Monday, January 30, 2012

Hard to believe

Hard to believe that this little sweet pea turns 1 a week from today!!!!



I think we should celebrate all week!

Hard to believe my other sweet pea still hasn't been diagnosed with anything and unfortunately, is still having issues.



What we do know is there is no blood in her urine, no sugar in her urine, no infection, and kidneys are functioning properly, which is all good to hear. What's not good is that this has totally disrupted her daily life....things she used to be excited about doing, she hesitates now worried she'll have to go potty. We're working through it though, as best we can.

Hard to believe this little guy started having his own "plumbing" issues.



My friend said it best when she said that I'm in urinating hell!

He, however, had a lot of pain, blood in his urine, and an infection, so antibiotics were prescribed and appear to be helping! What a relief!

And you know what else is hard to believe about our little man? That he could do something ornery.



No, not him!!!

He had just bathed, and I told him to go get in bed, and I'd be there in a minute. Boy, was I surprised when I walked in his room and found him covered in Reese's make-up!



Hard to believe I couldn't keep a straight face.

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Dirty Dishes

In my previous post, I mentioned that our family is a big time Scotty McCreery fan! Whenever a movie isn't playing on the dvd player in the van, it's a good bet, his cd is blasting. And my absolute favorite song is called Dirty Dishes.

Mama hollers "Supper time,
And don't make me tell you twice
Wash your hands and wipe your face.
The table's no place for your toys,
And try to use your inside voice,
Don't dig in til we say Grace."
So we put down our forks and bowed our heads
And then she prayed the strangest prayer ever said:



"I wanna thank you Lord,
For noisy children and slammin doors,
And clothes scattered all over the floor,
My husband workin' all the time,
Draggin' in dead tired at night,
My never ending messy kitchen
And dirty dishes."



We all got real still and quiet,
And daddy asked, "Hon, are you alright?"
She said, "Dear, ain't nothing wrong,
Noisy kids are happy kids,
And slamming doors just mean we live
In a warm and loving home.
Your long hours and those dishes in the sink,
Means a job and enough to eat.



So I'm going to thank you Lord,
For noisy kids and slamming doors,
And clothes scattered all over the floor,
A husband workin' all the time,
Draggin' in dog tired at night,
A never ending messy kitchen......



For my little busy bees
Beggin' mama, mama can we please?
Always wantin' me to call their name
Loads of laundry pilin' up
Crayons crushed into the rug
And those little sticky kisses



And dirty dishes.....



Dirty dishes



Amen, Scotty! Amen!



It just has this subtle way of reminding me to count my blessings.

Monday, January 23, 2012

Great friends + Abuelos + Scotty McCreery + The Band Perry + Brad Paisley = One Amazing Night!

My big Christmas present to Chet this year was tickets to the Brad Paisley concert! Yay!!!! Merry Christmas to me too!!!! I wanted to get him tickets last year when he was here, but I bailed on dropping that much money. (Chet has always said that if I want him to go to a country concert, it has to be someone big and we have to have good seats.) However, this year, when I found out last year's American Idol winner, who just so happens to be our family favorite, Scotty McCreery, was going to be there, I did not hesitate what so ever dropping a pretty penny on some tickets.

Our friends, Chris and Mindy, had tickets as well, so we decided to make a whole evening out of it and enjoy some yummy dinner before the concert.

First up, Scotty!



Our family seriously LOVES him, so we thoroughly enjoyed listening to him! And for being a 17 year old high schooler who just won American Idol, we thought he did an awesome job of performing and working the crowd.


I think he sees me....haha!

Next up was The Band Perry. They were so good as well. I really didn't know very many of their songs, but I definitely sang along to If I Die Young....love that one!



And finally, Mr. Brad Paisley!



My love for him was rekindled after that night! His show was beyond great! He was such an awesome performer, and the way he played his guitars.....aaaaa-mazing!!!!







At one point, Scotty sang with him.....



The lead singer for The Band Perry also sang with him, as well as Carrie Underwood.....kinda. Their duet Remind Me started, and everyone cheered so extremely loud when they heard her voice and when the thought they saw her.....when the song was over, it was just her on a screen. Still so amazing!

I think I've said amazing a lot in this post....haha!

While singing and playing his guitar, Brad made his way around the whole arena. He stopped in the center to play some songs.



He was coming down our side as he made his way back to the stage, so I decided to b-line it to the front row! Here he comes!



Ahhh, look how close!!!



I'm right down here for pete's sake!!!!



There were only three people separating us!



Next concert, I will pay for front row seats!



All three performers totally blew me out of the water! So happy we were able to go and so thankful to my parents for watching the kids and handling Reese while she was still dealing with her issues.

And so thankful to share the evening with some great friends!!!



The only un-amazing thing about the night was taking pictures with my point-and-shoot....sorry for the terrible quality.

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Poor Reesey

Our poor Reesey had to spend the evening in the ER on Wednesday.



I've noticed her visiting the bathroom quite frequently lately, which is so unlike her. The girl has a very regular pee schedule - when she wakes up, after lunch, and before bath. She drinks a normal amount, I just think she has a bladder of steel like her mama :) She's even been waking up during the night to go.



On top of that, she has been acting really tired/sluggish/grumpy/fatigued. And to me, she's looked really skinny lately.



So, I've been nagging to Chet that I think something might be wrong. Well, something was definitely wrong.



After I picked her up from school on Wednesday, she told me she pottied at school, which she said she never does. As the day went on, I noticed she had went a few times. Then, while we were playing downstairs, she went, then went again like two minutes later. It was soon time for her to get ready for dance class, so I told her to go to the bathroom, like I do every week. She went. Shortly after, as we were walking out the door, she started screaming that she was about to pee her pants. She went to dance and when I picked her up, she told me she went potty at dance (which later in the ER she told me she went three times at dance.....three times in 45 minutes!).

As we drove away from her dance teacher's house, she started screaming again that she had to go. At that point, I called the doctor. Of course, it was 4:55, so I had to leave a message. We flew to my parent's house so she could go.

Then we headed to church, and during the two minute drive across town, she had to go again. She ran into the church crying :( I was trying as fast as I could to get Everlee out of the van (thank goodness my dad had Cru!), and when I finally got inside, she had a team in the bathroom helping her....bless their hearts. You know, of all days for this to escalate, it was on dance class day, so the poor thing had to rip her leotard and tights off about 50 times.



We were only at church for about five minutes, and in that five minutes she went to the bathroom twice. We loaded up to go home, and she had to go yet again, so we made a hop, skip, and a jump across a couple parking lots to Chet's office......that quiet accounting office wasn't so quiet when she went running in there. At that point, I was getting scared for her, so I decided it was time to just go to the ER.

We spent our entire evening there to sit on the toilet and basically find out nothing.

No infection showed in her urine, so they sent it off for cultures, which we are still waiting to hear back on. Her blood sugar was normal, which was definitely good to hear. They also gave her medicine to help calm the urge to go.



I thought it would be a very long night, but she slept well. It did her good! She seemed better today, but is still going potty very frequently. It picked up again this afternoon, and by supper time, she was very upset. She just kept saying she wanted to pee like everyone else.....breaks my heart.



We are hoping for some results and answers tomorrow. In the meantime, please keep our girl in your prayers.

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

You've gotta try this!

After 10 years of being together and six years of being married, I have finally found the way to Chet's heart......homemade chicken and noodles!

Chicken and noodles is one of my favorite meals! My grandma used to make everything from scratch, and it was amazing! My parents make it every year around Thanksgiving/Christmas per my request :) I have always wanted my own recipe. I have a crockpot recipe that's ok, but finally I have a simple recipe that I love and would even make it for my parents instead of them making it for me! This recipe came from our family meal planner book, but I like to put my own twist on things!

You need two cups of cooked chicken. My parents always boil a whole chicken when they make it, but I prefer just using chicken breasts. I use three chicken breasts (I honestly don't know if that equals two cups or not, it's just the amount I use).

If your chicken is thawed, you only need to boil for 20 minutes, but I usually throw them in frozen, so I let them boil for around 40 minutes.


Wooden spoon trick :)

Chet loves mashed potatoes with this, so while your chicken is cooking, I recommend peel your potatoes....



Also, get your veggies ready.....



And most importantly, pour yourself a cocktail.....makes cooking so much better! Totally off subject, but why does pre-dinner time have to be the craziest time of the day? My kids are totally out of control and always needing something during this time....ugh! My neighbor calls it the 4:00 crazies, and I totally agree with her!


In case you were wondering, it's vodka and monster.

Once chicken is cooked, shred/cut.....



Then in a big pot, mix three cans of chicken broth, one can of water, cooked chicken, veggies, salt, and pepper. The first time I made this, I worried about it being too bland, so I also added a chicken bouillon cube. Let this all come to a boil.



Then add frozen noodles.....



Let that all come to a boil again, then let simmer for around 20 minutes. While all that's going on, I boil and mash the potatoes. And also feed a really cute baby :)



I like to keep stirring it while it simmers and I also gauge if it needs more water, which I usually add an extra 1/3-1/2 cup and also one more bouillon cube. Oh yeah, and a dash of season salt :)

Then, while it continues to simmer, you sip on your cocktail and let the baby entertain herself with a wash cloth.



20 minutes later, when the noodles are soft, it's ready! And it's delish!



And it makes a ton, which means leftovers!

So, go make some! I know you want to! And be sure to tell me how yours turns out! Or better yet, let me know it's a way to your man's heart ♥

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Display of random pictures

Dumb title, but true.

Not that we've really had a lot going on lately, but I seem to have stumbled upon quite a few pictures I haven't shared :)

My Bows & Bands business has been going great lately, and just recently Everlee modeled a bitty snap clip for me......LOVE!



Sisters ♥



Everlee got an early birthday present from Mommy and Daddy.....a big girl carseat! She reached the weight limit of her infant one some time ago, so when I stumbled upon a great Black Friday deal, I jumped on it!



It passed with flying colors on the first ride!



The next picture is from New Year's Eve.....typical Everlee - a blow out and eating something she shouldn't be.



When the two little ones woke up from their naps on New Year's Day, it was still relatively nice outside, so we took Cru out to practice on his new bike.



Typical Cru - he got a bit discouraged and frustrated!







Reese was out with us too, but was busy riding with the neighbors!

Rock chalk, baby!



The outfit Everlee is wearing is a hand-me-down; my cousins gave it to Reese. I just love it! And every time I picture Reese wearing these clothes and think they couldn't get any cuter, I see them in a whole new light and it just melts my heart all over again.



One day while I was cleaning up after lunch, I realized Everlee wasn't at her usual spot - my feet! I didn't see her playing with Reese and Cru either, so I asked Reese if she knew where she was at. Reese said that she was behind the couch. As I walked towards the couch, I heard a lot of crinkling....there she was! With a whole stash of candy canes!!!



Playtime with Charlee Mae!



Cru-dog living up to his nick name!



We have been so fortunate to be able to spend quite a bit of time outside this winter! One afternoon, while the kids were playing out back, Reese yells that Cru needs help.....



Yes, I believe he does! This kid! His new favorite thing is to pee outside, but he hasn't quite figured out how to do it on his own!

Christmas at Dirt Cheap with Chimney!!!



Someone in our house has a new trick, and it's not Everlee! Reese can now do a somersault! I know it doesn't seem like a big deal, but to Reese, as well as us, this is huge!



You see, Reese's biggest fear is being up side down! Doesn't want anyone to flip her and refuses to even try a somersault, even in dance class when all of her friends do one! However, something clicked the other afternoon!



Reese kept acting like she wanted to try one, but when I would try to help her, she'd pout, throw a fit, and chicken out. After quite some time of encouraging her and she watching Cru flip right over like it's no big deal, I might have bribed her just a little bit with some juice (a rare treat at our house!). She was determined....for juice! I kept yelling (in an encouraging way) to keep her head tucked tight to her chest, then she just rolled!! It was awesome! We screamed and jumped and hugged! I was so proud!!! She wanted to make sure ALL of our family members knew of her new accomplishment, especially her Grandma Norma!!!

And to wrap up this display of totally random pictures, here are a few more of our January, jacket-less outdoor adventures!!!



















If you stuck this one out to the end, thank you!!!