Three Peerys in a Pod: 2016

Friday, December 30, 2016

While the boys were out of school, I decided to try to be one of those Pinterest-y moms and let them help make and decorate cookies! I found a mix that did not contain eggs and was able to substitute so that Stokes would be able to enjoy them along with everyone else. I got some sprinkles and red and green decorating gel and we were ready to go!

We made cookie batter right before nap and I baked the cookies while the boys were sleeping. BTW, their "help" here was a staged stirring, just to take a pic. LOL

Stokes

Ready for cookies!

William

He actually did stir a little bit

Ryan: Mom, why are you making me hold this?!?!

Such a cutie

They were excited to decorate the cookies after their nap. Sprinkles? Yeah. They were all about that. Stokes used some gel, and they ate a bunch of mini marshmallows. This was a very hands-on activity. About 1/2 of the cookies they decorated got eaten along the way. I had to give them one cookie at a time so that we would have any left after this was said and done. And I mean, come on, these cookies were for Santa and the reindeer so it was important that the boys didn't eat all of them!

Eating, oops, I mean decorating cookies.

Very into it!

Check out ALL those green sprinkles
on the newspaper! EEK

Ready for a bite

Having lots of fun!

Ryan got in on the action with a little help from Mama

Checking everything out

So sweet!!!!

Having a good time

William caught red-handed!

The finished products! Can you tell which ones I decorated
and which ones the boys did?!?! :)

Wednesday, December 28, 2016

One year seizure-free

This boy.

This heavenly little boy made it to one year seizure-free on Dec. 27th. That is a major milestone. After having a seizure last November 2015 and then another one about a month later, which ended up putting him in the PICU and children's hospital for several days, I worried that we would live in constant fear and on seizure alert. We do try to stay vigilant, but luckily, the combo of anti-seizure meds is working right now and seizures aren't a part of our daily life. Thanks be to God! I try to stay humble about it because this may not always be the case. I don't want to jinx our current situation. None of us knows what the future will hold, but for right now, in this moment, I can be so appreciative and thankful for one whole year of no seizures for Ryan. We are blessed. <3

Reminder of our major seizure event from last year:
Harrowing ordeal, part 1
Harrowing ordeal, part 2

Roper Mountain Holiday Lights

By the 21st of December, we still hadn't had a Santa visit and picture and I was started to stress out. The obligatory Santa pic is a "must do" for our holiday season, and with the exception of their first Christmas when they were only four months old and I was still deathly afraid of germs, they've had an annual picture with Santa.

Thomas and I debated a few of the remaining Santa options, and decided to go to the Roper Mountain holiday lights. We hadn't been since the boys were born and doing it with the kids is so much fun! Waiting in line for Santa was a bit challenging (newsflash: boys do not like to stand still and wait in line), but other than that, it was great!

They were so excite to see Santa. While we were in line, they kept waving to him and talking about what they would say to him. When they finally got up there, they gave him high fives and told him that they wanted cars!

The boys with Santa!!!

After we met Santa, we walked through a little path with lights and then got back in the car to do the full holiday lights that you drive through. We actually went around twice and really enjoyed it. The boys would help point everything out and yell out what they saw. "There's a candy cane!" "Oh, it's a teddy bear!" "Here are the marching soldiers!" Super cute.

Toy soldier, Stokes

Toy soldier, William

Toy soldier, Ryan

Here's the big star you can see all over Greenville

Friday, December 23, 2016

Van Pelt Christmas 2016

As is our annual tradition, we went up to Charlotte this past Sunday for our Van Pelt Christmas celebration. We honestly don't get a chance to see some of our aunts, uncles and cousins very often, so I'm appreciative that we make this a priority each year.

We choose to split time between Aunt Trish and Mark and Uncle Wells and Alison. It's the best of both worlds. I was actually thinking about trying to see some of my good friends while in Charlotte, but realized that may be overly ambitious for a day trip and scaled it back to focus on family.

We started out at Aunt Trish and Mark's house. After going to early church service in Greenville, we made it there to their house in time to hang out a little while, open some gifts and eat a yummy lunch! I felt so bad because the boys don't exactly have the best table manners. They were in and out of their seats, despite us telling them to sit still and eat. I was cringing to see fabric napkins but at least there was nothing that would ruin/stain them. Suffice it to say that we recognize the need for better table manners....and we're working on it. We absolutely loved seeing Aunt Trish and Mark. They're just so sweet.

Checking out what's under the tree

Time to open gifts

Trish, Mark and the boys

Love

Thomas with William and Ryan

Family picture

Merry Christmas!

We then went over to Uncle Wells and Alison's house for more family time. Uncle Duncan and Aunt Kathy were there as well as all the girls - Elizabeth, Mary Margaret, Virginia and Abigail. All of these girls are so attentive and just dote on the boys, so of course, the boys adore them!

We had more food over there - what's not to like about eating all day?!?!?! - and more gifts. It's still challenging to have a full adult conversation for me right now because I feel like I'm constantly on-guard to prevent any catastrophes and try to make sure my boys are behaving for the most part. I did get a chance to sneak away and catch up a bit with Kathy and Alison and I loved that time.

Girl cousins! They take a picture in front of the tree every year!

Sweet baby Ryan

Ryan and MM

"The ugliest Christmas tree in the world"
per Uncle Wells.
Haha - we all got a good laugh at the expense
of this pitiful tree. But it was decorated
very prettily!

Elizabeth, Ryan and Uncle Dunc

Opening gifts

New big truck!

Oh yeah

Virginia was so patient and meticulously
put this truck together!

Ryan loved his car and was cracking up
when it would light up, beep and vibrate!

Sweet cousins!

Spending time with family is one of the major highlights of the holiday season. This visit was no exception! We love our extended family and appreciate any and all time that we get to spend with them.

Thursday, December 22, 2016

An early Christmas gift

This year I really wanted less "stuff" for Christmas and wanted experiences instead! MaSha asked me for suggestions for gifts, and I gave her a list of things that I thought the boys would enjoy. Last Saturday night, she took me up on something on my list and gave us an early Christmas present. She treated us to a horse and carriage ride through downtown Fountain Inn followed by dinner. It was chilly so we bundled up and brought extra blankets and loved the carriage ride. It was cool to hear the horse's hooves on the streets as we rode through a residential area and looked at the decorations and Christmas lights. The ride was about 20 minutes - the perfect amount of time without losing interest and acting up. After our carriage ride, we walked around the square and ran into a friend of mine since high school - Blair! She recently moved back to town and has come over to visit with the boys a few times and is such a fun and sweet "aunt". After catching up with Blair and her mom, Jane, for a few minutes, we sat down for BBQ dinner in downtown Fountain Inn. We chose BBQ because the other restaurant we were considering had a significant wait time and we knew that plan was doomed. It was such a treat to get to do something different and in my opinion, this was way better than another toy that they may play with for all of 10 minutes!