Halloween

Here are a few pictures of our girls in their Halloween costumes. Elsie was a pteranadon again and Alice was a little lady bug. We had a ward Halloween party with a trunk or treat the weekend before Halloween.

 Hanging out at our car after the trunk or treat. If you look really close you can see a little lady bug in the trunk looking through her candy.

 Our one pumpkin this year that Alan (my hero) carved. Keep an eye out for next year's pumpkins. They are going to be epic to make up for this year...

 Halloween night. Still a pterandon and lady bug, just a little fatter. Gotta love Wisconsin's cold Halloween nights. Alan took them out trick or treating while I stayed home and answered the door for all 7 trick or treaters that came to our door.

Painting Pumpkins

This was the fated night I cut my hand, so these pictures were lost in oblivion for a little while. Here is our proof that not all of our pumpkin efforts went badly this year.

The orange pumpkin Alice is painting was grown in our garden. Not bad for a 25 cent seed packet. Elsie picked out her white one from a local pumpkin patch.

New cousin

The girls had a baby cousin born early this morning. They are very excited and sang this little Happy Birthday song for him.

Finding Happiness

-When Elsie came wandering into our room at 6am, we told her it was still bedtime and to go back to sleep. Now that it is still dark out, she believed us and actually went back to sleep.

-I went to my orthopedic specialist yesterday and he took the stitches out of my hand. He said everything is healing wonderfully and I can finally get my hand wet now that the stitches are out. That means that this morning I was finally able to shower without my hand wrapped in plastic wrap with two grocery bags tied on it. I love all of the precautions that the surgical center takes, but it felt good to finally wash the surgeon's signature off of my arm.

-Alice is not allergic to peanuts! Elsie had her annual testing yesterday and they tested Alice as well. We are still waiting on the exact numbers to come back from Elsie's blood work, but the doctor was optimistic that she will eventually grow out of it.

-My physical therapist's office is attached to one of the local gyms. It is a really nice gym with childcare facilities. The office has a deal with the gym that their patients can use the childcare when they come in for therapy. Elsie and Alice went today for the first time. Most of the attendants were pulling crying children off of their moms so they could go to the gym. With me, they were handing me crying children because they wanted to keep playing.

-Our car was rear ended Monday night. We were all together in the car driving home from dinner. We were driving down a busy road when the car in front of us stopped at a green light. Alan braked suddenly and avoided hitting them, the car behind us braked and barely avoided hitting us, but the car after that was merging and didn't see the brake lights. Looking at the other two cars I can't help but feel we had divine protection. The car behind us was totalled with both the front and back completely smashed in. The third car hit so hard the airbags deployed and the front was crumpled in really bad. Both drivers were unhurt, but both cars had to be towed away. We drove away from the accident with stiff necks for Alan and I (the girls were perfectly fine in their car seats) and our bumper a little knocked out of place.

-Last, but not least, this guy makes me really happy.

Waking Up

This week has gone by in a vicodin induced haze... I have stopped taking the major pain killers today and have switched to regular over-the-counter meds, and suddenly the world is a bright and sunny place again.

The surgery on Monday to fix my flexor tendons was a success. Instead of giving me general anaesthesia and putting me all the way under, they gave me a nerve block in my right arm and just gave me a sedative for the surgery. They went in through my right armpit and deadened the nerves until my whole arm fell asleep. The nurse gave me something to help me "relax" and I thought the whole process was hilarious. I had absolutely no feeling or control from the shoulder down; it was a very weird "phantom limb" experience.

 The surgery went perfectly and both flexor tendons in my pinky are reattached. My arm was dead to the world for the next 15 hours or so, but that meant there was no pain. Once the nerve block wore off I had to start taking the heavy stuff. Wonderful ward members took my children while Alan was at work all week and I spent my time on the couch sleeping and watching "Once Upon A Time". That show is already a little out there, but on vicodin it is pretty trippy.

The kids stayed home with me yesterday while my friend Jennifer came over to help. They have been doing well being farmed out to different people's houses, but I could tell it was wearing on them. It was good to have them home. Today I am flying solo, and it's going ok so far. Now that my head is clear it makes things a lot easier. My hand still hurts, but I'm managing most things one handed. It may be 1 o'clock and we are all still in jammies and their hair isn't done, but they've been fed, loved, and are down for naps. I'll take my victories where I can get them.

I started Occupational Therapy on Wednesday. My hand is now in a removable splint and I have exercises to do with my finger every hour. It doesn't feel good, but it is nice to be able to move it. I have an appointment on Tuesday with my doctor to (hopefully) get the stitches taken out.

And that's what's going on in my neck of the woods. Life is moving on. Alan will probably drag out the Christmas decorations this weekend. We made Christmas Countdowns out of the kids Halloween candy last night. Things may happen a little slower with one hand, but we're still trucking along.