Christmas and Pukepocalypse

Christmas was really fun this year. Ruby was beyond excited for it counted down the days! It is so fun being a parent to little ones at this time of year, I don't know if they have more fun or if we do.

While Christmas was great, right afterward we all got a nasty stomach bug. :( I have no idea what caused it, but it was such a bad one! Ruby ended up throwing up 16 times Tuesday night and Wednesday, and then she threw up again last night (Saturday). So weird! The rest of us got it as well, thankfully I only threw up once. But more on all that later.

 They love pulling Reid's mattress out and sliding down it or jumping on it. He was just lounging, which was cute.

 He vacuumed for about half an hour!

 We made dark chocolate almond bark... it was a big hit (he got to lick the spatula with chocolate on it).

 He has been wanting to pray a lot more lately. Sometimes he still refuses, but when he does want to, it's really cute. And he does it by himself more often now too.

 Finished stockings! Well, I'm going to re-do a few of them because they're giant. But this is good enough for this year. :)

Reading together. 

 And he dressed up in this kimono for a long time. Haha. We made Buche de Noel for Christmas dessert, and it was delicious! The kids love to help me cook and bake. Reid always says, "Mommy, you're a good cooker."

 Ruby tried making this outfit of a paper bag. She taped straps on and everything, then it ripped and she got upset. 

 Christmas Eve! We went to church at 4:30. Reid went to the nursery, but Ruby came to church with us.

 She was so cute with her candle. I was a little nervous about her hair, but she did good. And she colored a lot of pictures for Grandma and Grandpa, and Aunt Becca and Uncle Danny.

 And she's cute as a button.

 Opening his Christmas Eve jammies.

 They were excited!

 And then they swung them all around the house like propellers.

 They got a bath, and then we wrote a letter to Santa with milk and cookies.

Sooo cute. They had such a hard time falling asleep because they were so excited. After they went to bed, we finished the Buche, then got everything all set up for Christmas.

 Morning time! Reid woke up at about 5:45, so we all got up and got started. Santa wrote them a nice note. They know it was from Daddy though. :)

 She was sooo excited about all of the presents under the tree. They sang some songs while I made hot chocolate (milk, cocoa powder, and a little natural sugar - it's delicious!)

 Cuties!!!!

 Daddy read the Christmas story about Jesus from the Jesus Story Book Bible. Ruby was so cute, about half way through she said, "Mom, you know what this reminds me of?" and then pointed out all of our nativity scenes. 

 Then we got stockings out, and opened all of our gifts. We went really light on them for the kids this year because...

 ...they got a bike and tractor! We had them under blankets by the front door with bows on them, and we had them open them last. They were so excited.

 And rode them right away.

 He didn't want to get off.

Then we had breakfast and headed to church! Andy got this new Stylophone and I got a ukulele, so we had lots of fun playing music together.

Well, we left a little early so the kids could ride their new bikes at the school. After about 30 minutes it was time to go to church, and Reid was not happy. He threw a giant fit and Andy had to stay with him in the car for about 45 minutes while Ruby and I went to church. :( It's really hard when he does that.

 He finally calmed down and we all enjoyed the end of church together.

 Then we headed straight to the Pullen's house where Reid got a nap (and I slept for a few minutes too).

The kids had fun with cousins, we did a puzzle, and we ate! 

 Then it was gift time. Ruby was a little bossy and wanted to help everyone open their gifts, so we had to intervene. 

 Then we had dessert. I love when Reid lounges around like this.

 Family pic! We headed home right after this, put the kids to bed, then got all packed up to leave early the next morning.

We drove down to Grenada to have fun with my fam for a few days. We had a good time singing all the way down! Our kids are so good in the car. Ruby colored most of the way, and Reid played with his new blue truck and cars. 

 We went straight to the DeRoss's house for lunch with the extended family.

 It was fun to see our cousins!

 Then Ruby sang some of her preschool songs for everyone... it ended up being really hilarious the way she directed and dictated everyone. I uploaded it to Youtube, and you can watch it here: https://youtu.be/MskcvP8SI0c 

 Pregnant cousins! We're about 8 days apart with our due dates.

 Some of the group.

 And all of the little kids... it is so hard getting a picture with a crying baby and two 2-year-old boys!

 Ruby and Reid loved their doll house. We had lots of fun playing with it as kids too. Maybe some day we'll have room for one of our own.

 Gorgeous Mt. Shasta on our way to Mom and Dad's house!

 When we got there, we did gifts with our fam. 

 Then Lia read stories to our kids (Reid had just knocked Ruby's head with his in this picture... he has a really hard head).

 Morning workout on Tuesday!

 We walked/rode bike/tractor over to the fire station.

 Ruby's doing really good on her bike.

 The kids loved looking at the fire trucks! Except Reid threw another big fit when it was time to leave...

 So fun!

 Dinner... right before Pukepocalypse started.

 I love when he does this.

 Ruby didn't eat her dinner, and then she just laid down on the bench and threw up everywhere. I was thankful mom and dad have wood floors now so it didn't get on carpet! Then she laid on the couch for a while and puked again... and then proceeded to throw up over and over until about 1:30am.

 In the morning she seemed to be a little better, so we headed home as we planned.

Reid happily played with his new truck and green tractor all the way home. 

 Ruby still didn't feel good and threw up a few more times on the way.

 We got home and rested, heading to bed early.

In the night on Wednesday night, Andy started puking with diarrhea. He got it really bad. Then in the morning Reid started up. I wasn't feeling good either at that point.

 Ruby came out and lounged around. She had thrown up again on Wednesday night, but that was it for her... or so we thought.

 The kids laid on the couch, Andy slept in the bedroom, and I laid down on the living room floor while we watched movies for the majority of Thursday.

 He was not so fun when he threw up, he did not want to puke in a trash can or on a towel, so it really got everywhere every time.

 But every time after he threw up, he was really chipper and would want food/water and to play. One time he even started singing. Hahaha

 At about 3:30 I finally got it too. Thankfully a mild version of what everyone else had. My generous parents jumped in their car and headed up to help us out. Del also came over to help out Thursday evening before they got there.

 The kids on the couch...

 ...Andy on the floor...

...and me not feeling good on the other end of the couch. Reid threw up a total of 8 times, And was about 7 or 8, me one, and Ruby 17 as of today. More continued next week...