Broken Bones

The past six-and-a-half weeks have been very interesting, to say the least. On October 26th, my sister and I decided to go walking around the community that morning. I left the kids at home because with Craig's job(driving bus for the local school district), he is home between 9am and 1pm. So I figured it would be nice to go without the kids. Craig suggested to take one of them, but I just wanted to leave them both. He didn't push it, so I left a few minutes later.

About five minutes upon returning home, Craig called my phone. My sister and I were talking and I was almost home, so I didn't answer it. Then he called again. I answered it and the first words out of Craig's mouth were, "You're not going to like this." Then he said that Caleb hurt his arm really bad. He had fallen off the arm of our couch. I didn't panic too much then, because that is not a far fall.

I got home to see Caleb just sitting on Craig's lap holding his arm. It was so pitiful. There was no bruising and very minimal swelling, so I wasn't sure if it was broken or not. I was really hoping it wasn't because we don't have health insurance. So we decided to watch it for a few hours to see if he starts using it again. This was around 10:30am. By lunch time, it wasn't any better, so I decided to make an appointment at the pediatrician. But of course they were on lunch, so I had to wait until 1:30 ( I think) to call again. We were able to get an appointment ASAP, so left as soon as I hung up.

The doctor looked at it and was 90% sure it was broken, so he put a hard splint and a sling on and sent us to an imaging place for an x-ray. And also a referral to a pediatric orthopedic doctor. The x-ray confirmed the break, but it was worse than we thought it would be with both bones broken (it was his left arm). And one bone (I think the radius) was completely snapped and offset 2mm. The other one was broken, but not all the way through.



We got in to see the orthopedic doctor on Halloween to get his cast on. It was a pretty easy appointment. Caleb cried and screamed at first, but when the doctor and PA were actually putting the cast on, he was a perfect angel. The cast had to be on for 4-5 weeks so we set the appointment at 4.5 weeks away. The doctor gave us instructions about what he couldn't do. And he also excused Caleb from gym class for six weeks! ;-D


The 4.5 weeks passed by pretty quickly. It was a pain bathing and dressing him, but it wasn't too bad. 3 or so weeks in, he started to try to use his broken arm as if he didn't have a cast and sling on. By about 4 weeks, we couldn't even keep the sling on him. He was using his arm so much that the sling kept riding up even being safety pinned.

On December 1st, he finally got his cast off! He was perfect the whole time with not even one whine or tear. The PA put little sound reducing headphones on him (so cute!) and started the saw. We got to keep the cast and the first thing I did was throw away the cloth sleeve that touched his skin. It was very crusty where it touched the palm of his hand. Gross. And he had gross dead and dry skin flakes all up and down his arm. Thankfully that went away after a couple days. He had to wear a wrist brace for a week just when he played for extra support.






Now he is totally cast and brace free and back to normal! One thing that I noticed was that while he had his cast one, he became more aggressive. He was very frustrated not being able to do things normally. And unfortunately, he started biting when he got mad or frustrated. Ella and his poor cousin June (who is three weeks younger than him) got the brunt of it. And a couple nursery kids. How embarrassing! But, since he's had the cast off, there hasn't been any biting incidences. I had also started putting him in time out even if he just attempted to bite, so I think that plus having the cast off is helping him stop. Knock on wood... I have also noticed he is much happier these days. I finally got my sweet and happy little boy back!

And here he is all healed up! He's not so happy in this picture, but he wanted to get down.

Happy Halloween!

Yes, this is almost 2 months late, but better late than never, right?

This Halloween was a little different since Craig had to work at Papa John's (which, by the way, he works for Barro's now! Yay!). I carved the pumpkin with the kids, and got them dressed in their costumes all by my self. It was really weird carving the pumpkin alone(besides the kids).




Since I didn't want to take them out trick-or-treating alone, we decided to go over to my sister's house. She lives only a few streets away, so it was nice. My mom also decided to join the impromptu party and go trick-or-treating with us. As I pulled up to her house, Craig called and said he was getting off work early! Yay! So he met us and was able to go with us. Afterwards, we hung out at my sister's house for a bit.

In September, I decided that I was going to make Ella her costume. She wanted to be Cinderella and loves to play dress-up, so I figured if I made her costume, it would be better quality and last longer so she can use it after Halloween. Besides, I also wanted to brush up on my sewing skills. And because I'm not very good and have only made a handful of things, I gave myself a month to get it done. So, we went to the fabric store to buy the pattern and fabric for a Belle dress. Yes, Belle. She changed her mind. Well, Ella changed her mind about five more times in the store before we got the fabric cut. First it was Belle, then Cinderella again, then back to Belle, then Snow White, then Cinderella again before settling on Belle. And that's what she got. And she was very happy. Actually, giddy is a better word.


For Caleb, we were just going to buy something, but I couldn't bear the thought of buying a cheap quality costume for $13. So, we bought a white sheet for $5 and made a ghost costume for him. We don't have that costume anymore because two days later, we needed to use it to clean up puke. We were on our way home from going out to eat for Craig's birthday when Caleb threw up. In the car. I didn't feel like washing it, so in the trash can it went.

Music & Dancing

My kids love music. And they also love to dance. They usually start dancing whenever they hear music. In fact, a couple weeks ago when we drove to California for my nephew's baptism, we discovered that to keep Caleb happy during the long ride, music needed to be playing. It was so funny watching him rock out in his carseat!

I love that they both love music. Growing up (jr. high through college), music was my life. I feel music is so important to be involved in. Before I had kids, I knew I was going to get my kids into music, no questions asked. And I still feel that way. It's that important to me.

Anyway, that is not the point of this post! So, one of Ella's favorite shows is Angelina Ballerina. I think it is a cute show (and much less obnoxious than Caillou, which I ended up banning in this house because Ella was starting to becoming whiny like him). And she has learned a lot from it! Mostly dance moves, of course! She even knows what a pirouette is and will perform one if asked.

Caleb is around when she watches this show and he sees her doing her dancing, so he has even started picking up some moves (well, one move). He also has this drum that plays a few songs from The Wiggles that he has claimed. This is what happens when he plays it!



And here is Ella joining in on the action! Watch for her pirouette! And please excuse how they are dressed (or not dressed).

Hairy Situation

This morning, little miss Ella almost gave me a heart attack. I was combing out her hair to fix it. As I was doing this, I noticed that a little more than normal hair was coming out. I thought, "Okay, well I guess we need to start having her take vitamins." And then more and more and more hair kept coming out! I was in shock. I had Craig look at it and he was shocked also. I told him to Google 'hair loss in children', which was not a good idea. I know better than that. I was certain she had a disease.

So I finished combing out her hair. With lots still coming out. This is how much hair I combed out.



Her hair wasn't coming out in patches because she didn't have any bald spots. I examined her hair some more and a the top, I saw a bunch of short hairs. I said, "Oh, good. it's growing back in. But I don't remember any excessive hair loss recently." I guess here is where I earn the Mother of the Year Award and admit that I hadn't combed or fixed her hair in a couple days. Oops! It was still in pigtails, but was a matted and tangled up mess. I thought that her hair was growing in really fast.

Then a minute later, Ella pipes up and saying something about a haircut. Now, I trimmed her hair a little bit last week so I thought she was talking about that since I was messing with her hair. Then I stopped and asked her what she said. She repeated it and it came to me what happened.

Earlier, she and Caleb were playing in his room. I was downstairs, but could hear them. They're good kids and there's not anything in his room that is dangerous. I went up to check on them and saw they had trashed his room. I started picking stuff up and I saw Ella had some scissors that came with their nail clippers. I took them from her and put them away, and thought nothing more of it. They couldn't do any harm, they aren't sharp enough.

Thankfully, Ella admitted to me that she cut her hair. It would not have crossed my mind that she cut it. We have all scissors put up out of her reach (or so I thought) to prevent this from happening. She has never taken them and cut anything (except that one time she cut her dress, but it was kind of my fault. I was taking them from her so she closed them to give back and her dress happened to be in the way), but I know how little kids can be with scissors. Heck, I chopped my hair off when I was her age.

Anyway, I looked closer, and realized that the short hairs was where she cut it. I wondered what in the world she did with the pieces she cut off. Then I remembered her matted mess. Of course there weren't any pieces anywhere. They were still on her head!

I talked with her about how NOBODY is to cut her hair except me or Craig or hair dressers. Hopefully she understands.

Here is what her hair looks like now. Thankfully she didn't cut off more. It's not too noticeable.





It's actually worse than these pictures show. There are a lot more little pieces that I couldn't get to stand up.

Four Years of Bliss

On July 12, 2007, Craig and I married each other for eternity in the Mesa, AZ Temple. It was one of the best days of my life (along with the birth of our children). He is my best friend and I am very proud and happy he is my eternal companion.

When we were dating, we would kind of joke around (also being half serious) that we were meant for each other. We would say this if we discovered something we had in common or there was something we agreed about. But looking back, I can say we were meant for each other in all seriousness, that we are truly meant for each other. Certain things happened in our lives that brought us together. And I strongly believe that if just one of those things did not occur, we would not have found each other.

I am so thankful my family moved out to Queen Creek back in 2002, just a week after I graduated high school. Yeah, I lost my high school friends, but I later found my best friend and eternal companion.

I am so thankful that stubborn me resisted going to the singles' ward out here for two years. It was a pretty lonely time, but all worth it in the end.

I am so thankful that Craig did not marry any girlfriends he had in the five or so years after his mission. Even though he felt a lot of pressure to get married.

And I am also grateful for his previous marriage. Without it, he would have stayed living in Gilbert and not eventually end up in the singles' ward out here in which we met.

These are just the biggest things, but there are many more. It's very amazing.

I am so excited I get to grow old with Craig, raise our family with him, and especially be with him throughout all eternity.






By the way, I just saw this is my 100th post! Yay!

Happy Birthday, Ella!

Too excited to get her picture taken

Yesterday, Ella turned three years old! This year was so fun, because she's old enough to get excited about it. Starting about three days before, she kept going around saying how excited she was for her birthday. And on her birthday, she was basically giddy the whole day. It was so cute.

This year, we did a princess theme. This girl loves princesses and all things girly (thankfully, she loves other things too). But, recently, she has developed a love for the movie Ponyo. It's really cute. She has watched this movie so many times(on the nights Craig does his pizza delivery job), and went on for about two months. It's been a few weeks since she's watched it. She knows the movie so well, she quotes it and eve acts it out. So cute! Anyway, I had a hard time deciding which theme to go with. Princess or Ponyo? I asked what she wanted and she chose princess. It turned out perfectly because I later realized I couldn't make a Ponyo cake.

This year, I actually didn't put things off until the day before. Go me! I got started planning the cake about a week before. I found a cake I wanted to copy, and even had enough time to borrow cakes decorating stuff from my mom. All I have are rectangular cake pans, but this cake is round. And I decided to make and use fondant instead of frosting. I'm no cake decorator, but I am pleased with how the cake turned out. And more importantly, Ella loved it!

Please excuse the crooked border on top

We spent a lot of the day getting ready for her party that evening, but Ella was able to get in some swim time that she asked for. She also asked to eat her cake all day. Silly girl.

The time finally came for her party and she got even more excited! My parents were only ones that could come, but we still had a good time. It was so cute seeing Ella react to her presents. She unwrapped each present slowly, and when she saw what they were, she gave a little gasp like it was the best gift ever!










We have been talking up about her being a big girl since she is turning three. It has been working well. In fact, she was finally able to give up her pacifier by herself yesterday. She hasn't been using it since she was almost two except during naptime and bedtime. By the way, whoever said that if you cut a hole in the pacifier it will make the kid not like it anymore, and therefore not use it, was wrong. Ella chewed three holes in hers and still coveted it. But, then again, Ella didn't suck on hers. Just either held it in her mouth or her hand.

Because Ella is now a big girl, Craig and I decided to plan a big surprise for her that we knew she would love. We just didn't know she would love it as much as she did! She got a big girl bed. She's been in a toddler bed, but we decided to get her in a twin. Plus, we inherited a bed that Craig used, and passed through his family (I think only a nephew used it, but not sure). We spiffed it up by spraying a fresh coat of paint on it, and it almost looks brand new. I found a really cute bedding set on sale at Target and wrapped it up for Ella to open. After she did that, we took a trip to the garage, and when she saw that bed,her expression was just priceless. She put her hands on her cheeks and gasped with joy! Then she proceeded to get on it and jump. I sure wish I was able to get her reaction, but I think it's something that will be engrained in my head the rest of my life.






Ella is such a wonderful little "big" girl. She is very stubborn, but that can be good as she grows up in this scary world. Despite her stubbornness, she is such a joy. Always happy, and she really doesn't have many tantrums. And she is a very good and loving big sister. She love Caleb so much. She plays with him, shares with him, and loves to hug and kiss him. They still fight, and she's been experimenting with pushing,(which we are working on) but those times are atually rare. We love her so much and it's sad, but so exciting that she's growing up and becoming her own person.

Fun in the Sun

Well, I guess it's more of fun in partial sun on the back porch. But anyway, today Ella and Caleb had their first swim of the season. It's taken us a while to get them a little pool, but today we finally did it. It was just a cheap $8.00 pool, but the kids don't know the difference. Ella was so excited, she held on to it throughout the store while we finished our shopping trip.

We got home too late for them to play in it before lunch and their naps, so we waited until after nap time to get it out and let them play in it. Ella woke up and immediately asked to go in the pool. So I put Caleb in a swim diaper and Ella in her swimming suit (by the way, it is so much nicer to not have to put a swim diaper on Ella too), and we headed out back to set up the pool.

Caleb wasn't too keen on being in the pool, but he had lots of fun splashing and playing form the outside. It's funny, because he loves baths, but he hates swimming! It must be the water temperature.

And of course, Ella had a blast. She played for over an hour until we needed to come in to start dinner. She was not happy. But she went along with it when I asked her to help me dump the water out. And played her favorite song on my phone while we did it. The best part was that there wasn't any crying involved! Then she demanded a cookie, which she got after dinner. Silly girl!

Here are some pictures of the fun.