Breakfast with Santa and cookies and milk

So this post will jump back and forth a bit. To try to keep everyone on the same page I will put some actual "dates" in the text...what a novel idea. ;-P

Brinkley:
Chemo is going well! On the 6th I made a quick trip to OSU Small Animal Hospital for the most toxic of the chemo with my little man. He was a CHAMP! Even posing for some photos in front of the Christmas tree before we went back. He was so good that they didn't even have to sedate him for the 30 minute IV he needed of doxorubicin.  We made the world wind trip to and from Stillwater and then the waiting was on. The next week when we went in for our weekly CBC everything was low. Now this was to be expected but it didn't make me feel any better. Brinkley had also stopped eating his breakfast and though it was left out all day for him he didn't touch it until Gabby was fed dinner and then he ate it all. I worried about this to but at our appt he had only dropped 2 lbs and for the past 2 months he has been going up and down 5 lbs pretty regularly.  Week fives treatment will depend on the CBC results we get back for him tomorrow. His levels are still okay for where they want to treat him BUT they want to make sure that the last CBC results are as low as he will go until the next doxorubicin. Prayers and happy thoughts that he continues to stay in remission and respond well to the treatment. This Wednesday in anticipation of Christmas he will get groomed at Dog Party! We are going to do our best to see that he doesn't look like a cancer pacient with all the many missing tufts of hair. :-)

The ride home looks very similar to the ride there but I got him a new 16 squeaker toy!

And to combat the CRAZY streets in Stillwater I bout the Wheelers a new Garmin. (our maps were out of date and for $20 we could get a new one with lifetime maps!)

Emma loves to go to Brinkley's Doctor or as she says it "bink ley's docta" and this week she found/cornered the office cat under the tree!

Don't you just want to cuddle up next to this sleepy guy?!?

Mom: (aka NaNa)
My mom celebrated her birthday on the 4th! She is such an amazing woman, Mom and most importantly FRIEND!! I wish I could have been there but for those of you who don't know her well...here are a few of my favorite shots!

These pictures span 8 years but you wouldn't know it cause she looks the same!!! 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to the BEST MOM in the world!!

Emma:
On the 9th we all awoke with the very real excitement that only breakfast with Santa can bring! My good girlfriend Jamie works with Courtyard by Mariott and this is the 5th year they have had the big guy down for a Christmas breakfast with families. I really don't know how he finds the time to make so many appearances but I am happy he does!

It took a little while but soon Emma was running up to Santa and sitting on his lap without anyone else around!

Making her move on Jack Jack.

This was as close as Jack would get without crying. :-(

One thing we are wishing for this Christmas is for this to stop happening to our sweet little girl.

My baby has been bitten by a friend...three times in a week. Biggest problem is that she isn't crying to alert the teachers and we are pretty sure its happening when they are on the playground with other children from other classes. Breaks my heart but we had a good talk and I told Emma that friends don't bite each other and that the next time it happens be sure to tell your teacher. When it did she did but this time both her teachers saw...cause Emma had sat on her friend. They are no aware which friend is doing the biting and we have gone almost a week with no bites! :-) I soooo love her teachers and am so lucky that everyone who has ever been charged to care for my child has loved her and taken such great care of her!

With the weather getting colder...then warmer...then colder again I decided Emma might need more than one coat. We leave one at school during the week (so i don't forget it and she be without one when she needs it) but that means that if its really cold and we want to walk the dogs after school we are out of luck. I LOVE Once Upon a Child and thanks to careful saving I filled up my stamp card and was able to get 15% off my next purchase. A week earlier I had seen a coat that I knew would be a little big but it was also a little more than I wanted to spend. I decided that if it was still there when I came back it was meant to be. ;-D And it was!! Here is Emma modeling it for me!

This past Saturday the 15th Emma got to test out her gymnastic abilities and enjoy some cookies and milk with her good buddy Elle. Such a wonderful birthday idea and I could tell that EVERYONE there had a great time!

Ready for the rings

 Love to do it herself!

Was so good and well mannered at the table.

And we needed to to this again!

And Chrissy has been flying all over the house! That elf has a lot of energy! ;-D

Michael:
My amazing husband raised $2,305 with only the hair on his face! Now that is talent! Just to recap we had a beard

that morphed into this

 

Which turned into this

and just when we thought it was over... he grew it out again for this!

Santa Wolverine ;-P

I think we are safe from the facial hair until next November. ;-)

Jill:

I have been busy helping Santa! All our gifts are bought and wrapped and most everyone has gotten their Christmas card from us! For those of you not on the mailing list yet...here you go! 

Thank you to Jessica Ritchie for taking such wonderful family photos for us!! I am sooooo glad I brought Brinkley and Gabby too!

 

No more doing this move after the nursemaid elbow incident!! 

  

Also this was right before Thanksgiving, but we did it!! The four of us have seen ALL 5 Twilight movies together! Even with Courtney (in the pink) living in Nashville for 1 and Chicago for 2! :-) 

 

Last Thursday my new desk came in...it was missing a part so it's not all together BUT on Friday I moved in anyway! Here's what it looks like so far. I  haven't actually hung my pictures where I want them to go just using some of the nails that are in the walls until the rest of the desk gets put together and the hutch gets raised up off the floor. :-)

And I have a sitting area for when prospective families come visit!

We have also gotten all the changes for the Tower Room and I think it looks AMAZING if I say so myself! Was a cozy place for my honors students to study, relax, meet and do their thesis defenses!

My great friend and sister in Christ Elizabeth are almost to the end of our 12 week study...don't judge us cause it's taken more like 18. So thankful that we are able to meet and have fellowship at lunch when our schedules permit! Now its about time to look for another book...and maybe even more members! :-D

Now that about wraps it up! We are gearing up for a week with my family in Brinkley and excited to have Michael's Mom with us on Christmas day too!! 

May you all have a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!! Be blessed!

Jill