Hee Hee Hee!

We had another doctor's appointment today. We actually made it to this one on time! :-) 8:15 am is a little earlier than I prefer, but Oren was almost out of meds, so it was a necessity and that was when they could squeeze him in...

It cracks me up the difference in Oren and Nathan. When one gets weighed, the others want to be too. Oren is 6 and weighs a whopping 38 lbs. Nathan just turned 4 and is 41 lbs. And William is now 21 1/2 pounds! (We had a celebration when he hit 20 lbs at 18 months. So this is very exciting for us!) I am just waiting for Nathan to barrel into Oren and break his leg- Oren is that fragile looking compared to Nathan. On X-rays Nathan's bones are actually bigger! (guess he takes after Daddy...)

The good thing is that the doc we saw today goes to church with us, has 9 kids, and is a really good guy. He isn't too worried about Oren's weight... We are already putting cream in his cereal and when he has milk, we give him juice because it has more calories than water, he gets Carnation Instant Breakfast (we get a huge canister at Winco, cheaper that way) when we remember. The only thing we can do different that would help is give him lots of smaller meals, kids tend to eat more that way. But he didn't yell at me because Oren is so skinny, or tell me I am feeding him wrong, or threaten to stop his meds. He reassured me that I am doing all I can, gave me some more tips, and said I was a really good Mom and he could tell that I am trying to keep them healthy.

We like this guy!

Today was busy, but somehow not as stressful. When we left the hospital I discovered that one of our last sippy cups and a toy were left in the office. Oh well. Took the kids to Burger King for a breakfast treat since we didn't get to eat before we left. (an alarm clock mix-up). Syrup everywhere? No problem, that's what bathrooms are for! Came home and cleaned the disasterous living room from yesterday. Amanda's daughter Katherine (Kat) came to play and I laid down some ground rules: one toy at a time, no blankets or pillows in the living room, no toys in the backyard if they are fuzzy, and clean up before you go home. That worked a lot better. If the boys started squealing because someone was bothering someone else, I was able to ignore it. Usually after a few minutes the noise stops and they get over it. If there is blood or bruise inducing force they come to me anyway... :-)

Left in time for school to let the boys play on the playground for a few minutes, came home and put William down for naptime. Dealt with the dishes from yesterday, swept the floor, messed around on the computer, read some of Harry Potter 5. Tried to stay low key, and give Nathan some quiet time because they got up early after staying up playing later than I would have liked. After the last couple days I wanted some low stress time. Got a diaper bag packed for our therapy trip, water bottles filled, snacks prepared. Usually I forget something, but I even had activities for the kids to do at the office! Because I wasn't stressed out!

We stopped by Walmart after therapy for a few things. The kids actually stayed with me!!!!! I was frankly amazed! We found jeans for the boys, as Nathan's don't fit and Oren's have holes. They wear the same size, but Nathan's need to be a little shorter, and Oren's need to be longer but the same size waist, so it is harder to get them pants. I got 4 pairs for under $10 each! In fact, 3 of them were $7. I love clearance. To keep their pants and shirts strait I am going to start marking their tags. 1 dot for Oren, 2 for Nathan. Their clothes are pretty much the same size, so it's hard to tell them apart lately.

They were quiet on the ride home, and I didn't get fast food for dinner! We are having a casserole to use up a roasted chicken we had the other day. Chicken, broccoli, stuffing, cheese, cream of mushroom soup, and a little sour cream. It feels good to cook...

I was really trying to not do too much today, not go too many places, not worry about all the little things. Yesterday was pretty hard and I could feel my self breaking down, flipping out about stuff. Today my mood was so much better, I enjoyed driving in my nice, clean car, and I was a lot less snappy with everyone.

And, the high note of my day...

Vitamins with no artificial colors! They recommended vitamins for Oren when we started the meds since he isn't eating as much. But they all have red food coloring, which he is very sensitive too. So we haven't been giving him vitamins. Why give him red first thing in the morning? But I found some gummy ones that are colored and flavored with fruit juices and other natural stuff! Hurray! (plus the kids are stoked that they get to eat gummy bears every day with breakfast. Thank heavens for child proof caps!)