The Wrong Trousers: Spica Cast Week 1

 These are the last pictures of Eli B.C. (before cast).  Take a good look at how adorable he is in 

those overalls because it's unlikely he'll ever fit into them again.

 It started out such a charmed Sunday morning.  Eli let us sleep until 8.  We made pumpkin french toast.  Zach watched Eli while I took a shower and I even had time to blow dry my hair.  While Zach took his shower I thought, "it's such a beautiful day.  I'll take Eli outside to try and get some energy out before church."

Such good intentions, right?

Now, between the fence of our backyard and the soccer field behind us there is a small, steep hill with prickly weeds hidden in the grass.  Freshly sprinklered grass. And there I was, trying so hard to step carefully that I inevitably tripped and fell on my bum.  Just a bump.  But when I fell I heard a crack, and then Eli started sobbing uncontrollably.  Not just the "That was scary!" cry, or "Hey!  You bruised my ankle!" cry, but the "Something is wrong and even though you're holding me it's not getting better" cry.

After a few minutes of trying to calm him down and inspect his body (and not seeing anything) he  was still sobbing so we went inside and interrupted Zach's shower.  It took a while to convince him that we actually needed to take him somewhere, but  ten minutes later we were in the car with a still sobbing baby.

Now Elko is not that big, but there is an urgent care near our home.  We walked in, told them we thought he had broken his leg, and because they didn't have the equipment they sent us to the hospital ER.  So we drove there (Eli still sobbing), waited and waited, and then had some x-rays done.  The doctor came and told us that he had indeed broken his leg.

Dang.

His left femur, in fact.

Double Dang.

And the orthopedic surgeon at the hospital didn't feel comfortable putting on the cast so they were sending us to Primary Childrens in Salt Lake.

Never have I been so tempted to swear.

Luckily we avoided the $20,000 helicopter ride (did I mention that Eli wasn't insured?) and they allowed us to drive him ourselves.  They splinted him up, loaded him up with Lortab and sent us on our way.

 Eli with his other drug of choice: Yo Gabba Gabba. 

 I don't know how we would have gotten through this 

whole experience without it.

We arrived at Primary Childrens 9 hours post-break, at 8 p.m.  By 1 a.m. he had  been inspected, given an IV, cleaned, drugged, and casted.  Because the cast requires you to be absolutely still while they put it on, Eli was put under.  My favorite drug by far came when the nurse came to take him away from me and into the OR.  The anesthetist gave him some Versed to make him forget the separation and calm him down.  It was hilarious.  It stung a bit going in, so he screamed for about two seconds, but then he started stroking his hand with an awed expression on his face and then looked up and Zach and laughed.  And then laughed at me.  And when the nurse held out his arms he went happily to her with his eyes rolling and still smiling.

Post casting, waiting for him to wake up

The car ride home.  He was so high he didn't even mind it.

 This spica cast is a serious piece of equipment.  Below are the front and back shots:

As my dad so astutely noticed, if we put some 

buttons on the front we'd have "The Wrong Trousers".  

Ah, that would be nice.

 After, "What happened?"  The next question out of peoples mouths is "How does the whole diaper thing work?"

Let's just say, it's not pretty my friends.  He already reeks.

We tuck a size 2 diaper up into the hole (accompanied by a maxi pad at night) and then a size 5 goes around the whole thing in an attempt to keep it all in place and catch any leaks.  We try to change him often to avoid soaking into the cast, but really, he's just going to smell bad for 4-6 weeks.  I'm just praying we don't have a blow out.

 The only bright side to this whole experience is that we got to make a trip to Utah a little earlier than expected and meet our cute new nephew!

Welcome to the family Calvin Henry!

 It was hard to come home after having family to help out and distract us, but we're getting it.  It's like having a really big, heavy, bulky, five month-old baby around who is keenly aware of what he's missing out on, and very demanding.  But there is hope.  Just last night he started scooting backwards around the living room floor and managed to roll over once or twice.  There was great rejoicing in all the land.

After this first week I cannot bear to watch another episode of "Dinosaur Train" or even "Yo Gabba Gabba".  I think by the grace of Sesame Street alone we will survive.

Cute Baby Blog War

[NOTE: This post was started the morning that Eli broke his femur and I hate to waste it.  We'll catch you up on his recovery in the next post]

Last week my brother and I had a cute baby picture war.  For the record, I won (on a technicality).  I feel like this post is much along the same lines.  For those mothers out there who think their kid is the cutest, that's wonderful.  But to me, MY child is and always will be the cutest thing that ever lived.  I mean, just look at this photogenic pose:

Just ignore that piece of cottage cheese

This move has been a major adjustment for both me and Eli.  The transition to a full-time SAHM is challenging, but I've grown to love it more with every passing week. We are constantly TOGETHER, and most of the time it's just him and me.  As a result, we are tight, like unto a dish.  Sure, there are occasionally days when I'm sure I'm going stir crazy, but most of the time I feel like I just get to hang out with my little man.

I must admit I panicked when we first moved into the house.  Suddenly our days were empty of all structure and our friends and neighbors were no longer a thin ceiling away.  To give us some more constructive activities, I loaded up on crafty supplies and toys thinking that Eli could be entertained for hours with them.

Wrong.  While the markers and paint are a huge hit, they take up a max of 9.5 minutes before they are used for coloring the artist/furniture/floor.  This is usually the point that we go 'side (outside).

It took awhile, but Eli is no longer afraid of water.  Now it's the bomb diggety.

"Sides" (slides- not to be confused with 'sides (outside)) are the highlight of any day.

When we can't go outside I love that Eli is finally getting to an interactive stage with his toys and playing pretend.   Here he is as King of the World (his reality), Clark Kent (also reality), Lord of the "Fiseezch", and a dinosaur in the zoo (roar).

I know that if we can make it to dinner time we are home free.  Evenings are my favorite time with Eli.  I love to eat, and he loves to eat.  I love to give him baths, and he loves to take baths.  I love to hold him and rock him to sleep, and he loves to be rocked.  It's a win-win.

 I love this little goofball. Which is good, 'cause this next month is going to be a looonng one.  Wish us luck!

Leaving Neverland

In an attempt to make your heart grow fonder of us we've rather neglected our little blog recently.  Sorry about that.  But isn't your heart feeling just a little bit mushier?  No?  Well, then bear with us while we try to play catch up for the last few months.

 Back in June we suddenly grew up all at once.  Zach graduated, we moved away from the comfort of Happy Valley, bought a house, and Zach started his new, perfectly responsible grown-up job.   

While I do most definitely NOT miss our old apartment with its grimy interior and lack of dishwasher and AC, Zach and I are constantly commenting to each other about how much we miss the little Starving Student Community we left behind. 

Good luck in Roswell Cowarts!

 But to everything there is a season, so we packed it all up (moving is the WORST.  And that's all I have to say about that) and headed to our new home in the hip, trendy, happenin' location known as...

Elko, Nevada.

What can I say about Elko?  The most we can muster up is to say that it's really not that bad.  As you can see from the map, it's not in the "cool part" of Nevada by Vegas.  It's the rural northeastern part of Nevada about 3 hours west of Salt Lake.  As our (native Elkonian) neighbor put it, it's the bumcrack of nowhere, right between SLC and Reno.  But, as such, it is the hub for all the little surrounding communities so it has more amenities than you would expect from a town of 20,000.

Even Kmart is a big deal here, which is great because that's where Zach works.  Say hello to the new Pharmacy Manager of your local Elko location!

First day on the job

Zach has taken on the challenge of managing with zeal and gusto and I am so proud of him.  Eli is too, but he shows it by heading straight for the narcotics shelf whenever we go visit.  He has earned himself the nickname "Little Narky" amongst the techs.

Oh, and hey!  We own a house now!  I think the whole process of debating about, selecting, and financing the house was more stressful than all of the final licensing tests and moving combined.  But here we are the first week we moved in:

When we went to tour the house it looked like this:

That lovely peachy-yellowy color was EVERYWHERE.  Every wall and ceiling (except for one purple room upstairs) was this color.  It was like being inside the James and the Giant Peach peach.

Luckily for us, as an incentive to purchase they painted the ceilings and trim white and the walls gray before we moved in, so it now looks more like this:

We are slowly settling into our new, non-academically-centered lives and schedule and making new friends.  However, we still very much miss our family and old friends, so if you're ever on your way to the West Coast or just want to make amazing Elko, NV your destination, please come and visit!