Brendan Update: 4

Today was our follow-up appointment for Brendan at duPont Children's Hospital in Delaware. If you don't know the whole story, you can catch up by reading here, here, here, and finally here.
It's been 8 weeks or so since our last visit and if you remember we got some good news last time. His x-rays showed new growth in the bone. After 8 weeks we were very anxious to see what was going on in there. Since November Brendan has been on restricted activity. No running or jumping....at all. The running thing was near impossible, but anyway, we've been hoping our efforts were paying off.
We all went today and got held up in finance for an hour. Bleh! Insurance irks me like no other! I took the camera and have a plethora of pictures of the children making silly faces while we waited and waited and waited for insurance stuff to clear up. Finally it did. Brendan had 2 x-rays taken and then we went back to the office for the feedback.
Dr. B came in beaming and said...and I quote, "The bone is filling in beautifully!" He was so pleased and so were we! This is GREAT news! He checked Brendan's range of motion, watched him walk down the hall and showed us the x-rays. Amazing!!!! He showed us the progression and what's happening and where the blood vessels are and all that new bone! Aren't our bodies fearfully and wonderfully made?! I just can't believe it can repair like it has. For now Brendan has the green light to run!!! If he hurts or limps worse after running then we have to back off a bit. He said the bone is still pretty soft. No jumping still, but Dr. B said probably 3 more months and he can do whatever he wants!!! This couldn't be better timing with the weather and spring and outdoor activities on the way.
We will go back in 4 months for another follow-up and they will continue to watch his growth in that leg. The damage was extensive enough that there has been some growth plate damage, but he thinks there is enough good growth plate left that it shouldn't be a problem. We learned some other interesting things about Perthes Disease too. He said that kids usually stop growing while the first few stages are happening....until the re-ossification starts again...which is what is happening right now. He said if you look at their hands, their hands will be about a year or two behind, but for some reason their teeth aren't. Weird. Dr. B thinks that Brendan will have a significant growth spurt soon and totally catch back up to where he would have been otherwise. He says a lot of this disease is a mystery. There have been 900 cases of Perthes that have come through that hospital since 1939. He has reviewed and studied all of them and still there is so much unknown.
We are happy and excited and so thankful for the good news we got today. Brendan is happy too. No more, "Stop running! Your leg!!!!" He kept saying on the way home, "So this time I earned 'running'. And next time I'll get to earn, 'jumping'." He's pretty darn happy about that!
Can't leave you without the plethora of silly face pictures!

At the Zoo

We joined the zoo. It costs about as much to go twice as it does to join, so obviously we joined. :) This little zoo is real close to our house so I imagine many trips in the Spring weeks to come! It was practically deserted yesterday, which was great, but all the animals were napping in the afternoon sun...except the prairie dogs. They were by far my favorite of the day. We got to them and the pack leader stood up on the highest rock and started yelling at all his friends. (I'm sure he was talking about us.) Following suit, all the other prairie dogs stood up and took a good look at us. It was pretty funny. All the other animals, however, couldn't have cared less about us. Oh well. It was a lovely 65 degree sunny day and our lazy stroll through the zoo was great.

Springy Signs

I know it appears that I'm obsessed about the weather right now. And well,....perhaps I am. Today was not that warm. BUT, it was warm enough. All day we counted signs of spring. Brendan is into it just as much as me. It's great.
Here's a few from today.

Sweet Peas...in the ground


Garden tools, out of the basement


Garden surprises popping up


Hummingbird feeder ready to be hung up


Baseball, all day, across the street


Robin Redbreast....everywhere!

Still Indoors

You guys are going to think I am so boring....or maybe bored. You already know how ready I am for warmer weather. On top of that, I have had zero crafty inspiration since Christmas! (gasp!) I can feel it brewing though....a couple sewing projects I'm feeling anxious to start. I just need to go fabric shopping...that's what really gets me inspired. Anyway, I've been so pathetic I did a 1000 piece puzzle. There it is. Finished....just for the sake of finishing it. That sky part was horrible and Rand almost strangled me while he listened to me huff and puff about how stupid this puzzle was right at the end! :)




Here are the boys...earning their computer time. Brendan has to read 3 books outloud and Wyatt has to listen!


That's it. That's all I got today.

A Windy Day

(I think Brendan looks so big in this picture!)




(one of the boys lost their kite and this is how far away I had to run to get it! See those two little dots in the picture on the left? Yeah, those are the boys....watching me chase their kite!)


(Not sure what these faces are about!)

Careful: Ice is Slippery

So this last winter storm was a doozy. It didn't affect my life a whole lot since I chose to not leave the house for most of it....which isn't all that weird, but we did get a good amount of snow and ice and very chilly weather. Despite our inner-craziness of really wanting to do spring time activities, this dose of winter was still fun. The snow here is really different from the PNW. I think it's just because it is colder. We get amazing icicles here! It's really awesome. You wouldn't even think icicles could form because it is so cold. Like, where'd the water come from that was dripping and froze?
We are so lucky to be renters right now. We have a large paved driveway with a large paved area in the back. It all gets plowed for us which is so awesome! Monday when it was really snowing it got completely plowed twice. Obviously they can't plow where our cars are parked so we shovel just a bit, but check this out. See the picture below? On Tuesday we left the house for a bit, and you can see, under our car looked like an ice rink! There was snow around the car, but under the car was just ice. It looks like water, but it isn't. It's frozen....believe me. I opened my car door, took a step toward the car and was on my back in a fraction of a second. I'm not kidding. It was so fast! :) I wasn't injured, except my shin that nailed my running board. Oh, if only someone would have seen it or had a camera or something. I'm sure I could have won millions on AFV. Ok. I felt silly. I warned Rand, said it was super slick. He came to the car and did the exact same thing! I about peed my pants laughing. Fortunately, he had been warned and managed to save himself from hitting the ground. Lucky! I have a bruise on my rear.
Well, it warmed up and the massive amount of snow we got is just about gone. The boys and I had on t-shirts and our gloves yesterday and managed to make a snowman out of the melting snow. You have to wait until the snow starts melting to make a snowman around here. Nice and wet...just like I'm used to!
Any bets on one more snowstorm before spring?

Uncle Bubba

For those who read my blog...and especially my comments, you know about Uncle Bubba. Uncle Bubba is my sister's husband (he prefers us not to use his real name on my blog :) ). For some reason, unknown to me, he decided to only make comments about fishing on every single post. It's rather humorous and I'm sure he thinks he is so clever. :) He does love fishing and especially misses it now that he has moved from the PNW to Kansas of all places! However, I think the fishing comments are just for my blog. I don't know why?
Uncle Bubba got his name when Brendan was just a little guy. "Uncle Bubba" (known by his real name back then, thought he would call Brendan "little Bubba" when Brendan was maybe 1 or 2. The name backfired and Brendan only referred to him as Bubba from then on. The name has stuck and is totally fitting, if you ask me. It's funny how these nicknames stick. My sister Joanna is called Jojee and I frequently call her that as if it was her real name. "Hi Jojee!" Same with Roy...er...I mean Uncle Bubba....except I just call him Bubba. "Hey Rach, what's Bubba up to?" Kids add so much joy to life!
This one's for you Uncle Bubba, from the little Bubba who started this whole thing~



an explanation from Brendan:
'There's my Bubba right behind me. And he's thinking if I could catch a fish. I am waiting for a fish to get caught. Finally I caught a fish! Those 3 circles are the same rock falling and when it hit the water, the water splashed!"

In Like A Lion--Snow Storm

Well, this is what we've been waiting for. Of course we get it when we're ready for warm weather, but whatever, we'll take what we can get! We prepared all day yesterday for the "big storm" and waited and waited. Brendan could hardly handle it he was so excited. We watched out the window for hours, but the snow didn't start until after they were in bed. 6am this morning the 2 bouncing, screaming snow monkies ran furiously around the house begging to go out. We finally did, but the conditions out there are pretty harsh. The wind is blowing, the snow is still going everywhere and we just don't have nearly enough gear for this kind of weather! But still! Sledding did ensue! Wyatt didn't last nearly as long as usual, and neither did I.
It was the same hill, same sleds, same jackets, same white snow. But much deeper. The new fun we had was throwing our little dog into the deep parts of the snow drifts and watching her disappear. :) Seriously. We did it like 6 times.

Let me explain a little something about our dog. She's basically a mut. A ridiculous mix of chiuaua, boston terrier and apparently dachsund (but I don't see it). Anyway, she hates being cold....at least in the house and is always burying herself in blankets or random sweatshirts that might be laying around. When we lived in Arizona she would be the one laying in the sun in the afternoon, right on the cement, soaking up the 115 degree warmth. I figured she was part Mexican, so it made sense (as in, it's in her blood to be used to the heat....no offense). The weird thing about Sammy is that she LOVES snow. She always has. You can't make a snowman around her because she will go nuts trying to destroy any size of snowball she sees. It's hilarious. She has knocked Wyatt over trying to get a snowball out of his hand...and she's little.

Remember this one? That's Sammy going for snow kicked by Rand's foot. I know it looks like Rand kicked her to death, but really she was just going after snow, flying from Rand's foot.

So, today was no exception. This snow was pretty deep in places, but I'm pretty sure she had the most fun.


See, these two look like they're working pretty hard out there!

<--- She's in there somewhere! You can see her if you look real close. :)

No Where In Sight

You know how I've been "gently" complaining about the weather and my souls' desire for the warmth and color of spring? This morning we woke up to snow falling. I was surprised, I must say, because, one, I don't watch the news so unless I'm on top of checking my weather online, I may not know what's coming. And two, it was just 60 degrees 2 days ago and we were outside, riding bikes with just long sleeve t-shirts on AND that very day I checked my weather online and didn't see snow in the future! Turns out we are having a full on winter storm and should expect 8 to 14 inches by tomorrow afternoon. Alright. Switching gears. Let it snow!

Pictures to follow as soon as sledding ensues!