Summer -- Take two

Let's try this again...hi summer, how are you? We would LOVE to come out and play, whatcha been doing?

Will is cast free...again. And we're hoping to keep it that way this time. The Dr. said he should be good to go now -- but to try and slow him down a little for a few more weeks to be safe. Of course right after he told us that Will said "I'm going to play soccer!" Todd and I figure that Dr. Epps is probably thinking he has just found the funding for his lake house...:)

First, a few pics of what we were doing to pass the time the last couple weeks. Not to be slowed down, Will discovered that he could get mom and dad to push him around on his bike in the house. Considering our recent history at the ER, we still made him wear his helmet. :)



Thanks to a great birthday present from his cousins, Will has (what seems like) a lifetime supply of sidewalk chalk. He loves to get it all out and pick out the different colors and ask us to draw stuff for him. This past weekend we were all pretty stir crazy so we spent a while in the morning sitting on the driveway drawing with his "sidewalk" and watching the mowers cut the grass in the neighborhood. Good thing he has an artist for a dad -- some of his requests were out of mommy's range of ability. :)



Working hard on his artwork...



But enough of the cast pics...let's look at this new and improved leg! Of course as soon as Will got his cast off Hurricane Alex came into the Gulf, so although we aren't being hit by the hurricane, we are getting tons of rain all week -- and not a lot of opportunities to get outside. We did get to squeeze in one night of backyard fun before the rain hit though and finally got to try out one of the water toys he got for his birthday. It was so fun to finally see him laughing and playing outside again -- and it was the first night that it has truly felt like summer around here!



He was determined to water the plants -- something he did with my dad in those short days in between casts. He has been asking about it and wanting to go out to water plants forever -- so it was the first thing on the to do list while we played in the sprinklers. He really didn't get any water in the can, but he must of walked back and forth between the sprinkler and the flowers a hundred times!



And then the rain came. And came. And is still coming. So we brought the outside in. We moved the furniture off our rug and it was Will's "grass" to play golf. We've got a long way to go before he's tour ready I think...



But it's not for a lack of concentration...



And then, the necessary skill in golf of "riding the horsey." Todd taught him that when you make a putt, you "ride the horsey." Great.



Thank you again to all who have been so supportive as we have gone through this challenging time. The gifts, the visits, the phone calls, they are all reminders of what wonderful people we have in our life. We love you all!

A taste of freedom...and the Grover leg

Well, June 8th came. And it was a great day. Will got his cast off - yay! We spent the rest of the week chasing him around on his "park" in the backyard, his bike down the sidewalk, and riding/climbing/running pretty much all waking moments. We were all SO excited to get the summer started. Apparently a little tooooo excited.

On Saturday dad was here and we decided to take Will to the park and pool for the morning. He played all morning...loving his freedom. But then, all of the sudden, while playing at the pool he fell. It was like his leg just got tired of holding up his weight and he collapsed. When I went to help him up, his leg was back in the same position it was when he broke it. My heart sank...

We took him home and eventually to the emergency room again. Long story short, we're back in a cast for two more weeks. The good news -- after many xrays and opinions the final decision was that he didn't break it again or cause any more damage, they just think that he jostled the still healing bone and it needs a little more protection for a while.

So, now the cast is blue! This one is not a spica cast, so he has full use of his hip, which makes life a lot easier. The new magic day is June 29th -- and we know it will be here before we know it. In the meantime, it's back to movie watching and couch playing for a little longer...oh well, it's really hot outside anyway. :)

And a couple of pictures from the week...they aren't great, but they give you an idea of all the fun we're having. :)

Here he is on June 8th -- doesn't that look like a great leg?


And here we are this weekend. Grandpa was in town, so when it came time to pick the splint color it of course had to be Husker red.



And here's the Grover leg. I know this picture is blurry (camera phone shot) but I still like it, so I had to share it. Even in the middle of all this he still has a smile on his face. Todd told him his leg was blue like Grover's, so now he has been telling us that he has a "Grover leg."



A couple more shots sporting the new leg...





And a few words from the star...again, not a great video, but I have to sneak them in when I can. Our usual camera star has not been very willing to be photographed lately.



That's our story for now...not quite the summer we were hoping for, but hopefully we'll still get to enjoy some of it in another couple of weeks. In the meantime, thanks for all the prayers and well wishes -- we have needed them!

One week to go!

Is it June 8th yet? That's the magic day that Will (and more importantly, his parents) will get his freedom back and cast off! I honestly think Todd, Wanda, and I are way more ready than Will is. He has adapted remarkably well -- he crawls around, pulls up on furniture, and even walks around as long as he has something or someone to hold on to. With the exception of not being able to go outside, it really hasn't seemed to slow him down much at all. It's really a testament to his spirit -- he's always been a pretty laid back little guy with a nice mix of independence thrown in, but it is even more evident now.

It's definitely been an interesting experience -- kind of like fast forwarding through the first year of life all over again. We came home from the hospital with a helpless child that depended on us for everything. Then before we knew it, he was scooting around. Then crawling. Next thing we know, he's pulling up on furniture and using it to walk around and get from place to place. Now you can get him to try a few steps completely on his own, but his mommy is quick to jump in when he starts to fall!

All that being said, we are SO ready to get our summer started cast free! Here's a quick peek at our little man getting around -- my normally very cheesy picture loving guy is very shy in the cast -- no pictures mom!

Will's 2!

This may be a little belated, but we have to have a birthday celebration post, right? Follow me back in time....about two and a half weeks ago...before the green cast entered our lives...:)

Will had a great birthday! On his actual birthday he got the long anticipated present to end all presents -- a bike with handlebars! He had been talking about wanting one for months and I really was a little worried that it wouldn't live up to the hype. I guess technically the jury is still out on that one since we haven't really been able to ride it much yet. :( But for the three days of bike ownership pre-cast, he loved it! He immediately wanted to ride it -- even if that meant in the house.



As has become the tradition in our short birthday celebration history, Will's godparents came over for hot dogs, mac and cheese, and cupcakes on Will's birthday. It's a fun low-key way to kick off a weekend of fun and the kids love each other so it was a perfect night. This year we had a fun addition in that Jess was here too -- yea! When he wasn't showing everyone his "bike with handlebars" he was showing off his other favorite birthday present, which was his John Deere hat from Grandpa! He wore it all night -- and looked pretty cute if I do say so myself. :) The boy loves some tractors, that's for sure! It must be a genetic trait...



Reading his card from Grandpa...



Yum! Soccer cupcakes!



One celebration down, and one to go! Saturday was a great day of friends, family, and fun for the official birthday party. The highlight of the morning was Will's present from Nana and Grandpa -- his very own "park" in the backyard! We kept him inside all morning so that he wouldn't see it until they got here, which was no easy task as Uncle Eric and Daddy kept going in the back to put things together and get the yard ready. But finally the moment was here and Will was so excited!



Let me at it! My park!!



The theme of the party was Will's favorite things -- which recently have included Handy Manny, anything involving sports, and the TV show WordWorld. Unless it's a toddler favorite in your house, the decor is not nearly as exciting...:) But basically everything in "WordWorld" is spelled out and created out of letters. I don't know how much of it Will noticed, but I had a great time with it! :)

Cheese...


Sandwiches...


And CAKE!


One thing we definitely discovered during the birthday celebrating is that Will is not a huge fan of being the center of attention. Throughout the week when it was time to sing to him and everyone was looking at him he got incredibly shy. It was so sweet.

Is this all for me???



Really, you shouldn't have.



No, really, stop.



It was a wonderful celebration that resulted in a very spoiled (but blessed) little boy. And the fun thing is that it will be like his birthday all over again when the cast comes off -- because all the fun presents have had to be put away while we try to stay a little more couch bound! :) Thanks to all who were a part of the celebration -- through presents, phone calls, cards, and your presence. We love you!

April odds and ends

Ok, I promised a little update on a few things from life pre-cast. We have had a busy spring and I wanted to at least put up a few pics from some of our fun.

Will's friend Dylan had his 3rd birthday party in April. This is the first birthday we have been able to celebrate with Dylan because they have been living in Dubai. We had so much fun! The kids had a dinosaur dig and it was definitely Will's favorite part of the party. He kept telling everyone that he had "dinosaur bones" the rest of the day. Ever since dinosaurs have been a new favorite around here - thanks Krissy!





The next weekend started a whirlwind of activity around here with a visit from Grandma! My mom and Nick came to visit the last weekend of April and Will was a spoiled little boy! Somehow the whole weekend went by without me taking any pictures of the trio -- I'm not really sure how that happened. Maybe because they were off having all their fun without us! They took a trip to the zoo while we worked, and then to a boat festival on Saturday. Sunday they were awesome at helping us get the yard ready for the big birthday party...it was a crazy busy and fun weekend!

During the same weekend Todd did his 2nd 100 mile bike ride, the Shiner GHASP. This time he convinced our friend Chris to ride as well. It was a beautiful day for a ride and I think the guys had a good time together -- although I think the ladies had the better ride to Shiner in my opinion. :) Mom and Nick stayed in Houston with Will and Melissa, Becky, and I drove to Shiner to cheer the guys on and pick them up. There wasn't a whole lot to do along the way, but we found ways to entertain ourselves!

This cheerleading is hard work -- we had to stop for a corn dog at the Dairy Delite!



Ahhh...ice cold Shiners while we wait. And did you know you can drink beer while you shop in Shiner? A dangerous combo!



At the finish line --- SO proud of you guys!



Well there's a few of the odds and ends from our lives -- and I promise a great birthday week post in the near future! In the meantime. think good healing thoughts for our little cucumber!

Where there's a Will...

It hasn't taken long for this little guy to figure out how to get around! Less than a week in the cast and he's already crawling around. He's getting braver every day -- which is a little nerve racking for us, but we're also glad to see him getting back to his old self a little. We've definitely watched more TV in the last week than we have his whole life, that's for sure!

A Mother's Day to remember...

Well...there are a million fun things that I have gotten behind on posting, and my plan was to catch up last Sunday and post all kinds of great stuff from the last month. Will went to a friend's birthday party, Mom came to visit, Todd's 100 mile bike ride, Jess came to visit, and most importantly, Will's birthday and birthday party. And I do promise to get all of that posted. However, remember the "oh, I'll get caught up Sunday night" comment? Yeah, apparently the universe had other plans for us.

Sunday morning Will was playing in the TV room while we were waiting around to take Jess to the airport. He had taken the drawers out of the TV stand and was using them to play with on the floor. He was climbing in and out of them like he has done a hundred times before when...he tripped. And fell. Apparently in the completely wrong position.

Here's the infamous box...looks harmless enough, right?



I scooped him up and was trying to figure out what exactly had happened. My gut told me that he broke his leg, but I was trying to talk myself out of it. Yes, he was upset, but we could get him calmed down if we held him still. Then you moved and he cried again. This went on for about an hour until it was time to take my sister to the airport. When we put him in the car, he was great -- talking, playing, no big deal. So we decided to take Jess to the airport, but would take him in to urgent care when we got back and they were open. As soon as we lifted him out of the car, he screamed again. Urgent care told us they couldn't do xrays, so they sent us to the ER. And the fun really got started...

Long story short (or at least shorter) we discovered at the ER that he had fractured his femur. We were sent to Texas Children's where we ended up spending the night on the ortho floor after Will was taken to the OR (at 2 you also get anesthesia so they can set your leg...good times!) around midnight. When you are two you can't have pins in your leg, so Will is now sporting a very stylish John Deere green spica cast for the next 4-6 weeks. Luckily he was asleep when they took him to the OR and fell right back to sleep afterwards, so I think he missed all the middle of the night excitement.

My little man posing for an early morning pic the next morning while we waited to be released from the hospital.



Some of the popular questions right now...

Can he ride in a car seat?
No, because he can't sit up. They gave us a harness that resembles what you would wear to jump out of an airplane that hooks into the car so he can lay flat in the back seat.

I think the sunglasses really add to the ensemble, don't you?



How do you change his diaper?
Only one hip is covered up, so you can wrap the diaper on one side and sort of push it through to keep it in place on the other side. Then you have to put a second diaper on over the top to make sure everything stays in place. They were using these huge cover up over the top at the hospital, but we've found that pull-ups that are a size larger actually work better.

Can he stand up?
He can if he is supported. Right now he hasn't figured out how to hold up all the weight of the cast -- it's about 5 lbs. But he's already tried to walk and crawl, scoot, etc so I don't think it will be long before he finds a way. In fact, as I was finishing this post, he has figured out how to crawl today. Videos will follow. :)

How's he doing?
He's actually great. We have the best babysitter in the world and she was dying to get a hold of him and take care of him so we could go back to work. Every day is an adventure as he (and we) find new ways to do things. In a lot of ways it is like having an infant again, he's just very verbal with his demands now. :) We go back to the ortho doctor next week, so hopefully we'll get a better idea of a timeline then.

Still a cheeseball for a picture -- my friend calls him the little cucumber. :)



Thank you SO much to those of you who have called, sent gifts, and come over to visit. We love you all so much and are very thankful to have such great people in our lives. We'll try and keep everyone posted via the blog and facebook as much as possible throughout this new adventure.