Halloween

Happy Halloween!

I am a bit late in posting this, but I haven't had a lot of free time lately.  Halloween this year wasn't what I expected since we had to cater to the needs of our crippled child.  However, it was fun and he enjoyed himself so I consider it a success.

Makayla was Elsa from Frozen, I was a chef with the cutest little lobster I could find for my pot (Carter boy!), Devin was a cowboy, and Daxton was Olaf, the snowman from Frozen.

Luckily, I hadn't made Daxton's costume when he broke his leg.  He was still set on being Olaf, so I had to make him a costume that would fit his circumstance.  It wasn't perfect, but it worked out just fine.  We had to put him in a wagon with pillows, and I just made a costume that just went over the top of him.

The kids had fun at the trunk-or-treat.  I think it brightened Daxton's mood quite a bit when he realized he was getting candy.

 Our car was decorated as Cookie Monster.

 Daxton got loaded up on extra treats from all the sweet people in our ward.

By the time we had soup inside Daxton wanted to go home and go to bed, and Carter had passed out.  We took the boys home and Devin stayed with them while I took Makayla out trick-or-treating.  She had a blast, but she did miss her best buddy.  There is always next year!

Five Weeks Down, One To Go!

I think it is safe to say that Devin and I have had more trials in the last year than the rest of our marriage combined.  The last five weeks have been no exception.  Daxton has tested my patience on a daily (sometimes an hourly) basis.  He gets frustrated that he can't move how he wants, or he is itchy, or he is tired and can't sleep well.  It has been hard as a mommy to watch him suffer, and it has been hard as a person to deal with him as he suffers.  However, I can see so many wonderful blessings through it all.  I am just amazed by how loved we are by friends, family, ward members, and a loving Father in Heaven.  Isn't it wonderful how trials can sometimes turn out to be blessings in disguise?

Five weeks has crawled by, but when I think I only have one more week of this I feel like we have done pretty well hanging on to our sanity.  One week.  Just one more week! Happiness.

 The first week Daxton woke up about every hour during the night crying because of pain, and some nights he didn't sleep at all.  It was awful.  He didn't sleep, which meant mommy didn't sleep. I really struggle without sleep, and no sleep mixed with hours of screaming was not fun. Once we got to the three week mark he started sleeping through the night again.

 Daxton loves when Devin gets home.  That is a time of day when I can plan on smiles and giggles.  He just melts into Devin.  I am so grateful to have a husband that is a good daddy.

So far Dax has had quite a few visitors, and has received lots of goodies and toys.  What a lucky little boy he is.  He seems to brighten up when someone stops by the see him.

 Daxton's cast stinks. Bad.  It stinks bad.  Poor little guy.  I have pulled out some of the stuffing from the inside of the cast because it got so gross.  I change his moleskin on a daily basis, and we change his diapers frequently, but he still smells bad.  One more week.  I think I can.  I have given him some baths with a warm wash rag, but he usually screams at me and asks for Grandma Sylvia to do it.  For some reason he likes it when she does it.  Oh well, at least he is getting a bath somehow.

This little fella is getting around the house quite well now.  He pulls himself around and scoots with his legs to get where he wants to be.  He tries to pull himself up on the furniture and does flips.  I cannot wait to hear the little patter of his feet running down the hall again.  

The other evening I was making dinner and he was wanting milk.  He eventually got sick of waiting for me, so he crawled in from the living room through the kitchen, got the fridge door open, and tried to climb up to get some milk.  I couldn't help but smile and just watch him try his best to be independent.

I am so grateful to only have one week left of this.  I sincerely hope this never happens to any of my children ever again.  It has been something I will never forget.

Broken Femur

October 18, 2014

My family decided to go camping this weekend.  We went up around North Fork Canyon at Camp Liberty.  The camping was ideal, because it wasn't hot outside, but we had a lodge to stay in so we didn't get cold at night.  There was a small playground for the kids that kept them busy for hours, and a big field that we played soccer and ultimate frisbee on.  The camping was just lovely--until Daxton decided to break his leg.

Sigh.  May I just quickly say that a broken leg in a two-year-old is the worst thing ever?  I was sitting in a chair feeding Carter as everyone was packing up getting ready to go home when Daxton walked up next to me.  His blanket was on the floor (which was like a shiny cement kind of flooring) when he stepped on it, twisted weird, and fell down.  Naturally, I told him to hop up.  After all, kids fall like that ten times a day without any issues.  I noticed when Dax tried to stand up he couldn't.  He tried two or three times, and then finally just sat on the floor crying.  When Devin came in the room I told him what had happened and that Dax wasn't standing.  Devin scooped him up and put him in the car to watch a movie while we finished packing up.  The next time I went to check on Dax in the car, he was asleep.  I figured he was fine.

As we were driving down the canyon, Daxton was crying a little, but nothing major.  When we got to the house and I pulled him out of his carseat he started to scream.  We went in the house and I took his pants off to see that his thigh was twice its normal size.  I put him straight back in the car and went to Instacare.  Devin got the other kids taken care of, and the joined me about 30 minutes later.  

When the doctor first came in, he didn't think the leg was broken according to the story I gave him about Dax just slipping on a blanket.  Luckily, he decided to do an x-ray.  By this point I had been holding Dax for a few hours, and my body was dying!  When the doctor came back in the room he pulled up the x-ray, and sure enough, Daxton's femur was broken.  His FEMUR!  The doctor left the room for a minute and then came back to say an ambulance was on its way to take us to Primary Children's Hospital.  The break was severe enough that they were worried about internal bleeding, and wanted us to get to the hospital as quickly as possible.  

Since the news hit Devin like a ton of bricks, he got lightheaded and had to lay down.  That automatically volunteered me to ride in the ambulance with my poor baby.  Gratefully, my parents live a few blocks from the Instacare, and Grandpa Randy was able to come help Devin give Daxton a blessing before we got in the ambulance.  I am so grateful for the Priesthood in situations like this.  I could just feel the power and love from above, and I am certain that is what helped us get through the rest of the day and weekend.

In the ambulance Daxton was given an IV and some oxygen tubes for breathing.  He was completely strapped down so he couldn't move.  I could tell he was scared, so I just held his hand the whole way and just keep telling him that it was going to be fine, and that Mommy wouldn't leave him.  I have never been so worried about one of my children.  It was not a fun feeling, and I hope to never have it again.

I got to Primary Children's about 3:00 or so, and Devin met me there shortly after.  About 7:30 in the evening Daxton was taken into surgery to have his bone set and have a spika cast placed on his leg.

 Waiting for surgery.

 Trying to get some rest.

 This is what I saw when I went in to see him right after he came out of anesthesia.  I choked back tears when I saw the cast.  I couldn't believe that slipping on a blanket could cause this.  My baby was in a body cast.

 I had to go home that night because Carter needed to be fed, so Devin spent the night with Dax.

 On Sunday afternoon we got to take him home.  It turned out to be a looooong weekend, but I am grateful that everything went well, and that Daxton was well cared for.

Black Island Farms

October 15, 2014

We went to Black Island Farms again this year.  As always, it was buckets of fun, and the kids loved every minute of it.  Each year we get to enjoy a tractor ride out to the farm to learn about the crops, and then we get to search a pumpkin patch for a pumpkin to take home.

I remember when I thought it was tricky to take just Makayla to places like this.  Now I have three of them.  Why, oh why, did I ever think one child was hard??

Looking over the edge of the trailer.  She just quietly enjoyed looking out over the farm.

 Daxton loves things like tractors, but from a distance.  He had been talking about the tractor all week, and seemed so excited.  When it came time to get on the trailer behind the tractor he took off running.  It took me a minute to get to him, because I had Carter strapped to my chest and was trying not to jiggle his poor brain as I ran.  For the first few minutes I had Carter strapped to my chest, and Daxton on my lap.  Poor Carter got sandwiched.  After a few minutes Dax calmed down and then he was fine the rest of the time.

 Checking out those crops.

 Waiting patiently for our tour guide to come cut her pumpkin off the vine.  

 This one took his sweet time picking out the perfect pumpkin.  He just kept wandering to look at each one. I finally had to point out the perfect pumpkin to him so we could go.

 Waiting for the donkey to come over.

Krispy Kreme Fieldtrip

October 9, 2014

We got the chance to visit Krispy Kreme Donuts with Makayla's preschool class. It was fun to let Daxton tag along. The kids got to look through a window to see the entire process of making donuts.  They got a kick out of watching all the machines move around.  They especially like the "icing waterfall". 

 After watching the donuts go through all the machines, they each got to taste a donut.  Makayla has asked me to take her back to the donut store sometime, but I have been putting it off.  I don't know about you, but it is nearly impossible for me to turn down a fresh donut! I try to steer clear of such establishments.