Marie had a touch of the flu on Sunday night. It was over in 12 hours, but it left behind a flare up with her asthma. She has been coughing, wheezing, and not sleeping. Andy took her to the clinic yesterday so she is now on a oral steroid again plus her other treatments (2 other meds).
Last time she was on this it caused her to be very alert and not sleep well. So far it isn't as bad as last time, but she is still restless at night.
Please keep her in your thoughts this week as she deals with this. She is very good about doing her treatments with the nebulizer at home and at school, but the oral steroid is another story. Thankfully bribes are starting to work with this girl - M&Ms anyone?
We may be looking into another type of medicine when we visit her asthma specialist in January.
P.S. only 1 more day until we are on Christmas Vacation!
Unfortunately, it came in the form of a blizzard. We were supposed to go visit our good friends, Eddie & Jess (and baby due in January), but the weather prevented it. We were so excited to go. I had made homemade hot cocoa, we were going to build a Gingerbread House, and I tried my first batch of homemade caramel corn.
Although it was disappointing, our weekend did turn into a nice family time. I don't remember the last time we had a whole weekend where we had nothing to do and nowhere to go. So our time was spent reading books, taking naps, wrapping gifts, and continuing to prep for Christmas.
Marie decided to wake up at 5:15 on Sunday morning - not in our plans, but it was the perfect time to decorate cookies. We never knew we could get so much accomplished before the sun was up. Marie decorated 2 cookies but ate enough frosting for 3. This was evident with the sugar high we experienced in the middle of church a few hours later. Marie also received a few Christmas gifts in the mail. We figured she deserved to open a few early...she got a teddy bear from Great Grammy & Papa Mueting, and a DVD made just for her by her Great Aunt Pat. They are very special gifts and Marie loves them already.
Last but not least, on Sunday morning I walked into the living room to find this: Charlie had climbed up onto the couch to lay with his Marie. She didn't know I was watching, but she leaned over, kissed his head, starting petting him and said "good boy Char Char." I agree...good boy, Char Char.
As I write this we still do not have snow on the ground. Snow is something that the Mueting household REALLY enjoys. Because she couldn't walk yet last year, we are anxious to get Marie's new snow pants and boots out to go sledding or build a snowman.
I am sure she will love it just as much as her parents and Charlie.
She is very aware of the holiday decorations and traditions this year.
She knows who Santa is and says "ho ho ho."
She knows who Frosty is and says "foffy" (or something of that nature) and tries to sing the "frosty the snowman" song.
We read a meaningful Christmas story almost every night together (ok, Andy & I read it outloud while Marie pretends to change her baby's diaper and feed her a bottle or plastic fruit.)Our house is decorated for Christmas. This year we added a Christmas tree outside with all the lights. Andy does a great job at decorating the house. No matter where we live (Vermillion, SD or Des Moines, IA) our neighbors always comment on our Christmas lights.
All we are missing is snow.
So to get us in the holiday spirit, we enjoyed an old fashion ride on a two-horse open sleigh this week. It was very cold, but we were warmed by the yummy fudge and suckers from a sweets shop nearby. Marie loved the horses. It was hard to get a picture of her because she was so busy staring at the horses in front. The streets were decorated with lights, carolers were singing songs, and we even had a trip to a toy store.
Our Thanksgiving trip to N'West Iowa started with a little hiccup...freezing drizzle and ice was the forecast for Wednesday so we had to leave Des Moines earlier than anticipated.
Luckily we left town just in time and we had safe travels with only slightly iced roads.
Our first stop was Spencer where we spent Wednesday and Thursday night with the Mueting Family. We played games, cooked a fabulous Thanksgiving meal, slid down the stairs with Grandpa(see video below), decorated for Christmas, read books, and even opened a few Christmas presents from Liz & Andrew!
Marie thrived on all the attention from her family. She loved being chased and tickled by her aunts and uncle. She also found time to sneak in extra hugs with Grandpa & Grandma.
Next we went to Sheldon to stay with Grandma Nel. It was a relaxing weekend there
as the Van Beek side celebrated Thanksgiving a week earlier. We helped decorate the house for Christmas, ate breakfast at the bakery, looked at books in the book store, went to church, and had dinner with the Statema clan. * * * * * * * * Marie loved helping Grandma make homemade hot cocoa mix and playing the piano, too. We know Marie loves dogs, but she also spent a lot of time chasing Grandma's cats this weekend. Apparently all that chasing wore her out. One minute she was petting Sadie, the next she had fallen sound asleep. * * * * * * * * It was fun to see Marie recognize her family and act differently with all of them. She enjoys sitting still with some and jumping & running with others.
We are so thankful for our family and how they show their love for Marie. She is a very lucky and loved little girl.
Once again we continued our tradition of decorating our house for Christmas the weekend before Thanksgiving. (for a reminder, click here)
Andy finished the lights outside while I took care of the indoor decorations. Meanwhile, Marie took a 3 1/2 hour nap. It's amazing what we can get done without a curious little one following us around saying "what's that" 25 times.
However, we waited to decorate her little tree until she was awake. She put one ornament on and said, "out." Meaning, "see you later mom, Charlie and I are going to watch Minnie Mouse while you finish this up...oops you missed a spot." Marie loved looking at the tree and labeling all the "balls" on the tree. She kept saying "wow!"So far she is really good about gently touching the decorations, we have only had a few fall to the ground... It is hard to believe the Holidays are here again, but ready or not, here they come. Just the thought of the holidays are too exhausting for Marie & Charlie.
We also had a visit from Uncle Nathan this weekend. He and Andy signed up to run in the Living History Farms Race in Urbandale. This is not your typical race...you are expected to run, climb up hills, wade through hip-deep cold river waters, and dodge deer (Nathan was almost hit by a deer). The boys started out in the 30 degree weather looking like this:and came home looking like this:Needless to say I had to haul out Grandma Jennie's hot chocolate mix and fast so they could warm up.
Marie loved having Uncle Nate around. She has been saying his name and everything. They spent a lot of time together reading stories, building towers, and unraveling all my gift wrapping ribbon.That Uncle Nathan knows just how to make Marie giggle...
We also got to celebrate Thanksgiving at Daycare on Friday. All parents were invited in to eat a turkey dinner with all the trimmings with their children. Andy and I were both able to attend with Marie. She was a little confused as to why we didn't get to take her home, but I think she enjoyed having both of us play at daycare with her for a little while.
Here she is eating her turkey with her friends.
We are looking forward to a short work week and then off to N'West Iowa to celebrate Thanksgiving with the rest of our family.
Wow, what a weekend! Charlie and I have been very busy. See, I learned this new word and it has been getting me into a little bit of trouble. Maybe you have heard of it... 'no' A little word that can give you 1 BIG minute of time out.
So to make up for it, I have been trying to help out around the house. After all, Christmas is coming very soon.
First, I helped my dad fold the laundry. Not just any load, the terrible white load.
Do you know how long it took me to match all those socks?
Meanwhile...Charlie took yet another nap. Next, we took down Halloween decorations and created Thanksgiving decorations.
Even though it was cold outside, I thought I should give my dad a hand with yard work. You should have seen the sticks and leaves we had to clear! Whew - what a job. I also helped out by playing fetch with Charlie...he is such a good boy. Then my baby needed a bottle - a girl's work is never done.
When my baby was in bed, I got to chat on the phone. I know I know, why wear high heels after the long day I had? Sometimes you just need to dress up. Even if it is high heels with mis-matched pajamas. (sorry you have to turn your head for this video)
Finally I made it to bed. I couldn't even stay awake to see how my book ended!
Marie is growing. No matter how hard we try, we cannot pause her at any age. She is 17 months going on 13 years. Ever since she was an infant, she has been independent, curious, and smart. She still loves reading books, Charlie, morning hugs & kisses, singing & dancing, running, and drawing. Dogs continue to be a joy for Marie. Over the weekend we took Charlie to a new dog park. I am not sure who enjoyed it the most, Marie or Charlie....she stayed busy chasing all the dogs and petting them, too.
"Puppy, puppy, puppy" is all we heard. Busy chasing the dogs up the hill.Making sure Char is playing nicely with the other dogs.
Following the dog park we stopped at the kid park for a few trips down the slide and pushes on the swings.
