Dean's first Christmas was one we will never forget!

Let me start this long story by saying that for the first time in 11 months Dean got sick... really sick. The night before Christmas Eve (Sunday) he was running fever so I gave him some medicine before bed. About 2 am he woke up just kinda talking to himself. I went and checked on him and he was just a little out of his mind! He was jabbering and when I picked him up I realized he was shaking with the chills. So my mind started racing to try to figure out what in the world I was supposed to do. Do I try to keep him warm or do I need to cool him down since he is running fever? And who could I call to ask these questions at 2 am?! So I decided to wrap him up in a blanket and give him another dose of medicine. This decision apparently was not the best as the medicine immediately made him barf. He never cried or seemed to care at all, he just threw up all over both of us and then went back to his chattering and shaking. I hollered for John who was asleep in the next room so he could help me by changing Dean while I cleaned myself up. Poor John never heard me... so I was on my own! Luckily I had not put away the laundry that I had folded and it was all on the sofa and easily accessed so the clean up went pretty fast. It was so sad to just hold Dean afterwards and have him shaking and feel so powerless to help him. The chills finally stopped and soon he was wide awake and ready to play with his toys!

I ended up taking him to bed with me so I could keep a closer eye on him. So I put him in between John and I but since Dean was in "play" mode, he kept rolling over and kicking John. Our busy John had just finished church Saturday night and Sunday morning and then had to leave the following morning (Monday) to practice for the three Christmas Eve services that we were having that day. Needless to say he was exhausted (explaining why he never heard me calling him) and this night was the absolute worst night for him to be awaken at 2 am. It didn't take many kicks for John to get up and head upstairs to the guest room to finish out the night!

Christmas Eve started with John oversleeping (imagine that after the night we had!) and running out the door to band practice. Dean was happy but still running fever and not eating well. I called the Dr. and he said to bring him by so he could look at his ears. In the mean time, the family arrived! In a matter of minutes Dean was surrounded by two grandparents, three aunts (two of them pregnant), three uncles, and three very sweet and active cousins! And everyone wanted to pamper Dean so he was loving it! Later that day we found out Dean had not one, but TWO ear infections. Saying that this little boy was miserable is an understatement. He didn't want to lay down to sleep (even with an elevated mattress to keep the pressure off his ears), his eyes were swollen and oozing stuff that I didn't know could even come out of an eye and he wasn't interested in food either. Amazingly Dean was still smiling and entertaining everyone. Although it was very sad that my niece also had an ear infection, the good news is that the pharmacy did not have a small bottle of antibiotic for her and had given her a large bottle. This was good news because our pharmacy was closed for the holiday by the time we got to it and the doctor said we could give Dean some of my nieces medicine. I really don't know what we would have done if we didn't have that medicine. God was really watching over our little guy. John got home late that evening and we had a fun time opening our family gifts and eating some great snacks.

It is funny how many times reality is nothing like our expectations. For example, in my mind, I pictured us waking up Christmas morning and getting Dean up and enjoying him opening his stocking and other gifts. It didn't quite turn out the way I expected it! Christmas Eve, instead of staying up late with my family and getting all the gifts ready for the big moment in the morning, I was sitting in my bed fully dressed with my little boy sleeping in my arms! He was just too uncomfortable to lay down. I think he got some rest, thankfully... which is more than I can say for myself! Early that morning I shifted him into our bed, which promptly woke him up, and went to put on my pajamas (because Christmas morning isn't the same unless you are in your pajamas!). Dean had enough energy to open some more presents and it turned out to be a really fun time even though we were sleep deprived.

We hope your holiday was safe and fun! Merry Christmas from the Rolfs!

Papa-D & Mia bought all the grandkids matching PJs! This was my best attempt at a good picture of all four of them. Of course kids don't sit still on Christmas morning!

This was Dean's "I'm Sick" face. He made this face after coughing or when he needed his nose wiped!


The Duncan family & Mia


The Verlander family (minus Jacob who was too excited to sit still for pictures!)

I'm sorry I don't have pictures of The Stokes, Papa-D or even my family! My camera batteries died and there was no stopping the presents to replace them!

We were so excited to be able to go to College Station today and celebrate Ben's graduation! It was a l-o-n-g ceremony, but Dean was happy through the whole event and enjoyed smiling at everyone. Dean was decked out in his TAMU windsuit from Granny & PawPaw. John said he looked like a coach and all he needed was a whistle and clipboard, but it was really cute! Every time the crowd would applaud, Dean would dance and squeal. I guess he thought it was all for him! We are so proud of Ben and glad that he has found a job already! We hope he will be close to us so we can visit often!

Dean has started making this face ALL THE TIME. We won't even be paying attention to him and we will glance up and he is looking at us like this! It makes us laugh every time!

This year our tree is scaled WAY down and placed up high...you can see why! We talked about not doing a tree at all, but we just couldn't stand it so we ended up with this tiny version! It is perfect!

Let the games begin! This morning when I opened Dean's bedroom door and peeked inside, I was shocked to see a little person SITTING in the crib. I couldn't believe that he had maneuvered himself into a sitting position! After his morning nap, John went to get him and found the little guy STANDING in the crib. He was happy as he could be just hanging on to the rail and enjoying the view!

Can I just say how proud I am of John Rolf?! With the help of a great team of people, John's dream of a new kind of Christmas CD is now a reality. He took a step of faith and he acted on what God was leading him to do and it is amazing! I love that guy!

I find myself listening to this music and just wrapped in emotion for what Christmas really means. I hate that for the rest of the year, this thought is usually far from my mind. I hope you get a chance this holiday season to stop and breathe and think about how incredibly blessed we are to be able to freely celebrate the True Gift.