“Twas four nights before Christmas, when all through the house,
Two kids were a stirring, and rocking about;
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;
The children were wide eyed and waiting all snug in their beds,
While visions of footballs and cars danced in their heads;
And mamma exhausted, and I in my Cubs cap,
Had just settled down for a long winter’s nap.”

The countdown has begun for the big man in the red suit’s arrival, with amazing accuracy, thanks to the once a night chocolate from the advent calendar. We’ve been having so many giggles with the change of weather, shoveling (a lot), making snowmen without carrot noses (since Lauren is convinced those are the carrots that taste the best and can’t resist munching them), sledding and doing cannon balls off our porch into the massive piles of snow that cushion the plunge.

Lauren is keeping a close eye on Jay. Santa told us that Jay ate some of his cookies last year… so Lauren has him on a strict one cookie a day diet to ensure that Santa gets his proper due. Poor Jay, lucky me! We thought that Gav wouldn’t fare well on Santa’s lap, however, he ran right up to him and perched himself on his leg like a bird on a wire. It was the post leg removal that was traumatic. Santa gave the kids a small gift to take home with them, and Gavin cried, because all he wanted from Santa was a football and he received a McDonald’s happy meal toy. We assured him, that Santa is just giving a small gift for now and the others come on Christmas…he’s a little skeptical.

Of course he needs a football, since he eats with one, plays hungry hippos, and sleeps with one. He also wants to be a football player when he’s big and has footballs up to the ceiling, but what is one more football? Lauren, also wants a real car. She said Jay could drive it. I am sure that a car with a chauffeur is on every 5 year old’s list this year. We told her there probably would not be enough room to park a car under the tree in the living room, a car would be impossible to fit down a chimney, and so she might want to think of something else…maybe something smaller, like…diamonds or rubies or something equally simple befitting a five year old.

Gav’s numbers are looking good, and for the first time ever, we have one month off before his next set of labs. This is awesome, however somewhat scary since you become so dependent on the numbers to tell you about rejection. It’s like when we first take him home from the hospital, you feel so relieved to get out of there, but then you realize there is nobody else watching him except you. We are dealing with a nutrition watch as he has stopped gaining weight…so we are trying to give him more foods that have higher calories to try to offset nutritional supplement. This is the month for sweets and treats. For the last month, we have been hydrating him at night via the feeding tube, but with water, not with calories. Hopefully we can stay on this path.

Happy Holidays to all, may this coming year be even better than the last!

Love,
Jill