Clara's leg problems

I took Clara to the ortho today because she wasn't walking on her leg again this past weekend. She has a cyst on her right lower leg bones (both of them). At first they thought this was causing her leg to grow more since that leg is about an inch longer than the other one. Today they told me she has a lesion on her left leg growth plate. The ortho told me that that lesion is causing her leg to grow crooked, basically that her growth plate is "sick" (his words, not mine). He said that she would have times where she doesn't want to walk/bear weight. He said that was okay as long as she still moved it. He believes that it isn't bad enough to put her through a biopsy to find out more information. They are watching it and we have to go back every few months.

He checked the literature about her syndrome, and as far as he could see, there wasn't anything that said it was related to her WHS. Dr. Carey had the same sentiment last time I spoke with him. It is a new mystery for Clara and her docs.

I have very mixed feelings about this news. I've accepted the fact that Clara will have many medical issues. I know that she will have new thing come up that we hadn't anticipated. The reason that this one is so hard for me to accept is that she is so close to walking independently. Twice in the last couple of months, she has stopped walking/bearing weight. If things keep getting worse, how is this going to affect her progress? I am trying to think positive. Clara has always been trooper and taken all that has been thrown at her.

So for now we wait to see what is going to happen and pray for the best, what ever that may be.

Bowling

For a belated birthday party for Clara, we invited Grandma Leslie and Grandpa Craig to go bowling with us. My kids all enjoy bowling and I had some free passes, so it was the perfect family activity for all of us!

Makayla is at that stage where she is too big to use the ramp, but trying to find the best way to hold the ball and get the ball down the lane. It's a good thing she had the bumpers to help her along.

Clara loves pushing the ball and watching it roll down the lane. I love it when we find an activity that she enjoys doing as much as the rest of us.

Holden had to have the orange ball, even though a different size would have been better for him. He carried the ball up to the stand and had to do it all by himself. He loves bowling and said that's what he wants to do for his birthday!

Grandma didn't want to bowl, so she played with Zoe. They both had fun playing together and watching us bowl.

The final score - Clara won, followed by Makayla, Holden, Austin, Craig, and I was last.

Minute to Win It birthday party

You've heard of that popular game show on NBC Wednesday nights? The one where they play games in a minute and win money? Well we love that game at our house, so when it was time to plan a birthday party, that was what Makayla wanted to do.

The whole thing was fun, from planning to playing the games.

"Jingle in the Trunk" we tied an empty Kleenex box on their booty and put 4 bells in it. They had to dance and shake until all the bells were out.

"Dizzy Mummy" they had to wrap a whole roll of T.P. around their arm the fastest.

"Noodling Around" they had to put a spaghetti noodle in their mouth and thread 4 penne noodles onto it without using their hands.

"Hanky Panky" they had to use one hand to pull all the tissues out of the box the fastest.

Decorating the Tree

I love Christmas! I love spending the time with my family teaching the importance of Christmas! I love giving gifts and making sure everyone has a magical season!

There are some years that I don't feel like getting out the tree or putting up the decorations, but I never regret doing it. This year, I was excited to put up the tree with my kids. Makayla had a fun time remembering when we got each ornament and the circumstances around each one. Holden loved putting the ornaments on the tree and watching it transform into the final product.

I love that they wake up and plug in the lights first thing in the morning. I love it when they play with the stupid singing fish. I love it when Makayla plays Christmas music on the piano. I especially love reading from the scriptures about the life of the Savior each night with my family - teaching my children about his life!

"Santa" Makayla helping decorate the tree.

Is she cute or what? She's growing up WAY too fast!

Clara tries her best to help with everything we are doing :)

Holden loved the animated ornaments.

Gingerbread Houses

I remember growing up my mom spent countless hours making gingerbread from scratch and then putting them together - making around 10 each year - open houses, fully furnished inside. She would make them for us to give to our teachers and for various other friends. She was AMAZING!!

This year, I had planned to make one house, three sided and furnished inside, just like my mom. Before I got around to it, we were given this house kit at Austin's Christmas party this weekend. I decided that I wouldn't stress over the house this year, I would just go with the easy version. My family had a great time hanging out and decorating this house.

Even Clara hung out at the table with us while we were decorating the house. She didn't like that I wouldn't let her destroy it.

Thanksgiving Program

This year, Makayla had a Thanksgiving program at school. She did a WONDERFUL job and it was really fun to watch.

Christmas Card 2010

Family Letter Blue Christmas Card

Get custom photo Christmas cards online at Shutterfly.com.

View the entire collection of cards.

This is the Christmas card that I've decided on for our family If you are on my Christmas card list, you can expect them earlier than usual from me. If you aren't on my Christmas card list, but would like to be, leave me a comment with your address and one will be on its way!

House full of Thanks

With it being Thanksgiving week, for family night, we talked about all the things we are thankful for. We all had big lists, some of which we added to this turkey on its feathers. Some of the things my family are thankful for:

*Prophets

*Letters (ABC's)

*House

*Work

*Family

*Van

*Food

*Bed

*Temples

*Toys

*Jesus

Our family put together a good little short list of things we count as blessings. We decided if we listed all our blessings that it would cover most of the wall and probably more. I am truly thankful for the family I have been blessed with!

Shutterfly Christmas Cards

I found a promotion that Shutterfly is doing where you sign up to blog about theirChristmas Cards and they give you 50 of them free. I love Shutterfly, I love sending out Christmas cards, and I love FREE so this is perfect for me.

Shutterfly has so many cute and unique Christmas cards to choose from, I spent way too long just looking at all of them. There are quite a few that I liked, choosing the final product is going to be hard. This is one of my favorites because there is a spot on the side for a small letter - so I don't have to come up with a whole page, find the cute stationary paper, and print those separate. Or there is this one that is just a simple card that focuses on the picture and not all the other stuff.

While I have never ordered my Christmas Cards from Shutterfly (I'm usually doing them last minute) I have ordered other things from them and been impressed with their quality. I can't wait to get my Christmas Cards ordered and out early this year so I am not stressing about it close to or even after Christmas.

**I also took a peek at their Christmas photo ornaments and since Santa usually brings each of us an ornament every year, I might just put a bug in his ear for these :)

She's growing too fast!

My baby is growing way too fast! I have such mixed feelings about her meeting these milestones. I'm excited for her, don't get me wrong, but I am really trying to enjoy each stage because I know she is my last. This week she started rolling over from her tummy to her back. She has started sleeping on her tummy because she can now roll over. She hasn't yet figured out how to get back onto her back though. Luckily she doesn't mind spending time on her tummy.

The other thing she started doing this week is reaching up to play with her toys on her play mat. She is reaching up with both hands and spinning the ball. It is so fun to watch her explore and discover.

I plan on taking full advantage of just watching her learn and discover. If my house isn't perfect, that's okay. I will never have this time back - and it is so magical! I'm so glad she has blessed my life!