Don't forget what CHRISTmas is about...

My mom sent this singing nativity to the kids....goodness years ago. Anyhow it drove us crazy to listen to the singing and story of Jesus' birth. It's so repetitive and it really doesn't have the best quality on the sound. It can give you a headache....BUT really...Kimberlyn is 5 and has it almost completely memorized and now TOMMY is pressing the button like mad to hear it sing and tell the story...

Again when this arrived I rolled my eyes, and thought the kids would NEVER pay attention to it. Boy, was a I wrong. Now that Mom is gone...I'm no longer wishing the singing nativity to break, instead it's "watch out and don't play rough with this special thing..." Darn well amazing how perspective changes when we lose a loved one. As usual, I'm missing Mom and wishing I could thank her for the important things I had no idea were important while she was still with us.


Below is Tommy sleeping by Dad on the couch late last night...he felt horrible...we both feel this way today. The cold caught me and I'm not happy!

Emergency....Emergency....

NOT!! BUT we've joined the "My Kid Called 911" club tonight!

Kimberlyn was missing. We ate dinner and called her a few times. She was upset with me for making her take the recyclables to the bin in the garage...I figured she was ignoring me.

SHE WAS OUTSIDE! Not two minutes after getting her to the table the door bell rings and classically Larry and I "fought" over who'd get the door :) I don't like answering the door at dark (it was dusk) when I'm not expecting company :)

A police officer...asking if somebody called 911? Hmmm? Then he said a little girl called from our number saying there was a fight...

Well here's the story best as we can get... Kimberlyn took the phone off the counter and headed outside to try and catch the cats. Worried as she thought they were fighting. She walks down the street two houses where the cats were "fighting" by a "barn" (a neighbor's shed)~ She deemed it an emergency and called 911 RIGHT on the sidewalk down the street from our house...to let them know there was a cat fight! When asked if anybody was home with her she said "yes, but they are talking." This was a very well organized plan of attack on the cat emergency it seems!

To just be five again....

P.S. The officer was very nice and wished us a good night. I think he got a kick out of the visit, he even had a BACKUP cop on the street. Two cops for one sweet 5-year old worried about a cat fight...

FOUR MONTHS....

WOW....four months until Larry's graduation from the Air Force Institute of Technology. Four months until we're OFFICIALLY moving to our new house. Four months.... This is insane and exciting all at once!

Mourning the third trimester....

I thought I was done...

I really feel fine and okay about Tommy's arrival 11 1/2 weeks early almost 2 years ago...so I thought!

I had a blast shopping this morning! Black Friday...fun, fun :) I was standing in line at Toys R Us just before 5am chatting (imagine THAT) with the gal behind me. She mentioned being pregnant....6 months along....we'd already talked about our kids and how she was hoping to get a train table for her 3 yr old and how we are hoping Santa brings Tommy one... I had mentioned Tommy's birthday being Christmas, but don't recall telling her the NICU part.
All of a sudden the "6 months pregnant" clicked and I had to ask when her actual due date was. It is March 14th.

I haven't had a breakdown in a long, long time...mourning the third trimester that I missed out on. It was extremely hard at first especially while Tommy was in the NICU to see "extremely pregnant" women. Anyhow, I felt like such a baby, my eyes teared up and the emotions flooded back like it was just last month! Absolutely CRAZY... Yes, Tommy was due on March 14th too.



Here is us two years ago...Nov 26, 2006. The exact time I realized I was swelling a lot...and to think one month later the baby would arrive.

Five Dollars...

Seriously, I bought this airborne Santa for $5 a few MONTHS ago at the base Thrift Store. It was a donation to the Thrift Store and not returnable and not guaranteed to even FUNCTION properly, as regular consigned things are returnable if they don't function... I found it with another two blow-up displays since they weren't returnable I wasn't willing to "gamble" ten or fifteen bucks, I thought risking five was acceptable. Larry thought I was nuts and it'd never work properly...to tell you the truth, I was nervous too. BOY, if you could have seen my face. It was the coolest to walk to the door and see this going strong. Snoopy joined our family a year or two ago, so now he has a partner in the sky! Yes, Larry made them fly in formation...would you expect anything less?

A few random November shots....

Hot-diggity...I can unzip things too! He opened the bottle of pepto tablets earlier today... I found a LIGHT BULB in his CRIB for the second time tonight. Yes, Mom didn't move the lamp far enough away from the bed or possibly somebody else moved it back, either way, the kid unscrewed the light bulb AGAIN. Can you say PISTOL!!! This is from a few mornings ago, I found him unzipped in his crib. P.S. Thanks Wendy...he loves his blanket sleepers and especially loves this one- he can unzip it and it has airplanes :)

ADORABLE...isn't she adorable??
Kimberlyn waiting on the parade welcoming Santa in last week. They had a high school marching band, a horse drawn buggy with a family and another horse drawn buggy with SANTA....THAT WAS THE PARADE...P-L-E-A-S-E we waited 30+ minutes in 30-degree weather and FROZE for the shortest parade EVER. They did surprise us with fireworks before Santa lit the huge tree...we finished the evening up with Krispy Kreme :)

Don't miss the updated posts below...Thanksgiving Day picture of Betty... And also Kaitlyn's blue thumb....really it IS BLUE now :)

HAPPY THANKSGIVING....

Wishing all our friends and family a day full of great joy as we remember all we are blessed with.

Love,
The Nances



Here's my Miss Betty Crocker :) She peeled all but TWO potatoes of from the 5-pound bag! She had a blast helping in the kitchen and I appreciated the help....'bout time I could pass on the chore of getting my hands nasty mixing the dressing. Fond memories and so exciting to share them with my children...

We had an enjoyable day visiting with friends and eating too much turkey!

Kaitlyn's Blue Thumb...

UPDATED: November 28 Kaitlyn's thumb looking more blue but feeling much better :)


Okay....I didn't get a before picture and you're thinking this isn't very blue. Oh my, had you seen the before shot....you'd been feeling woozy too...this was right before church 8 hours after the ER visit.



Kaitlyn went out with Dad shopping on Saturday. She was thrilled and giddy about the huge snowflakes falling. She got out of the car and slammed her thumb in the door. The door was actually latched on her thumb, somehow she managed to open the door herself before Dad got to her and then simple fell to the ground in pain. It immediately turned black and blue. We iced it and then after a few hours gave her Motrin to help with the pain.

She went to bed and about 3hrs later she woke hysterical in pain...I seriously can't handle blood, or my kids in serious pain. I sat alone in the bathroom as Larry and her talked about WHAT to do. I felt as if I was going to pass out...I just don't do blood at all. (I know how pitiful- there was NO bleeding, it was all under her nail)

We were out of Motrin and we knew at this point as the swelling changed so much in three hours that she had to go to the ER anyhow...She asked for me to take her...yeah, right! Love ya, but I think Daddy is a better choice! Dad took her in and they burned a hole in her nail to release the pressure and drain the blood. The process was fast and not really more painful than the pain she was enduring at the time anyhow. She also got herself some more Motrin :)

She woke in the morning at 6am thanks to her baby bro. This is his new standard wake up time. NOT FUN AT ALL! She insisted on going to church. Larry and I decided we were skipping as we all had a very long night and didn't get sleep. How do you tell a sweet girl no to going to worship our Heavenly Father...

I'm off to catch a nap....I'm STILL Not caught up on sleep!