Happy New Year 2013

I haven't fallen off the planet, but haven't blogged since September.  It's not for lack of content, I have so much I need to get on the blog about the kids and the last few months.  In the process of thinking about my resolutions for 2013 I know I need to keep up on the blog better.  In essence, this is a scrapbook for my kids and we can't miss out this stuff.

My goal is to blog once a week.  I need to spend some time catching up on the past few months, and get in the present.  I am also working on my thesis to graduate in May with my Masters, so there will be a lot of computer time coming up. 
Happy New Year!!!

Grant's 2nd Birthday

I'm going to back up a bit.  On Saturday, June 16th we had a small birthday party for Grant's 2nd Birthday.  The next day is when he broke his femur.  The party was fun, it was a Cars theme and he had a great time.  He still randomly will talk about "Cars Birthday Party!"

 

He is the sweetest kid, so funny and my little cuddler.  He is talking really well and loves doing whatever Jenna is doing. 

Some things he loves: reading, dancing, eating, singing, playing cars, playing with balls, "scaring" us, watching Elmo, and wrestling with Daddy and Jenna.

 



Who would have thought he wouldn't be able to enjoy his new Cars scooter for two months after he got it!?

 

At his two year doctor appointment (after his cast was taken off) he weighted 25 pounds (he lost a pound or two during the ordeal) and was 34.5 inches tall.  He's in 80th percentile for height and only 25th percentile for weight.  I guess two pounds makes a big difference when you're only 34 inches tall.

 

We love you so much buddy!  You complete our family and we love seeing you become you!  You make me laugh every day and add more joy to our lives. It's so fun to see you and Jenna together, she is a great big sister and you are a great brother!  I hope you two continue to have a great relationship!

Love always,

Your Mama

Grant and the terrible horrible no good very bad day

*sorry the pictures are blurry, they are from my phone and I didn't transfer them over full size.

On June 17, Father's Day, we were enjoying a nice breakfast when everything changed in one second.  Jenna was still sitting at the kitchen table and I had just gotten Grant down from his seat.  He went behind Jenna and pulled back on her chair a bit.  She and the chair fell backwards right on Grant.  He started screaming right away and Erik scooped him right up.  He passed him off to me and Grant wasn't calming down like he usually does when I hold him.  He was flailing around and screaming harder.  While holding him I held him down towards the floor and we noticed his left leg limp looking.  Then right before our eyes we saw his left thigh swell to the size of a football.  We immediately got him in the car and went to ER.  Looking back we feel so bad that we moved him like we did and even put him in his carseat. 

This was taken about 30 minutes before he got hurt.  He was wearing his new Thomas underwear he got for his birthday over his diaper.  This is what he was wearing when we went to ER.

We got to ER and they got us back immediately.  Grant was sweating and screaming and I asked if he could have some pain meds, something was obviously wrong.  They said they needed to wait until after x-rays to see what was wrong since he might need an IV.  It was awful watching him in so much pain and not being able to help him.  I felt sick to my stomach.  They finally did the x-ray and got the results quickly.  The doctor called me out of Grant's room to show me the x-ray while Erik stayed with Grant.

He said he broke his femur, the largest and strongest bone in his body.
He said he may need surgery, this could be very bad with the veins and arteries in the thigh.
He said he needed to be transferred to a Children's Hospital immediately.
He said he wanted to air lift him, he needed to be seen by a Pediatric Orthopedic Surgeon.

The X-Ray of the broken femur

I felt dizzy and sick.  We were prepared for a broken bone, but didn't think it would be something that we needed to be transferred for.  Meanwhile, they were trying to get an IV in Grant for pain meds.  They tried both arms and hands and couldn't get it in.  Erik was with him most of this time while I cowardly watched from the hall.  It's heartbreaking to watch your child go through this.  I wanted to break my own leg right then and there and let him be okay.  Erik and I would GLADY take his place if we could.  They finally got the IV in his foot.

We were then told the Children's Hospital's weren't sending the helicopters due to bad storms.  They decided to send him via ambulance.  Erik sat on the hospital bed and held Grant the whole time on the ambulance ride to Helen DeVos Children's Hospital.  I went home to pack bags and make sure Jenna was okay with my parents before I drove there by myself.  That was a VERY LONG DRIVE!  Poor Jenna was so sad and worried.  She felt guilty even though it wasn't her fault.

We were admitted to the Children's ER and they gave him a much higher dose of pain meds which we were so thankful for.  The doctor came in and said a lot of stuff...basically I heard:

Erik was stuck in this position for many hours just to keep Grant somewhat comfortable.This was in the ER at the Children's Hospital

Doctor:  Bad break...due to his age we aren't going to do surgery...you were lucky the break didn't puncture his skin...we'll do what's called a hip spica cast...we put him under full anesthetic to do it...we'll move you up to pre-surgery soon.

Me: So, will he be okay?  Can you spell the name of that cast for me?  I want to google it. 

There had already been many tears by all of that morning so when I googled "hip spica cast" I just started crying.  I remember thinking, are you serious?  He is not even two years old, he won't be able to move, he will be stuck and miserable, it's summer and hot out, how will we do this, I don't think I'll be at work for a while.  There were so many thoughts going through our heads.  While we waited to be moved we were visited by great team members, a case manager who was taking care of us, offering us sandwiches and something to drink, an ipad to email family, anything.  We were just trying to keep Grant comfortable enough and stay quiet if he was quiet. 

We had to wait a while for his turn in surgery since there was only one Orthopedic surgeon there and they had a couple emergencies come in, much worse than Grant.  They did a good job at keeping him someone comfortable with meds until it was his turn.  They took him back, asked us what color we wanted to cast (Erik picked red since Elmo and Lightening McQueen are both red) and we were sent to the waiting room. 

This is what we saw when we were called back to see him and he was waking up.  It was so sad.

Grant and his red hip spica cast, my heart was breaking

The next day in the hospital the Physical Therapists showed us how to position him on his stomach

 Much more of the story to come...

Mother's Day 2012

I had a nice Mother's Day! We are so lucky to have a lot of Mothers in our lives, and wish we could have seen them all. I was enjoying too much and didn't get many pictures of the weekend, so here are some from our phones. I'm so lucky to have two wonderful kids who make me a mother. 

Grant and his "cousin" Miles.  Grant loves babies and was excited to "hold it."



Sorry this is so blurry, my grandparents and their three great grandchildren (with one more soon to be in picutres in Sept!).  The kids are so lucky to know their GG's!

Our only family picture we got on Mothers Day weekend, towards the end of the day after we went out for ice cream.

The kids with Grandma and Grandpa S.  Glad we got a good picture of them all. 

Grant not paying attention as usual.

My gifts from Jenna.  A cute poem about "If you give a Mom a muffin" and homemade muffins, along with a handprint and picture poem.  I LOVE handmade gifts!

Grant's gifts to me.  A handprint plant with a cute Mom poem, and a art project to hang.

Jenna, Grant, and Miles, all smiling and looking at the camera, it's a miracle!

Happy 5th Birthday Jenna!!

Jenna was so lucky to be able to celebrate her birthday so many times!  She had a celebration at preschool, a party with friends at the bowling alley, and multiple parties with all of our families who did a great job to make sure we celebrtated her birthday seperate for our Christmas celebrations.

Jenna and Wyatt at their Bowling Alley Birthday party!!  Pizza, cupcakes, cookies, and bowling with 18 five year olds is an exhausting day, in case you were wondering!

Yummy!!

The Birthday Princess

Jenna and Grant standing by Jenna's birthday cupcakes!

"I'm five!!"

We were happy GG and GG could come celebrate with us!

December 19, 2011 - our family!

Wish and dream big sweetie!

Catch up - Marco Island

Our November vacation to Marco Island, Fl was great!  We had a lot of fun and can't wait for future vacations as the kids get older.  We had a few firsts:
Grant's first airplane ride
Jenna's first jet ski experience
Jenna and Grant got to feed a giraffe
Grant's first steps in the ocean
Our first vacation as a family of four!

Our last night - on the condo balcony



Erik, Jenna, and Grant on the boat at the zoo.  The Monkey's were fun to watch

Jenna feeding the giraffe

Grant was not too impressed, and the giraffe was not being too patient

Me and Grant on the boat ride at the Naples Zoo

Catch Up - Fall 2011

I am so far behind in my blogging, which does not feel too far off base from how I feel day to day.   We've had a great fall and start to winter.  Here is just a brief review of the Halloween season.  Jenna was so excited for Halloween this year and it was quite a decision on what she was going to dress up as. 

Jenna begged to carve the pumpkins, she was just as excited to bake and eat the seeds too. 

Grant and I at Papa's Pumpkin Patch.  He loved running around and doing all the kid activities, but I think his favorite was eating a donut and drinking cider...typical Grant!

Jenna's finished product, which was displayed proudly on our front porch.

Happy Halloween 2011 - Jenna was Bat Girl and Grant was a Bat. 

Jenna loved Trick-or-Treating this year, but she liked handing out candy at our house even more.  She cried when 8:00 came it was over.  Grant made it for about 30 minutes then he was cold and tired.  I can't imagine how weird Halloween is for a 16 month old. 

Happy New Year! Welcome 2012!

Happy New Year!  We've had a good year in our household, but are hoping for an even better 2012.  As always, we've been busy and hectic, and I haven't blogged much at all.  There are a lot of pictures and posts I need to work on.  That's one of my goals (not resolutions) for the year.  I know I can't blog every day like some, but I will make a true effort to do it more.

In the meantime, we are packing up and moving!  Don't ask me where because we don't know yet.  We wanted/needed more space, so we put our house up in mid December thinking it would take months to sell.  Our house sold after 3 days on the market!!  So, we are scrambling to pack, organize, transport my HUGE garage sale pile, and find a place to live all by the week of January 23.  Oh, and all of this inbetween the kids, working, taking graduate classes, and sleeping...
to be continued...

Cousins

Jenna and Grant are finally cousins to sweet baby Anabel Rose (Annie). Jenna is so excited to finally have and be a cousin, although a little disappointed Annie won't be living with us. We finally got to meet Annie and be there for her baptism. Jenna was in love with Annie and got to hold her, Grant...well, he was more excited about the little dogs to play with.

Jenna and Anabel! She is so tiny and sweet!

This one turned out really blurry for some reason, and you can see Grant trying to escape, but there are all three kids, cousins, grand kids on Erik's side!

Lucky!

When I look at this family picture courtesy of MP Photography I think one word...LUCKY! I have a great husband, two beautiful healthy kids, and they make me laugh everyday!

Happy Easter

Easter has come and gone, and left us with too much chocolate, a sick baby, and a few cute pictures.


Jenna and "GG" decorating a few cookies, Jenna's sprinkles were about an inch thick on each cookie.


We remembered to take a family picture!


The poor bunny no longer has a head, and only half a foot.


She found her basket...behind the chair, behind the curtain.


Grant wasn't too sure what was going on...


Jenna loved decorating eggs


It's quite the process!

Great Wolf Lodge Getaway

We decided to do an overnight trip to Great Wolf Lodge Indoor Waterpark. Jenna has only been asking to go for months...every single weekend...every time we ask her what she wants to do. She was so excited when we told her where we were headed.

We were a little nervous with how Grant would do, but he did great! He's such a little trooper. He enjoyed the water and all the noise and people to watch.


Jenna with her Wolf Ears and her magic wand.


Out of all my attempts, the ONLY good picture of Jenna and Grant together.



Don't ask me what this pose is...



This water thing is fun!

This is apparently her supermodel walk

I brought my camera and managed to get a few cute pictures. I wanted to take more and also hoped to get a family picture, but that didn't happen.

While it was a fun trip there was not one moment of relaxing for me and Erik, couple that with a bad nights sleep and we were so excited to be home sleeping in our bed the next night.