WORDLESS WEDNESDAY - MULLET HEROS

A Kick in the Pants, Bum Hockey and New Adventures

Sigh ... so many things went wrong today which led to an emotional breakdown for me. So, after that good emotional release, which led to a super charged power walk with the kids, my head has cleared and I am determined to view each day with a positive outlook, or downer situations with a humorous perspective.

So ... in an effort to achieve this new found wisdom, I will attempt to give it a shot:

What? Our house was conditionally sold for the past week but the purchaser's financing fell through today hence we are back to square one? Well crap. But .... at least I am blessed enough to have a roof over my head. Perhaps since we couldn't sell the house when it was in pristine showhome like conditions, I should leave it in it's au natural state of tornado like distruction. That way, a potential home owner would really see how the house functions to it's fullest potential.

What? The house that we FINALLY found in Cranbrook we can't put an offer on? And ... as a result will likely lose the opportunity to get it? Hmm ... I guess that it just wasn't meant to be ours. After all .... I didn't particularly like the colour of the cupboards. But then again, perhaps it will just sit stagnant as far as offers go and become ours after months of waiting for the perfect new owner.

What? Kaelen will certainly be in a full cast for the next 8 weeks? Sigh. Well at least the specialist today said that his joints have realigned very nicely so surgery will be avoided. Despite the nasty break in the middle of the tibia (I know, I posted fibula earlier and for the record - I was right, hubby and the ER doctor were WRONG), because Kaelen is only 3 years old, his body will produce enough callus to fill in the gaping hole that currently exists. PLUS ... because he is only 3 years old, he is also very adaptable. Who said that where there is a will there is a way? Just check out his newest version of hockey: Butt Hockey. I figured that it wouldn't be too long before he could find a way to get the stick back into his hands.


What? Masyn took a cross check from Kaelen's stick to her mouth today? Well heck, at least she didn't have any teeth knocked out like Kaelen did at 15 months! She only has a minor fat lip and a nice little shiner due to her determined efforts to climb a wine crate. But heck - who cares. Just look how damn cute she is in all of her crawling glory!! Oh ... and on an update front, Masyn heads into the hospital on Thursday for a 2 1/2 hour test on her kidneys. I am assuming that this may be the IV test to watch the dye travel down through her kidneys as opposed to the VCUG where it travelled up to her kidneys. Jenn ... if this is not the case, please feel free to correct me .... or alternatively, you can all wait until I can tell for sure what the heck went on for that 2 1/2 hours.

What? Hubby is working in Cranbrook this week again? Well, at least that means that I get the entire king bed TO MYSELF!! Okay. That is a joke. Honey, if you are reading this, I appreciate every moment that you are here or there. I know the incredible load of work that you are under right now is huge let alone having to deal with all of the chaos in our family personal life. Just keep focused on the jobs and I will keep everything here smooth running, or at least make it look like it is. If things get too difficult with trying to sell the house, I could always throw a bonus purchase incentive in such as a kid or two. Nah ... lets keep them. How do you feel about me giving the cat away though?

Little Boy Blue

Heh ... heh .... heh .... I just sometimes crack myself up at my stupid humour. Aside from the title, did you check out Kaelen's shirt and the slogan on it? It says " I do all my own stunts". Kind of appropriate given the situation eh?

We have made it one week after Kaelen's disastrous fall and everyone is still alive and managing to smile. The little man has adjusted to his temporary new lifestyle very well with the exception of nights. Nights are still an issue for he can't seem to get comfortable enough to sleep after being so sedentary during the day. It is almost like him having Restless Legs for those of you that experienced that during the latter part of your pregnancy. He can't seem to stop the lower body twitches and that leads to a meltdown. The tears start flowing, the apologies for falling down the stairs and hurting himself come forth and then his fears of never playing hockey again surface. And believe me, at 2:00 in the morning, it gets a little hard (and tedious) to attempt to reason with a three year old who is having an emotional meltdown. You can't get mad at them because you feel for them and believe me - I have been there before only I stepped down into a gofer hole. That resulted in surgery for me and landed me on my butt for 9 weeks in a cast in the heat of the summer. So, perhaps I am a little soft on the little guy because I can relate to his frustrations.

Aside from the nights though, Kaelen is a super trooper. It has been fun watching him develop his imagination by playing with toys that have been given to him as a gift for his ouchie or toys/games that have been lent to us to help alleviate the boredom that is bound to set in. He laughs and jokes around and is very verbally encouraging to all of Masyn's attempts to master the crawling technique and her attempts to pull up on things.

Now that the two of us are more comfortable with maneuvering around with that cast, we are off on new adventures each day. No more sitting at home. Instead we are going to head out on daily walks (thanks to my friend Debbie whom has loaned me her double jogging stroller), and on the upcoming forecasted colder days, we will head to the mall; Kaelen in my single jogging stroller and Masyn in my Ergo. And, if the times get tough on our outings, Kaelen and I have promised each other that we will laugh instead of cry (him) or get frustrated (me). So, as you can see, we are nipping along quite nicely now. Amazing how one can forget the hardships that they feel so quickly hey?

Keeping Our Heads Above the Water

Wow - thank you all for the tremendous words of support. I have to admit when I went back and read my plea ... erm ... I mean rant, I can certainly say that I was wallowing deep in self pity.

We are hanging in there. Kaelen is doing better physically and now we are just dealing with the emotional impact of his limitations. Last night at 2:00 in the morning, he was crying and kept apologizing for falling down the stairs and hurting himself. He would then go on to beg to have his cast taken off for he just wants to run and play hockey. At one point, he even convinced himself that he would never get to play hockey again. It is hard to reason with a three year old when they work themselves up into a tizzy that is slightly laced with pain; especially at 3:00 am. For a little guy who never took a moment to sit down, this is certainly going to be a huge adjustment for him. Thankfully he is young and therefore should heal faster; or at least that is what the doctors have assured us of. While we adjust to our new lifestyle, the only thing that I can continue to do is love him, help him manage his pain (by weaning him off the drugs) and try to keep him distracted enough by learning games or something. This is one of those times that I kind of regret boasting about a child who hates TV ........

Throughout Kaelen's struggles we still have Masyn who definitely has her nose out of joint. These past three days we have been treated to some pretty spectacular temper tantrums and at the fine age of 11 months (tomorrow), she has the art of kicking and flailing in unhappiness down to perfection. We have affectionately labelled her PBC for Perfect Birth Control as each day, her diva attitude comes out even more. I love her, but holy moly has she become a high maintenance child. Unless she has my undivided attention, she is not a happy child. I am sure that it won't be long before there is a hole in the wall from either her foot or her bouncing the crib into the wall in her unhappiness. Hopefully, she will realize that her tantrums are for nothing as I am just as happy to keep her in that crib while she is in fine form. Now only if I could sound proof the room .....

Anyways, I should run for Kaelen is demanding my time. Oh ... and before I forget, I love the suggestion of the pull ups Sheryl - I offered this option to Kaelen (actually diapers as I wouldn't have to pull anything up and around the cast) and he was so hilariously offended and pissed at me that we almost went out and bought some. Luckily, now that his pain management is getting better, the issue of getting him on the potty isn't as much. He is still offended that he has to use "the little training potty" rather than the big person toilet, but we need the "dewy shield" made for boys to help with the pee parade that ensues once he gets started.

Thank you again for all of your thoughts, prayers and support. You are all a true blessing to me!

Sending Out An S.O.S.

Erm ... if you aren't into reading about self pity, then you may want to click on by this post today for I am wallowing deeply in it. I mean, geesh, our family really can't catch a break. There are some days that it feels like it is always us that something dramatic or awful happens to. Perhaps that is a super selfish way to feel, but sorry, I just can't get past it. There are members of my family who would question the validity of my feelings, by commenting that I am being selfish or emotional to the extreme, but I will let you all form your own opinions of how I am feeling.

So, to recap this awesome 2008 so far, here we go:

Dec 31/Jan 1st: Masyn is on hour 72 of straight puking so we take her to the hospital in Cranbrook in fears that her kidney infection has reared it's ugly head again. Despite a few nurses and one doctor not even knowing what VUR (short for kidney reflux) or a VCUG test is, we maintain our stance of getting a urine test done on her to ensure that her white blood cell count is okay. Luckily it was but the test did come back verifying that she was dehydrated.
Jan 2nd: Both Kaelen and myself are felled by the mysterious puking bug that Masyn is struggling with. Now, instead of one child puking, we have two children and a Mommy paying homage to the porcelain god. Our house is supposed to be listed on the 3rd, but that just isn't going to happen. Meanwhile, hubby is trying in vain to get year end inventory wrapped up and start his new job.
Jan 5th: Hubby is felled by the super bug. Both kids are still puking yet Mommy is at least feeling better. While wiping toilet bowls and brows, I am also trying in vain to wash walls, do laundry and get this house ready for showing on Monday.
Jan 6th: All three kids (erm I mean hubby and kids) are still sick. Mommy is still nurturing all family members and in her free time, is washing walls, floors, toilets, packing boxes and vacuuming. Late that night, I succumb to the reality that this house will not be on the market the next day.
Jan 8th: A successful day! The house is on the market and in showing condition and no one has puked for 18 hours!
Jan 9th: Kids are in bed and I run the garbage outside as collection day is the next morning. As I attempt to grab the additional bag in the bin outback, a 50lbs cement brick falls 3 feet onto my foot. I think that I have broken three toes. Walking around and carrying kids has never felt so good.
Jan 11th: The pediatric urologist has requested to see Masyn due to her being sick last week. We get to the hospital and have our consultation with him. He is convinced that she has reflux despite the VCUG indicating otherwise. He feels that the test was conducted wrong so she is to now have another one sometime in the next week. Poor girl .... yet another catheter experience.

And now for the whopper folks:

10:00am last night (Jan 11th): Hubby and I arrive home from our weekly night of curling. We arrive home to two hysterical kids and a visibly upset babysitter. What was wrong? Well, Kaelen two hours earlier tripped over his feet while walking down the stairs and fell off the last step into the kitchen. He was in obvious discomfort and by the time we got home, his right leg was so swollen that we had to cut his pajama leg just to see what was going on. After a 30 second debate, we packed him into the van and headed off for the Children's Hospital. One look at his leg by the triage nurse and he was whisked away into a procedure room with a doctor seeing him within five minutes. The diagnosis: the poor little man broke his fibula in two spots. And luckily for him, due to the way that he fell, the two fracture spots broke 3/4 and was saved from a full separation due to the tibula bone holding them in place. If the separation had happened, he would have been in surgery getting pins and rods. So, 5:00 am this morning, we made it home with a very sore and upset little boy. The doctors were able to reset his leg and from the xray, it looks pretty clean. However, we will see an orthopedic surgeon this coming week to ensure that all is still okay and that we can rule out surgery. Sigh. Kaelen will be in a full legged cast (from toe to groin) for the next 8 weeks, without any weight bearing.

So, as you can see, I am feeling extremely overwhelmed. Both of my kids have screamed the entire day today. We have had to turn away any potential showings of our home for the next week. Kaelen's only mode of transportation is via Mom or Dad, but at this point he is in too much pain. This makes simple things like going to the bathroom an episode that one would rather not experience again. Hubby has to leave town for three days this week to work his new job, and the pressure is on in his current job to clean things up and to ensure nothing slips through the cracks upon his departure at the end of the month. Both kids will have multiple visits to the Children's Hospital over the next two weeks and Kaelen can't even fit into his car seat properly. Help!!

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

ATTEMPTING TO PERFECT A NEW FOUND MODE OF TRANSPORTATION

Finishing Touches

We are almost there - just a few little things like mopping the tile floor and vacuuming and then this place will look somewhat like a showhome. It officially goes on the market as of noon today and wow - it has been a lot of work. Thankfully this house is small as I just can't imagine preparing a larger house for sale. All of the hard work and sweat is well worth it though as I walk through each room I get a sense of satisfaction seeing the spacious tidiness.

Now the real challenge comes forth: keeping it this way. There are no more lazy days or days that you can put doing the dishes or laundry off. Everyday and every movement is like being on call for you just never know when you may have to hightail it out in hopes that someone else will instantly fall in love with your home the moment they walk into the door. And, that is one thing that we learned when looking at homes down in Cranbrook - a tidy, spacious house seems much more appealing than one that isn't. All but one home that we viewed down in Cranbrook were decrepit, dirty dumps. People didn't make the effort to attempt to make their home seem appealing whatsoever. I can see past marks on walls and dishes in the sink, but to see dusty bunnies living in every corner and mold in the tubs, just completely turned me off the house. That, and the fact that all but the one house that we viewed would need some serious cash upgrades injected into them. Vital improvements such as furnace and hot water tank replacements, electric panel replacements and carpet, and those were just to make the houses livable really. Hopefully the one place that we viewed and liked, will remain on the market until ours sells ...... But then again, I am not that lucky so I am not going to bank on it.

A Clean Start

It is kind of ironic really that we are scrubbing this house from top to bottom in preparation to place it on the market tomorrow. Why? Well this house has been felled by the super puke bug. It all started with Masyn back in Cranbrook on Dec 29th and has continued to fell each member of this household. We have all paid homage to the porcelain god many times and have not been exactly water efficient when it comes to toilet flushing and loads of laundry.

Luckily, it only felled me for Thursday night and I was feeling better by Friday at dinner time. Masyn is off and on again, while Kaelen has been trooping it out since Thursday night. The bug finally felled Super Hubby (who claims to never get sick) by hitting him hard at both ends last night. He is down and out likely for the day today which leaves me the daunting task of washing all of the walls, keeping up with the laundry, wiping brows and toilet bowls when a loved one is heaving and trying in vain to make this house appear like a show home. I mean, who on earth can make a house like a show home when you live in it with two children? Kudos to all of you who have made it through successfully.

Thankfully, I have my Ergo and will pop Masyn on my back in it seeing that she is only content as long as she is attached to me. And, with her on my back, I am sure that I can still get walls washed, laundry done, brows wiped, things packed away, vacuum ...... oh the list goes on. Is it that bad to secretly wish or fake for that matter that I am sick again? Oh to just be able to kick back on the couch ......

New Year Update

Yep - it is true. I think that I officially qualify for the World's Worst Blogger. I just don't know how you moms do it really. Where on earth do you find the time? As Masyn gets a little older, she also demands that much more time because she isn't at that stage where she can play with others or entertain herself for more than five minutes. Oh yes ... and there was that little thing called Christmas that happened. That brought company to our house and the computer room was the only available spot for them to stay so that meant no computer time. And yes ... shortly after Christmas we headed down to Cranbrook, BC for New Years and other things, which I am getting to.

Remember when I eluded to some exciting news in our lives that might happen and it wasn't a secretly wished pregnancy? Well it is time that I can share it all with you. We are on the move. Hubby was offered a job in Cranbrook, BC and after a lot of thought and debating, we decided that this would be an excellent move for our family. Not only will it allow my hubby to have the chance at being the boss, but it will also allow for us to try and get ahead in the financial game of life. We just seem to never be able to get ahead here in Calgary due to the cost of living, commuting to and from work and of course all of extra curricular activities that seem to capture your interest. By us relocating to a small town, it will allow for us to save some money and the biggest bonus of all: we will have family there. I have an aunt who lives there that I can honestly say is one of the closest people in my life to me. We are so looking forward to having weekly family dinners and having my children grow up with family other than my hubby and me. So, over the past couple of weeks, in addition to celebrating Christmas and New Years, entertaining and visiting family, tending to sick kids and doctor visits, we have also been searching for a new home and trying to clean our current one up and placing it on the market. Needless to say we haven't had much relaxation time and time to just sit down and collect our thoughts.

That is my life in a nutshell over the holiday season. I have every intention of getting back onto the regular blogging train as I have so much to chat about, pictures to share and I am sure issues to vent. In the meantime, I am off to catch up on some of my good blogging friends sites and to see how they spent the holiday season. Happy New Year to you all and may 2008 bring you good health and happiness.