Merry Christmas! I found our spare camera battery, so I was finally able to upload so I can share with you. Here are some pics from the last week or type http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=vv8ykdd.7oycscip&x=0&y=-k66jqb&localeid=en_US&cm_mmc=site_email-_-site_share-_-core-_-view_photos_button into your address bar.

*This was originally written several days ago – since then, we’ve had another foot of snow*

Here’s Steven & Peyton on Steven’s (Eaden’s) dirtbike. Peyton had a blast riding around while Daddy, Mommy, Ji Young, & Lauren hung out with Uncle Gordon a few Sundays ago.

Here’s a family pic we took the same night – this one will probably show up in your mailbox…after Christmas.

We got a bit of snow in the last week -probably about 6″ total – though it’s snowing again right now. Here’s a pic of Lauren sitting on a jacket in the snow. She wasn’t really sure what to think of it.

Peyton knew what he thought of the snow – “nice!”

Here’s a good pic of the snow- you can see how heavily it was falling.
I’ve got more pics from this morning, but the camera isn’t cooperating, so you’ll have to check back later.

We got a few inches of snow on Wednesday morning, so in a lull at naptime the kids and I headed to City Park to sled.  Here’s the video:

I always hated the idea of calling a little girl a princess.  I always thought she’d become spoiled and bossy.

I was right, but it happened much sooner than I realized it would.

Most babies shake their heads “no” before they can shake their heads “yes.”

Not Lauren.

Whenever I tell Lauren “no,” she responds with a very emphatic nod “yes.”

Don’t get too close to your computer screen – you might catch what we’ve got.

Lauren’s nose drips constantly, Peyton coughs constantly, and I complain constantly.  James probably has the worst, since Lauren doesn’t mind the dripping, Peyton doesn’t mind the coughing, and I don’t mind the complainging.  James seems to feel the weakest, and not only is his nose dripping, but his throat is also so sore that he doesn’t feel like eating, and he still has to work through all of this.  Yes, he has sick days, but they don’t hire a sub for him; rather one of his coworkers will have to do James’ work on top of his own work, and the poor guy already has enough to take care of without that happening.

We saw the doctor yesterday because Peyton’s cough has been getting worse, so now Peyton’s got a small regimen of medications to take throughout the day.  We’ve added an oral steroid to help his lungs fight the asthma, and an antibiotic to get rid of the “chronic upper respiratory infection” to our previous treatment of the inhaler.

The doctor also checked Lauren’s ears, which were clear. 

And my mouth still hurts from a root canal on Monday, so I’m off to take some tylenol.

After a lovely time in So Cal, we’re back into our regular routine.  Peyton’s finally getting used to playing by himself again, Lauren quickly adjusted to sleeping in her own bed, and Ji Young is back in school and just about caught up on the work she missed.  

Winter is here – the weather is cold, and everyone is getting sick.  Lauren’s nose started running last night, and though it’s clear and thin (I know you wanted to know that), it’s still disgusting and bothersome.  Nursing is no fun when Lauren sounds like Darth Vader’s kin (insert sound effect here), and the frightening noise also makes it harder for her (and me) to sleep.  

Peyton is also somewhat ill – he’s had a cough since his September cold ended; it disappeared for a week (the week he had a 103* fever), but as soon as the fever subsided the cough returned.  At first it only came during the night and when he first woke up, and then it was nearly gone.   But then we went to post-fire California and it came back worse than it had been – now he was coughing not only during the night, but throughout the day as well.    The cough is triggered by his usually-mild asthma, but because it’s getting worse (like during bath tonight when Daddy thought for sure that Peyton was drowning), I see a doctor visit in the near future.

Daddy and I have our own issues – Daddy’s symptoms are similar to Lauren’s, including a runny nose and sore throat (though Lauren hasn’t mentioned that problem yet), and I had a root canal today.  I think I’d rather take the cold.  Something is definitely wrong when a girl who’s done labor sans meds is nearly brought to tears from having her jaw wrenched impossibly open for an absurd length of time (1 hour and 30 minutes to be exact).

So I’m going to go administer some medicines and tuck the kids in bed – milk for Lauren, an inhaler for Peyton, water for Daddy, and tylenol for my aching head.