Christmas Eve

For as long as I can remember, we've celebrated Christmas with my mom's side of the family on Christmas Eve.  This year was no exception. Jeff, Reid & I hadn't met baby Andrew yet, and my family hadn't seen Reid since August, so it was a wonderful evening filled with laughter, fun, yummy eats, sweet babies and lots of love & kisses!  There were two missing links though - Josh had to work & Gary had to spend Christmas in the hospital.  We missed them dearly!  Fortunately, we were able to take Christmas to Gary on Christmas Day.  

Introducing {a little late} born November 6, 2011

Andrew Joshua Trevino

Mommy & son

Hugs with Nana 

Reid loved the cushy polar bear that Nana gave him

 Great Uncle Joe & baby Andrew...so GQ in their matching whites

 Aunt Jenn & Reid in a photo with a reoccurring theme {see boy's mouth}

 Checking each other out

 Sisters & our newest addition to the family

Mimi & Reid

 Uncle Jeff & Andrew

 Someone wanted to give his newest cousin a big hug

 And then there were three

 Look at that sweet smile in the background

 Gabriel was so sweet with Reid. Although he's the tickle monster here, he couldn't stop giving R hugs & kisses.

 First attempt to get a photo of Mimi with her three grandsons.  At least Andrew was cooperating.

 "Help me open this toy, Mimi!"

 "Cheese!"

 Our lefties showing off their artistic skills

I just had to include the finished product.  Not sure if you can read it, but can anyone spot the subtle hint from Jeff - a picture of what he'd like for his birthday {or I'm sure he'd take it for Valentine's Day too}.

 Nana and her dear friend, Nina

 Attempt #2 {aka attempt #121} 

A work in progress...but beautiful nonetheless!

The Sick Door

You may recall that I recently alluded to a less-than-perfect outcome from our holiday party at Reid's school.  We combined classrooms 1 & 3 for our holiday celebration, and with one exception it was a huge success.  The one exception:  hand, foot and mouth disease.  Hand, foot and mouth disease is a common viral infection usually affecting infants and children under 5 years old.

Our party was on Friday afternoon, and by Sunday afternoon Jeff and I noticed a red rash on Reid's extremities - mostly his arms and legs at first.  Then by Sunday night it spread to his hands, feet and chin.  Fortunately, he was showing no signs of distress, so we decided to wait until Monday morning to contact our pediatrician. Thankfully, the ped's office opens at 7:30am, so by 7:31am we were confirmed for an 8:30am appointment. Unlike our well baby visits, we entered the ped's office through the SICK door. Our pediatrician's group has separate waiting rooms for well and sick visits, and this was our first voyage through the sick door.

Dr. K did a thorough examination of Reid and due to the fact that the rash was showing up in some areas that are atypical of HFMD, she wasn't quite sure what to call it. She decided to seek out a 2nd opinion, so she asked Reid's actual pediatrician, Dr. S, to stop by our exam room to take a look.  Dr. S agreed that it was in fact, a viral infection, but he didn't want to label it HFMD either.  Evidently, there are various strains of the disease all in the Coxsackievirus group.  Fortunately the rash was R's only symptom.  He didn't have the other typical symptoms such as fever and blister-like sores in the mouth and throat (but some of his classmates did). Apparently, the throat and mouth sores can cause babies the most distress, so mom was extremely grateful that we didn't have to contend with that.  As Dr. S indicated, the rash got worse before it got better, but by Thursday it was starting to subside. Now (Dec. 27th) it's almost completely healed.

And thus marks our first official illness {thank you, day care}.
      

Christmas with Ginger & the Meierhofers

Last Sunday we had our annual pajama-clad Christmas celebration with Ginger & the Meierhofers. It's always a fun time, and with the addition of two new little ones, it was one wild party!  We heart our wonderful friends and their precious kiddos!

Mommy & son

~the feast for sharing~

Look at that smile!

Adam, Ava & Zoey

little monkey

~happy~

This was one of the photo opp attempts...check out Reid pulling sweet Liz's blonde locks.

Slade can make anything into a chair.

Notice all five kiddos with something to play with in this picture...perfect harmony{at least for a second}!

Christmas with the Andersens

On Saturday we celebrated Christmas a little early in Arlington with the Andersens. With family, a beautifully decorated Christmas tree, a delish Christmas dinner, a winning football game and lots of fun presents for everyone, we started the season off with a bang!

Our greatest gift

Already skilled at the art of unwrapping

Taking a break from all the action to read with grandpa...although Reid had something else in mind {see mouth & surrounding clothing for clue}

Relaxing with grandma while his stomach settles

Waiting patiently as his Aunt Amy opens the cool toy she gave him - Cookie Shape Surprise

Skype anyone?

Bentley nose there's something in there for him too ;)

Success!

The first of MANY

"Assembly Required"

Travis is a good supervisor

Somebody left goodies in Reid's stocking

Anyone know who might be a tad bit jealous in this picture?

Trying out his first bike from grandma & grandpa

Notice the handy drink holder above the boy's head?  Daddy & son will get many hours of great use out of this toy, I'm sure.

His first Radio Flyer from Great Grandma Jo Anne & Great Grandpa Poppy

The morning after

My little monkey

Off to Central Market to prepare for our next Christmas celebration...To Be Continued