Genetics...

Are a funny thing...  

These girls are 3 1/2 years apart...

 And these girls are just over 2 years apart...

Brooke is the 2nd tallest kid in third grade and while lining up for the Christmas concert, the twins realized there are only 7 kids shorter (or the same height) as them in all of first grade...  Which makes them look a lot younger than Brooke.  And Sam is average height (while being barely on the scale for weight) which makes them look closer in age.  In another year or two, I'll have triplets...

(Christmas) Quote of the Day...

While talking about Santa and Elves and Christmas in general, the twins' pointy ears came up...
Alix - "Well, obviously we're half elf and half human!"

Duh.  (And if you hadn't noticed, and were wondering, both Erin and Alix have super pointy ears.  On both sides.  I remember, when they were born, seeing the first ear and thinking, "Sweet!  A way to tell them apart!"  I was wrong.  All four ears look exactly the same...)

Humble Pie...

 Or Christmas Cookie, as the case may be... Here's how the Great Christmas Cookie Bake-off of 2011 turned out...

Sam jumped ship and joined Team "Winner" for the day.  

The support staff in action... Alix, Erin and Sam all on Team Mom

 This is what it looks like when you poke yourself in the eye with a rolling pin... 

 All the younger competitors in their "uniforms"

 My finished product...

 The competition...  Team Dad

 The judging.  Judged by 9 blindfolded, unbiased judges.  Tom's mom played too and since neither Beth or Tom frosted their cookies (LAME! Who eats unfrosted sugar cookies??!!?) we had an unfrosted cookie judging.  

And the winner is...........

Kill me now.  I promised I'd put the results in, so to my eternal humiliation, here goes...
Beth - 1
Tom - 8
April - 0

But in my defense, everyone ate plates and plates of MY cookies Christmas night.  Apparently they are only good with frosting... I'll have to change my strategy next year... And suffer through the coming year as the loser.  And I will hear about it regularly... Awesome.

Update on Sam...

Sam had an appointment with her mito specialist Monday.  I always come out of these appointments not quite knowing how I feel.  We've been worried about Sam lately and it was good to talk to her doctor.  I'm not sure how best to write all this down for you, so bear with me... 

Some changes we've seen in the last three months or so-  1. Sam has lost her "r".  She can say the r sound at the end of words, but uses a w sound in the middle or beginning.  This is new for her and a step backward for her speech.  She used to be very clear and easy to understand and now half the time, I can't understand her.  2. (sorry to go here...)  Sam has a lot of trouble going to the bathroom.  She'll sit there for five minutes, pushing and crying and hurting and one little kernel comes out.  Also newish.  And really sad.  3.  Her circulation in her hands is not very good.  She describes her hands as feeling "frozen" or "locked" and they are often red at the finger tips and bone white everywhere else.  4. Her upper lip, from her nose to her lip has been turning blue.  Not all the time, but sometimes.  5.  She's had some really tired days.  On one of them, she fell down the stairs three times.  She just couldn't walk down them.  (She was not injured in any of her falls.  Good thing our stairs are split in two...)  

 So, here is what her doctor had to say...  Since she started preschool and has grown (a whopping 5 pounds in two years...)  her body could just be not compensating for the new growth and learning.  It takes a "tremendous amount of energy to learn and grow," he told us.  So he upped her riboflavin and if she improves, we'll know it was a growth thing.  If she doesn't, then we'll know her disease has progressed a little and this is the new normal.  Her also prescribed Miralax for her.  He said that 99% of mito kids take it and she'll probably need it for the rest of her life.  That's an easy fix that I am ok with.  The doctor reassured us that her fingers wont fall off, they are getting enough blood and oxegen, it's just her capillary's shunting blood to other places.  Another common mito thing, apparently.  He says she looks great and I agree.

Along with the worries, we've also had some great triumphs. =)  Sam learned how to pedal a bike (after working and working and working on this in therapy).  She can ride a scooter like a pro and really is learning like crazy.   She loves school and is doing really well at it.  Her toe walking is not gone, but a lot better.  She's still sleeping 16 hours a day, but when she does miss a nap, she can cope just fine.  We pay for it a little the next day, but she can function without a long nap and that is nice for all of us when things are busy.
I know this is long and complicated and possible doesn't make perfect sense, but hopefully you can get a picture of where Sam is.  She is a great joy and light in all our lives.  Some days are hard, but mostly we just don't think about it.  Any backward steps are scary and I'm still learning how to deal with those, but the forward steps are so fun, that it helps.  Thanks for loving my daughter.

Quote of the Day...

Alix, Erin and Sam were loving rubbing their hands all over Tom's face.  Commenting on his "mustache, beard, goatee and soul patch..."  (That's a lot of facial hair on one guy...)
me - "Tom, you are a patient, patient man.  I couldn't handle them touching my face like that. But I have more personal space issues than you do."
Alix - "You should have less issues..."

As queen I feel entitled to as many issues as I want...

The Double Pick

When one finger just wont do...

Who knew?

I am not a regular bread maker by any means.  I tried it the other day, for my brother Joe, who was in town for one night only... Some bread lessons I learned...

1. You can't really make three loaves of bread in a 9x13 pan, just because you only have one loaf pan.

2. Maybe number one really is possible, but only if you remember to stop raising your bread.

3. Bread is somewhat like a balloon.  Once it's been full of air and you touch it, it collapses.

4. Just because bread is ugly and flat doesn't mean it doesn't taste delicious...

Sorry, Joe.  I tried... Love you!