Kaitlyn's 6 month doctor's visit (or alternately titled, leaving my kids with strangers at the hospital)

Bright and early this morning we had Kaitlyn's checkup, and I took all the kids with me. We talked beforehand about what would be expected of them (holding hands in the parking lot, obeying mommy, not getting into stuff in the exam room.) And the kids did GREAT! Good listeners, they were patient, they played nicely, yay!

Kaitlyn weighed 15 pounds 12 ounces and is 27 inches long (average weight but very long for her age he said). He also ordered x-rays for her hips today. (He's been monitoring them because he has suspected something might be amiss ever since she was born.)

SO, me and my gaggle of chilren (all holding hands, with Kaitlyn in the bjorn) trekked across the street to the hospital. Got to the radiology department to check in, where I was asked if I had someone else with me because the other kids weren't allowed in the radiation room. I told her I was by myself and she basically said too bad, I should come back tonight when my husband can watch the kids. WELL, maybe if they didn't close at 6 pm (Kevin doesn't get home till after 6) that could work. I told her nope, my husband commutes and literally can't get home in time. Then she suggested Saturday, but I'm sorry, heck if I'm going to have to wait nearly a week for my daughter to get an x-ray she needs.

A really nice woman bringing in her elderly mom for an x-ray timidly offered to keep her eye on the kids in the waiting room (offering me her driver's license as collateral, ha!), which was super sweet, and I decided that would be okay, but that option ended up falling through because her mother was transferred to some other radiology place. But still I sat in that waiting room, determined to get Kaitlyn in there. I just kept praying that God would provide a way for us to get the xray done. Meanwhile as we waited and waited (gotta love a crowded hospital, but at least my kids were behaving and not going sideways) a (very normal-looking!) couple, probably in their late-sixties, came in. Within two minutes the grandfatherly man was putting stickers on his forehead and making all my kids laugh. They loved this guy! He had a thick New York accent and thought my kids could do no wrong. After chatting with him for awhile I told him I had no clue if we'd even be getting our x-ray today, because of the older kids. "Don't worry about it, we'll babysit" he said. (On a side-note, I'm totally blessed to know lots of sweet mommies I could call to come sit with my kids in a jam, but again it was totally the principle of the thing, we were already there, and I'm anxious to know once and for all if something's wrong with her hip.)

WELL, the radiologist came and called Kaitlyn's name and immediately the grandfatherly man and his wife said, "Okay kids, come on." When Kaitlyn and I returned (we were seriously in there for less than 10 minutes) we could hear gregarious laughter coming from the waiting room. All three kids were playing some game where they were underneath the chairs, and the receptionists were cracking up, and told me I should take this couple home with me because they were great babysitters. I was SO THANKFUL that the Lord provided normal, kind, entertaining people when I needed them. I was totally uncomfortable leaving my kids semi-unattended around random people I didn't know (and seriously prayed nonstop for my kids during the x-ray), but the receptionists and other people waiting were watching too.

Finally, the kids were just so dang good all morning that I took them to McDonald's for lunch. They loved their food and getting to play on the playground. What a day!