Christmas is Coming!

It's so hard to believe that it is that time of year already! Of course, the wacky Ohio weather hasn't helped at all. Last week it was almost 70 degrees. Today it's 45 and there is a thick fog hanging around. We've yet to have any snow (although I'm not complaining!)

Somehow Christmas has snuck up on us this year! Only 16 days left. Thankfully, 98% of my Christmas shopping is complete. Thank goodness for layaway and Black Friday deals!!

The boys have already received their video messages from Santa


As you can tell, Grady was absolutely thrilled!  He is ALL about Santa this year!!

And we've had our Rudolph Party with mam-maw!  This year we even had a Rudolph cake and I made hot chocolate in the crock pot.  Aiden isn't usually a fan of hot chocolate but he liked this stuff and drank 2 mugs full!


Liam did pretty good too! He watched the first 5 minutes and then spent the rest of the time causing trouble. He did stop to dance at every song!

Last night the boys had their Christmas Banquet with Stampede of Dreams. They each received a riding trophy with their names engraved on them! Needless to say, they were super excited about this!!







AND there was a special guest!










Liam LOVED Santa. He even tried to give him a kiss when I picked him up!

Whether we'll have a Christmas tree this year is still up in the air. Liam is a hurricane and into everything! I'm terrified he will totally wreck a tree. He did very well at my friends house, but he was also on very good behavior then!  We shall see I suppose.

A little bit of this....a little bit of that.

There hasn't been much to say lately. Just carrying on and getting through the days around here.

The weather has turned colder and with it comes Asthma. Grady had a very bad asthma attack last month and I had to call an ambulance because he was turning blue. That was one of the scariest things I have ever been through. I never want an attack like that to happen again. Unfortunately, it hasn't been super great since then. Grady's been doing a lot of coughing this month and gets winded faster. I have a feeling it is going to be a bad winter.

Aiden is doing super great in school. He just brought home his first quarter report card and it was all A's and one B+ (in Art.)  I'm so proud of him! Socially.... he is still having problems. I don't know if he has any "real" friends in school. He's had some issues with bullying; both at school and the bus stop. He has started seeing a counselor to help with his anxiety and social awkwardness. They have really been focusing on his relationship with Grady because there has been a lot, a lot of friction between the two of them. It got so bad that Grady is now sharing a room with Liam. It's been stressful. Some day, I see progress. Other days, I feel like pulling my hair out. Navigating this world of Aspergers really sucks. I worry every day about what Aiden's future will hold.

Little Liam is a ball of fire! He was running, babbling and into everything. He never, ever sits still! Who would have thought that the baby who started life so very sick would be the one that has the most energy?  He is very smart too! He's advanced in many areas (trying to keep up with his brothers!) and he is my little trouble! But he is just so awesome and so much fun!


How could you not love that little twinkle??

Halloween was cold this year. It got pushed back into November because of Hurricane Sandy and all the nastiness that brought to this area. The boys had fun dressing up....but I think Liam was the only one who enjoyed Trick or Treating.


Aiden was a Zombie and had various forms of the undead over several Halloween activities...







My sister did a great job on his make-up. Guess she learned something during her time as a Screamster!!

Oh did I mention that Liam was in a fight with an Oreo Cookie??


I'm not sure who the winner is......

And finally we finally have a vehicle that fits the entire family! We are the new owners of a Kia Sedona and I LOVE it! Poor Aiden was squished between two car seats in the fusion and it was getting to the point where he refused to ride in the car at all when he couldn't sit shot gun. Something had to be done (especially with the holidays coming up.)
So we are now mini-van people. Or I should say I'm a mini van Mama. And proud of it!

A screamster of Cedar Point

This year I had the best job ever. Seriously.



I did this!!!

This year was my first year as a Screamster at Cedar Point's Halloweekends and I absolutly LOVED it!! I was lucky enough to be able to do it with my sister as well.



Aren't we cute??

Here's a few pictures from the 7 weeks I spent scaring the crap out of people!


Before the zones opened, all of the Screamsters marched through the midway following the Overlord for our Gathering.







And then the Overlord would send us on our way!

I worked in a zone called CornStalkers. It was basically filled with corn, hillbillies, corn people and some strange pumpkin people.






And we made people scream....cry....pee....and beg for mercy!!










But we were just one big corney family!


I'm so lucky to be a part of the Screamster Family. The past 7 weeks were some of the most fun I have had in a very, very long time. I can not wait to go back next year to make more people scream!!!

Tattoo

I've wanted to get another tattoo for quite a while now.  It was deciding what and where that took so long. I knew I wanted to get the boys names in Gaelic. But I wanted something more.

After browsing Pintrest for a very long time, I finally got an idea of what I wanted with the kids names. It was pretty simple and straight forward but represents my 3 favorite things; My Kids, My love of Disney and My Irish heritage.

Andy at Therapy Ink did the work. I will never go see anyone but Andy, he is amazing!

This is the finished product;



It's on my inner forearm and I absolutely LOVE it!!!!!  It didn't hurt as much as everyone said that area would. It burned more than hurt.

Now I need to find something to put on my other arm.....hhhhmmm.......

Dear Liam

My dearest Liam,

You've been a year old for almost a week now. It's hard to believe it's been a year already.



The day you were born was one of the best and scariest of my life.  I knew something was wrong the minute they took you to the baby warmer. I could feel that something was not right. Not being able to hold was devastating. Hearing you were being sent to a NICU 2 hours away was ever worse. Watching them take you away, looking so very tiny on a huge stretcher was one of the worst moments of my life.



The week we spent in the NICU was the most challenging I've ever been through. Watching you struggle to breath, hearing all the sounds you shouldn't have been making, being told when I could and couldn't hold you. It was horrible.



But you, my beautiful boy, are a fighter.



We brought you home from the NICU on September 30th. When I walked through the front door, into the arms of your very excited big brothers, it was like a huge weight was lifted off of my shoulder. I was finally able to cry over everything we'd been through. I walked through that NICU week in a fog and coming home was such a joy. We'd survived. You'd survived. 


I still think about your birth all the time. I have yet to write down you entire birth story because it's still difficult. I was so terrified I was going to lose you. I still have all the pictures on my phone. I still look at them often and marvel at how far you've come.

And you've come so very far!



Your a 22 pound ball of trouble! You're walking more and more every day. You babble like we understand exactly what your saying. But you do talk real words too. You can say "Mom, Maw, Nom (for Aunt Amanda), Da, Aiden, Grady, kitty, dog, bye, I get it, where go? what happen? I don't know?" and a few others.



You follow your brothers everywhere, especially Grady! You love that he plays with you and when they are doing things that you can't, you are not happy! You love cars and trucks and push them around saying "Vroom".



You adore your MAW and often try to crawl to her house when we're outside. You know where you get spoiled....



You are a HORRIBLE sleeper!! Horrible! And I'm often at my wits end with you at night. You won't go to sleep without being rocked. You never stay asleep. You're always awake in the middle of the night and fight me so badly about going back to sleep, you often end up just sleeping with me so I am able to get some sleep. I think you don't like being alone. If I'm standing in your room, you sleep fine. It's when I leave, you freak! And when you're sleeping with me? No problem at all. I often wonder if your hatred for sleeping alone goes back to your days in the NICU.



At one year old you are 22 lbs and 11 oz, which is 51% and 29 inches, the 28%.  You have 9 teeth but one (or is it two?) is fused together, creating a conjoined tooth. Only 1 in 1,000 kids have this happen. When your older you will have to get x-rays to find out if you have one adult tooth or two under that conjoined tooth. In the mean time, it gives you a wicked cute smile!


Oh Liam, it has been one roller coaster of a year! There has been so many, wonderful ups that they outnumber the downs we have fought together. I am so grateful to be your Mother. I can't wait to see what the next year brings and all the many years to come. You're going to be great baby boy.


I love you so much!

~Mommy~