Only Ben can have this much fun refilling his baby brothers' breathing treatments.

Dori resting up at the hospital.

Picture time with the boys on my birthday.

Merry Christmas!! Feliz Navidad!! Happy Honda!!

According to Ben and Alex, Happy Honda is a fun holiday. After much probing I finally figured out they meant Kwanza. Oh.

It doesn't matter what the holiday is, we have alot to be thankful for this Christmas season. Ben and Alex had a great 1st semester at school. Alex capped it off with performing in School House Rock. He did great with all the singing, dancing and what not; but when he'd get tired he'd take a knee in the back row. At the cost of looking like Jon Bennet Ramsey's stagemom, I quit motioning him to stand-up and we just enjoyed the performance as Benny cheered him on.

Ben had fun showing me off at his first Kindergarten fieldtrip :). I was chosen in the drawing as a chaperone and of course Ben was in my group. First time most of these kids have ever ridden a school bus so all the kids were so excited! Turns out I suck as a chaperone. Before we even left for the field trip, I had already lost my own child. Ben had boarded Alex's bus without my knowledge. I have a pretty good feeling my name might not be drawn again for chaperoning duties!!

Dorian gave us a little scare 2 weeks ago. His cough and cold wouldn't go away so when we took him to our pediatrician, she told us to immediately take him to the hospital. "Don't stop off at home to pick things up, go straight there." So inside I know both Chris and I were freaking out but we have a good ability to not let the other one know. Dori was having a really hard time breathing, his heart murmur sounded worse, he had stopped eating and we were afraid he was getting dehydrated. After 5 days of waiting for his oxygen levels to stabilize without him needing to use oxygen in his nose, and after he finally started eating on his own again we were finally given the green light to go home. It was a viral infection that took it's own time to work itself out. Chris and I alternated shifts and one of us was always with Dori at the hospital because he hates to be alone. Ben and Alex really missed him. Dori really missed Wynn too because the whole time he was in the hospital, he never smiled and didn't want to play at all until the final hours of the last day.

This month has been a tough one for our extended ML II family. First we lost Carter "Boo" Brotherton. That first week the babies were diagnosed with ML II, Chris poured into the internet to find any/all info he could. He came across Carter's blog written by his dad. They were the first and only family on the planet we had the chance to reach out to and ask questions. With much empathy and kinship, they would always provide us advice, helpful info, and general encouragement. By just watching Boo's pictures, reading about his adorable adventures and watching his fun home videos, we fell in love with the cute little guy. We are so sorry for his dear parents for losing their sweet angel. Carter just turned 3. It hit us really hard. Then just two weeks later, another ML II mom (single mom) with 2 ML II kids lost her daughter, Olivia "Cookie" Armand. If you ever watched any of Cookie's videos, you could automatically see that she was full of spunk and spirit. She was a hoot! Always smiling, laughing, scooting around on her special bike, and always playing with her baby brother Mikey. Olivia was a few days shy of her 5th birthday. Her mother Trish has always made me think how much harder of a road this would be if I didn't have my Cito. Aside from those two new little angels, there were also 2 other ML II babies that passed away all in the same week. It's a sobering look into a dark window that someday we'll have to go through, but it's comforting to see the amount of prayers and support these strong parents have been offered from loved ones far and wide.

We wish all of you a wonderful Christmas and look forward to sharing more with you next year. Come on down to visit us in Texas whenever you'd like ... we love visitors! Have a blessed holiday.