Claire and I went to a Christmas movie with our friends;
(We saw "Arthur's Christmas")and my sister, my mom, and I spent a couple of days in Chicago to kick off our shopping.
We've had our Christmas tree up for a few weeks now (we had to purchase a new one as a mouse got into our original Christmas tree box and peed and pooped all over it, including chewing up the instructions for assembly ;)). We've driven through towns, looking at all the Christmas lights and decorations, and have the stockings hung. And, of course, we have avoided Santa Claus at all costs. We had our first Christmas family time last Saturday, when we all surprised our grandparents with a visit. Other than my brother-in-law, everyone was present, which meant that just our immediate family totaled 17 in number!! We had a great time.Other than Christmas cheer, what is going on? Well, last Monday, Lara went to the dentist to get a silver cap put on her tooth. It is the same tooth that had the cavity last time. The tooth continues to decay despite consistent brushing and flossing, so the dentist advised a cap. You don't really notice it unless you really look, but it is strange to see it in her mouth, since you often see them more in older people...at least, not kids. Many have asked why that was necessary for a baby tooth. So I looked into that, and turns out it is quite necessary, and if you really want to know about it, google it. ;) Lara was very scared, but it was painless, and we are keeping her teeth healthy and intact. All other teeth are in good condition.
Last week, we took Lara to the chiropractor, and had a follow-up visit with the chiropractor yesterday. We have never been before, but I decided to take advantage of a $20 check-up and consultation visit. In general, Lara is okay. But, obviously, due to the CP, she has some rather bad subluxation in her upper vertebrae. So starting in January, we are going to start taking her in to fix those problems. The chiropractor said that we will have to be a little intense about it at the beginning, going in about 2x a week for a few weeks, and gradually lessening it so that after a few months, she will need to go in only 1x a month. Because of Lara's general posture, she will have to go in very consistently. I don't have a problem with this, as some people might. I believe that taking care of your body requires constant effort. What's really unfortunate is that the chiropractor is 35 minutes away in Champaign, and the visit will only take 5 minutes. That is a lot of driving. So we are looking into a chiropractor closer to home.
Claire is doing well. She is communicating better and better, and has started singing songs. The girls recently had a Christmas mini-program for our MOPS group, and Claire did so well. She sang along and did the motions. I've still never experienced Lara doing this, and I didn't expect Claire to be participatory either, but she was!
Here are just a handful of kids at our MOPS group during the Christmas program.Claire loves "George Monkey," who is Curious George. We're taking a little break from Monsters Inc, though she still loves him too. She asks to watch the movie every day, and has a little monkey beanie baby who she calls George Monkey.
I can't remember if I posted any pictures of our new little niece/cousin, so here are some:
These are most of the Aunts on Molly's side. All except Aunt Amber, who arrived a little over a week later. At that time, we had a "Welcome to the World" baby shower for MIL's side of the family. We had everyone decorate onesies as the activity; a cute idea I got from my friend Anna.
I've had a lot of people ask me lately what Dustin is doing with the bee business since the bees aren't working outside. Right now, Dustin is working on getting a website up and going in order to sell his Top Bar Hives. Once the website goes live, he will begin production and selling of those.
We have been so busy lately, that we have had little time to work on homeschooling. But we are having a good, happy time. It certainly gets stressful sometimes, but it also feels good to be getting out of the house and enjoying life around us. Last weekend, I took my sister Jill out for her birthday.;Lara went to her friend's house for a sleepover; We went to my parents' house for supper to listen to my brother give a speech about the Marines in WWII (this was his LAST assignment for high school, so now he is done!!); We had Christmas with family;supper and a good discussion with our small group from church;Dustin and I went on a date. And last night, we had supper and Gingerbread House decorating with our friends.
Merry Christmas! Joy to the world!
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