Decorating is Done

Ben had Monday off, so after dinner we put the tree up and started decorating. We listened to Christmas music and the kids did pretty much all of the tree decorating. Ben just lifted them up when they wanted to put the decorations up high on the tree. Also Ben decorated the front window of the house.

We're rich

Evidently, Carissa thinks we're rich. Over the summer, we all went to the drive-in movie theater for the first time and saw WALL-E. Now that it is out on video, the kids have noticed and are talking about it more. Well, one of the last times we saw one of those commercials Carissa was telling me about how we saw it already at the outside theater. And, I agreed with her. Then, she told me that because we got to go to the outside theater that means that we're rich. And she was very excited when she said that. Today, we made peanut butter cookies with kisses on top from scratch, because that is the only way to make them without eggs, which is the only way that Carissa can eat them. While making the cookie dough, Carissa told me that we're rich, because we can make cookies. I think that it is great that she thinks that we're rich, because I know that we aren't. But, as long as she is happy that makes it better.

Surgery

Gabriel did great today at the hospital before surgery and he really enjoyed playing with the toys there. He had to wait in two different waiting rooms and in a small hospital room in between the two waiting rooms (that is where he changed clothes). He got to ride in a wagon into the operating room after we gave him kisses and hugs and he didn't cry or get upset. He went back just before 9:30 this morning and I got to go back to see him about 10:30, so we didn't have to wait very long. The surgeon said that the tumor was bigger than it looked, about the size of a marble. Now Gabe has stitches with glue on top, and we just need to keep him from bothering them now while he heals.

When I got up to go back and see Gabe after he woke up the nurse warned me that he was very unhappy and that the nurses were having some problems with him and asked if I would rather have Ben go, because he might be stronger to hold Gabe still. I said that I thought I would be okay; Carissa was really upset when she woke up after getting tubes in her ears so I figured that Gabe might do the same thing. When I got back to Gabe and he saw me he went straight for me, and I just stood there and held him. He relaxed and actually went back to sleep on my shoulder. Before I got back there it was taking 3 nurses to prevent him from hurting himself after waking up, and the first thing he said to me before falling asleep was that he wanted to leave.

We went through a few spells of Gabe being combative with us and the nurses, but they were all pretty short. He was just so tired and wanted all the monitors and the IV gone, so that he could just go home. He drank some apple juice and kept it down, so we got to leave at about 11:30. Gabe just kept going right back to sleep every time we woke him up until about 1 pm, and then he was up until bed time. He has told us a few times today that his owie hurts, but it can't be too bad since he doesn't get upset or mention it much. He has had some medicine today for pain, and he is started to look a little bruised now. The surgeon said that he would probably end up looking like he had a black eye by tomorrow, but that was normal. The glue is supposed to come off in about 10 days and we are supposed to bring Gabe back in for a check up with the surgeon in 3 weeks.

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Surgery is tomorrow

Gabriel's surgery ended up getting re- scheduled for tomorrow morning. So, he gets no food after midnight tonight, and we have to check in by 7:45 am. I have never tried to take pictures of the bump on Gabe's face before, but I also thought that you wouldn't be able to see it in a picture. Then last night I took a few pictures and it worked better than I thought it would. So, here are a few before pictures of the bump on his face. The bump is on the right side of his eye just past where his eyebrow ends.

Nap Time

The other day Carissa and Gabe had a hard time going down for a nap. They ended up in my bed together. And, when I went to check on them I found them curled up together. After they woke up Carissa said that they slept together, because she was sad that I wouldn't sleep with them. I really would have liked to take a nap that day too, but I had homework to do. I just think that is so cute when they do things like this.

Halloween

So, the last few weeks have been very busy. I've had midterms and a big paper along with making a vest for Gabe for Halloween and just getting ready for Halloween in general. Both, Carissa and Gabe went to the pumpkin patch by their preschool with their classes to get pumpkins the week before Halloween. Gabe's class went first and he came back with a really little pumpkin, so we were thinking maybe all the kids just got little pumpkins. Then Carissa came home with a much bigger pumpkin than Gabe did, so who knows. Carissa and Gabe both painted their pumpkins at home so that they could set them outside for Halloween. And, unfortunately we never did get to pumpkin carving this year. I do like the painted pumpkins though, because the kids can do it all on their own anyway they want to.

Then on Halloween morning while Carissa was at school, Gabe was in their room alone for a few minutes and then he came to see me and told me that his nose was bleeding. Ben asked him if he was picking his nose and Gabe told us no, immediately followed with him telling us that he put a rock in his nose. Carissa had brought a few pebbles home with her a few days earlier, and we figured out that is where he got the rocks from. We got the flashlight and sure enough there was a rock in there, meanwhile Gabe told us that not only did he put one rock up his nose he put two in the same nostril. So, we called the doctor and they got us in pretty quickly. The doctor got one of the rock's out, but the other was too far back and it wasn't bothering his breathing or making him uncomfortable so the doctor said that we could wait a few days and see if it came out on its own or not. He also told us to make a follow up appointment in order to check if the rock was gone or not. Then a few days later Gabe was at my mom's house when he sneezed the rock out, and then yesterday he had his follow up appointment and the doctor couldn't see the rock anywhere. The whole experience turned out to be a good learning experience for Gabe; he now thinks that putting things up your nose is a very bad idea. The rocks made him very uncomfortable, and the whole process of us holding him down while the doctor pulled one of the rocks out also made him very upset. So, hopefully we won't have something like that happen again.

Here is our kitty and pirate

Here is Gabe's pumpkin

Here is one side of Carissa's pumkin

And the other side

Family Day

So a couple of weeks ago, we went up to Snowbird to walk around and ride the tram up the mountain. The kids also got to play on an inflatable slide and castle up there. After that we went out to dinner, and then to Boondocks to play. Everyone had a lot of fun. Oh, and when we went shopping that morning they had a fire truck at Wal-mart that Carissa and Gabe got to look at and go inside.