Nursemaid's Elbow

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It wasn't even a week after the stitches that we were back in the ER. Ah but this is not a place this mommy loves. I know that with the little boy I am sure to be there much more than I would like.


My little nephew is much more accident prone and really just a lot more brave than Clayton is and still it's my little man that seems to always end up in the hospital. Anyways....


Hubby, Potato, and I decided that we would go to Best Buy and use the gift certificates we got for Christmas. Everything with Potato was fine.....until we get to the check out line. He was very sleepy and generally was DONE with shopping. I held his hand and he did the normal two-year-old thing and leaned away from me while we were waiting in line. I just kept holding on to his hand. We finally made it to the cashier and Clayton got very upset....so much so that Matthew picked him up and held him until we could get to the car. He fell asleep while walking to the car and all the way home.


When we got home we put him to bed and everything seemed very normal. A few hours later Clayton woke up and was whining a little. I went upstairs to get him so that we could change and head out to my moms. When I picked him up he WAILED. I had never heard him scream like that and I instantly had the stomach flips and knew something was very wrong. I ran him down stairs and got Matthew's attention. I told him that Clayton's shoulder felt like it had popped out of joint.



No time was wasted as we flew to the hospital. I did not even put Clayton in his car seat since every time his arm was moved he would wail in pain. We made it to the hospital and unfortunately the line was longer than last time. We had to wait entirely to long which was probably 10 minutes! Thank goodness that we had a nurse friend that worked there and she hussled to check out Clayton. She said that it did not look like a should displacement but leaned more towards whats called a "Nursemaid's Elbow."



The ER doctor confirmed that it was nurses elbow and after THREE felled attempts at putting it back in place the on call pediactric orthopedist. Thank God for him! He pinned a very frightened Tater against the wall, rotated his arm and it was almost instant that Clayton was fine.



He told us that it is very common for this age group and it very easily done. It could have happened while Clayton was napping. Crazy right?!?! Well Matthew and I figured it could have been when he was leaning away from me while we were at Best Buy. Can't tell you how horrible of a mother I felt just thinking that I may have helped the injury occur. I am still broken hearted.



Clayton has not had this happen again and lets just say we will be doing everything in our power to make sure he does not hyperextend his arm again.

Wordless Wednesday!--2 halves make a whole!

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No tonsils, no uvula, and some sinus fixin..

DH went under the knife on Wednesday, so for memories sake I am going to dedicate a post to him and his hopefully improved life.

He has had sleep apnea for an unknown amount of years and therefore always felt very tired, unmotivated, and chronically sick. It's amazing how the lack of sleep......lack of REM sleep...can make one very miserable.

About the same time we put Potato in day-care DH started getting sick. His sinuses would act up and he would be miserable for 2-3 weeks. Doctors would give him antibiotics and he would get better. Then not even a few days later he would get sick again. This was such a vicious cycle and because his first doctor did not care enough DH was given antibiotics so often it caused him to get colitis. Sucked!

Well after speaking with our sister-n-law's mother she directed us to DH's new and soon to be God sent ENT. (Small world...the ENT was actually the niece of DH's back surgeon.) She stopped giving him medicine and got to the root of the problem. Dr. Eldridge found out that he had such a bad deviated septum that he had one nostril completely blocked and unable to pass air. The other nostril had a huge bone spur about to punch through the skin. Gross I know!

Dr Eldridge sent DH to a couple of sleep studies to determine whether or not he had sleep apnea. He had/has it. They tried to use the C-PAP machine to see if he would be able to sleep better. The machine made it feel like he could not breathe. I have heard the machine described as this...Imagine yourself riding down the interstate at 90 mph with your head out the window. I guess I would not be able to breathe with that much air blowing in my face. It is suppose to force you to breathe through your nose and well he had too much blockage in both nostrils for that to work.

So Wednesday the 25th she commenced fixing my poor hubby. She had to remove his uvula(throat bobber) because it was so long it was going down his throat. Pretty disturbing! Dr Eldridge also removed some of his soft pallet and his tonsils. The surgery did not take to long but of course I paced the waiting room like a mad woman. DH made me pinky promise that I would not cry....I did not cry...but there were a lot of anxiety attacks. Thankfully DH's mother was there to keep me calm.

We had a great day nurse but the night nurse almost got an ass chewin from me. She was horrible and I can't wait to fill out the little survey on her. Anyway we went home Thursday morning and I am being a great nurse! I am sleep deprived but if it gets my honey better I will survive. I love him so much and he is long over due some physical peace.

Now on the road to recovery. I hope he enjoys his 3 weeks of peace!

Our New Bed!

In our early years DH and I shared a twin size bed, a spot on the floor, a couple of blow-up mattresses. So to say the least we have had some rough and unslept nights in our time together.

I think we actually dreamed about a new bed lots of nights. We watched our buddies get new beds with jealousy. Then it was our turn!

Wahoo!

I can't tell you how much our KING size New Englander, pillow top, mattress has changed out lives. We don't toss and turn and actually wake up refreshed and ready for our day. Life is GREAT!

I never sleep in but this past weekend I actually slept until 10:30 am. I had to force myself but that works too.

We are very happy people. Oh I forgot to say that the bed is so high I have to take a running leap to be able to get under the sheets. This means that Potato has no way to climb up and he can't poke me in the face in the morning. ;-)! Happy Mommy and Daddy!

Here's hoping that you all get a lot of much needed rest this weekend!

CSN Store: Product Review!

On March 23rd 2007 was a horrible day for DH and I. DH is a computer technician at a local hospital and he was doing a computer roll out, meaning old/new computers were getting moved around the hospital. DH is not a small man by any means of the word so he is always first choice on moving days. One wrong move led to a twist which ended up being a herniated disc. Terrific!

I had never seen someone in so much pain before. He could not leave the house or help around the house for that matter. DH was miserable and in turn was I because I had to stand by watching him suffer. He tried getting epidurals which works for a lot of back injury patients. It did not work for him though well at least it STOPPED working. Then we tried drugs. Proved to be more harm than good when DH was to impaired to drive and had a little finder binder.

We exhausted all avenues and talked to many doctors only to finally decide that surgery was the path that we would take. November 15th was a very scary day for me. I was thankful to have DH's parents there for support and then his brother showed up to check on him. I would have been lost without them. His brother was actually the first one to watch DH walk. I cried!

Anyway a few years later he still had problems with his back but not nearly as bad. We got new insurance and chiropractic therapy was going to be our next route. It was just the ticket! He is doing much better and has been taught many stretches and techniques to loosen up his muscles.

A few of the stretches are done on a yoga exercise ball. I was all to happy when CSN Stores
asked me to review a product. I searched and searched for something that our family could get use out of and I made the best choice when I found the 85 cm ball for DH.

It took a little while to air it up and Potato was more than happy to help.

Although very embarrassed when I told him I wanted pictures, he did oblige my request. He is happy and that makes me happy! Thanks to CSN Stores and their 200+ stores we are happy customers!


I would like to send a special thank you to Jason at CSN Stores for providing the review and items! I was not compensated in any other way and the statements within this post are of my own and honest opinions.

Happy 21 Months Potato!

Hi Potato!

Happy 21 months baby! I hope you are having a great day at day-care. Mommy enjoys picking you up every afternoon. When I see your big beautiful eyes I feel like my whole body smiles. I can honestly tell you that I feel like all of the stress and pain in my life is gone for just a moment when run across the room and jump in my arms. You are becoming a smooch-a-holic, and I don't want it to stop.

At 6:30 AM you run and get in bed with Mommy and daddy. I LOVE it and daddy does.....as long as you are not kicking him out of bed. I like that you do because it makes my job of getting him out of bed easier. Daddy is not a morning person. I see that you have a little of trait.

One of the biggest milestones you are approaching is potty training. I talked to Maw and she will be getting you big boy potty chair soon. I wanted to start training you sooner but I heard from other mommies that I should wait until you tell me poo-poo and/or pee-pee. Well you have been doing that a lot lately so I guess it is time. I am nervous and excited. I mean NO MORE DIAPERS. I do have a funny little story that I want to write down for memories sake.

This past weekend Mommy and daddy got a new bed. Hoorah! Well you were such a big helper for daddy. You helped daddy hammer and unscrew the bed. Daddy was very proud of you and I say its because of the Build and Grow classes. Anyways...Potato you were walking around the frame and tapping it with the hammer and you decided it pertinent to tap daddy on his shoulder and get his attention. He looked at you and you said "Pooo-Pooo!" (I am laughing as I type.)
After you said that your face turned red and I fell over in a fit of laughter. Daddy, on the other hand, was looking at you like "Thanks son, appreciate that!" I could not compose myself for a while.

Potato you LOVE to say "I wuv wu!" I mean you will scream it all afternoon and you even tell the cats that you love them. I don't think they care for you too much. Who cares!? Last week daddy was not able to take you to school like he normally does so Mommy had too. I don't think you were to happy with that because you walked from room to room calling for your daddy. I thought something was wrong so I ran to see what was up. You were headed up stairs yelling, DADDY, to the top of your lungs. Then you would poke your head in a room and say I wub wu! I have to admit I was pretty jealous.....I thought you were looking for me. Not the case. I knew I had to call daddy and tell him what you were doing so that he could have a beautiful day at work. He was VERY happy and wished he could have been there to hear it for himself.


On a very positive note you are well and staying well. This makes us very happy. We decided to take you off your allergy medicine and only give it to you when we see symptoms. So far, so good! Mr Pediatrician wanted me to tell you that it may be best you break up with the girlfriend you have now and just stick with the twins. Apparently the twins aren't getting you sick. lol!!

We haven't been taking you swimming lately but plan to soon since your ear infection is gone. After each swim session we will have to put a couple drops of swimmers ear solution in your ear and you will be fine.
New Tricks

You can throw a ball far and fast. (maybe a little baseball man in there)
You go down the stairs like a champ.
You ride your tricycle and almost got the peddles down.
You like to spin the ball.
You skype all the time.
Oh I can't leave out the fact that with all the pow-pows your Aunts and Uncles keep getting, you love to shoot everything!
Thumbs up
Counts to 3.

New Words

Cookie
Roll it
Uncle Chris
Buck (lil cousin)
Fish
Bath
Night-Night (can't just say it once!)
Not Nice! (I love it when you tell daddy this!)


I know that I am leaving off so much information. Mommy has a really bad memory so that is why I try and video each second that I can. Daddy and Mommy love you so much sweetie. You are our angel from heaven. We thank God each day that we get to spend our lives together as a family. Hugs!

Potato SKYPES?!?!

I was upstairs blogging and watching Potato play when my computer started ringing! I was excited! I knew that sound but I could not see who was calling: Mr T, Dr Shipley....who?

DR. SHIPLEY! I hurried and answered and her pretty face popped up on the screen. Potato all but took my legs out because he heard her talking. I put the computer on the ground so he could talk to his Auntie.

Potato misses her so much and since he is new to Skype he had to find out like mommy that you can't reach out and touch the people on the screen. He kept knocking the camera off because of his kisses and fist bumps. He is also working on his typing skills. I guess he will have his own blog soon. He has a lot to say.

Dr Shipley always seems to bring a huge smile to Potato. He was not happy when it was mommy and daddies turn to talk. I am saying it nicely when I say that the boy had a mental break down. I distracted him with a quesadilla and juice.

If you have family that lives far I highly recommend getting Skype. It's FREE!

Friday is HOPPIN day!

I so love the weekends! I actually love Friday work days as well. Is that weird? Oh well.

The real reason why I love Fridays is because I get to see Potato's art work that he did during the week at school. I have seriously fallen behind on posts about his schooling.

Soooo.... I can just tell you that he shines at school. He is teachers pet STILL. I swear they let that boy get away with murder and I think that is feeding the terrible two syndrome. I have a problem. I can't seem to throw any of the art away. I mean ANYTHING. Potato could scribble on a piece of paper and I just feel the need to keep it. I know he forgets it 2 seconds after he is done but to me its a work of art. My baby did this and I want to paste it on the damn wall!

Well DH and I have worked out a process as soon as I can no longer see the front of the refrigerator then I must rotate the art. I came up with a wonderful idea! So that I don't feel bad about tossing out these masterpieces I send them out to our loved ones. All I can say is that now everyone is chomping at the bit to have a piece by Pablo Picasso. P.S. that is his sir name for his art. LOL! I know I'm a genius!

I love being able to go to our friends and families houses and end up seeing Pablo Picasso streaked across their fridge, and some in frames. Swear the boy has a following! What do you do with your tots works of art?

I am hopping up down cause it's FRIDAY! I hope everyone has a great weekend! Please leave me a comment with your blog link so I can return the love!

Build and Grow-UFO

I posted about my Saturday earlier in the week but just in case you missed it!

Ok after my little hell on earth we all loaded up and headed to Lowe's Home and Gardening for our Build and Grow session. It was totally cool that we were building a UFO. It had blinking lights and stickers.......I had a hard time containing myself. This build I wanted to be extremely special because Mr. Airforce/Uncle Richey was going to do the build with Potato.

Mr. Airforce has been in for a couple weeks and we have gotten to spend so much quality time with him, and well it's an understatement to say that he has been the highlight of Potato's days. He will be leaving in a couple days for ALASKA. Yep I said ALASKA! His base is located there and he is more than ready to go and live in the beautiful weather.

I can't believe that I have watched this child grow up for a little brat in his early teens to a grown terd that he is today. He is very special to our family of three and we will miss him dearly. DH is going to be building him a computer and we will get him set up on Skype so that Potato can talk to him. Did I tell you how much I love skype and how much it helps when your loved ones are not close enough.

I am trying not to cry as I think about my little brother leave.

When we went to visit him at boot camp he got an Air Force bear. It's adorable but I don't want to seem biased so I better get an Army Bear soon!

Anyways so drying tears and back to the build.....

Pop also joined us at Lowe's. He is a master carpenter, no lie, and was all to excited to watch his g-babe build a UFO. He also had to help out Ms Fumy and Kelon. It was pretty funny since Fumy comes to these builds half asleep. Not everyone can be a perky morning person like I!

Potato (or Pomatoe as Kelon would say) had a blast and really concentrated on his sticker placement. All in all a great build. I can't wait for the next one!

Mr. Airforce, Potato, Kelon & Fumy

Potato had to step in and make sure Ms. Fumy was doing it right.

Potato Mr Airforce & Pop

A Mad Potato!

Ok so our morning routine now is that DH takes Potato to day-care and I pick him up in the afternoons. It makes me so freaking ECSTATIC to see him after a long day at work. Well the morning of the phone call Potato did not get to ride with daddy. Apparently he had been harboring bad feelings and decided DH should know just how he felt.

Note to self.....don't piss the Potato off!

The scoop on.....Pooootato!

Ah but Saturday morning started out with a bang and not the good kind. Potato was ready to play at 7:30 AM and mommy was not. Strike one! I got up and turned on his light in his room, put the baby gate up to the stairs, and headed back to bed. Unfortunately I am not the kind of person that can fall back to sleep after I wake so I just laid in bed and listened to Potato play trucks.

I should have realized something was wrong when it got a little quiet and he wasn't running up and down the hallway bringing me toys and kisses. DH is a very heavy sleeper so there was no way I was getting him up to go and check on Potato. I rolled out of bed..pouting the whole way....and what do you think I found?

While walking down the hallway I seen two big balls of something. I cursed a little thinking that the cat's had hurled on the floor and my eyes were not even working enough for me to clean that mess up. I kept going to find Potato laying in his bed (strange) and to my surprise his diaper was not on.....Ah if you are following me then you KNOW what I found in the hallway. By this time I was wishing it was cat vomit. No such luck!!!!

In shock and now WIDE awake and started running around(making sure to dodge the Potato droppings) trying to clean up. I started hollering for Matthew to get up and start a bath. He fumbled around and finally realized what was happening. I tossed Potato in the water and headed back to the room only to find it smooshed all over. Lovely....

I am sorry this all seems a little graphic for you but I will have a few suffer along with me in the thought lol. At least you did not have to clean it all up. Lets just say I hope this does not happen again.

So this morning at 7:30 AM I hear him pattering around. It was my turn for morning kisses so he rounds the bed and says "Pee pee, Poo poo!" I flew out of bed.....he still had his diaper on :-)! There is a God! I went and changed him and passed him off to his daddy. I guess he is almost ready for a big boy potty. Not so sure I am.

Thankfully 10 AM rolled around and it was time to head to Build and Grow. Blog to come.... I hope you had an adventure of a weekend.

Wordless Wednesday: Mr T and Dr Shipley Wed

They haven't been married a year yet but I needed to remember.

Pictures before:

During:

The party:

The party ended but the Shipley Family has begun!