A new chapter is about to begin. Chris got offered a job in Knoxville, Tennessee, and he accepted. We will be relocating there. His job will start December 15th, which means he is going to go down alone while the boys and I stay here to sell the house. Most likely, the kids and I will move in with my parents so that the house can be clean and ready to show at all times. Chris is looking to rent a room or apartment (or if we can find someone who knows someone who would be willing to open their home to him, that would be fantastic), and we will be apart for a while.
God is orchestrating the details of this process. We are trusting in Him to work it out (otherwise I would be a mental case - even more of one, that is). And coming off of the Women's Retreat, I definitely feel that I have come closer to Him and can lean on Him more. So it will be an interesting few weeks, months, and beyond, as we move down South - away from my family - and start a new life there. But God has a plan, and there is peace in that.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Monday, November 17, 2008
Joshua's Gems
So Josh was sitting on the potty the other day, and I was in his room picking out clothes or something. George was somewhere else, and I hear Josh call from the bathroom in a little sing-song voice (think of the commercial for Ricola cough drops) "George-ua....George-ua!" Chris and I will sometimes call Josh like that - Josh-ua - so we just cracked up hysterically. So of course then he kept doing it since he knew we thought it was so funny. And when I went in to check on him he said "I'm silly. Right, Mommy?"
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
3..2..1..Cast Off!
OK, so I know that was cheesy, but I don't care! It's gone! Here's the story (from a Facebook note I wrote).
***
Hallelujah! It's gone! And my son finally smells good. I need to post the pics and video clips that I took to document the process. Maybe soon. Anyway...
We went in this morning, and the x-rays showed that he had a lot of new bone growth (yay!), so he got the OK to get the cast off. The doc told us that even though Josh might be excited to get the cast off, he would probably get angry once it was actually coming off (it seems that many children scream during the entire removal process). He also said that he would be really scared to use his leg(s) - probably wouldn't even want to try for 2-3 days. And that it would take about 4 weeks before he was able to use his legs normally (and might still be walking with a limp even then). So I won't be calling to have them come pick up the wheelchair tomorrow or anything.
So the nurse (tech?) comes in and shows Josh the cast cutter, and you could tell he was really nervous. Once she started cutting, he cried for just a minute. But once he realized it really didn't hurt at all (and actually kind of tickled), he watched, fascinated. He had a few moments of concern (when she was cutting close to the diaper area), but overall he did really awesome. The nurse was really impressed with how calm he was - she said the last kid she cut a cast off of screamed the whole time. My Joshy, such the good little patient. There was another kid who came into the room next to us as we were getting Josh ready to go, and he started screaming from the get-go.
When we got home, he sat on the couch for a while. Then Chris gave him a hair cut and my overachieving, energetic child decided to try and walk (with Daddy's help). He had already been moving his leg some in the car on the way home as well. He took a nice long bath, and after that he was scooting around on the floor for a bit (like when he was in the cast). At one point he ended up rolling over and getting up on his knees, but that hurt him pretty good. I was afraid he'd try to do too much. He took a long nap, and enjoyed the evening sans cast. He still wants to sleep on his back and have extra pillows in the bed (he usually is a tummy sleeper), so we're just trying to make him as comfortable as possible with getting him back on his feet.
Thanks to all who have prayed us through this - God is good!
***
And now for pictures:
***
Hallelujah! It's gone! And my son finally smells good. I need to post the pics and video clips that I took to document the process. Maybe soon. Anyway...
We went in this morning, and the x-rays showed that he had a lot of new bone growth (yay!), so he got the OK to get the cast off. The doc told us that even though Josh might be excited to get the cast off, he would probably get angry once it was actually coming off (it seems that many children scream during the entire removal process). He also said that he would be really scared to use his leg(s) - probably wouldn't even want to try for 2-3 days. And that it would take about 4 weeks before he was able to use his legs normally (and might still be walking with a limp even then). So I won't be calling to have them come pick up the wheelchair tomorrow or anything.
So the nurse (tech?) comes in and shows Josh the cast cutter, and you could tell he was really nervous. Once she started cutting, he cried for just a minute. But once he realized it really didn't hurt at all (and actually kind of tickled), he watched, fascinated. He had a few moments of concern (when she was cutting close to the diaper area), but overall he did really awesome. The nurse was really impressed with how calm he was - she said the last kid she cut a cast off of screamed the whole time. My Joshy, such the good little patient. There was another kid who came into the room next to us as we were getting Josh ready to go, and he started screaming from the get-go.
When we got home, he sat on the couch for a while. Then Chris gave him a hair cut and my overachieving, energetic child decided to try and walk (with Daddy's help). He had already been moving his leg some in the car on the way home as well. He took a nice long bath, and after that he was scooting around on the floor for a bit (like when he was in the cast). At one point he ended up rolling over and getting up on his knees, but that hurt him pretty good. I was afraid he'd try to do too much. He took a long nap, and enjoyed the evening sans cast. He still wants to sleep on his back and have extra pillows in the bed (he usually is a tummy sleeper), so we're just trying to make him as comfortable as possible with getting him back on his feet.
Thanks to all who have prayed us through this - God is good!
***
And now for pictures:
Today's the day!
If only I'd known he could fit in his little chair a few weeks ago...
He was determined to get around - by the last couple of days he was trying to walk (with assistance, of course. Well, mostly.)
The last time having to wear the cast in the car seat.
Wheeling him in...
He wanted to play on the floor of the Dr.'s office immediately.
The X-Ray:
Feeling really nervous now...
The tech demonstrating the blade to show it won't hurt.
He cried at first...
But once he realized it didn't hurt, he was fine! It actually tickled him.
Now he's watching intently. Plus she just cut off the dowel rod, which he got to keep as a souvenir.
Now for the pliers.
And step two - cutting through the cotton.
Look Mommy! It's my foot!
Ewwww.
The remains. We could have taken it all home with us, but I thought a picture was enough. And the souvenir rod.
The lollipop reward.
The result of 6 weeks worth of no lotion:
Here's a better look.
Daddy gave him a hair cut post cast removal and pre-bath. Isn't he cute? He even tried to stand up and take a few steps. Already!
Can't get enough of the walking - so he used Mamaw as his walker to get him to the bathroom.
Just look at that face.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
The Pumpkin Patch
So a MOPS friend of mine has a U-Pick Pumpkin patch that she and her husband run, so we went there a couple of weeks ago. There's just something special about picking out a pumpkin from its home on the ground rather than a store shelf. The boys had a great time, and we ended up with a nice family of pumpkins.
The pumpkin stand (so cute!):
The hayride that took us out to the patch:
Can you believe I forgot to bring jackets? I had only one (Josh's), so my mom used it to cover the baby's ears. He was perfectly content in the carrier because he loves chewing on the strap.
George really wanted to pick up a big pumpkin, but it proved to be more difficult than he thought.
What do you think of this one?
The wagon pulls double duty.
Despite the lack of pumpkin picking ability, Josh was delighted to find that there was something he liked even better.
Couldn't see it? It was this. A bug. What could be better?
A family photo op. 
And the boys with their pumpkins, back at home.
My pumpkin carving prowess on display (don't be too impressed - I actually messed up on it and a couple of days after carving we had an evening with strong winds and the face fell out of it. Oops!)
We enjoyed some toasted pumpkin seeds from this pumpkin as well. I would show you the other pumpkins, but we did not end up carving them as planned (Chris' was going to be Larry the Cucumber and the boys' would have been the French Peas - hadn't figured out Blake's yet). Maybe next year we'll do a better job of planning the pumpkin carving activities.
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