Jessica's Beautiful Eyes

Today I was looking into my daughter's eyes and got to see how beautiful they are.
Since she was born she has had blocked tear ducts that have caused her eyes to crust over and gunk up ALL OF THE TIME. We were constantly wiping and cleaning and wiping.

This past Tuesday we had a procedure done where they put her under anesthesia for a short time and snake a wire through her tear ducts to unclog them. The one healed on its own two days before the procedure so they only had to do one eye. They said there was a substantial amount of blockage but it should clear up fine.

For the last two days her eyes have been perfectly clear when waking up and throughout the day. What a huge relief! I know that compared to what some families have to endure with their children with sickness or other health or development issues, this is a teeny tiny minor thing. But we are thankful that it is cleared up and Jessica will not have to deal with that anymore. She is such a beautiful blessing to us and I am so thankful for my precious daughter.
Here is her cheesy clear eyed grin...

11years and counting

This past weekend was Christopher and My 11th Anniversary. On Friday night my parents came over for dinner and Christopher's mom was in town visiting and the request was made to watch our wedding video in honor of our Anniversary. Ristow was very excited to see the video and had tons of comments and questions all the way through.

When he saw the line of groomsmen at the front of the church, he said " wow, and you picked Daddy out of those guys, right mom?"

After seeing the church we got married in he says "oh, I thought you got married in the field with all the gravestones." "You mean a cemetery?" I say. I guess he kept getting married and buried mixed up ;) To which Christopher replied "Well, it's kind of the same." Nice

Ristow's favorite part was the part where Christopher and I smashed the cake into each other's face. He said that he couldn't wait to do that at his wedding except he would have a cake that was half spiderman and half butterfly (for his wife).

We laughed a ton and enjoyed remembering all the good times we had that day and all of the wonderful family and friends that joined us.
Then we celebrated our day by going to the Circus with the family and then Christopher's mom watched the kids and we went out to dinner and then overnight at a hotel. We had a great time and are very thankful for the 11yrs we have had and all of the people that have supported us this far. Hopefully many more years to come ;)

One Tough Snow Bunny

Jessica is a tough little girl. She can take her fair share of tumbles, bumps and bangs and still keeps on rocking. We are always very impressed by how much she can take before a tear drops.
Today was a great example of that.
We got about 4 inches of snow last night and before lunch we bundled up to head out for some wintery fun. After my last ordeal trying to get the kids bundled for snow play, I learned the best way and the best clothes to use. Ristow grabbed the sled (which was NOT locked in the shed this time) and we headed out.

Ristow and Jessica piled onto the sled to make their inital run down our little hill. They slid down the hill and right into a snow covered bush at the bottom of the hill. Poor Jess was in the front and ended up with a faceful of snow and branches. Surprisingly she didn't cry a bit, though her face was all scrunched up waiting for me to brush all of the snow off. It filled up parts of her hood too. I couldn't help but chuckle a little at the situation.
Lots of fun sledding and snowball fighting ensued. Then our neighbor invited us to sled with them down their driveway which is much steeper than our little hill. Ristow was very excited. His first run down the hill, he runs right into and under the front of their van (which had been moved to the side so no one would hit it) Normally he would get really upset but I think he must have been taking his cues from Jess. I went down with Jessica and everything was great.
While we were waiting at the top of the drive, Jessica stood up and due to the crazy amount of clothing she was layered in, lost her balance and landed face first into a big puddle of slush on the side of the road. I couldn't help but laugh! Man, that poor girl. Her face was covered in slushy snow. It was packed in her hair, her nose, her pacifier was even packed with slush. She was not happy. After I cleaned her up though, she was ready to ride again. I pulled the kids home on the sled and we went down our little hill a few more times and headed inside.
All in all, I would say it was a successful day of winter fun! Looks like we will get another chance tomorrow and Jessica will, I'm sure, be a champ again!

Capri Sun is Yum Yum

Jessica has been coveting Ristow's Capri Suns for a while. Each time he drinks one she tries to take it and if she finds an empty one that he forgot to throw away she tries desperately to get a drop out of it. At first I thought she just liked the packaging, then yesterday I had one in the afternoon and let her have a sip. Her eyes got big and she wanted more. Then she reached over grabbed it out of my hand and took off toddling as fast as she could across the living room, guzzling the drink like a desert wanderer who had just found an oasis. By the time I chased after her she had actually drank almost all of it! I think I may have created a monster! She keeps going to the refrigerator and saying "more, more, more". That girl keeps me busy and keeps me laughing!