Soccer Girl

Becca went to Tiny Tots Soccer Camp a few weeks ago and LOVED it!  I think we're going to try a season this fall.  I gotta say, I'm a lot more comfortable becoming a soccer mom than the dance mom from last year, tomboy that I am.  And she's pretty adorable in her shin guards!

Disney Pictures!

I keep saying that I'm going to post pictures of our Disney World trip...so I'm finally going to live up to my word.  Only took, what, 3 weeks?  First, a few thoughts on planning a Disney vacation with a little one:

• Free Dining Week - Hell to the yes.  The week we went (and a few others during the slow month of February), if you stayed at a Disney resort, you got the Disney Dining Plan for free.  Staying at a moderate resort, we got one table-service meal, one quick-service (counter) meal and one snack a day each.  That adds up to a lot of food, especially when one of your group is primarily g-tube fed.  This is by far the best deal Disney offers, which is why they do it in their slow times.  This is such a good deal that I figure we'll do it at least one more time, pulling the kiddos out of school, even though the Boo will likely be in elementary school the next time we go.  We also decided that whenever we go outside of free dining week, we'll bit the bullet and buy the dining plan ahead of time so that we aren't stressing out every time we eat, 'cause it ain't cheap.  Most of the food we had was delicious, but, yeah, you pay for.  (Unless you don't.  Like we didn't.)
• Everybody told us we should stay "on property," meaning at a Disney resort, and I'm so glad we did.  We went back to our hotel most every day for naps for Becca and me (some days more me than Becca!), and it was so much easier than making a commute that locked us into our plans for the day.  And with the dining deal, it was probably even cheaper that way.  We stayed at Coronado Springs, which was fine, but next time we'll probably stay at a different moderate resort - not that there was anything wrong with it, and I'd recommend it, but there are so many fun-looking ones that it would be nice to try another one.  When I'm rich, we'll stay at the Polynesian.  It was really cool.
• The "park hopper" option on the tickets is a must.  It's pricier than you would think, but it was definitely worth it to have maximum flexibility.  We often spent half a day at one park, went to the hotel for a break, and spent the evening in another park.  It also enabled us to see most of the parks in the day and at night, which is cool because they are all different at night. 
• Character meals were a BIG hit with Becca.  That's where most of the pictures below were taken.  Becca LOVES anything in character, so it was truly magical for her to get to chat with the princesses, hug on Mickey, and counsel Eeyore ("Eeyore, don't be sad!  It's okay!).  Since we were on the dining plan, we did several character meals - otherwise, we probably would have scaled back since they seem to be more expensive than the regular table-service meals.  It was so nice to see the characters this way instead of waiting in long lines to see everyone.  We still waited for a few characters, but all of our must-see's were covered with our meals.  Some of our favorites included breakfast at O'Hana (with Lilo, Stitch, Pluto and Mickey) and the princess lunch at Norway in Epcot.  (The other princess meal option is in Cinderella's castle, which would have been cool, but it counted as TWO meals for each person - no, thank you.  We got lots of time with Belle, Cinderella, Snow White, Ariel and Sleeping Beauty at the Epcot one.)
• We made sure to make time for swimming.  Our hotel had a little pool near each building and one big pool in the center of the resort.  I had read something about how when you ask kids what their favorite part of the Disney vacation was, the majority of kids say swimming at the hotel.  I know that can drive parents crazy (hello, we can swim at the rec center 2 miles from our house!), but Becca loves the water, too, so we made sure to swim 3 times or so.  The pools are heated, but even so, in the first week of March we had to watch the weather to schedule our trips to the pool.  Once it was so cold that Becca's lips turned blue, but she still refused to get out.  (We went all responsible parent on her and made her get out anyway.)
• One of the beautiful things about going to Disney with a kid Becca's age (3.5) is that if we didn't tell her it was there, she didn't know - so if we knew we weren't going to do something (ride the Teacups, for instance - I wasn't going near them nauseous, and John's no fan either), she didn't know what she was missing.  That mindset also freed us up to take it slowly, since we didn't have to do everything. 
• Don't believe people who tell you to skip Epcot with little kids.  Of course, Becca is our little scientist, so it was no surprise that she'd be into things like Innoventions and the Imagination Lab at the end of Figment, but Epcot turned out to be her favorite park.  We rode Nemo 3 times, Figment 3 times and Spaceship Earth (in the big ball) 3 times.  She loved Fantasy Land, of course (with Peter Pan, Winnie the Pooh, and It's a Small World), but she picked Epcot when she got to decide where we were going. 
• We downloaded (and actually paid for) an app from touringplans.com - it was awesome.  It gave us real-time wait-times for every attraction in the parks.  That made it really easy for us to avoid disappointment - instead of telling Becca we were going to such and such ride, getting there and finding that the line was too long, we were able to check the wait times and give her options.  (And yeah, she definitely didn't understand the concept of going to a ride to check the wait time - if we walked to it, we had to ride it). 

Okay, enough words.  Here's a Disney photobomb!

Okay, this post is getting ridiculously huge, and I'm only halfway through the pictures, so I'll save the rest for another post. 

Even Though She's Very Small...

...inside she's very TALL!  

After Trunk-or-Treating as a very SCARY MONSTER at church and dancing as Tinkerbell at ballet, Becca finally settled on (with my, um, encouragement) being Madeline for real trick-or-treating.  I was really excited about this idea because she's been on a Madeline kick lately, she's as adorable, tiny and mischievous as Madeline, and it was the warmest of the three costumes, which became important by Halloween night.  It was an assembled-at-home costume, thanks mostly to the adorable blue wool coat we picked up at our church's clothing giveaway this fall.  Add a peter pan collar and a red bow, and voila! - Madeline.  Or, at least, close enough to Madeline to convince a 3-year-old.

We had a great time hanging out with our friends (and Becca's other family), the Lovells, where Halloween night is a BIG deal.  They don't mess around with the candy.  Here's what they had to give out:

And, yes, those are full-sized candy bars!  And, yes, if you answer your question correctly, you get several of them!  Tammy is 3rd-grade teacher, so she knows just what kind of question each kid ought to be able to answer.  She even made me explain the difference between Arminianism and Calvinism.  Makes me think that the Board of Ordained Ministry might be well-served to pass out chocolate as they ask their questions.

But back to Becca.  She had a great time being Madeline...

I had a great time being a butterfly (and silly!)...

And John had a good time being...John!  (Actually, he wasn't feeling too hot, so he bailed shortly after we took Becca around the cul-de-sac.)

Becca even picked up a little French!

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Next Time Won't You...?

So we get a little distracted at the end...she's only 3!

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Our First Ambulance Ride

Wohoo!  I first I was hoping would never come...

I have a migraine and it's been an awfully long week/end, so I'm going just the fact on you here.  Perhaps I'll add some reflection later. 

Last Friday, Becca had 2 ticks we pulled off of her.  Saturday, she had another.

Becca threw up on the way to therapy on Wednesday morning.  She'd started getting a little cough and threw up.  Not altogether odd, but a little unusual for it to happen in the car.  And really gross.  Big props to Miss Ashley for helping clean her up.  Probably not in her job description.

Thursday morning, we got Becca up for school and found that she had thrown up in the middle of the night and slept in it.  Ew.  Again, a little unusual, as she usually wakes up.  Just as we were walking out the door on Thursday morning, she threw up again.  A pain, but not unusual because she was coughing.  She went to school (this is so common for Becca that it doesn't keep her out of school), we went to work. 

I pick her up at school at 3.  Her teachers mention that she threw up her bolus feed (again, not unusual - but I'm noticing a pattern here) and that her eyes had just started to look a little red.  Almost everyone in her class (including both teachers) have had pinkeye in the past week, so they thought Becca was finally catching it, too.  As I held her, I noticed that she felt hot, so we took her temperature - 101.5.  I got the heck out of dodge and called the pediatrician so they would know we were on our way.

We get to the ped and thankfully our regular doctor was in.  (God bless Mark Rawls.)  Of course, they take her temp, and she doesn't have a fever, but she has lost 3 ounces since the day before.  I give him the story, he examines her, she throws up all over me, she acts SUPER puny, he gets concerned in that I'm-not-going-to-worry-the-anxious-mother pediatrician kind of way.  I didn't realize how concerned he was until I asked him about a general developmental thing and he saids, "Let's not worry about that right now and focus on the illness at hand,"even though he's always willing to discuss developmental stuff ad naseaum with me. 

He was particularly worried about the tick bites and went back and forth about whether we should do labs, start antibiotics or both.  We opted to start the meds and do the labs, which would not be definitive for tick-borne illness (hence the question in whether to both with them if we were going to treat anyway), but could show us some common indicators for ehrlichiosis.  (Google it and pick a reputable website.  I'm out of energy to do it for you.)  We had the blood drawn, which was miserable, and Becca cried for the next 45 minutes while we made our way over to the children's hospital to pick up the prescription b/c regular pharmacies wouldn't have it.  There's a problem with the insurance, etc., we can't get it until the next day unless we pay out of pocket, blah blah blah.  So I shell out the cash and get the heck out of dodge. 

Becca actually asked to eat (!!), so we stop for dinner and our friend Emily joins us.  Becca's actually happy for the first bit of dinner (she LOVES Emily), but then she gets super-fussy.  While we're eating, Dr. Rawls calls (that rhymes!) and says that he's glad we're doing the medicine because her labs are suspicious - platelets are low, one kind of white blood cell is high and another is low, liver enzymes are elevated (which she has a history of).  Of course, she hasn't actually started the antibiotics yet because I don't have the right syringe to fit into her Mic-Key button, and she's sure as heck not going to take it by mouth.  Oh, and even though she asks, Becca doesn't actually eat much of anything. 

We head to the car, and Becca perks up.  She's happy to be outside, says goodbye to Emily approximately 25 times, starts singing.  We're halfway home (from Green Hills for you Nashville folk), and she's still singing "Happy Birthday" to Emily (which we sang to Emily 3 weeks ago).  It's dark by now, after 7 pm, and at some point she stops singing.  At exit 65 (Hwy. 96), I notice that her right arm is sticking up at an odd angle, and I reach back to hold her hand, and it's rigid and shaking.  She won't answer me, and I can't really see what's going on.  I can't pull over because I'm in the middle of a major construction zone.  It's raining a little bit.  I know there's some places I could cross the median and head back towards the hospital but I can't see them.  I end up talking to her, trying to get her to respond, holding her hand and calling 911 while driving a.l.l. t.h.e. w.a.y. to the next exit, #61 (Peytonsville Rd./Goose Creek). 

I pull into the Shell parking lot.  I want the 911 dispatcher that my phone is about to die and have them have someone call John and tell him to meet us at the hospital.  My phone dies.  Becca has stopped seizing by now, but she's still non-responsive.  She's breathing fine and her color looks okay, as far as I can tell in the dark parking lot, but she won't answer me or look at me.  I panic slightly, trying to find somewhere to park the car that doesn't have a tow away sign (funny where my anxiety goes, isn't it?), park, and pull her out of her seat.  I start throwing things in bags (I carry a bunch of crap in my car), keep working with Becca, and wait for the ambulance, which arrives after just a couple of minutes. 

My new best friend, Amy, and her partner check Becca out, see that she's stable, send the firefighters away when they get there with their siren blaring.  Check her blood sugar - 95 - beautiful.  Check her O2 sats - fine.  Pulse - fine.  Responding some but definitely NOT acting like Becca.  They ask if I want to use our carseat or theirs, so I grab ours.  (How weird is that to think about?  They put her in her carseat and hooked the carseat to the gurney.  Makes sense, but odd.)  Nice EMT guy whose name I don't know tells the gas station guys not to tow my car.

We make our way to the hospital (25 miles or so?) without the sirens, which I learn you only get if you are dying.  No thanks.  I borrow dude's phone to call the pediatrician and almost yell at the answering service when they keep asking their usual inane questions ("what's her approximate weight?  R as in rabbit, e as in elephant, b as in boy..." etc.) and tell them just to page the damn doctor and tell him that we're on our way to the emergency room.  Becca is distraught at this point, but Amy and I finally get her to calm down a little bit to sing her favorite line - "aaaall true da town" in "Wheels on the Bus" in between tears.  Super pitiful.  As we pull in to the ambulance bay, Dr. Rawls calls the guy's cell, and I tell him the whole story in what turns out to be the first of about 1,400,032 renditions of it.  No, that's already the third because I've already told the dispatcher and the EMT's. 

John's out in the waiting room at this point and I ask the nurses to go get him but they keep asking me questions while he just waits out there.  Annoying.  He always makes Becca happy and I'd kind of like to see him at this point, too.  You've got about 15 people just standing around who could get him. 

Oh yeah, Becca threw up in the ambulance, too.  And another time while being checked in.  And another time.  And one more time, I think.  I'm still wearing my vomity clothes from earlier anyway.  She's had a slight fever when the EMT's got her, so they tried to give her Tylenol and she throws it up.  (Fever's only 99.9, so it doesn't seem like a febrile seizure, which are not caused by high temps but by quick spikes in temps, but with one that low it couldn't have "spiked" all that quickly.  And I think the kind of seizure looks different or something like that.)

But back to the hospital - we see a million doctors, but there's no mad rushing around or anything.  She's definitely stable at this point, though definitely not well.  The nurse tries to tell me that I can't hold her while they put an IV in, which I tell her (in more polite terms) is total bullshit and I will be holding her, thank you very much.  (Do I hear a cheer from my child life friends?) 

We get a Mic-Key button extension and give her the first dose of the antibiotic.  ER doc is also thinking that it could be ehrlichiosis.  It's rare to have such a serious reaction but it's certainly not unheard of; in fact, every year a few kids in Tennessee die from it.  (One of my dear reader's child had a very severe case of it last summer, in fact - Valerie, I've been thinking about you guys for days now!)  Even though she's stabilized now, they want to keep her for a while to observe her in case this is the beginning of things going very badly very quickly, as it's known to do with kids her age exposed to ehrlichiosis. 

Flashing back to the night that I spent in the ER in the CRIB with Becca last summer, I immediately start lobbying for a cot for me.  (The cots are awful but definitely better than the crib.)  Of course, the hospital is full, like it always is (build the darn expansion already, please!  Donors, do you hear me?) but they think they maaay be able to get us a room.  Such a tease.  I do try to make the case, though that after you've spent 150 nights in the hospital, you ought to get bumped to the top of the bed board.  We don't get a real room, but we do get bumped over to the observation area, which is much nicer than the ED - it's bigger, we share a bathroom with the folks next door instead of using the emergency bathroom in the hall that gets REALLY gross as the night wears on, and Dr. Rawls will be our attending instead of the ER doc (who is lovely but doesn't know my kid).  I get a cot, but I do end up spending a couple of hours in the crib b/c Becca keeps waking up thoroughly confused (of course). 

I've pushed for them to start her feeds or to give her the very strong sugar water IV fluids so as to avoid a repeat of the Emergency Department Blood Sugar Debacle of 2010, so they get her milk and get it going.  She doesn't have to be hooked up to any monitors or anything and the residents on duty assure me that I'll wake up if she has another seizure.  They just want her to be at the hospital in case anything does happen, which sounds like a good plan to me.  We deal with logistics: John swings by Mapco to get me some essentials and heads home to take care of the poor pups who have now been in their crate for 14 hours.  (Mental note: give housekey back to our key-keeping friend, KCC.)  Mark and Marne (from church) have brought John's car to the hospital (Carol dropped him off b/c they were all at a dinner together), and we send them to get my car from the gas station and take it to their house.

Becca and I have a blessedly uneventful (though definitely not restful) night.  I ask the residents if they can find a stuffed animal or soft blanket for her since we don't have any of her loveys with us - silly me thinking the docs would have any clue about this.  Eventually, I ask our Care Partner (m.a.), Princess, for one, and she finds a hot pink/zebra stripe supersoft fleece that will forever be known as Princess Blankey.  Rock star! 

In the morning, I keep expecting doctors to wake us up at 5, but we don't see any until close to 7:30, and Becca even slept until about 7.  They do their assessments; all clear.  Dr. Rawls comes by a little after 8, and the scene is much like the first time we met him after Becca's g-tube surgery- Becca and I are cuddled in the bed while she dozes and he sits in the rocking chair, which I remember because I liked that he didn't stand over us and talk at us.  Good doctor.  He wants us to stick around into the early afternoon to give the antibiotics more time to work (got the 2nd dose that morning) and make sure she's still improving.  By noon, Becca is almost totally herself again, and I'm begging the nurse to call the residents to discharge us.  (We'd already gone on a few hospital adventures and when John got back and took her on a walk, they even saw Miss Melissa!) 

The orders come through and we have the easiest discharge ever.  The nurse (Hope - who is awesome) encourages me to hold Becca while they remove the IV.  Becca's now covered in Dora Band-aids not because she is covered in boo boo's but because she loves Band-aids, and I had happened to buy a box at the pharmacy, so with every unpleasantness she got a new Band-aid.  She still won't let us take them off.  ("Leeb it oooooon ban-ai!") 

Becca falls asleep on the way home and climbs into bed as soon as she can.  She sleeps for 4 hours.  I get home little bit later (stopped to get my car and pick up some food) and also sleep for 4 hours.  She and I repeated the pattern this morning - the nap that is, not the hospital run.  She's been pretty pitiful and puny today; she obviously still doesn't feel very good.  She threw up last night (like normal) and after her bath this morning, she REALLY didn't want me to brush her hair - hiding it under a hat from me and everything - so I'm thinking her head was hurting. 

So - what did/does she have?  It could be a random virus.  It could be ehrlichiosis.  It could be both.  They drew blood to run tests for ehrlichiosis but they won't be back for a few days (that's why we didn't run those tests to begin with - you've GOT to start the antibiotics before the results come back anyway).  Will she be okay?  Should be, even if it is erhlichiosis.  The antibiotics are pretty awesome (doxycycline).  Will she have another seizure?  Maybe.  It could be the seizure activity is isolated to this particular illness.  It could be that she'll be prone to having seizures when she's sick.  If that's it, most kids grow out of us by the time they are about 5.  There's a very, very, very small chance (maybe 5%) that she has a form of epilepsy, but unless she has another seizure, we're not even going to see a neurologist.  We do have a prescription for an emergency medicine to give her if she has another seizure, but Dr. Rawls thinks that we won't need it - he wasn't even going to write it for us, but the residents did, and he agreed that it's a good thing to keep at home, though we don't have to mess with taking it to school, training all her caregivers, etc.  (Thank goodness - we're about to get so complicated that only nurses can take care of her!) 

Here's the bit that I find oddly encouraging: Dr. Rawls said that nothing they did for her was based on her history.  We may have acted more quickly because of her history, but they would have essentially done the same thing for any other 2.5 year old with the same issues and a recent tick bite.  So this was actually a regular old kid illness, not a preemie thing.  How 'bout that?!

Big Girl Bed!

(As opposed to the "Big Girl Bed?" post from last week.)

We did it!  I bought Becca's big girl bed today (after making 4 trips to 3 stores - ugh)!  She's sleeping in it now.  I just went and check on her - she's all snuggled up, just like she normally is in her crib.  It's a toddler bed (we figured she'd fit in that for quite a while!), but John managed to finagle a bed rail for a twin bed so that the whole side is fenced in.  With all of her blankets and pillows, it looks like a little Becca nest.  She was quiet by the time I walked out of the room and hasn't made a peep since.  I expect that she may get confused when she wakes up in the middle of the night, but we'll see.  It seems the hardest part of it all just may be the assembly process.  (That was...difficult.  I guess $58 beds aren't known for their ease of use, especially when a VERY excited 2-year-old is trying to help.)

But then again, the hardest part was probably the bittersweet/ambivalent mama staring at the crib and realizing that she likely won't ever be putting her baby girl to sleep in there again.  For some reason, I didn't see that coming.  BUT.  She is a big girl, and that has been the goal all along.  I'm supposed to work myself out of a job, after all.

But if I ask her, Becca still tells me that she's Mama's Baby Girl.  And she is.

I'll update tomorrow and add some pictures!

Things I Forgot To Say: Becca's First Boat Ride

I've mentioned before that my parents now live in a magical fairyland of old people active retirees on Tellico Lake.  Originally, they bought a ski boat to take out on the lake, but the soon traded it in for a pontoon boat because, according to my mother, "It's hard to drink wine in a ski boat."  I love everything about that statement.  Pontoon boats, as luck would have it, are also a lot better suited to the youngest of passengers, which is important because Becca's got 7 cousins on that side.  Several weeks after her g-tube surgery, on Labor Day, we finally got to take Becca on her first boat ride.  Enjoy - we did!

All suited up (in double layers to stay warm) and ready to go! 

Gotta protect those eyes!

Y'all take a break.  I got this.

And now I'll take a break.

Becca liked lying on the floor of the boat.
I joined her and counted it as sensory integration therapy -
lots of vestibular stimulation throughout the ride!

Getting her first driving lesson with Granddaddy

Now we're having fun!

But not as much fun in the water.
The kiddo has so little meat on her bones that she gets cold REALLY quickly.

The view from the boat.  And, no, Grandma and Granddaddy's
house is not *quite* as nice as these.  :)

This picture makes me smile.
SuperDad and his mother-in-law, lounging on the noodles.

Granddaddy rescued Becca from the water and helped her warm back up.

She then went about exploring the boat a bit more...and found this storage cabinet.

SuperMom was worn out and took advantage of the
opportunity for a nap in the sun.  Nice.

Back at the house, hanging out on the porch...and trying to decide
 if she should let Mommy open the door to join her.

The Snowy Day

For the third time this winter, we've gotten a few inches of snow on the ground!  It seems like this is going to be one of the snowiest winters in Tennessee's recent history.  Or maybe I'm just noticing it more this year because Becca actually likes to play in the snow this year.  When she and I went out in it today, she even walked in the snow without me!  This is a significant improvement in her perception of the snow (remember, anything getting on your hands, clothes, etc is taboo) and in her motor planning, since it takes a bit more coordination to walk on a surface that shifts beneath you.  I was very proud of how she played today!  

We built a snowman,

Whom she "hugged,"

And "kissed," 

And to whom she said, "Ho ho ho!"

(Becca learned to sing "Frosty, the Snowman" at school, and she loves snowmen now.  Note the carrot nose - that was very important to her.)

We made a snow angel, after which she kept requesting (via signs and words) "more sho-andel!"  

So Mommy made one beside her:

 But then she realized she was "duck," which is Becca-speak for "stuck."  Actually, she was eventually able to get up on her own - another great PT workout!

And we explored (after the dogs dug up the mulch through 3 inches of snow!):  

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(And, yes, that was "Uh-oh, Dettios!" you heard her say!  I'm not sure where she learned how to (kind of) say, "Uh-oh, Spaghetti-O's," but I never tire of hearing it!)

Christmas in Pictures

Our Christmas celebration got off to a rough start, what with 352 miles to drive after Christmas Eve services and a significant (for the south) snowstorm that hit us just as we hit the road.  Even after our sage senior pastor suggested we skip the second service and leave a few hours earlier than planned, we ended up in the middle of the storm.  It was a heckuva drive, with the car loaded down, 2 dogs in the back, Becca on her feeding pump (she threw up, of course), and (eventually) several inches of snow on the interstate.  Though we were really hoping to make it to Ashland, Kentucky (John's home town) before Christmas morning, we ended up giving up on the east side of Lexington and spent the remainder of the night in a not-so-Best Western in Winchester.  We didn't have a crib for Becca, so she and I (tried) to sleep in a double bed together, while John attempted to keep the dogs in the other bed with him.  That didn't work so well...any of it...the dogs, the beds, the sleeping.  I think the low point was when Becca and I were laying in bed together, and she threw up on my face.  Merry Christmas, y'all. 

BUT - by the time we left the next morning (after a grand total of 3 hours of sleep), the mysterious Christmas plowmen had cleared the roads, and we had a fabulous trip from there on out.*  Here are some of the cuter moments of our week in Ashland.

Even though John's, you know, calling from God kept us from Nanny's house on Christmas Eve (and, believe me, a calling from God is about the only thing that gets you an excused absence from Nanny's), we did make it to town early enough on Christmas morning to join John's extended family for the tail end of the traditional Christmas breakfast and stocking-opening.  I intentionally left Becca in her p.j.'s when we left the hotel because every kid should open presents in their "jammies" (as Becca says) on Christmas morning.  

Becca loved playing with Nanny's decorations!

She was WAAAY into her stockings this year - literally and figuratively!

Becca is ALWAYS happy to see her Aunt Jen Jen - and to eat a lollipop!

We finally got to meet our newest cousin, baby Jillian, who was kind enough to
share one of her many Sing-a-ma-jigs with Becca.  Jillian is so adorable and cuddly!

As you can tell from this picture of John and the one of me above it, SuperDad and I were not feeling
so Super after our super-fun Christmas Eve.  Didn't phase Becca, though - especially since she had so
many other folks to pay attention to her!  She's in the background with Nanny and cousin Jayden.

After breakfast, we went back to Nana and G.G.'s house to open presents.  There were, um, a few packages to be unwrapped, especially in Becca's pile.  

Don't mind the reflective dog in the middle of the shot.  With 4 of them in the house,
they were in the middle of everything (but were very well-behaved, surprisingly!).

Becca liked all of her presents (and the process of opening them), but she really, really liked these
adorable slipper socks from Aunt Jen.  She just had to get up and dance around in them - so cute!
(It's not the greatest shot, but YOU try to take a picture of a dancing toddler!)

That evening, the extended family got together again for Christmas dinner at Nana and G.G.'s.  (The Hitchcock family doesn't mess around with holidays!  They like to celebrate as much as possible! :) )  I love this picture of Nana and her sister, Aunt Robyn, and their youngest grandgirls (as Nana likes to call them), Becca and Jillian.  (They may kill me for putting them on the blog, but I think they look sweet!)

The rest of the week was spent in general family togetherness, very laid-back.  It was wonderful!  John and I even got to sneak out and see TWO movies at the Ashland theater - where it's only $3 a pop for first-run movies!  Love that bargain!  Here are some highlights:

On Sunday morning, we got to attend church as a family, like normal people.
It was nice to  be back at South Ashland UMC, John's home church.
 Becca got to wear her Christmas dress again.  Here she is posing after church.

Aunt Robyn runs a salon and is great about making us beautiful when we visit.  This time,
 Becca got her first-ever Aunt Robyn haircut!  She did great - she really liked it!  Robyn
didn't take off much but she did rescue Becca from the emerging mullet.  

Again, Becca had fun playing with the decorations, especially the jingle bells.
You can also see how much better her hair looks now!

There was lots of lazing about, and Becca bounced from lap to lap.  If you were sitting down,
you could bet that you'd have a dog lying near you in about 2 seconds. I think that's Katie,
one of the scotties, behind John, and Sasha T. Dog on his right.

There was also lots of eating out, during which Becca cooperated less and less
as the week progressed.  I mean, who wants to sit still long enough for us slow
grown-ups to order, wait and eat?  Guess I can't blame her.

And this is unbelievable - there is a ROCKET in the Ashland mall!
Who knew that Eastern Kentucky had such a well-developed space program?
Needless tosay, this ride was definitely worth its 75 cents!

 * I should say that we had a great trip from here on out even though all 3 of us ended up sick.  I mention it because it means that every single time we have travelled with Becca, she has gotten sick or sicker than she was.  What's up with that??  John and I had nasty sinus/cold stuff, and Becca's cough and cold got even worse, which made for a good bit of middle-of-the-night vomiting.  But at least it wasn't in my face anymore.  I count that a win.