Covid New Year

We were gearing up to finally have some family fun!  Joe, Ally, and their crew were coming in for a long weekend to spend New Years Eve with us!  We couldn't wait to have all of our family over at our house for New Year's Eve and to watch college football playoff games!  And then Erik got Covid!  Ughhhh!  So frustrating how stupid Covid ruined every holiday for us this year!  No New Year's Eve party!  Erik quarantined in our room, and the kids and I watched a movie.  I saw the NY ball drop and fell asleep on the couch!  Oh well!  Then as luck would have it, I ended up getting Covid a week later!  No fun at all!!

Mila did throw a little confetti 😊

Merry Christmas

I was so incredibly excited for Christmas this year because we weren't able to spend time with anyone at Thanksgiving! With the house freshly painted, I was excited to see what our decorations would look like! I also started Christmas shopping in November because I wanted to really enjoy the month of December and focus on the true meaning of Christmas. Well I'm grateful that we got to see Santa with cousins. Soon after that, their whole family got Covid. Pops and Nana drove into town for Christmas and also ended up getting Covid. At least they were all together and were able to get through it with each other. We thought that we would still be able to have our traditional Christmas Eve celebrations, but unfortunately, I was exposed to Covid a few days before Christmas!

Even though I kept having negative tests, I developed a sore throat and chest tightness.  We had to do the right thing and quarantine.  That meant a virtual Christmas Eve with Grandma Joy, watching virtual Mass, postponing Christmas with my family, and settling for a short visit with masks with Pops and Nana.  This was not at all the Christmas that I had imagined, but we made the best of it.

Making cookies with Babtcha

Making pretzel hugs for our neighbors

Best Dido award that Mila picked out all by herself!


Feeling baby Leila kicks!

Goodbye our sweet Bella

With broken hearts, we said goodbye to our Bella. She was such a little fighter! I am so incredibly grateful for the 15 years we had with her! The last year was not easy, but we tried to do everything we could for her. She began having kidney troubles several months ago, so we switched to a lower protein dog food. At the end she started having signs of Cushing's disease, but we decided that starting medicine, repetitive blood work, and different types of treatments would not have helped prolong her life and would have made her uncomfortable and stressed out.

We were grateful that we had several more weeks to snuggle and love on her. My baby girl loved her treats, and when she did not want to eat those, we knew that it was time to say goodbye. I dreaded this day for a long time. It was so heartbreaking for not only us to say goodbye but for Reese and Bella to say goodbye to each other.  I was grateful that my Mom was over with us and that Lisa stopped by to give us all hugs and to say goodbye to Bella.  Little Reese waited at the garage door while we were gone.

With Bella being gone, we have given Reese as much extra love as possible! She has become my little shadow, and has become quite persistent with asking for human food! Natalie and my coworker, Bianca, made us beautiful gifts in remembrance of our sweet Bella.

Things I don't want to forget about our Bella: her trick of rolling over near a bed to hit the edge of the comforter, how vocal she was with her whining when she wanted me, how I could snuggle her and nuzzle with her, and how I could sleep with her like a stuffed animal tucked under my arm.

St. Nicholas Day

Saint Nicholas Day did not disappoint! The kids were so excited to get new Christmas PJs and some very special ornaments. Mila got an art palette since she has been so into drawing and coloring this year! Caleb got a Pokémon ornament since he discovered the world of Pokémon. I loved my ornament from Erik that was two snowmen and the saying "snow in love!" The one I got him said "meet me under the mistletoe!" The kids and I also got special ornaments from Natalie, and I got her one for "expecting this Christmas!"