December

December was non stop, just the way I like it. We were visited by our "elf on the shelf", Elfis, daily. The kids both loved waking up and finding where he was hiding. Along with daily advent activities, which kept us on our toes. 

We went to Santa's Electric Parade in Temecula...

Cousin London's first Winter Wonderland birthday, where Princess Anna made a special appearance...

Santa brought us a very special early Christmas present, our new puppy Ollie!!! He is a 10 week old puggle (beagle/pug) and he left him on our doorstep with some supplies, and a card. He rang the doorbell and took off on his sleigh before we had a chance to thank him!

 Skyler had her very first ballet recital. All her grandparents were there cheering her on, especially her brother who yelled, "yeah sky, you can do it!" (her song was, "When Christmas Comes to Town, from the Polar Express)

As soon as our elf on the shelf arrived, Hunter started getting worried. He grabbed the vacuum from the closet and went to work. I asked what he was doing and he said, I do NOT want coal again this year!!!!

We were beyond thrilled when Uncle Andrew took us to Disneyland...such a fun day! Hunter's favorite ride was a tough decision between Lightning McQueen and Space Mountain. His least favorite was splash mountain, he said he got hit in the face with an ice cube.

 Hunter's last day of school before Christmas break they had a "Polar Express parade"we had fun making his train car complete with working light and a "hunter express" monogram...

For my birthday we spent the night at my parents' house, went to Knotts Berry Farm for the snoopy on ice christmas show and a chicken dinner. The next day I went shopping and came home to some beautiful flowers from my hubby. 31 here we go...

Annual Christmas Eve at Grandma MaryLou's...

 Christmas morning at home with Nana, Tom and Grandpa Pierce...

Christmas day at Oma and Opa's...

On New Year's Eve we woke up to SNOW at our house! Most of our city was covered in it, a few exits down the freeway was all over the news, it was so beautiful and exciting. Right when we woke up we went crazy taking pictures then got some shoes and jackets on and went sledding in our front yard!

That same day we headed up to Lake Arrowhead for a 5 day mountain cabin vacation with some family. We all had a great time playing and sledding together. 

 There was a lot of sickness going around, especially my poor Grandma Converse who came down with an awful cold in mid December that progressed to pnemonia and she ended up in the ER on Christmas night. Seeing the family come together and be there for each other in times of need reminds me of the true spirit of Christmas and puts things in perspective. We have so so much to be grateful for, so many blessings in our lives. That special lady has such a big piece of my heart, I can't bear to see her in any pain. I am so thankful that she is getting better now and comfortable in her own home.

As for Hunter, we did another month of medication, this time trying the liquid medicine called Quillivant. Although the liquid form was more convenient, we still haven't seen any improvement in his impulse control. After just meeting with his pediatrician, she has upped the dosage a small amount. We went to fill the prescription and, of course, there is a new policy effective january 1st. We need to go through the whole prior authorization process again to get his medicine he has already been taking...so he may have to wait a few weeks to try the next step, but we are following procedures with patience and love.

November

Oh boy, I have been way behind on these updates. Playing a little catch up since October, but better late than never..

These are Hunter's first school pictures, he's such a little man already. I feel like he looks so grown up. And below that is his class picture. His best friend is Wyatt, and his "girlfriend" is Bella. 

Crazy hair day...

We had our very first Mother/Son Night and it was a skating party at the roller rink! We had so much fun eating pizza and cookies, taking funny pictures in the photo booth and attempting to skate. Hunter was actually pretty good at it. Can't wait to do this year after year with my buddy.

The week before Thanksgiving we celebrated early with Vicki, Tom and Grandpa Pierce. Vicki cooked an entire delicious, traditional dinner. 

Hunter won his very first trophy!!! He got third place but couldn't be more excited. He literally slept with it and took it everywhere with him for nearly a week. So cute how proud he was. 

The day before Thanksgiving we had a fun "cousin day" with the Fisher kids. Love that they all will grow up together!

Thanksgiving day we celebrated with my family at my parents' house. We did some crafts with the kids, had way too much food and played with my dad's Christmas train and village he has set up in his garage over the holidays. Always so much to be thankful for. 

Hunter update: We were eventually approved for his liquid medication but in the meantime tried something in the form of a patch, called Daytrana. We and his teachers were carefully watching for changes in his behavior and also signs of side effects. But we didn't see any changes at all yet. We will definitely give it more time and we may need to adjust the dosage over time until we find what works for him.