Scotty's Ears

Right after the new year, Scotty had his first surgery! Very minor . . . he needed tubes. During Scotty's first two years of life, he was super fussy. A mother's intuition finally figured it out. He must have been having ear infections! He never had fevers or any other symptoms. The tests also showed that he couldn't hear out of one ear because of the fluid build-up which could be a contributing factor to his delayed speech.

Since, I'm posting this over 5 months since his surgery, I can tell you that this procedure absolutely changed my boy! He is the happiest little toddler I've ever seen and boy, does he talk now! His vocabulary is better than most his age.

We love our little Scotty and wish mommy would have figured this out a little sooner.

Love/Hate

It's been over 5 months since I've posted. I sometimes wonder why I'm continuing to blog at all. But then i look over the pictures of my children I've accumulated during that time and realize the important need to document what we've been doing. So I will slowly be catching up . . . again.

Christmas

Christmas was so amazing this year! Violet was so excited about it. We did a family night about Jesus' Birth and Violet wanted to rock the Baby Jesus for days afterward. I bought way too many presents for the kids, but of course, they were so excited about each and every present.

We spent a lot of time with family and there was just a real spirit about Christmas this year. We didn't get very many pictures, it's mainly all video. But I still wanted to document this special time for us.

In the Snow

I was so worried that Scotty would HATE his snowsuit. Scotty really likes to be comfortable. But he didn't mind it at all. The snow itself on the other hand:

I couldn't get enough of him in this snowsuit. It made him twice as big, but he managed to keep on the move anyway. He just stayed on the driveway, out of the snow, and he had a great time. Violet dove right in. She wanted to eat the snow and throw snowballs.

Scotty's reaction to the snow reminded me of this picture taken 3 years ago:

I LOVE these babies.

Our Christmas Card 2010

I was able to actually get a Christmas card out this year. It's a true miracle when that happens.

These past few months I had a wonderful experience reading the Book of Mormon again and I felt so impressed to include a message with the card. It essentially expressed that life is so good, even when its not. This past year has been challenging in many ways, but life is still good. Family is essential and makes our lives so meaningful. Even when life gets hard, it is still beautiful in so many ways.

Merry Christmas to all of our friends and family.

Violet BELIEVES . . .

in Santa, of course. I have loved every minute of Christmas this year with Violet. It is so fun when there is a real element of magic in Christmas, and this year I've seen it all over her face.

Violet's 4th Birthday!

Violet is so good natured and sweet. I love her little voice and the way she sings and dances. She gives me loves and hugs and kisses freely. She is my best friend. She's also bossy and opinionated and stubborn. In some ways, I feel like Violet should be older because it feels like she's been telling me what to do for longer than 4 years. When I had Violet, my life changed forever and I'm so grateful for that. I love her more than words can even say.

Violet is very into the Cat in the Hat right now and I thankfully talked her out of having another Mickey party, which is originally what she wanted. This is the invite:

We decided to have her party at a play center this year and it was a success! It was so much easier to do, plus free clean-up! This chair helped her feel even more special:

The cake:

I don't know why I have such an obsession with dressing up my kids . . . but I couldn't resist them being Thing 1 and Thing 2. They were darling. I even had extra hats for everyone at the party. This is the best shot we could get of our little things together.

Thing 2 loved Violet's party almost as much as Violet. He ran around until he couldn't move anymore. His energy astounds me.

Violet could not have had more fun and it seems everyone agreed. Thanks to all of our friends for coming and helping us celebrate Violet.