Christmas Mayhem

This Christmas was definitely memorable...for big blessings, sickness and general craziness!!

Our week started out with Brynn being sick (throwing up and feverish) on Monday. She was very upset about being sick, since we had plans to go to Disney World the next day! Tuesday morning she seemed fine, so we headed to Disney with my family. Adam volunteered to stay home with Ryker, since Disney is a sensory overload nightmare for a kid like him. There was one point while waiting for the bus to Magic Kingdom when I was sure Brynn was going to throw up again, but she recovered and made it through the day. This was our first visit to Disney during the holidays, and it was really fun! Cinderella's castle was covered with lights...I was just in awe. They also did a special night time parade where everything is covered with lights - Ellany loved it! 

Isn't it gorgeous?

 Captured by Zurg

Ellany on the carousel - her favorite!

On Christmas Eve, I started feeling feverish. That's right, I spent a large part of Christmas day in bed feeling sick. After we opened presents in the morning, I went back to bed. When I woke up a few hours later, Adam had an interesting story to tell. If you read my "Ryker Escapades" post last month, you know Ryker loves to lock himself in the bathroom and turn on the water in the bathtub. He locked himself in the bathroom again, but this time Adam couldn't get him out! After locking the door, Ryker pulled out the little hair clip drawer and managed to get the hair dryer wedged between the drawer and door. So even after it was unlocked, the door would not open at all. It was completely STUCK!!

As you can imagine, Adam started to panic with his toddler trapped in the bathroom with the water running. The first thing he did was take off the doorknob and try to and get his hand inside. When Adam pushed the doorknob through and it fell to the bathroom floor, Ryker just picked it up and threw it in the bathtub! But the door was still stuck. Seeing no other alternative, Adam then cut a hole in the door. Brynn stuck her arm in and managed to get the drawer closed. When they opened the door, there stood a very wet and happy Ryker playing in the water. He had tossed all kinds of things in the bathtub...see for yourself. (And yes, our bathroom still has 60's pink tile on the walls!)

That evening I felt just well enough to go over to my parent's house for the gift exchange. My brother, Ben, and his family were visiting from Texas. So this was the first time in a VERY long time (12 years?) that all four siblings had been together at Christmas. Well, my family got together and gave us an AMAZING gift! They gave us a backyard fence!!! I have really wanted a fence since we moved into this house 2 years ago. We are right next to a busy road, which makes it impossible to let Ryker play in the yard. He is like a little puppy, wanting to run after the cars without having any fear of them. Ellany also presents a problem. She doesn't fear moving cars or strangers (or anything else!), and would wander off without supervision. Having a fence would also enable us to do lots of sensory activities in the yard. Things like bouncing, swinging, sliding and spinning are all therapeutic for Ellany and Ryker.

I had told Adam that the only thing I wanted for Christmas was a fence, knowing that I wouldn't get one. We have not had the means to buy a fence, so this gift is a huge blessing for us. I am just stunned by the generosity of my family! Our fence should be finished tomorrow. The kids are thrilled and we can't wait to get the trampoline set up. (Since we were in an apartment before we moved here, the tramp hasn't been used for 3 1/2 years!) THANKS, BIGLER FAMILY!!!