Santa Claus is coming to......

FAST!!!! I cant keep up with things this year. It seems like it was just Halloween and now Thanksgiving has come and gone. I tried to get some shopping done today, I got some...but no where near half way. I think I will end up using the Internet alot this year. Oh well, welcome to the Internet age! Its a little easier this year though, now that Hailey and Megan can actually tell me what they want. I'm excited for Joseph's first Christmas. The "firsts" are always fun. :) We just had his first Thanksgiving...below is a picture of him with the traditional Turkey Leg. And for kicks I included Hailey and Megan's first Thank giving pics too. Ahhhh Memories....

Since my last post we have made 2 trips to the ER. None of which were dramatic or trauma related thank goodness. More on the side of "Just in case" for the doctors peace of mind. Joseph has been sick with a bad cold which was causing him to throw up. This concerned the doctors because that is a symptom of a Shunt malfunction. I was told I would become very familiar with the inside of an emergency room. Oh Joy....Oh Bliss. HOWEVER...there is nothing I wouldn't do for my little man so it is what it is. Everyone is doing well at the moment though. (Fingers crossed) Other than that there is not a whole lot going on. We plan to take family pictures soon. Our first since Joseph was born. Naturally I will share when they happen. Until then...Enjoy some Turkey Day pics! Just in case you cant tell them apart...I put them on by age. Hailey is first, than Megan and last is Joseph.

Pandemic....

So, I read an email that my dad sent out today. It was referencing a woman in the church and her role in educating church members about the upcoming pandemic. It was a very eye opening email. One scary part was when she stated "a pandemic is coming - not 'maybe' but is DEFINITELY coming." How scary is that?? And that's not the scariest part...this is..."the pandemic is expected within the next two years but she personally believes it will be 'sooner' rather than later." AND "the World Health Organization expects 40% of the world population to become sick. Of those who become sick, they expect 50% will die. If you do the math - there are over 6 billion people on the earth today - that puts the death rate at over 1.4 billion people - and she says these deaths will happen over only a 3 to 4 month period of time. When the pandemic hits the US, mandatory quarantine's of all infected and NON-INFECTED peoples will occur within the first 48 hours. This quarantine will last during the duration of the 'pandemic cycle' which will last approximately three months. "

WOW....that really jump started my brain. I naturally turned to my husband and started a small conversation before he headed off to work. During that conversation I realized something. Joe is a convert to the church and has had minimal exposure to the food storage world. Yes he knows about it, but he is not as "concerned" as he should be. And that's when I realized most of this is up to me to educate him and get this food storage party started! I looked around at my peaceful family. Hailey and Megan watching their new favorite move "WALL-E", Joseph discovering his voice and learning to suck on his hands and Joe quietly dressing for work. I became VERY protective. It was like a fire was lit in me and I wanted to immediately protect my family. I don't want my family to one day wonder "why didn't Mommy heed the warnings and start a food storage plan?" I couldn't bare the thought of my family starving when I could have prevented it.

To some this may sound silly, a little over the top or perhaps think I'm a crazy person. I on the other hand feel that I have a lot of catching up to do in this race. If anyone wants access to the email that was sent to me, just let me know. I don't want to be included in the "I wish I would have listened" crowd when things start to get bad and neither should you.

More Sick Drama....

So the drama continues with a new addition...the stomach bug. Yep, our family has contracted the stomach flu. It started with Joseph. He couldn't keep his formula down. All day yesterday he kept throwing up. It got to the point where we took him to the ER. I was concerned that he wasn't eating enough. After 3 hours we came home. He was on pedialite all day yesterday. Today we are inching back into the formula.

Yesterday however, Megan and I became sick with the same thing. Mine started at work. I was miserably sick. I left 1 hour before my day ended. The whole way home I had to distract myself so I wouldn't lose it in the car. I kept passing all the fast food restaurants and OMG...I almost threw up several times. The second I walked in the door, I bolted to the bathroom. Afterwards I went straight upstairs and didn't budge until this morning. Yesterday Megan started with it too. She threw up all over the carpet, the couch and in the sink. She is doing a lot better today though. I took today off to recuperate. The downside is I now have to work Saturday to make up for today's hours. YUCK. But, at least it should be an easy day. Anyway, so there is the update. As you can see we have been having a blast! On a a good note...check out these cute kids!

Halloween 2008

Halloween this year was a lot of fun. Now that the girls are older, they are really starting to enjoy the holidays. We took them to my parents house for trick or treating. We brought little Joseph around with us, just not door to door. A few nights before Halloween we carved the pumpkins. The girls had a blast. Joseph wasn't quite sure what was going on, but he sure laughed about the pumpkin. We met up with my sister Heather and her husband, they brought little Katy around trick or treating too. She was dressed as a lady bug. All in all, it was a good holiday. The girls are already geared up for next year. Below are some pictures of the grand event.