Everyone is Sick

It is indeed the most wonderful time of the year. I know this because when I vacuum, it smells like I'm an elf camped out in a spruce tree of my very own.

Oskar was a pirate for Halloween. Hooray for friends who have costumes to lend!

Many things have happened since my last post. Some good, some bad, some ugly.

Oskar vomited his way out of his car seat and into his booster. This happened in the beginning of October. I had planned on waiting til winter jacket weather to move him into his booster because he technically still fits in his car seat, but this occurrence seemed like a good time to make a (not so) clean break. Let it be noted that this was not Dan's favorite lunch break. His car seat has since been cleaned and will soon hold an Elena. Elena still fits in her infant car seat, believe it or not. They recommend now that kids stay rear facing until 2 years old. This was not at all an option for Oskar- he was way too big. Ellie fits nice and snug though and seems very happy to face backwards and look at her brother.

When this happened, I don't think Oskar had any kind of stomach bug. I think the vomit was the result of taking some cough syrup, eating a bunch of applesauce and then going to ninja class. This mistake will not be repeated.

A couple weeks ago when we all got the stomach flu, we happened to be in the car when Oskar got sick. Because I am awesome, I had a giant plastic bag with me. Crisis averted.

It's not the best cake, but it was the first double layer cake I'v ever made and it was worth every bit of the $4 I spent on it.
Honestly, it might be the first cake I've ever made. Period.

Elena is now one year old. Can you believe it? She is kind of growing- particularly in head size and length. Her weight is steady at the 25th percentile, while length shot up to 50th and head size is at 75th. She doesn't look as funny as these numbers indicate that she might. She is so sweet and cuddly and generally just a delight to be with. If you're me anyway. If you're my babysitter you may have an entirely different opinion of her demeanor. Oskar and Ellie usually play together well and make each other laugh. It is wonderful to listen to this.

I know I put this on Facebook, but believe it or not, there are some people who read this that don't use Facebook.

We have a silly nativity scene that is all rubber duckies. I gotta be honest; out of all the waterfowl present at the birth of Christ, Elena prefers chomping on Mary the most.

I mentioned above that our car broke down a while back. That was quite an experience. And an expensive one as well. I'm thankful that it was nice out, the roads weren't busy and I had no kids with me. I'm upset that I did not get my Taco Bell that night, but what can you do. Unfortunately for us we also needed new tires at the time and on Monday we took it in to get new brake pads. This has added up to be more money than I like to spend on a car. Hopefully now we'll be good to go for a while.

Speaking of expenses, our whole family went to the doctor on Sunday. That is going to be SUPER fun to pay for, and yes we have insurance but it only covers about $15 of *extra* appointments. The upside is that after sorting out a prescription misdirection we are all on antibiotics and should be healed in no time. This will be nice after weeks of coughing and a bout of stomach flu. Wanna know what I don't miss from childhood? The stomach flu. It is the worst. And now I've been coughing so hard that I've actually pulled what's gotta be most of the muscles around my ribs. That was when I knew it was time to go in and that it was worth the $400+ we will be paying in about a month.

This is what happens when one refuses to sleep.

You may think I'm exaggerating when I say I've pulled my rib muscles- even I thought I was probably being over-dramatic. I assure you, I am not. Yoga this morning proved to me how injured I am. Do you know how often you use your rib muscles? The answer is almost all the time. Ouch. A friend of mine just gave me some industrial strength cough drops so hopefully they will help give my ribs a break and begin to heal. What makes it even better is that she dropped them off in an offering envelope.

Wake up brother snuggles.

"What is your name?"
"You know my name, Oskar. What is it?"
"Risa."
"Close. It's Dorisa."
"Yes, but that is a very hard word to say."

Oskar turns four on Wednesday and continues to astound and amaze. He says some of the funniest things and he's started making this face when he is in trouble that is just impossible not to laugh at. That being said, he is in trouble a lot and it is annoying. It's possible he's a bit spoiled, so we'll need to work on that, but overall he seems to be an okay kid.

We recently donated a ton of baby stuff. It felt so good. And there is a ton yet to go. It is so nice to clear out some of the clutter. So refreshing.

We have the rare opportunity to travel to the Twin Cities around Christmas this year. I'm VERY much looking forward to seeing many friends that I don't often get to see. I'm hoping that we will be through all our sickness so we can make it to everything we want to.

Dude finally understand the joy of leaf jumping. It took a while though.

Thanks for reading! Have a very happy Christmas!