A Sickly Christmas

We headed to GR on Christmas Eve to spend the holiday with Grandpa, Grandma T, Aunt Maddie, Uncle Nate, Aunt Debbie and Grandma Lou. It was SO wonderful to all be together as it rarely happens. Our first night was great - We had a turkey dinner and then Avery put on a show (She sang a song called "I saw the light" which is basically "I saw the Sign" which she learned from watching Season 2 of Fuller House) and then did some singing and dancing with Debbie on the piano and Nate on the guitar. Tay had his own Ukulele and carried that thing around faithfully for 4 days - like he had to have it in his highchair while eating. 

The night took a bit of a rough turn when Tay woke up at 2 am with stomach flu. Tay and I hung on the couch watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse until 7 am. There was lots of throwing up but he was so brave and sweet. He didn't cry - just got sick and then snuggled back in to watch his show. It was a long night but he rallied and was in a great mood on Christmas. Avery gave us all a gift by sleeping in until after 8:30 am and then was thrilled that Santa came. She was so sweet opening her gifts and was very thankful for everything she received. Grandma T made a great breakfast and we spent the day relaxing, playing with new toys and eating. Avery also hosted a game show where she asked everyone questions - Some were deep like "What do you like about yourself" and some were things like "What is your favorite candy". Tay seemed great and then got sick again in the night but, again, was super brave, sweet and snuggly.

We were also able to head to Midland the day before we left and got to see my Grandpa along with my Aunt and cousins. Avery really liked playing with Liam, Kelly and Alex. All was great until the drive back to Grand Rapids when the stomach flu hit both Hung and Avery. Avery was sick in the car but amazingly got everything into a ziploc bag with perfect aim - she didn't even cry. She was sick one more time after we got back to GR where she said to me "Am I going to die, mama?". I assured her it was just a bug and the next day she was really into "taking sips" and "just a few bites" to test her stomach. It seems to have missed me which is amazing and am glad I stayed healthy enough to take care of my family. The ride home was very smooth - Tay slept almost 3.5 hours and Avery watched shows and we played 20 questions when she got bored of movies.

Despite the nasty stomach bug we had a lovely Christmas and really enjoyed all the great family time! 

Christmas Eve

 Selfies from our Stomach Bug Night #1

 Christmas Morning

Playing in Midland

 A Sweet Moment Between Siblings

Acts of Kindness

Ashley and Avery spent their week off doing Act's of Kindness around town. Activities included:

• Baking cookies and taking them to the Firehouse and Children's ER
• Candy Cane bombing a parking lot at the hospital
• Making holiday cards and taking them to Grammy's assisted living facility to pass out to the residents
• Paying for other customers at Starbucks

Love our nanny so much and am glad Avery did some giving this week!!

Chopped!

Avery has had 2 trims her whole life and while I loved her LONG hair and baby blond tips it was time for a change (and the tangles were out of control!)....So I took her to my new salon and Jessyca gave her her first REAL haircut. When we walked in she told the woman at the desk "This is my frist, like, real real haircut!" And I think it looks GREAT!!

At the end she got braids so that she was comforted knowing that her hair can still do "cool, stylish things" as she put it. She really loved the salon treatment (head massage, blow dry, etc.) and jabbered the whole time. She told me and G to go sit down in the waiting area because her and Jessyca were talking. Later she told me that she said to her "We had to leave Mel - Mel used to trim my hair but we don't go to her anymore because she is for Trump and I am not for Trump". Not sure what reaction she got....But it is true. Our old stylist would not stop talking about Trump and her racist and intolerant comments were making me sick to my stomach. Am glad G, Avery and I have a new place to go :) 

Avery will be looking good on Christmas!

Before

After

During

Princess Crown and Braids to finish up the night :)

Christmas at the Children's Museum

Marija and Lila invited us to the Lilly event at the Children's Museum. It was so great to be able to enjoy Jolly Days when the museum wasn't crazy crowded. Avery and Lila  spent lots of time in the Doc McStuffin's exhibit, Dino-Land and the Jolly Day's area. We, of course, ended with the slide!