Four Inches

After many anxious weeks, the doctor pulled the pin from Husband's foot. No local anesthesia or anything; he just used some little medical pliers and slowly twisted while pulling the sucker out. Husband said it felt weird but no pain. I was very surprised how long it was.

The x-rays showed that one of his bones is still fractured but the doc said to start slowly putting weight on it anyway. Those were the words Husband was waiting to hear. He quickly graduated from crutches to a cane in less than a day, and has been giddy with his new found independence.

My days have been filled with preparations to move. The children have been handling my inattentiveness well (not now, momma has to pack/clean/on the phone...go play with your toys/watch a show/take a nap). Here is a (rare) picture of them sitting happily together watching (a very common occurrence) TV.

A Very Un-Merry Christmas

We had a lot going on this week, with a little Christmas on the side. Taking our car to the shop, securing our apartment in the 'Couve, packing, cleaning... and ralphing our guts out. Husband came down with the mysterious 12 hour puking virus on the 24th, then I Christmas morning, and finally Calvin rounded it out that same evening.

Cleaning vomet out of the carpets, fa la la la laaaaah, la la la laaah.

Believing in Santa

Not long after Husband's injury, my friend Brittany sent her man over with some food and distractions for the kids. In that care package was The Polar Express movie. This has become Amidala's new obsession that she must view at least twice a day. It goes nicely with her other favorite thing: popcorn. Calvin is in his choo-choo loving stage so he doesn't complain about the lack of variety. I also got her a little pair of slippers that she immediatley recognized as the foot attire the main character wears and has dubbed them her "boy slippers" (his name is never mentioned).



The Polar Express does a wonderful job introducing the whole Santa Claus story. Way better than my attempts to explain it to her. She is, of course, very excited for Christmas.

Cruisin' right along

Husband no longer needs to keep The Foot elevated constantly so he has been joining us on more errands. We never really noticed before how prevalent electric carts are in grocery stores. Sure, we knew getting one at my favorite Fred Meyer would be easy but were pleasantly surprised to find even Trader Joe's had one and Costco has supersized baskets on theirs. The kids take turns riding on daddy's lap and I enjoy not having to push the cart. Oh yeah, and my hubby out and about with the family.


In other news, the house we are in finally sold! On the market for 8 months with us anxiously waiting, Husband injures his foot and BAM! here's an offer with 20% down and can you be out in a month? I found a very reasonable apartment in Vancouver and our big moving day is scheduled for New Year's Day. We are very excited to make the change but sad to leave our family and friends.

The Dynamic Duo

My sil Christine can't get enough pictures of my adorable kids. So here are some in random order. Enjoy!

Bones heal and chics dig scars

It's been almost a month since Husband's accident and two weeks after his surgery. His sutures were removed today from the incision made to insert the pin...

and the ones holding the largest gash together. Despite The Foot's gruesome appearance, the doc said it's looking better every time he sees it. All the blood you can see is really old and dried and the remaining swelling is due to the old fluid just slowly being absorbed by his body.

We have an appointment is 3 weeks to remove the pin. The x-rays taken then will tell us whether the bones are healed enough to slowly start putting weight on it. These visits are always so painful for Husband when the nurse has to do any maintenance on the injury. He constantly tells her where the sensitive areas are but it seems to fall on deaf ears as he squeals like a little girl. He was told to take off the boot and flexing his ankle as well as wiggle his toes several times a day to keep his tendons and muscles from getting stiff.

We are very optimistic that he'll be able to start working again in February. Thank you for all your love, support and prayers.

Baby Stevie

My good friend Lynell recently gave birth to her 3rd daughter. Ami was very excited to finally get to hold her friend Kendall's new baby sister.


Even Calvin was curious about the new addition.

We are so fortunate they live just down the street so we can visit often.

Strong family traditions raises happy kids

Husband had his foot surgery last Wednesday and we were very grateful it was sooner rather than later. It went as planned but the surgeon emphasized that his foot would be sore for quite some time.
Waiting for surgery and still handsome as ever.

He was in a tremendous amount of pain for the first 48 hours after the procedure. We considered staying home for Thanksgiving but managed to make it out to his parent's beautiful home and were very glad we did. The food was great and the company, too. He still makes an effort to help out, crawling across the floor or scooting around in the desk chair.
Kids are always eager to help.

One of our family traditions is to get our Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving. Husband's condition made that impossible and I was a little distraught about it. Ok, I've been upset about a lot of things due to his accident but for some reason this one was foremost in my mind. Maybe because all of our traditions are new so it's important to establish and stick to them. No matter what. After hearing of our plight, Brother Robinson offered to bring us one, as his family gets their tree on that day also.

Amidala LOVED trimming the tree. After all the ornaments were hung, she cheerfully added every little toy she had of appropriate weight. Calvin just seemed determined to destroy any glass ball or candy cane his could reach. By Christmas Day last year, only the top half of the tree was decorated.

We are warm, cozy and enjoying each other's constant company.

Tales from The Foot

We saw the surgeon yesterday. The news was not so good. The Foot is still way too swollen to perform surgery. The broken bones are a relatively simple fix, but since the appendage was crushed, it's a trauma injury and that complicates things. The blisters on top are caused by swelling. The fluid has no place to go so it pushes up against the skin. The Dr.'s advice was to put it into a soft boot to keep the ankle in proper position while minimizing movement and to have Husband stand on his head to reduce swelling. I guess having The Foot propped up with pillows will have to do. We see the Dr. again on Monday to assess the situation but best case scenario is to have surgery the week after Thanksgiving. So Husband will be eating turkey flat on his back.

And you thought the first pictures were gruesome.


We have been receiving loads of love and support from our family and friends. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Grammy even came over to blow the leaves into piles after Monday night's storm. The house is still on the market so a tidy yard is important. She wanted to do something she knew Husband would if he could. I tried to talk her out of it.

If you're local and would like to make Husband more comfortable, please send firewood and any excess pain medication our way.

Sh*t Happens

My beloved Husband was in an accident at work yesterday. The jack holding up the flat bed trailer loaded with rock gave out and the tongue landed on his foot. A tractor was needed to lift it off his foot. The x-rays showed he broke three bones and suffered numerous gashes. He was referred to an orthopedic surgeon and will need surgery to put pins and screws in the bones to reconstruct them. But all that will have to wait until the swelling goes down. In the meantime, he is stuck on his back, foot constantly elevated and always in extreme pain. We see the actual surgeon on Wednesday to discuss the procedure and date. He won't be able to put any weight on it until at least after the new year.


These pictures get worse so stop now if you're squeamish about blood.


The broken bones are ones connected to his second and third toes. The nurse at Kaiser was able to stitch up the gash on top...


but his foot was too swollen to stretch the skin and stitch up the two on the side so they are always bleeding heavily. Again, nothing can be done until the swelling goes down. Keeping the foot elevated and still helps with the bleeding and pain, a little.

These pictures were taken after his bath this evening. That was a bit of a challenge.

I love my family deeply, so taking extra care of them is not a burden. Financial times have been hard before and I have faith that we'll make it through. It's seeing my best friend in so much pain ALL THE TIME that is the hardest for me.

I love you Husband. Lord, please heal him quickly.

From the voices in my head...

I love to read but never know what books to read or can even get to a book store (by MYSELF) to browse. So if you've finished a good one and you're feeling generous, please send it my way. I like a variety of genres.

This whole Husband going back to school thing just may work out. The first step in our plan for a larger family.

I've picked up my current cross-stitching project again. Our future family Christmas tree skirt. Oh so calming...


My children and I are just getting over these terrible colds that my husband never caught. Thank you, Lord.

Amidala taught Calvin to climb out of his crib. Husband went to get him this morning and tinyman was already opening his bedroom door. Damn, I thought we'd enjoy a few more months of toddler captivity.

I love the Wonder Pets.

I want so badly to see Lynell have her baby. Inappropriate vaginal birth envy, I know.

Families are forever

My precious Amidala turned three years old last month. I haven't blogged about it because I don't want to accept it. I love her more than anyone or anything (and sometimes I think she knows it!). She makes me swell with pride everyday, several times a day. I am her favorite person and she'd rather snuggle me than do most anything else. I never want her to grow up.



Try as I might to prevent it, her birthday did come around and we had a little family party for her. Lots of grandparents and great grandparents and even an Aunt Cynda. Unfortunately, none of her cousins could make it but she didn't seem to notice.



My mom and sister Cynda flew in from Denver last month and stayed a few days with us. Ami LOVED having her Aunt Cynda to play and sleep with. Even Calvin warmed up to her. I also really enjoyed having my youngest sister to bond with. She's turning out to be such a lovely young woman.

I talk to my mother on the phone almost daily so having her in person was a real treat. I totally took advantage of another adult in the house and constantly directed Ami to her Nana to read stories. Thanks, mom!

And then suddenly, it was Halloween. This was the first time I'd carved a jack-o-lantern and I couldn't believe how fun it was! Ami wanted a cat faced pumpkin, so of course, I obliged. When I was finished, I immediately wanted to do another one. Husband went for big and scary.



Every night, as soon as the sun went down, Ami was asking for her kee-cat pumpkin to be lit up. Everytime Calvin saw his scary faced one, he would entertain us with a laugh that a robotic witch at the grocery store taught him.



They both liked trick-or-treating. Another first for me. After the second house, Calvin realized what was going on and was all about it. Ami loved talking about all the costumes and decorations. She keeps asking to go trick-or-treating every night since. Next year, little girl. And every year after that for the rest of your life, if you'll let me.