Update on Drake

We had an appointment with the doctor this morning, and unfortunately he did not have good news for Drake.  It appears that the bone has shifted from Monday, and we are most likely looking at surgery early (Monday/Tuesday) next week.  He wanted to wait the weekend and do another x-ray on Monday morning to be sure, but if it looks any worse than today, he is thinking surgery would be scheduled most likely Monday afternoon.  He is thinking there is a 75% chance that surgery will happen.  It is definitely disappointing news.  This is a little graphic, so if you have a weak stomach, you might want to skip this part... but they would basically go in through his skin with pins to pull the bone back together.  The pins would stick out of his arm and it would all be wrapped in a splint (similar to what they gave him in the ER).  After 3-4 weeks, they would pull the pins out with pliers in the office.  I know, it sound so terrible.  I could tell the doctor was really disappointed that this looks like the direction Drake's arm is heading.  Fortunately, if the bone heals properly from this, we aren't looking at long term problems.  But if it doesn't get fixed, he could have long term issues.  To be honest, as bad as the pin-pulling sounds, I would rather that than pins buried in his bone the rest of his life.  The first time the doctor talked about pins, that's what I originally had in mind.  Either way, it is obviously not what we were hoping for.  So we are just praying for the 25% chance that his little arm would heal this weekend and he doesn't have to go through all that.  I absolutely hated the two times Mia has had to go under for surgery, and I can't even think about Drake having to go through that as well.

On a happier note, Drake has become so attached to his hat and his pacifier (yes, we have lost the pacifier battle since the broken arm.  It's all he wants...).  He wears his hat and sucks his pacifier ALL day long and even while sleeping.  The only time he removes them is when he eats - ha!  When I sit him in his highchair, he takes his hat off and his pacifier out.  As soon as he's finished eating, the hat goes back on and so does the pacifier.  And as soon as he's out of the bath and his hair is dry at night, the hat goes back on and he goes to bed with it.  This is what we hear all day - "Dodo...hat.  Dodo...hat" (he calls his pacifier a dodo, I have no idea why).  Anyways, it's cute and slightly pathetic to see him with his little cast, baseball cap, and pacifier. :)  Here are some pics...

A rare moment with his hat in his hand instead of on his head

Mia wanting to be like Drake with the hat...

So sad...

He sets his goods on the counter while lunch is being served...

If anyone knows how to wash a little hat, let me know!  I know they make those forms for adult hats, but I don't know about kids.  The way this is looking, we will need to be doing some hat washing soon.  I am going to need a backup hat for when I'm rotating them through the wash.  :)

Oh how could this happen again?!

If you've followed our blog at all, you know last year Mia was stepped on at preschool by her teacher and broke her leg.  She was in a cast for 6 weeks.  I kept thinking I'd never seen such a little one in a cast.  Well, now we have another broken bone.  :( 

We were staying at our friends the Claycombs in Fort Wayne this weekend, so we brought the pack and play for Drake to sleep in.  He wasn't wanting to go to bed and climbed out in the dark.  He was crying all night long, and I just thought it was because we were in a new place and that he had gone to bed too late.  Well, sometime in the middle of the night, he was crying and saying "Ow! Ow!" - I finally realized he might have hurt himself when he fell out of the pack and play.  Sure enough, when it got light enough to see, I could tell right above his elbow was swollen.  I knew instantly he had broken it.  We had to bring him to the ER in Fort Wayne where they confirmed his broken bone and put him in a splint until we could get him in a cast.

So this afternoon we took him to the orthopedic doctor (fortunately/unfortunately we knew of a good one from Mia's ordeal!), and he has a little blue cast.  It's so sad.  I will say, though, that he did much better getting it on than Mia!  Right now we are looking at 3-4 weeks in the cast if the bones stay aligned inside.  If they shift, we may be looking at surgery to put pins in to pull the bone back together.  I'm not even going there mentally right now, though.  I am praying that everything stays straight inside the cast and that it will be off in a few weeks.  We have an appointment Friday morning for an x-ray to make sure everything is still looking good.

Unfortunately (and understandably) Drake has been super clingy lately, and today I threw out my back trying to carry him around (you have to hold him carefully so you don't pick him up under the armpit of his broken arm!).  So I am kind of down for the count, the next few days should be interesting.  I have such a great husband - he made dinner for us all tonight and got both the kids down for bed.  Love him.  :)

Although we definitely had an unfortunate event during our trip up to FW, we had a great time visiting with the Claycombs!  We went to the zoo on Saturday, which Mia loved.  She got to ride a pony, and it was the highlight of her day.  :)

One bit of exciting news is that Brock took a new position at work - he took a job in field sales and will be working from home, so we will be seeing him a lot more!  We are all very excited.  I know there will be a transition time while the kids get used to having to leave him alone during the day, but I know it will work out great.  He will be travelling to Chicago 1-2 days a week, so that will be good that he still gets to go out and about.  :)

Anyways, here are some pictures...

Before 'the incident' - painting in his high chair :)

Mia doing her dot paints

Poor baby, in his splint and sling from the ER...

Daddy doesn't like this picture, but I do  :)

Here is his little blue cast from today...

Here are a few pics from Miss Jodi of Mia on the pony at the zoo...

Like I said, we'll know more Friday.  We'll keep you posted.  :)

A few new ones...

Hi!  I have a few new pics and a few funny stores.  :)

Mia is still totally into her imaginary friends.  I don't know if I should be freaked out by this yet, but what am I going to do?!  Yesterday she was talking to (of course) Quincy.  In case you don't follow our blog regularly, Quincy has been around for probably a good year and a half.  So crazy.  Anyways, she was instructing Quincy to do one thing or another, and I was watching her 'interact' while I was sitting at the kitchen table with Drake.  She saw me watching her and goes, "Hey Mom, will you keep an eye on Drake?"  I said, "I will, he's not going anywhere."  Mia: "No, Mom.  Turn your head away from me please."  Ha!  Like she was trying to be nonchalant and make it seem like she was watching out for her brother, but she literally wanted me to 'keep my eyes' off her and on Drake.  :)  I don't know if she gets embarrassed or what, but she doesn't like us to watch her talk to her imaginary friends.  Hmmm, maybe even she knows it's weird....

Also, apparently there is an imaginary dog now, too.  I think she said his/her name is Tristan, I'll have to listen a little more closely next time.  But she tries to whistle for him/her, talks to it, pats her leg for him/her to come by her...  Weird.

The past 3 weeks or so, we have been trying to take Drake's pacifier away from him.  For quite a while we've only been giving it to him when he goes to sleep, not during the day at all.  So we decided it was time to take it away completely.  The first 2 days it went great, but it's all gone downhill from there.  The poor little guy can't fall asleep without sucking on his pacifier apparently.  So now I even find him sucking on the noses of his stuffed animals.  He screams and screams, and then he doesn't even sleep good.  The cutest thing, though, is that we tried to give him something else to fall asleep with, and he ended up wanting to wear Brock's hat when he went to bed.  But now that's not even working.  3 weeks is a long time to sacrifice sleep in my opinion, so I think we may have to try again in a few months.  Hmmm.


Brock loves the weekends with the kids - Sometimes Drake falls asleep on his lap, which of course Daddy loves...

My little Mia

Ready for the pool!!

Mia and her matching jammies with Bella

Drake with Daddy's hat, trying to fall asleep  :(  So pathetic, right?!

Such a sad little face...

That's all for now!!

Happy 4th of July!! And Happy Anniversary to my hubby!!

I hope you had a great 4th of July! The kids had such a good time. On the 4th we drove up to Michigan to my aunt's place by the lake, and we got to show them the beach for the first time! It was way too hot and crowded to spend time there during the day, but before we left to drive home, we stopped at the beach so the kids could see it. Drake wasn't too fond of the sand, but Mia loved it. I think we definitely have to plan a real beach trip with Mia this summer!

Also, today is our 8 year anniversary! I truly can't believe it's been that long, I still feel like we just got married! I feel so blessed to be married to my most favorite person in the world (well, favorite except for my kids!).  Brock's mom kept the kids overnight, so we had a great dinner, hung out at the bookstore, had a little ice cream, watched a movie, slept in...  I mean how much better can it get?!  We are anxious to see our little ones today, though!

Recently my mom and dad and I took the kids to see Toy Story 3. I didn't realize it was the 3D version where we'd have to wear glasses the whole time! I figured Mia would be okay, but I wasn't so sure about Drake. Well, he didn't move a muscle!! He kept his little plastic 3D glasses on the entire time and sat as still as could be on my lap. It was so cute. They loved it!

Also, one other exciting thing is that last week I travelled all the way to NYC by myself!  I'm a total pansy when it comes to travelling alone, so this was a big step for me.  :)  How cool is this - Jessica Claire, a very well-known wedding photographer, was doing a photography workshop in NYC.  I basically put my name in the hat for a chance to go out there, and I was one of 15 people picked!!  There was a waiting list of over 800 people!  They had a couple dress up in vintage wedding attire, and we spent the morning walking around NYC shooting the couple.  It was such an amazing opportunity to be able to spend time with such an awesome photographer.  After the shoot, she took us back and showed us the post processing work she does in Photoshop.  What an opportunity!  Be watching my photography blog, I will be blogging about it soon and posting pics from our shoot.  It was awesome.  :)

Here are some recent pics...

on our way to the park...

Decked out in her 4th of July gear

At the beach for the first time...

Writing her name in the sand...

M-I-A Mia!

These are long overdue, but here are a few pics of Drake we took when he turned 18 months (I know, I'm a few months behind on posting these!!)

Okay, that's all for now!  I hope your summer is going great!