Elf Attack

A six year old Paulding County boy is recovering from an apparent attack by one of Santa's elves. Jonathan Arwood, who resides in Dallas with his parents and three siblings, received "The Elf on the Shelf" book and elf on Friday of last week. The elf is said to stay with a family for the Christmas season. During this time he "watches" the kids during the day and will then fly to the North Pole every night to report to Santa. Jonathan was very excited although apprehensive about the presence of this elf.

As part of the tradition the elf was to be named, and the Arwood family decided on the name Elfis. One of the important rules to be followed while hosting Elfis is that he must not be touched, or he will lose his magic and not be able to return to Santa. Heather Arwood, the victims mother, describes the events as they unfolded. "Jonathan was already very nervous about having the elf in our home. He was innocently playing in front of the entertainment center where Elfis was perched on the top. All of a sudden Elfis appeared to leap off the top of the shelf and land on Jonathan's head. Jonathan, knowing that the elf could not be touched, was terrified. He screamed and jumped onto the couch. I was trying to figure out how to get the elf back on the shelf while Jonathan continued to scream and the poor elf was laying lifeless on the floor. I finally checked on the website and was able to convince Jonathan that it would be ok for me to pick up Elfis with a blanket and place him back in his spot on the shelf. It was horrible, imagine seeing your child attacked by something that was supposed to bring him joy." The mother states that Jonathan is now scared to be in the room alone with Elfis and has become obsessed with the elf.

The victim sustained no physical injury, although the full extent of his emotional trauma will not be known until a psychiatric evaluation is completed. The parents have set up an account for anyone who wishes to donate to Jonathan's future therapy bills. Phone calls to Santa for comment have not been returned.

Breakfast with Santa

Every year Jonathan's school has a breakfast with Santa where you can get your pic made with Santa, make some crafts, oh yeah, and have breakfast. Well this year we made quite a scene! We had just gotten there and had the two youngest in the double stroller. I had taken the big kids across the cafeteria to the cookie decorating station. Now keep in mind the cafeteria was very crowded and LOUD! While I was getting the kids seated I heard Justin's monitor go off. I looked across the cafeteria and saw Nate get up and start to mess with Justin. I expected the alarm to stop any second. Well, it just kept going and going and going. . . After about 10 to 12 sec I started walking toward them. Another lady got to Nate before I did, and it turns out she was a respiratory therapist and "recognized" the sound. By the time I got to him the alarm stopped. Seriously, it was his longest alarm ever!! Remember, the alarm won't stop until you fix the problem with the baby. Normally some mild stimulation usually gets him going, but not this time! Nate said that Justin was very pale and moving his head from side to side. Nate rubbed Justin's face and chest, and was in the process of unbuckling him when the alarm stopped. Once the alarm stopped and I looked around I could tell everyone around was looking at us. Oh well, I made no apologies!!! Justin seemed fine afterward. Once he got woken up enough he was looking at us like "what, did I do that?"

So here are a few pic of the day. Jase just LOVED Santa, not!

Jase with his Santa hat, right before the big alarm.

Poor Jase, why do we do this to our kids!

Jase was begging to be rescued!

The kids asked for all kinds of things from Santa. You know, things they hadn't put on the original list, things that santa can't get now. We are going back over the original list and reminding them how much they wanted those things!

Justin at 11 wks

I took a few (about 75) pics of Justin. I was trying out my new photo backdrops and wanted to get a pic of Justin in the blue outfit. The little blue outfit is the same one that Jonathan and Jase wore for their first pictures at about this same age. Justin is getting big! At his last appt he weighed 10 lb 2 oz. I sing a little song to him. "Chunky man, chunky man, what are they feeding you." And yes, it is to the tune of "Smelly cat"!!

Little man in his "hand me down" outfit!

His hair looks so red in this picture! Its so cute! Jase's hair also looked red at this age, then changed to brown. I wonder what Justin's will do?!?

Sweet baby face! I could just eat him up!

Cutest feet ever, and I don't like feet!

Holding Mommy's thumb.

We are so blessed to have Justin in our lives! Alarms and all!

I'm soooo behind . . .

I'm so ashamed. I have been so slack in updating the blog. I will try to catch up quick!

So, Thanksgiving. We had a great week. The kids were out of school that week and we managed to get a lot of decorating for Christmas done. Justin was sick that week, but it did not result in any increased alarms or a hospital visit, thank goodness! We had Thanksgiving breakfast on Saturday before with Nate's family, it was good! Then on Thanksgiving day we went to Cumming for Thanksgiving with the extended family. The food was great and it was good to see everyone. Then after a fun day of Black Friday shopping with Mom and Krista we went to the Wynn family Thanksgiving. Here are a few pics from Thanksgiving Day.

Jase doing his stunts with Marc.

Jonathan and his baby brother Justin.

How many pictures does it take. . ., in this case about 15!

Angela and Malachi, cute!

It's always like pulling teeth to get a picture of everyone!