Christmas 2015----part 1

"You're going to have to take me to get stitches."

Yes, my heart sank before I turned around and saw Daddy with his hand wrapped in a towel.  The towel was one that I kept downstairs in our basement to dry Zoi off when she came in out of the rain. The towel was blood soaked.  He had been in the basement working on prepping our concrete floor for new flooring and was grinding some dried glue off of the floor.

It's amazing how fast thoughts can spin around in your head.  It was 8 pm, the Tuesday before Christmas,  I had just gotten out of the shower and was standing in my pj's in the kitchen with wet hair.  I had just given Bobby night time cold medicine because he was so congested from a cold, that he had been having difficulty sleeping the past few nights.

First thought, OH MY GOD DADDY IS HURT.  I know this because, getting him to the doctor is a major feat, and for him to ask to go.......oh no!!!!

Second thought, there is no way I can take Bobby into the hospital to wait on Daddy.  Third thought, I don't have time to take Bobby somewhere or wait for someone to come and help with him.  Forth thought, run upstairs and get dressed!!!  Oh, get Bobby dressed too.

Less than 5 minutes later we were on the way to the doctor.  Drove to urgent care first.....the staff was getting into their cars, they closed at 8....we were 20 minutes too late!!  So we were off to the hospital.  Had no other option than to let Daddy out at the emergency room door and go park the car with Bobby and wait in the car.

30 minutes later he texted me. He had been to xray and his cut was cleaned.  I was happy!!  This was going to be much quicker than I had thought!!  Plus, he was texting me....it must have been his left hand he hurt, I couldn't recall.

Even though Bobby had never been to the back part of this building, he knew exactly where he was. All of his doctors used to be located in the front of the building and he wanted to go in and "push the button!!  ELL-EEE-VA-TORE!!"   Uh, no Bobby, it is 9 pm and you are not going to go run around the hospital and ride the elevators.

"Pee pee potty!!!"  Fine, with all of this stress, Mommy has to go too.  Obviously I hadn't been to the emergency room in years, because now there is an armed police officer and metal detectors to go through to get in.  Darn, I'd hoped to not talk with anyone with my half wet hair.  Had to explain Bobby's Project Lifesaver bracelet, which by the way, did NOT set the detector off, shocking!!

Back to the car to listen to Laurie Berkner's Christmas for the millionth time!!

 All in all everything went well.  However, it took much longer than any of us would have liked.  I didn't want to leave and wait at home (we live 10 minutes away), because I knew in my head that as soon as I left, he would be finished, Bobby would be asleep, I'd have to wake him and all hell would break loose!!  So we stayed.  Daddy walked out of the emergency room at 11:30.....3 long hours for all of us!!  He texted me pics of his finger, but I'll spare you those!!  I'll also spare you the details about the actual visit too....I for one have a very weak stomach.

 Last year we were at the hospital around this time getting Bobby's cast removed, this year getting stitches in Daddy's finger, next year.....I'm wrapping myself in bubble wrap now!!

It has been unseasonably warm this Christmas.  We haven't had our winter coats on yet!! Bobby was bored on Christmas Eve day so I took him to the playground and let him wear his shorts.  I made the mistake of wearing a sweatshirt and was burning up.

We went home and got ready to go to Grandma's for our Christmas Eve tradition.  Super fun thing happened.....Santa came on a firetruck to say hi to all of the kids in her town.

 Aunt Mimi walked Bobby out to Santa so I could get some pics!!

 Candy cane gift was perfect!!

 Grandma Carolyn in her cute Christmas apron.

 After our annual prime rib dinner, we opened a few gifts.  However, my niece and her fiance are coming in on the 27th from North Carolina.  Gee, it seems like we just saw them!!  So, most of our gifts are still setting under the tree waiting for Christmas Part 2!!!

 Grandma is helping Kaden search for the Christmas pickle hidden in the tree!!

 Bobby loved the sleigh bells. Yeah, those are staying at Grandmas!!

 After gifts it was time to go home and get ready for Santa's arrival!!

Every year, Zoi does a great job of protecting the gifts after Santa's arrival to make sure that all is OK for Bobby on Christmas morning!!

A month or so ago, I woke up with an idea for a gift for Bobby.  I explained my idea to Daddy and he implemented!!  He built Bobby a platform to put in his bedroom to build his roads and bridges and line up all of his favorite toys.  Daddy built it all with scrap wood that he already had!!  

BOBBY LOVED/LOVES IT!!!!

 He didn't want to leave his room and open the rest of his gifts.  I went and gathered a few gifts that he would like for his new platform. He opened them and immediately put them to use!!

He finally came down and opened a couple more of his Santa gifts, but didn't have much interested in opening any more.  So they are under the tree with the rest of our gifts waiting for Ashley and Chris to be here!!  Zoi, on the other hand, had NO problem opening her gift!!

TREATS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Gathering up things right now to head back to Grandma's house for Part 2 of Christmas 2015!!  It's kind of nice that it's not all over in one day!! 

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

She Said YES!!

A couple of weeks ago, I received a call from my mom, who was so excited she could barely contain herself.  "Christopher just called me.  He is going to propose to Ashley (my wonderful niece) on Dec. 20 and wants us to come and be a part of the surprise."

My immediate thought was....there is NO way we can go to NC just days before Christmas, too much to do already!!!  I stopped, thought about it, and realized that Bobby would be done with school for Christmas break on Friday the 18th and I would have to have everything ready by Friday anyway.  A weekend trip might be exactly what we need, to give Bobby some hotel pool fun!!!!!  I called Daddy at work, he could take Monday off from work and we could all drive to NC for the weekend.  Once I let this information sink in for a few minutes, I just knew, no matter what, there was no way we were going to miss this!!!!!!

We left for NC early Saturday morning, after an icy/snowy winter system moved through Friday evening closing roads because of the amount of accidents caused by the ice.  OF COURSE...we have had nothing but 50 and 60 degree days, but the only time that we REALLY want to be on the roads.....this!!! The temps are back to the 60's thru Christmas.  Just one weather issue this whole season, at the worst time.  Luckily we didn't have any problem picking up my mom, whose road was a SOLID SHEET OF ICE.  The roads away from her house were all in pretty good shape.  Thankfully no more road/weather issues.

We  spent the first night of our trip in Wake Forsest. Bobby was so excited that we were in a hotel, and couldn't WAIT to go swimming.  I put his trunks on him and we walked through the hotel to the pool and there was a note on the door:  "Pool is closed until Thursday for painting."  WHAT?????  Are you kidding me??????????????????? Yes, we are looking through the window and I have to tell him no, we can't go in and we have to go back to the room. Luckily there was a pocket door to the bathroom, and this was a new type of door in Bobby's World and with his fascination of different types of doors, it kept him occupied for hours!!!

Total added bonus of this trip......we got to spend some time with my beloved niece Kaitlin and hand deliver her Christmas gifts instead of putting them in the mail.  Due to her work schedule, she probably won't make it here for the Christmas holiday, but our fingers are crossed that she may make it to WV!!  It was so warm that we opened gifts in the outdoor area by our hotel.  Bobby wasn't feeling well and he wanted to sit in the car and listen to his favorite Christmas music CD.  Quite funny hearing Laurie Berkner's Christmas blaring from our parked car while we were at the picnic area opening gifts!!

After breakfast and gifts with Kait, she was off to work and we were off to Wilson for the surprise proposal.

Ashley had an appointment at the nail salon with a couple of girls.  While there she received a card, which sent her on a scavenger hunt around Barton College, where she and Chris met. At different locations, she was handed a different card from their friends.

While the hunt was going on, we, as well as Chris's family, arrived to be a part of the surprise. Bobby played outside while the party staging was going on....

 No Bobby, that is not a soccer ball. LOL!!

 Waiting was the hardest part!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Chris received a text from the last stop.....time for the party guests to hide so that he could pop the question when she walked in and then we all would come out!!!  This seemed like the longest 5 minutes EVER!!!!!!!!

I don't have pictures of the actual down on one knee question because we were in the other room, but we all definitely wanted pics so they reposed in front of the Christmas tree!!

 Just in case you can't tell by the smile on her face.....she said "YES"!!!!!!!!

 Let this party begin!!!  Bring out the guests!!!!!

The homeowners could not have been more gracious.  Part of planning this party on their part....a kid coming with autism that they don't know without Ashley's input on his needs.  Bobby had plenty of space upstairs to get away from the party with a tv area and a few spare bedrooms to choose from to hang out.  He made himself at home, hung out on the couch and watch Dora and Lazy Town and enjoyed the views out of the window of one of the bedrooms.  He was perfectly content.  He even asked party goers who came upstairs to tickle him!!  Oh, the joys of living without social norms, asking total strangers for a quick tickle!!!!

I met someone who at the party who takes more pictures than I do!!!  And I mean MORE!!!!!!!!! So there are tons and tons of wonderful pics of this great event.

Their Barton College friends who helped pull this off!!!

 Ashley with her in-laws to be!!

 Chris with his in-laws to be!!!

The beautiful happy couple!!!!!!!!

After many of the party guests left, Bobby ventured downstairs and even sat down and had a little to eat.

Bobby let us know that he was ready to go, so we said our good-byes and headed off to our hotel in Wilson.  Big question at check-in....is the pool open?????

Whoo hoo!!  Bobby got to chill out after the party stress.  Even more perfect, there was no one else in the pool area.  Time to decompress!!!

Bobby made it through the party, at a strange house, in a strange place, with a house full of strangers and did a good job!!!

Ashley is a smart girl, so when she got the first card, I'm confident she knew what was going to happen!!!  But when the WV crew and Chris's family came out from behind the wall along side their friends, Ashley fell to her knees.  She was truly surprised!!!!!!!  Great job pulling this off Christopher!!!!!  Congratulations to you both and best wishes for a lifetime of happiness like you experienced on Sunday!!!!!! And Chris......thank you so very much for thinking of including us in all of this happiness.  Welcome to the family!!!

True surprise on this girl's face!!