Backing Up

 December was packed full and I need to catch up so let's back up a bit.  December 2019 will forever be known at the month Henry was sick.  He started cutting a bunch of teeth mid-December and it only went downhill from there.  After several days of him being sick enough that I went through a bottle of Tylenol and Ibuprofen, I finally decided to take him into the doctor hoping they'd diagnose him with something that would require antibiotics.  Nope.  Instead they told me he had bronchiolitis which is another way of saying RSV.
I've never had a kid with RSV but since Henry isn't an infant I wasn't too worried about it.  To make a long story short, Henry became the grumpiest, fussiest baby known to man and spent hours watching Elmo and clinging to my legs while I tried to get stuff done.  It was a nightmare.  One Saturday he was crying hysterically and would not be consoled so I finally took him into urgent care because I was sure something was seriously wrong.  Nope.  He was just being horrible.  And maybe a little sick but he wasn't even running a fever that day.  We are two weeks into January and he is just now getting back to his old self where we actually enjoy him and the boys will play with him instead of whine when I put them on Henry duty.  Big sigh of relief that we survived him at his worst.  

Those sick eyes and fevered cheeks! 

Sick kids like to snuggle and so do their jealous big brothers!

 I also spent a lot of time marketing for the office in December.  This meant after weeks of stressing over the perfect gift to give to the local dentists that would make them want to send us all their root canal patients, I then had to deliver the perfect gift.  I finally settled on Suss Cookies.  They are the most delicious cookies I've ever had and when my sister Laura gifted them to me this summer, she had no idea she would be the answer to my marketing dilemma.  You guys, these cookies are better than cheesecake!  The trick with baked goods was that I needed time to deliver them while they were fresh so I had 30 dozen cookies shipped to me the first week in December with another 20 dozen shipped the following week.  Thanks to neighbor Barb, I was able to get the boxes packaged up cute and made my deliveries in a record amount of time.  Miraculously {and I truly mean it was a miracle} Henry took really long naps so I could deliver cookies while Barb packaged the cookies and held down the fort.  Another miracle was that the company sent me extra cookies which I was able to gift to friends and neighbors instead of making my own treats to give which would have been impossible with sick, grumpy Henry.

Half way through delivery #1

The 2nd shipment ready to go.  Doesn't Barb tie bows beautifully?

And it wouldn't be December without Brothers Night.  We tempted fate and took all five boys out to dinner at a real sit-down restaurant, per tradition.  I even made them converse with each other and color on the kid menu instead of playing on phones to pass the time.  Henry sort of cooperated but I didn't get any dirty looks so I think it was a win.  The boys got some great gifts for each other and luckily Randy broke all the budget rules and allowed Parker to purchase 2 gifts for Landon because on Christmas Eve we realized no one bought Ethan a gift from Henry.  Randy and I still disagree which one of us was to blame.  Also of note, Marcus quickly picked out his brother gift and then went shopping for himself and returned home with some new clothes.  He is truly a teenager.  {Insert eye roll here}

A coloring contest while waiting for food.  Parker won!  He's my only kid that actually enjoys coloring.

 We managed to do a few fun Christmas things in between the chaos of December marketing....

 We went to the Festival of the Nativities and toured the Family History center

We took the boys out for milk shakes wearing their Christmas jammies

I sent out Christmas cards and if you didn't get one it's my fault.  I didn't order enough!

We went to Enchantment - lights at Safeco Field for Randy's other job's Christmas party

Rudolph

Northgate Endodontics

I helped plan and execute the ward Christmas party.

I was too busy to eat dinner but luckily I was able to snag some cheesecake in the kitchen

Henry stopped crying while we delivered cookies

And Randy was able to come with us for the deliveries to our neighbors

These 2 rode their bikes to the store for sushi and donuts.  I met them there while I was out running errands so we could eat together.  So fun!

Brother Love is the best!

And last but not least, Henry discovered he absolutely loves shredded cheese.  It even makes him stop crying.  Unfortunately it is so messy that I make him eat it at the dishwasher {because he refuses to sit in a high chair or anywhere that requires him to be buckled} so some of the cheese is contained.  It's the worst!
And I think that's a wrap on 2018.  We survived our first year of the office being open and I'm learning to thrive on late nights with the big boys and early mornings with the littles.  It's exhausting and exciting all at the same time.  Next post will be on the great room swap of 2019.  Yes, you heard me.  Henry is finally out of my closet and sleeping in a crib!