Bad Blogger...BAD!

Yes, it's been brought to my attention that I haven't blogged in quite awhile. In fact, on more than one occassion, I have been told, "I check your blog daily...why haven't you written anything in so long?" So Karen, Bridget, Meg, Christi and Polina...this one's for you.

I'm back.

The truth of the matter is that writing this next entry has been on my mind a lot because there's been so much going on and I knew it would bring a cramp to my fingers to type it all in. But as each day passes and more and more happens, I'm just going to get more bogged down, so I may as well do it now.

The girls had their six month check up last week and all went well. Faith is gaining weight finally and while neither girl is on the chart yet, both are steadily getting bigger. They are so small for their age. You should see them in comparison to other six-month-olds!

More recently, though, is the weigh-in they got yesterday when they got their monthly Synagis shots (RSV vaccinations). Faith weighed 12 lbs, 8 oz and Grace weighed 13 lbs, 4 oz. Wow!

After their appointment last week came Thanksgiving. My dad flew in from Houston (and boy were his arms tired! Ba-da-dum...thanks folks! I'll be here all week! Be sure to tip your waitress!) on Wednesday night and we dined on lasagna at my house that night. Thursday we all convened at ZZ's house and the drinking began promptly at 9:00, when the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade started. What can I say...we're Irish. :)

The day was a hit, but missing something as ZZ's husband, Brian, was in North Carolina with his ailing mom. Evelyn was a cancer survivor back in the early 90s, but it returned about four years ago and she began to lose the battle the week before Thanksgiving. The holiday was wonderful, but it wasn't the same without Brian. There was no one to spend 45 minutes making the gravy.

Sadly, although mercifully, Evelyn passed away the next day. We were all headed to Houston to see the Buller side of the family when ZZ got the call from Brian. We stayed the day at step-sister Heidi's beautiful new home on Lake Houston, letting the kids run around like little hellions. Saturday afternoon, after visiting our mom's grave (nothing like being surrounded by death to get you into the Christmas spirit!), ZZ and her kids left to meet Brian back in San Antonio. They will return to North Carolina next week for Evelyn's memorial service.

Todd, Devin, the twins and I all stayed in Houston and enjoyed some good family time. It was nice to spend time with my step-sisters and my parents although traveling with a toddler and two infants isn't exactly easy. I'd do it again, though. It was worth it.

We returned home just in time for Todd and I to get the flu -- or something of the like. Whatever it was, it hit us like a ton of bricks. On Wednesday night, we tag-teamed with the kids while we both visited the minor emergency clinic down the road (after I had made it home from running an errand just in time to puke in my front yard. Be sure to pick up my new book, "How to Impress Your Neighbors"). Shots of steroids and anti-inflammatories, an antibiotic, a nasal steroid and some anti-viral medication for Todd and a wish-we-could-help-you-out-but-you're-breastfeeding pat on the back for me and we were on our way to healing. Or so we thought.

Turns out, that was just the beginning. The darned illness made its way thoughout my body and kept me in bed for 14 hours on Thursday (I miss college...). I thought I was feeling better on Friday, but our trip to the Christmas tree farm proved that I needed to be in bed.

I woke up feeling much better today, but now Todd is battling the brunt of it. I took the kiddos to ZZ's house this afternoon to celebrate her twins' second birthday and gave Todd about two-and-a-half hours to sleep. I know it wasn't enough, but I hope it helped a little.

Hopefully, we'll all be on the mend soon. The kids seem to be fairing well, although the girls are a little cranky these days. Not much we can do for them, though. Poor things. We've been doing a lot of extra holding time for them. Devin is not happy. You just can't win.

Our annual trip to the Pipe Creek Christmas Tree Farm was a success, despite my overwhelming need to sit down every few feet.

We discovered this place during our first Christmas in San Antonio in 2002. I loved the idea of actually sawing down our own Christmas tree, as we did the same when I was a little girl during the short time we lived in Northern California.

Since then, we've returned every year. Our first year, we were pregnant with Devin and I had horrible morning sickness. It was on this trip that the famous Pizza Hut incident happened (don't know the story? I'll be sure to post about it later).

The next two years we had Devin with us, who became increasingly more interested in helping his Daddy out with the sawing and handling of the tree.

The fourth year found us again pregnant (although not aware that there were TWO!) and me with morning sickness.

And finally, this year, with all three kids in tow, I was nauseus and dehydrated. How is it that three out of the five times we've been to this place, I've been sick? Should I take this as some sort of hint?

Anyhoo...we found a great tree (I fed the girls while Devin and Todd hunted) and got it home safely. Devin helped us trim it last night by putting every ornament he could find on a single limb near the floor. We did a little "rearranging" after he went to bed last night.

I have photos from the trip, which I will post under this date/title, but not tonight. The camera is downstairs and I am upstairs. You do the math. :)

I have lots more to tell, but no more energy with which to do it. That pretty much gets us up-to-date on the goings on in our house, though. The rest of the stuff is fluff -- the Pizza Hut pregnancy story and a ton of updates on the rather creepy, everyone-in-our-family-including-my-ridiculously-pragmatic-father-is-a-believer ghostly encounters in our home.

Merry Christmas.

E