Random bits and pieces

Tiffani and Cheryl at Carl's Jr. Tiffani's mouth is full of food, but John didn't care.







Pictures of the fam doing our "camping" duty. The kids love the idea of camping and Tiffani HATES camping. So, as a comprise we did a dinner out in the woods over a little grill. The kids loved it and we endured it.




John took the kids to Canyon View Park while I went shopping. They were ornery, but they had fun I'm sure.

Maddie Jo is the biggest baby we've ever had. She went in for her two month check-up. She's even more off the charts than before in height and she is 90% for weight. She's wearing clothes Alexis wore at six months!! So, she's getting bigger. One big plus for having a big baby is that she sleeps through the night, if you count six hours as sleeping through the night, I do!! It's heavenly and John and I both appreciate it, the only draw back is that she doesn't go to sleep until sometime between twelve and one. Oh well, we can't complain.

Drew has to ask why all the time. I finally told him: "because Jesus said" one day and he actually stopped asking why on that line of questioning!! Alexis is just as Alexis should be. She has taken to being a miniature mommy which is sometimes really helpful and sometimes a pain our neck. She likes to put Drew down for his nap, which is very helpful and Drew doesn't seem to mind. She also has taken to telling us that things she wants and we tell her no to are: "not a question". She gets this from Tiffani. When Tiffani tells her to do something and Alexis tells her no, Tiffani would reply with: "It's not a question". It backfired. Also, we count down from five so they know that it's time to do what we asked. The other day Tiffani was on the computer reading something and Alexis came in and told her that it wasn't her turn. Tiffani told her she would be just one minute and then she could have a turn. That did not fly with Alexis because she told her: "No, it's my turn. I'm going to count to five." And she did, when she finished counting, she tried to pull her off the computer. When we finish counting we pick them up and move them to where they are supposed to be, funny how they mimic EVERYTHING we do.

Little bunny foofoo

This was so funny to me. We were eating lunch and out of nowhere Alexis starts singing this song. She learned it in nursery, and she was doing hand motions with it. Everytime she sings "popping them on the head" I crack up laughing.

More medical stuff

I'm using this blog to replace journaling, so some of this won't be terribly interesting! At Madison's one month appointment she was 23 1/2 inches and 9 lbs 13 oz which puts her in the 50% for weight and +97% for height. Alexis went in on the same day for a check-up. She was 30 lbs and 30" which puts her in the 50% for both! Drew was 23 lbs which puts him in the 10% range. Drew has been having penile, for lack of better wording, problems. He was screaming because it hurt so we went to the Dr. He had a little blood in his urine, which led us to do an ultrasound to check for a few things. None of the things it could have been showed up which was great. They did discover a hydrocele. This, from what I understand, is just excess fluid which isn't too big of a deal. But, in true Drew fashion he made sure that it wasn't just something that would fix itself. They think it's a hydrocele that comes and goes, which means that there's a hole in his abdominal wall and it would need to be closed so that he doesn't get a hernia or infection. We have an appointment with a pediatric urologist next week to see if that is really what is going on, hopefully not!! We're also going to be checking his eye because it leaks clear fluid. We're hoping for just a dry eye but it could be a clogged tear duct. Poor kid just isn't having much luck in the health department! Hopefully he out grows it sooner rather than later!!

Blessing Madison

On Sunday we blessed Madison and what a fun and exciting build-up to blessing day we had!! On Thursday we took Drew to the Dr. because his lips were turning blue again. No need to worry, he has acrocyanosis which means that his extremities can turn blue because his blue blood pools there. So big name for something we don't have to worry about, wahoo. Funny thing is....it seems like when I take him to the Dr, I'm always a couple of days early. Drew got this cold from John who has had it for about a week now. Monday morning he woke up with a nasty cold, that would explain the blueness!! Friday we took these pictures of the kids all dressed up in their blessing day outfits so that I wouldn't have to worry about getting it done on Sunday, what a great idea! We loved how these turned out and John revealed that he could add color to black and white pictures. Had I known this sooner, he would've been put to work much earlier on other pictures! Saturday was busy, busy getting ready for blessing day and getting all the food prepped. Alexis was next door playing and she came home crying that her arm hurt. After a few minutes it was apparent that she wasn't joking. She couldn't open her hand and she wouldn't move her arm that was swelling up. So, off to the hospital with Madison and Grandma Hakes in tow. We took a few x-rays of her wrist and shoulder and it was a nightmare to get it done because it hurt. When they said that they needed some x-rays of her elbow and we'd have to go back, I asked for her to be drugged. Thankfully they did, unfortunately, it hadn't fully kicked in when she went back. Grandma took her in for the elbow x-rays and was the one who was in charge of manipulating her arm into the positions it needed to be in. Apparently, her elbow had become dislocated, not a full dislocation, and when they manipulated it for the x-ray it popped back in!! Yeah, all sorts of nasties avoided with that. Sunday morning I woke up with a big infection, yes, it is possible to have everything happen in one weekend. Thankfully we have great family members, and they all pitched in to get the dinner cooked in time for the party!! So, even with all the problems we had this weekend, it could've been much worse, and the party went really well!

Trouble makers

We had a fun and exciting day yesterday! Alexis is fond of pol nailish as she calls it and she painted herself and Drew all up. Luckily it was quiet time anyway and so they both were put in their rooms. Drew fell asleep like a good little boy. Alexis is too quiet and stealthy for her own good. When I went to check on her, she was painting her door. I took the nail polish away and put her in time out again, only to come back and find her with a new nail polish doing the same thing. UGH! She did it again after the second time out too. Honestly she is too determined. So, for the first time in marriage, we were unable to go out to a family dinner because we had a child who was grounded for the rest of the day! Who would've thought that a three year old would be so precocious?

The next two pictures are me favorite. After getting the kids to bed, I noticed the piano didn't look right. Upon further inspection, we found that we were being watched! What a perfect toy to shove in there!!

Madison is the only one who didn't get in trouble yesterday for her antics! She was rather peaceful.

Drew yesterday decided that it was time to do full-time potty training. Yes, he picked a perfect day. He went pee on the toilet, WAHOO, and when I tried to put his diaper back on he threw a fit until I put him in his big boy underwear. We have only had one accident today which is great!! Hopefully this will be an easy transition.

24th BBQ

We had a BBQ at our house the 24th and it was fun from what I heard. Between running to get things that were needed out of the kitchen and feeding Madison I only sat for a few minutes and I missed most of the fireworks. There was a lot of water for the kids to play in, and I think it was a great idea because they weren't complaining about the heat outside! As you can see from the last picture, we are slightly red-neck at our house. We didn't have any other way to roast marshmallows for the smores and they really sounded good. Other than Drew burning his poor hand on a sparkler, it went well and there was some really good food!!

24th Carnival

For the 24th we took the kids to the carnival in town. It was a super hot day and that helped when it came time to leave because the kids were excited to get something cold to drink! We all went on the carousel, Alexis liked it this time and didn't hold on for dear life. Drew on the other hand looked like he was terrified for the entire ride. John tried to get him to let go of the pole, but it was pointless. No need to fear, we didn't leave Madison home alone, she is attached to John and you can only see her purple hat, just barely.
John and Alexis rode the kid roller coaster together, he looked so funny in there but it was adorable to see him with her. If you look at the second picture you can see Alexis straining to hold on to the lap bar, they are the second car back, it makes me giggle every time I look at it.
For the last ride of the day, John rode the twirly ride. He's the one right above the name sign facing the camera. He was a little dizzy when he got off, but he said it was well worth it!!