Christmas Eve and Christmas Day

We celebrated 2 out of the 4 Christmases that we were supposed to this year and we really shouldn't have gone to any. Let me explain...Rachel woke up and threw up in her bed Thursday morning. This girl has a stomach of steel and NEVER usually has any stomach problems. She took a 4 hour nap later and woke up and was acting pretty happy. We were supposed to go to my brother's house to celebrate with all of the Crouches, but decided to cancel since we weren't sure what was going on with Rachel. She didn't want to really eat anything, but wasn't acting sick at all.

When she woke up Friday (Christmas Eve), she still wasn't really hungry, but was running around the house as happy as ever. We got to my Aunt Cathy and Uncle Ernies's house and she ran around and played. Still no signs of illness until about 4pm. She had a horribly runny diaper. This is when I realized that she was actually still sick.

When we left my Aunt and Uncle's house, as we were driving to Tim's parents house, I started to feel not great but just thought that I ate too much. As we were eating dinner, I started to realize that things weren't quite right. I spent Christmas Eve evening and Christmas Day with the flu.

Rachel continued to have runny diapers and on Sunday morning she threw up again. The poor thing was so bad on Sunday, she couldn't move all day. She was completely lethargic, couldn't walk, and wouldn't let me leave her side all day. We were supposed to be celebrating Christmas at my moms house on Sunday and at this point, Rachel and I were still sick, Tim, my mom, and Tyler all had it too now, so Sunday was cancelled as well.

The last couple of days have been up and down for her. I finally called the doctor and they confirmed I am doing everything possible for her. If she is still not right on Thursday, I will bring her in.

As I am writing this, the current count of family members who got this bug is: twelve and counting! I feel so bad exposing everybody to this horrible bug!

Rachel, EJ, and Julia playing under the table. EJ came down with pink eye that morning and so he was wearing the patch to avoid exposure to everybody.

This year we did a white elephant gift exchange with things you already had around the house. Tyler got a make-up bag and accessories. You can see how happy he was.

Grandma got a Chargers jersey which later got stolen!

C0rinne was so desperately trying to get somebody to "steal" the pillow that she got. Once somebody finally stole it, she walked around and said, "I don't want any of these other things." She should have kept the pillow :)

Rachel wasn't really interested in opening gifts, all she really wanted to do was move them from one person to the other. You can see that the girls learned quickly to hold on tight to their gifts.

She really like her talking cleaning supplies from Aunt Cathy and Uncle Ernie! Her favorite is the trash can and the iron.

She really liked their dogs. The only time she wasn't sure about them is when they were jumping around and trying to play. She froze in her tracks and didn't know what to do when 150 pound dogs were pouncing near her.

We went to Tim's parents for dinner on Christmas Eve. My mom and David even joined us.

Tim's parents got them a photo of Rachel that Sam had taken on Thanksgiving.

On Christmas morning, it took everything that I had in me to open gifts because I was miserable. (And yes Brianne, Rachel is wearing a tutu, just for you!)

Bryce opening gifts.

I am opening my wonderful new jogging stroller that I hope to break in as soon as I feel better.

Tim isn't quite sure how to get his gift open.

Heather, Sam, and Matt (who is sporting his new shades)

Tim bought Rachel a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse couch, chair, and ottoman that she absolutely LOVED!

After spending Christmas Day at the Hodgson house, we came home and Rachel opened a few more gifts that we left at home. She had to stand, sit, and kneel on every single one of them to test them out.

It makes it really hard to open a gift when she is sitting on it. The Mickey Mouse gifts seemed to be the real winners. She spends all day playing with the characters and the clubhouse.

Merry Christmas everybody!

Christmas Lights

So we didn't actually go looking at lights as much as go to an amazing house in Poway with a couple of friends of mine.

Rachel wasn't nearly as scared of this Santa as the real one, but wouldn't pose with him by herself. They actually had a real Santa and Mrs. Clause at this house, but I didn't dare make her sit on his lap again. They even had Christmas presents for the kids too. Rachel got a light up top that spins.

When you first walk up you see all of the blow up Christmas decorations.

Rachel with her mom and her nana.

Then you walk through part the enormous house and it is completely decorated from floor to ceiling.

Each room had a different theme to it.

Then you walk into the back yard and it has a life size village there.

This clock is probably 20-30 feet high.

As you finish the tour, there is free hot chocolate and apple cider.

There were free cookies too.

Rachel got her cookie and decided that she would rather share hers with Haley.

There is another room that you can walk into that had a few of Rachel's favorite people in it.

She is staring at Mickey and Minnie and would have stayed there all night had I let her.

She was so excited to see all of the lights and had a great time. I wish we had more time because we would have gone and saw many more lights. There is always next year :)

A Visit with Santa

We went and visited Santa at the mall last week and it didn't quite go the same as last year.

In 2009, Rachel was totally indifferent to Santa.

In 2010, Rachel was not happy to be sitting on his lap. When we saw him from a distance, she was smiling and saying hohoho. As soon as we walked up to him, she wanted nothing to do with him. By the time I stepped away so they could take the picture, she had lost it and was not happy at all. Even after we walked away, she was still upset and wanted me to just hold her. I am sure she has forgiven me by now :)

Heather's Birthday

Last night was Tim's moms birthday.

We went to the new North County Tavern and Bowl in the mall for dinner. We were planning on bowling a bit, but it was a 3 hour wait.

Rachel didn't get an afternoon nap and was very antsy at dinner. We went and played in the play area just outside the restaurant while everybody else finished eating.

After dinner, we went back for presents and cake.

Rachel helped blow out the candles. Tim got this cake as a Christmas present from a hockey mom that loves him. It was chocolate with homemade marshmallows on top.

Happy Birthday Heather!

Baking Christmas Cookies

Rachel, Becky, Grant and I went to my moms to bake Christmas cookies yesterday. I actually didn't take too many pictures of the cookie baking because I mostly took pictures of 2 adorable kiddos.

They were so cute. They found so many different things to entertain each other. They played with each other pretty much the entire time. When they were playing under the table, Rachel kept grabbing Grants hand and looking at it. I am not sure why she found it so interesting, but she wouldn't let his hand go.

Rachel fed Grant snacks too. He would open his mouth and she would put it in his mouth for him.

They played hide-and-seek in the cupboard. Grant was in one side...

...and Rachel was in the other.

I finally got a picture of both of them opening their doors at the same time.

Grant helped Rachel open her present and was so interested to see what was inside.

We went outside for a bit of fresh air. It was really cold out.

Once Hank (the bigger dog) was put away, they had a great time playing with Joe.

By the end of the night, Rachel was losing it. She was standing there just screaming and laughing at herself.

When it was time to go, they gave each other a big hug! Too adorable!!!

Rachel helped put a few of the sprinkles on the Gingerbread Cookies. Once she realized she could eat some of the sprinkles though, it was all over. She would rather do that than shake them onto the cookies.

Early Christmas Present

Rachel found her Little People Farm in the kitchen last week.

She would bring the box into the living room and try to touch the animals through the box and talk about them. She wanted it so much. I would put it back into the kitchen and every time she would walk in there, it was the first thing she would go for. I eventually let her open it and it has made her so happy, especially since she loves animals so much. Yes I am a sucker, but I love watching how happy it makes her :)