Utah Trip - Part Four

Okay, enough with the broken bones and such. Too depressing and eventually expensive. Sheesh - we're going to need to start a savings account just for Spencer's medical expenses!

Saturday was the big day and the big reason we went out to Utah - it was my Grandma Roper's 80th birthday! Almost the entire Roper extended family gathered at my Uncle Delwyn and Aunt Becky's house, which is A LOT of people!

Kevin the photographer.

We started with a big group picture. I was holding Josh, and things were going fine until he got mad because I wouldn't let him pull Grandma's hair. (She was sitting in front of us.) Have you ever seen a Joshie tantrum? He flails and kicks and screams and generally acts like the 13 month old maniac he is. During the course of his tantrum he head-butted me quite hard. Kevin couldn't stop laughing and I couldn't stop the tears from welling in my eyes. (It didn't hurt that bad - it was just one of those times when you have no control over tearing up or not.) Hopefully I don't look too bad in the pictures, although I'm not sure that's realistic - I had tears in my eyes and a rather large red bruise on the side of my face. Thanks, Josh. What a great memory for posterity.

Grandma and her five children: (bottom, L-R) Bryce, Grandma, Valerie, (top, L-R) Teryl, ElRay (my dad), and Delwyn

Other than that, the party was great. We spent several hours talking, eating, eating, and talking. The kids played outside and wore each other out. I pawned Josh off on my cousins who don't have kids yet and really enjoyed myself!

Spencer shows Tim (my cousin) who's boss.

The highlight was singing Happy Birthday to Grandma around a table ablaze with 80 cupcakes, each with a candle on top. Cool idea, huh?


My grandma is so great! She is an incredible example of how to live a happy and righteous life. Happy birthday, Grandma! I love you!

Elbow Update

Just a quick update on Spencer:

A radiologist looked at Spencer's x-rays this morning. Apparently elbows are the hardest fractures to diagnose in little kids. Of course they are! Of course that's where Spencer got hurt! We Madsen's never take the easy route.

The doctor thinks there might be something wrong, so we're off to the orthopedist tomorrow for more x-rays and a possible cast. Kudos to Lance for pushing the issue along more quickly and getting the inside scoop from the doctors, since he works at Unity Healthcare. (I think his official title is "Lord and Master of All Things Computer - Cower, You Analog Infidels!", or something like that.) Too bad I couldn't convince him to use his powers for evil and get us an earlier appointment with the orthopedist.

Anywho, until tomorrow I'll keep hoping and praying that we don't have to get a cast, because for however long it's on I will have to:

• Get him dressed
• Help him with his pants when he goes potty
• Give him a sponge bath every night
• Have Josh in the shower with me because I won't be able to put him in the tub without Spencer getting extremely jealous and upset
• Help him get up and down from our tall kitchen chairs
• Much much more!

But there are a few silver linings:

• At least it's not summer. We won't have to miss any swimming or other fun summer activities
• Spencer will probably get to watch as much tv and play as much computer as he wants to (heaven for him!)
• I can't really think of any others, but I'm sure that they're there

Meanwhile, history repeats itself. The first picture is of Spencer the day after his broken arm last year. The second is one I took just a few minutes ago. At least it's not as traumatic and serious this time! (There's that missing silver lining!)

Eight More Broken Bones and The Tenth is Set For Free!

We need a punch card or some sort of rewards program for Urgent Care Center. Yes, another fun-filled evening with an injured child.*

Lance and Spencer were wrestling while getting ready for bed. I was in Josh's room, putting his jammies on. All of a sudden I heard a "Wham!", dead silence for a few seconds, and then a piercing scream and cry from Spencer. Apparently he had fallen pretty hard on his arm.

We tried to calm him down for a good half hour, just to see if he was truly hurt or just really tired. (I know it sounds mean, but who wants to spend all that money if your kid isn't really hurt?) We got his favorite blankie, tried making him laugh, and even gave him some 'forbidden' nighttime juice. We finally decided he wasn't overreacting or faking it for attention.

We put Josh to bed (he was tired and in the way), tried to get Spencer dressed (he was only in underpants and socks when he fell), and called the Polmateers (our neighbors) to see if one of them could come stay with Josh while we were gone. Brother Polmateer and Lance gave Spencer a blessing before we left, which really helped him calm down.

At Urgent Care they took some x-rays and decided that Spencer may or may not have chipped a bone in his elbow. (Things like this are really hard to tell on little kids because they're growing like crazy.) They put him in a hard splint and told us we'd have to wait for confirmation tomorrow once a radiologist took a look at the x-rays.

Dr. Mom's diagnosis? No more more wrestling!

*We are good friends with the Urgent Care Center.

• In July 2006, Spencer broke both bones in his lower right arm; we started at Urgent Care but were eventually sent to the hospital.
  
• On Thanksgiving Day last year I woke up at 3am with a major ear infection. I had three families coming for dinner that day, so trying and waiting to find a doctor to see me was not an option. (Plus, I HURT.) So it was the Urgent Care Center at 7am for me!
• And then tonight... well, you know the story.

A Cornucopia That Meets My Standards

I've put away all the Jack-O-Lantern pumpkins and have moved the rest to the mantle. I don't usually have any Thanksgiving-specific decorations, but I found this cornucopia at Hobby Lobby a couple of weeks ago:

I've never really liked cornucopias; I'm not a big fan of woven baskets and stuff like that. But I loved this one. The wire and the beading puts a contemporary twist on a classic Thanksgiving symbol.

Best of all, it was only $4! When I saw it, it said "I'm only $4, Maren! How could you afford not to buy me?" It's hard to argue with cornucopia logic.

Utah Trip - Part Three

I've just had a busy busy day. First I touched up the paint jobs in both bathrooms (pictures of those will come once I get new towels and such). Then I spent a couple of hard hours clearing the flowerbeds and garden and getting them ready for winter. Dead basil is hard to get out of the ground! Definitely less basil next year. Or at least not enough to feed all of Sicily.

But I digress...

On the Friday we were in Utah we went to my Aunt Janee's house for her annual Cousin Halloween Party. (Side note: I am the third oldest cousin on this side of the family, so most of my plethora of cousins are much younger than I am - closer to Spencer's age.) I had forgotten to pack the Halloween costumes (world's worst mother, I know), so Spencer borrowed grandpa's pumpkin costume. Highlights of the party included:

• Witches brew (apple juice with dry ice in it)
• An impressive amount of pizza
• Running around like wild banshees outside
• Uncle Bryce dressing up as a scary monster, running and screaming like a madman
• The annual cousins in costume picture (getting all the kids to hold still was seriously like herding cats)
  
• A pinata and several small child/pinata stick close calls
• Gorging on candy while watching The Ghost and Mr. Chicken
  

Spencer has always wanted to try a pinata and was in heaven over the whole evening. I was again the world's worst mother when I took them home at 9pm. Spencer, having eaten his weight in candy during the evening, too much excitement, and no nap, had a spectacular tantrum for 45 minutes once we got home. Not the best way to end the day, but a sure indicator of a good party.

Utah Trip - Part Two

Okay, enough pumpkin and Skittle distractions. On with my travel log!

On Thursday we went to Cornbelly's at Thanksgiving Point. It had a bunch of activities perfect for energetic little boys. Susie was kind enough to take us and we dragged uncle Kevin along, too. A few highlights:

Kevin was great at playing with Spencer. They both loved the slides!
(Bottom right corner: Spencer in the Cow Train - he felt very grown up on a ride by himself!)

Spencer with his usual grace on a slide.

Kevin impersonating a robot on a slide.

Josh was mesmerized with these singing chickens. He clapped and laughed and pointed for the whole show - totally adorable. Of course, this is just another reason why we will not be going to Disneyland any time soon - It's A Small World 47 times in a row would force me to throw myself off the boat, praying for a swift death. (Although Josh would lurrve it!) ((The ride, not my death.))

Spencer and the Giant. (Sounds like a children's book!)

Kevin the farmer.
In the background is "The Creature" - an inflated monster that you can walk through. It's dark and has lots of narrow corners and turns that you have to navigate, all the while listening to a recording of the creature's heartbeat. Spencer did really well, and Josh, who I thought wouldn't even notice anything unusual (in that typical baby way) clung to me and hid his face in my neck. (Hey, I'll do anything for a baby cuddle!)

The highlight of the day - the giant pillow jump. It was like a giant, inflated, rubber... pillow. (Hence the name, Maren.) We all had fun jumping and falling for quite a while. We also took turns holding Josh, who loved bouncing.

Isn't Joshie a cutie?
Spencer sometimes had trouble getting back up after falling, but he didn't want help staying up, either. (In his words, "I want to fall down myself!")

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Dear John & Maura

Spencer and Josh say that this is the closest you'll ever get to their Skittles! Bwahahaha!

(Thanks for the card - it was really sweet and now has a place of honor on the fridge. Spencer loves to 'read' it while eating his candy!)