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Archive for the ‘family’ Category

Christmas is right around the corner.  Which means gifts galore are being purchased and will be given in about a week.  Most people purchase gifts, wrap them and give them on christmas.  Not quite the case in my family, and there is a reason to that.  My dad has never been the go out and seek presents, wrap them and give them type.  He is always worried he will get the wrong thing.  My mom was the present purchaser, and would put my dads name on them.  My dad is good at giving money in cards though! My mom passed away from breast cancer last december, so last christmas my dad just got me what I needed for my new apartment and that was that.  So i wasn’t sure how it would go this year, so I gave him a list of the things that I wanted.  Number 1 on my list was a piano.  When I was younger my mom sent me to Piano lessons, I played piano until I was in 5th grade which is when I choose to learn the Cello.  I can still play the pinao but since I dont have one around on a regular basis I can’t just play and learn songs.  So I wanted a pinao so that I could pick up my piano playing skills and be able to play farely well again.  So I put that on the list, thinking that maybe he would just call and purchase it.  Instead he had my purchase it online for him.  Some may think, well thats no fun, christmas is about the surprise.  But it’s how my dad has always been, he likes to know that I am getting what I want.  So I am happy with it I got my piano and I can’t wait for christmas when I can play it!  I have many songs I plan to learn.

(no zach this is not a blog about numbers)

My son turns 8 in 9 days.  I dedicated my morning drive to work on the memories of these years.  Wow… it actually WAS 8 years ago that I was pregnant with my first child, enjoying the movement in my belly, waiting, wanting to see my child.  He was already named before he was born and we were just thrilled.

When he was born, they wisked him away from me before I could even touch him, because he was not crying enough.  The next few hours went by very slowly as he was up in the NICU, but when I finally did get to see him, he was beautiful. 

Time went by and he developed a severe case of eczema.  It covered him head to toe and he was always in pain and itching.  Despite all the doctors visits and countless medicines/herbal remedies we tried, nothing helped but steroids.  We did this for about 4 years.  Taking him to the ER when it was so bad that it swelled his legs up in a bent position and they had to put and IV in his forhead to get the swelling to come down.  They were worried about having to take fingers off due to the infection that the open skin was getting.  He had to be pinned into his pajamas and socks put on his hands (pinned to the pajamas) so he wouldn’t scratch and bleed.

Now i look at my son (who has NO memory of those horrible 4 years) and I smile.  He is brilliantly sweet and reads over 100 words per minute.  (I think that’s pretty cool).  It is this time of the year, when another birthday comes, that I am thankful for him.  He endured so much as a baby and came out on top. 

Happy birthday, Clay

Along with millions of other Americans - I spent the Holiday weekend eating way to much food.  Turkey, ham, two different kinds of potatos (mashed and cheesy), O salad, Spinach and Artichoke Dip, Stuffing, Sweet Potatos, Dirt and Worms, pumpkin pie, cookies, etc.  Along with trying out tons of wines (my favorite was pumpkin wine) and beers.  Traditionally in my family we all pile into my Aunts huge house (we are a 20+ family, we can fit no where else) around noon.  We snack on appetizers, which I have concluded is not smart when you are planning on eating a huge meal, cause then you end up eating way more then you should.  Around 1pm the food is set out, it spreads between the kitchen and the serving table (we always have enough food to feed 3 familys our size).  After you pile your plate full of food we all make our way to our spots, Kids at the kids table, Adults at theres.  It’s been that way since we were babies and even though us kids are as old as 30 and as young as 20 we still have a kids table.  We stuff our faces with the yummies of Thanksgiving.  After we eat, the kids head downstairs to pick our spots on the couch and the floor, to begin our tradition of watching movies.  This year we watched 3 (yes we are bums) we watched Wall-e, Sex and the City, and What Happens in Vegas.  All great movies, and more often or not some of us end of falling asleep during one or two of the movies.  It’s usually the ones on the floor, it just sucks you in.  If you start to lay down on the floor to watch a movie, we all know you are done for.  That darn turkey sure knows how to make a person sleepy. Before we know it 3 movies go by and it is almost 8pm at night, where did the day go! This is how most of our holidays pan out, we plan before hand what movies to bring and pick them out as the day progresses on.  There is nothing better then eating way to much food, spending time with your family and curl up on the couch watching great movies.