Happy Birthday, Jesus!

 Happy Birthday to you.

Happy Birthday to you.

 Happy Birthday Dear Jesus!

 Happy Birthday to YOU!

We had a Birthday Party for Jesus on Christmas Eve before going to church for the Christmas Service. It is very important to Chris and I to focus on the true meaning of Christmas, the birth of Christ.

I hope everyone had a Blessed Christmas!

Lighting of the Christmas Tree

 We took the kids downtown to the lighting of the Christmas Tree.  It was cold but we toughed it out. Santa came in on a horse drawn carriage but the kids do not really like the big guy. We don't really talk about Santa much in our house. But they were excited about the FREE cookies and hot chocolate from the South Bend Chocolate Cafe that we waiting in line for a LONG time to get. It is too bad that right before we reached the table they ran out! Haha. We ran inside to buy some and the lines were sooooo long that we just decided to get goodies another time. They kids didn't really seem to care. They were just enjoying all the activity going on.

We are gearing up for Christmas this weekend and very excited that Daddy actually gets some time off work. The kids will be thrilled to see him 2 days in a row! Mommy is happy too! :o)

Mommy's TIRED...

A few weeks ago I hired a Personal Trainer. I need to get this extra weight off and get back into shape. I have been feeling very tired since the kids were born and I just assumed it was because my life has changed a lot. Taking care of 4 kiddos and a house and all that goes with it is a lot of work. I just figured I was getting older and the tiredness was just a part of life.

After working with the Trainer of couple of times I had some severe muscle soreness. I have been doing cardio a few times a week for a long time but I had just started adding in strength training and stretching. I was having some lower abdominal pain around my C-section scar that was not getting better so I went to the Doctor. After some blood testing the Dr. discover that my hemoglobin is down to 7. This is considered very low. Like low enough that I am going into the Hospital for IV iron infusions once a week for the next 3 weeks. I also have a vitamin D deficiency.

I am soooo relieved that the way I have been feeling for months is not the way I am going to feel for the rest of my life...THIS IS NOT NORMAL! The Dr. said I should feel a huge difference in the next 2-3 weeks. Just in time for Christmas. I cannot tell you how Thankful I am to have found this out just in time to avoid a blood transfusion or Hospitalization. I did have to stop working with my Trainer just for 3 weeks until I am a little more stable. The Doctor and Nurses were suprised that I was doing a vigorous work-out on top of my daily routine with my levels so low.

I now have HOPE that I will feel good again. I am Praising God that in just a few weeks I will have renewed strength to face this next year. We are so excited to be celebrating our 4th Christmas as a big happy family!

Mommy's Helpers

The kids were a great help when we were putting the Christmas Tree up in their playroom?!? Haha.

They spent most of the night playing with a Mickey and Minnie Snowglobe.

Oh...and mixing up the branches after I already had them all sorted by color.

Sophia ran off with Charlie Brown's Christmas Tree.

We did finally get it all together and lit. The decorations came later of course they will not leave them alone. I decided to put all the Disney ornament on their tree so I guess it is partly my fault. They just cannot resist! :o)

Shipshewana Light Parade

Several weeks ago we took the kids to Shipshewana for their Light Parade and the Lighting of the Christmas Tree. It was cold so we all bundled up and headed out.

The line for Santa was too long so we headed inside one of the local bake shops and got the kids some cookies...as always they didn't really like them and saw some veggie chips in the store and went nuts. Yup, that's my kiddos. Sophia is really the only one that likes sweets. They like Oatmeal Cookies and Snickerdoodles sometimes but throw icing or chocolate at them and you can forget it.

 

Overall we had a good time the parade had many floats covered in Christmas Lights. I made for a late night but well worth it. We were definately all in the Christams Spirit by the end of the night. The next day the kids wanted to put a tree up. This was November 13 by the way. So we did. They have had a tree down in their playroom for well over a month.

Now it they would just leave it alone!!!!