The Doolittle Christmas

Well, we survived another Christmas season.  Most of you who know me well know that I am a total Grinch.  I do not enjoy Christmas at all.  I hate decorating, I hate going from place to place, I hate spending so much money on gifts, I hate not knowing if the gift receiver will like the gift, I hate the music, and on and on.  HOWEVER, this year has been very enjoyable.  We drew names for Ryan's family, then bought gifts for only the "kids" with my stepfamily.  It cut down on the cost a lot and that takes away some of the stress.  Actually, Ryan's family was in Florida this year, so we missed all of them a lot.  It did give us one less place to go though.  Not that we don't enjoy going, because we always do and always have fun, but it is also stressful having to schedule all of the get-togethers and make sure we spend plenty of time with each family.  That is hard!  I have missed seeing Ryan's family though, they're always good for laughs. :)  The only commitments we had this year were going to my Dad and Judy's house on Christmas Eve, to open gifts and eat with my stepfamily, then lunch and gifts with my Dad's side of the family.  We had a great time as usual and ate way too much on Christmas Eve.  Go figure!  Colt got lots of new toys and books and even got his very first tablet!  It is called a Meep! and he loves it.  Ryan and I opened our gifts that night after Colt went to bed.  He got me a new Kavu purse, some beautiful scarves, the Phillip Phillips cd, and Season 1 of the Golden Girls. He also snuck a necklace and those beautiful wooden spoons from my WAR party!  He had my friend "buy" them, but they were really for me.  Sneaky. I got him some new shirts, the Hatfields and McCoys tv miniseries on DVD, and a Duck Dynasty shirt.  He outdid me for sure.  :/

Christmas morning, Colt got up and with very sleepy eyes saw his gifts.  He got a new Little Tikes table, lots of new Melissa & Doug puzzles, Play-doh, books, a football, and a new guitar.  He loves music and was recently VERY interested in a friend's guitar, so we bought him a little toddler version.  It even has Lightning McQueen on it, so it's especially great!  In his stocking were some little John Deere tractors (also an obsession) and John Deere socks. He seemed very happy with this gifts.

Christmas Day we went to my Pawpaw's house for lunch, just as we have done for my entire life.  It will never be the same without my grandmother there, but it is getting easier.  My aunt Diane has taken over and done a great job, especially for someone who "doesn't cook."  ;)  My Nana would be proud of her.  Ryan got a very nice LL Bean gift card, I got some Lancome makeup (my favorite to wear, but never buy!) and my first piece of Le Creuset cookwear.

The bad part of the holiday was that the entire time, Colt was sick.  Sunday, after church he was acting a bit weird, but we just figured he was tired.  We went to lunch with my dad and Judy and friend, Julie, to Cracker Barrel.  He let Ryan hold him while we waited for a table and kept acting like he was going to go to sleep.  Well, he finally did and slept fitfully the entire time we ate.  Ryan started to comment on how warm he felt.  We hurried home, knowing something was up (he never sleeps in public!) and took his temp.  It was 104.  I was obviously concerned with the number, but moreso about the way he was acting.  He was completely lethargic.  We called the doctor, they told us to alternate between Tylenol and Motrin just like usual and to go to Urgent Care at the children's hospital as soon as it opened at 6.  We got his fever down a good bit, so we waited to see what was going to happen.  The fever never really went away, but went down.  Finally around 9:45, we decided to take him because I was struggling with putting him to bed with a fever.  At that time, it was 101.4.  By the time we got seen at the Urgent Care less than an hour later it was up again to 103.3.  They thought he had strep because of the condition of his throat, but he didn't.  They said it was a virus and sent us home with a child whose fever at that point was well over 104.  This is a really long story, so we'll skip to the party where for 3 whole days, he had a fever we couldn't control.  I finally took him to our pediatrician yesterday, on day 4, even though we finally broke the fever, he was snotty and coughing.  Ugh.  They tested him for the flu and checked his blood for infections.  Both were okay, so it was a virus.  Dr. Smith said there was a bad virus going around that mimics the flu, so that seemed to be what he had.  So.  Colt really did well going through the festivities even though he felt bad.  The Tylenol and Motrin kept him in pretty good spirits.  :) 

Anyway, this Christmas was much simpler and very enjoyable.  Being excited about Colt and his reaction helped a lot.  I am going to try really hard to not turn him into a Grinch too!  I hope everyone had a great Christmas!  :)

I'll leave you with some pictures to try to sum up our last few days.  :)

Colt and his cousin Tanner.  Best buddies.

Playing piano at Pawpaw's house.

Entertaining himself at the doctor's office.

Colt and his cousins, Tucker and Tanner.

Playing with an old rotary phone.

My new gift!

Dad, Pawpaw, me, and Colt.  Four generations.

Christmas morning! :)