More Than I Bargained For

Well, this morning was supposed to be a relatively uneventful trip to the doctor's office. The boys needed physicals for Camp this summer and Ella needed a physical along with shots before she can go to kindergarten in the fall. They all lined up to be weighed and measured.

Ella weighed 56 pounds and was 4 feet .5 inches tall.

Mark Thomas weighed 62 pounds and was 4 feet 6 inches tall.

Ben weighed 70 pounds and was 4 feet 7 1/4 inches tall.

Max weighed 90 pounds and was 5 feet 3 inches tall.

I had been talking for the past week or so about Ella getting shots and had prepared the boys to be supportive and kind big brothers. Well after the Dr. came in and started looking at MT's chart she said, "he'll need two boosters today." The look that Ben gave me was priceless! I honestly did not know that any one other than Ella was going to need shots but it turned out my suggestions for support and kindness would be needed for the entire room. Max needed four shots, Ella five and Ben and MT two each.YIKES! Had I known I would have made Mark tag along for moral support too.

The kids did great. I told them we'd go get ice-cream after if everyone could remain calm. Ella had one little tear roll down her cheek, but she laid perfectly still and never said a word. Max giggled saying he felt strong already. Too much media about baseball and steroids lately for him. MT was a champ as always, such a high pain tolerance after three surgeries as a baby and Ben, well, there had to be one out of the four. As I mentioned earlier his anxiety started early and did not go away. So he went last, but put up a good fight. The nurse said, don't flex your muscle several times and finally I had to say, that is just how his arm is. That boy is solid muscle, not an ounce of fat anywhere, so she plunged away. He cried sweet tears into my shoulder and after two pokes we were done.

I'm thankful for four healthy children who are now immunized for at least a few years. Next time, Mark will be the parent on duty.


My two little beauties! No, not the boys, my new washer and dryer! For those of you with large families, you can feel my pain. With four, active children and two parents constantly on the go with them, our laundry loads are crazy. So these two little beauties have been such a welcomed addition to our home. Is it wrong to love your washer and dryer this much? They play sweet music for me when they're done and make our clothes smell so good. If only someone would come up with a machine to fold and put it all away.