I survived

my final exam that was supposed to be over 23 chapters. It was worth 200 points so I was thinking it would be be 50 to 100 questions...nope 26 questions. Each question was worth at least 6 points. I feel pretty confident but am anxious to get my final grade for the class.

Braxton went to the orthopedic surgeon follow up. The doctor was very happy with how he was moving and using his arm so he didn't do any xrays. Braxton was happy about that. The doctor said that Braxton is about 90% healed so we have to be cautious the next two weeks.

Arianna is completely potty trained! She goes in and goes all by herself. She finally learned to pull her pants down by herself and then we setup a step stool to the potty and she can do it all by herself. We are very proud of her and happy to not clean up any more pee/poop accidents. She is my youngest one yet at 23 months to be potty trained. No more Diapers, although we still do pull ups at bedtime (not naptime though). Although she is starting to wake up dry in the morning as well! This morning she was awake in her bed for 30 minutes before I got her out (she was just playing), since I forgot that she would need to go potty. When I went in I figured she would be wet for sure but she was completely dry and ran to the potty.

Tomorrow is the day...

Tomorrow morning I head to my math class to take my final exam. Then I am off for the summer. I can't wait. I am taking Allied Math which is Medical math. I do not like math and it isn't my strong suit..or so I thought. It isn't my favorite subject but I have done very well in this class. As of last week with only my final and my internet project not graded I had a 97%. I am excited to see my final grade. I didn't think I would ever say that.

Tomorrow afternoon we head back to the orthopedic surgeon with Braxton. I have no concerns about him. He thankfully has healed wonderfully. He has full range of movement and doesn't complain about anything hurting unless he is in a mood and remembers it hurt before. The surgeon told us that as long as Braxton was moving it and using it he wouldn't even do an xray when we come back unless I wanted him to. No thank you, I don't want to rack up our insurance cost and our medical bills...if it was necessary that would be a different story.

A very busy day...time to study tonight though.

The differences in the kids

Well I have decided to do this post again now that Arianna is older and can participate in it better. Personalities amaze me because they develop when the child is so young. Arianna has such a huge personality that started developing when she was just little. Here is my first post about it. I hope to be able to add on some now that the children are all a little older.

Makenzi Anne: was so quiet and content from the second she was born. I will never forget when she born and they laid her on my stomach, she never cried but her little eyes just scanned the room. When they took her from me she screamed bloody murder. Makenzi talks a lot but she isn't loud, she loves to read, write, draw, color, and do crafts. Makenzi has some anxiety issues that she has to really work through especially when they flare up but overall she is easy going. She is a child that will use her words to express her feelings. She isn't one to hit, push or be mean in general. She is very sensitive to what others say about her family and friends. She is so easy to discipline because is so easy to reason with.

Braxton Charles: is a child that is completely opposite of his sister. Braxton was never very content when he was a baby. I remember when he was born he started crying before he was fully born and the midwife laughed that they rarely see that, he must have been mad to leave the warmth. Well Braxton was mad from that day forward until he learned to crawl at 9 months of age. He is loud all the time, he never sits still. He always has a plan in action whether that is a good or bad plan. He is always thinking and trying to figure stuff out. He is a major story teller. Stories that you can tell are totally made up but he has an amazing imagination, right now stories are okay. Braxton loves to play jokes and be teased. That is his favorite thing ever. He teases everybody. He loves tractors, trucks and getting dirty. He is extremely hard to discipline because he is stubborn. We always joked that he was made from a different mold...then came the baby. Braxton loves school but could care less about learning his letters, numbers, etc. It just isn't his thing.

Arianna Mary: well this little girl a different make. We joke that God needs to send us the manual because we don't know what to do with her. Arianna was so quiet and easy going when she was little, up until she could walk. She got her legs under her and she totally changed. Arianna grew a voice box at this time as well. She became extremely loud and mouthy. She screams as she runs through the house, you say something to her and she will turn around and sass back. Arianna is extremely stubborn and hard to discipline. She is very emotional as well. If she is in the wrong mood and look at her she breaks out in big ole alligator tears and will sob for an hour because of it. Arianna is 23 months old now and has a 5 mile long list of words she can say but she refuses to use them...she would rather just screech at us. Ahna thinks she rules the house. She is very quick to start kicking, hitting, pushing, and biting others when she wants something and they have it. She will stand up for herself though unlike Makenzi who will let everybody run right over her. Braxton was also quick to hit but not as bad as Arianna.

I love to see the kids personality to develop over time. How they are different in so many ways yet similar in many ways as well. Arianna and Braxton are the most similar to each other, and Arianna and Makenzi are so different from each other.

Tallon Update

Well life is busy but going great. Here is our family update.

Arianna: is potty trained. We started at 22 months, my earliest one yet. It has been great. She still will have a bad day here and there but a lot of that is that is tired, I get lax in remembering that she is potty trained, or I am not watching her close to see her run to the bathroom. Arianna has also become a bitter lately. She has even drawn blood on her brother a couple of times. Now all she has to do is show her teeth and the older two scream and run. Ahna can say lots of words but she just doesn't use them much. We have to force her to talk in order to get what she wants. She is stubborn.

Braxton: is doing very well. He is almost 2 weeks post accident. He still asks to wear the sling which I am shocked about since the surgeon told us we would be lucky to get him to wear it one full week since that bone heals so fast. I think that Braxton is afraid to use that arm for fear of it hurting, or for fear of losing sympathy from everybody. we have caught him carrying a bucket full of water using both hands, he can now use the bathroom without assistance (that one made him angry but he couldn't hold on while sitting on the potty), he can buckle into the van by himself again (which really bugged me since he has been able to do it for a year now). I am glad that he is still wearing the sling because it just helps stabilize it and help it heal better. Braxton is loving preschool this year. I am debating on where to send him next year. I would like to get him into a 4 day program but I have to figure out transportation 2 of those days since I won't be here to do it.

Makenzi: is glad that Spring Break is over and back to school. Over Spring break her anxiety was at a major high. She had horrible trouble going to bed (some nights it would take up to 5 hours). She would scream, kick the walls, come down stairs. It was awful. As soon as school was back in session she was fine. What will summer break be like? I am scared actually. Makenzi is going to be starting T-ball here soon and she is very excited. I will be spending my nights at the ball fields. Hopefully we will have great weather and be able to enjoy it this year.

Me: I am busy with the kids and school. I got into my Anatomy and Physiology class that I need to validate into my PTA program come fall. I was excited about that. My math class is almost over with this semester. I am happy about that but thankfully it wasn't horrible. I am seriously considering double majoring because I am going to have a long waitlist and need to do something. I also plan to take a Health Unit Coordinator class so I can always do that while I wait too and if I wanted I could do that on an occasional or part time base if I want to. Scott is keeping busy at work as well.

1 week update

Well it is now 1 week and 2 days after Braxton's accident. He is doing extremely well. He uses his left hand a lot actually even with it in the sling. The doctor had warned us that he would do that and it was okay for him to do it. He wants to see Braxton using it since that means it is healing. Braxton is in no pain with it at all anymore which is great. Although he is still very nervous about us doing anything with that arm. Dressing him is still scary for Braxton because he is afraid we are going to move his arm. Thankfully he doesn't fight us on wearing the sling either, he just does it.

How blessed are you?

I know that I can take for granted how blessed I truly am. It is easy to forget the blessings we have when life gets busy.

My life is busy..3 children ages 6 and under, one is in kindergarten, one is in preschool, and the third one is a totally different mold. I am back in college all while my husband is driving semi. Yet I am so thankful for all of it, yet at times I forget the blessing it all is.

This past week was very rough...so was our February and beginning of March. It is our year but I am hopeful the rough patches are done for the year.

This past week my 3 year old niece had heart surgery. She was born with a hole in her heart that never closed off. She went and had all of her tests done on Wednesday and everything went as planned. On Thursday she went into surgery at 730am, was out of the OR at 9am, and was awake by 10am. She did so well. Josie was discharged by 2pm and on her way home. We are so blessed that she came out of surgery so well and will be 100% before we know it.

Then Braxton's accident and we are so blessed that he had no life threatening injuries. His accident could have been so much worse yet he walked out with just a broken collar bone and lots of bruises and abrasions. I am so blessed to have my son alive and with us. I kept thinking over Easter weekend how blessed we were not to be spending our time at the hospital.

I am blessed that my husband has a job, that we have a roof over our heads, clothes on our back and food on the table. We are very blessed and thankful for it all.

So my question to you is how are you blessed?

Another Scary day...

This time it was Braxton. On Thursday, we were at my parent's house for the afternoon. It was beautiful out and we promised the kids we would go to the cabin once the girls got home from school. The girls arrived at my parents around 330 and we headed out on the four wheelers right away. My mom was in front of my with some kids with her and I was on the next four wheeler with Makenzi. As we were driving we came up to the cement on their property and I noticed one of the boys started to lose their balance. It happened so fast I had no clue whichboy it was. I watched the boy start to fall but he couldn't catch himself. He seemed to pick up speed as he fell off but I couldn't figure it out. He flipped end for end through the air and came down hard onto the cement. I bailed off my four wheeler to hurry and get to the child...at this point I realized it was Braxton and the adrenaline was running full speed. My four wheeler was still rolling but Makenzi was able to stop it. My mom screamed back to me that he hit his head really hard. When I got to Braxton he was sitting up so I did a quick exam and scooped him up. My parent's neighbors came running to see if they could help.

Once I had him in my arms I started asking him what hurts. All he could do was cry and scream. We quickly noticed he was holding his left arm perfectly still. He had several abrasions on his knee and toes (the first day in shorts and barefoot of course). His arm was turning black and blue quickly. We put him in my dad's truck and had my dad take him back to the barn. We were hopeful this would calm him down so we could do a full assessment on his injuries. It didn't work. We decided at 415 it was time to take him to the hospital for evaluation. At this point we knew he broke something in his arm/shoulder area.

About 2/3 of the way to the hospital Braxton vomited. My mom was driving so she threw on the four ways and picked up speed. We were now afraid we were dealing with head and internal injuries. We got to the ER and we were taken right back. Our pediatrician was actually doing an ER rotation so she came in and evaluated him. She felt he definitely broke something in his shoulder area so xrays were ordered. She was confident that there was no head injuries but we needed to observe him for awhile. She checked him for internal injuries as well but felt he was okay but would observe him. During the exam we quickly discovered that Braxton had marks all over his chest where we feel the tire of the four wheeler actually grabbed his shirt and helped him pick up momentum before in slammed into the cement. We also discovered he had a big abrasion across the side of his head. He had it from his forehead to 3/4 of the way back his head. His hair covered that one up.

Braxton was dosed with an extremely high dose of Motrin so we could do some xrays without causing a lot of pain. He had xrays done and was back to his room by 5:50. They were moving fast to see what exactly we were dealing with. After his xrays he was able to nap for over an hour..with being woke 2 times during that hour. At 7pm he was discharged with orders to go see the Orthopedic surgeon the next day. They gave him Tylenol with Codeine which did not agree with him at all..he ended up getting sick on the way home.

We arrived home at about 845pm and I got Braxton snuggled in on the couch for the night. My mom brought the girls home from my sister in laws house to see Braxton along with his cousins who witnessed the accident. We had some scared kids. They knew that Braxton was hurt bad and they wanted to see him to make sure he was okay. My brother stopped down that night to see him and actually got Braxton to laugh and smile. That was a huge relief to me, it confirmed that he was going to be just fine. Before that Braxton wouldn't even walk or move...everything hurt. Scott got home about an hour after us. He headed home from Ohio when he got the call because at that time we had no idea the extent of Braxton's injuries.

That night Braxton slept like a rock. He was so tired. I woke him every 2 hours to check him and every 6 hours to give pain medicine. He did great.

On Friday we took Braxton to the orthopedic surgeon. He was awesome with Braxton and totally understanding that accidents happen. The ER staff wasn't so understanding...they made us feel horrible. He showed us the xray of Braxton's clavicle (collar bone). It was snapped right in half and the bones were laying on top of each other. He informed us that Braxton would not need surgery but would need to wear his sling for the next 3 weeks or as long as he would wear it. No running, jumping, or rough housing until it is healed. They also checked his shoulder and the rest of his arm for any injuries but everything checked out great. The doctor informed us that in 1 week Braxton would be acting 100% better. Well we are 2 days in and besides him wearing the sling you wouldn't know anything was wrong for the most part.

Today Braxton was sitting on the floor playing with his trucks and he tipped over (balance must not be very good..hehe) and landed on his shoulder. He screamed bloody murder and asked for pain medicine right away..too bad he couldn't have any. He is doing better though after that fall even!!

We are EXTREMELY thankful that he only has a broken collar bone. It could have been so much worse, we are truly blessed. Accidents happen and they happen fast but I am so glad his guardian angels were working over time Thursday and I am sure all the prayers we got helped as well. Braxton Charles we love you!!