Weekly Update

This week is a review week at T's school so on Monday they went over some letters they previously learned and made an adorable Christmas wreath:

The kids got a Christmas package from great Aunt Donna and great Uncle Chris and my little artists were over the moon with their new crafts. They instantly had to dig in while wearing their new elf hats that Aunt Donna had made for them:

(Thanks guys!! These hats are too adorable!! We love you!!)

Tenley is so sweet that she is always trying to help out with the twins. I found her telling the twins, "my boobies are out; come get some momma juice!" and I about died. They crack me up:

The babes decided to boycott their nap and Wes kept saying, "nigh-nigh Tee-Tee" and pointing toward the door. I wasn't going to fight them to nap, so I let them relax with Tenley while I enjoyed a hot cup of coffee:

Ed has been really stressed about work recently...he's responsible for welding all the duct work and it just so happens that all the heavy duct work hangs over him while he's welding. He's also responsible for making sure it's hung properly so it doesn't fall on him (and everyone else). I guess it's been quite nerve racking to say the least. He sent me this picture to show me exactly what has been hanging over his head this past week:

Ev woke up really early Wednesday morning, but ended up falling back to sleep on me while I drank my morning coffee on the couch. She looked so sweet that I hated to have to wake her to get everyone up and ready to take Tenley to school:

Tenley had her school Christmas party on Wednesday and was so excited about the gift she got from her teachers...a princess puzzle- how perfect! She was also so excited about the gift she made for us that she couldn't wait until Daddy got home for us to open it. It was a ornament with her school picture on it; which obviously went right on the tree:

My little Moose Man got his very first haircut Wednesday night; which was actually heart breaking. I didn't think it was a big deal because I didn't feel attached to his little curls one bit. Then when I saw him smiling away after like a big boy I was totally heartbroken that he was missing those Ace Ventura wispies:

Every time Tenley hears the words 'hair cut' she thinks she is getting her nails done since they always paint her nails when she gets a trim. I explained that since she wasn't getting her hair cut that they wouldn't be doing her nails either. She had been talking about going to her "nail appointment" all day. Since she is so sweet and adorable the girl painted her nails anyways, one hand pink with glitter and the other purple with glitter, per Tenley's request:

We even got a few mementos to mark the special occasion of Wesley's first haircut:

Ed had his work Christmas party on Thursday and I guess I was feeling a little bitter because I tried having my own little Christmas party with the kids, but it never happened. Tenley had been coughing since Tuesday, but I just assumed it was the typical "preschool cough" that these guys always have. Then (despite the cute smile in the following photos), she began acting out towards her brother an sister. She's not one to share when it comes to Princess Aurora or iPad time with her grandparents, but other then that she is so sweet with Ev and Wes and plays so good with them. She is always so loving so when she was hitting and pushing them I knew something was up and waited for Tornado Tenley to unfold. She was so sweet as I attempted to get us looking festive (although she didn't want to get dressed quite yet) for our Christmas Dance Party that never happened:

Her mood worsened throughout the day and I had to call my mom because I was about to lose my mind. While FaceTiming with her I noticed that Tenley was burning up. Her temp was 102 so I immediately called her pediatrician since that's how she was when she had walking pneumonia just less than a month ago and he said to bring her in.

I made the biggest mistake ever when going to the pediatrician's office...I didn't bring the double stroller. Never ever will I do that again! For some reason the sick side of the ped's office has a Little Tikes slide and Ev and Wes fought over going up and down the dang thing the entire time... pushing and shoving. I do NOT know how someone didn't crack their head open on the wood floors. I cracked and when the receptionist looked at me with her "your hands are full face" I yelled, "do you think it's safe to have a slide in the waiting room?!" I mean, really? NEVER AGAIN! After getting called back to where the suckers are (thank God!) my worst fear was confirmed- pneumonia, again. The twins were so sweet for a minute as the ped read Tenley's oxygen levels:

Since Tenley had back-to-back pneumonia her doc ordered her to get blood work to check her white blood cells to make sure everything was okay with her immune system. While leaving the kids were screaming and I was so close to tears as I apologized to the receptionist and begged for road suckers for our journey to get T's blood drawn. The kid's doctor's office is like a second home to us and these people never judge us on our bad days; they are seriously the sweetest. I left feeling awful, but determined to finish this ordeal.

I piled everyone out of the car, without a stroller, again...what was wrong with me? When I got to the Lab's door it said 'by appointment only'. Awesome. While I stood outside trying to call, the kids ran around the concrete stairs nearly falling a million times. I was frantic and took them all to the car and just broke down in tears. I finally got through to the labs answering service and got an appointment for the following day (after shattering my phone). Then, we were off to the pharmacy and I threw in the towel on this day.

After going to bed super early, I woke up feeling refreshed Friday morning! The twins were up early, but Ev decided to fall back to sleep on me while Wes and I read books:

Ed took Tenley to get her blood drawn and it was like angels sang. The house was calm and the twins were so happy to play without getting pushed around. They were so happy that they had a dance party:

Turns out the doc sent us to a lab that didn't take our insurance so her blood work had to be delayed yet another day. We felt awful since she's been really worried about it so Ed took her to pick out a 'Funko Pop'. He even brought me home my favorite Christmas snack with a game changer of a twist:

Evie has been keeping the entire house up at night, then comes into our bed in the middle of the night and sleeps like a queen. She is so sweet that it's hard to get mad, but Ed said one of these days he's going to pound on the door while she's sleeping and see how she likes it (yeah right!):

Saturday morning Ed took Tenley to get blood work done. I forgot to tell him that he was going to have to bear hug her when they poked her with the needle and apparently he let them try it without holding her down, but she wasn't having it. She was so scared that Daddy offered to get his blood work "done". He is also terrified of getting blood drawn and the lady was winking at him like she was just pretending, but he said she actually filled a tube! Then it was Tenley's turn and it unfortunately didn't help. He said it was awful and the two of them had matching boo-boos:

I switched the twin's beds around in hopes that it might keep Ev from sleeping in front of her door/kicking her door and the kids were so excited about the new look of their room:

Ev FINALLYYYY slept in her bed so we celebrated by binge eating christmas cookies that my mother-in-law mailed us. My favorites are the buckeyes:

Tenley's meds must be kicking in because she is slowly turning back into her sweet self. She was rolling around on the floor with Wessie Boy and giving him kisses. She asked me to take a picture of them being all cute 'n stuff so obviously I had to:

Since we were all going a bit stir crazy, but didn't know what we could do since T had pneumonia so we decided on the Bellagio Conservatory to see their Christmas display:

Gosh, this week was so hectic and really tested my patience. This weekend was exactly what I needed to remind me that everything is okay and that I am enough. When we got home from the Bellagio and sat down to eat dinner as a family I handed Tenley her plate and she said, "you look really pretty today, mommy." My heart just melted and I realized that I need to cut us both some slack. We both have bad days and at the end of the day we are both doing our best and it's still pretty amazing because she is such an amazing little kiddo!

I'm so glad she is feeling better and that next week is Christmas!!