Nolan's Getting Around

When Nolan woke up this morning, Don brought him into bed with me. I could tell that he really didn't want to be there, so I made him a bed on the floor and turned on his favorite Mickey Mouse Club House. I was so tired I rolled back over and went back to sleep. The next thing I know, Mickey is over and Nolan is dragging himself over to his Lightening McQueen push car. He was so frustrated that he couldn't climb on! Taking pity on my baby, I put him on the car and the next thing I knew, he was pushing himself around the house with his broken leg sticking out in front of him!

All I have to say is that Nolan is one smart cookie with the determination and desire to go after what he wants!

Quick Update on Nolan

With pictures to follow shortly...


First things first: We had a little drama at our house on Monday.

After Brennan's Karate, I sent the boys outside to play while I finished dinner. Don was out with them but decided to come in and chat with me, leaving the boys jumping on the trampoline together. (Please don't think we're bad parents... the door was open and we could see them through the living room and kitchen windows). Brennan and Dylan were jumping on one side of the tramp while Nolan was walking around the edge away from them. The next thing I know, Nolan is SCREAMING! Now, we all know that Nolan is non-verbal and usually screams to get our attention, but this scream wasn't like anything I've ever heard... it gives me the willies just thinking about it. We ran to the trampoline, unzipped the cage, and called for Nolan to come. He stood up, but couldn't walk. His legs just gave out. Don crawled to get him and we tried for about 10 minutes to calm him down. After realizing that we couldn't get him calm, we decided I would take him to the ER.

I know that some people have horrible experiences with kids in the ER, but I have to say that our hospital is great at getting kids in and out in a timely manner. They had Nolan checked in, seen by the Dr and Nurse, x-rayed, and results within 30 minutes.

Results: Nolan had taken the energy from the bounce wrong and "buckled" his left tibia and fibula about an inch above his ankle(which is to say the the tibia had a compressed fracture while the fibula had a break). When I saw the films, I was sick. It just looked so painful. When the Dr gave us the results, he gave us an idea of what happened with breaks like this. If Nolan were an older child, they would have gone into surgery and placed pins, but since he is so little, they needed to consult a orthopedic specialist to determine what they were going to do.

It seemed like forever before the specialist called back. He looked at the films and decided that Nolan's little body could support the weight and heal without having the surgery. THANK HEAVENS! They put a splint on Nolan for the night and sent us home with children's loratab. I was left wondering "where were my drugs for the stress of all of this?"

The first night was miserable. I let Nolan sleep with me, but he just tossed and turned and cried in his sleep. It broke my heart.

We went to the orthopedic specialist yesterday morning where they replaced his splint with a cherry red cast that goes from his piggy toes up to his hip. I guess that kids casts slide off really easily, so they have to go above the knee to keep them in place.

Last night was better... no crying in his sleep, but still a lot of tossing and turning. I'm less worried today because his appetite finally came back and he even tried to stand up with it, even though he got really frustrated. I'm slowly weening him off the drugs and he even wanted to sleep in his own bed tonight, so maybe I'll get some sleep. Yeah for sanity!

Gigi came out (Thank You G) to make sure that Nolan was okay. It was really helpful to know that I didn't have to go it alone. It's hard enough taking care of 4 boys, let alone one infant and one invalid. I don't know how those of you with extra needs kids do it. I take my hats off to you.

Creative Inspiration

Lately I've been having a creative brain-fart~ I haven't been able to come up with anything of real interest. It's been a real downer! Since I haven't been inspired, I haven't really done anything for a while...

That is, until a few days ago. I needed to write thank you cards for the block party, but the only cards I had were left from when I had Ian, and I didn't think that writing thank-you's on blue cards covered in giraffe's and elephant's was appropriate. That's when I decided that I could use a little inspiration.

So I went to twopeasinabucket.com to see what the members had come up with and these two cards caught my eye.

I loved that they used scraps, so I didn't have to have 4 pieces of each paper to make 10 cards. So I pulled out my scraps, cut, pasted, and came up with these cute variations. I think they turned out cute, even though they were not my own. What do you think?

4th of July

Like Memorial Day, I just love Independence Day! I can't think of a better reason to throw a party then to celebrate our freedom!

At the last Girl's Night Out, we decided that we would have a 4th of July Block Party. With the help of Karen, Abby, and Karen A., I planned a kick-A party (if I do say so myself).

We had tons of really great food, lots of awesome friends, children's games, water balloons, bouncy houses, a children's parade and (thanks to the church behind the neighborhood) spectacular fireworks. Though it rained at the beginning and the very end, I can't think of a better party!

*Nolan running through the rain. He thought it was so much fun*

*E's face cracks me up!*

*Sheila (the photographer) and a couple of her girls*

*Jessie, her girls, and Ian*

*Our two bouncy houses were courtesy of one of our very generous neighbors~ Thank You So Much!)*

*The kids playing water-balloon volleyball*

*Nolan with the water balloons... and yes, those are the remains of the balloons he loved to pick up and drop just to watch them pop*

*Brennan showing off his mad balloon tossing skills*

*My sweet baby in his dressed-up stroller for the children's parade*

Nolan's 2nd Birthday

I don't know how I managed to have all of the boys birthdays near major holidays~ it makes for a hectic week/weekend, and Nolan's birthday was no exception!

We spent the morning running errands and picking up last minute items for the 4th and Nolan's Birthday. Once the kids were settled for their naps, I started working on Nolan's cake. I've never really done a cake before (just some Barney one's for my nieces and nephews, but nothing of real worth). I'd spent the couple of days before looking everywhere for a Mickey Mouse cake pan, but they were discontinued a long time ago. I knew that Nolan's really wouldn't like a Transformer or Spider man cake, so I decided to forgo the pre-shaped cake pan route and picked up just some plain-old round cake pans thinking I could fake it enough that Nolan wouldn't even notice. I baked the cake (yellow for the face and chocolate for the ears) and mixed up the homemade butter cream icing and started decorating. I free handed Mickey's face and was shocked at how good it looked! For those of you who know me, you know that I don't have a single artistic bone in my body... my stick-figures look like dog-bones. But this cake really looked good~ What do you think?

After my *PROUD* moment, the boys woke up from their naps and we decided to have cake and presents. I was kind of sad that there wasn't anyone celebrating Nolan's birthday with us, but I know that he'll have many more where we are celebrating with family and friends. We put Nolan in his chair and I was really excited to see his face when he saw my Mickey. His first reaction was a very loud scream, followed closely by a wail and trying to climb down from the chair. Even after Don lit the candle, he still didn't like the cake, but the singing calmed him down a little. After I cut the cake and gave him a piece, he just pushed it away and got out of the chair. I don't really think that Nolan like birthday cake :)

*Nolan didn't know what to think about Mickey's Head*

*I don't know why, but the boys just love Don's tone-deaf singing*

Presents went something along the same lines. Crying when we handed it to him, but really happy when it was out of the wrapping so he could play with it. Nolan is such a silly kid~ he cries when he should be happy. Oh well, we love him just the same.

*Nolan loving his new stacking wooden blocks (my kid is an organization freak like me)*

Happy Birthday Nolan!

*I threw this one in because I just love little Ian's face and how big he is getting*

Father's Day

Like always, Don didn't want anything for Father's Day this year. I couldn't NOT get him anything, right? So, I decided to have my friend Sheila take some pictures for us. Here are some of my favorite!

*I would just like to let everyone know that I had to post these pics one at a time, so be happy they're up!

Backyard Fun

June 20th, 2009

I have a new theory about the simple things in life~ Water in any form is fun for all involved, spectators included. Don't waste your money going to the pool. Give the boys a $10 blow up pool and a sprinkler head and you're ready for hours of fun in the sun. Was life really this simple to make fun when we were younger?

Girl's Night Out

June 18th, 2009

I've been feeling kind of cooped up in the house with the kids lately, all the while knowing that I'm not the only one that feels like their life revolves around kids, food, diapers and naps. While I was complaining to Gina about the state of things, we decided to take our future into our own hands and, as my mother would put it, "Fly the Coop!" (aka Girl's Night Out).

After making invitations and walking door to door to deliver them (and meet them!), I had enough info about everyone to make a neighborhood phone list~ which has turned out to be super helpful!

We met at Mimi's for dinner followed by a movie "My Life in Ruins". It was a great turnout for our first night and I think that everyone enjoyed themselves... I know that I did!

Gina, Paula, & Heather

Deanna & Angela

Sheila & Karen
Me and Leigh Anne

Casey & Jennifer
Me and Karen
The Ladies busy chatting :)

Enjoying our 1st Girls Night Out!