I wasn't able to do my regular Sunday afternoon post because Zack wasn't feeling well and needed A LOT of attention. I also neglected to post our family's pictures with Santa. We went to see him at the Airman and Family Readiness Center the day after Ben got home. I forgot the camera (again), but they had a camera there. They printed out and emailed the pictures they took for us. It was great. There were two little boys there before us, but Tansy charged right up. We had to make her wait her turn.
Sydney was not sure about this at all. She isn't happy that Ben stepped back two feet to let her have a picture with Santa.

Tansy, however, thought this was great. As soon as the boys were finished, Tansy ran right up to Santa with open arms. She gave him a huge hug, stroked his beard, and told him he was silly. She didn't ask for anything, but she sure loved being with him.

And we had to get the classic baby crying on Santa's lap picture. Are we terrible parents for laughing during this?

The kids have loved having Ben home, they just can't get enough of him, even when he is trying to look at stuff on the computer.

And everyone in this house loves to color. Tansy doesn't police the markers as well as Sydney does, so Zack got to create his sofa masterpiece. Notice how happy he is? I'm grateful we chose the microfiber with the scotch guard. Whew.

On Monday, the 21st, Zack had his surgery to put tubes in his ears. This is the only picture I got. It was when I handed him over to the nurse. He was not happy to be abandoned by his mom.

Everything went great. He had a lot of fluid in his ears, and they said that should help him feel a lot better. Since he had already had three antibiotics for this ear infection alone (making nine in the past year, and, yes, they were still infected) they just gave him drops and will check up on him at his follow-up appointment. We were only at the surgery center for an hour and 20 minutes. I couldn't believe how fast it was. He bounced back really fast and has been a much happier baby, bouncing around and laughing. It's nice to see him feeling so much better.