Happy Cast Off Day!

We took Ethan to get his cast off after 4 weeks of living with it. Several times he said he liked it and didn't want to take it off. But by the time the appointment came he was happy to get rid of it. We loaded him up with some Lortab before we left. He was a little scared of the saw at first. I'd be scared too! It was really loud and did appear that it was going to slice right through his little arm! He was happy to have the cast off...until he saw the pins hanging out of his arm. He looked up at me and said "Mommy!" in a sad little quivering voice. I lied and told him it would be ok and that the doctor would have them out in no time. First the doctor twisted them around a few times to loosen them from his bone. Then he took a pair of needle nose pliers and wiggled them out one by one. They didn't slide right out like I had imagined they would. Some of them took some force. He never fully cried. He just whimpered and choked back tears...while I choked back vomit. Ya, the NICU nurse almost tossed her cookies. The tech warned us that sometimes people pass out when having pins removed but I said, "Oh, I won't pass out. I'm a NICU nurse!" Then when that first pin started coming out of his arm I broke out into a cold sweat, got a knot in my stomach, and had to do some deep breathing. Of course I didn't tell anyone. I had to maintain my cool "I'm a NICU nurse" face. It didn't help that I was holding his arm and could feel grinding in his bone.

Anyway, he got two bandaids for some bleeding at the insertion site and then we were good to go. He was very quiet in the car and held his arm. We went straight to the store to buy him whatever he wanted! He picked out two "guys" as he calls them: Wolverine and The Thing (aka Rockman per Ethan). We went to my mom's to pick up Caleb and before we knew it he was playing with his guys with both arms but still guarding the broken one anytime Caleb came around. The doctor said he needs to be careful for the next 6 weeks because if he falls on that same spot it will most likely break again! It's the injury that keeps on giving!

He cast and pins. I found Caleb trying to put the cast on his foot like a boot.

I think they look like bent nails. The bent part is what was hanging out of his arm. I can't believe these were in my tiny baby's arm!!

All fixed up. I think those bandaids are going to have to fall off because he won't let us touch his arm.

I was suprised that it was still bruised after 4 weeks. But, it was black right before surgery so I guess it looks good. You can't tell in the picture but most of his arm is peeling and bumpy. Maybe a heat rash? I'm just glad the whole ordeal is almost over!

Halloween (Part 2)

I was very lucky to have someone work for me on Halloween this year so I was able to go trick-or-treating with the boys. We went to the Harvest Party at our church, came home and grabbed a quick bite, trick-or-treated around the neighborhood, then handed out candy. It was a busy day! I think we trick-or treated with half of our class from church. It was fun and a little stressful trying to keep up with my own kids! Mondo and I finally decided that I would watch Caleb and he would watch Ethan. It was mass chaos but made for some fun memories!

This picture would've been great but the lighting was messed up. I love Caleb's little monkey hands covering his mouth. Ethan only wore the mask and claws for pictures. I was sad because the claws were his favorite part of his costume but he didn't want to wear it over his cast.

I just thought this was funny.

Silly Caleb. His feet look ginormous in this picture!

This was an attempt at a cute outside picture...it wasn't happening.

All ready for the Harvest Party!

Caleb had fun on the little bouncy slide.

Ethan started out on the small bouncy slide just to see if he could do it. It was so sad to watch him climb up. He was putting his head on the ladder to balance himself and then pulling up with his left arm.

This was an attempt at a group picture on top of the little slide. I think they were a little too heavy. It kept sinking in the back and Caleb was falling over. It was pretty funny at the time.

He finally got brave enough to try the big slide (Mommy and Daddy finally caved). That's Tyler next to him.

These were only some of the trick-or-treaters we had! Left to right: Caleb, Maddie J., Maddie P., Caroline, Ethan, Tyler, Will, Maggie, Christian.

We had three super heros again this year.

Caleb was brave enough to take candy from a witch!

Look at Ethan's poor cold shoulder. I should've put a shirt on underneath his costume. See Caleb trying to eat his candy with the wrapper still on?

Showing me his loot.

This is a bad picture but can you see all of those people and strollers lining the street? They were ALL with us!

When we got inside the house, Caleb climbed back in the stroller and said he was going to Nana's!

Happy Halloween! (Part One)

I played the role of the nervous mom at the halloween party at Ethan's school. It was his first day back after breaking his arm and I was worried about him. We only stayed for the parade and "party" then I took him home. I think he could've made it all day though. They did a costume parade through all of the classrooms and got candy from the older kids. He got to see his cousin Morgan and get a hug and candy from her. Then they came back to the room for the party...which was juice and a cookie. They were all so cute in their costumes and I'm glad I was able to go...even though I was the only mom hanging around the classroom. It did make working weekends worth it when I was able to enjoy this fun time with him.

Working on their morning craft before the parade. Ethan chose not to participate.

All lined up and ready for the parade!

Ethan was chatting with his cowboy friend who I later found out was named Carson. I've heard him talk about him before but I'd never seen him.

It was a little bit of mass chaos wrangling all those 4 year olds through crowded classrooms.

All done with the parade. This is Ethan's class.

Saying the prayer before snack. Ethan had to show everyone that he could clasp his hands together even with a cast on. As the teacher was starting the prayer he said, "Hey Ms. Ross! Look, I can hold my hands together too!" It was so cute even if he interrupted the prayer. :-)

Whew, parading was a lot of work. Ethan, Will, and Caroline were pretty thirsty!