The Martins: Happy Holidays...A Bit Late.

My new motto is "better late than never!" I rarely seem to get things done on time. Such is life with two VERY busy little ladies running around our home.

I hope that all of our friends and family had a wonderful Christmas. Ours was superb! One of the best memories from this Christmas was lying in bed with Caitlyn Christmas morning and discussing whether or not Santa had been to our house during the night. Caitlyn's response was "I heard jingle bells last night and Santa's reindeer. I heard Santa say "Ho, ho, ho!" and I bet he ate the cookies and had the chocolate milk I left for him!" The look on Caitlyn's eyes when she ran to the living room to realize that Santa DID come to her house was priceless. Oh, to be a child again and to believe in the magic and kindness of Santa!! I clearly remember my older brothers (thank you guys) taking me to my parents' closet and showing me all of the toys that "Santa" had bought for me. It was while we still lived in North Dakota, so I was either in Kindergarten or 1st grade. Hopefully the girls continue to "believe" a bit longer than that...

Once again, our girls were SPOILED beyond belief this year and we are still trying to figure out where to put all of the toys (even after donating a couple of boxes of toys to the local women's shelter). They are getting good use out of their new toys, that's for certain!

The week after Christmas has been a trying one, as Madyson is sick...again. What I thought was just some asthma-like symptoms ended up being a major respiratory infection (early stages of pneumonia as per the pediatrician) and yet another ear infection. My 2 days of "vacation" this week turned into 3 days of nursing my poor baby back to semi-health. A referral has FINALLY been made to a local ENT and we are waiting for his office to call to schedule to get tubes in Madyson's ears. The pediatrician has concluded that her right ear just isn't functioning as it should. I say "DARN YOU RSV!!!" I truly believe that all of Mady's health issues are the result of her having RSV in April. I also truly believe that my poor baby is going to have ongoing respiratory issues, as that's the trend in babies who have RSV prior to turning 6 months old.
Thank goodness I had a wonderful supervisor at work who has been VERY understanding of me having to miss so much work to care for Madyson (yes, past tense...he retired Dec. 31st after 32 years in with Vocational Rehabilitation).

Here's hoping to a wonderful 2010. My hopes for my family this year are: better health for Madyson, continuing happiness and growing friendships for Caitlyn, decreased weight and increased health/fitness for myself, and increased health and the strength to quit chewing for Robert (the girls and I REALLY want you here for years to come, my dear).