It's beginning to look a lot like CHRISTMAS!

*KEEP SCROLLING FOR A POST ON OUR FALL ACTIVITIES!
We have had so much fun decorating our new home for Christmas! And, I have to brag a little...it is December 2 and I am finished decorating, shopping and have only a couple of more gifts to wrap! This leaves the month of December to bake, craft and make lots of memories!

I love that I can put all of my kitchen decor on the tops of my cabinets!

Watching Christmas movies while I got the Christmas trees set-up and ready to decorate!

The Playroom Tree! Lots of bright colors and candy ornaments!

Our main tree! It looks a little different now, I have redone the mesh 3 times now, but I think I have it how I want it now!

I thought Phoenix was old enough to have Christmas presents under the tree...he found the letter with the 'P' on it and tore in! Since then, he has left all the presents alone but there are none of his gifts under the tree.

My first attempt at a mesh wreath. I want to add to it next year, but I'm pretty happy with it for this year!

The picture is a little blurry, but Steve did great on our outdoor lights!

Our Elf Booker returned for the 2nd year! He spends the day watching the kids, makes a trip to the North Pole each evening, and then returns home each night and makes some mischief in the wee hours of the morning! He got into our snacks...

redecorated the tree with the kids' underwear...

cut his hair (because he thought Violet and Phoenix's haircuts were so cute)...

assembled our Gingerbread houses for us to decorate and more!

Friday night we had fun decorating our Gingerbread houses. This is the 1st year that we've done this with Violet and Phoenix and they did really well! It, of course, was a HUGE mess, but so much fun!

I even made my own Gingerbread house! From L-R: Mine, Violet's, Phoenix's and Veronika's. She was with her Mom this weekend so she'll decorate hers when she comes home on Wednesday. 

FALL in Pictures!!!

I haven't blogged in SO long so I thought I would just play catch-up through pictures! We've had a busy Fall, as is pretty consistent these days...especially as the kids get older and are involved in more activities! Between P's Physical and Speech Therapy, Church Activities, Dance and School Stuff, we always are on the go!

In September, Phoenix had his first Cold of the season, which for him immediately turned into a yucky cough! We finally got a nebulizer (I should have done this his first year!)! He is also on a Flovent Inhaler twice a day and he has not had another asthmatic event since September!!! PRAISE THE LORD!

One day we took Evie and Fiona to Chick-Fil-A so Amanda could take Gwen to a check-up. We were not even out of the parking lot and I turned around to P and F holding hands. They love each other so much!

Playing at Chick-Fil-A

We spent a Saturday in October at Motley's Pumpkin Patch. We rode the "Cow" Train, visited the petting zoo, rode the hayride, and watched the Pig Races!

Family Pic at Motley's

Steve took Phoenix on his 1st Overnight Hunting Trip, so Violet and I had a Girls' Night Out! We ate dinner at Taziki's, went shopping at Target, and topped off the night at Yogurt Mountain!

Poppa and Dodi got a new Hot Tub (or Hot Pool as the kids call it). We have all really enjoyed it!

On Halloween, we went to our Church's Fall Fest then Trick or Treated in our neighborhood. Kalyssa got to join us, so we had Captain America, Wonder Woman, a Ladybug and Rapunzel!

Another Girls' Night Out! Daddy took Veronika and Phoenix to the Deer Woods, so Violet and I got some early Christmas Shopping time at The Holiday House!

Halloween again? No, just another day at our home!

To celebrate our 6th Wedding Anniversary, Steve and I went to a cabin in Ponca, AR. This area is popular for Elk viewing. We had a wonderful weekend! We spent 2 nights BY OURSELVES! We hiked to Hawksbill Crag, had some great Elk sightings, relaxed in our Hot Tub and had a wonderful anniversary! This is the 1st time we were away from our kids for two nights (except for my Lap-Band Surgery) and we were so ready to see them by Sunday morning!

Photo Card

Best Gifts Ever Christmas

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Lap Band Update

Yesterday was 6 weeks since my LapBand surgery and I'm feeling great! The first week was rough, I was on liquids for 2 weeks and IT. WAS. HARD.!!! It is imperative for the healing process, but that didn't make it any easier! At two weeks I could start soft foods, I had some baked fish and a few bites of macaroni and cheese from Luby's. I ordered some green beans as well, but they weren't soft enough for my "soft foods" diet. This past Tuesday I went in for my first Fill, they inject saline into my port and it tightens my band. What a weird feeling! I could feel it traveling from my port, through my tubing and tightening my band! I took a few sips of water, the band was too tight, they removed some saline, took a few sips of water, felt great. I now have 2.5 cc's of Saline in my band. I can tell a big difference since then, it's definitely helping to keep me satisfied on smaller portions. I have a 900 calorie goal everyday, before the fill I was going to bed VERY hungry every night, but since my fill I have yet to hit 900 calories and I am not hungry! I still have to work at it, no doubt. I have to CHOOSE to eat my lean proteins first to get my 60 grams of protein everyday. If I wanted to, I could eat chips, dips, ice creams, lot of high fat/calorie "slider" foods; foods that go easily through the band and don't fill me up. I'm hoping I'll be in the "Green Zone" soon; this is the zone for lap band patients where their band is neither too tight or too loose. If you are too loose (Yellow Zone), your band is too open and food goes straight through, you get hungry between meals and aren't satisfied. If you are too tight (Red Zone), you are unable to eat healthy foods without getting them stuck, sometimes people in this zone actually gain weight because the only things that don't get stuck are "slider" foods (i.e. ice cream, chips, dips, etc). In the Green Zone I should be able to eat approximately 1 cup of food or less and stay satisfied for 4 hours until my next meal. At each meal I start out with my protein, eat that, then I can eat my other foods. It's definitely a learning experience! I have to take VERY small bite, like baby size bites, then Chew, Chew, Chew. I can't drink with my meals because that flushes the food out of my stomach quicker, at first I thought that would be really difficult for me, but I really don't miss it now. For sure, weight has NEVER come off this fast! I feel great! In total, I've lost 45 pounds, 10 of those pounds were from my previous weight loss, so, since August 10 (when I started my pre-op diet) I've lost 35 pounds!

1 Week Post-Op

Tomorrow will be 1 week since my Lap-Band Surgery and BOY! what a difference a week makes! I'm not sure I have ever been in as much pain as I was when I first woke up, well, maybe 1 time when I was in labor with Violet, but that's another story.
Thursday (8/23) I had a couple of Pre-Op appointments at Baptist Hospital. I must say, Baptist is a "Bariatric Center of Excellence" and I was so impressed! I had both Violet and Phoenix at Baptist and have NOTHING negative to say about the hospital. Anyway, Paula and then Steve and then Mom kept my kids while I was at these appointment. Afterwards, I picked the kids up and we went to get Veronika and head to their 1st dance class of the year! Things were so crazy I forgot to take a picture of them! Phoenix is "supposed" to be taking dance this year, but so far he's not so sure about it. After dance we went home, ate dinner, got ready for bed and then took the kids to my Mom and Dad's house to spend the night. Then, it was back home for Steve and I. We got our things ready for a Short Hospital Stay and then called it a night.
Friday (8/24) The day started EARLY! My alarm went off at 4am, I popped right out of bed even though it was probably 1am before I was able to fall asleep the night before! I had to shower with a special antiseptic soap. I had Steve take some "Before" pictures for me. I had intended for him to take these the night before when I was still dressed and had make-up on, but I forgot so this is what I have to remember my old self by!

We arrived at the Hospital at 5:30, we waited to be checked in and then they took a large group of patients back together. The family members were dropped off in the Surgery Waiting Area and the patients were taken back to Surgery Prep. I had Steve take this picture of me to send to the kids. I thought they would think I looked pretty silly with my blue hair net on:)

Surgery got started around 7:30, and let me just say, I LOVE me some drugs. I got a shot of Versed in Pre-Op and it felt good! I even apparently told my nurse that I really liked it because I don't drink so it was my only chance to get DRUNK!!! AHHHH! I'm sure they hear all sorts of stuff from drugged up patients, but good grief! I remember getting to the OR and they put a little mask on me and the next thing I new I was waking up in Recovery!

The surgery went well, Dr. W said my liver was a great size (the purpose of the Pre-Op Diet I was on was to shrink the liver to make the operation easier). I also had a small Hiatal Hernia that he repaired.

I spent the night in the hospital where they kept my pain under control quite nicely! 

Saturday morning we were discharged, stopped by the pharmacy and went to pick up the kids. We've never spent 2 nights away from Phoenix and have only spend 2 nights away from Violet when Phoenix was born, we missed them! 

*Tomorrow will be 2 weeks post-op and I would say I'm about 90% back to my normal self. I'm still a little sore, but nothing bad at all. I just got to start "soft" foods, which means pretty much anything except crunchy, dry things and chewy dry meat! I weigh-in again tomorrow, but so far I've lost about 20 lbs. since Aug. 10!

Phoenix

Phoenix turned 3 in July! He is not really too interested in Potty Training, he will occasionally tell us he needs to go pee-pee or poo-poo, but nothing consistent. Right now in "school" we are working on Pre-Writing Skills, ABC's, some letter recognition, and his reward at the end is getting to cut a piece of paper! He goes to Speech Therapy on Monday and Wednesday and Physical Therapy on Wednesday. He LOVES his therapists, Mrs. Katie (PT) has been with him since he started in 2010, he has been with Nicole (ST) since May of 2011. He barely qualifies for PT but we want to leave him in it as long as he needs it. His speech is REALLY taking off! Some days we can understand 90% of what he says. Other days, not so much; but that is pretty characteristic of Apraxia. We all love to listen to him talk and tell us stories, he has learned to compensate with lots of hand gestures and dramatics. He is the sweetest thing, he loves to cuddle and kiss. He also adores babies! I'm pretty sure "Baby Wy-wy" is his favorite person in the world and he loves to hug and kiss Baby Gwen. I have to watch him around babies in public, people aren't typically crazy about a 3 year old touching and kissing their baby! This year he is starting dance with his sisters! He and Violet will be in the same class and will be learning Tap, Ballet and Gymnastics. He's growing up so fast, so I really love that he will climb in my lap and say, "Hold me baby" (hold me like a baby) or wrap his arms around my neck at naptime and say "Kiss momma." He really is our Sweet, Baby Boy!

Veronika

Today Veronika started 5th Grade at Bryant Elementary. This is the same school that she attended for Kindergarten and First, so it's fitting that she got to return here for her last year of Elementary School. Next year, she will be in 6th Grade at Bryant Middle School! It seems like yesterday she was getting ready for Kindergarten! She is so outgoing and makes friends wherever she goes, in fact, she said she already made some new friends today! That is such a wonderful quality and ability to have! She is such a good student, she has never struggled academically, but she does LOVE to talk! LOL! This will also be her last year in AWANA at Church. She is in TNT (Truth n Training) and will move to the Middle School Group next year. She will also start her 4th year of Dance. She takes 1 1/2 Combo class of Tap, Jazz and Ballet. She has a natural talent for dancing and we really love watching her! We are so proud of the beautiful young lady she is becoming! She is a wonderful helper at home, especially when it comes to her brother and sister. We started our Pre-K "homeschool" a couple of weeks before Veronika went back to school so she got to be a teacher too! She would take one of the kids and work with them while I worked with the other one, I wish she could be here all of the time! Violet and Phoenix fought over who go to work with "Kuh-Kuh" first! I am really so thankful that those 3 adore each other like they do! I am excited to see what this year brings for you, Veronika!

Lap-Band Surgery!

I've been writing this post in my head for awhile now; I couldn't decide if I wanted to tell people for fear of what they might think. I don't know why I care what other people think, but I do. I worry that people will think I'm taking the "easy" way out. I know what people think about overweight people, because I think it too, "Why don't you just NOT eat so much and get some exercise!" For some people it is that easy, maybe they don't have the genetic predisposition to being overweight, maybe they don't have "issues" with food and eating, for whatever reason, weight is just not a struggle for some. The first "diet" I remember was in 4th Grade. It wasn't really a diet, it was a program at Arkansas Children's Hospital for overweight kids that taught us about healthy eating, exercise, etc. And since then it's been a constant cycle of lose weight, gain it all back plus some! I know more about nutrition and what someone SHOULD eat to lose weight than most people. I've tried every "program" and "diet" under the sun. My last attempt was January of 2011, it was my first attempt at losing weight since I had kids and I was ready! I lost 50 lbs. in about 6 months, after that I started struggling again but was able to maintain it for another 6 months. In January of 2012 we decided to sale our house and build our new house. Lots of stress and excitement and BOOM! 40 lbs was back on in no time! SO, on Tuesday, July 31, my mom and I attended a seminar for the Lap-Band Weight Loss Surgery. I've looked into the Lap-Band Surgery in years past, but the time was just never right. Because our insurance doesn't cover the surgery, we were told the process would be much shorter! I called the doctor the next morning and the wheels started to roll! Last Wednesday I got all of my paperwork faxed in and got all of my bloodwork drawn. Last Saturday night I went in for a Sleep Study, Monday I went for my Pre-Op Consultation, today I started a 900 calorie diet to prepare my body for surgery (this serves to shrink the liver so that surgery and recovery are easier), on August 23 I'll have a couple of Pre-Op Appointments at Baptist Hospital and THEN Friday August 24, I will go in for the Surgery!
I'm getting so excited about the surgery! Like, BIG LIFE CHANGE excited! Like, getting married or having a baby EXCITED! Am I scared? TERRIFIED! Every other attempt at weight loss has failed, so I am petrified of failure! I mean, if I fail at this, what do I do then??? BUT, I know I won't fail, I have an amazing support system and I am excited about the changes to come!
So, in closing, I ask this of you, please don't judge me. I know many of you don't struggle with food or weight and so you might not understand my struggle; just like I may not understand the struggles of someone else. I DO appreciate any encouragement and LOTS of prayer!

More Summer Pics

The kids wanted a snack at Dodi's House one day, Fiona dumped the box of Fruit Loops out...VIOLA-SnackTime!

The McIntyres/Powells were such wonderful Hosts at their Lake House!

Violet swam a little, but enjoyed staying out of the water and playing on the deck.

Phoenix was a WiLd Man as usual and loved swimming and Jumping off the Dock. I don't have any pics of Veronika from our lake visit, because I'm pretty sure she never got out of the water!

Violet and Evie got to join us for our Pedicure night. This was their 1st One. Violet usually won't let anyone touch her nails, but she had a sweet, young, female girl with her so she was ok. (Violet DOES NOT like men, except her family)

Our Summer In Pictures!

 We've had a fun but BUSY Summer and we still have a MONTH left! I've been very bad about blogging lately, so here is our Summer in Pictures!

This day we went for Pedicures while Phoenix was at therapy.

Amanda and I took our kids to a Free Movie at Rave. We watched "Yogi Bear." Phoenix and Fiona got bored and played in the aisle beside us.

We had VBS and it was an EXHAUSTING week! Steve and I were leaders for the 3 year old boys.

We have been in a serious drought! We got a shower one day and the kids asked to go outside and play in it. I think they forgot what it was!

My Dad had 10 loads of dirt delivered to our house and Saturday he brought the tractor over and spread it out. Today he had 8 pallets of sod delivered and a crew is coming over tomorrow to lay it! I'm so excited about how great our yard is going to look!

20 Questions for Phoenix

Phoenix's questions at age 3. Some of the questions we had to answer for him...because he answered Hot Dogs for ALOT of the questions. What can I say? I guess he gets his love of Hot Dogs from his Aunt Amanda!

1. What is your favorite color?-Blue

2. What is your favorite toy?- Captain America Shield

3. What is your favorite fruit?- Strawberries and Grapes

4. What is your favorite tv show?- Hot Dog Dance (Mickey Mouse Clubhouse)

5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch?- A Hotdog

6. What is your favorite outfit?- Superman Hat

7. What is your favorite game?- Connect Four

8. What is your favorite snack? –Fruit Snacks

9. What is your favorite animal?- Bear

10. What is your favorite song? – Jesus Loves Me

11. What is your favorite book?-  Dinosaur Roar

12. Who is your best friend?-  Da-da

13. What is your favorite cereal? – Apple Cinnamon Chex

14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? –Play with Trucks

15. What is your favorite drink? – Cherry Sprite

16. What is your favorite holiday? – Ride Boat

17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? – Bear

18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? - Cake

19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday? –Purple Cow

20. What do you want to be when you grow up?- Hot Dog

20 Questions for Veronika!

Veronika turned 10 yesterday, June 29. We had a Surprise Swimming Party at Dodi and Poppa's house. We had pizza, cake, ice cream, painted pictures and swam. I'll try to post some pics from the party soon, but here are her 20 Questions!

1. What is your favorite color? Blue

2. What is your favorite toy? Nook

3. What is your favorite fruit? Grapes

4. What is your favorite tv show? Dancing with the Stars

5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? Mac 'n' Cheese

6. What is your favorite outfit? Superman Shirt and Shorts

7. What is your favorite game? Mario

8. What is your favorite snack? Cheese Flavored Rice Quakes

9. What is your favorite animal? Monkey

10. What is your favorite song? Jesus Loves Me

11. What is your favorite book? The Upstairs Room

12. Who is your best friend? Kristen

13. What is your favorite cereal? Honey Nut Chex

14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? Swim

15. What is your favorite drink? Water

16. What is your favorite holiday? Valentine's Day and Christmas

17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? My bug-eyed animals

18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? Cheesy Scrambled Eggs

19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday? Purple Cow

20. What do you want to be when you grow up? A dancer and a teacher

Some House Pics

We've been in our house for about 6 weeks now, everything is unpacked and we even had a huge yardsale to get rid of tons of stuff! Here are a few pictures:

Since this pic, I've put all of my pottery on display on top of the cabinets.

Between 9 months and 1 year all of the Dowler children get their picture made in a special outfit. Veronika's was taken when she was 4, during our first year of marriage. I got these matted and re-framed for the new house. I love having pictures of my babies to look at all through our home!

I found this on Pinterest. Each letter is a decorated as a different Superhero. A-Aquaman, B-Batman, C-Captain America, etc.

Phoenix's Comic Book Letters. Another Pinterest idea! These are chipboard letters that I decoupaged with old Comic Books.

Phoenix sleeping on his new Superhero bedding we bought on Etsy. I had so much fun doing his room!

I've always been a big fan of menu planning and used to just have it on  a piece of paper on the fridge. I found this on Pinterest and knew I had to do it! I can put our menu on it as well as any major events we have going on!

The Razorback on top of the mailbox was Steve's Father's Day Gift.