family this week and excited about having more time in the weeks to come.