Memories

Favorite memories of our dad...

- Falling out of the calmest part of the river while white water rafting
- Holding me (Alexis) over tank of dolphins by my belt loop
- "No one deserves anything"
- Turning the music up when we were singing in the car.
- Staying up late playing Monopoly.
- Big pans of burnt chips n' cheese.
- The story of his John Travolta move across the table
- Crossing our fingers, whispering "dairy queen dairy queen dairy queen" when we drove by it, hoping he'd stop. He would always reply, "I would have stopped if you wouldn't have said anything."
- Ghosty, Ghosty (a game we made up, dad was the ghost and chased us around the house when it was dark)
- Goin "crazy" (which usually ended up in just going to check fields)
- Sleeping in his T-shirts
- The day he said "I'm tickled to be here"
-This Father's Day when we were all laying on the living room floor doing a crossword puzzle together
- Our special weekend with him when mom was on the annual Christmas shopping trip
- Him quizzing us on the Easter Story while we colored Easter Eggs
- Playing tickle monster and trying to give him wet willies
- Him walking me (Jamie) down the aisle on my wedding day
- Any and all family vacations; special standout our road trip out west.
- Him telling us Paul Bunyon stories before we went to bed.
- Hearing him yell at me (Mallorie) to hustle in basketball games. Well, obviously I was;)
- The occasional ride in the Mustang.
- Dog N' Suds
- His face before he walked me (Mallorie) down the aisle.
- When the girls run to see Poppy, and he lights up.
- Opening bags of beans.
- Getting grounded and ungrounded in the same night.
- Watching planes fly over us in the fields.

When I think of my dad this verse comes to mind. I believe my sisters would agree with me. "Don't sin by letting anger control you. Think about it overnight and remain silent."

 Psalm 4:4

-Mallorie

One of those mornings....

Have you ever just had one of those mornings where you just wanted to scream and go back to bed but unfortunately your a super woman mom who just has to keep on smilin' and keep on movin'. Well that's my morning today!

I wake up to the MAAAAA MAAA MA, that I get every morning, but this morning I was begging for just a few more minutes. I am usually not one to whine about the lack of sleep because of Ruthie, because its obvious to me that lack of sleep is what comes along with being a mom and she has always been a great sleeper, but this morning I felt the need to plea too Ruthie for another hour. As you may guess she wasn't up for that, she was ready to start her day! After a good amount of jumping up and down, dancing, and running back and forth in her crib laughing, I pulled myself out of bed.

We go downstairs and of course she has to have a sippy and breakfast right away . . . she might starve or die of thirst or something. So, I put her in her high chair and start getting her breakfast. She eats some bagel, because lord knows she has to eat what I am eating, but that gets old and she starts her "mmmm, mmmmmm, mmmmm!!" (translation: I don't want that anymore, give me something else lady!) I would make her say please but she is already sitting, and sitting like a dog is how she says please (I did not teach her that, so don't turn me in for child cruelty, I blame my mom). Anyways, so I throw a banana on her tray, and go to the bathroom. I come back to find Ruthie squeezing the banana through her hand like a play-dough machine and then smearing it on her tray and then throwing the rest on the floor. Can you say hard to please this morning?? Needless to say I give up trying to please this little diva in the food department this morning and clean her up.

After that we head to the shower. Most mornings we just shower together because its quicker that way, and she usually loves it and does really good. Well this morning she felt the need to climb out of the shower, which resulted in me chasing her to get her back in the shower, then that a few more times, and then gallons of water on the floor to clean up after. Not the most enjoyable shower this morning.

So after we hurried up and got that done I let Ruthie out of the bathroom to rome around free bird. Yes, I know you all are already saying, "you are asking for a disaster." Well you were right, I come out of the bathroom after getting dressed with no Ruthie to be found. I see that the door to my moms craft room is shut and it's silent in there so I know someone's up to something. I open the door to find, I really want to say another word, but poop everywhere and just in time to stop Roo's hand from going in her mouth. It was absolutely disgusting. At least six spots of poop smeared into my moms new carpet!! aHHHHHHH, she is going to kill me!! I start to freak out and grab Ruthie who now has poop everywhere on her and take her to the sink. I wash her up and put a diaper on her and look down so see poop all over my white capris I was wearing. You have got to be kidding me! So I change those put detergent all over them and leave them to soak. Next to tackle the poop room. I do my best to get it all out, I think I did, I am hopping those dark spots are just because the carpet is so wet from me scrubbing it. I call my siblings for suggestions and they just laugh. Except Jamie, of course she's the first to say "HA!, I don't know, let me google it."  But don't tell my mom because she has yet to find out that her craft room was the victim to an almost one year old poop massacre this morning. I might need to break this news to her with some chocolate and wine.

Needless to say, the morning nap came an hour earlier this morning and I am now just sitting here dumbfounded and praying to God that this was just one of those mornings . . .

Never a Dull Moment

Our little Cowboy has had a rough week.  Number one he can't handle the heat. Which is leading us on a hunt for some sort of air conditioner. 

Unfortunately, Gat is dealing with a cold. Friday during the day we all started to notice how fussy he was, along with a runny nose and heavy breathing. By the way he is NEVER fussy! He is such a good baby. So after a lot of watching throughout the day and a call to Jess and his nurse we decided to take him to ER. So around 5:30 Friday, Gat and I were headed to DeVos. We were quickly taken to a room. The doctor came and seen him and told me they were going to need to keep him overnight. He was breathing way to fast and his oxygen levels were a little low. They wanted to monitor him for a night or two, he thought he possibly could have the onsets of brochiolitis.

As soon as the doctor left the room I had a breakdown. I was not ready for a night in the hospital. It is crazy how quickly you forget that feeling of feeling helpless for your baby. Being home I just shut out what we went through and didn't really think about it often. It is apparent those wounds are still not completely healed. It brought back a lot of hard feelings to deal with. I went in "survivor" mode, I got on the phone (balling of course) and got a plan into place. These were the cards we were dealt, so I was going all in and going to come out on top. I called Jess and he got everything around and got the girls situated with Grandma Cathy and then came up. We hung out and got no sleep for that night. We made the decision I would stay the day at the hospital and Jess would go be with the girls. And my mama came to hang out with me. That afternoon we got the "ok" that we could go home. They were pleased with the turn around and the fact he didn't not need oxygen overnight.  So by 3pm on Saturday, Gatlyn and I rolled home. 

Gatlyn had only been home for 58 days and we already had landed one trip to ER. I guess I forgot how truly fragile he is. He has a weak immune system and cannot tolerate a cold like a term baby. Then there is the slap in the face of how truly blessed we are. He is a miracle. He looks like a completely healthy baby. If you have had the opportunity to see him in person, you know what I mean. Day to day I see constant improvement. 

We need to be more conscious about our daily living. We gotta get back to the way we were when he first came home. Less outings and more time at home. We do not have a physical reminder daily of how fragile he is. He looks healthy, chubby and smiley. Sure he has a backpack that goes where he goes. That does not phase me anymore, it is just a part of him. We don't look at his feeding tube as a handicap or weakness. We love this little boy so much and will do anything to keep him healthy and thriving. 

In that trip to the ER I feel like I prayed more then, than I have in weeks. Isn't that the way it goes? You always pray more when in need, rather than when everything is going great? I shouldn't need that big of wake up call to know that God is in control. I thank God for all he has done for us and Gatlyn has he has been "kicking the odds in the face".

Pantry Challenge Results

We know, we've been MIA for quite awhile now. But, we've had a lot going on! We promise our posts will get regular again soon.

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Remember when I challenged myself to use up as much of my stored food as possible before moving? I crossed off items as we used them up. I think I did pretty good. I donated some of the food to the USPS Food Drive and some it I pitched while packing.

PANTRY

• 5 yellow onions (I tossed 1 bc it went bad)
• 1 can tuna fish
• 2 cans great northern beans (Donated 1 can)
• 1 small jar pimientos (Donated)
• 1 can Rotel
• 1 can refried beans
• 1 can french onion soup (Donated)
• 4 cans cream of chicken soup (Donated 2 cans, used 1 can)
• 1 can artichoke hearts (Donated)
• 1 jar sweet gherkins (Donated)
• 2 cans black beans
• 4 small cans green chiles (Donated 3 cans)
• 2 cans tomato sauce (Donated)
• 1 individual serving of Velveeta shells & cheese
• 1 small jar of mayo (opened and went into the fridge)
• partial box of Minute tapioca pudding
• partial jar of peanut butter
• about 2 servings of instant white rice
• 1 full, 1 partial box spaghetti noodles (Donated 1 box)
• 1 box of Rice-A-Roni fried rice(Donated)
• partial box of Cream of Wheat
• 1 box of cheesy scalloped potatoes
• 1 bag of croutons
• 1 jar instant wild rice
• half box of lasagna noodles
• partial box Panko Bread Crumbs
• 1 1/2 cups instant oatmeal (yes I measured it :)
• 1/2 container of French Fried Onions
• almost an entire can of bread crumbs
• 1/2 container of baking cocoa
• 1 bottle of ketchup
• 1 jar of funfetti vanilla frosting (As we were packing, we noticed it expired in 2011 oops)
• 1/2 bag slivered almonds
• about 4lbs of sugar
• about 5lbs of flour
• about 2 lbs of light brown sugar
• 3 bulbs of garlic
• large bottle of apple cider vinegar
• partial bottle of white vinegar
• partial bottle of rice wine vinegar
• partial bottle of soy sauce
• partial bottle of worcetershire sauce
• large bottle of EVOO
• partial can of baking powder
• partial box of baking soda 
• partial bag of Cheeze-It Snack Mix
• 1/2 loaf bread
• 1 hot dog bun
• 2 partial bags of coffee
• some popcorn kernels 

REFRIGERATOR

• 1/2 tub blue cheese (It had been in there so long, it was had gone bad)
• 2 cheese sticks
• 3 slices baby swiss cheese
• 10 slices colby jack cheese
• 1/2 bag of mozzarella
• 13 slices american cheese
• 1 tortilla shell
• tiny bit of yellow mustard
• about 1/4 bottle of buffalo ranch dressing
• partial container of grated parmesan cheese
• 1/2 bottle tobasco sauce
• tiny bit of mayo
• partial bottle of Frank's RedHot Chili Sauce
• partial bottle of chocolate syrup
• partial bottle of caramel syrup
• partial bottle of white chocolate mocha coffee creamer
• partial jar of minced garlic
• partial bottle of ceaser dressing
• partial bottle of spicy brown mustard
• partial bottle of ketchup
• almost a full bottle of A1
• partial bottle of lemon juice
• 1/2 tube tomato paste
• partial bottle of squeezable pizza sauce
• partial bottle of BBQ sauce
• 1/2 bottle of honey mustard dressing
• tub of margarine
• 1 bag celery hearts
• 1 can Pillsbury crescents
• 8 sticks of butter (I've used 4)
• handful of baby carrots
• 2 Arnold Palmers
• 5 bottles of Leinenkugel Berry Weiss
• partial bottle of maple syrup
• 2 partial jars of salsa
• 1 individual yogurt
• 1/2 jar of spaghetti sauce
• partial jar of applesauce 

FREEZER

•  2 whole chicken (we've ate one)
• 1lb pork sausage
• 1 pack of cheddarwurst
• 6 chicken breasts (I've used 2)
• 1lb cheddar cheese
• 2 packs sirloin steaks
• 1 pack pork shoulder steaks
• 1 ham steak
• 1/2 bag cocoanut
• 1 bag chocolate chips
• plum pierogi
• 1/2 bag corn
• 8 1/2 cups chicken stock (I've used 5)
• 4 squares semi-sweet baking chocolate

SHOPPING TRIP 

• 8 ct. pack of tortillas 
• tortilla chips
• cilantro
• 2 jalapenos
• loaf of bread
• 2 limes
• dozen eggs
• 1lb baby carrots 
• 1/2lb lunch meat
• 7 bananas
• 1 quart milk
• 2 jars spaghetti sauce (we've used 1)

Some of the meals we had; hot ham & cheese sandwiches, pan grilled steak, chicken tortilla soup, chicken and white rice in spaghetti sauce, quesadillas, spaghetti, chicken breast and wild rice, chips and cheese