2009 Christmas Card

Usually every year I know what I'm going to do months (sometimes a whole year) ahead of time. But this year - I just really had nothing. I had no fun, creative ideas and really couldn't decide what I wanted to do. We took some photos of the boys playing in a 'rock band' and thought we would use those, but I just really didn't feel it. Here's a few of those....

Here's Andy and Ben...

I couldn't find these on my computer - so copied them off of David's facebook.

And Will....

I got this hat in New York. I thought it was totally cool and fit Will's personality to a tee.

I think I had decided not to do a card (almost), and then I got the coolest card ever from my girlfriend, Michi. And suddenly I had an idea. I took the boys down to the creek by my house and let them just walk around and play. No pressure at all! Just have fun and maybe mommy will snap a few pictures! So that's what we did. From that, came our Christmas card!

Front of card....

back of card....

If you didn't get a Christmas card from me, and you want one - please make sure I have your address for next year and I'll be sure and get one out to you.

It's Christmas Time in the Wilke Family .....

Christmas is always such a fun season for us! The boys are getting old enough to really understand the true meaning of Christmas! And Ben's almost at the age to where he's figuring out about St. Nick. I actually think he knows ... he's just not ready to give up the magic : )

12/1/09: We finally got around to putting up our decorations. And that included the boys trees in their rooms.

Here's Andy, and his tree - in his room ... that he decorated all on his own.

Here's Ben and Will with their tree. I had to crop this picture because as always the boys are in their undies. Very hard to get photos in our house with them wearing clothes.

12/3/09: We loaded up the kids and took them to the Rowlett Tree Lighting. It happened to be FREEZING outside! People were leaving as we were walking off because they couldn't stand the cold. We actually didn't last long either. Just long enough to snap a few photos.

Here we are with the chick-fil-a cows. The boys are interestingly scared of animals in costumes. So of course me, I'm telling them "it's ok, it's only a guy in a costume," rather loudly I was told.

David reminded me not to ruin it for everyone else. Funny, I was not even thinking about it, I

just didn't want the boys to be scared. But I felt bad later. Hopefully I didn't ruin anyones magic.

Here are the boys playing on the Mark Twain statue in front of the library. Funny,
David kept calling it "Einstein" and was wondering why no one else laughed.
Probably not good, but it was only for a quick picture : )

12/4/09: Typically David's mom (Oma) sends the boys chocolate advent calendars. This year - she didn't send them which was ok .... we found these cool lego advent calendars. They had a different lego set for each day to countdown to Christmas! It was pretty cool ... but probably a little too much. I think next year we'll stick to the chocolate advent calendars : )

David, Will & Ben....

Ben...

Will...

H1N1

On Sunday, Ben and Will both woke up with a low-grade fever and had it most of the day. 99.5 for Ben and 100.5 for Will. Will also woke up with a dry cough. I called Will's pulmonologist and he told me to keep an eye on him and call back should his fever go up. On Sunday evening - sometime in the night, Will ended up in our bed. Around 5:30 am - he started coughing. But his cough was different, it was more wet. He was tossing and turning. I reached over and felt of his forehead and he was burning up. I took his temp and it was 104.2. I gave him tylenol, put a feverall patch on his head, started his breathing treatment and called the pulmonologist. He immediately called in tamiflu and said i should give him a dose of Motrin and watch him.

At 9am - the pulmonologist office called me and said they had a 10:30 appt and he needed to come in. At the doctors office - Will didn't have a fever and didn't seem to be sick! He was bouncing off the walls. They did the flu swap and it was definitely positive for H1N1. They gave him a breathing treatment, a dose of tylenol, his tamiflu dose (which I brought with me) and sent us home w/a plan for the upcoming days.

On Tuesday morning, Andy woke up with a low-grade fever (99.5). I called the pediatrician and got an appt. for him. They did the flu swap on him. They said it was positive - but just barely. He was in the first 24 hours. Thankfully - I took him in early. They prescribed Tamiflu for him and then also for Ben - to prevent him from getting it.

Luckily our family had the H1N1 vaccine on October 14. The boys had their first dose (still need the 2nd). Will and Andy didn't seem to feel bad really. There were a few times where they seemed a little down. On Monday - Will acted a little sick, and on Tuesday - Andy did. But other than that - there really wasn't much downtime for them. They both got a little cough and sounded hoarse on day 3. But that really was all there was to it.

So far Ben hasn't caught it. I'm praying he doesn't. He's had a little cough - and they've all had a junky nose.

Date Night!

Jamie was in town for Thanksgiving and she typically will babysit once for us - which we are SO thankful for! David and I were excited to have sometime away to be a couple and be together! Since I was in New York for a week - I was anxious to spend sometime w/my sweet husband.

We went to dinner at Kyoto (which we love) and then went to Best Buy and got the new Google Phone that David's been waiting awhile for. He has been using my old phone and mine was broken. So it was time for an upgrade!

We had a great time and really savor these times that we can be together. We can't wait for next time!

New York!

I went to NYC the week of Thanksgiving with my friend, Dena and her kids. Dena's daughter was chosen to perform in the Macy's Day Parade. I have always wanted to see the Macy's parade - and was so thankful to be able to go along.

David and the boys stayed home. I was there for 7 days (November 21-27) and got to see much of NYC. It was a great experience.

Here's a photo of me, Ashlyn and Dena on the plane before take-off ..... (not a good angle for me - makes my head look gigantic!); and then Dena and I with our matching shirts we had made for the trip. Anytime we do something together - we make a shirt : )

This was my 4th trip to NYC so I didn't take part in a lot of the touristy things (Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, Empire State Building, Top of the Rock, etc.). I have seen all of that at least once, so I wanted to spend more time enjoying the city.

I started out the first few days hanging with Dena and her kids. We walked around and saw alot. One of the highlights of my trip was when we were in Times Square and went into the Hershey's Store just to look around. I turned a corner and there was Nancy Lee Grahn (Alexis on General Hospital). I couldn't believe it! She was so awesome and really super nice! She chatted with me a moment and allowed me to take a photo with her. Although not a good shot of me - here it is.

Another place we went into was Toys r Us - which is the biggest in the world (i think). It has a HUGE ferris wheel right in the center. Totally cool! Here is Ashlyn, Dena, Rylan and I standing in front of it.

As I was walking around the store I came across Barbie's House (Yes - Barbies House!) - it was HUGE. Of course I had to go in. They had this huge case of old barbies on display and sure enough they had a barbie in the case that I had and played with as a kid and actually still have. Don't play with it anymore - saving it for my grand-daughter one day : )

More exploring - Here I am in the M&M store. My favorite FAVORITE candy! Yum! Although didn't buy any. Too expensive : )

After a few days, I separated from the others and really started exploring. I was able to stay in 3 different hotels - which was great. I love experiencing different parts of NY. I rode the Tour bus all over the city. It was awesome! I did the night tour as well. It was beautiful - but cold and rainy. Here are some photos taken on the tour!

Radio City Music Hall - My friends and I were able to see the Rockettes and sat on the front row (it was awesome!);

a vendor on the street : )

This photo was from a staircase that is heated and has a great view - it's in the middle of Times Square;

a hot dog vendor in Central Park : )

 

Central Park (closest I got to it - it was so cold outside);

The Ball that drops on NYE;

and Macy's decked out for Christmas

I love this first photo .... read the sign in red "Don't Honk $350 penalty" ... seriously?

How do they enforce that in NYC; WALL STREET : )

Wall Street :)

a very congested area (don't you love it?) ... it's fantastic!;

the Flat-Iron building. Pretty cool, huh?

I got tickets ahead of time for Good Morning America and was able to be a part of the audience

- which was totally cool!

Here I am before the show - in the wee hours of the morning, waiting outside to go in.

I was so early I was 2nd in line : )

Still early - but the line was starting to get long. I made friends, so was able to step away

to go to Starbucks, snap a picture and still get back in line : )

Here I am with Robin holding the awesome sign David made me. It even got on TV for

a split second. Robin was so nice and I couldn't believe how tall and skinny she was.

The main reason I went to NY was for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade - which was a dream come true for me. My whole life I have wanted to go to NYC for the parade and I am so thankful to have had the opportunity to go and experience the parade and New York at Thanksgiving. It was beautiful!

Here's the the start of the parade - taking down street signs and lights to make way for the HUGE balloons; the marching band; and the Statue of Liberty balloon

Two of my favorites ... Cydni Lauper and the Pillsbury Dough Boy : ) I loved Cyndi Lauper as a child and I still love the Pillsbury Dough Boy. Something about him - he's so cute : )

I tried a NY deli sandwich for the first time - and lets just say ..... I have been missing out my whole life. Fantastic! If you ever go to NY - you must have a deli sandwich. I don't know what it is - but they are phenominal! You have to look past the dirt and grime in NY. If I walked into a restuarant here that looked the way the restuarants do there - I would turn around and walk out. But it's NY and everything is dirty! It's fantastic!

Here's a photo of the skyline of NY as I was leaving in the cab headed to the airport to go home. So beautiful!

What can I say? I LOVE NEW YORK!

Here are my hotel reviews:
The first hotel I stayed in was NY Hilton and Towers on 6th avenue. (http://www.newyorkhiltonhotel.com/). I stayed there from Saturday - Tuesday. It was close to Times Square and definitely walking distance to all the touristy things. Rooms were pricey, hotel amenities were great (4 restuarants, bar, Starbucks, convenient store, salon...) . It had crazy amenities. It's like it's on city. However - the rooms were just ok. It definitely was not worth the rate. However - I did get to see the International Emmy Awards Party. That was pretty cool to see lots of famous people come off the red carpet - even though I didn't know who they were : )

Only photo I got of the Hilton....

Second hotel was the Radisson on Lexington Ave (http://www.lexingtonhotelnyc.com/?gclid=CNGi5vvZh6ACFRohnAodNUbWrQ). I stayed I stayed there Tuesday - Thursday. It was alittle ways away from Times Square but was close to the 5th Avenue shopping. It was an older hotel, reasonable rate, the room was remodeled but the bathroom was old and alittle smelly. There was a restuarant in the lobby as well as a Bar and Starbucks. I would definitely stay there again.

Third hotel was the Belvedere Hotel (http://www.belvederehotelnyc.com/?mcid=gc40k2). I stayed there Thursday - Friday. It's on 48th street and it is close to Times Square - walking distance, but the opposite direction of NY Hilton. It is an older hotel that's been remodeled. It had a restuarant in it as well. This hotel was my favorite. The hallways to the rooms were very narrow (very NYish), but the room was awesome. Very modern decor, bathroom looked like that in a model home. It was beautiful. There was a huge closet, and a little area with sink, microwave, coffee maker, refrigerator. It was very reasonable. I will definitely stay there again! It was fantastic!

Beloved Pet and Friend .... Fluffy

Today after 20 WONDERFUL years - I put my sweet cat, Fluffy, to sleep. A year ago, she was diagnosed with mild kidney Failure - which means her kidney's were only working 25%. And unfortunately - they had no idea how fast or slow the disease would progress. Over the last month, my sweet Fluffy started getting very sick. Not only was her kidney disease progressing - but she had an abscess on some of her teeth that was causing her pain. She stopped eating because of her kidneys and the teeth.

She was hospitalized overnight in order to stabilize her while we waited for the bloodtests. It was worse than we thought. Her levels were dangerously high and we knew she was suffering - something I never wanted for my dear sweet girl.

The decision was hard - but I knew I had to let her go. I went to the vet and spent several hours with her before putting her to sleep. I could tell she was very sick. And I am not sure - but I almost think maybe she didn't recognize me. Which is something they say is a symptom when their levels are that high. I talked to her, petted her, and just loved on her. I tried to make myself feel good about this decision. But I was so heartbroken.

I had her cremanted and her ashes given back to me. I look at that box and can't believe that's all I have left of her. My heart is so sad. I know time will heal - but I am really struggling with not having her. This all happened so fast for me and wasn't something I thought I would be doing anytime soon.

I got Fluffy when I was 14 years old. Someone gave her to my brother, Christopher. She was a tiny kitten and she attached herself to me and became mine.

She had a wonderful personality and brought me so much joy! She will be greatly and forever missed!