Our Five Ring Circus: Our Merry Christmas...Just Not As Expected! (Welcome Wednesday Link Party)

Wednesday, January 17, 2018

Our Merry Christmas...Just Not As Expected! (Welcome Wednesday Link Party)

The Lucky Few

Our Christmas this year was a happy one, but it definitely didn't turn out as expected! If you read my Christmas Eve post, then you know that Liam was not feeling well.  As soon as he woke up on Christmas morning, I knew our holiday was not going to go as planned. We made the most of it, and still managed to have a great day with our loved ones!


This year, my crew woke up earlier than they usually do. They were so excited, and no matter how tired I felt, their excitement was contagious! As a parent, that's one of my favorite things about Christmas!

Christmas Pajamas

We did have to wake Liam up, and he was not happy. I didn't notice the swelling on his face until he walked into the living room. As soon as I saw it, my heart sank. I hoped it was swelling from a sinus infection, but deep down, I had a feeling it was cellulitis again. He didn't look anything like himself!

Down syndrome

Thankfully, the sight of all the presents took his mind off his illness. Although there were a few tears from him (which is very unusual), we made it through all of our favorite Christmas morning traditions! 

The kids took turns opening their presents until wrapping paper covered our living room floor. There's no way I could possibly share every picture I took that morning, so I narrowed down to a few (hahaha...I tried) favorites! Christmas morning with my sweet family is my favorite thing all year!

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With Liam's very meticulous unwrapping skills, it took well over an hour to make it through all the presents from Santa. But every single moment was sweet and memorable. Our kids are always incredibly thankful and excited about every gift they open!

The Lucky Few

The fun wasn't over yet! There was one last present hiding on our Christmas Tree, and stockings to empty!


Santa had an extra "Fun Monkey" in addition to the Fingerlings that he brought, so it became our family pet!

Fingerlings

Fingerlings

Christmas

Lexie and Lily were just as excited to give us gifts that they made in school and gifts that they purchased at their school holiday store. Those gifts are ALWAYS my favorites! And this year, I just might have received a Grandma necklace and Grandma socks. 


I didn't have the heart to tell Lily the necklace she chose for me said Grandma, so I'm sure I will put it to good use someday (and have a funny story to tell)! Lexie knowingly bought me Grandma socks, and insisted I'm a grandma to her bunnies. It was so funny that they both gave me Grandma gifts!

Fatherhood

Motherhood

Siblings

The Lucky Few

Sisters

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The Lucky Few

After our Christmas morning traditions were completed, the kids ran off to play with some of their new gifts, and Grant and I quietly exchanged our gifts. Grant was bummed that my main gift didn't arrived it time (it was worth the wait), but he still had lots of other fun gifts for me. Apparently it was the year of clothing for both of us! 


When we were done with our exchange, we made a big Christmas Brunch, and sat down to eat. Even though Liam was sick, we all had a GREAT Christmas morning together!

Early in the afternoon, my parents showed up to celebrate Christmas with us. They always come over to our house for a gift exchange, which just extends the Christmas excitement! Liam immediately perked up as soon as he spotted his Papa, who just so happens to be his best friend!

The Lucky Few

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While my parents were visiting, Liam began to feel sicker. My mom agreed that it was probably cellulitis. We were supposed to go to my sister's house for dinner, but we weren't sure which direction our evening was going to go. Since she lives a mile from our house, we decided we would stop in for dinner, then head home. 


We had a delicious dinner with my family, then Liam napped in my dad's arms, while the girls played with their cousin, Aubrey, and we enjoyed a quick visit with my family. We couldn't help but feel bummed, because my niece, her husband, and Aubrey are moving to Georgia, and this might be the last Christmas we celebrate together in a long time. (Just typing that makes me cry!)

Cousins

We gathered up our crew for a quick - and very real life - Christmas family photo before heading back home for the night. We usually make at least one or two more visits with family on Christmas evening, but we decided home was the best place for our sick boy!

Christmas Family Picture

We had a quiet evening at home. I held a sleeping Liam while Dylan, Lexie and Lily played with all of their new gifts. Around 1 AM, after everyone was happily sleeping, Grant and I decided we needed to take Liam to the ER. Grant stayed home with the other kids, while I bundled Liam up against the bitter cold, and drove to our local ER. 


Cellulitis

He was sicker than he has ever been before. I felt so bad for him! It's crazy how quickly he went from just having cold symptoms to something much more serious. And such poor timing!

Sure enough, he did have cellulitis, which most likely started from a cut under his nose from wiping it so much. The doctor also suspected a sinus infection, strep and possibly the start of pneumonia. She didn't test for strep or do an xray to check for pneuonia because the antibiotics and steroid he would be receiving for both the cellulitis and sinus infection, would also treat strep and pneumonia, and she didn't want to subject him to any more misery.

Thankfully, the ER was completely empy, and because we caught the cellulitis early before it spread, we were able to go back home after a few hours of receiving treatment in the hospital. He did have a few days of recovery and 10 days of antibiotics ahead of him, but it was much better than an extended hospital stay like the last time he had cellulitis after a nose injury! So for the second year in a row, we ended up in the ER on Christmas night (last year was for Lexie's allergic reaction to nuts)! Better luck next year, right?!?

Cellulitis

Despite Liam's illness, we had a great Christmas together! I do feel bad that he didn't enjoy Christmas as much as he could have, but Dylan, Lexie and Lily had a wonderful Christmas. Plus, we spent it together, so that automatically makes it a great holiday!

Like what you see? Follow along to read more! 

WELCOME WEDNESDAY


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9 comments:

  1. Christmas morning looks so magical with the kids!! Poor Liam, I am so happy you were able to catch it in time though, and here's to no ER visits next Christmas!!

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    1. It was definitely a good morning! And I think that should be our goal for Christmas this year! Haha!

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  2. All in all you definitely made some great memories though! So happy that it was caught early and quickly treated. We'll start praying for a less eventful Christmas in 2018 now :).

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  3. The kids look so happy opening their gifts! You're experience at the hospital sounds like it went as well as it could have considering everything!

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    1. They loved everything this year! And, yes, it was as painless as possible. I'm glad we didn't wait until the following morning. My friend ended up waiting for hours!

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  4. what a great Christmas!! glad everyone is on the mend, seems like there was a lot of sickness this holiday season!!

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    1. Thank you! Yes, everyone we know was sick around the holidays. Hopefully the rest of Winter will be less eventful!

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  5. Always sad when one of them is such over the holidays. Glad you had lots of fun mixed in though.

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