Tams Family

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Holiday Photo Shoot 2010

This year we decided to FINALLY get some family pictures done! They all turned out great....all 130 of them :) Now to choose which ones to use for our Christmas cards....here are a few of them...probably won't use these for cards, but they sure are cute!

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Well we survived another appointment...It sure wasn't fun, but we got through it. First of all, my wonderful, yet occasionally stubborn, daughter (who by the way always falls asleep from point A to point B no matter the distance) decided NOT to sleep at all the entire way up to Phoenix. She was tired, but wouldn't sleep and when she's over-tired she won't eat, so I knew we were doomed! We stopped at Red Robin on the way into town and she ate macaroni and cheese and drank some milk...so I felt a small sense of relief. But she was still exhausted and cranky. We did actually manage to get into the elevators at the clinic before she started SCREAMING! We started with the weight....she was up (not quite to 10kg, but up...small sign of relief)....next onto the echo....let the screaming begin! We were lucky and had a very nice tech this time....he's had Addie before and knew what he was getting into. This time her fatigue paid off a little...after several minutes of screaming...she finally entered a daze (almost asleep) and the screaming became more sporadic! He finished up and then we went for vitals with 2 very nice (but very new RNs)....Not a good combo! It took forever....Addie was ticked...I was annoyed.... they were flustered....oops! FINALLY that was done and we waited for the results of everything as Addie struggled to keep her eyes open. Poor baby :( As we wait the anxiety I have had for 48 hours builds. I keep expecting the worst....we've had some really good appointments this year and I always wait for our little world to come crumbling down.... horrible way to think, I know, BUT...

Addie during her echo (pretty sure Matt's asleep)

So, after hours of waiting (okay like 20 minutes) we learned all was well! The echo looked fabulous....she had gained weight.... life was good. Only thing is they can't get a great measurement on the left pulmonary artery (which was banded during her initial surgery) through echo which means they will want to do a cardic catherization sometime around her 3rd birthday. Not thrilling, but not horrible....then assuming all looks good and/or they can fix any narrowing during the cath, we won't be looking at the next surgery until around 4 to 4 1/2....she will still be a little higher risk for that surgery, but that is over a year away, so we will cross that bridge then. We are set until our next appointment in February and looking forward to a wonderful Christmas!!!

I am always amazed by the amount of prayers, support and love we all have! We are blessed and several we sending positive thoughts our way....and it worked :)

On another note, we had our family pics done last week! Here is a sneak peak and a couple of them...I can't believe how big Drew looks!!! Thanks Tina!!! You did an amazing job :)

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

The Stockings Were Hung....

Okay, so we don't have a chimney, but I'm sure Santa will make his way in somehow :) Last night we set out to decorate the tree we had purchased on Sunday night! Unfortunately, when I was at Target yesterday buying lights, I had NO idea how big the darn tree was! It looked like such a little runt tree in the lot, but I guess that's because the $100+ trees we towering over it! Needless to say my FOUR strands of lights hardly made a dent in it!! Ugh!! But we managed to pull out and start with some of the stuff! I'll get more lights today and tomorrow will have the "finished" product :)

So for now, getting back to the stockings.... Here they are (my best attempt at Pottery Barn) Not perfect, but I think they turned out ok!

My little helpers...LOVE watching them go through all of our ornaments. Drew asks questions about each one, and each one has a special memory for me!

Addie spent about 15 minutes trying to put a branch that had fallen off the tree back on it! It kept falling off, but she kept at it! Too funny!

Drew loved the cardinals! Grandma Hilda would be so proud!

Our Nativity Set! One of my favorite parts of the holiday. Each year my grandma and I would set this up together. I loved it! Not sure what it was about it...whether it was the really cool foil covered, lighted star or what, I could spend hours just staring at it. I still love it...and amazed at how well that star has hung in there :)

Christmas tree will have to wait until later! I need about 10 more strands of lights! Eek!!

Monday, November 29, 2010

Let the Holidays Begin!!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here. As much as I have loved Christmas in the past, I am really loving it this year!!! It is SO much fun seeing the holidays through Drew's eyes. He's been excited about every aspect of it...from the decorations and lights, to the Christmas tree, to the gifts (for others as well as himself)! Yesterday we (Matt) put up the lights outside. It took him ALL DAY, but they look FABULOUS!!!

Drew "Helping"!!!

Finished product!! Matt's so proud of the "Christmas Tree" he made in the front :)

Lights were done and it was time to go Christmas Tree shopping!! The hardest part was steering my husband (no not my 4 year old) away from the $80 trees!!! First off, we have our fake tree up already PLUS we will be visiting Texas this Christmas, so we won't even be here! Now Drew we had to steer away from the 3 foot tall little "runt" trees in the lot! Go figure! Drew finally found a tree that he loved and the price was right! Once he found this tree, there was no convincing him of anything else!!

Santa's Little "Elves" getting ready for Christmas!! Drew is loving his Santa hat here.... haha!

Friday, November 26, 2010

Happy Black Friday!!

Kicking off the holiday season with a little shopping, a movie and a visit to Good Ol' Santa Claus. No I didn't wake up at 3 am...nor was I out diving into crowds of people at 12am...I simply ordered some stuff online and enjoyed the fact that my kids are not quite old enough to want this year's "hot" items! With the nice, and cool, weather we played outside for awhile today!!

Abby and Addie :)

Stand still LOL!

Happy Girl!

So pretty :)

Silly monkey!

You can't catch me!

After his visit to Santa Claus... a horrible Santa I must say!

Christmas tree in the mall...

Playing!

Drew and Daddy Chillin'...

Happy Thanksgiving! 2010

This year we have so much to be thankful for! We had another fabulous Turkey dinner, ate WAY too much food, and just enjoyed being together. As the kids get older, the holidays seem to get more and more fun. Drew was SO excited for Thanksgiving and turkey. He had given my parents all of the Thanksgiving artwork he has made in school to decorate the tables with....he told us what he was thankful for and, even though Mommy and Daddy didn't make the list, it was so cute!! We had a nice group of friends over for dinner and the BEST part of my Thanksgiving was Addie was so happy around all of them! She played a little with another little girl, crawled into peoples laps, and was just happy the entire time! Those are the moments I love!

My cuties :)