Monday, December 16, 2013

Physical Therapy

Ahhhh, physical therapy!!!  We are on week 5 of physical therapy and not only is Elijah getting tired of it, but I am getting tired of taking him.  However, its so vitally important that he does it and we both try and have a good attitude.  (mine is definitely better than his:))  We are definitely making progress and have about 20% left on his left elbow in getting it FULLY extended.  We are also working on our "walking" as to not walk with a limp.  He doesn't realize he does it, so that makes it hard to correct him.  We have our last check up with Dr.Kashan at Riley on Thursday and we are anxious to see what he has to say about his therapy and also to see the x rays again.





Fun!

The kids sure LOVE having their own tree each year.  Their tree is up in the loft area and I let them do it however they wish.  Now that Elijah is taller I do notice the top of the tree gets more decorations:).  It was about an hour of NO FIGHTING which was great.  I enjoyed listening to them get along so well!!
 Even miss Ellie got in on the decorations.  Needless to say she looks like she might have stuck her finger in the outlet socket:)!!!!  Such crazy hair!!
 After that tree was done she decided to come help us with our tree.  Here she saw nick put a sliver of wood under the tree stand to help even it out and she decided to do the same.


Then on to some more fun for Caden!!  It was date night with his mommy:).  Actually we just started (this year) that when you bring home ALL A's on your report card that you get to choose who you would like to go on a date with.  You get to choose where you want to eat and what movie you get to see.
Lucky me was chosen as his date and we headed to lafayette for a night on the town.
 He picked spageddies!!  He wanted ravioli so I named several italian restaurants and this is the one he picked.  He had never eaten here, but I am pretty sure he liked it.  He is a huge fan of dipping bread into olive oil:)


And then we went to see Frozen in theater.  I have to say that it is by far my favorite movie from Disney yet!!!  I loved it and I know Caden did too.
Well done young man!!!  Now to getting all A's on your next semester:)

A good laugh!!

So back in November we heard all about this "song" called What does the fox say.  Heard it was pretty dumb actually.  So we decided to see why everyone was talking about it.  Haaahaaa I decided to video tape my boys as they listened to it to show them their reactions.  I was trying to not die laughing at Liam as he was listening to it.  He had no idea I was recording him!!  I do realize its a bit lengthy.....

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

October 11th, 2013

October 11th, 2013 is only ONE day shy of my 2 year anniversary from being hit by a truck.  Now my son Elijah will have a day in which he won't ever forget either. 
Friday morning before sending Elijah and Caden off to school I explained to them how dangerous dirtbikes and four wheelers are.  How I knew several who have died from accidents involving those off road vehicles.  I knew they were heading to a friends house after school and both of those would probably be used.  I am certain I had put a little fear into Caden, and was hoping Elijah was listening with both ears.  My last words that morning to my sons were "I love you.  Have a fun time at your friends house, but come home alive and in one piece".  I shut the door as they walked out to their ride and felt a pit in my stomach.  Something wasn't right, BUT I figured it was just me being an over reactive mother and being paranoid since this was their first time alone doing these sorts of activities.  The day went on.....and then at 3:45pm the phone rings.  I look at the caller ID and instantly knew something had happened.  It was the parents name on that caller ID.  I answered the phone with a HELLO??????  Knowing good and well something was wrong.  I was told "Elijah has been in a dirtbike accident and he is being taken by ambulance to St. E hospital".  I proceeded to ask questions and quickly hung up.  Time to find someone to watch my other children!!!  Finally getting ahold of my grandmother(after several other people I tried), she was able to rush over and stay with my two youngest.  I called my MIL and she met me and drove me to the hospital thankfully because by then I was pretty shaken up.  All I knew at that point was that most likely Elijah had two broken arms and maybe a broken leg??  Knew nothing of internal injuries, or head injuries so my mind was all over the place.
As I walked into the ER, my son says to me "mom, we traded places".  Im pretty sure no mother wants to hear those words, but it was all to true.  This is what I saw when I walked in. He was very medicated at this point so he looks pretty comfortable.
 We were then told that his injuries were serious enough and because of his age that he would need to have his surgeries done at Riley.  So he was transported to Riley via ambulance.  I rode with him.  At this point we knew he would need a rod in his left femur, both wrists would need surgery, and his elbow would need surgery as well.  Other than that, he had NO OTHER injuries.  Praise the Lord because he could very well have had neck or spinal injuries since he wasn't wearing a helmet.
 Arrived at Riley at 10:30pm.  Were told surgery would be on the 12th(my 2 year anniversary) and that during the night he would be in traction for his leg.  This was VERY painful for him and none of us got much sleep that night!!
 He did get about a 3 hour stretch of consistent sleep(even with all those pillows stacked high:))
 FINALLY at 11:30am he was taken to surgery!!
 FIVE long hours later we were told it was complete and he was "coming out of it" and so we went to see him.  Man, seeing him so unresponsive was a bit tough for me.  In surgery they put a rod in his left femur, 2 pins in both of his wrists, a cast on his right lower arm, and were unable to do what they had originally thought with the left elbow so he came out of surgery with only a splint on that left arm. We return on November 7th for further xrays and reviews of his elbow and will know what further actions will be needed for his elbow.  Its pretty messed up.
 By Monday we had him out of bed and sitting in a chair.  It was alot of work to get him there, and he was in a great deal of pain.  His leg and his arms were very swollen thus causing him such pain and spasms in his muscles. NOTE: If he is smiling it is because we asked him to!!  This was one of the hard things for me as a mother.  Elijah is a very social and smiling child with jokes here and there.  He was NOT himself.  No smiles, no jokes and definitely not ever wanting to talk!!
 Tuesday morning we were given permission to leave from the surgeon and all we needed was permission to leave from the PT.  So that morning we attempted a transfer with just Elijah and myself involved.  It went VERY poorly and we both were discouraged and in tears.  How was I ever going to be able to transfer him when he can hardly stand, his left leg needs support, let alone he can't use either of his arms to help me????? The PT told us she would come back in the afternoon and we would try again.  When she returned she suggested Nick help this time and see how it goes.  Ahhh, much better!!  That was our sign right there that Nick was not going to be able to return to work until Elijah and I could get the transfer by ourselves. It really did take two people.  One person to hold his left leg at a certain angle the entire transfer, and one person to lift him to a standing position on his right leg and help him pivot around to a chair.
 This was Monday morning eating breakfast.
 This was Tuesday morning after a very rough 1st transfer.  He wasn't feeling good either and I think it was the nerves of knowing he was going to have to practice another transfer after lunch!!!
 And this was at 5pm on Tuesday after we were officially released from Riley!!! Thanks to my Aunt Joan who was in visiting and stayed to help us take everything out to our truck and help get Elijah into the truck.  That was quite an ordeal.  No nurses came out with us, so we were on our own in figuring that out!!!
 HOME SWEET HOME!!!!
 My dear grandmother brought us our dinner that night.  We put Elijah straight to work in figuring out silverware!!!  He did a great job and fed himself.
His "new" room for the next 6 weeks.  Which is usually our office.  My very kind Aunt Val offered her sons twin bed to Elijah for the next 6 weeks and it has worked perfectly since Elijah's bedroom is usually upstairs.We are so very blessed that Elijah's injuries were not any worse than what they were.  We are so thankful for God's mercy in sparing our son's life.  We are so overwhelmed by the love, prayers and support of not only our family(how they drop everything to assist us in a time of need) but of our friends as well.  It truly humbles me!!!  Thank YOU!!!!
NOTE:  I should mention that at this time(18 days post accident) that Elijah can transfer himself pretty much from chair to couch to bed.  He can wheel himself around the house on his own with his right leg.  He can do his homework and all his swelling is gone.  We hope to send him to school this Friday:).  Our biggest issue is the use of a restroom at this point:)


Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Happy 60th Birthday Mom!!!

My dear mother turns 60 years of age TOMORROW!!!!  October 10th, 2013
Happy Birthday Mom!!
About 2 months ago Joy and I stuck our heads together to come up with something to do for Mom's 60th birthday.  Sadly we should have started sooner as it was very sad that Tricia could not be home for it.  Once we had a plan in place, we asked Raquel if she wanted to help out.  So below is the Formal Birthday Party we hosted for my mom.  What fun!!
 
Nick was a GREAT help all along the way.  Hosting is something we both LOVE to do and for that I am so thankful.
This was the appetizer table along with photos of mom "back in the day" and her "accident" scrapbook and a shutterfly scrapbook we had made for guests to leave mom a message.
 Alisha and Brent called on Friday and asked if they could come spend the weekend with us and of course we were happy to have them.  They didn't stick around for the party, but she sure did help out on last minute prep.

 At each place setting we had a menu of what they were going to be served that evening.  Thanks nick for making these menu's up.

What the living room looked like.  We moved out all the furniture(except one love seat) and put it in the office behind the double doors there to the right of the picture.
 
The individual place settings.
 The guests of the party were all of mom's close friends from church plus her bible study group ladies and their husbands.



 Here is the plate of food that we prepared.  Roasted Pork Loin with Sweet Balsamic Glaze, Roasted Red Skinned Potatoes, Fresh Veggie Medley.  We also served a Pear and Blue Cheese Salad with Crescent Rolls.  Sparkling white grape juice, tea and water to drink.   Caramel Toffee Cheesecake for dessert and coffee.  Oh and the appetizers were Deli Skewers and Bruschetta.
 We had invited 38 guests total.  24 were attending.  However when I went to set the tables nick noticed I was off 2 people!!!  I forgot to count Mom and Dad so needless to say this is where dear nick and wonderful Jason sat.  Joy and I offered to sit here, but the guys insisted on it, and it turned out great because they did a lot of "butler" work:).  Filling drinks, ice, getting this and that.  THANKS BOYS!!!
 A few photos from after the party. 



 Sure missed you Tricia!!!  Would love to have had you here, and next time we need to plan earlier so you can come and Mark can get off work:)!!!

Monday, September 30, 2013

Fort 4 Fitness 2013

Ahh, at last all the training and miles we put in were finally put to the test:).  On Saturday, September 28th, 2013 Erica Gutwein and I did our second Mini Marathon.  We have been training for the past 3 months and it feels nice to know we don't HAVE to go out and run if we don't want to right now:).  Although we both agree we want to keep up on our running.
We could not have asked for a better running weather day.  Erica did an amazing job by increasing her speed to the finish line by a good 8 minutes compared to her first mini.  Way to go.   My goal this time around was to complete the mini in 2 hours or less. I practiced 3 weeks ago here at home and completed the 13.1 miles in 1 hour and 58 minutes so I was thinking it would be a breeze.  Much to my disappointment I completed it in 2 hours and 1 minute.  Man, that stinking ONE minute!!  And the hills that this course had....I am just very use to FLAT ground!!!

'til next time.....if there is a next time???  We will just have to see what next year holds:)

Making progress!!

17 months and we are finally thinking about taking steps!!  This was her very first 4 steps of her life.
Since this video she has taken a total of 9 steps in a row.  Making progress!!!

Applesauce

I have some super sweet neighbors down the road from us.  They have several dozen apple tree's. This year I asked her if I could come pick some apples if they weren't going to use them all and she gladly let me come.  I picked 3- 5 gallon buckets worth of apples and my dear mother came over and helped me make applesauce for the first time ever.  Ive always wanted to do it and now that I know how and I have access to apples hopefully, I'll probably be doing this yearly.  Thanks to Lacie and Tyler for the "FREE" apples.  They wouldn't let me pay!!
Liam helping by putting dirty apples in water for me to wash.
 And the cutting process starts.  Lots of cutting, cooking, grinding and bagging.  If I remember correctly we were completely done in 3 hours.
 Liam tried his hand at the crank!!  Thanks to Stephanie for letting me borrow your applesauce maker (sieve).

 23 quarts of applesauce complete.  Thanks mom for your help. 

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

What a Character

One night at supper Ellie started making funny faces at us.  It looks like we have a character on our hands. 


This little girl sure does bring a lot of joy to our lives!

Monday, September 16, 2013

Taylor, MO

On a wednesday night, nick was to be in Taylor, MO for a topical bible study.  Our original plan was for him to sadly drive the 5 hour drive by himself, as I was needing to stay home with the kids. Plus they had school the next day.  But then nick gets a brilliant idea and asks Brad N. if he was busy and would want to take a flight to Taylor with his plane.  It was super fast, instead of a 5 hour trip, it was an hour and 15 minutes and the boys got the privilege of their very first flight outside of the state.  They were beyond excited.  It is a nice plane, holds 6 people, and our pilot was great!!!  Thanks Brad for taking us to Taylor and getting us home in record time:).




 We got home at 12:30am so this was how Caden was when we touched down at the airport.  Thankfully he got some sleep since school was the next day, but man, that just looks uncomfortable!!!
As we were leaving and thanking Brad for the flight, Elijah goes up to Brad and says "whenever you are ready to sell the plane, just ask my dad to buy it".  Elijah kept telling me that his "dad needs to buy a plane and that way it can be handed down to him when he is finished with it."  Smart boy, smart boy!!!