My summer vow...

Our Summer officially starts next Wednesday when Braden gets out of school...so right now I am vowing to restart my Project 365 for the summer...you heard it here - I so want to get back into something I love doing :) so stay tuned!

-Carissa

Well...isn't it fitting that my last post was on this same subject :)

Oh wow - I can't believe that my last post we were only 2 weeks into this adventure! So sorry about my amount of slacking! Wow! Today marks exactly 31 weeks since I got that dreadful call from school! 2 surgeries and lots of pain, strength and determination later - Braden was fully released to all activity today!! For the last 2 months he has been banned from PE, recess and most of all the fun outside activities (biking, scooters etc.) it has been hard with the nice weather we have had...but finally it is over! I might be a total wreck for a little bit each time I see him run and jump around like a normal almost 8 year old (eek!) but the doc said his leg is as good as new if not better with all the new bone that has been added to his femur! So today he gets to go to 2 recesses and PE and I will have his bike waiting for him after school! I think he might be a little apprehensive, but I think he will get over it quickly!! And when I asked him if he wanted to do a celebration dinner tonight he asked if Dad could pick up sushi!! Whoo Hoo! Love this kid and all he has been through. Someday this will be a good story to tell his kids ;)

2 Weeks Post Surgery!

Well we made it to 2 weeks Post surgery and we are doing well! Yesterday we had an appointment with the surgeon! First Braden got his stinky, colorful cast cut off!

He actually did really well with the cast saw, we thought he would really freak out,

but the first freak out came when he looked down to see 8 staples in his leg - that was not fun! He could not believe that they had stapled him! And it hurt to take them out since they had been in for 2 weeks and pretty stuck in there, but he did ok.

Then it was time for a new cast - so Daddy helped hold his mummified leg up so they could reapply!

He picked white again because he wanted a clean canvas for all the pretty markers! He is a kid who is all about color! Also they lowered it about 1/2 and inch so hopefully that will be a little more comfortable for him! They also took the large bump off the back! He complained a lot about how tight it was compared to his last one - ha - he was able to almost get his whole arm down the other one - so it was needed! I guess he was pretty dang swollen after surgery because you couldn't get a fingernail under the cast then!

Then we went for x-rays! This is the BEFORE! OUCH! I had seen it once before, but it still makes me cringe! See how much overlap there was?! This is why they had to torture him with the traction to pull it back in place before surgery!

And this is what it looked like yesterday! It is a little hard to see the pins/nails but they are the white lines at the top and bottom of his bone and they go the whole length and criss/cross in the middle. It isn't perfectly aligned, that would have been pretty tough with that break - but they are confident that the bone will just start filling itself in! So now we have an appointment in 4 weeks to see about getting the cast off!

And today was the big day! He got to go back to school! We weren't sure if he was going to make it in time as we woke up to Thunder and Rain and I wasn't sure how I was going to get him in the school without getting it wet! But the rain let up and we were able to go! I stayed with him in the classroom as we figured a few things out. He was excited but a little nervous! He really really wanted to try the whole day so he could go to Art class this afternoon, so we will see if he can make it! Sitting at a 90 degree angle all day is going to be tough for him! So we are crossing our fingers! Thanks for all the prayers and well wishes! Ya'll are amazing :)

Fast Forward

So I slacked a little in the updating - but wanted to share what is going on RIGHT NOW in our lives! Ha!
Last Tuesday I got a call from Braden's school nurse. I thought that the cough he had left with that morning must have turned in to a fever or something...not quite! She told me something had happened on the playground and she thought he needed an x-ray of his leg. I pretty much left my lunch on the stove, all the lights on, dropped Blake off at my awesome neighbor's house and was at the school in 3 minutes.
One look at him and I knew there was no way I would be transporting him anywhere. So the ambulance was called and all the kids out at lunch recess got a treat when the fire truck and ambulance showed up. It was a first for both of us - and hopefully our last ambulance ride. Chris met us at the hospital where x-rays quickly showed that not only was his femur broken (large thigh bone!) but the bones were over lapping and pretty jagged. A plan was quickly put in to place to get him up to a room, put his leg in traction and surgery at 7:30am the next morning.
Putting him in traction has got to be one of the worst experiences I have had as a mother. All you can do is hold his hands and hug him while they tortured his little body to pull his leg straight. It was horrible. But once they got it done, he was a little more comfortable (especially with all the happy meds he was receiving!).
It was a rough night, but we were the first surgery of the day and things went as smoothly as planned. Thank God for sweet friends who work at the hospital and make sure we were taken care of!! He now has 2 flexible nails or pins that are the length of his femur holding it together! On top of that he has a full length cast up to his hip. He had a rough time after surgery with some lung issues and kept everyone on the their toes all day Wednesday - it was not too fun! But he finally got off oxygen around 9pm that night and started turning the corner.
Thursday found us with his first appointment with Physical Therapy and to say it was torture would be an understatement. He screamed and screamed and walked 4 feet with his walker, it was horrible. The next time was a little better, but still horrible. It was a mixture of pain and fear and it sucked. As the day wore on, we saw our happy, feisty 7 year old really start to get depressed and angry. They had told us to expect that he would probably go through the steps of 'grief' that are denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance - and he did. He was so angry and depressed - it was hard to take, but we did the best we could.
We finally came home on Friday afternoon - even though I wasn't sure we could handle it all at home. After a car ride where he had to lay down and be strapped to the seat with a vest that looked like he was going to go bungee jumping, we were met with the whole neighborhood waiting for him! They crowded the car and couldn't wait to see him! They had made welcome home signs and brought gifts - but more important, that brought smiles to his face! I don't know if I have said this enough - but we live in an AMAZING neighborhood! Seriously, to be able to live next to friends who don't think twice when you have to drop off your 2 year old in the blink of an eye, or rearrange their schedules to watch him all the next day, or make your life and your kids lives better just by being so caring and kind - there aren't enough Thank yous to cover what they have done for us over the years!
The first few days at home were ROUGH! Thankfully Blake had gone to Nebraska so we could solely focus on Braden. It was hard, he was so angry and we got the brunt of it. I was praying for acceptance at every corner. Finally Tuesday, things started looking better. He started complaining less and trying more. He smiled and laughed a few times with his friends and even made it outside using his walker. Chris and I could both tell that the 'acceptance' switch was being flipped. It has still been up and down the last 2 days, but no where what the days were.
Right now he is confined to the basement because I can not carry him up and down the stairs (stupid 4 level split home!) Thankfully we have a pull out sectional couch and he is pretty comfy and I can sleep next to him on the couch. Little things are getting easier and we are figuring out others.
The next step is getting him ready to go back to school. We are going to go visit his classmates tomorrow and then plan on getting him back there next Wednesday hopefully. He sees the surgeon on Tuesday where we believe they will be cutting this cast off to check the surgery wounds and putting a new one on. We will also get a copy of his before and after x-rays which I will share!
Sorry for rambling on, but I think I needed to get it out too :) We are doing ok - we just try to put things in perspective - things could be so much worse :) So we take it one day at a time and try to keep him occupied. Anyone who knows B, knows he doesn't sit still for long, so this is pretty tough on him! Thank you to everyone helping us with Braden in any way, with watching Blake, bring us meals and just being awesome friends! We are blessed!!! Here are a few pics of the past week! Thanks for listening to all this rambling :):):)

And yes - Haley broke her arm...one week exactly after B broke his leg. Still can't believe it - they are break buddies for life :)

Chillin' in the Northeast

Well - while we were in Maine - Chris and I went to prom :) Ha! Actually the adults got to go out to lunch in Portland and then the boys headed down to a Red Sox game (before Chris flew home :( and the girls got to stay and have a few drinks by the water and get our toes done - it was a very relaxing, nice day with some awesome people!

Our Amazing hosts! Thank you Kate and Mark for opening your house, your family and your lives to us!

My girls!

Blake loved riding around in Kyle's jeep!

One of the nights - Mark so nicely took the big boys to a baseball game and they had a blast!

While the girls and Blake got to stay home and get their toes done :)

The boys had fun kicking around the soccer ball!

And we lounged by the pool a lot :)

Beach Day

It was pretty much a PERFECT day at the beach! All 7 kiddos got along and played the day away! The weather was perfect and the adults just got to lay around and relax - it was glorious :)

I kind of *heart* these girls!

Yep - a stop at the ice cream shop to finish off the beautiful day - perfect!