Sister's Can be Sweet!

Merry Christmas

Well, I had a few spare moments during the down time after Hurricane Cowan blew through this morning. Yesterday we started our Christmas early with Mom and Dad coming over to do our exchange. Next we made our annual trip to David's parents house for our big celebration there. It went really well and the kids made a HUGE haul as usual. I'm not even sure we need Santa help next year....between my parents and David's fam. Santa could sure save some money :o)

This morning I set my alarm for 6am so I could be "ready" for them. Didn't take long.....by 6:15 everyone was up and ready for Christmas. Here are some pics we took so far. There is just nothing better than kids on Christmas morning....it's just so fun!!!

Christmas Eve Attire-Designed by Olivia

Reece's New Chair Grazie's Assistant

David's Big Surprise

Okay, Good Example Daddy!

There's Mommy

Sister is a Great Helper!

Who's Ready for Santa?

The Haul from Gammy & Papa's
Christmas Morning Ready.....Set.....
GO!
The Barbie Piano
Who Sees Hannah Montana Barbie???

Barbie Bike

Tag Reader

Reece's 1st Car

The Monster Dump Truck

The Aqua Doodle

Who Loves Mickey?

Prayer Request

Okay, so I don't usually post anything like this on the blog but I think this time it's necessary. There is a mom who I've met via the internet who has a son around Reece's age who also has hemophilia. She also has a blog that I read regularly. Well, at Thanksgiving her little guy had a massive spontaneous bleed in his brain that he luckily recovered from in full. Since then they have been infusing him via a PICC Line. With a PICC line or a port like Reece has, whenever the child develops a fever they are admitted into the hospital to determine if they have developed some type in infection relating to their device. Here is a link to her blog and I would like you all to read this story. This is such a reality check for me. I feel like it is only a matter of time before we encounter something like this.

I'm Bruised Not Broken

Please keep this family in your thoughts / prayers during this Christmas!

Olivia's Christmas Program Video

Olivia's Christmas Program

Olivia had her Christmas Program on Tuesday night and it was SOOO cute. We were all invited to the class rooms first for some refreshments and to see all their Christmas activities they have been working on. The program was a little skit and several songs that the kids did a GREAT job on. Granzie and Grandad as well as Gammy and Papa were all able to come this year so we had a huge cheering section. Reece, naturally, thought everyone was there to see him perform. Luckly when the kids started to sing he toned it down and bit and let them borrow the spot light. Here are a few quick pics and a video of the evening is on the post above. We were all very proud of her!

No Nerves Here!

FocusedQuick Pic with Clayton
Our Best Friend, Alyssa
Reece w/ Granzie & Grandad Watching Sister

Working With Daddy

I couldn't help but blog about this. Yesterday David changed the belt on my vacuum cleaner and Reece was such a big "helper". He is a love affair with it anyway so it's a real treat when he is allowed to play with it. Here are a few pics of my little helper.

Evaluating the Situation

Making Minor AdjustmentsBreaking for a Photo Op
Relaxing After a Hard Days Work

Third Black Eye in Four Months

Okay, so raising boys is TOTALLY different than girls. I don't remember Olivia ever having a black eye and she is 5! Reece has had three since September! Of course, the one who wears a helmet and I follow around all day making sure he doesn't get hurt, always seems to find a way. We went for a walk on Sunday and he tripped over his own feet and went face first into the curb. NICE! We hustled home and gave him a quick infusion. Luckily this one did not require any stitches. Here are a few pics...as you can see, he loves his "tough" look.

Christmas Parade

We had so much fun last Saturday at the Chuy's Children Giving to Children's Parade in downtown Austin. Each family is asked to bring a new toy to donate to the Blue Santa program so Olivia and David had fun picking out a couple of gifts to take. David's been wanting to do this for a couple of years, so since the weather was perfect we decided to make our way down. We were able to get a pretty good spot where David could hold 'livi on his shoulders and Reece and I could be up on the sidewalk......just in case he decided to be a monkey. Well, everyone had a blast. Olivia loved the big inflatable balloons and the cheerleaders (of course) and Reece loved the Firetrucks and the bands. He kept dancing the whole time we were there. We are going to try and make this an annual event for the Cowan Family. Here are a few pics.

Thanksgiving

Okay, sorry I'm behind on my posting. My power cord to my laptop died and I was waiting to get my replacement in from dell.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We had mom and dad and my aunt and cousin over for lunch. The food all turned out good, and it was so nice to catch up. The bummer to hosting is that you get most of the left-overs...darn. It is all gone now though :o)

After lunch we packed up the kidos and drove to David's parents house for the rest of the day. We had a really nice visit with the fam and the kids had a blast seeing Gammie and Papa.

Here are a few pics from the day.