Malia's Preschool Graduation

Here are some cute pictures of Malia's graduation picnic last week. The kids were so cute and sang a bunch of cute songs for us. We ate hot dogs and cookies (Gunner's favorite part) and played at the park.

Count your blessings (like having two working hands)

Just a little update on how things are going right now, and because I usually write down the funny things the kids do, and it is by far easier to type with my left hand than write, I will just share.
The saying you don't fully appreciate something until it is gone is so true in my life right now. Have you ever truly thought about how you would do all the many things, that you need two hands for, with only your non-dominant hand. I am quickly finding out how hard it is especially as a mom. I am finding out I can do more than I thought just out of pure desperation too. Take changing a wiggly 2 yr olds poopy diaper for instance. I have figured out a way to manage. I give Gunner a sucker and Malia's two hands as my other one. Malia has been so good to help in any way she can, and she has to put up with a lot from her tormenting little brother. I give her a sucker after she helps. Well yesterday, she came running to me crying saying Gunner ate her sucker. I said "how did he get it"? She said, "I only set it down for a second and he grabbed it and ate it!" Just then Gunner comes in the room just as serious as can be and says rubbing his tummy, "it was yummy!"
I have had my many really frustrating moments too. Just not being able to or feeling able to get ready, like washing my hair with left hand, while trying not to get my right one wet. Or doing makeup and hair or filing my nails which are so long and driving me crazy! It's just too much effort! Or filling up the kids sippy cups because the lid is on too tight, or trying to fix lunch and can't get the yogurt lid off, or trying to put Malia's sock on, when she is so frustrated, and I get so frstrated because I just couldn't do something as simple as put a little sock on. Or today when Malia was doing one of her many clothing changes, and gets the tying bow around her sleeping beauty costume in a knot around her neck, and she had pulled so hard it was in a tight knot. She was freaking out because she couldn't get it off, and I of course could not get it off. So I had 3 choices, let her costume just hang around her neck for 2 hrs until Ian came home for lunch, or call him to come home or call grandma. So grandma willingly came over to undo a knot. It is hard and frustrating to have to ask for help with stupid things I should be able to do myself. I guess I am just lucky to have family live so close and so willing to help. I can do some things just a lot slower, like dishes, or folding clothes, or picking up. I am really lucky to have a very willing husband, that is doing everything right now, but with that I feel so guilty that I am doing nothing, so then I get into my little depressed stage and think the accident over and over and how stupid it was, and all the what ifs. But I know I just have to get over it, it is done. But then all I have to do is think of all the fun things that we were going to do in Mexico and that about makes me want to cry too. Although, snorkeling was one of the things we were looking forward to, and now there have been 3! shark attacks right around Zihuatenejo/Ixtapa area in the last month. I don't know how excited I would be to snorkel even if I could! There are still lots of things we can do, and like I said before, it will just be nice to get away just Ian and I for the first time ever since we had kids.
So as I get into my little pity party mood, I know I just need to remember how blessed I am that it wasn't worse, because I know there are a lot worse things that we could be going through, and that I have a wonderful husband and family that I love so much! And a great ward that has helped and brought much appreciated dinners and cookies! I am over the worst pain and off the pain meds, so I can actually function without feeling hazy or seelping all day. And I know this too shall pass.
Here are my little helpers who love to sweep!

And my hand that is turning a lovely shade of green and purple.

Compassionate Service

I was just released from my calling as the Activity Day leader in my ward. I was called as the Compassionate Service Leader now. Yeah, I know. My question is though, what happens when the compassionate service leader needs the compassionate service? Here is the story......(warning this is long and typed with left hand!)
I play on a women's softball team. We had a double header on wed. night. They were the early games so I talked Ian into skipping scouts and coming to it with the kids, so they could play on the playground there. The first game was pretty bad, I will just say that we lost pretty bad. We have an okay team, and have really fun playing together, we just play against girls that have just gotten done playing high school and college softball. During that game my friends little girl who is Gunner's age fell somehow on the cement retaining wall and hurt her leg, she wouldn't stop crying. So they decided to take her to the doctor, I told to just take her to the ER where I work because at that time of night they get the pediatrics back pretty fast.
We started the second game and in the second inning I got an awesome hit over the left fielders head right down the line. I decided to go to second, then I realized it was going to be close, and made the brilliant decision to slide. I was safe!!! But as soon as I slid, my hand hit the dirt and I was almost positive I had just broken my wrist!! I stood up, and I wasn't in a lot of pain, it just felt extremely weird. I stayed on base as the next batter got up. I just told myself, oh it's just a sprain. Nope!! I realized my fingers were going numb and I could not move my wrist! My first thought was it CAN NOT be broken! We are going to Mexico in 2 weeks! The batter hit, yes pop ball, I don't have to run! Yeah they caught it, only one more out! Strike out! Yes again! The inning is over. I walked to the dug out as everyone is scrambling to go out to the field. I just said sorry guys, I gotta go, I am pretty sure I just broke my arm. They were like WHAT? So they told the ump I was leaving and he came to me and told me he was a paramedic, and to make sure I had a ride and to keep it braced and still. Then someone from the other team brought me some ice and Ian was trying to figure out what was going on. I told him we've got to go to the hospital too, I just broke my arm. So he grabbed the kids and we went. He called our friends who were just getting regestered that we would meet them there. Then he called his parents who were on there way home from a scout dinner in Vancouver to see if they would pick up the kids from the hospital.
I got to the hospital and checked in as everyone started to recognize me, yeah pretty embarassing! I got triaged and registered, and they had told me they were going to get an xray but that there was a 1 1/2 hour wait. So we went and sat by our friends who got called back almost right away. Then Ian's parents got there and took the kids home, we were very greatful for that! Then I got paged for xray only a few minutes later. I guess it is a benefit to work in the er! The xray tech made me straighten out my fingers which made me cry for the first time. (only a little though) He said oh yeah I can tell all ready you need to be here. That is always a relief to hear, that it isn't just something dumb, which we see all the time. He let me look at the xrays right away, which he is not supposed to do, and showed me where it was broken. Then the nurse came and took me straight to my room. I could tell they were just trying to get me back because they put me in the eye room. The doctor came in and said they were going to have to set it, and I could do it under concious sedation or a hematoma block. He thought I was a good candidate for that so I said do that. He stuck a huge needle in and my wrist swelled about 3 times my size. So gross looking! Then they needed to get me in a real room so I could be put in traction, yeah that was not comfortable! 2 fingers stuck in a chinese finger thing, and 13 lbs hanging from my arm. After 10 mins of that the Dr came back in to set it. I absolutely thought I was going to die! Ian said I was making the same sounds as when I was giving birth. The doctor said yeah, the hematoma block didn't work like he thought it should. Then they had to take my long sleeve shirt off to put the splint on, and they were going to have to do xrays again and most likely do the sedation because he wasn't sure he got it set, and it was sliding back. Got the xrays, then he came back in and said it looked better than he thought, we didn't have to do the sedation. But he was sending me to the orthopedic surgeon. He thought there was an 80% chance I wouldn't have to have surgery. So he sent me home. We were only there for 3hours total! Pretty darn good! We then got a call from our friends. Their little girls leg was broken too.
The next day was Malia's preschool graduation and picnic. So we went to that. I just have to say what an awesome husband I have! With my right arm broken, and in pain, I am pretty much helpless! He had to wash my hair and he even curled it for me, and got me dressed! Then got both kids ready by himself. Her graduation went good, I will post pictures later.
We got a hold of the surgeon's office and bad news!! I did need surgery! So depressing, all I could think about was our mexico trip! They wanted me there in an hour for the pre-op appt. They scheduled the surgery for Friday at 1pm. I had been taking Vicodin, --good stuff! But I have to eat a lot with it to not get nauseous, so with not being able to eat before surgery, the gave me phenergan so I could take some before surgery. The comination of the two knocked me out and I slept sooo good, woke up at 5am and took some more, I was feeling so good and relaxed and out of it until surgery! The surgery they did was a closed reduction percutaneus pinning of the right distal radius. I have little pins sticking out of my arms for 6 weeks! But atleast there was no incision or plates or screws. No cast, I am in a nonremovable splint up until the day before we go to Mexico, then I get a removable metal splint for the next 4 weeks. We are going to Mexico still, we would only get back $200 if we cancel it. It really sucks! No snorkeling, or zip lines for me. The dr. did give me a water cover, but he said it's not best to be submerged in ocean water, chlorinated is fine, but with the pins sticking out too much risk of infection. I can go in a little though. Oh well that's life. It's just really bad timing, with our trip and trying to get our grass in. Poor Ian is feeling the brunt of all this, I feel so bad! We have gotten a lot of help with Ian's parents, and my ward has offered to help too, so I am being taken care of, it is jyst so dang hard to have to be so reliant on other people! Malia asks me every ten minutes about to just let her know if there is anything she can get me, then just yell her name. I am out of work for this whole next week which is good and bad, good because working would be pretty hard, but bad because now we have an ER and surgery bill to pay that we weren't planning on, and I just lost over $500 dollars not working!!! Life will go on right? It will be nice to get to go away to Mexico and have a nice relaxing vacation, which it will have to be now.
I couldn't get my scanner to work, so I had to just take pictures of the xrays, so sorry they are kind of hard to see.




Here are some pictures right after surgery.



My fingers are swolen but not half as bad as before surgery!

Hot!!! Weekend

This last weekend was record hot up here. It was an unbelievable 105 at the beach on Friday and got about that hot here! Jumping from in the 60's, it was nice to actually have some warm weather, just maybe not that hot. We thought we were going to get some good work done in our yard, but it was way too hot, even getting up at 6am and working at 10pm. We did get quite a bit done, just not what we were hoping, and got sunburned doing it. We decided to take advantage of the park and playing in the "Crazy Daisy" at Grandma's house since we have no grass to play in right now.
Gunner had some issues. I guess he didn't remember playing in the water from last year or something. First he didn't want to put on a swim diaper (don't blame him, it had Arial on it.) So at first I just put him in his swim trunks, he didn't really like the feel of that either. Then I could tell he needed to go pee, and I should have just grabbed him and took him to the potty, but I left him thinking maybe he was just still uncomfortable, and sure enough he went a few minutes later. He didn't like that, so I had to go take him in the water to wash him off, and then he cried because they were "wet". So I ended up taking them off and he ran around hanging loose, and happy, for a while. He also chose that moment to want to pose for the camera. So Grandma had to delete a bunch of inappropriate pictures :) Then he wanted the swim diaper on and had a little cheek problem with those too. Maybe next time.... Malia of course loved the water and we had a fun time! Thanks Grandma for sharing your grass!

Our little pet bird

So we have sort of adopted a pet. This little bird has made a nest in the rock parking lot of the church across the street from our house. We have had a lot of fun watching it, (and probably tormenting it) for the past couple of weeks. We think that any day now the eggs will hatch, and the kids have to check on it atleast 5 times a day. It has been so interesting to see how protective the bird gets, and the defense mechanism they use. When you get close the bird will get off the nest and walk about 5 feet away and pretend that it is hurt and spread it's wings and make this chirping sound to get your attention. Then if you follow it, it will keep running away, not flying, to get you away from the nest. Then by then the dad usually gets there and does the same thing. The kids love to chase the Dad, so I guess their act works. I will post some more when they hatch. We have been trying to figure out what kind of bird this is, so if there are any bird experts out there, let us know. :)

We love the Sunshine!!

YEAH! We have had a few days of Sunshine, and we are soaking it up!

Couch Cushions on Couch...Optional

What fun is it to sit on the couch cushions while they are still on the couch right? This is my daily battle....that I am losing.



This is Ian's way of keeping the kids quiet so I can sleep in after working. What a good husband!!!