A Grandparents Christmas

Our grandson, Andrew just turned one and is not aware of Santa Claus yet and

he does not know why we keep putting this red hat on his head.

There have been many advantages of the grandson living with us these past few months.

Grandma gets to spoil him with caramel apple suckers....when Mom is not around!

 Andrew is not aware of the presents under the tree...this year!
But after his birthday, he is much more ready to tear in to them.

His eyes sparkle with excitement and radiate pure happiness.
Watching him is to be overwhelmed with gratitude that I've lived long enough
to experience such joy!

He love the musical activity center we got him for Christmas,
he crawled right up on top of the box and began to play with it.

The box was opened and the toy was assembled and
it is now ready for hours and hours of musical entertainment....and dancing...
lots and lots of dancing!!!

 We also got him a wooden rocking horse.
Poppi is shown putting it together.

Andrew is enjoying learning how to rock and I'm sure he'll be a seasoned rider before too long.

As a daughter, I remember Christmas mornings like they were yesterday.
As a mother, those mornings were gone too soon!
Now as a grandmother, I am blessed beyond words to experience this Christmas joy again.
My hope is that y'all get to experience this special feeling!

Xmas Gift

Doug and I did a combination Christmas gift this year.
We bought a wine chiller from Air-N-Water.com

Description: Enjoy your favorite vintages at just the right temperature with the NewAir AW-321ED wine cooler and refrigerator. This handsome freestanding wine cellar holds up to 32 standard wine bottles and makes a great gift for any wine connoisseur. Featuring a handsome black cabinet with stainless steel trimmed doors, the AW-321ED offers premium quality with a sophisticated design. This dual zone unit also has 2 independently controlled temperature zones for simultaneous storage of red and white wines. 

Wine taste testing..anyone?

A Family Christmas

The weekend prior to Christmas all the kids were home to celebrate Christmas.

The kids all shared in the cooking.

Karl's beignets were a hit!     See photo below

There were lots of gifts!

Karl and Audrey had the largest haul...litterly!
Jackie and Jonathan had to take some of their gifts home since they wouldn't fit in the Camaro.

The telling of the stories!

 

Jill opening her studio gift subscription and photos of Andrew.

Doug got a couple of interesting books from Jackie & Jonathan about JFK.

 

Andrew tackling her bows, trying not to break them!


Jackie and Jonathan checking out their ornaments.



Andrew - Photo Shoot 11/29/12

For Christmas, Doug and I gave Jill an annual subscription to Studio One to One @ Stonebriar Mall.

Last month (11/29/12) I picked up Andrew early from daycare and took him for these photos.
I ordered some photos framed for Jill's desk and some that she can give away.
They are going fast so if you want one you better let her know, right away!

Xmas Flowers

Doug and I received a couple of flower deliveries for Christmas.

The basket of Christmas flowers were from my sister and her family. 

The vase of red and white flowers were from the newlyweds, Jackie & Jonathan Kiefer.

The vase of red and white flowers were from the newlyweds (Jackie & Jonathan Kiefer) of Conroe,TX.

Tree Trimming

Friday afternoon, Complete Tree Service came out to trim our Bradford Pear tree in the front yard.

The tree canopy was raised and the entire tree was thinned out.

This is the BEFORE photo

This is the AFTER photo.

Estonia

Saturday, December 1st Doug left for Estonia

Estonia is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe.
It is bordered on the north by the Gulf of Finland; to the west by the Baltic Sea; to the south by Latvia and to the east by Lake Peipus and Russia. It's largest city is Tallinn (also the capital).

Notable companies with headquarters in Tallinn:
NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence (CCDCOE)
Estonian Air has its headquarters in Tallinn.
Skype has its software development centre located in Tallinn.
Ericsson has one of its biggest production facilities in Europe located in Tallinn, focusing on the producing of 4G communication devices.
Statoil has announced moving the group's financial centre to Tallinn.
Doug's first night in Estonia, he sent me this photo of what was on the menu at the local restaurant he visited.  He opted for the salmon instead of the roasted chicken gizzards and crispy pigs ears.

Andrew - 3rd Ear infection

Monday, December 10th - I took Andrew to the doctor.

He had been having horrible diarrhea and not eating well.

He was diagnosed with an ear infection in his right ear.

He was put on Zithromax for 5 days.

He will have a recheck on 12/21 when he has his one year check-up.

If he is not better, he will be fast-tracked to the ENT doctor for further evaluation as Andrew has had three ear infections since the first of October.

When Andrew is sick he feels like cuddling.

I'm getting in some "extra special" time with Andrew!

Summer, Fall & Winter...all in one week.

This past week we had temperatures in the upper 70s and low 80s.

The wind blew and most of the leaves fell off the tree.

Andrew is pictured playing in the leaves one day after daycare.

Last night the temperatures dropped now to 29 degrees and at 5am it was snowing.
We only got a "skiff" of snow and it should only be cold for a few days!

Andrew all bundled up in his winter coat for his short walk over to daycare.

Andrew's New Shoes

Jill and I took Andrew to Target last night to get Andrew a pair of shoes.

The weather has been so nice lately and with Andrew walking more and more,

he will now be able to go outside and explore the great outdoors.

Andrew doesn't quite know what to think about his new "kicks",

as he pretty much stands in one spot until someone rescues him.

Christmas Tree

 

Thanksgiving weekend, Doug and I put up the tree together.
The photo of the tree below - Decorating is still in progress.

This Christmas will be extra special with Andrew being here.
Since he will be here, Santa Clause will be coming to our house.
It's been quite a while since "Santa Closet" made a visit here.

Quick Trip to Iowa

I did not take any pictures on this trip; but Jill did....so please see her blog for all the details of this last minute trip to visit Melvin in the hospital.

http://joshandjillelliott.blogspot.com/2012/11/road-trip.html

Tests

Tuesday, Nov 14th - I started my clear liquid diet in preparation for my colonoscopy and endoscopy scheduled for Wednesday, Nov 15th.  The colonoscopy was a routine screening, since I had polyps removed at the last testing 3 yrs ago.  The endoscopy was requested due to some stomach issues I've been having over the past eyar.

The results are as follows:
1) Stomach polyps removed. These were fundic gland polyps and this type of polyp does not have the potential to progress to cancer.
2) Esophageal stricture. This was dilated and biopsied. The biopsy of the esophagus was normal.

 

3)  Diverticulosis in the sigmoid colon and the descending colon
4) One 5 mm polyp removed from the transverse colon. This polyp was adenomatous. This type of polyp is considered pre-cancerous, meaning that it had the potential to progress to cancer, had it been left in.

** Kelli  - I have many pictures that I can share with you, if you'd like to see why my insides looked like during the procedure and examples of each type of polyp**

I will continue my routine screenings to prevent any future occurances and I recommend my family members get their preventative screenings. 

Early Thanksgiving

The weekend of November 10th and 11th - Jackie and Jonathan came home for the weekend and the Elliotts were also here. Doug came home from St. Kitts. So we were only missing Karl & Audrey :-(
We decided to celebrate an early Thanksgiving since no one would be at home for the holiday weekend. We cooked a small ham and a small turkey breast, sweet potato casserole, sausage stuffing, cranberry sauce, rolls and Jill's home-made apple pie (pictured above).  

I'm very thankful that my immediate family lives so close and that we get to share in the holiday traditions. These are the special moments in life!

Sick Again

Jill and Andrew came home Sunday night and Andrew was running a fever.

Jill had given him tylenol at 3pm but this was 5:30 and the fever was higher than earlier in the day.

His temp was 104.5

We quickly put him in the tub to reduce the fever and took him outside to cool down after another dose of Tylenol.

Monday morning, I took him to the pediatrician and Andrew has a double ear infection.

His lungs were clear, but the poor little guy can't breathe very well.

The doctor didn't think his first ear infection was healed and now was worse.

So another step up in antibiotics - Augmentin, twice a day.

We will definately be going in for the recheck of the ears this time.

We want an all clear for his first birthday and upcoming holidays.

 A photo of Andrew on Monday night not feeling so perky.

Andrew has now been in his new daycare setting for a couple of weeks and is doing great there.
He is shown here with his buddy Kameron on a wagon ridge around the neighborhood.

Just Because

Doug brought me home these flowers yesterday, "Just Because"