Cast

Yay! Wyatt got that huge, heavy temporary cast off his arm today. He gets to keep this one for another 4 weeks, but it is half the size and he got his elbow back. He is a happy camper! Please pardon my crazy mom-who-must-document-everything pictures!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Annabel::9 Months

My, oh my! She is going so fast! She is quite the contrast to Easton. Easton was the smallest at birth, she was the largest. Easton waited the longest to start solids. She started much earlier and eats anything and everything....and an insane amount, too! Easton was my latest walker (14 months) and little miss Annabel is cruisin on her feet already...by far my earliest. She's ambitious and unafraid. The noise and craziness doesn't even faze her. She joins right in and makes her own noise. She can yell really loud! She is the first baby I've had where I can identify who she looks like without a doubt. And in case you can't tell, I think she looks EXACTLY like Rand. I'm thinking hair will change that a bit, but seriously, she looks just like him!

She is an awful sleeper and I am reaching the end of what I can handle. Something will have to change soon. I'm just hoping she'll figure it out on her own...... maybe? This is the fourth one and I have no doubt that it is me that creates this problem. I'm okay with that because I have made the best choices I can and done best by her, I know. BUT, she is 9 months old now, and waking every 2 hours or more and sometimes staying up for an hour is killing me! I would seriously consider having more kids if they slept. No sleep though makes everything so much harder and I absolutely couldn't handle doing this again. (don't hold me to that!)

Anyway....

She is napping peacefully now. I skipped church because I needed her to have this nap so bad. And it's quiet and lovely and I am happy even though I am ridiculously tired.

We absolutely love her.

Little Rand?



 

See those little teeth? Yeah, they are razor sharp and she bites me with them when we nurse during the day. At night, however, she nurses like a champ. Part of the problem??

 

 

She's off!

Arm Update

Thursday was Wyatt's follow-up appointment with the Orthopedist to get his cast. It had been a little over 3 days since he broke it and he was feeling much better....and anxious for his cast!

We got there and waited and waited and finally went back. They x-rayed him again and then we waited some more. When the doctor came in she said a little more of the same and then dropped the bomb on him that he would have to wait for his cast. He was pretty sad about that. The "cast" that they put on his arm at the hospital is intended to be temporary and so it is wrapped and wrapped underneath and then hard cast strips lay across the bottom and top of his arm over his elbow so he can't move his elbow out of that position. Then it is wrapped and wrapped again with ace bandage. It is heavy and hot and bulky. The doctor said she thought it was probably still swollen and a new cast would quickly become too big. She also said that if she casted him then she would want to put it up over his elbow because it really needs to stay immobilized. If we wait, the swelling will be gone and she will probably be able to put the cast below his elbow. We were bummed, but knew it was best. We go back on Tuesday for more x-rays and hopefully a new cast then. She said she will want to x-ray once a week to make sure the break doesn't "fall apart" and that it all heals just right. Wyatt is being a trooper and we are discovering lots he can do with just one arm!

Playing Angry Birds is something you can do with just one hand!

 

Glad we weren't there for a knee replacement!

Broken

I was just saying recently that it feels like the boys' rough-housing has gone up a few levels. They are bigger and louder and so much rougher. There is no stopping it. I stay out of it, I yell at them to stop, I redirect with other activities, but they are boys and they play hard (see previous posts of Brendan's summer injuries). :)
So after dinner last night they were doing crazy things in their nice clean room where there was all kinds of floor space. There was launching going on. (One person lays on their back and the other person sits on that person's feet. The "launcher" shoots the person through the air.) Wyatt was flung and he landed on his side right on top of his left arm. I hope that I forget the screams that he made because they were horrifying. I had no idea what I was going to see when I went in there. He had on a baggy shirt and said he couldn't move his arm. My stomach sank because I wasn't sure I could handle a dislocated shoulder. He pointed to the spot and I pulled up his sleeve. Just above his wrist things were definitely not right. When I was 7 I broke my arm in a similar way in a similar spot. I was sure it was broken. I told Rand to go figure out where we were taking him and I called my sister to come over NOW!...which she did. And then I gave Wyatt 2 Motrin (smartest thing I did).
My poor husband. He does not tolerate his children being seriously hurt very well. Both this time and when Brendan about knocked out his tooth, he came "this" close to throwing up and passing out. He figured everything out on the computer (I think it helped keep his head in the game). I iced the arm and got things set up for the "babysitter". Then Rand and I took Wyatt to the ER. Poor, sweet little Wyatt. He just kept wishing it was a dream and that it wasn't really happening. They got him in, took some pictures and sent us home in a giant splint and a little sling. We have a couple days to wait for the swelling to go down and then we will go get a cast that will stay on for the next 4 weeks or so. He's doing great and we are so glad it was his left arm and not his right, although it still going to affect his abilities in his karate, gymnastics and keyboarding classes. grrrrr.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My Mummies

Happy Halloween from 4 mummies!!! This year I was thinking simple, cheap and reusable. So we went with the reusable long underwear look. Already had some face paint and tied them up with cheese cloth scraps. We went to our community group for a chili cook off and trick-or-treating in their neighborhood. We got a nice window where it wasn't pouring down rain, but I still opted to stay inside with the littlest mummy. And now we have a years supply of candy...or as Brendan says, "This should last us 2 whole weeks!!!"

 

 

Spooky

 

Pumpkin Patch 2012

October has flown by! I can't believe we are nearing the end of the month. The weather here has changed big time. Cold and rainy. On Saturday the rain parted and we decided to hit the pumpkin patch, kind of at the last minute, not sure when we would get another opportunity. We decided to go somewhere here in Olympia instead of our usual spot near Shelton. Closer. Easier. It was great fun. We drank cider, ate caramel corn, looked at animals, rode kid trains, picked out pumpkins and almost left in time to miss the torential down pour......almost. Instead we carried our big heavy pumpkins through the muddy, muddy parking lot and got absolutey soaked. It rained so hard it was comical. Like I said, it was almost perfect timing with that!
This was a big year. Brendan carved his own pumpkin! Like with knife!!! I was scared. He was not scared, and actually he was very safe and did a great job. ...growing up.

2011
a fun one in Phoenix

2009 
a fun one in Pennsylvania

tired annabel got to ride in the pack

So Much To Do!!

....and so little time, as the saying goes.

Since I started seriously planning to go into business with my Mom last May I have tried hard to keep up with my blogging. I obviously see great value in using my blog as my family's record/journal/memoir and I have kept it up over the last 5 and a half years pretty well with some slower times here and there. This is just one of those slower times! When to squeeze it in???

As things have progressed with my business, its time demand has grown exponentially. But since we have "publicly announced" our plans (via facebook) I thought I would document the process here as well....at least some.

In May, my mom and I decided we wanted to open a "Paint and Sip" studio. We had first heard of the idea a couple years ago when visiting my sister, Rachel, in Wichita. She had found one and attended several classes and it was so fun! The idea was brilliant as we had put on our own "art nights" over the years with our family and friends. Since researching for opening our own, I have found that they are downright popular and opening right and left all over the place. We are thrilled to be the first in Oly!
The idea is to sign up for a class via our website/calendar/online registration system (which is not ready to go yet!). Join us with your friends, date, etc. on the night you registered for and come prepared to have fun! We will have a wine bar with wine, beer and other non-alcoholic beverages for sale. At your seat you will have an easel with a blank 16X20 canvas, a jar of water, paint brushes and a palette. We will walk through the selected painting step-by-step until each person has completed their own! We will have light snacks and fun music and it will be a party. It is a perfect place for dates, girls nights out, private parties, kids birthdays....and the list goes on!

Last week, after a couple weeks of negotiating, we signed the lease on our space right in downtown Olympia. Olympia is pretty artsy and does fun things like First Friday and a couple Art Walks a year and we are so excited to be a part of it!

We have at least 4 weeks of projects to do before we can open our doors. The bathroom is getting remodeled, we are having a bar/registration counter built. We are painting the walls, building a stage, installing vinyl stickers to the back wall and front windows. We are hanging display bars, lights and other things from the walls. Not to mention PAINTING! We are coming up with all the classes ourselves and would welcome ideas on what YOU would want to paint!

I am still blogging! I know some of my long-distant family is looking for kid pictures often and I really do consider it a priority. So keep looking. Kid pictures coming soon! Until then. Here are some "before" pictures of the Studio.

Our Website: letspaintoly.com
Like us on facebook: facebook.com/letspaintoly

 

 

 

Kid Quotes::Vol. 49

when Brendan is trying to think or remember something...

Brendan: Hmmm. I'm looking through my brain.....through the memory part. I don't know where that is, but I'm looking through it.

Annabel::8 Months

Big month! Little miss Annabel got her 2 bottom teeth. Annnd she is on her feet constantly. She thinks she is oh so cool when she lets go with one hand and swings it back and forth showing off her mad balancing skills. She loves to eat "real" food. I mean LOVES it! She joins us at the table for dinner just like a big kid!

She is horrible at sleeping. That's all I'm going to say about that. "This too shall pass....."

2 new teeth!

 

 

 

Little sweetie-pie

 

 

getting some nice hair!