SICK, SICK, SICK

Any one of these (or a coctail) are usually how I cope with my day! Especially when everyone has strep or double ear infections and your 4 year old wakes up every night for a couple of hours (we think his legs really bother him right now). Generally caffeine is one of my best friends!

This is what the BID (twice daily) routine consists of at the McEvoy household right now. All 4 kids are on antibiotics. Then there is breathing treatments x2, ear drops, prevacid, singulair and lots and lots of motrin, oh and don't forget the poop juice! We are all much happier when we have that! How do I keep track of it, you ask? Well, see the paper on the right? That is my brain! As long as I remember to write it down, I can see when the last time each kid had medicine was!!! If in doubt, I just as Lainey. She usually knows!

HOLY HALLOWEEN!!!

Well, another Halloween has passed, but certainly not un-eventfully! Everyone has been sick, so that made for some fun times! I realized I did not take any pictures of Grayson because I didn't allow him to participate in any festivities. He had to stay home, in the warm and away from germs (that's funny) and be spoiled by Grandpa! He wore a pumpkin onsie and that was the extent of his costume!

Lainey was Princess Giselle from Disney's Enchanted! So beautiful. She made sure to twirl her dress for everyone and had enough sparkles coating her to light up a city!

It was hard to keep up with this Batman! He got a new set of batteries just before we left I think, so he literally RAN everywhere!

Trey was pretty limited because he has strep. Poor kid. He told me he was too sick to

wear his glasses!

Porter's face is classic.

It was 70 degrees when we went trunk-or-treating! Amazing because it usually rains or snows! The kids didn't even have to wear coats over their costumes!!!

BLACK BATMEN: FACE OFF Aren't they cute?

This is what Porter would do every time he saw another super hero. Then he would say "I Batman. Trey Batman." He is hilarious!

Trey managed to be a little bit lively for about a half hour. He was so excited to go on a stroller ride. Being sick takes every bit of energy he has, so I really carry him everywhere!

BUDDIES! Porter was supposed to be a monkey this year but... I put Trey in his costume before he got on the bus Thursday for his school party. Porter was hysterical because he wanted batman! I told him I would put his monkey costume on, but he informed me "I no want muh-ky. Dat stupid. I hade it". Trey had been gone for an hour and 15 minutes and Porter was still crying and wouldn't forget. I decided that I would just take him to good ol' Wal-Mart and buy him a costume. I tried to get him to buy Superman or Spiderman, but all he wanted was black Batman just like Trey, so that is what he got!

BUSY BOY!!!

It is so hard to get good pictures of PORTER these days!!! He is so busy, and always running allover. Finally a couple of days ago, a miracle occured and Porter let me take a picture of his face! He even smiled. WOW! MORE THAN ONCE! I was amazed. Grandpa Mac summed it up best. After caring for the 3 big kids for 3 or 4 days, Grandpa said PORTER needs his own personal assistant!!! I am starting to worry about keeping this kid clothed. He is almost too tall for his 3T clothes and size 10 shoes an he is barely 2 and a half.

PORTER is so crazy, but such a fun boy. He is constantly carrying a ball or bat or whatever sports equipment he can find. He brings his balls every time we get in the car. He gets a thrill out of chasing Lainey around with his Little Tike bat, just to get a rise out of her. He does, however make sure to acutally hit her just enough to keep her scared of him!

Yesterday he had a pair of Nike slick pants and a Jordan jersey on. All day he kept pointing to his shirt and saying "see my baset-ball one"? I would tell him how cool it was. Bed time came and he would not let me change him. I decided it wasn't worth the battle. So when I went to get him out of his crib this morning, he said "mom, mom, see my baset-ball one"? I said yes and it was so cool. He found the little NIKE swoosh on the pant leg and said "see my high"? I told him yes, even though I had no idea what he meant. He knew I didn't get it, so he wouldn't let me get him up. After a couple minutes of hard thinking he said "mom, see my high? I wanna go Po-vo high, pay baset-ball wis daddy boys"!!! I started laughing and told him how cute he was!!! PORTER IS SO MUCH FUN AND I LOVE HIM SO MUCH!!!

SO YOU HAD A BAD DAY!

I absolutely adore Lainey!!! She is very sweet and loving. Especially with her brothers. Lainey is one of the smartest kids around. I am so glad that i have ONE daughter. She is fun and energetic, and so full of life. Her love for life is contagious.
I just want to share with all of you longing for a daughter some of the fun and exciting and often frustrating emotions that come with sugar and spice. There is also the "not so nice"! Lainey has a very hard time when she is tired. Sometimes it's hard to not upset the Princess no matter what you do! Especially when it comes to keeping her from her friends. Lainey is one of those kids who wouldn't care if you spanked her, she would turn to you and tell you it didn't hurt. (I have to admit I have tried) So, I am trying other methods these days! The latest was taking pictures to show her what the fit looked like. Thought I would share. I guess maybe I am the meanest mom around, but these are quickly becoming some treasured memories!
Here goes... NOT GETTING IN THE CAR BECAUSE YOU WON'T TAKE HER TO HER FRIEND'S HOUSE. (doesn't know I have the camera yet)

COVERING HER FACE AFTER SHE HEARD THE CAMERA CLICK!

"YOU ARE THE MEANEST MOM EVER"!!!

"PUT THAT CAMERA AWAY, RIGHT NOW"

"I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT YOU WOULD TAKE THESE PICTURES. I DON'T WANT THESE PICTURES. THEY ARE NOT GOING TO BE PRETTY". (my point exactly)

"I WANNA BE GOOD MOM. DELETE THOSE PICTURES RIGHT NOW...PLEASE ".

GOOD TIMES!!!

Over the weekend we partied hard. Almost to the point that when we stopped, we were all about in tears!! We got to go to the scarecrow festival at Thanksgiving Point. We went with the Bertoches (triplet family) and had so much fun! The kids did a lot of walking, jumping, running, laughing and flat out playing!!! We were there for almost 5 hours. Here is some of the stuff that we got to do...

ALYSSA, LAINEY, TREY, KAITLYN, SHANTEL AND PORTER

THESE ARE THE ONLY 2 PICTURES THAT PORTER HELD STILL ENOUGH THAT WE GOT HIS FACE IN THE PICTURE! (notice he is either strapped in, or being held down!)
KAYDEN, SCOTT AND PORTER ON THE TRAIN
TREY DRIVING THE BIG PEDAL BIKE ON THE RACEWAY
JIM AND I ON THE TRAIN
LAINEY SHOWING US HER SUPER TROOPER MOVES ON THE BUNJEE TRAMP

TREY "FLYING LIKE SUPERMAN"! HE COULDN'T REALLY JUMP, SO I WOULD HOLD ON TO THE HARNESS AND PULL HIM DOWN AS FAR AS I COULD AND THEN "SLINGSHOT" HIM IN THE AIR. HE WENT SO HIGH AND WAS LAUGHING SO HARD HE HAD A HARD TIME HOLDING ON!!! LATER HE TOLD ME IT WAS A GOOD THING HE HAD A DIAPER ON BECAUSE HE PEED HIS PANTS!

MISS "BELLA"! GUESS SHE GOT BIT LAST NIGHT!
YES, GRAYSON WAS THERE! HE HAS LEARNED A NEW TRICK, CLAPPING. YAY!

PORTER, TOO BUSY TO GIVE ANYONE THE TIME OF DAY!
THERE WERE BIG BLOW-UP SLIDES EVERYWHERE!!
TREY AND LAINEY, LOOKIN' GOOD! TREY ABSOLUTELY ADORES LAINEY, SO THIS WAS HIS REACTION WHEN I SAID I WANTED A PICTURE OF JUST THOSE 2! SWEETEST GUY AND PRETTIEST GIRL ON THE PLANET!!!

CHRIS COLLINSWORTH

Okay, so we have had tons of people calling and asking us about Chris Collinsworth. For those of you who don't know, he is one of Jim's former players. He played at BYU last season (basketball). The Collinsworth family took Lainey and Trey every single day, all day when I was on bed rest with Porter. They took them to all of the basketball games and everything. The boys, Chris and Kyle took to Trey and would do exercises with him daily. They got Trey really moving. The family is amazing to say the least. For some reason they spit out these amazing athletes!!! Kyle is a Junior this year and is already being recruited by a lot of big-name teams.

Well, Chris is currently serving a mission in Australia. Last Tuesday he was attacked by a bunch of Muslim men on his mission. They think he may have been singled out because he is such a big person (6'9"ish). Chris was ready to get out working 2 days after the attack!!!(to which he was told NO!) What a tough guy!!!

So, if you will, pray for those 2 Elders and their families. They have all been through the ringer this last week. I feel bad for the moms who want to jump on a plane and go take care of their big boys, but know it is best if they leave them in the Lord's hands! (Chris was more upset he didn't get to tell Kyle himself, than he was about the actual attack! He later told Kyle to tell every girl that knew Chris, that he fought of 40 men and only got stabbed once!)

Here is a link to the spotlight featured on KSL if you want to watch!!!

LINK

I KNOW THAT THE LINK DIDN'T WORK, BUT IT DOES NOW!

ANOTHER PROVO MIRACLE!!!

Today was Grayson's big MRI. We have been waiting for this day for a long time. I have been wondering if any damage had been done to his brain, or would show up since his last MRI in March. Sometimes I would wonder how I could possibly take care of 2 sweet angels with bodies that don't work "normally". It is pretty common for 25 weekers to have significant damage and life-long issues. He is definitely more behind developmentally than he should be, so everyone has been a little bit worried.(most of all, me) I had a lot of mixed emotions.
Well, we had a rough start to the day because the sedation team couldn't place an IV. Grayson's veins are so scarred from having so many IVs in his life. He was so mad and we were 40 minutes late to the scanner because we needed the IV to sedate him so that he would hold still. After that, things went OH SO SMOOTH! He did so well. They brought him back to recover and wake up(after about a 45 minute scan) from the medicine, which took almost 2 hours. They tried to give us results before we left, but the computer system was down! Go figure. So I called our Pediatrician after lunch and they had already looked things up and were ready to call me. THE REPORT SAYS THAT GRAYSON HAS A "NORMAL" BRAIN!!! I couldn't believe it. I am so excited and relieved. WHAT A BLESSING. The chances of this, along with NO bleeding in his head when he was born are AMAZING. Those in the medical profession understand this, but those of you who aren't, I am telling you, that is like the chances of the Yankees winning the world series this year!!! We are so grateful for all that Grayson has made it through. A lot of that has to do with the amazing medical care he has been given, but I am convinced that our Father in Heaven has big plans for Grayson. He just continues to beat ALL odds. WE LOVE YOU GRAYSON!!! Thanks again for the continued love and support we receive each and every day. We have the best family and friends! THANKS!!!
Jim is finally almost back to GOOD! He has done great and not much will keep him down for long! He, of course was back in the GYM last Friday! That is dedication! I'm sure he needed a break from the madness at home! He might have gotten more rest if he had spent more time at the gym!!!
Also, our friend Reagan is going through some tough times, so PLEASE remember the McBride family in your prayers. We know God hears and answers!!! Grayson, sedated and heading to the scanner.
In the scanner. This tech took tons of Grayson's x-rays while he was in the NICU and couldn't believe how big he was!
Grayson's Nurse for today and the Nurse Practitioner who oversaw his well-being for the procedure.
As long as we let him sleep this is how he was, peaceful! Otherwise he was a BEAR! Not quite as cute as the bear in the next picture!!!
The sweetest BEAR in the world tonight. Back to "normal" and sweet as can be. I think we could be dealing with a LAZY EYE!!! This is boy who is now labeled "BABY ROGER" because everyone thinks he looks JUST like his Grandpa MAC!