A Day at the Pool

We aren’t supposed to give GaryTodd a bath for an entire week… He is allowed to get his foot wet.  He can take a shower or run through the sprinkler, but the doctor doesn’t want us to let him soak it for long.  But this weekend was really hot weather and so beautifully sunny.  It was depressing to stay in the refrigerated house. 

When big sister Corissa called and asked us to join her by her pool, we couldn’t resist.  I was hoping that just being outside would be good for GaryTodd.  His foot is still painful, and he hasn’t put any weight on his leg.  He also hasn’t been very interested in moving his foot much to stretch it out at all. 

When we got to the pool, I was starting to think this wasn’t one of my better ideas.  GaryTodd tried in the beginning to keep his foot out the water.

But by keeping his foot out of the water restricted his ability to play.  And we were starting to get a little frustrated.  Well, actually, I was getting a little frustrated, but GaryTodd decided it was okay to keep his foot in the pool.  He was fine. 

Fearing infection, I started trying to come up with an alternative.  I was looking around and there were a few “floaty” toys in and around the pool.  Because this pool is at the apartment complex where Corissa lives, I didn’t know if these toys belonged to the complex or if they belonged to someone visiting the pool.

Corissa found a toy that would be the perfect toy for a boy that needed to keep one of his feet relatively dry.

GaryTodd ended up having a fantastic time.  He was able to be in the middle of the pool and the center of attention.  Corissa and her roommate had a couple of friends visiting, and then GaryTodd’s other older sister Morgan came to play too.  They played for a long time in the pool. 

It was a great day, until we had to go home.  GaryTodd wasn’t ready to leave.  When I asked him later if he had fun, he told me “NO.” 

I didn’t believe that for a minute.  “So you don’t want to go visit Corissa again next weekend?”

“I don’t want to visit.  I want to stay there FOREVER!”

The Pins Are Out!!!

Two months after the accident, GaryTodd is finally without a cast.  Today we went to the doctor and he took out the pins. 

GaryTodd wasn’t conscious for the procedure so he didn’t feel a thing.  Of course it is more painful than I thought it would be to start walking on that leg.  I think I had built it up in my mind that he would be running into the house.

The doctor has told us that the bones are still healing, and he shouldn’t run or jump for the next three weeks.  I told the doctor that I might be able to hold him at bay for a week.  You can tell how excited he is by this picture.  And the pins are still in his leg.  (The other pin is on the other side of his leg.)

The doctor also told us that he shouldn’t take a bath for at least a week.  After 24 hours he should be okay to take a shower, but no baths. 

GaryTodd doesn’t take showers, so all he heard was he was under doctor’s orders not to bathe.  That made him even more excited. 

When the nurse came out to get us, she let us know that all the nurses were lining up to adopt their favorite patient.  He was making all of them feel special, and keeping all of them with smiles on their faces.  They just loved him.

He was having a good day.  The last cast was on the longest and he was tired of it.  It was starting to fall apart too.

For being such a brave boy about getting his pins out, we told him we would take him to McDonalds.  This really isn’t out of the ordinary, but at least it made me and Todd feel better about splurging.

He is very sweet.  When we were asking him what he wanted for his meal, he told us his order and then made sure we were going to buy his sister Seanelle a meal too. 

I was really excited for GaryTodd to start walking again.  He’s getting heavy.  We even made sure to take a full pair of shoes with us so he could walk home.  But I didn’t realize that he would have pain and swelling from the removal of the pins, and that his ankle would be stiff and sore from lack of movement for the last 2 months.

I’m not discouraged because I know it will only be a matter of days when he will be walking around again.  His sister was very tearful though because when her little brother wasn’t walking, she thought the doctor made a mistake and didn’t fix the leg.

Seanelle was also very concerned that taking the pins out made him bleed a little bit.  It is very hard on her right now.  I am certain tomorrow will be better with her too.  She just wants to be able to play with her best friend again.

The first time I see GaryTodd walking on his own, I will be sure to add a picture.  I feel like he is just learning to walk… following the kid around with a camera so I don’t miss out on anything…

Camping Would Be Better If….

The guys all decided to come home early from camping.  Each of them said they had a great time, but just wanted to come home early.  I don’t know about the rest of them, but I think Todd missed indoor plumbing, a nice bed, and climate control. 

He came home “surprised” that he got a sunburn.  My husband is such a camper that he apparently didn’t realize that would happen when he was out on a lake without a shirt.  He probably thought that he was safe since it was the first really nice weekend of the year.

His weekend didn’t start off all that well… but did get much better once he started using the “Off” bug repellent instead of the sun-block SPF 50.  He apparently figured out how to get the bugs from eating him, but then forgot about the sun…

We are glad to have him home.  Seanelle couldn’t figure out why he didn’t want to live with us this weekend, and I think GaryTodd was feeling our house was a little testosterone imbalanced.  We had to do a little shopping, and that wasn’t GaryTodd’s idea of fun.  So we compromised (which means I bribed him) and we went to his favorite bookstore, and then to McDonald’s afterwards.

Tomorrow Todd and I get to go shopping and actually purchase what I was looking for today.  A new front-load washing machine.  Apparently if you use the wrong soap for over 10 years, it will ruin your machine.  When the technician asked me if I had read the instruction manual when I received my new machine, I told him it was about 14 years ago…  I don’t remember now if I read it or not.  Truth be told, I doubt I ever read it.  But I am not unhappy.  I abused that machine, and it has lasted me a long time.  The next one I will not abuse so badly… I’ll at least use the correct type of soap.

The sad thing about this is, I really wanted to purchase a new water heater.  But we will have to wait on that purchase now. 

Here's A Current Picture of Me & Todd

This picture was taken at the graduation party we attended. I don’t know at what point Todd and I started to color coordinate…

It was nice to get out for something fun… but I discovered that sitting up for long periods of time is really something my back isn’t quite ready for yet.

I was very happy to see that this picture turned out well. I was really expecting it to look like I was wincing from the pain of trying to lean over toward Todd.

I have had a lot of progress and can move around pretty good most of the day, but I still feel pain in my back. I am able to find comfortable positions that allow me to be pain free, but it doesn’t last long.

Todd is going camping this weekend and taking Gabriel. They are going with my brother and Todd’s brother—in-law. They are all campers… but Todd is not.

When Todd and I were getting to know each other, the thing that brought us closer together was how we felt about camping. He asked me if I liked to camp and I gave him my standard line, “My idea of roughing it is getting my 10am wake up call for the Continental breakfast.”

I get eaten alive by mosquitoes and anything else that bites. And I don’t know why anyone would rather sleep on rocks… I’m sure they will all have fun. I even think Todd will have fun, but he will probably be reminded why he hates camping… And lucky him… the following weekend he gets to do it all over again when he goes to the Men Are Pigs Assn campout.

My Sweetheart's sleeping habits

Greetings kids, I am Todd the husband of the creator and most often poster to this site. She is very funny and I am always intrigued by the topics she posts. You never know for sure what is going on in that head although very thoughtful and funny tends to lean to whacky side.

Would Rather Be Sleeping

I had a really good physical therapy appointment today.  What determines that it was really good?  Well, because I really pushed myself.  I was on a machine to help strengthen my back and one muscle group decided to tighten up and spasm during the workout.  I took a small break, but did as many repetitions as I could before the therapist came and told me it was time to get on the next machine.

I was also excited because when I was on the machine to strengthen the muscles in my neck, I discovered I was able to move my head back further than I have been able to move since the accident.  This gave me enough incentive to try to work that the best I could as well. 

So why I am I telling you this?  Because I am exhausted and I think tonight I could have fallen asleep by midnight.  And I would have, except my baby woke up from a nightmare.  I know that after reassuring him that he is safe and loved there really isn’t much I can do.  But then he is awake, and when I tell him to go back to sleep he tells me, “But I don’t want to sleep.  Sleeping makes me have bad dreams.”

I can’t really argue with that.  If he isn’t sleeping, he isn’t having bad dreams.  He is such a good boy, and I know that he will wake up in time to say ‘Good-bye’ to his daddy when he leaves for work.  And even though he will be tired, he will be a good boy and still make me laugh throughout the day.  He hasn’t waken up from a bad dream for several days, and I decided to stay up with him tonight. 

I don’t normally have to stay up with him after a nightmare, so although I am tired tonight, I will make the sacrifice if it is going to make him feel better.  And although it won’t have an immediate pay off, he won’t even be aware I am making a sacrifice, and he won’t remember tomorrow what I have done for him, the overall payoff will be that when he gets older and is questioning who loves him in this world, he will know that his mother loves him – even if he doesn’t remember exactly why.

It isn’t as if I feel I need to inform you of this.  I only explain it so that I remind myself.  Tomorrow when I am irritable, I will be reminded why I decided to wait until he was sleeping before I went to bed.  And I can remind myself that being tired for a day was a small price to pay.

It Finally Happened!!!

Seanelle had gone to her friend’s birthday party, and finally lost her tooth. I thought she would have been excited enough to come home to show us, but she loves playing with her friends and being outside.

She didn’t get to stay for cake at her friend’s party. We picked her up and took her to a graduation party. She got to show off her tooth to everyone.

She met a lot of new friends and decided she was too busy for food or cake. GaryTodd was too busy for dinner too, but he took a break for cake.

It was really good for both of the kids, but GaryTodd was able to spend time outside today and just play for hours. He didn’t want to leave, and made me promise to come back all the time.

Yesterday he told me he wanted to play in the mud with his cast off. Well, it was a beautiful day, and there was a lack of mud, but you wouldn’t know it by looking at GaryTodd. It was a great day.

The Four Casts of GaryTodd...

The hospital took x-rays and confirmed GaryTodd's leg was broken. They didn't cast it, but referred us to doctor. They did wrap it, but it was more like a wrap for a sprain. This is shown in the picture on the left.

















In the picture on the right, this was his first real cast. He had wanted purple originally, but at the last minute chose to have green instead. When we went in for an appointment about a week later, we found out the bones had shifted out of alignment, and he would have to have surgery.


This picture of the boring white cast was taken just after surgery. GaryTodd now has 2 pins in his leg to help the bones stay aligned. When they are healed, the pins will be removed.
















GaryTodd finally got the purple cast he had wanted. When the white cast was removed he saw the pins sticking out. He would have been upset had it not been for getting a new purple cast.


When the purple cast was removed, GaryTodd chose to have an orange cast. Since it hurts when the nurse touches the pins, GaryTodd has now decided that he wants to keep the pins in forever. He doesn't want to hurt. He tries to negotiate this with the doctor.

GaryTodd has an appointment in 3 weeks to remove the cast, and the pins. They will then x-ray his leg. If everything heals correctly, he should be able to walk on his leg again.

Playful Conversation with GaryTodd

GaryTodd has been getting more and more active, and adventuresome. Earlier today, he had crawled downstairs and kept his dad entertained while dad was fixing dinner. (Which was really good wings...)

GaryTodd was making all kinds of sounds, so we started playing. I just wanted to share this little interaction.

Me: What sound does a cow make?

GaryTodd: MOOOoooooOOOo

Me: What sound does a cat make?

GaryTodd: mew...

Me: What sound does a jaguar make?

GaryTodd: RRRROOOOAAARRRRR!!!! (with an outstretched claw)


GaryTodd then said in a very quiet voice: "Can I play your computer? Ask me what makes that sound!"

Me: Okay. What makes that sound?

GaryTodd: "GARYTODD!!!"

We went upstairs and he got on my computer.

Be Careful of that Seanelle!!!

Today Seanelle came home from school with a little story, and I would like to share it with you.

She is so excited for her tooth to come out. She has been talking about how badly she wants her name on the "Tooth Chart" in her classroom. The gap in her teeth continues to widen, and the tooth is getting more loose, but just won't come out.

Today she was showing off her gap to her teacher, and her teacher said, "Seanelle! You better make sure you put your name on the Tooth Chart!"

Seanelle was beaming with pride while she was telling me this story. When I asked her if she put her name on the tooth chart, she knew by my expression that I wasn't really happy about this deception...

"Mom, I HAD to! My teacher TOLD me to put my name on the tooth chart, and I HAVE TO DO WHAT SHE SAYS!"

I couldn't help but laugh for such quick thinking, but asked her what she was going to do when her tooth really did fall out. She has thought this through. She responded, "I have to write my name every time a tooth comes out mom!"

Seanelle Is Impatiently Waiting...

This is Seanelle.... she still hasn't lost the tooth, but she wanted to show off the gap in her mouth. The tooth has really been moving over quite a bit to make space for the next to replace it. I have been trying to scare her about the next tooth being so huge that she is going to look like Spongebob Squarepants. (That is probably why she is trying to scare me with riding her bike with no hands...)

Seanelle doesn't care if she looks like Spongebob. She is just excited about losing her tooth. She needs it to come out before the end of school so she can write her name on the "tooth chart."

She said it would be really nice if the tooth fairy brought her "like, 10, 20, or 30 dollars..." I let her know that unfortunately for her, she has the same tooth fairy as Corissa and Morgan always had... a really broke one, not really very reliable, and really goofy...

"Oh.... darn it."
This picture is recycled from an earlier post, but I just wanted to show the difference in the teeth.

Seanelle is really funny. She smiles all the time, but sometimes she gets really goofy when she is in front of the camera. I have to take about 10 pictures before I get a decent one... And it is so difficult to get a candid shot of her or GaryTodd. If they see the camera out and ready, they immediately start posing and yelling, "CHEESE!!!"

"Look Mom! No Hands!!!"

Seanelle told me casually that she was outside riding her bike with no hands. I asked her if she did it by accident, "No mom! I was practicing it! Now I just take my hands off and ride without hands!!!" She is so excited.

I think I made her a little nervous because I insisted in having her ride the bike toward me so I could get a good picture.

She still has all her teeth... that loose tooth keeps getting looser, but is still attached. But we will see happens when Seanelle starts doing other tricks on her bike.

She wanted to lose the tooth first, but is still excited to be able to show off something new.

GaryTodd May 4th Update

Hello Everyone,

GaryTodd had his appointment today. He had more x-rays taken and the bone seems to be healing well. In 3 weeks we will go in and have the pins taken out. The doctor was concerned about GaryTodd’s discomfort while taking out the pins (which is apparently more painful for children because the pins don’t loosen up as they do in adults) so we are scheduling an outpatient appointment for him to go under anesthesia for a few minutes while the pins are removed.

This was really good news to me and Todd, but when GaryTodd had his cast removed and he saw those pins sticking out still, he had a different idea. He had decided that he would rather leave them in forever. When I asked him why, he was certain it would hurt to take them out. He would rather just keep them in. He is negotiating with the doctor about this in this picture. (Although, it looks like he is trying to offer a bribe.)

If his leg heals as anticipated, the doctor will let GaryTodd start walking as soon as the pins are out. The accident was just over 5 weeks ago, so although it will be 8 weeks before he will have walked, it will only be about 7 weeks since the surgery, which is a week earlier than anticipated.

He was given a long list of colors to choose from for his new cast, and he decided to go with bright orange. Morgan had a bright orange cast when she broke her arm several years ago. They are both pretty happy with his choice.

We asked if GaryTodd will need any type of physical therapy, and the doctor was certain that wouldn’t be an issue. Because GaryTodd is young and active, it won’t take any time at all for him to work out his leg.

So hopefully the next information will be GaryTodd walking on his own… along with a picture from the delayed birthday party!