I thought last Christmas couldn't be topped for disasters. I guess you should never say never, because this Christmas was one of the more interesting holidays we've ever celebrated. I don't even want to see what next year will bring! Sunday evening Sariah fell while climbing on the kitchen counter. We could immediately see that her elbow was dislocated, so we rushed her to our local ER (James works at our local hospital, so we're pretty comfortable going there). After taking X-rays, they felt she had also fractured a bone in her forearm. They weren't comfortable treating her there, so they sent us to Primary Children's Hospital in Salt Lake. She ended up fracturing three bones near her elbow, plus the dislocation. We had to wait for about three hours there before they could put her back together. We got home at 2:30 am. So much for me getting up early the next morning to finish the doll I'd been working on for her. She was such a trooper. She thoroughly charmed her nurse, who got a kick out of seeing how big her eyes got every time they discussed a new procedure. We made the mistake of mentioning the word "surgery" in front of her (which was a definite possibility at one point), and that sent her into a mini-tailspin. Luckily no surgery was needed, and once she woke up from the anesthesia, she was in the most peppy mood you can imagine. She loved the blanket they gave her (which almost replaced her beloved "blue blankie" as her most treasured possession). She still talks about her nurse, Connie, and how nice she was.
So anyway, the night of December 23rd was a very short night. At this point all bets were off for a beautiful, relaxing Christmas Eve. I did NOT want a repeat of last year. As hard as we tried to get things going early, we still had cranky children when the time came for our devotional activities.
Poor Sariah was feeling miserable. I think this picture below is just priceless! One of the things she most wanted was a Dreamlight Pillow Pet (hideous to the eyes of this Waldorf mom, but sometimes it's more important to fulfill a child's dream, I think.) Usually the kids just open PJ's on Christmas Eve, but she was so sad that she couldn't wear her PJ's because they were long-sleeved and wouldn't go over her wrap. Dallin suggested that we should let her open something else. She took one look at her beloved, long-awaited gift (that SHE had asked for) and burst into tears!
We decided to put Preston to bed, and Sariah too, and I resigned myself to the idea that it would just be Mom and Dad and Dallin doing the Christmas story. But Dallin went up and entertained Sariah until she perked up, and she was able to come back downstairs long enough for us to have what was actually a really beautiful and sweet lighting of the Advent candles, reading of Scripture, and singing of Silent Night. Truly beautiful and peaceful, and a balm to all of our souls.
Sariah was up most of the night with pain, making it very difficult for Santa to do his work. Santa was up till 2:00 am, and Mrs. Santa didn't get to bed much earlier. Sariah cried because "Santa won't come until I fall asleep, and I can't fall asleep!"
Christmas morning resulted in more tears for Sariah. She got everything she wanted, but I think just the trauma of everything and the pain she was in made everything more emotional. She proclaimed it "the worst Christmas ever!"
But Preston and Dallin had a blast! I didn't get a picture of Dallin with his weight set, but he was ecstatic. And it seemed like everything Preston got was car-themed. His two great loves are "choo-choos" and "beep-beeps".
Preston's racetrack ramp.
Preston got bubbles from Sariah, and he was thrilled!
Dallin is easy to please!
Raggedy Ann makes things a bit better, maybe? We've been reading the books, which brings me back to my childhood.
Only Hearts Cub doll are a nice alternative for moms like me who refuse to buy Barbies.
Preston quickly figured out that opening presents is fun.
Dallin and his best cousin B got Calvin and Hobbes comic books from Grandma.
The day after Christmas, Sariah got her hot pink cast on, much to our relief. She's been doing so much better, except she keeps slipping and falling and bumping her arm. I guess her balance must be off.
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