How is Noah doing?

Great! After a visit to the Dr. today, we found out that his bones are 75-80% healed. It was really cool to see where new bone has already formed. He now has a cast that stops right below his elbow which allows him to move more freely. This cast is also water proof and we are actually encouraged to pour water down inside of it and get it wet. This is supposed to wash away the dead skin underneath. He will have this cast for 3 more weeks and then he should be all healed. He should not require any physical therapy when the cast is removed.

Sawing off the old cast was a little intimidating today. It was loud and scary having a saw blade that close to your arm. However, Noah took it in stride. I was asked if we wanted to keep the old cast and promptly said "NO". That thing stunk! Yuck!

Noah is only limited in he can't jump on a trampoline or climb a rock wall. All othe activities are good to go! That is such a blessing since our weather has taken a turn for the better and we will be outside much more than we have.

The second picture is of Camden wearing his "listening ears". He made these at school and I just thought he looked adorable.

Well, it's time I go mow the yard. When the kids were outside earlier, the grass was up to their knees.

I'm ready for the challenge!

I'm going to be brutally honest.

Yes, we were not thinking when we leased our Tahoe. All that went through our minds at the time was "this is an awesome car with every imaginable feature on it, let's buy it today!"

We never looked at what the future might hold for us... like 2 children and one income! To put it mildly we have struggled the last several years and are now looking forward to making the right financial decision for our family next spring.

Here is where the challenge comes in. We started checking out the terms of our lease when it expires and realized that if we kept driving the Tahoe we would be paying LOTS of money in overmileage fees. The way it stands right now, we can only drive 300 miles per month until the end of our lease in July. So, with a little help from my parents (they are allowing us to drive one their vehicles that also gets much better gas mileage) Brian is now driving the Tahoe to work everyday. Even if Brian drove everyday to work, it will still be necessary for me to take him to work 1 or 2 days a week so we don't go over the mileage. I have never been one to shy away from a challenge and this no different.

So far, we have come under the 300 miles for the month of August. Woohoo!!! Bring on September!

Another term of the lease is that all 4 tires have to be identical. I didn't think this would be any big deal until I went out and looked and low and behold we have 1 tire that is different from the other three. I was not looking forward to the cost associated with purchasing another tire. The Lord works in mysterious ways and this tire is no exception.

Brian came home from work one night last week with a flat tire. He came out of school and found there was a screw in his tire and it was flat. He happened to be parked next door to a Discount Tire but as luck would have it they were closed. The next day after finding out that this tire was covered by road hazard, Brian went and got another tire for the Tahoe. After we put it on, we realized we had not checked to see if it was the same as the rest of the tires. After checking we found that it did indeed match the others and this could have only been a "God-thing".

To God we give the glory!

Praise God!

IT's RAINING!!!

One of the things I look forward to after summer vacation is having a routine again in our daily lives. My kids just seem to handle life better when they know what to expect and so do I.

This past week marked the end of summer for us and the beginning of our fall routine. While the kids are back to pre-school, my life doesn't seem to slow down any. My week has been filled with driving my carpool two days a week and contemplating when and if I will start back to work at the office for a few days. I attended the bible study I am involved with on Fridays and I also have been reading my book for book club. I am so happy to be reading again after a long summer of nothing stimualting for my mind. I am also currently involved with two church committees that will keep me busy. Oh, did I mention I squeezed in cleaning a house and going to the gym 2-3 times a week?

So, that has been our week in a nutshell. I give thanks to the Lord who has provided faithfully to our family and who gives me strength in all that I do.

Well, how did it go?

The first day of pre-school was a success. Noah walked right in and started playing immediately. He is an old pro at this and was ready to get things started. He took his "arm" as show and tell today and had a good time telling everyone how he ended up in a cast. He makes friends very quickly and already had 5 girls chasing him around on the playground.

Camden walked right in and layed down on the ground with his hands over his eyes. This is what he does if he is embarrassed or shy. He was down for about two minutes and then was a bit clingy. However, that did not last long once he saw the train set. I checked on him a bit later and he was having a great time as well. He told me all about his day when I picked him up. He "played trains, ate my lunch, outside two times, and sang Twinkle Star". He was pretty worn out from his first day as evidenced by the three hour nap after we came home.

I was a bit sad dropping Camden off today. After all, it is my last baby to go to pre-school.

First Day of Pre-school

Today is the first of pre-school for Camden. Judging by the 5:00 a.m. wake-up, I am pretty sure they are both excited. They have both met their teachers and they seem to be a good fit for each of them. Camden is in a class of 6 with mostly girls. Should be interesting! Noah is in a class of 12 with mostly boys. One word... LOUD!

They are both so proud of their backpacks and lunch boxes. Here is the low-down: Noah is sporting an "Incredibles" back-pack with a "Cars" lunch box. Camden is sporting a "Cars" back-pack with a "Buzz Lightyear" lunchbox. Are you confused? I am!

I just love these pictures. It just sums up what a productive summer we had. Noah with his broken arm and Camden with his black-eye. It should be fun to compare to the end of the year photos. Well, it is about time to take them to school. I will update on their day later.

Finally, a picture!

Here is an early shot of Noah when he had his splint.

It's a special day!

Happy Birthday Dad!

I love you!

Injuries do occur in the public library!

I want to start by saying that I think all Wednesday's should be removed from our week. Good things do not happen to us on Wednesday's. Last Wed., Noah broke his wrist and this Wed. is no exception.

Now, back to the public library. Who gets injured in a library? The more I thought about it I realized they are a prime place waiting for disaster. What child or more specifically 'boy', can talk in a soft voice, not run and keep their hands to themselves? Not mine!!! When you combine the library with a Wednesday, you have a really bad situation for our family.

Camden is now sporting a lovely black & blue cheek and eye, after running as fast as he can straight into the corner of a table in the library. The impact was so great that it layed him out flat on his back. I am going to make a t-shirt that says: "No, my brother didn't do it!" Because when you see him next to Noah that is what you automatically think.

I am furious with the librarians. They will not be winning any compassion awards any time soon. They just stood there and never offered help. The look on their faces was of disgust that my child was screaming LOUDLY in a library. Well, I said a quick prayer for them and we were on our way. Thank heavens we already had a Dr.'s appt. lined up an hour later.

There is a good note for today. Camden had a speech evaluation today that was very positive. I was hoping this would be his last appt. however, it was determined he still needs some work on his "T's" and "F's". We are only meeting with his therapist once a month from now on. When Camden started speech 9 months ago, he was about 3 months behind. Today, I was told that he has caught up more than 12 months during this past 9 months. Yeah for Camden!!! He is even ahead of his peers in certain areas! We are so proud of you Camden!!!

A cool room, a cool Dr., a cool cast

Noah went to see the Orthopedic Bone Dr. today. Boy, does he talk fast!!!! It was hard to keep up. Learned lots of really interesting info. regarding kids and broken bones. Note to any moms out there: kids heal REALLY fast and bones don't have to be set perfect to heal perfect. Also, put a kid in a room where the examining table is literally a fire truck and they forget how much pain they are in when the Dr. is manipulating their broken bones!

All that to say that Noah is doing great. He is now the proud owner of a "blue cast" that he is considering having people sign. We return in 2 more weeks with another set of x-rays and hope that he has not done any further damage just by being a rambunctious 4 year old in that time.

We were given a warning to watch closely any siblings because the cast usually becomes a weapon in about a week. Great, just what we need... a trip to the E.R. for stitches on Camden! The positive if any to this is we met our insurance deductible for the year back in January!!!

Updates

Noah- As of Saturday, he is doing much better. He was pretty shocked for a couple of days and mostly watched t.v. and movies. All of which is totally expected. Saturday, he awoke to his usual spunky self and has been playing with toys, alienating his brother and even cooperating with wiggling his fingers. We see an Orthopedic Bone specialist on Tuesday, so please continue to keep him in your prayers.

Camden- Not much was mentioned about his reaction to all of this. The first couple of days he was understandably confused and scared. He lost his playmate, who also happened to be getting ALL the attention. Jealosy started to rear it's ugly head. He would pull the support pillow out from under Noah's arm or he would "bump" into Noah when no one was watching. He even told Brian that "he broke his arm and needed to go to the hospital to see the baseball man". (Every person in a uniform is a baseball man). It has to be very difficult to comprehend this situation at 2.


Whitney- Wow, since the last time I posted it has been an emotional roller coaster. About 2 weeks ago, I was certain that she had very little time left. She didn't eat for 4 days and was very weak. A call to the vet was placed and the "last possible option" was given to us. Well, I am glad to say that we did not use that option and she currently is doing very well. Don't ever underestimate the power of chicken soup. She started drinking chicken soup and it stimulated her appetite. She has been eating like a queen ever since. Homemade chicken thighs with rice or noodles, hamburger meat, eggs, etc. She has slowly gained her stamina and last night for the first time in weeks she actually ate her own dog food. Praise god! She is alert and happy to see us, and wants to be a part of the action. I know this is only short term because she does have cancer, but I will cherish every minute I have.


Brian- His start back to school has been eventful with a root canal and a trip to the E.R. with Noah. I hope this is not a pre-cursor to what is to come this year.


There truly is NEVER A DULL MOMENT IN OUR HOUSE!

"Today was boring"

Those are the words Noah spoke tonight. Today was anything but boring. It started off like any other day; breakfast, getting dressed, playing-

...and then it changed!

Noah and Camden were playing on the fort in our living room when Noah fell off and started to cry. Not the usual whine or the usual wail when he is really hurt, but a strange different cry. I was in the kitchen and did not see what had happened but knew instantly that something wasn't right. I walked in and found Noah laying on his stomach holding his arm. He said "Mommy, my arm hurts", pretty casually. I looked at it and my stomach jumped into my throat. It was plain by the "S" curve in his arm that it was broke. I picked him up and directed him to the chair to sit down.

Thats when I lost it. Not the crying, hysterical lost it, but the "I have completely lost my brain and what do I do now?" lost it. I started gathering shoes because I knew we had to go somewhere, I just did not know where yet. I picked up the phone and started going through the phone book, but who was I supposed to call? I called Brian and left a message, but of course it was the FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL! I called R.J. (my neighbor) and said something like "I am not thinking clearly, what do I do and where do I go?" She is such an angel, in a blink of an eye she was at my door and took Camden for the morning! (Thank you!!!!!) All while, Noah sat on the ottoman and calmly told me "Mommy, I think I need the Elmo ice pack now".

"Oh yeah, that's right, I need to do something with Noah." So in the car we went, off to the E.R. In the car, part of my brain came back to me and I started functioning better. Brian met us at the hospital and we were quickly taken back and Noah had an x-ray. He broke both bones at his wrist on his right arm. One of the broken bones was also sticking up. Not good! We were told that is usually requires surgery. The doc. said he would try to set it in 5 hours after they were sure his stomach was empty. So, the waiting began.

He was giving Tylenol with codeine and morphine, all designed to put him to sleep. Not my child, still wide awake and very alert. When the time came to set it, he was given two more drugs to knock him out. Not Noah, he stayed awake but was subdued. The doctor did his thing and did not think he was successful. After viewing a second x-ray, he was suprised to see that he did indeed move both bones back into place. He credits it to "devine intervention", I credit it to an awesome god!!!

Noah was released at 5:00 p.m. tonight. He is exhausted and confused. He is having a hard time understanding that he can continue to do things when he feels better, but only with one arm. He believes that he can't do anything at all because one arm is hurt. He feels like he is being left out of all the fun things and is very confused. We go see a specialist in a few days to see if surgery is needed. Please keep Noah in your prayers.

I am thankful for a god that performs miracles, for a god who heals, and for a god who protects. I am thankful for doctors who have the same faith that I do and who took such good care of my baby. I am thankful for wonderful family and friends who put their lives on hold to help us today. I am thankful for such a caring pastor that took time to visit us today.

Today was NOT boring!

Back in the saddle again

When I was elementary school age I loved to run. At recess while most of the kids played on the playground, I was racing anyone I could find in a foot race. My dad and I even raced a "marathon" together. I was pretty active when I was little. My days consisted of swimming, playing kick-ball, riding my bike, and roller skating everywhere. I would of loved to have those roller shoes that are out right now back then.

I'm not sure what happened after the 5th grade, but it changed. Exercise is the last thing that I want to do. I am one of those people who can work up quite a sweat and it is not a pretty sight! So, why do it? Also, the pain and physical exhaustion associated with it did not appeal to me.

Then, I hit 30. I got back into working out and felt great! (For those of you who have turned 30, you know what I mean, beacause everything starts falling apart.)

Then, I had kids... are you nuts, I don't even have time to go to the bathroom myself. How am I going to find time to work out?

With lots of encouragement from a good friend and guidance from my brother, I am back in the saddle again. I am fulfilling a New Year's resolution that I set for myself and I am glad to be doing it.

Since I have started back, I have so much energy and mentally I feel stronger. Did you know that the more that you walk the more it makes you want to run? O.k., maybe I'm just strange, but it does. Who knows maybe there is a 1/2 marathon in my future!

cleaned the:

bathrooms,
kitchen,
dusted the house,
vaccumed,
cleaned the mirrors,
hung pictures,
cleaned out Camden's closet,
ran errands,
read books to the kids,
did 3 loads of laundry...

it's only 12:03 p.m.

Wow, exercising sure makes a difference!

They say it's your birthday...

... and they were right. I turn 34 years old today. On the inside I still feel like a young'in, but on the outside I can tell I have aged. The year I turned 30 everything started to hurt, and each year since something else has been added to the list of pains. (See what you guys have to look forward to!)

I have always loved birthdays; mine, yours and even complete strangers celebrating in a restaurant. I love the excitement that I feel knowing it is a day to celebrate, I love the anticipation of cake and ice cream and of course, I love giving and receiving gifts! Since I have gotten older and had children, the emphasis has shifted from it being "all about me" to watching the joy of others celebrate their birthdays. I don't want big attention-getting celebrations but rather cherish the company of my family and a few close friends.

I will enjoy a nice dinner out with Brian's family this evening and will remember the wonderful evening Saturday night that I celebrated with my family. They served all of my favorites, lasagna, salad, garlic bread and of course, brownies and ice cream for dessert. It just doesn't get much better than that!

Thanks for making me feel so special on this special day!

Just a few accidents today...

1. Backed out of the drive-way this morning and I knocked over the neighbors trash can. (not the first, second or even sixth time) It wouldn't have been that bad except that ALL the trash fell out! YUCK!!! After cleaning up the mess and getting back in the car Noah politely tells me that "Hey mom, there is a trash can behind you." Duh!

2. You know a play date is going well when 2 of the 4 children end up with bloody lips. One of the victims was Noah and he cut his lip in the exact spot that he hurt it 3 weeks ago. Ouch! All of the booboos were accidents and the play date was actually a success. No one yelling in the restaurant today!

3. Did you know that Oxi Clean disguises just about every stain there is? I won't mention what I'm hiding, too much info.