Yesterday was one of those days where God reached down and smacked me in the face as though to say, “Lisa!  Hello!  I really do look out for you and I really do have a plan that’s better than yours.”  Amen.  I took Rachel to the doctor on Monday and the pedi decided to schedule a test for her yesterday at Cook Children’s – nothing serious…just looking into some issues she’s having at night.  So, I spent Tuesday working out the details of who would pick Ethan up from school and keep him, what time I would have to leave work to pick up Rachel and my mom, planning for a sub, talking with the nurse at Cook to get all the prep plans for Thursday morning, etc.  Everything was set and I was completely mentally prepared to take my baby in.  Until the phone rang around 4:00 Wednesday afternoon – it was the case manager from Cook saying that our insurance was likely going to deny paying for the testing.  Immediate breakdown because I WAS READY FOR IT.  I had everything set and planned and double checked.  My poor husband got a frantic phone call in which I insisted that he call that stinking insurance company and tell them that this was unacceptable.  At 4:45 I get another phone call saying that no amount of insistence from anyone’s husband was going to change their mind.  Not going to happen.

After being frustrated, upset, angry, etc., I realized that wasn’t going to do anyone any good and I thought I would just deal with it Thursday afternoon to see what our next steps were going to be.  So, Ethan and I go to school yesterday and around 10:00 I hear this awful cough coming from the auditorium where Ethan’s class is having Stretch-n-Grow.  I go to check out my broken legged son dancing to his little heart’s content – almost doubled over from coughing so much…but so happy to be active.  I go to check on him and he’s in a full blown asthma attack – complete with these blood spots all over his neck and a rash covering the top of his shoulders.  I scoop him up, tell one of the aides to cover my class and head for the doctor’s office…thankfully just one exit down from school.  They get us right back, do a strep test (negative), give him 2 back-to-back breathing treatments, 2 doses of benadryl, give us a paper to go to the lab and have his blood drawn for the spots on his neck, and give us a paper to go to the hospital to have a chest x-ray done.  I take him to do the bloodwork (he really loved this part), drive through Chick-fil-A on the way to the hospital, Ethan crashes from the benadryl, then take this poor child in to have a chest x-ray with a broken leg, bandaged arm, still coughing his brains out, and he has a rash completely covering his back, stomach and legs.  Yes, I got more than just a few “looks.”  Come to find out it’s bronchitis mixed in with an allergic reaction to who knows what and an asthma attack triggered by the allergic reaction.  Could have been SO much worse…really. 

So, back to the point of the post.  If our wonderful insurance company had okayed the test, I wouldn’t have been at school to take him to the doctor, and his poor teacher wouldn’t have known what to do with him.  This is when I got the face smack.  Funny how it’s so easy to say that I trust God and have faith in His plans and His answers to my prayers, but in the smallest little thing I sometimes waiver.  Oh, ye of little faith…

…doesn’t mean you can’t hunt eggs.  And boy did we get some eggs.  The Easter bunny came in full force this year and we loved it.  A few days before Easter the kids got boxes full of Easter goodness from Mimi & Bob.  Unfortunately I couldn’t get a picture of Rachel with her loot because she took off as soon as she got those Crayola markers in her hand.  It’s too bad Ethan doesn’t express his true feelings in pictures.

Saturday we had a wonderful day at Nana & Poppa’s hunting Easter eggs with Addi, Libby, Levi and Meme.  We had Meme’s famous fried chicken, a ton of other fattening and scrumptious foods, about 1,000 eggs full of candy, and Easter baskets full of goodies from N&P.  It was a little sad that Ethan couldn’t get down and run around, but he didn’t seem to mind the wagon too much.  And in true toddler fashion Rachel found one egg, sat on the ground, finally opened it, and worked on the marshmallow Tigger inside.  The kids really just love being together, but throw in some competition and a ton of sugar and you have a truly magical Saturday evening.

Sunday morning we enjoyed a great service at church, and I managed to get ONE picture of my children in their once-a-year matching outfits (when I put Ethan’s shirt on that morning his response was, “Aw man – pink is for girls”).  And it was taken in a flash when I dropped Ethan off in Bible class.  This was probably because I was carrying Rachel’s bag, my purse, my Bible…oh yeah, and Ethan because he still couldn’t walk at that point.  Oh well – maybe another Sunday I’ll get their picture.  The Easter bunny did visit our house, but I guess I decided that wasn’t a memorable enough occasion to walk the 10 steps over to get the camera.

And then Sunday night before church two of the high school girls from church came over to bring baskets for the kids because they felt so sorry for Ethan being carried around Sunday morning.  We love these girls, and I’m so glad the kids love them – makes leaving them on a random Friday night much more enjoyable.  All in all, a very happy Easter.

I have a ton of great Easter pictures to sort through and post, but wanted to go ahead and post about our annual Easter mishap.  Seriously, EVERY SINGLE EASTER one of us visits the hospital.  I’ve been twice because I was horribly sick, 2 Easters ago Ethan was in for a bad asthma attack, and the list goes on.  So, in true Easter fashion Ethan took another turn this year and checked out Baylor Frisco ER for us.  What a sweet boy – at least now we know that’s a reliable facility in case we need it again next year.  While I was at a conference for church, Clay, my parents and grandmother went to Frisco to visit my brother and SIL and the kids.  Ethan and Clay got a little too confident on the trampoline which resulted in a fractured leg.  I knew it would happen at some point, but I really thought I would be there when it happened.  Nothing like getting a phone call that your son broke his leg while 10 middle school and high school kids are staring at you in a hotel elevator.  Good times.  He had a temporary cast over the weekend and couldn’t put any weight on it, and then I took him to the orthopedist this morning to get his very own red cast.  He was very brave and a very good patient, and picked out the brightest red cast they had – under orders that as soon as we got home Clay would draw Lightning McQueen on it.  He did. So, there you have it – our annual Easter mishap.  If you want to see a hilarious display of walking, come on over.  Can’t wait to smell that leg in 4 weeks…

Easter 2006

Kellen

Jack

Lauryn

Ever heard the myth about the Pampers size 4 diaper surviving the rinse cycle in the washing machine?  Well, I inadvertently busted that myth today.  Apparently someone included a diaper in the mess of dirty sheets and blankets from our weekend, and someone did not properly check the contents of this mess when starting the 108th load of clothes today.  As the blood was rushing to my head from being upside down in the washing machine with the vacuum cleaner attachment, I reminded myself that it could have been worse – it could have been a dirty diaper.  And speaking of poop – I’d like to delete the following line item from my job description:  Will be required to clean poop out of the bathtub when child decides that the warm water is a much better place than a perfectly good diaper to rid her system of the weekend’s intake.

Yesterday a local TV station came to the campgrounds and interviewed a few of the kids about camping over spring break.  I just went to their website and saw the clip – you see a little shot of Ray-Bug!

We are back from a 3 day camping trip at Lake Murray State Park in Ardmore, Okla!  (Thanks, Emma, for the idea to take a picture in front of each sign!)  Clay and I have enjoyed camping since we’ve been married, but we’ve always tent camped.  Well, a couple of weeks ago our lives were changed forever – we became the proud owners of a 1997 pop-up camper.  We’ve been talking about getting one for about a year now, and this one popped up on Craigslist and we couldn’t pass it up.  Even if you don’t enjoy camping I think you would enjoy one of these.  It sleeps 8, has a shower and toilet, has a sink with hot water, lots of storage, a canopy, a stereo with inside and outside speakers, has a TV antenna (we don’t have a TV for it, but it’s an option for down the road), has a heater and A/C – so basically not camping at all!  Clay did a great job hauling it to Oklahoma and it was even better than we had anticipated. 

The best part of the trip was that we went with 35 other people from church.  The weather was perfect – a little cold but still great – the food was amazing – the fellowship was great – the church service Sunday was uplifting – the game playing was competitive – all of the kids played together so well and we really just enjoyed hanging out with our church family. 

I guess the biggest surprise of the trip was how well the kids did.  This was Rachel’s first camping experience and she just fit right in.  We knew she would be okay during the day because she would be so busy, but I was a little anxious about the night.  We had her pack-n-play set up in the camper and she just went right to sleep for naps and bedtime and slept all night long!  Poor thing had a few mishaps with crossties, rocks, tree branches, etc., but at least we can say she’s comfortable camping now.  And I’m sure her digestive system will be working overtime with all of the rocks, leaves, dirt, grass and sand she ate.  And of course Ethan loved every minute of it.  One if his good friends – Sophia – was there and they just ran around together.  He rode his bike, did a lot of shoveling dirt, flew a kite, rode in the bike trailer, played with cars, and did a lot of other things.  He had a little trouble with his asthma while we were there, but nothing a few breathing treatments couldn’t fix.

Super Dad pulling E & R

Ethan & Sophia resting

Eating breakfast Sunday morning

A born camper

Queen of the lunch table

All packed up and ready to head back home

I’m hoping to keep a little journal in the camper of all the places we’ve been and things we’ve seen.  Every time we went to an RV place to look at campers they would have a little sign somewhere inside the store that said, ‘Familes who camp together, stay together.’  That’s the plan.

There are lots of things I’ve done in the past 3 years that I never thought I would do.  A few minutes ago I just added to that list.  I had to move Rachel’s crib to the middle of the room to get her to stop banging her head against the wall to keep herself awake.  And of course the banging woke Ethan up so I had to explain to him that the sound was not a) an airplane (his first guess – very feasible) b) a motorcycle (his second guess – again logical) but rather c) his baby sister repeatedly banging her head against the wall…and laughing. 

Sometimes it still seems too good to be true that my brother and his family moved back to Texas.  In the past couple of months we’ve had the privilege of being able to spend some time with Addi and Libby.  While I love getting to know my nieces better, E&R just think it’s the best thing on earth.  Looking forward to adding some pictures with little Levi in them.

Life is fun with a 13 month old in the house.  Ray Ray is a girl on the go.  She’s happiest when she’s outside exploring.  The kids and I have started walking for close-by errands, and this is definitely her favorite part of the day.  Here are 13 of her favorites:

1. food - teddy grahams
2. time of day – tie between breakfast and bathtime
3. game – hide and seek with Ethan
4. book – zoo animals
5. activity – eating
6. sound – her squeaky shoes
7. toy – her cozy coupe
8. person – mommy
9. place in the house – tie between her closet and the stairs
10. place to go – library
11. comfort object – pink blankie
12. drink – water
13. song – I love to pat the Bible

This month she ditched the bottle, got to meet a new cousin, went to the zoo for the first time, discovered the shoe polish in the very back corner of my mom’s closet (click on the picture of her in the green onesie for a better look), added a few words to her vocabulary (”hide” being her favorite), played with a lot of friends, chipped a front tooth, ate her weight in snacks, learned to kick a soccer ball, and became very anxious around strangers (i.e. clings to me for dear life any time we’re around a new face…or an old face…basically anyone that isn’t me…at one point I thought she had actually permanently attached herself to my shoulder).