How did we survive???

Friday night, the boys were up way too late, which means Saturday will be a cranky day on all our parts! Our lovely neighbors, Mike and Diane, invited us over for an early riser breakfast--their kids wake up up at 5:30 am (I'm counting my blessings right now, 7 am is awesome!). Evan woke up in a foul mood. I don't think his antibiotic really worked. His re-check is Monday, so we'll see...We coralled all the kids over and had a nice time. Evan perked back up (ibuprofen, thank you) so he stayed and played with the older boys and the twinsfor a few more hours. I ran some errands and Rob packed for his trip. Everyone seemed to meet back at home around noon and then all hell broke loose!

Oh, did I mention that today was picture day!

Jared says he doesn't feel good, "You're just tired because you were up too late. Go take a nap." Tyler is still recovering from his two day bug. Anna wakes up from a nap with an awful cough and Evan's foul mood returned. After everyones mandatory quite time, we start getting ready for the pictures. I'm determined to stay positive. The last time I tried to do pictures was when Rob was out of town and it was the worst experience EVER--another story for another time. As I was changing Evan into his picture clothes, I heard a funny noise--I thought it was a rip on his shirt. A minute later, he starts freaking out. What in the world?? I chalked it up to his mood. Rob and I started to get worried--he's in pain it seems. Finally he tells us with his minimal words thatt his arm hurts. I think I gave him Nurse Maids elbow when I was changing his clothes. Lucky for us this is the third time he's gotten it and the last time, the Urgent Care doctor taught me how to fix it! No $150 co-pay for us!

I could tell that Rob wanted to back out on pictures, but I was determined!! We'll do as much as the kids can handle! We lined the kids up, gave them all some medicine, loaded them in the car,...and off we went! Rob the pessimest. Andrea the optimest. My how times have changed!

To make a long story short...we had a two hour miracle!! The kids actually had fun having their pictures taken--imagine that!! The photographer took over 200 pictures and we got tons of fabulous pictures of the kids and the family. The boys had ice cream at Maggie Moos and we had dinner at Whole Foods, then we went home and the miracle ended. Back to sick kids and cranky parents. But check out the pictures--it was all worth it!