Ho Ho Ho!

Merry Christmas Family and Friends! Here are a few pictures from our Christmas Eve and Christmas morning in Ashland.

On Christmas Eve, Will reads a pop-up book of The Night Before Christmas by Robert Sakuda. It started out as a picture perfect reading experience.


But quickly it turned into a "Oh Boy! A new book to eat!" session by Josie.




Then we put cookies and milk out for Santa and a celery stalk for his reindeer.


On Christmas morning, Santa brought Marshall a new sled.


Josie got some new dolls.


And Daddy and Mommy got some fire extinguishers for the next time we go camping.


Nana and Papa sent a whole bunch of clothes and toys from Massachusetts too!


It was a wonderful Christmas! We hope you all had a wonderful holiday! God Bless Us Everyone!

Adventures in Ashland

We've been having a ball here in Ashland with Grandma, Grandpa, and Double G! Marshall and Josie are loving all the extra adult entertainment....well most of it. Sometime when Marshall gets out of his element, he gets a little cranky. He is currently having a tantrum in the family room by himself. But, hey, that gives me some time to post some pictures on the blog. It's a win-whine situation.

We set up Grandma and Grandpa's Christmas Tree, including the train that runs along the bottom (big hit with the three year old crowd).


At Grandma and Grandpa's house, the kids take baths together. They both absolutely love it. Josie adores anytime she gets to spend with her older brother. Poor Marshall, when she starts to be able to move on her own, there's going to be a lot of tagging along.


We went to Jacksonville to see the Victorian Christmas. We rode in a horse drawn carriage. The horses were Tom and Kurt. Marshall loved that. Then we went out to lunch at the Bella Union Saloon. Marshall loved that even more. He's really big into "a hot dog with a piece of bread on it" lately. He uses the bread first as a holder for the hot dog (not actually eating the bread) and then as a second course of the meal. It's quite a production.


And finally, our Jo Jo is getting to spend a little quality time with the Original Joe.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Sorry I haven't written in a while! It's been hectic around here trying to get ready for Christmas! I've been packing and baking and wrapping like crazy because we were supposed to leave for my parents' house in Oregon today. But Mother Nature had different plans. There's about 4 inches of beautiful snow here on the ground in Shoreline. Now for our loved ones back east, you are probably thinking this is nothing. However, snow removal isn't quite as efficient out here in Washington. We don't actually get that much snow during a winter season. Anyway, the local roads are not safe and to get to my parents' we have to go through quite a few mountain passes and chains are required. So now after all that hustle and bustle, I have a pleasant calm. It's delightful. I actually loved being snowed in. It forces me to slow down and enjoy winter.

I'll post some more pictures this evening, but in the mean time, here is a link to my friend Erin's blog where she has a couple adorable pictures of Josie the Hulk. (Wait until you see Josie compared to her 4 month old Hazel.) http://erinzackey.blogspot.com/2008/12/twins.html

Go Navy, Beat Army!

Today was the Army/Navy Game, and the kids were all decked out!

I love this picture. It is so Marshall. He has a thing with loud noises.

(I swear they were both looking at the camera and smiling but the lighting was off and it took the camera too long to take the picture.)

Roid Rage....

So I wanted to post a picture so that you all could see that, thanks to steriods and antibiotics, Josie is getting back to normal. However, she lifted up the couch all by herself the other day....just kidding. :) But we are waiting for a terrible temper tantrum. (Isn't that what steriods are supposed to do?) So far, even-tempered, generally happy baby remains. No updates yet on the medical front.

Josie Update

So here's the latest on our little leopard......

Last night when I was getting her dressed for bed I noticed that some of the spots were turning more into bruises under her arms and on her legs. I called the doctor's office and she had us go to the emergency room. So Josie, happy as a clam, and I headed off to the emergency room. They took some blood (boy was that difficult....the evening lab technicians were not used to working with babies and it was hard on everyone. They felt bad, I felt bad, Josie barely cried....go figure.) and ruled out a potential blood clotting problem. But they found out that she might have a urinary tract infection....WHAT? How does a 7 month old get a urinary tract infection? After 5 hours in the ER we were able to go home. (Which was a super relief because I overheard them trying to arrange a bed for her at the hospital and I was really hoping we wouldn't have to spend the night there.)

So while we wait for the culture on her urine to come back (results on Saturday probably), she is a heavily medicated baby. Antibiotics, mild steriod to reduce the spots, and Benadryl....all of these, mind you, have different dosing and time frame requirements. I just had to go write it all out to figure out when I will be giving Jo Jo her medicines.

So that's where we are right now. We will be going to an allergist to figure out if it is allergy related. I think it's a virus that is looking like a UTI. But we will be waiting for those results too. In the meantime, Josie is loving all the attention and is playing the role of easy going baby. Hilarious. You would think my high maintenance girl would be extra fussy during all of this, but it's like the spots have an opposite effect. Either that or she gets to be held all the time and that keeps her ultra happy. :) I'll keep everyone posted if there are any new developments.

The Red Spots are Coming, The Red Spots are Coming!

So the red spots (more like blotches) are back. They came on last night, and THIS is what she looked like this morning.

It's hard to see in the pictures but she had blotches all over her arms and back and head. When I went to get her first thing in the morning, her right eye was almost swollen shut, but it went down some. Clearly, it didn't seem to be bothering her in the least. She was all smiles and practicing her new "word" : dadadada.

I brought Josie to the doctor (again) this morning and she said it's most likely allergies. So the first thing we are trying is peanuts. That's something I eat that could be effecting her. And I don't eat it every day which might explain the disappearing/reappearing spots. Ay ay ay! I just hope it's not dust or pet dander. Because then we will have BIG problems.