T'was the night before

Well make that 3 nights before.
The shopping is done, the presents wrapped, the children asleep. If a mouse were to be stirring I would hear because my house is almost eerily quiet.
I can't believe it is almost Christmas. I remember last Christmas so clearly. We had a beautiful little 6 week old baby that had no clue of what was happening. She played on her little tummy time boppy and mat, but cried after having been made to stay there for pictures! Kaleb loved getting presents but didn't understand the concept of Christmas at all.
This year, Kaleb is pumped. He has been making a list for Santa, sometimes if only in his head. He tells me "We'll have to tell Santa to put it on the list." Ha ha! You will never believe the two presents that I think we will get the best reaction from.............
A new cool mist humidifier and a basketball bank. He has been talking about both for a few weeks now. He has told everyone at daycare that he hopes to get his basketball, and every night when he realizes that his old humidifier died he says "I hope Santa gets me a new fan". Too cute!
Emerson, well, she still won't have a clue of what is going on but at least she will be fun to watch playing with her new toys. I got her the funniest toy. It is called Baby Jamz. It has nursery rhymes set to a beat and it makes me laugh every time. Jason just shook his head at me when I showed him. However, if you have spent any time with Emerson recently you would know what a dancing machine she is. I can say for certain that I will probably have her in dance classes by 3 or 4 years old. The girl has rhythm.
I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas!

A little more effort people

It didn't work last week so I'm expecting you all to join in this time with a little snow dance of your own! I don't know that we are going to be getting anymore snow, but maybe if it continues to blow around we can look forward to a snow day tomorrow!!
I just got my Christmas cards back and if you are hoping to receive one before Christmas then I need some time to address them!
9 days until Christmas!

Doing a snow dance tonight

Oh please God, let us have one snow day before Christmas break!! The students are driving me up a wall and I have so much stuff to get done before Christmas. Which by the way is TWO WEEKS from today!!!!!
Looks like we are on the verge of having no Christmas card AGAIN. I can't for the life of me get these two kids to look at me at the same time. Mostly it is Kaleb who is putting up the fight. He says he is all about taking pictures, but the minute you get out the camera his eyes are everywhere except toward it. Boy would I love to have the day to dress them up and try to capture a picture or two. Emerson has developed the cutest smile lately. She crinkles up her nose and give a big toothy grin. She looks like a little monster baby.
Speaking of Emerson, we have quite the little diva dancer on our hands. Before dinner, and sometimes during we will have the kitchen radio playing. The kids and I like to have a dance party while we make dinner. Emerson bebops in her highchair shaking her shoulders back and fourth, staying with a beat believe it or not. So cute! Kaleb is a dancing fool as well, but he shares his dance moves with his daddy!!!! Ha ha!
The Christmas season is here, starting this weekend. We have Jason's work party to go to on Friday and then dinner with the Talbot's on Saturday. I am sooooo excited. My whole family will be together and I can't wait. Love you guys!

Torture

How can 1 hour at the Sear's Photo Studio be such torture?
Things were stressed before we even left the house. I had a plan for outfits. The one glitch......Jason. Apparently he no longer owns the shirt I was thinking that he could wear. With no other option we all went for the black shirt / jeans look. I think it turned out good even if we were 15 minutes late because of the last minute wardrobe change.
It has always been the rule that the first shot needs to be a good one because after that Kaleb will no longer have an interest in looking at the camera or smiling. Luckily we did have a good photographer and even a helper or two that would walk in an out and help get the kids to smile.
Then comes the extra 30 minutes of waiting for your pictures to come up on the computer, then having to decide with poses to purchase, being careful not to get sucked into buying hundreds of dollars in pictures.
I'm hoping that this link will work so that you can see the pictures we had taken. We went with the third family shot because both kids had really good smiles. I liked the first picture a lot, but there was a bad glare on Jason's shirt, and it seemed to be a picture of JASON as some of Emerson and I would get cut out in the crop. I also bought a few sheets of the two kids laying down side by side.
https://www.searsphotos.com/view_roll_images.asp?sesstype=4&sessid={BD19F40D-4D20-4008-A8DF-ACA315472BD7}&url=dep_order_portraits.asp&tag=F0385A3D1A674287B47638C2E19A5E918756E32448F24507943FE2FD88E67BCB
It won't take you there directly, so use this email and password that they gave me to view.
email: ahodgins@marysville.k12.mi.us
Password: ajh1221

1 year stats

Emerson's One Year Appt
Weight: 20 lbs 12 oz. (50%)
Height: 31 1/2 inches (> 95%)
Head: 18

Comparing these to Kaleb's stats at one year is funny. He was 25 lbs 12 oz and 33 inches tall. He was a 1 year old in a 2 year old's body!!! Emerson seems so dainty to me.
She got 4 shots, but took it better than Kaleb! He had two shots and cried until we were half way home. Jason and I couldn't help but laugh at the scene he was making.
Emerson is now on whole milk, which is a great accomplishment. We had her on soy formula because she spit up a ton in the milk based formulas. At 1 year I started adding in soy milk and then tried the whole milk to see if she would do ok on it. She has done great. No more spitting up. Now I just have to work on taking away the night and morning bottle. She still seems to depend on them and lets face it, I'm not ready. She's still my baby!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

The Birthday Girl

We had a great weekend! Thank you to everyone who came, helped with the food and even brought gifts for our little girl! She had a great time and so did we. I can't believe it has been a year. I did put together a video montage for Emerson's 1st year. If I can figure out how to get it online to show you I will.

The birthday girl in her party dress!

The Cake: Hmmm, I'm not so sure about this.
Mmmmm, me likey!

One of her babydolls!
Emeson and Kaleb dressed up (and happy) for church!

Emerson's GodParents: Derek and Dana

The baptism ceremony with Pastor Bill Terry

Everyone who attended: Derek, Dana, Jason, Emerson, Grandpa VanDeven, Grandma Rice, Keeley, Grandma Hodgins, Kaleb, Janelle, Papa Hodgins, and Me!

Happy Halloween

Here are my little cuties!! Kaleb and Emerson were dressed at Winnie the Pooh and Piglet this year. I loved these costumes. We also met up with Janelle (tigger) and Keeley (bull rider! So funny!) for some pictures!

Watch this progression!!!!!

GO GIRL!!!!!!!

Hitting up their first house with Daddy and Papa VanDeven. Kaleb was a little shy, but he came though with a good ol' "Fricker Freat"!!!!

Kaleb carving his pumpkin the night before Halloween.

Poor Second Child

We are now down to less than three weeks until Emerson's birthday and I still have not done the invitations. What is wrong with me? I am without a doubt that I had Kaleb's invitations out by now.
Well, save the date. Her party will be on Saturday, November 10th @ 4pm at my parent's house. We were going to do it on Sunday, but Emerson will be baptized Sunday morning and we learned with Kaleb's 1st birthday that doing it all in one day is just too much. He never did take a nap that day and was mr. crabby pants through the party.
So, the princess will have a full birthday weekend rather than just one day! Now I am off to work on the invitations!

A little help for CVS deals

*The links aren't working for me this morning. I'll try to figure it out tonight if there is a problem.

These links are for cvs coupons. Print one out for the amount you plan to spend there on your deal. I re-use these over and over until they expire. I have never been stopped from using one for a second time on my card as they don't track them that way. Of course, I always try to go to a different store so that the cashier doesn't start to catch on!!
Remember, shop from the ad. Look for the items that will give you Extra Care Bucks back for your next shopping trip. There is no longer a limit of the number of coupons / extra care bucks you use on your shopping trip so you should be able to get your out of pocket spending way down.
I just bought the men's bic razors on sale this week. With coupons I spent only change and got a $4.00 extra care buck coupon to use next time. Remember, the extra care bucks print on the bottom of your receipt so don't throw it away!


$15/$75 - http://www.cvs.com/CVSApp/cvs/gateway/promotion?pid=6106&step_nbr=160

$10/$50 - http://www.cvs.com/CVSApp/cvs/gateway/promotion?pid=6105&step_nbr=160

$5/$30 - http://www.cvs.com/CVSApp/cvs/gateway/promotion?pid=6104&step_nbr=160

$4/$20 - http://www.cvs.com/CVSApp/cvs/gateway/promotion?pid=6103&step_nbr=160


valid through 10/28/07!!!
$15/$75 - http://www.cvs.com/CVSApp/cvs/gateway/promotion?pid=6101&step_nbr=160

$10/$50 - http://www.cvs.com/CVSApp/cvs/gateway/promotion?pid=6100&step_nbr=160

$5/$30 - http://www.cvs.com/CVSApp/cvs/gateway/promotion?pid=6099&step_nbr=160

$4/$20 - http://www.cvs.com/CVSApp/cvs/gateway/promotion?pid=6098&step_nbr=160

$2/$10 - http://www.cvs.com/CVSApp/cvs/gateway/promotion?pid=6108&step_nbr=160

THESE ARE ALL LEGIT COUPONS OFF OF CVS.COM!!!

Free water at Kroger

Here is my thrifty deal of the week. Kroger has a catalina deal going on right now when you buy Ice Mountain water bottles. They have stickers by the water bottles that say "Buy two and get $3.00 off of your next order". Basically when you go through the line, a catalina coupon prints out and you can use it like cash on your next shopping trip.
Get two packs of the aquapods (mini water bottles) which are $2.99 each. The first time you do this you will pay $5.98. Not one but TWO of the $3.00 off coupons will print out. I have no idea if this is a fluke, but I have done it 4 times so far and each time two coupons print out. What this means is that you go back to Kroger, pick up the same two packs of aquapods, and give them the coupons. They will actually pay you $.02 cents to take the water!!!
These little bottles are great for Kaleb so I plan to stock up while this deal is going on. You can do it with any of the Ice Mountain water bottles, but the aquapods are the cheapest.

One week before preschool pictures.......

This boy is really trying to give me grey hair!

Jason had his clippers charging in the garage. While Kaleb was playing with his bikes, he must have discovered the clippers and decided to give himself a little buzz. He came running back into the front yard to announce his great accomplishment! Too bad he is back to bald for the pictures. His hair was actually looking very nice!

The reinactment!

But we did have a great weekend anyway! We took a trip to Armada to the big cider mill and orchard. While Kaleb really didn't want to do any of the fun things like hayrides or petting zoo, he was really into the pumpkins. Emerson was just happy to out in the fresh air, until she got hungry and realized that I wasn't going to give her any of my donut!!!

The only picture taken of me with the babes. Nice shot Jason!!

Some New'ish' pictures

Kaleb helping Daddy mow the lawn.

Emerson waving "Bye" or "Hi"

Next step: Lose the wheels!

Playing in the plastics cupboard.

And this was the result!

Lil Monster

Oh this girl is going to give Kaleb a run for his money, I can already see it! Emerson is still getting into trouble at daycare for being too rough with the other babies. She climbs all over them, grabs and even rams her head into them. I just don't know what to do. We tell her no when she grabs or hits at home, but she just gets that cute little grin and giggle then does it again. Also, the rough play is a daily activity at home between her and Kaleb. Of course to him it doesn't hurt to be climbed on, but to other babies it does. She is just too young to realize the difference.
I have tried to get Kaleb on my side by telling him that she needs to learn nice touches, and he agrees until 5 minutes later when he is rolling around on the floor with her. And to be honest, as long as she isn't crying and he is being careful, I don't discourage it because I like that they are interacting together.
Feel free to give me some advice!

We are ready for Halloween early this year. Both outfits have been bought already! I can't believe I'm ahead of the game. Kaleb is going to be Pooh and Emerson is going to be Piglet. Janelle said that she is going to be Tigger, which will end up being so cute. Of course, Kaleb informed me that he is going to be a witch. He said that Sophie at school is going to be a witch and so is he! I tried to tell him that witches are girls, but he wasn't having it. So then I just put my foot down and told him that he said he wanted to be Pooh, I bought the outfit, so that is what he is going to be. End of conversation! Now I'm just hoping for a cool night since both outfits are meant to keep the kids warm. Not like these 80 degree days we have been having!

This weekend Jason and I are going with Nick and Kristen to Cedar Pointe. I am soooooo excited. I am a roller coaster nut. Unfortunately I haven't been there in 9 years. Wow, has it really been that long? With college, a job, a wedding and then kids it just never seemed to fit in. Hopefully I like the rollercoasters as much as I did when I was a teenager! It is supposed to be a beautiful weekend. Hopefully we have the summer like day without the extremely long lines.

Oh and since nobody has been sharing the details............................................. cousin Jen is having a BOY!!! YAY!!! Congratulations Jen and Dan! We are all so excited for you!

Run to Walgreens

But only if you plan to potty train and need pull-ups! Seriously, even if you aren't doing it for a while, go stock up!
They have Pampers Feel n' Learns size 3T-4T on clearance for both boys and girls. Some stores have them for 50% off at $5.59. Other stores have them for 75% off at $2.29. There are coupons out for 3, 2, 1.50, and 1.00 off pampers, so if you have any that makes these diapers even cheaper.
One word of advice, even if they are not marked at your store take a package of the exact kind mentioned above up to the register and ask them to check the price.
I'm going out today to check our local Walgreen's. I did see them clearance at 5.59 at one Walgreen's about 45 minutes away when I stopped in last weekend.

UPDATE: I found them for 2.89 a pack. With the 2.00 and 1.50 off coupons I had that made for some really cheap diapers!
Other clearance items to look for that probably aren't even marked if they are still in your store. I have found only a few of these items in this area.
Gerber Grins and Giggles wash in Lavender and Sweet Pea scent. 1.09
Baby Magic Lavender Milk Bath and Baby Blossom's scent. 1.09
Johnson's Disposable Washcloths, original scent. 1.09
Johnson's Lavendar massage gel (older packaging) 1.29
Spray n' Wash Dual Power. 1.09
All Small and Mighty 'Free and Clear'. 1.??
Luvs Mega pack diapers size 4 and 5. 3.89

Just thought I would pass along these crazy deals!

Proud Mama Moment

I should say that the last year has been a little trying when it comes to Kaleb's behavior. Although it is completely typical of a 2/3 year old, some days it just felt like he was throwing tantrums 10 times as bad as any other child that age. While the tantrums still happen, they are far less. Kaleb's vocabulary is huge and he is learning to use his words rather than cry or scream.
Just this past week it hit me how Kaleb seems so much 'older'. He is thriving at preschool and he loves it there. Kaleb knows the days of the week and the months of the year.........every one of them!! He even sings the songs. He talks all about Africa and African zoo animals because that is what they learned about in school. He tells us stories about his friend Ryan and his two teachers Miss Tiff and Miss Hannah. He can, of course, tell us exactly what was for snack each day because that is his favorite 'meal'! Best of all, he hasn't gotten into trouble and his teachers say that he is doing great!
Kaleb is also really into riding his bike and scooter now. He goes out into the driveway daily to ride. He seems so responsible about it too. He always makes sure to get on his helmet and he rides the bike or scooter down the driveway but turns off onto the grass every time so that he doesn't come close to the street. His imagination is taking off and he is doing a lot of alone play in the garage. I will listen to him as he takes random objects and pretends that they are people or spaceships. The things he comes up with is really funny. I remember having the hardest time with Kaleb because he just didn't know how to play alone. He always needed me there and that made getting anything done around the house difficult. Of course, he did become a good helper because I managed to get him doing what I was doing. Now, if he doesn't feel like helping me clean or do the dishes, he goes off to play by himself. Such a nice change.

Emerson is doing great. She plays Pat-a-cake now! She gets so excited when we sing it to her. She is still all over the place and getting into everything. She stands without holding on occasionally, but no real interest in walking considering how fast she has gotten at crawling. She loves to climb and is probably even more of a dare devil than Kaleb if you can believe it. With me following behind she has climbed all the way up the basement stairs. At Grandma's house she has one step between the living room and kitchen that Emerson loves to climb up and down over and over.
Aside from the cold she has had non-stop since starting daycare, and the pink eye she just got over everything is great with the kids. Knock on wood that Kaleb can stay healthy this winter!

My job stinks right now. Two students that I have this year are really making for long miserable days. I guess I was wrong in thinking that this was going to be an easy year. I even have a student teacher this year, but I am not ready to leave her alone with all of the behavior issues we have. I feel like I have to get those under control before I hand over control.
On a happy note, I FINALLY got my diploma! After a little drama at the end with the Capstone/Thesis project, I finally got my grade (A) and received my diploma about two weeks later. I turned it in right away so I should see a little pay increase on my next check. This also means no more weekend classes!!! YAY! At least not for a few years.
I will upload and update pictures soon!

Classroom Bully

Who would have ever thought that I would be talking about Emerson instead of Kaleb?!! That's right. My sweet baby was playing a little too rough with her friends and even BIT one of them on the head. WHA?
Honestly, I was shocked. She's teething and chews on everything and everybody but obviously not to hurt them. I'm sure she just wanted to show that other baby some love! I don't even know what to think about it. From now on I'll watch closer and when she does try to bite any of us at home I'll make sure to tell her no. I really don't want my baby hurting others or being labeled as the biter. Hopefully her day will go a little more smoothly tomorrow!

Kaleb seems to be doing great at school. He has not had even one accident all week! YAY! He does need to learn some of the rules that go along with daycare. He doesn't quite understand why he can't just go play with anything he wants or move on if he is done with a task. It'll come. He also had a minor sharing problem. I expected this, but hopefully that will resolve soon too. The one and only major problem, at least for me, is the way Kaleb freaks out when I get there to pick him up. He goes crazy crying and yelling about not wanting to leave. I'm glad he enjoys it there, but having to deal with this daily is really wearing on my nerves. I need to find a way to make Kaleb understand that he can't act that way. The things I have tried so far have not worked.
Tomorrow is the last day of our first week back to school. It will be an interesting year for sure. Good thing I have sick days that I can use again this year because I have a feeling I might be needing to take some mental health days!!!

First day of Preschool

Seriously, didn't I just give birth to this boy? I took both kids to the daycare center yesterday so that they could get used to it before the very hectic first day back to work. Both of them did great while at the center. Kaleb is so happy to be with lots of 'friends'!! All he wanted to do for 3 days was talk about school. After I picked him up he told me everything he did there. He was so excited. Of course he had a little breakdown when I came to pick him up, but I have a better plan for the next time. He needs some warning as he has a really hard time transitioning. Next Tuesday I'll go into his room and tell him that I am here. Then I will give him 5 minutes to continue playing while I go and get Emerson. Hopefully the 5 minute warning will help next time.

Emerson is now cast free!!! I took her in last Thursday to have it removed. The dr. said that everything looks great and she healed perfectly. Emerson didn't even cry when they were sawing it off. I turned her head and covered her eyes to avoid the dust, but it didn't even seem to bother her. What a brave little girl we have. By the way, this little girl is going to be a dare devil like her brother, I can already see it. She is already climbing stairs and anything else in her way!

Before

After

And a sweet brother/sister picture to end.

Emerson's Stats

Emerson went in for her 9 month check up. Everything is good and she's growing like a weed!
Height: 30 inches - Way off the charts. Average height for a 15 month old.
Weight: 19 lbs 4oz (with cast) last week it was 18 lbs 10oz - Still 50% which is average for her age.

Where did the summer go?

And someone please tell me what kind of cruel joke it is to have the last full week of summer ruined with daily rain and thunderstorms. I really wanted to take the kids to the zoo this week, but there doesn't even look to be a good day to go. I definitely have to come up with some fun activities to do with the kids this week. Any ideas, please share!!
I'm also fighting the urge to throw up as I think about sending the kids to daycare. This year they will both be going to a daycare center. For Kaleb I love this. I like the idea with him being with more kids who are all different. He'll have to learn how to get along and follow the rules of even more adults. Kaleb will be in a preschool class. Very structured. He seemed to really like it when I took him in there last week. I am a little nervous about his behavior there, but hopefully it will be smooth sailing.
Emerson on the other hand. Sniff Sniff. I don't want to send my baby to a center. Grandma did say that she would still be able to keep her 2 days a week. This helps me to feel better because she will be getting that one-on-one attention for that time. It also saves us some money. I'm pretty much having panic attacks thinking about how we are going to be able to afford daycare. How is it even possible to pay more for daycare than you do for your home???? Is this logical??? Yes, I know they have to make money too, but really. If you knew me you would know how freaking cheap I am. I'm a bargain shopper so I am prone to sticker shock!

Emerson's cast will be coming off this Thursday. I really am hoping for a nice weekend so that we can take her swimming. It has been seeing the way she watches her brother in the pool. She wants to get in there to splash around with him. It's kinda funny that I have taken very few pictures in the past two weeks. Perhaps the cast period is a time I don't really want to remember. I'm getting pretty sick of the "Oh no, look at that baby with the cast. I wonder how she broke her arm?" Mind you nobody asks, they just talk about it right next to you.

That is all for now! Have a great week.

If I could offer some advice....

Start shopping at CVS!!
I have started using my shopping addiction to find bargains. Sure, once in a while I'll find excellent deals, but it truly doesn't get better than CVS. First things first, you need to go online to www.cvs.com and sign up for their extra care rewards program. You will receive a card in the mail in a few weeks. Then you need to start scouring the Sunday ads to look for CVS deals. The cool thing about CVS is that they basically pay you to shop at their store. They have what is called Extra Care Bucks. If you buy a particular item/items then you will receive back an ECB to be used during your next purchase, just like cash.
I finally discovered it this past week. They had a sale that was "Buy $20.00 worth of Kraft products and get $20.00 back in ecb's." See, I'm telling you, they PAY you to shop! So, I had gotten a card for both Jason and myself a few weeks back and I was able to do this deal 2 times (it will say on these deals "One per card"). This means that while you can buy anything you want, you will only get the ECBs once. They print out on the bottom of your receipt so don't throw away. That $20.00 ecb can be used the next time you shop there just like it were a $20.00 coupon for that store.
The best part of this deal. CVS will also email out extra coupons like "$4.00 off a $20.00 purchase". I got one by simply going online to 'update' my account. So, when I went in to do the Kraft deal (which included digiorno pizza, Kraft macaroni, Nabisco crackers and cookies, and Post cereal) I got 2 oreo cookies, 1 ritz cracker, 1 premium cracker, 2 Velveeta shells and cheese, and 4 boxes of cereal for $20.00. Take away the $4.00 from that email coupon, and minus another $2.65 that I had in coupons for the Post cereal and Nabisco cookies/crackers. I paid around $14.00 out of my pocket and walked out with a $20.00 ecb to be used next time.
Here is how you make this deal last for a long time. The next time you shop make sure to look through the ad again to find if there are other items (and there always are) that you can purchase and receive back ECBs. This way you don't spend much of anything out of pocket and you are always receiving ECBs to be used next time. I definitely make sure that the items are things I can use, or give away. I also try really hard to find coupons for those items to make it even less.
I seriously came home the other day with 2 packs of pull-ups, 2 Kandoo wipes, 2 toothpastes, 1 razor, 1 infant motrin, 1 children's motrin, 1 children's tylenol and 2 gallons of milk for ................................................................................ wait for it.........................................................................................................................92 cents!!!! Because of the $20.00 ecbs and coupons for every single item except for the milk. Plus, I have two $5.00 ecbs to use next time. Tell me that isn't a great deal and that I won't be using those items in the near future.
Take it or leave it, just thought I would put it out there for you!

OK, big notice to anyone who needs baby food or if your kiddos are eating any of the gerber graduate foods go to www.afullcup.com . Click on Target coupons. Then scroll down to find the Gerber coupon. It says " $1.00 off any 2 gerber food products". If you click on it a mini screen will pop up and you can tell it how many you want to print. It will print 4 to a page. It is a great deal for individual jars as they cost anywhere between 54 cents and 72 cents. If you bought two and used a coupon it would end up being 4 to 22 cents a jar depending on what you get. I have used 10 of these coupons at a time to buy 20 different gerber items. I have only been given trouble once. One lady said "We can only take 1 internet coupon per order" so I told her to cancel the order and I left. I went back in the next day and found a young guy to ring me up. He didn't say anything!
These expire next Wednesday so hurry up. If you have success the first day I suggest going back each day until Wednesday. Also, with these being Target coupons you are allowed to combine them with gerber manufacturer coupons to make it even better. Some of those can be found online as well.

We will soon return to our regularly scheduled program of updating you on the kids and family!!!

My Poor Baby

On Tuesday, while playing in the living room with Kaleb, Emerson's arm got hurt. I had been in the kitchen making lunch for only a few minutes when I heard her cry. This was definitely a different cry, a hurt cry. After she calmed down she ate lunch and took a nap. We were then gone from the house for the rest of the afternoon. In the evening is when we noticed how hurt her arm really was. Had she not been crawling yet, we probably would have missed it because she was still using that hand and arm to play and grab. When she tried to crawl though, she was not able to put pressure on her right hand so she would immediately drop to her forearm. By the next morning nothing had changed so I took her in and her dr. ordered x-rays. They found that she did have a buckle fracture down by her wrist. I don't speak dr. and no longer have the report, but only one cortex in the bone has the fracture and it is not displaced at all.

Yesterday we got into the orthopedic. He said that the fracture is actually pretty minor in that if it were an adult he would just suggest wrapping it, putting it in a sling and being very careful. But, as Emerson is now crawling around and pulling herself up there is a much higher chance that she could hurt it again while it heals. He felt it was just safer to go with a cast so we agreed. He also felt that because he arm is so small that they should do a full arm cast because there would only be a tiny bit of material if it was stopped before the elbow and she could probably end up pulling it off. She only has to wear it for 2-3 weeks. Luckily we will stil have one last week of summer to go swimming before I go back to work.

So, I'm feeling incredible guilt that this happened to my baby. I'm wishing that I would have taken her into the kitchen with me. Although I do know that accidents are bound to happen. Kaleb just wants to play with his sister. He doesn't understand that she can't do all the things he can but wants to help her try. Some times he pushes, pulls and tugs too hard. I'm guessing that she was pulling up to her toy and he bumped, pushed or tried to move her which made her fall the wrong way onto that wrist.

She is being a trooper though. Aside from it being cumbersome and not allowing her to move in the same way as before she isn't letting it get in her way. She is still all over the place. She uses her left hand to grab at everything. I am worried about her clunking herself in the head especially because the cast is so heavy, but I think she is doing pretty well so far.

Here are a few pictures of the cast and from the day of the accident.

You wouldn't know that it is already fractured in this picture because she still continued to use her right hand to grab and lift things.

Kaleb and Jaden at the beach.

Kaleb has learned how to 'dive'. Notice the eyes wide open!

Pictures...... Finally!

Big 1 Year Olds: Clara and Carter!

Cousins! Maybe one day we will get a picture where they are all looking in the same direction!

Kaleb's first visit to the Dentist. He did pretty good, but he was nervous. He wasn't quite sure why these ladies wanted him to lay back.

On Aunt Dana and Uncle Mike's boat for Family Boat Night.

Janelle and Kaleb

Keeley and Emerson

The Hodgin's Family

Kaleb and Emerson posing in front of the boats.

Swinging together.

Isn't Jason hilarious!?! NOT! Kaleb got a summer buzz cut but Jason thought it would be funny to stop mid way. Doesn't he look like an old man?!

Our little monster!