Friday, July 29, 2011

Toddler's Fracture = Cuddle Time

If this is what happens at 16 months, oh Lord, what am I in for! lol.

A week ago tomorrow my baby boy suffered what is known as a Toddler's Fracture. What is that exactly? Well, it's a fracture of the tibia in toddler's ages 9 months to 3 years. It's most commonly in the area around the shin bone and is the result of a low-energy trauma. This is precisely what happened a week ago. Sawyer was at a BBQ with daddy and sister and I happened to be working a tanning party at the time. My husband texted me when my baby tripped and fell while chasing his sister in the kitchen and wouldn't stop crying for 40 minutes. Instantly I knew something was off. I told him I was coming home, so I packed up my party and headed out before finishing a couple girls' tans. They were mommies themselves, and totally understood my circumstances. I was more fearful because I have come to find that my boy is quite tough. Maybe all parents say that, I'm not entirely sure. lol. But I do know that I've seen him have some awful spills and usually the tears are gone within a moment or two. 40 minutes... now that was different.

By the time I got home my husband was now realizing Sawyer was refusing to walk or crawl or even stand. I stood him up and he picked up his left leg and wouldn't bare any weight on it. It was incredibly sad and this confirmed in my mind that there was more of an injury than we were hoping for. We put him to bed with some motrin and his favorite doggy blankie and when he woke up crying in the morning and couldn't even stand in his crib I was on my phone figuring out what was the best urgent care to get him into and we were off.

We got to the urgent care and were seen very quickly. The doctor felt his leg, which I must add was not swollen whatsoever. To the eye his leg looked completely normal, it was his reaction that diagnosed his injury and the doc whisked us away to the x-ray tech. Oh my..what a process that was..let me tell you it is not a fun task to hold your screaming baby down with every bit of your strength while they snap a few shots. I was praying the shots came out okay, because that was not mine or Sawyer's idea of a good time. Thankfully they did. Grandma and grandpa met me there while daddy stayed home with sister. Grandpa was snapping pictures (we had to document it!) and grandma brought crackers and a couple toy trucks for the tiny patient. The results of the x-rays were in quick and a fracture of his left tibia was the explanation. I couldn't believe it. I wanted to cry watching the nurse splint his tiny leg. He clung to me like never before and wouldn't even let anyone else hold him for even a minute. Seeing that little face look into mine for comfort is such an amazing feeling, I must say. The staff sent us on our way and told us we needed to see an orthopedic specialist to cast him and determine length of recovery, etc. Our appointment is on Monday and we will be heading to Children's Hospital for the procedure.

So...it has been quite an adjustment this past week. My poor little man went from running everywhere to not being able to walk, crawl or even stand! It's pretty tough explaining to a 16 month old why they are now immobile and that you honestly don't know how long they are going to be immobile for. Times of frustration have set in which I completely understand. I feel so helpless at times and right now my only goal is to keep him entertained and comfortable. I must say though, he is being quite the trooper.


The best part about my having a little crippled patient for the time being is all the cuddle time... I'm really loving it. We will play in the morning and then before nap we just flop together. It's crazy to see my little boy sit still. I haven't seen him sit still since he started crawling at 8 months. I'm sure many of you mothers can understand what I mean. I've taught him more words and have noticed more of the little things that maybe sometimes I miss when I'm juggling other things around the house as well. His big sister has been amazingly supportive and helpful, and to be honest, I think she is kind of enjoying the break from him stealing her toys... yet I know at the same time she is anxious for her "brother boy" to be all better. ☺

My new obsession. :)
I'm waiting to see how long he will be wearing a cast for... Monday I will have much more information. We are getting very creative at home trying to find things to do.. many more movies than I ever usually would put on, but I must say this is one of those excusable circumstances. Right? :) I've had some awesome friends let me borrow a cast cover for the bath and another friend let me borrow her AMAZING stroller that is like a recliner ride for Sawyer so that I can get out on walks during the day to break up the time. Just a little sidenote, this stroller is called a Bumbleride and I'm officially obsessed! I want one! I have never had a jogging stroller and I can literally push both my kids in this stroller with my pinky fingers if I wanted! It glides that easy... I am currently stalking Craigslist because they are so darn expensive.. $700 retail... much like the B.O.B. But anyways, I've been so grateful! Another friend, and owner of a beauty salon I work from often, even got Sawyer the cutest book called Elmo Goes To The Doctor and it comes with a little thermometer, shot, and that thing you knock on your knee. I have no idea what it's called. lol. Anyways, the book is adorable and has already been some good entertainment for my little man. So awesome...
Elmo Goes To The Doctor!


So although we have a bit of journey ahead of us, we are hanging in there and I have a feeling when he is up and running around it might be a while before I get cuddle time like this again. So I'm going to soak it up in the meantime. ♥

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

You'll Never Know

I had a friend text me the other day out of the blue to catch up a little. I truly appreciated hearing from her and our little text convo made me smile. She said something to me throughout the course of the convo that made me think and it was simply this: miss reading ur blog. That was even the exact type that came through. I responded with a short excuse as to why I've been slacking lately, but that comment hasn't left my mind since. My lack of blogging definitely hasn't been because of a lack of thinking or learning over here. I guess sometimes I start thinking too much and wondering how much I really should share with the entire internet about my life and who really cares anyways? We all are so busy, we all have crazy things happening all the time..right? Well, the truth is that we really never will know the extent that we touch someone else's life. Whether it be in a good way, bad, or whatever. Something I might share that I find perfectly pointless or overly simple might really reach someone on a different level. My daughter and I were sitting on her bedroom floor and having a tea party a few days ago and I decided it would be a perfect time to teach her the song "I'm A Little Teapot." It seemed so silly at the time and guess what, now it's her new favorite song and she sings it to almost anyone that will listen. Of course, this relates only slightly to my point that you don't know how much you will touch someone elses' life because she is my daughter and an absolute sponge, but still, maybe just a very small example. Anyways, I think you all will start seeing more posts from me again... thank you to that person that texted me. You know who you are. ☺

Today just so happens to be my cousin's birthday. She is actually my cousin's wife, but cousin-in-law is too long, so cousin works just the same. When I think about her on her birthday, many memories surface, but one of the things I think of the most is that she and her husband (my cousin) were the ones that brought my husband and I to church what will be 6 years ago this fall. I know that most of my posts are about the Lord and scripture and whatnot and I just have felt like I wanted to share a little bit more of my story, because trust me, I have not always dreamed of writing a blog to bring glory to the Lord. lol. Anyways, my now husband and I were dating at the time and both of us come from different backgrounds when it comes to beliefs and church. For the sake of your poor eyes reading all this text, I'll keep this very simple and feel free to email me for more details. haha. My husband was raised Catholic and was an alter boy up until the point that he outgrew the uniform. I'm not sure if they call them uniforms, but we will just go with that for now. I, on the other hand, grew up in a Christian home. I went to church camps all through high school, but it wasn't until I was 19 that I decided I really wanted to find out if what I believed was because of the home I was raised in, or if I really believed what I believed for myself. Well, from about 19 until 23 years old when my cousin dragged me into the church I am still a part of to this day a lot of things happened in my young life. I won't go into details, but let's just say my idea of a perfect little future was shattered in many ways. I think we all get hit with this reality at some point in our lives. Some sooner than others.

I'd love to ask my cousin if she remembers how many times she asked me to come to church before I actually did. I do remember the day we went, I remember the topic that was addressed and I remember my husband and I both leaving utterly convicted. When I say husband now, we were just boyfriend/girlfriend at the time. It was as if the preacher was speaking directly to us. Thankfully, we both wanted to respond to the message in the same way. We wanted to change our lives. I remember leaving that sermon and it was so different. It was as if my eyes were opened for the first time in a long time. We didn't have many words as we left. There was nothing to fight about. There was nothing to ridicule the preacher for. There was nothing we wanted to do except change and you better believe we were back to church the next weekend. It was odd. I remembered leaving church in my young 20s when I was going through a phase of searching out my true beliefs and the first thing I would think about when I left was, "gosh, I wish there were more cute guys at this church." My sister can attest because we would both talk about it the whole way home. So funny how things change. Now I was going to church to actually learn about God and this guy Jesus and because I wanted to change my life for the better. Who was in the audience was of little interest to me. Another funny thing, well not so funny at the time, was that right after we started going to church, my husband and I probably went through one of the most difficult years in both of our lives. I thought going back to church was supposed to make things easier! Ya right. If anyone ever tells you that it is an utter lie.


"Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." James 1:2-4.  

Looking back, and even at the time, I still tell people that God in his sovereignty completely had everything in control. I know that if I did not have the people in my life, the church, and the new relationship with the Lord that at that time of extreme trial I would never have made it out alive. Okay, maybe alive, but definitely not sane. lol. I'm sure you all can relate to times that you feel so incredibly helpless. This is life. There is a lot of beauty, but at the same time there is a lot of pain. It's part of living in this fallen world full of imperfect people. Being able to still have hope and knowing that the Lord will not forsake me despite the tidal waves around us is what I now live for.

Now I'm slightly losing my thought process here and I'm not sure where I was or am going with this post. Not too surprising. Probably because the kids are about to wake up and it's about time for me to put on one of my most important hats that I wear theses days and that's my MOM hat. I think I'll end this before rambling for too long, but more to come. Happy birthday to my cousin that I will always thank for planting that seed and bringing me back to my faith. Something I just want to continue to remind myself is that you just never know how much your presence will touch someone else. Makes everything you do... and say... and text... and post seem just a tad more important doesn't it? ♥