We've had the privilege of seeing Luke a lot lately. Well, not a lot, but more than we usually do. Luke is my cousin and my uncle has had the opportunity to work up in Draper once a month for a week and he brought Luke with him this time. The girls absolutely love him. He is the best kid ever. Hailey and Luke spent a lot of time outside riding bikes and rollerblading.  It was a great week for me because the girls were so entertained by Luke that I was able to get so much done. Thanks Luke! :-)

Yes, those are my HUGE rollerblades Hailey is wearing.

We know that when uncle Marty comes to town, there won't be a low supply of ice cream in our home. It's always something to look forward to. I love my family.

And we miss Luke.

Happy 6th Hailey!

 This year for Hailey's birthday, she wanted to go rollerblading.  So, we took her and all our family and went skating at Classic Skating.  This was the girls first time going and they absolutely loved it. Hailey wanted her own rollerblades for her birthday. She had been wearing mine outside and wanted some that fit her better. She also asked for a Macaw cake. I wasn't sure how I was going to pull that one off, but in the end, it turned out alright.

This was Hailey putting on MY rollerblades.

Addy and the scooter. She holds the handlebars funny because this is how she is use to holding things with a cast on. With her having to wear a cast for two months, she got very use to this position.

The new blades.

This is a blurry picture of my brother and I. We were rollerbladers back in the day and got quite good at it. So, here we are wishing we were young again. :-)  

Hailey had so much fun at her party this night that she couldn't stop skating and we had to force her to leave the floor. She has become quite the little blader with her new rollerblades.

I can't believe she's 6.  She is just a ball of energy and fearless and I love that about her. She has the best spunky personality and it's just so fun being around her.

Happy Birthday Monkey!

Halloween 2012

Tradition has been to take the girls Trick-Or-Treating in Grandpa and Grandma's neighborhood in Orem. This year was no different.  The girls love it and we love it, so why change a good thing, right?  Nate's mom and dad are kind enough to provide some food for us and we take the girls out for a night of fun and safe trick or treating.

This year, Hailey wanted to be a Macaw and Addy wanted to be a Colorful Fairy. I think they both turned out pretty darn cute. This year was super fun since they got to trick-or-treat with their little cousin Benson. He was an adorable dragon.

The girls always get quite the workout trick-or-treating in this neighborhood. There are lots of hills and long steep driveways to walk up. In the end, we ended up with WAY too much candy and some very happy little girls.  They got tired pretty fast and we didn't even make it through the whole neighborhood like we usually do, but Nate and I didn't mind.  We went back to grandma and grandpa's for some pizza and hang out time. The girls love to help grandpa hand out candy at their house. It's always so fun for them to see others dressed up too.  It was a successful Halloween and more dress-ups to add to their overflowing bin of such.  Nate and I are NOT fans of the girls eating candy. Especially a lot of it.  The good news is, they aren't use to much sweets around our house, so they usually forget about their stash after a couple days. That's just what happened this year as well and i'm so glad.  It was a successful Halloween full of fun and family.. just the way I like it.

Halloween Dress-Up No.1

We were invited to a Halloween party at our neighbor's house. It was a pretty rockin' party if I must say so. They rented this awesome ship that was placed in their front yard and the kids absolutely loved it.  The party was a 'Costumes a Must' party, even though there were plenty of party poopers. Nate and I decided to take the plunge and dress up.

I have to admit, Nate's costume was the best.  I can't believe I got him to a. dress up and b. attend a social event all in the same night.  

Damon and Summer joined us at the party with their kiddos as well. We had a really good time. It's been YEARS since I've been to a Halloween party let alone dress up for one.

BIG NEWS!!

Hailey lost her first tooth! She had been wiggling it for weeks and was super excited the day it finally came out. She was pretty nervous about it and wouldn't let us touch it much once it got really loose, then one day, while I was cleaning, she was sitting in front of a mirror playing with it when 'POP'!!!! Out it came.

I thought it would be fun to do a little side by side comparison from when I was her age and I lost my first tooth. It's pretty crazy.

The tooth next to the one that came out is barely loose as well. Not too much longer till she has a nice BIG window in her mouth.

GREAT NEWS!!!!

These are Addy's original x-rays from the ER the night she broke her arm.

Clearly you can see how bad the breaks are..

After 8 1/2 weeks, 3 hard casts, 2 soft casts, 6 bone resets & manipulation (with only being under pain killers twice), and about 6 different doctors,

we are happy to say that

Addy got her cast off!!!

She was pretty nervous at her appointment yesterday, but both mommy and daddy were

there to comfort her so that always helps. At one point, a new doctor came in and grabbed her arm. UGH. Addy flipped out. I intervened and informed him she was traumatized. He understood the look on my face, luckily and backed off.  He then proceeded to have Addy touch her own arm and tell him if it hurt. She liked this much better.  He asked her to squeeze his fingers with both fists so that he could see if she had any strength in that arm, which she didn't have much of.

They took more x-rays and one view seemed absolutely perfect but I was not completely happy with the other view. Her bones still look bent to me. I brought my concern to the doctors attention and 

more than one doctor came in to reassure me that they would straighten with growth.

I am still not convinced, but Nate said he feels good about it.

I have a few things I was unhappy about throughout this situation.  First off, I really feel that it was unnecessary to continue re-breaking and re-setting her bones.  She is 4 years old and they should have done surgery. This is my personal opinion and also the opinion of other doctors I have talked to about it.

Second, one of the times they re-set her bones, her doctor had an intern do it.. now, if this was an adult, with the adults consent, go ahead and TRY to re-set it without much experience. But on a 4 year old??? Who already is traumatized?  Besides, it didn't work. He wasn't able to get it in place, so that was a complete failure with my daughter left in excruciating pain.

Once seeing that her bones kept slipping, they should have sent us to a specialist. Again, my opinion and I probably should have just done it regardless, but this was our first bone issue and we didn't know any better. 

After talking around and getting info, I wish I would have listened to myself and done something different.

There's nothing I can do now and we'll just have to hope an pray that she doesn't end up with chronic pain in her arm any time the weather changes or she's playing sports, or writing long essays in college or whatever.

I hope Nate's feelings about this are spot on and that she's going to be okay.

I do tend to be over-reactive at times. I guess time will tell.

Her pour arm had this lizzard-like skin on it. Grandma Johnson helped her get it all off that afternoon. Her little arm seems so fragile right now. I'm just glad that she can start using it again. It's been long overdue.

I'm really worried about it. But we'll see....

Toothless...

The Tooth Fairy got to visit our house for the first time ever last night.  Hailey was ecstatic. Addy, however was pretty nervous and scared.

A week and a half ago, Hailey came to us telling us she was super excited because she had a loose tooth.  We all got our chance to wiggle it a bit and confirm that indeed, it was loose.  She's been telling EVERYONE all about it and day by day, would ask Nate how many more days till it came out.  A couple days ago, she woke up and that thing was hanging on by a thread.  She wouldn't let anybody touch it though. She was too afraid that it would hurt.  Every chance she got, she was playing with it though.

Yesterday, I dedicated my day to cleaning with a small gym break.  The girls had finished cleaning their playroom and their bedroom and were watching me hang a few things on the walls. Hailey sat down in front of a mirror I had propped up against the wall on our upstairs landing and was playing with her tooth. Next thing I know, she turns around and says in a very serious voice, "my tooth just came out." Then, she screamed, grabbed Addy, gave her a HUGE hug and started jumping up and down.  Her reaction was quite hilarious. She is such an animated child, I love it.  Addy caught on to the excitement and pretty soon, both of them were jumping up and down and running in circles with each other chanting "I have a window in my mouth" over and over.  

Last night, after getting ready for bed, I thought that I should check her tooth next to that one and sure enough, it's loose!! Hailey is on her way to being toothless and she's super excited about it....

Passing on a love for reading

This last year, I've spent a lot of time reading. Reading to myself, reading to my girls, reading with Hailey, teaching Hailey to read, etc.  I've told Nate how I really want them to love to read.  So far, we are doing pretty good with it.  Hailey is really good at reading and Addy LOVES to be read to.  I decided a while ago to start reading chapter books to them.  I was really excited about starting this new journey. I've always looked forward to this point in my parenting and i'm excited to see where it goes.

The first book we tackled was The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe.  I was a little worried about this because it's been SO long since I've read this myself and I didn't remember details.  I decided to just go with it and see what happened.

To my surprise, they absolutely loved the first chapter and were asking me to read 'just one more chapter' EVERY night.  Every night, they would get their extra pillows set up on the bed, snuggle in their blankets and get all ready to read. Their favorite, was when Nate would join us and he would snuggle right in the middle of them. 

I was surprised at how much they got out of the book.  Even the little details I didn't think were very important, they would giggle at and repeat or they would ask questions about them.  I was loving this.  

When I was little, I LOVED books. With time, I grew apart from my love of reading because I felt I had more important things to get done. I forgot what reading can really do for your mind, and for your imagination and for your life.

I have some really old school books that I held on to from when I was little and it's really fun to have them.  I do have a slight problem as an adult though.  A couple years ago when Hailey started preschool, she started bringing home scholastic book orders.  I was so excited because this was my favorite thing about elementary school... well almost.  I remember studying those book orders in and out before making that important decision of what to order.  This time it's a little different. The difference is, I buy more than one... on EVERY order.  The girls have this book case that I bought for their room and it's huge. It use to be that the bottom shelf and half of the next one was what had books on it. Now, the entire 5 shelf book case is pretty full.  I can't help but keep adding to their collection.

The rules at night are that they can each choose 2 books to take to bed with them. It's the cutest thing to see them page through the books or read to eachother, or make up stories that go along with pictures when they think i'm not watching or listening.  I love listening to them bust out in laughter over something they saw in a book. It's the cutest thing.

Once we finished reading The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, we watched the movie as a family. There were a few parts that were pretty scary, but the girls loved watching a story that they new so well in their minds.  I'm excited for all the others that are on my list to come and so are they.

Here's to passing on a love for reading....

A little catching up.

Addy had another appointment for her arm last week and i'm happy to report that the x-rays looked great compared to the previous ones.  She freaked out a bit when the doctor came in the room but as soon as she realized everything was ok, she was great.  She still clung to me like a monkey in a tree, however, the tears were minimal this time. Thank goodness.  She opted for pink with sparkles for her new short cast since they were out of the colorful camo that she loves.  Also, she was able to get a waterproof one this time which is SO great.

Addy waited ALL day for dad to get home. She wanted him to be the first to sign her 3rd cast. :-)

It has taken her an entire week to straighten her arm. We were getting a bit worried when she would refuse to straighten it. I has been in a 90 degree angle for 5 weeks now, so she was VERY nervous to try.

She has 3 more weeks to go with this new cast, then more x-rays.  These last x-rays showed that the bones are still broke all the way through, but there are calluses that are forming which help keep the bones in place. We'll know more in 3 weeks as to when she doesn't have to be in a cast anymore. Once we hit that appointment, it will have been 8 1/2 weeks since she broke her arm. UGH!

New Haircut!!

We had been playing with the idea of Hailey getting a short haircut. 

She was VERY excited and it turned out quite cute.

Softball

We just ended the Provo season with a championship!

The guys worked their tails off the night of the double elimination.

They played a team that was undefeated and they beat them both games right in a row.

The first game was awesome. The guys FOUGHT quite a bit to beat this team. Then, in the second game, Nate made one of the most beautiful hits I've ever seen and the ball just soared. Now, to brag a little, i'm quite use to Nate's homeruns. Over the years, he is just MR. HOMERUN. In park, out of park, it doesn't matter, he's just so good at the game, it's ridiculous.  This particular hit left a lot of people in the stands with their mouths open. Especially when it shattered the back window of a new SUV in the parking lot. YIKES.  It almost seemed like a slow motion hit. Nate knew it was a good hit the minute it left the bat and he was jogging to first base, knowing there was no need to rush.  As he crept up on first base, the window shattered and Nate put his fist to him mouth as if to say "crap".  He felt terrible about the window.  The guy who owned the SUV was on the opposing team AND the first baseman. Nate apologized and the guy replied saying it wasn't his fault and that it was a really good hit. :-) He then got mad at his wife for parking there. :-) It's always the wife's fault.

Aside from this, Nate played an amazing game. He had some pretty sweet catches in the outfield as usual. 

K, i'm done bragging about my super hot and talented husband.. until next time.

Provo City Champions Fall 2012

Nate Johnson, Dave Schwitzer, Chet Shelley John Berry, Carson Watkins, (not sure), David Lake

Josh Dyches, Troy Dyches, Dan Hall, Brady Hoffman

New Cast

Ugh. SOON this nightmare will be over, but not soon enough.  This past Monday was the appointment from hell. It really was the worst thing ever.  You can read about it in the previous post. The next day, Addy was on her way down our grass to our car when she tripped and slammed her arm and face onto the sidewalk.  She immediately started crying and holding her arm. Not to mention her face was all scraped up.  So, the next morning, Wednesday, we went back to the doctor for more x-rays.  As soon as the doctor walked in the room, she freaked and started crying and crawling up Nate, grabbed my neck and had us both in a grip that I didn't even know she was capable of.  After reviewing the x-rays, the doctor reassured us that they were fine. THANK GOODNESS!  We left the office in the BEST mood that day. We took the girls to the zoo where we knew she could just ride in a stroller and chill for the rest of the day.

Then, today rolled around.  Today was the appointment for her new cast.  We take some x-rays and the doctor reviews them.  All the while Addy is a mess. Her anxieties really have had the best of her through this whole process and I don't blame her one bit.  The x-rays aren't perfect, but it's not enough for the doctor to feel the need to re-set them.  YAY!!!

So, the nurse comes in to take off the splint and put on her cast. The splint was stuck. It came off with a bit of a jolt and Addy started screaming.  CRAP!  So, back to the x-ray room we go. I'm watching her poor little arm the whole time and it is just bruised ALL OVER. It's so sad.  She's still a mess.  I'm trying really hard to keep it together since i'm the only one with her today.  But let's be honest, I can't stand it anymore. I can't stand to see her in so much pain ALL. THE. TIME.   The doctor looks at the x-rays and i'm just praying the entire time... 

With the jolt of the splint, it was enough to actually re-set her arm to an almost perfect position.  As happy as I was to hear that, I still felt bad for little Addy who was in so much pain.  So, next came the cast and they were extremely careful. It took 3 people to cast her arm because of how fragile the bones are.  As you can imagine, a tiny little 4 year old full of fear, pain and anxiety, surrounded by 3 adult doctors trying to cast her arm. Um... a little much for her to handle. The doctor had to mold the cast to her arm again, but this time, not as bad. Still painful, but not a minute and a half painful, more like 30 seconds painful.  So, another accidental re-set and a little molding. UGH!!!!

However, they drew a heart on her cast with glitter glue and that made her a little content.  She is now casted up for the second time, and ordered to wear a sling for the next three weeks till we go in for more x-rays and another new cast.

Here's to hoping we can stay away from the doctor for the next three weeks. I've been feeling really sick to my stomach all week and I couldn't figure out why till I literally could NOT get out of bed this morning because I was so tired and I realized that my own stress and anxiety and emotions have gotten the better of me as well this week.  Now that it's over, i'm feeling much better. I hate watching her go through this. That horrible look in her eyes is enough to send me through the roof.  I'm glad she gets a break for a little while... we hope, anyways.

Losing it... Nope, it's LOST.

This past Saturday evening, I drew a bath for the girls. While the bath was filling, I went in our office to talk to Nate.  Upon returning to the bathroom, I found the girls were already in the bath. So was Addy's cast. It was completely submerged in bathwater and she was just playing away as if nothing was wrong. I screamed, realizing what was happening and pulled Addy out of the water immediately.

We took the measures that the physician over the phone told us to take. Blow dry it as much as possible and keep it in a sling till Monday.  We did just that. After I got off the phone with him, I bawled, knowing there was a possibility that her bones moved again.

This morning, Monday, I called the specialist right away and they scheduled us to come in this afternoon.  They looked at the cast, realized it had expanded way too much and was way too loose on her arm. It needed to be re-casted.  First, they took x-rays to make sure the bones stayed in place this time. 

They hadn't. They moved even more than last time, so this wasn't just a 'molding' problem, this was a 're-set' problem. It had to be snapped back in place.  Her doctor gave us two options.

 1. Pop it back with no medication and just do it quickly. 

 2. inject her bone with a numbing medication 

Both traumatizing, so Nate told them to just do it quickly. The doctor looked at me for a second confirmation on that decision and I just started bawling.  The nurse left to go get some tissues.

She grabbed her tiny little arm and I've never heard anyone scream like that in my entire life. I was laying next to her on the bed trying to keep her still.  Nate picked her up after it was over and while the doctor was holding her arm, took her to the x-ray room where they could make sure it worked.

I stayed back with Hailey because she was crying.  After I calmed Hailey down, I started pacing the floor. The nurse returns to talk to me and it was obvious that even she was crying.  I'm telling you people, this was UNEXPLAINABLE.  The nurse then tells me that the re-set didn't work and the bones are still popping out of place and that they need to try again.  Just then, I can hear all the way on the other side of the building, my little angel screaming her little heart out.  Again, I can't handle this, so I buckle and cry even more.  The nurse takes Hailey out to another part of the building and gives her some things to play with.  

They bring Addy back into the room and lay her down on the bed. They tell me it still didn't work after the second try.  The specialist explains to us that she thinks her bones already started healing and therefor keeping them from setting properly because there is tissue or bone in the way.

So, my eyes are huge as she explains that they have to do it AGAIN! A THIRD TIME!  This time, Nate told them to numb her first. We sat there with our poor baby trying to explain to her that they now have to give her a shot. Yeah, that didn't go over well.  They give her the shot while we are holding her still and she is crying the entire time. They had to shoot medicine right into the bone and it took a good long time for this to happen. After the doctor was finished, she left the room to let the medicine set in for a bit.  

Addy started feeling super cold and shaky so we asked them for a blanket and they brought her a warm one. Within minutes, the blanket had become cold on the outside.  She was in shock. We tried to keep her comfortable and she ended up falling asleep from being so traumatized.  

Once the doctor came back in, Addy woke up, freaked out and basically was trying to escape anyone's grasp and climb up me.  In this process, we are all afraid she is going to hurt her arm worse because it's numb and she's moving it all over the place trying to escape.  After we finally calm her down, a bit, Nate grabs her and has to just hold her in a body lock while the doctor, for the third time, sets her arm. This time, there was cracking involved.  (go ahead and throw up.. I almost did)

I was so nervous walking slowly back to the x-ray room.  This time, the x-rays looked much better, but not perfect. The doctor explains to me that there was bone growth in the way and when she reset it this time, she basically had to break the new growth out of the way in order for the bones to set properly.  Yep. It was awful.

Now, Addy is a complete mess. Completely traumatized.  She is back in a splint and soft cast because it will swell pretty good from the amount of trauma today. Friday we go in for more x-rays. This time, she can't do anything. She can't go to school at all this week and she even has to sleep with her sling ON. She is back on Lortab and just miserable. It's been two weeks since the initial break and i'm about to have a breakdown over watching her endure such a horrible situation.  I cannot even imagine going through something like this myself and to watch my sweet little girl have to endure such a hellish event is about to send me to the loony bin. So, at this point in parenting, i'm pretty sure I've lost it. If you see me walking down the street twitching, you may want to call authorities. 

Until then, please pray for little Addy that she doesn't have to end up in surgery. 

Addy's Cast and Torture Session

Addy was extremely excited to go to her casting appointment today.  She's been thinking all weekend about what color she wants to get.  We get there, and they took a few x-rays.  The doctor came in to view the pictures of her arm and found that the bones had shifted and needed to be re-set.  My stomach at this point just started freaking out. Meanwhile Hailey and Addy are laughing at eachother in the background and i'm thinking to myself, "Addy has no idea what's about to happen to her."

So, the caster/person comes in to the room and begins the process of putting the hard cast on her arm. It's wet and she runs out yelling for the doctor because nobody knows where the doctor went and she needs her NOW.  The doctor comes running in (apparently, they have to set the bones while the cast is on so that the cast can mold the arm into position and they have to do it before it dries) and begins gripping Addy's arm. She still has no idea what's about to happen. Apparently, neither did I because at the hospital, it was a very quick set of the bones.  This time, she had to slowly form and mold her arm and cast at the same time. The process took about a minute and a half of them squeezing her arm and moving the bones back into place.  Poor Addy was SCREAMING her little head off. The crazy thing.. she didn't move an inch. She just sat there while they tortured her. I couldn't hold back the tears on this one. I had watched her be in so much pain the last week and then this???  This was definitely hell on earth for a mother.  

waiting on the doctor...

with no clue about what's next.

This is just before the doctor starts squeezing and shifting her little bones.

This picture makes me cry.  This is Post-Torture.

Addy was quick to pick out the COLORFUL cast and was pretty excited about it.  The doctor informed me she would need pain medication as soon as we got home.. and that's just what we did.  Now, the verdict is that she has to come back in two weeks where they will take more x-rays to make sure the bones didn't move again.  They will re-cast her and then it will be another 4-6 weeks after that of wearing a cast.  They had to give her a full arm cast because of the fact that her bones moved so much. They don't want that happening again.. obviously.

 ALL DONE!!!

After the pain meds set in...

Poor girl. Such a nightmare.