Christmas 2010

It actually started on the evening of the 23rd. After her shower Olivia came downstairs and was about to sit down on the floor in my bedroom with Tomas and I, when she gasped and stared at me, "I'm having a heart palpitation!"
Of course she had taken off her event monitor for her shower and forgot to put it back on, so upstairs we both go flying. Mike comes running out of his office thinking something is wrong with the baby. But we managed to get it one her and get 2 good recordings. What a crazy, mixed up blessing. She has been wearing that darned monitor for 5 weeks and could not wait to get it off. She was especially worried about wearing her Christmas dress with it on. So you see it really was a blessing that she had a palpitation.
We sent in her event to the cardiology center at the hospital and the montor has been "resting" in the drawer ever since. I'll take it back next week when Tomas goes in for a checkup.

On the 24th the girls sang in choir at a church pageant and then at mass. It was bittersweet for me. Earlier in the week Tomas saw hematology and immunology and among other things they reinforced that Tomas needs to stay away from crowds and germs. Last year Mike and I had to split up since he was sick, and this year we did the same. I went with the girls for the children's mass, and he went to midnight mass. It was this amazing, joyful, triumphant service, but I was alone (girls were with the choir), and missing my men.
Thankfully that feeling did not last long, and we had a lovely Nochebuena dinner once we were home. The girls started their own tradition a few years ago where they open their gifts to each other on Christmas eve. It is so beautiful to watch this blossom as they become more aware of the joy that comes from gift giving.

 and here is Tomas' gift to all of us!

Christmas morning I actually woke up before the girls. There is a first time for everything. We had a lovely morning filled with wrapping paper, chaos, and a baby who tossed and chased shiny bows across the floor all morning.

Christmas breakfast, Christmas dinner and The Nativity Story for Christmas evening. Really a wonderful day only mildly interspersed with medical stuff, which can wait until tomorrow.

There are a few things brewing and I am hoping I can make it through the rest of the year with no doctor's appts.  In the meantime: