Special Visits

So far this has been a fun December for our family. We put up our tree and baked lots of cookies. (Although the cookies don't last as long as I would like them too!) Braylen made some goodies as part of a homework assignment, and I appreciated his help very much. He did not like going to the grocery store to buy the ingredients, but that is part of baking, right? I like it when my 13 year old son takes a Home EC class!

I have only two more gifts to buy--hooray! I decided I like sending Christmas cards too much to stop this year, so they will be mailed out by the end of the week...I hope! To help us remember why we are celebrating Christmas, we are reading an advent devotional every night at supper. It quiets the boys from making all of their noise...at least for a few minutes. This week we are gearing up to spend Christmas with my family, and we might even get some snow very soon.

With all of the December rush-rush taking place, we did have a sickness crop up yesterday. Poor Aaron...he was struck with a very nasty stomach virus. It has been years since one of our kids has been hit this hard with gastroenteritis. Today is his day to recover, so he's playing lots of games on the iPad and we have plans to work on a special Christmas craft later this afternoon. I am praying fervently that this virus does not spread. It's the week before Christmas!

We had two special Christmas visits this month--Aaron rode the Polar Express with his cousins, and he and Kaleb visited Santa's Cottage. Since these types of outings will soon be ending for our family, it makes me cherish them all the more.

He drank hot chocolate, saw Santa, and came home with a jingle bell from the Polar Express.
Thank you Aunt Pam!

When Aaron sat on Santa's lap, Santa asked him if he might become a police officer someday like his daddy. He also knew where Aaron goes to church, and he said he needs to work on doing what his mommy says the first time she asks! How did Santa know all of these things? Because he's Santa! Kaleb humored us and took a turn with Santa too. When he couldn't think of a gift he wanted, Santa told him he would bring him a Barbie doll. Kaleb said that was okay, he would just take it out to the backyard and use it for target practice with his airsoft gun. Oh, my!

The countdown to Christmas continues!

Sounds of the Season

I love Christmas music. I never get tired of it. Ever. And when my kids sing and play Christmas music? I love it even more. :)

Braylen performed in his school's band concert last week. He played in the 7th grade band and the jazz band. He is the only 7th grade percussionist in jazz band, which puts him a little bit out of his comfort zone. (We are proud of your efforts to go above and beyond, Braylen!) They played "Christmas Time is Here," "Jingle Bell Jam," "The Christmas Song," and "Frosty the Snowman." Grandma and Grandpa attended his concert with us, and I imagine they were remembering Derek's band concerts while watching Braylen. I am glad they bought Derek a trap set all those years ago. Who knew it would be used by 2 generations of drummers?!

Our handsome son, looking more grown up every day.

On a side note, there was only one oboe player in all of the 6th, 7th, and 8th grade bands. (In case you didn't know, I played the oboe in 5th-10th grades.) This oboe player is a 6th grader. Bless her heart, she squeaked and squawked throughout every song the 6th graders played. I could hardly contain myself, it was the funniest sound! I apologize to my parents for all of those practice sessions and concert performances when they had to listen to me make the same squeaks and squawks! My fellow oboe players and I thought we were making beautiful music. Now I know what we must have sounded like. :) I can't believe my mom used to TELL me to practice my oboe! If I were her, I think I would be relieved if my child "forgot" to practice here and there. No wonder she had so many headaches. :) For payback, I get to listen to my son pound away on his drums. :)

Aaron was our only child eligible for our church Christmas pageant this year. It seems like just last year when Kaleb and Aaron were too young to be included, and Braylen was our only participant. *sigh* Time keeps moving so fast. Aaron signed up during Sunday School for a small speaking part in this program. He said, "Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end." I thought he looked so cute up there on stage. Does the youngest always look cute to his mother? I believe so. :)
 

Cutie

This was Kaleb's year to sit out. No band concert, no church program...but he is playing "Silent Night" on the piano this month. I like to listen to him play it. I imagine his piano-playing days will come to an end this spring, and he'll probably play the drums like Braylen and Derek. At one point he thought about playing the trumpet. Maybe his uncle can convince him to give that instrument a try. :)

To wrap up this post, here's a picture of our Christmas tree. We put it in a different place this year. It's such a HUGE tree, and finding a place to put it is always a challenge. This year it's tucked in by our TV. Derek thinks it will be there until February. I tell him I'll have it down by January 31st at the latest. :) Aaron put the star on top, and his brothers think he puts the star on top every Christmas. One more benefit of being the youngest I guess!

An Update and a Family Day

Where are we at with Aaron's epilepsy diagnosis these days? I am asked this question just about every week from a friend or family member. Here's the latest answer to that question.

On November 29th, Aaron had a check-up with his neurologist. We took all 3 boys out of school for the day and used this doctor visit as an excuse to have a family day. Why not? I'm so glad we did.

Like everyone else, our doctor (I'll call him Dr. P) asked if we were seeing any seizures. Our answer? We're not sure. When Aaron was first diagnosed, and during the medication ups and downs of the past year, it was so very obvious when he was having seizures. We saw them every day, multiple times a day. Since mid-May, even after stopping one of his meds in July, we don't know if we are seeing seizures or not. That is a HUGE praise, for sure!!! However, we can't give a firm yes or a firm no to Dr. P's question. We think the medication and the chiropractor adjustments are holding the seizures back. But we also think some might be sneaking through--some that are very short and undetectable to our best observation efforts.

Dr. P said the only way to know if Aaron is still having seizures is to run another EEG. Only this time, he wants a 24 hour EEG. So that is our next step. We have some options to consider with this test, and are praying about which one is the best one for Aaron. Besides the request for this test, Dr. P checked Aaron's depakote level, along with a CBC and chem panel. All of his blood work looks great, and his depakote level is at 86. (anything below 100 is safely therapeutic.) This 30 minute doctor appointment couldn't have been better, and we feel so incredibly blessed. Aaron is thriving in school, continues to boggle our minds with his deep thoughts and questions, and is an all-around happy, healthy 8 year old boy.

For our family day, we decided to visit the state capitol building. In 4th grade, our big boys learned all about our state history and specifically, this building. Our visit brought the pictures from their books and websites to life! They loved it. Even Braylen, who wasn't very keen on the idea of missing a day of school for this, enjoyed it. We toured the building and went to the top observation deck. Just before leaving, we stopped at the information center to sign the guestbook. A young lady walked by and I realized I knew her...she grew up in our church and now she works at the capitol building. She invited us into her office where she works for one of the senators. It was an unexpected bonus and a blessing, for sure!

Standing at the podium in what used to be the State Senate.

It was a beautiful day for our visit!

A Little More Birthday

Since Kaleb is very much a people-person, I've decided to highlight his birthday celebrations by posting pictures of him with some of the people he loves.

Grandpa and Grandma gave Kaleb a very special gift: a Bible.

Kaleb with his girl cousins and with Aaron.
Grandma is peeking out from behind cousin Maisie.

Kaleb with his Aunt Sarena and Aunt Pam

Kaleb with Uncle Dave and Uncle Brandon

And last but not least, our family. :)
See his candy corn cake? I even wore my candy corn earrings that day.

We celebrated Kaleb's birthday with Derek's side of the family the day after Thanksgiving. I made homemade pizzas and they were very yummy! Most importantly, Kaleb thought so too. :) We filled out a mad lib for Kaleb and that wraps up my job as a mad lib writer this year. It was a fun birthday tradition for 2012. Did you know that a gallon of gas cost $1.07 on November 30th, 2001?! I found this little fact while doing research for Kaleb's mad lib. A lot sure changes in 11 years. Our boy keeps growing up--and that is the biggest change of all. :)

Not to leave out my side of the family...here is a glimpse of Kaleb's joy while opening his gifts. This is an eagle calendar from Grammy and Grampy. Kaleb sure does love eagles! But he loves his grammy and grampy more. :) We look forward to seeing them AND my brother's family this Christmas.

Happy Kaleb

11 things to love about Kaleb:

• His amazing imagination
• Out of all my boys, Kaleb is the one who walks Ginger with me the most.
• Movie nights are his favorite nights of all.
• He recently discovered how much he loves Mountain Dew!
• He still likes to wear all one color--red shirt, red shorts/ navy shirt, navy pants, etc.
• Mmm, chocolate! And candy corn! (not necessarily together)
• At DQ he always orders a chocolate M&M blizzard!
• He wowed us (and his teachers) with his public speaking abilities this fall.
• He gives the BEST shoulder rubs to his mommy and daddy.
• He does well with structure and a sense of order.
• He really is our faithful gift from God, just like his name means.

We are blessed to have Kaleb in our lives, and we pray this next year is another super one for our son!