So we are in the year 2012 now! Sounds strange. Not a lot going on for us so far. Anya and I are currently suffering from strep throat and it has been years since I had this and I don’t like it one little bit. I do not remember strep throat being this painful. Of course most of the time I ended up with bronchitis so dealing with strep is at least a new adventure! We went to the doc yesterday and luckily they swabbed only my throat and looked at Anya’s. Anya’s was obvious they said, she had the rash and the strawberry tongue, even though her throat pain went away. Me, I was all about the swabbing, one of my favorite things ever. I remember when I was a little girl and they would do that and I hated it then. We are in the year of 2012 now and have all kinds of cool little medical gadgets to take temperatures and even measure the amount of oxygen we have through our nails, but finding some cool little laser tool or something that can check for strep is just too daunting of a task, so we have to rely on the old fashioned long cotton swab and stab the hell out of the already sore throat of the patient! And not just one swab they do two swabs at once now. One to do the quick test on that takes 5 minutes to determine if its positive and one to send off to the lab in case the first one isn’t positive they can send it off and see if anything else shows up. Hey, here’s an idea, why not just stab me with one swab and if it comes back negative, how about the doc see me and see if he can narrow down the symptoms more! Let’s not stab the poor patient with two long cotton swabs at once and for the love of all that is holy someone please invent a new tool other than the tongue depressor! Wood stick to hold down your tongue while someone stabs you in the back of throat to make you gag! Yeah, that’s a great idea! Needless to say, we are on antibiotics and slowly recovering. Anya has decided she loves the smell of amoxicillan but not the taste even though I would take that over the freakin’ horse pills I have to swallow any day. In other news, we went to a ice hockey game, just here locally in Frisco and had a great time. Arwen even enjoyed it until she fell asleep. Yes, my tiny three year old can sleep through a loud hockey game and for her next amazing feat of wonder…stay tuned!
We had a really nice Christmas even though it was just us this year. Christmas Eve we let the girls open their present from Chance on Christmas Eve night which was matching pajamas! They loved them and did not take them off until the Monday after Christmas! We also did our annual tradition on Christmas Eve of riding around with our Mcdonalds chicken nuggets and looked at Christmas lights. We had a lot to look at this year and we didn’t even go 5 miles from our house! People really decorate in the neighborhoods out here. Travis and I decided we like the white lights on houses because it lights the house up more, but we like blue lights in the trees or on the bushes with the white lights, it really looks more winter like and snowy! I usually only like colored lights but after he pointed out how much better the houses look with the white lights I started liking that look too. Although I still think you need something to accent it and that’s when we saw a really pretty house with blue lights on the bushes and trees and white lights on the outline of the house. Really pretty and elegant looking! Plus, they had a Snoopy in the front yard too, which is my favorite of course! The girls really like doing that too and we have done it every year since we got married for the most part. Christmas morning we had to wait for the small one to get up and Anya was getting antsy! We let her open her stocking from Santa in which she got some flying airplanes, Mike and Ike candies, some glitter tattoos, and The Tooth Fairy movie which is what she wanted from Santa. Then, Travis, Anya, and I played Jenga which was a family present from my parents while we waited for Arwen to get up. When the munchkin finally decided to get up we opened presents and there were a lot of them! We were very lucky to have such a sweet family to ship us gifts. My parents, brother, and Serena all shipped a box full of presents for us. The girls got a lot…the favorites of Anya were her airplanes, her froggy slippers from Aunt Serena, Uno Attack from Uncle Stephen, her purple shirt from Granny and Pop Pop and her pink haired Barbie from them too, and her pink butterfly necklace from Mommy and Daddy. Arwen’s favorites included Anya’s froggy slippers, her apple board from Uncle Stephen, her dress from Aunt Serena, her mermaid Barbie from Granny and Pop Pop, and her Tangled doll and horse from Mommy and Daddy. Both girls also loved the art easel they got later that night as a last Christmas surprise! We didn’t do traditional food, we went with Roast and carrots and potatoes with garlic crescent rolls and it was yummy, cooked in my new crock pot. The girls gave Travis a Batman t shirt and gave me Just Dance 3 for the Wii, which is a lot of fun! Travis and I are going to wait and get each other a gift for our anniversary this year.
We did close on the house on December 21st and it has been such a huge relief to have that done now! Very fortunate to have my Dad help us with the closing too!
As for New Years, we don’t really have any plans. We might go to Six Flags in Arlington on New Years Eve or New Years Day because we got free tickets! Not sure which day we will pick yet to go though…
Here’s a few photos from our Christmas!
Today is our little girl’s third birthday! Unbelievable that little Arwen is 3 now! We had a great day. She slept in until about 11am and then we got up and went to the Dallas Zoo. Picked up some Burger King chicken for the birthday girl and a cheeseburger for her sister on the way down there. The Dallas Zoo was great…they got to feed giraffes, saw an albino alligator, a huge reticulated python, Baboons, penguins, otters, goats, huge Koi goldfish, and some Cheetahs! They had a great time. They closed at 4pm though so it was a quick trip, but we had plenty of time to see everything. Came home and Arwen had a Tangled Birthday cake, got a Barbie Tricycle, a mini microwave, and a Toy Story 3 camera…she has yet to open her gifts from Granny and Pop Pop because she’s too excited playing with everything else right now! Here are a few photos of our sweet 3 year old!
First some random zoo photos…
This sign was funny we thought!
Cheetah Encounter…
The Albino Alligator…
And here are some photos of the girls and us at the zoo…
First feeding the giraffes…
Arwen extending her neck like a giraffe!
Reticulated pyton…
Arwen with the Koi Fish…
Here’s our Christmas Tree 2011…
And here’s what my week usually consists of…
This is our playroom. Here’s the before…
Here’s the after…
Here’s the culprit!
And here’s the one shot we could get of Arwen with her birthday cake today!
I am sorry for the loss of the Duggar’s 20th baby…however, I don’t agree with the publicity of it all. Its on People Magazine’s website for crying out loud! I know they are a TV family (even though what they watch is very selective apparently), but I really do not agree with the essential publicity on the loss of their baby. To me, that’s the sad part. Because seriously consider it for a moment…are they making money from this loss? Will they be donating any money they do make to the thousands of other mothers who miscarry babies daily? If they do, then they may gain a bit more respect from me, but right now, I really don’t agree with the publicity of their loss. Just had to vent that here for a moment…And, I have also just discovered that the Duggar’s are not allowed to dance! What? Something to do with not knowing good dancing vs. bad dancing? My husband can’t really dance, and I’m not auditioning for the next Dirty Dancing movie or anything, but there’s no way that will ever stop me from shaking my tushie with him! 
Okay, so the only movie I have seen lately at the theater is “Breaking Dawn Part 1″ which I really liked, but if you have not read the books, are not into vampires, or really dislike Kristen Stewart – then don’t bother seeing it. I don’t really care for Kristen Steward personally, I really wish she could act with her mouth closed a bit more, but overall she does an okay job as Bella. The movie is fun and if you are a hopeless romantic, like me, then you will enjoy the Twilight saga series. I’m much more of a Harry Potter fan though than Twilight…nothing will beat Harry Potter!
I have seen some movies on DVD recently though that I would really recommend viewing. The first is an animated movie…”Dragons:Gift of the Night Fury”, if you like “How to Train your Dragon” then you will like this one. All the original cast came back for this little 45 minute mini Christmas movie. The Dragon movies I just love, they have really good morals and stories in them and are just really good, in my opinion.
The other movie you have to see is “Hachi” with Richard Gere. This movie tells the true meaning of loyalty and love. Its a tearjerker though. I cried several times after the movie was over just thinking about it. The really great part is it is based on a true story.