December 5

Advent Calendar: Breakfast with SANTA (with hand warmers for treats)

Remember this: I gave the kids hand warmers so they would have them at the parade tomorrow. They don't know we're going yet, but they'll be happy to have them once we get there! Erin and Eric took all the kids (W, O & G) to have breakfast with Santa. The kids had so much fun. Erin said Olivia was really shy at first, but Santa whispered some secrets in her ear and she perked right up! She was TOTALLY shocked that Santa remembered her name without her telling him and we all wondered really how in the world he knew her name. But, later in the day Whit burst all our bubbles and announced that HE told Santa her name when she was being shy...little stinker! He let us all wonder for HALF A DAY how Santa knew her name! Anyway, they all had a fantastic time!

At Erin and Eric's (getting ready to go to breakfast):


A little shy around the big guy. He's whispering to her (who knows what) and she's listening, at least!


He must've said something she liked.


Working on some ornaments that now hang on our tree.

December 4

Advent Calendar: Watch The Grinch (play Grinch Bingo and have special snacks)

Remember this: My "Grinch night" was almost ruined when I came home last night to find Nana and Papa watching "The Grinch" with the kids while I was at the dentist. I don't think the kids must've paid too much attention to it though, because they were ready to watch it again tonight. It might be because I bought a new game for them to play afterwards. We had so much fun playing Grinch Bingo together. Playing with Whit makes any game fun because he gets so into it! He loves board games. We also had Grinch milk (a new concoction I came up with because I couldn't think of anything else). The kids loooooooved it. I mixed green food coloring in their milk and then added sugar and vanilla flavoring. What's not to love, eh?

December 3

Advent Calendar: Game Night (with bedroom shoes for treats)

Remember this: Whit loooooooves game night! He was so excited he could hardly stand it. I guess that was a good thing because he didn't love the slippers I got him in the Target Dollar Aisle. Olivia, on the other hand, loved the slippers and could care less about game night. I guess you can't please everybody all the time! Papa Joe and Nana Georgia ended up staying with the kids for a little while since I had a dentist appointment. They split up and played with the kids individually since Olivia wanted nothing to do with game night. W & O were soooooo sad when I came home because they didn't want Nana and Papa to leave! They both ended up slipping their shoes on and piling up in my lap for a quick Christmas show before bed. I love these little moments where everyone gets along!

December 2

Advent Calendar: Read a Christmas book (with bath fizzies for a treat)

Remember this: Tonight the kids got bath fizzies in their advent bags. They were sooooo excited! They couldn't WAIT to open the bag and it almost killed them to wait until the evening to open them. I decided yesterday that we need to wait to make sure everyone is on their best behavior all day to earn the treats. They loved the fizzies but were disappointed when they unwrapped them and realized they were plain white (the wrapping was cute snowmen and polka dots and it looked like the fizzies would be those colors as well). They had a great time in the bath watching them fizzle into nothing. When they got out, they each picked out a book and snuggled up in Whit's bed to read Christmas stories. I wish the picture of them in the bed was scratch-n-sniff because they both smelled soooo good from the fizzies. When we read Olivia Helps with Christmas they both laughed until they almost cried. They love that book (and so do I)! I'm back on track thinking the Advent Calendar was, in fact, a good idea!

December 1

Advent Calendar: "Write Santa a letter."

Remember This: (these are notes I jot down everyday to help me remember the events and the "little things" I might normally forget).
"Whit you almost had a nervous breakdown writing your letter to Santa tonight. Olivia knew just what she wanted to ask for and started writing quickly, but you only got to the first item (Transformers). Once you saw O's "hair salon" you freaked out and tried to come up with something BIGGER than hers. You couldn't even think about items you might truly want, you just wanted something, ANYTHING, bigger than her hair salon. Eventually, you went into total meltdown mode and ended up being sentenced to bed for almost 30 minutes while you cried it out. When you realized you weren't even going to get to write the letter to Santa, you really lost it!! After about an hour, you calmed down and decided to pick some things you would really like to have. Your list included a rocket that would shoot 100 feet and a bowling set (both of which I've never heard you mention before). At this point, I am ready to give up on our family Advent Calendar.... Is it really worth it?

Hello, December!

Nice to see you again!

Yes, I know it's December 14th and the month is half over, but I've got lots to catch up on! I figure now is just as good a time as any, right?

Here's a little background:

This year, I truly want to make December count.

You know, spend some quality time with my family doing things together to make REAL memories {especially for the kids}.

Not baking and cleaning and shopping and scurrying around like a mad woman. Trust me, I do all of that, too. But, I want some MEANINGFUL memories together as a family, especially now that my kids are at the PERFECT age to remember our special times!

During November, I decided to make an Advent Calendar for us. Some activities on the calendar are big, some are small, but all are things we do TOGETHER every single day. Here is what my calendar looks like:



I created my little version of an Advent Calendar and decided to give it away on the Girl Talk Blog. You can click over there to get a full tutorial on how to make your own and the downloads are still available, so check it out if you think you might like to do something similar! I've even had people tell me they downloaded it and are doing a 12 Days of Christmas Countdown or even the Week of Christmas Countdown. Trust me, your kids are not going care how long you do it...they will LOVE it!

In addition to the Advent Calendar, I've been snapping a few pictures each day to go into my December Daily album. The album is a scrapbook of our December moments day by day. There's a page for each day of the month and I try to get a picture of the special {or not-so-special} things going on in our lives. December just seems to fly by! I want my kids to remember all the little things we do together that make December special. Hence, the album!

So, for the next few posts, I am going to show you our pictures from each day. Some will be part of our Advent Calendar activities and some will be random, spontaneous moments, but all of them will be what makes December special for us!

It's not about the presents or the shopping or the hustle and bustle. But about spending time together as a family and making sweet memories to cherish forever.

Okay, enough with the mushy stuff.

Here comes December; Theo style.

Love and hugs,
Leigh ♥

This is going to take a while...

so just get ready.

Here's the thing, we really haven't had anything that exciting going on lately.

Not that I'm complaining. Please, Lord, know that I'm not complaining!!

But, really, I'm just not sure if anyone really wants to hear about the mundane daily activities of the Theo clan.

I mean, a gashed head, sure. People want to know about that.

Cute freebies. Maybe.

But, regular old life?? I doubt it.

But, since I've really, really missed writing on the old blog, I thought I'd give her a little update.

Just in case you don't know, I really LOVE the writing part. It's kind of cathartic for me. I've always loved writing, so this blog is a great way to get my writing-fix! Plus, I'm sort of treating it like a scrapbook...I'll record my memories here in the hopes that one day each one will make their way into a real scrapbook about our lives.

So here goes.... I'll start with back to school. I think I'm ready to talk about that now.

Waaaaaay back in August, Whit, Olivia and I all went back to school. For most of us, it was no big deal.

For Whit...well, yeah...it was a big ole' rotten, stinkin', no good, very bad deal. He didn't want to go back to school. Not even one little bit. He was having a veryfinetimstayinghomealldayeveryday, thankyouverymuch. He really wasn't sure school was even necessary at his age and asked repeatedly why kids have to go to school.

A couple of times he made the argument that he could learn anything and everything he needed to know just by "browsing the internet." I mean, seriously, how can I argue with that? He is, in fact, correct. But alas, as I said at least 1000 times the week before school started, "all kids go to school and unfortunately, Whit, you are a kid, so that means you, too." I really couldn't think of a better argument that would make him understand and "because I said so," just never seems like a viable option with Whit.

The day school started, we got off to a rough start. I mean, just look at the excitement on his face:



Things got a little better after I begged for just a little smile. Okay, maybe it was a fake, but I don't care.




Once we were on our way, I was pleasantly surprised by the chipper attitude I could see peeking out behind the nervous smile!




But, once inside the school, I could tell the anxiety was starting to take over and his little lip started to quiver. I swear I thought I was going to have a nervous breakdown standing right smack dab in the middle of the brand new Spartanburg Charter School.

I don't know. There's something about sending your child into a situation that you KNOW is going to provoke the worst possible feelings for them that just makes you feel like a bad mom. I KNOW I'm not a bad mom. In fact, I think I've probably earned a few stars in my crown for the things I've endured as a mom already, but geez...this was awful.

The worst part was he was being SO BRAVE!! He was trying SO HARD to push his nervous feelings away and be strong. He wants to like school, he really does. He just can't.

His doctor explained it well this summer. Imagine something that terrifies you. For me, it's public speaking. In college, when I had to give presentations, I would literally feel like I was going to throw up. And, when I say throw up, I mean PROJECTILE VOMIT MASSIVE AMOUNTS. My heart would race, my blood pressure would soar, I just generally felt horrible. For days in advance, I couldn't concentrate, I couldn't breathe, I couldn't get the fear of the presentation out of the forefront of my mind. No matter what I was doing, that fear was always present.

Well, guess what? That's the way Whit feels almost EVERY SINGLE DAY. Unless he is at home, he feels this exact same way. The uncertainty of a new routine or new situation (even if it is a safe one) scares the life out of him.

Imagine that. Imagine feeling this way ALL THE TIME.

It's awful. He can't concentrate, can't sit still, can't focus. Last year, we thought it was possibly an attention problem. But no. His doctor thinks it's the anxiety?!? How could I not have known that before?!

My heart was just breaking for him on the first day of school.

But, he put on a brave face and walked right in.

I lost it. I literally had to go outside the school building and cry. It was like years of not-knowing and uncertainty all came out in that one moment. Not that we know for sure what, exactly, is going on, but at least we have a better idea. We are scheduled to see another specialist soon, so hopefully we'll know more then. Anxiety just seems much more reasonable to me than ADHD (in my humble opinion). I mean, the kid can sit for HOURS and play something that interests him (like his DS, for example). And, he's not hyperactive (usually). I can do science experiments with him for 8 hours straight and he never once loses concentration. But, put him in a new situation and whew, what a different kid!!

So, Whit's first day at school went okay. He asked his teacher probably 60 times, "how much longer" and "what comes next?" On the second day of school, she not-so-nicely suggested we buy him a watch. Good idea! We bought the watch and now, after a few weeks, the questions of "how much longer" have ceased. He can also successfully count down how many hours he has left until Mommy comes in any given day. The first few weeks were hard. We had some random "adjustment moments" and a few days of sporadic crying spells in class, but overall, he's done great!

Early on, I was shocked and amazed to hear Whit talk, with excitement, about his days at school. He really seems to thrive in the type of environment the Charter School offers. He tested high on his MAP test, so twice a week, he gets to go into an "advancement period" with others his age who scored highly on the test. He really seems to enjoy everything the school is offering (even the yoga class and especially Spanish). We have been very pleased with our decision to try the Charter School! We wanted something different, which is why we switched, and we have been so excited to see how well he's done!

Needless to say, I'm proud of this little guy!



Then, there's Olivia. The school-loving, friend-seeking girl that loooooooves to try new things. Loves school. Loves learning. Loves going ANYWHERE that involves leaving our house.

How is it possible that they came from the same womb? I just don't get it.

She started school a few weeks after Whit and has been having the time of her life.







I just pray she continues to love school as much as she does now!

So that's it! That is our back to school story.

I fully intended to get more written, but now I'm tired. I think I wore myself out emotionally once again.

I'll write more soon. I know I promise this a lot. Okay, an awful lot. But, seriously, I will try to write more soon!

Love and hugs, everybody!

Have a great week!

The layout...

Here's the layout I did about Whit's accident. The image is clickable (if you click it, it will enlarge so you can read it).



Credits are here.

I hope I never have to scrap images like these again. *Shivers*

Lunchbox notes!

Today was my turn {again} to post on the Girl Talk Blog.

I made these little treats to get your lunchboxes ready for next year.





The freebie at the bottom of the post is available to EVERYONE!

Even if you don't have a photo editing program, you should still be able to print the notes!!

Go give it a look and let me know what you think!

Well, that was fun!

*** WARNING - THIS POST IS NOT FOR THE FAINT. IF YOU DON'T LIKE SEEING CHILDREN WITH THEIR HEADS SPLIT OPEN, MOVE ON TO THE NEXT BLOG!!***

Yesterday was supposed to be just another typical day in the lives of the Theos.

Except it wasn't.

Everything started off great (foreshadowing event #1). When a day actually starts off GREAT, I typically know something is going to go wrong. We don't have *GREAT* days. We have good days and we have bad days. We have GREAT moments and GREAT events, but GREAT DAYS?? Notsomuch.

Whit woke up in a super good mood and Olivia was her usual chipper self. We had breakfast and the whole house looked just fan-freaking-tastic, {especially seeing how just 24 hours previously, it looked like a clothes tornado had blown through our living room}. Things were just peachy.

Summer came over to make invitations for her sweet girl's 2nd birthday party {which, BTW, turned out SUPER CUTE}. Brynn, Olivia and Addie all played so well together! Even Whit sat quietly playing his games and no one really made a fuss about anything! {SCORE!}

We had more friends coming over in the afternoon to shop Olivia's closet before it hits the consignment market, but since we finished fairly early with the invitations, I decided the kids and I would head over to our favorite consignment store to check out their new fall clothes.

Much to my surprise, EVERYONE in the house was down with that plan and got ready to go in a jiffy!! (Foreshadowing event #2).

We had a pleasant ride over to the shop and when we got there, the shop was fairly empty, which is a very good thing because it is a small store and when there's more than 5 people in there, it's...well...a bit overwhelming and closterphobic-ish.

When the kids hopped out of the car, I asked Whit if he was going to take his DS in and ASTONISHINGLY he said, "No thanks, I don't want to lose it." (foreshadowing event #3). If he had been playing his DS in the corner, like usual, none of the following story would've probably happened.

We weren't in the store 10 minutes before all Hell broke loose.

Forgive me for using the "H-E-DOUBLE-HOCKEY-STICKS" word, but People, that's exactly what it was.

The store has toys in the back corner (near the bathroom) and among the toys is a big wooden train table. Whit was heading toward the back of the store to see Olivia and tripped and fell {FACE FIRST} into the CORNER of the table. I was literally TWO FEET behind him and believe me when I tell you, his head ricocheted like a basketball off that table.

He immediately grabbed his head, let out a howl, stood up and turned around to face me. As soon as I saw his face, I knew there was trouble. That poor baby was in SHOCK.

I crouched down to get him and {over his screams} asked him to let me have a look.

HOLEY MACKEREL.

His head was COVERED in blood and just GASHED open.

Now, mind you, this event was HORRIFIC! I mean just AWFUL.

But, it couldn't just stop there.

Oh, NO.

Remember, Olivia? The one who passes out at the sight of blood?

Yeah, you see where this is going.

Olivia begins to FREAK OUT. I mean, she FREAKED OUT, People. Between she and Whit, the screams were enough to deafen anyone around. Luckily, there weren't many people in the store.

I immediately grabbed Whit's head and pushed as hard I could to try to make the bleeding stop before I could really get a good look at it. I knew it was bad; I mean really, really bad, but at that point, I had no idea how bad it was really going to be. There was blood, literally, spurting out of his forehead. Olivia is still freaking out and I don't know what to tackle first.

I made Olivia sit outside the bathroom and I told her to keep talking to me while I took Whit in and began to assess the situation. Soon enough, there were workers in the bathroom with me and as only God would have it, one of them was a FIRST RESPONDER! I immediately told one of the girls about Olivia and had her go out to take care of her.

Sure enough, 5 minutes into the whole ordeal, Olivia had passed out TWICE and puked all over the whole store and the owner.

Seriously, what would you do in a situation like this?

Both of your children need you.

One has what looks like a massive laceration to his forehead and one is passing out repeatedly and vomitting violently all over the place.

You are only ONE PERSON.

What do you do??

I did the only thing I knew to do.

I CALLED MY MOMMA!

Per Mom's instructions, I piled everyone up in the car {including the store owner} and drove us to the nearest urgent care. But, they said we needed to go to the ER because Whit would need stitches.

Remember my anxious child? Whooooooo, the anxiety went through the roof at that point.

Side note: Do medical professionals not know to keep the wording to a minimum when your child is sitting in your arms with his head gashed open? I mean, the lady was nice enough, but she kept saying things like "Whoa, he really nailed it, didn't he." Of course, Whit misinterprets this and thinks they are going to put nails in his forehead. Talk about freaking out! The kid went crazy.

Back to the story.

It turns out that we didn't need stitches after all. Just some super glue which we were very excited about.

The whole ordeal ended up looking like this:



And, all afternoon yesterday, Whit and I felt like this:



A little loopy, to say the least.

Today, we are recovering and enjoying some time at home. The fussing and squealing is back in full effect and it's almost like nothing ever happened.

Except that my kid's head is still split open and looks just downright nasty.

Other than that, things are looking up.

Who knew??

My little guy is SIX.

Wow!

WHO KNEW?!?!

Who knew I would get through one baby shower at work and then you would make your entrance EIGHT WEEKS EARLY, thereby thwarting any and all other showers that were planned?



Who knew you would come into this world EIGHT WEEKS EARLY and still weigh a whopping 5lbs 9ozs. {You looked like the line backer of the NICU team}. Those numbers are unheard of...



Who knew you would make your entrance nice and early thereby avoiding potential harm from a TRUE KNOT in your cord? (And yes, your head was wonky, but CHECK OUT THE KNOT).



Who knew you would survive your first few weeks at home with two weirded out nurses and one weirded out mom who acted like you would die if we didn't write down every poo, every breastfeeding, every burp, every bath, every cry and every nap.




Who knew you would survive your first year and be COMPLETELY and TOTALLY healthy with absolutely no problems by your first birthday?






Who knew by the time you were 16 months old, you would have a little sister who would totally annoy the heck out of you and drive you crazy as often as she could, all the while looking innocent and totally precious?




Who knew she would become your best buddy {sometimes}and partner in crime?












Who knew you would love so many different things?

Like swimming...




And gaming...




And legos!!




Who knew we could love you so much?











God knew!

That's why he gave us you!



We love you, Whittaker Cole! You make us so proud!

Happy Birthday, buddy!