Lia gets Ear Tubes

This picture of Lia was taken the evening of the procedure, which was on Wednesday, January 11, 2012.
Thankfully, she didn't seem to have any pain and was her normal, happy self...



Lia was having trouble with re-occuring ear infections for several months prior to the procedure. The doctor said she was a terrific candidate for getting ear tubes because the structure of her inner ear (as with Jessica) is not quite developed enough to drain the fluid on its own. Having all that fluid build-up behind Lia's ear drum was causing her some hearing loss, as well as providing a perfect breeding ground for bacteria to accumulate -resulting in multiple ear infections. So, as with Jessica (who no longer needs ear tubes because her ears are now able to drain the fluid on their own), Lia will likely need these ear tubes for about a year or so. Since the tubes are designed to stay in place for about a year, we may not ever need to repeat this procedure. But, if we so (Jessica had her tubes done twice), we do not feel it is a big deal, at least as far as Lia's comfort is concerned. The worst part is the fasting... no solids or liquids after midnight. Lia had her procedure done at 7:30 a.m. the next day; it was a bit of a struggle to draw her attention away from wanting her bottle.

Here's to good hearing and no more ear infections (fingers crossed) for Miss Lia!

Jackson's 6th Birthday Party with his Friends

Jackson's 6th birthday party with his friends was at Coulee Bowl in Onalaska.
The boys (and Jess) all seemed to have a nice time.
A few of the activities included: bowling, cake eating, present opening, arcade game playing, bouncy ball bouncing, and lots & lots of laughing!
Perfect party for our "perfect" little boy:)

Funny picture of Jessica...

Jess was exhausted after a long day of playing; she layed down on the couch, tucked her hands up into the flap of the couch, and fell asleep!




Good night my dear Jessica!
You continue to amaze (and amuse) your Dad and I with some of the unusual, and seemingly uncomfortable, sleeping positions you choose.
May you never lose the ability to fall asleep so easily and so quickly.

Our last day of 2011...

was filled with a little bit of outside play time...



Our snow-less grass and sidewalks are still being used for bike riding and ball playing on this last day of December.

At 12:00 p.m., our family had our own "countdown til 12."
The kids celebrated by shooting silly string into the air and running around the house yelling "Happy New Year!"


Fun, but quite messy... luckily, we had three good little helpers on clean-up duty!


Jason and I decided to take the kids to the Kids' New Year's at the La Crosse Center in the afternoon. There was face painting, games, inflateable bounce houses and slides, balloon animals, dance performances and songs for the kids.





Happy New Year!!

Merry Christmas! 2011

M = Much needed Christmas break for us all!
E = 'Elf on the Shelf' came to visit us this year.
R = Recovering from stomach bug our family had around Christmas :(
R = Ready for it to snow...any day now.
Y = Yummy (and way too many) Christmas cookies consumed by our family.

C - Cookie baking with Jackson and Jessica has been fun this year.
H - Happy Birthday Jesus!
R - Rotary Lights at Riverside Park in La Crosse - super fun time for the kids!
I - Ice skating is on our "to do" list for this Friday
S - Santa gifts: Batman Bat Cave, Pop the Pig board game, Ride-on school bus
T - Temperature remains around 40 degrees for the high today!
M - Many ear infections for Lia, she will be getting ear tubes in soon
A - Abc's & 123's, Jackson is finding time to practice school work over break
S - Snuggles & smooches, and lots of them! xoxo

Jackson's 6th Birthday

December 17th was a Saturday this year. We celebrated your birthday at our home with Mom, Dad, Jessica, Lia, Grandmas: Chris, Barb, Bonnie, and Great-Grandma Clare, Grandpas: Bob, Terry, Mark, and Uncle Ryan.



We decorated with animal tracks and animal pictures Jessica and you had colored.




'Wild Kratts' is a cartoon you enjoy about wild animals.



You helped me decorate your cake with animals.






It was a fun night. And, this year -for the first time- we decided to seperate your family and friends gatherings into two different parties. So, you are very excited about your "friends party" which is scheduled to be held on Jan 7th at a local bowling alley.



Happy Birthday Jackson!

You are a big 6-year-old now! Each day you surprise Mom and Dad with how much you are learning. We love that you are so inquisitive and eager to know how and why things work like they do. Your kindergarten teacher, Shirley Galstad-Roh, says you are a quiet and good student in school. Brennan, Gannon, and Lucas are among your circle of friends you talk about in your class and also your team mates for soccer out on the playground (unusual to enjoy a game of soccer this time of year without any snow on the ground).
One of the things your Dad and I enjoy most about you is your sense of humor. You love to laugh and act silly; we get a kick out of watching you dance around the house singing songs. Your level of high energy is refreshing and fun. Mom and Dad fully embraced your love for activity this year and bought a few inflateable bopper swords and punching bag with inflateable gloves. You also enjoy playing spies, army guys, and with your new batman cave.
On the flip-side, Jackson, you do enjoy some quiet activities too such as, arts & crafts. We hear a lot about your art teacher at school, Mr Shroeder, and how much you like his class. Teaching Mom, Dad, and Jess new craft ideas you learn from school is something you get very excited about.
Watching T.V. has its place in our home on a minimal, but much needed, basis. We find it helpful for you to calm down at the end of a day before we sit and read books prior to bedtime. The show you choose right now to end your day is the Imagination Movers, although you still enjoy a Power Ranger show from time to time as well.
For your birthday, you were able to pick out a book to be donated to your school's LMC; the book you chose was, 'Siberian Tiger, The World's Biggest Cat' by, Meish Goldish. You are learning to read and can recognize simple words when we are out and about.
Having a Type A personality is not always easy (according to your father), but you already demonstrate the ability to re-focus your controlling and competitive side into a more positive leadership role with your sisters and your neighbor friends.
We are so proud of you, Jackson!
Love, Mom & Dad

Christmas Traditions, 2011

It has always been a Christmas tradition in our family to set up, and decorate, a Christmas tree each year for Christmas. Here is a picture of what our tree looks like this year:


The kids had fun helping me decorate the tree by hanging ornaments...which were later re-distributed to the remaining 75% top half of the tree once the kids were in bed.

_____________________________________________________________________________________


This will be the second year our family has used a truly unique and one-of-a-kind, actually two-of-a-kind (cousin Alli has the other one), advent calendar for the kids.

Each morning in December, until Christmas, Jackson and Jessica wake up and excitedly run down stairs to open a small gift.
Thanks again, Mom, for passing down your hand-made tradition Laura and I enjoyed as children!
Next year Lia will be old enough to take part in this fun Christams tradition too; however, we're not quite sure how it'll work to hang three gifts on the calendar? - two is difficult enough...just have to use smaller and more light-weight gifts I guess.

_____________________________________________________________________________________


We have a new Christmas tradition in our family this year -thank you, Grandma Barb, for the early gift!
It is the 'Elf on the Shelf' Christmas tradition.


The kids named our elf "Freckles Star Power." It has been sent directly from Santa's workshop to come and visit our family each year. Our elf arrives shortly after Thanksgiving and stays until Christmas Eve. It sits upon a shelf (or lamp shade, picture frame, curtain rod, etc.) and watches/listens to the kids throughout the daytime.

The elf then flies back to the North Pole each night to give his "report" (whether good or bad) to Santa. When he arrives back at our house in the morning, he is in a new location. It has been a fun game for Jackson and Jessica to 'find the elf' when they get out of bed in the mornings!

_____________________________________________________________________________________

And, of course, we still have the Christmas tradition of sending out family holiday cards. I was able to get this picture of the kids yesterday, after bribing Jackson and Jessica with a lollipop!

We plan to use this shot as one of the pictures on our holiday card this year.

We hope Christmas traditions will add lots of fun and excitement to the holiday season for you all!