Catching Up!

I finally uploaded the few pics on my camera, and also found that I had some from Christmas already on the computer that I hadn't posted yet. So please enjoy these untimely catch-up pictures!


Nadia's pre-school Christmas show; she is on the middle row, fourth from the left.


Nadia tearing into her gift from Grandma and Grandpa at their annual Christmas Eve party


Nadia and her cousin Maddy furiously diapering, feeding and mothering their new babies


Taking turns thanking Grandpa Joe (great grandpa) for their crisp ten dollar bills






And finally, here is the one and only photo I managed to snap on Christmas morning. I can't recall, but I think the battery died and it takes forever to charge. I am so over this camera - next time I'll go back to the tried and true models which take AA batteries. I loved the convenience, but kept being told I had to get with the program and get a Lithium battery camera. So I did, and the battery runs out even faster than the AA's did and it takes an hour to charge. Not working for me... :(

This pic was taken as soon as the kids came out into the living room. We had opened our special gift in the bedroom all together (the wrapped box of pee sticks that read "pregnant"), and then we woke up Grandma and hit the living room. Nadia was thrilled to see this tea set and the easel behind her. She is quite an artist. I'll have to submit some of her work here.

One Tough Kid

A few days after Christmas, or it might have been just after New Year's, Blake fell at Open Skate at the ice arena and a teenage boy fell on top of him. It was all a complete accident, but Blake's face got slammed straight into the ice as the 200 pound boy fell right on top of his head.


Derek peering over the MRI tech's shoulder at the ER

We thought his entire face was broken, by the looks of him just minutes after the fall - the swelling was increasing so quickly. But the MRI showed nothing locally, and even the report that came back from being read somewhere "big" said all was well - no broken bones, just really bruised soft tissue in the nose, and swollen lip.



Oh yah, I forgot to tell you about the two broken teeth, since I don't have pics of those. His two top front teeth were broken in half. The kid didn't even cry or ask for any pain reliever one time in the entire ordeal. I thought for sure I'd be up with him in the night as the pain kicked in, but he slept like a baby.

I promise to take a pic of his teeth this week before his reconstructive procedure. He has already had the hardest part - the root canals. Apparently it was not a good idea to pull the adult teeth at such a young age, so we were told he needed root canals in the two teeth, then for them to be capped, and THEN when he is a teenager he will need to have them pulled and get crowns.


I received cross country skis/boots/poles/gloves for Christmas from Derek. I love it! It's all that makes me feel okay, and something that I can do throughout the entire season, even pregnant. The fresh air is the only thing that makes me not feel pukey. It's just such a bummer to live up north right now because I firmly believe that if I could just open the windows I would feel SOOO much better on a daily basis. It's ridiculous how I just smell everything, even in a clean and non-stinky place. My deoderant was making me sick - and it's UNSCENTED!

We had a huge thaw over a week ago that lasted about ten days. Of course we still had at least a foot of snow left after the thaw, but it made for crappy trails and I haven't been able to ski because of the weather. We started getting snow again this week, and now that our Open House is over (no pics because it took all I could muster just to be there and look alive), I can get back at it.

Speaking of that, we now plan to hire someone to work the office with Derek much sooner than initially planned. I am just so sick, and we would have hired someone by he time the baby is born, we might as well do it a little sooner. So, who wants to move to the U.P. to run our office??? Good wage, free chiropractic care, clothing allowance, time off...


Derek spending some free time between patients to help Nadia work a puzzle, her new obsession.


She's only been on the puzzle kick for a handful of days now, and is already very good - a natural actually. I started her on age-appropriate (according to the box) puzzles, and have no experience with this since Blake would have run screaming like a girl from the prospect of working a puzzle at her age, or even now for that matter. She was putting together 24 piece puzzles easily, so I got her a 40-something piece or 50 piece puzzle and she did it lickety-split. This one is a 63 piecer that says 5+ on the box. She did it with no assistance in about 40 minutes the first time, and then disassembled it and did it again in about 15-20 minutes. Then she spilled juice on it and we had to throw it away. :(

So, for her 4th B-day on February 21st, puzzles would be a HIT! Of course, they get more attention if they have princesses, horses, or pretty much anything ultra-girly on them.

Well, I hope that brings us up to speed, and I will try my best to do a better job of posting!