Christmas Reunion

We had a different kind of McClellan reunion this year. For one, it wasn't camping and two, instead of a summer reunion it was during the Christmas holiday. My parents were able to rent a large house up by Bear Lake. It was huge and had enough beds for all the adults. It was a pretty cool house, with a play room, a theatre room, and large meeting areas. We drove up on Friday the 22nd before Christmas. I wish I had gotten a picture of the lake on the way, but I captured a photo on the way home. The water was such a beautiful color that this photo doesn't even capture. We had a nice drive with beautiful weather. Everyone was able to make it safe and sound. It actually didn't start snowing until that evening after most everyone had made it. :) We spent that afternoon meeting up with everyone and checking out the house.

The next day we woke up to a winter wonderland! We used the hill into the parking lot to go sledding down. It was still coming down but it was light enough to still have some fun. I think the kids had a blast. :) And then when it got more windy and heavier we all went inside to warm up. We played games and talked and relaxed. That afternoon, we attempted to make graham cracker houses. I think it was a little chaotic with so many little ones needing help and not being as organized as we could but I think the kids still enjoyed the candy. :)

On Sunday, we all made it to either the 9am or 11am sacrament meetings and tried to get pictures in-between. Trying to get over 50 people together in one small area is no easy task. We had some grumpy kids but we got a photo. Before we left the house we attempted a few smaller group photos of just the kids. We got a few family photos ourselves real quick that afternoon as well. And of course we attempted to get the three babies together for a photo a couple times.

That night being Christmas Eve we attempted our childhood tradition of acting out the Nativity and singing correlating Christmas songs when they come up throughout the story. Caleb was supposed to sleep and play the part of baby Jesus, but I guess he didn't want to. Like the rest of our kids, he preferred to sit with mommy and daddy and just watch. It was still a pretty special time that was hopefully memorable. :)

Later we opened our Christmas pajamas and got them on and after putting kids to bed, all the adults played their christmas elf part and we laid out all our stockings on the couch. It was kind of a cool view to see so many laid out. :)

The next day, being Christmas morning, was of course a little chaotic again. Once all the kids were awake, we all gathered to open stockings. Our kids all got one small toy gift and some candy. We played games and enjoyed each other's company and opened our sibling gifts. And then the next day cleaned up and headed home. It was such a memorable weekend that I think we all really enjoyed. :)

Christmas Shenanigans

Christmas time brings with it a bunch of fun family activities.

At the beginning of the month we attended our ward Christmas dinner. We pretty much fill a table with our little family now. :)

 
We finally made it to the Festival of Lights as well. We got dinner at our favorite place Barry's and then we brought a container of cookies and enjoyed eating them for dessert in the car while we looked at the lights. The kids enjoyed getting out of their seats to see better.

And a few days before Christmas we watched the Polar Express on the projector and drank hot chocolate at home. YUM. :)

the emergency room

this is hard for us to write. this was a moment in our lives that we would love to forget. trying to decide what pictures to share was difficult. but we wholeheartedly believe that when documenting our lives, we want to remember some of the hard times as well as the good ones so here it is.

we had made plans to visit family, meet their new dog that they had just rescued from the pound, then go and see Christmas lights. we never saw those Christmas lights. it happened so unexpectantly. the dog had been playing with seth for over an hour with no signs of any aggression. then everett wanted to join the fun. the dog must have gotten overwhelmed or something, and being an animal and unable to express herself in any other way, lashed out at our poor son as he held out a treat for her. she had bit him on the face and we all stood there for a moment in utter shock before the panic hit.

i grabbed everett and held a rag to his head while my brother grabbed his keys and we jumped in the car, both of us forgetting our wallets and phones. this left amber in a horrible situation, unsure of where we were going or the severity of the situation. she and my sister-in-law gathered the other kids to say a prayer for everett. meanwhile, my brother took us and headed to the nearest urgent care clinic. we arrived but they quite quickly told us that we needed to go to the emergency room. they did a quick patch up of his head and called ahead for us so that the hospital would be expecting us. we drove quickly to the hospital, amber met us there, and we got all checked in while they got a room ready.

during the drive, everett was obviously crying from the pain, but he seemed even more worried about what the doctor was going to do to him. when we made it to the emergency room, everett had tired himself out enough that he fell asleep in my arms. amber met us there in the little triage room shortly before they took us back to a different room. one of the nurses or family psychologist maybe (someone that specialized in helping children feel more comfortable) came and asked if we'd like a special blanket for him to help comfort him. she said he could choose one with balls on it or one with dogs on it. everett was out of it, but amber quickly told her that we would prefer the ball blanket considering we were there because of a dog bite. it was a slightly comical moment in a very stressful time - a tender mercy maybe. later everett told us that he would've chosen the dog blanket... kinda funny. but he now has a ball blanket that he's grown quite fond of to keep as a reminder of his emergency room visit.

we spent a while with everett waiting for the drugs to kick in, but he was eventually sedated and they had a plastic surgeon come and stitch him up. they counted more than 56 stitches! he had a cut on the side of his forehead, on his cheek, under his nose, under his lip, and straight through his lip. we had to wait in the waiting room for about 2 hours, which was pretty hard leaving him. and then we had to wait even longer for the drugs to wear off afterwards enough so we could take him home. after a quick stop at the drug store, we made it home around 1 a.m.





the next day we rested. we pulled out everett's mattress and had a movie day. everett was quiet most of the day, very out of character for him, mostly because he just couldn't talk well with the stitches in his mouth. we gave him some pain medication though and he actually did really well. the next day his face was a little more swollen and the light bothered him, but again not too bad. we think he recovered pretty quickly after what looked like it was going to take a lot more time.

on thursday we were told to go get the stitches looked at and taken out. so not even a week later he was able to get the stitches out. that was a little harder of an ordeal. the surgeon wasn't as child-friendly as we would have liked and it was a rough moment, but he was able to get the stitches out. we were so surprised how quickly it was healing. :)

it was a heart-breaking ordeal for us to see our happy and energetic little boy hurt and in such pain. but like all trials in all our lives, this too has passed. and because of it, we are hopefully stronger for it. and most importantly, we have learned to appreciate this little boy of ours a little bit more, even when he's acting crazy and doing cannonballs onto the couch. :)

Caleb is Two Months

1. Caleb is Two Months old!

2. His two month appointment was a little late and he was already almost 3 months, but his stats were good. He weighed 13 lbs 3 and a half ounces, putting him in the 50th percentile.

3. He was 24 inches long, putting him in the 67th percentile.

4. Caleb didn't gain enough weight in the first two weeks since his birth. He wasn't quite back to his birth weight so we had to bring him back to the doctor for a one month appointment. By then though he had gotten the hang of nursing and he was gaining weight like normal.

5. Nursing Caleb started a little rocky, but he got it. I was using a nursing shield for awhile, which was probably one of the reasons he wasn't gaining well, he wasn't getting enough, but we stuck through it and I felt like he caught on pretty quickly.

6. He slept really well at first, but since he hadn't gained enough at his two week appointment, I was told to feed him every two hours, which he liked a little too much. :) He was waking up pretty often and I would pretty much sleep in the chair feeding him all the time. He's doing better now and falls asleep around 8, wakes up sometimes around 11 or sometimes not until 2 and then every two hours after that until morning. He doesn't fall asleep in the car either. He was wide awake all the way from the hospital to home.

7. Caleb has a very surprised face a lot of the time. His eyes get super wide and he looks shocked. It's pretty cute and funny. :) He also has an adorable dimple in one cheek.

8. Caleb and Claire have a couple things in common. They both were born with a full head of dark hair and they both spit up a ton. Caleb spits up all the time. I have to change burp cloths and clothes all the time to keep him dry.


9. He has these loud explosive sounding poops, that would make you think he's about to leak everywhere but turn out to be nothing but a tiny streak. He was pooping little teeny tiny poops all the time which meant we were changing diapers all the time.

10. Seth has been adorable with Caleb. He's very protective of him and wants to help take care of him all the time. He really hasn't seemed jealous or acted out at all. He asks to hold the baby all the time and when Caleb cries he gets so concerned and tells me. He'll run and get whatever I need for him and gets upset if anyone else does. He loves to give Caleb a paci and likes to shove it into his mouth. Seth has come close to attempting to pick him up himself but always stops and says "heavy, heavy" so I haven't been too worried. Seth really does adore the baby and I love seeing him with Caleb. Everett and Claire like to hold him occasionally but they've been a little more busy and not as interested yet. We love having this new little boy in our lives. The first two months were an adjustment and it might have been one of the hardest for me going from three to four, but it's getting easier and easier and I just love his cute little face! :)