Lucy's 6 month/Brayden's 3 year doctor visit

It's that time again...growing kids....more doctor's visits. Luckily today no one was sick...just checkups! I doubled up on 2 doctor's visits and today Lucy had her 6 month checkup and Brayden had his 3 year checkup. I was concerned Brayden wouldn't do so well due to his traumatic experience in the ER just 2 weeks ago but I think because of that visit, he wasn't scared. He did great and did everything they told him to do. I was kinda shocked!

HOWEVER, with that being said, it was the WORST doctor's visit I have ever been to. Partially because Jay was out of town and I took all three by myself. Mom did meet me for a while but had to leave before the drama began! I knew Karis and Brayden would be getting flu shots but didn't want to tell them ahead of time because I knew they would pitch a big fit. The less they know the better. So once we were in the room and the doctor had been in the kids kept asking why we weren't leaving. One of them asked "Are we getting shots?" I tried to play it off but that didn't work and they both started screaming....so loud I couldn't do anything but laugh. Karis was acting like I had cut her arms off and was shaking all over! Well they came in first for Brayden and of course we had to hold him down while Karis stood in the background screaming at the top of her lungs anticipating her shots. Then the nurse left and Brayden got ok. Then they came in to do Lucy's 5 shots (yes five) and when Lucy started screaming Brayden started screaming again, "DON'T HURT MY SISTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Oh did I mention Karis was STILL screaming and hadn't let up?! Then the nurse finally had some pity on me and came and got Lucy and Brayden and took them in the hall so I could hold down Karis for her shots. She was swinging, still screaming, grabbing her pants so we couldn't pull them down and I think I saw all the way down her throat on multiple occassions! It was AWFUL! Nothing like all 3 of your kids thinking you are horrible all at the same time! Oh and forgot to mention that in the midst of all them screaming, they came in for me to sign about 3 pages of paperwork. I was alone with 3 screaming kids and you want my signature???? I am not a drinker but I am telling you I was wanting something after I left there haha!

Lucy weighed in at 15 lbs. even (23%) and was 26 1/2 inches long (69%) ...she is a growing girl!

Lolli met us there for support and to see her grandkids. She was missing them!

Dr. H said Lucy was very healthy and doing great. She was a little concerned about some muscle development so we will get that checked out soon.

Poor thing...got FIVE shots! Lots of boo-boos.

My big boy cooperating every step of the way (except the shots of course)

38 inches tall

Weighing 30 lbs.

This was pre-shots of course

Pre-prick

Post-prick (I think he didn't mind the prick but hated seeing the blood on his finger!)

WHEW! Glad that one is over!!! Next time I will make sure I have reinforcements, earplugs, muzzles and bribery!

You jealous?

...that your hair doesn't look this good?

UP!

Tonight we had family movie night and watched UP which none of us had ever seen. It was a great movie by the way! But I wanted to document just a moment proving my boy has a tender heart. If you know Brayden, you know that he is our "tough, wild, livin' on the edge" son who will always give us a run for our money as parents. BUT despite his rough and tough persona, he has a very tender heart. He randomly breaks out in tears over things you might not even find that much of a tear-jerker. If you have seen UP, you might remember the part where he loses his house and sees it fly away. Brayden got so upset that the guy lost his house and started crying...I am talking tears flowing down his cheeks and came and sat in my lap and buried his head in my neck. It was so sweet and I couldn't help but just hold him and love on him. Even though he gives me gray hairs (ok not yet but soon I am sure), I love that boy with all my heart!

Yummy recipes...a favorite by all

We had a yummy dinner tonight and I wanted to share with you 2 new recipes I tried from Faith's recipe blog....both were delicious. On the menu was Biggest Loser Sweet and Spicy Pork Tenderloin, Potato Bundles (although I didn't do them in bundles), green beans cooked in chicken broth and a chicken bouillion cube (so good) and since Brayden is allergic to potatoes, he always gets mac n cheese when we have potatoes...one of his favorites. :)

Biggest Loser Sweet and Spicy Pork Tenderloin

1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
1/4 tsp. ground allspice
1/8 tsp. garlic powder
1/8 tsp. ground chili pepper
1 pork tenderloin~ trimmed of visible fat
1 tsp. extra-virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp. honey
1 Tbsp. minced garlic
1 1/2 tsp. hot sauce (I left this out b/c my kids wouldn't eat it)

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. Lightly spray roasting pan with olive oil spray. Set aside.
3. In a small bowl, combine the cumin, cinnamon, salt, black pepper, allspice, garlic powder,and chili pepper. Rub the pork tenderloin evenly with the olive oil. Then rub evenly with the spice mixture until coated. Cover loosely with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine the honey, garlic, and hot sauce.
Whisk to mix. Set aside.
5. Heat a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, lightly mist with olive oil spray. Place the pork in the pan. Cook for 1 minute per side, or until browned on all sides. Transfer to the prepared roasting pan. With a basting brush, evenly coat the pork tenderloin with the reserved honey mixture.
6. Cover the tenderloin with aluminum foil and roast in the oven for 20-30 minutes, or until a thermometer inserted in the center reaches 160°F and the juices run clear.
7. Remove from the oven. Let stand for 5 minutes before cutting. Serve immediately.

**This recipe was really good! I usually don't venture out and try things like this, but I was so glad I did! I did alter a few ingredients and cooking times from the original recipe. I got this recipe from Cookbook Jungle.

Potato Bundles (I halfed this recipe)

6 whole Russet potatoes (cut into small bite size pieces)
1/2 whole Yellow Onion, diced
1 stick of butter
1/2 cup Heavy Cream
Salt to taste
Paprika to taste
Black Pepper to taste
2 tablespoons minced parsley

Directions:

(I didn't do bundles for this recipe. I just put everything in a square bowl and tossed everything and cooked covered for about an hour.)
1. Pile potatoes and onions on a square of foil.
2. Add 2 tablespoons of butter to each foil. Splash on cream to each pile.
3. Then sprinkle on salt, paprika, and black pepper to taste.
4. Sprinkle minced parsley over the top.
5. Wrap bundles tightly and bake 375 degrees for 45 minutes, or until extremely tender.
6. Serve bundles right on the dinner plate.

Lucy rolled over!

As of today, Lucy has officially rolled from her back to stomach (2 times now) and I have missed it both times! How is it that I am with her all day and didn't see her do it and then Jay walks in from being gone all day and sees her! And then she did it again and both of us missed it. He put her on her back on the floor and walked out of the room and came back and she was on her belly. I have been trying to "make" her do it but of course she doesn't want to perform.

Oh and she is eating like a man these days!!! She must be going through a growth spurt because she is eating 2 plastics jars of food (mixed with cereal) at breakfast, lunch and dinner and nurses on top of that! She is eating sometimes 6 jars of food in a day.... oh and that stuff gets expensive!!! And I usually can't get it in her mouth fast enough..she just shakes in excitement! I love seeing her grow although I am NOT rushing any of it. She can stay little forever and I will be just fine with that!

One of Jay's heroes

We took a day trip to Columbus to visit Jay's granddad (his dad's dad) which is one of his spiritual heroes...get to that in a minute. But FIRST, we had to get there. We had been gone maybe 15 minutes and the kids were already asking the dreaded question, "Are we there yet?" Because it was a 3 hour drive, we knew we were in for a long ride. SO I pulled out one of the tricks my parents used to do with us...the quarter game. We gave the kids a handful of quarters and told them that anytime they ask "how much longer" or "when are we gonna be there?" they had to give us one of their quarters. Any quarters they had at the end of the trip they got to keep. Karis and Brayden both lost only one quarter and got to keep the rest. Overall....pretty successful trick. We will try that one again!

Jay had also put several of their movies on some ipods of his and they each got to pick out what movie they wanted. Here Karis is watching "Princess and the Diamond Castle" and was jamming! It was so funny to hear her singing SOOO loud and had no idea we could hear her but not the music. OH I wish I had a video of it!

I think Brayden was watching High School Musical...he was so into his movie too!

Finally we got there and had a great visit with Pawpaw and Grace. It is always great to see them because they always have such amazing wisdom about life (and LOTS of stories haha). Pawpaw is so special to Jay for so many reasons. For a little background Pawpaw used to be an alcoholic and has had a very ROUGH life until God saved him later in his life. God changed his life completely and he did a 180. He then became a pastor and anyone who knows him knows that the Lord is THE most important thing in his life. Because of his past lifestyle, he and his son (Jay's dad) haven't been in touch for over 15 years and haven't see one another in over 10 until this past summer. Remember this post?

Recently he has been diagnosed with Lung Cancer and had several weeks of chemo but they have since determined that it is not working or shrinking it like they had hoped. There is nothing else they can do for him and the cancer continues to grow. Every time we talk to him he has such a positive attitude and always says things like, "Don't cry for me! This is just my ticket home!!!!" He wants to see Jesus so bad and give up everything to see His savior. It is sad to know there is nothing else that can be done but ultimately God knows what He is doing...even when we don't understand. We both have learned so much from him and are so glad that the kids have gotten to spend time with him recently. It is so sad to leave family when you don't get to see them very often, because you never know when it will be your last.

I will always treasure these pictures!

We love you Pawpaw and you will never know in this life the impact that you have had on us. God has used you in so many ways and hope that someday we can have that impact on someone else. You are and always will be one of our HEROES!

Riverbend Ladies Night Out

I LOVE when we the ladies from church get a Ladies Night Out and I looked forward to it every time! SO tonight was no exception...I was NOT going to miss it! It is very rare that we all get a chance to go out to eat and without kids....so we actually got to chat and hang out and lots of laughs of course. It was thoroughly enjoyed by all! We went to Olive Garden to eat and stayed for about 3 hours and then some of us went to Starbucks for some dessert afterwards. It a much needed girls night! :)

Renee, Shelly, Amber, Christine (your hair looks fabulous...haha)

Ok the end of our table minus Whitney (she was chatting at the time) plus a boy on girls night??? Zach Medlock happened to be at the restaurant so he jumped in haha.

The other table of ladies...

Me and Paige

Me and my friend Destin (who also happens to be Axton's mom)

So fun! Can't wait until the next one!

Lots of it...

Lolli took Karis shopping the other day to fill up her Christmas Shoebox and she was so proud of what she picked out...and there was lots of it. Here she has divided it up into a girl and boy pile...

SO I woke up this morning to find Brayden doing this...eating "breakfast." He just wanted some crackers...and lots of it! I guess it could have been worse!

While Brayden took Jay hunting, Karis and I had a fingernail painting party...and she did this to get us set up. She picked out some polish...and lots of it.

We have LOTS OF IT around here...especially love (and kids)!

You know what God told me???

Last night as I was snuggling with Brayden before bed, this was our conversation:

Brayden: "Mom you hurt my feelings!"

Mom: "Why B?"

Brayden: "Because you spank me!"

Mom: "But Brayden God tells me as your mom that I have to discipline you and you must obey us."

Brayden: "But you know what God told me????"

Mom: "What Brayden?"

Brayden: "That I have to spank YOU because you hurt my feelings!"

I am not too sure he heard God right...we need to work on that.

My Big Backyard

My mom heard of this great place that we decided to take the kids to yesterday. It is located at the Botanic Gardens called My Big Backyard. And the best part...it is free on Wednesdays! The weather was great so all in all it was a fabulous outing! Check out all this place has to offer...amazing!