Leah and Ammon

Leah wanted a photo taken, so here's the latest..

Jump Jam 2012

Emmy went to support her team at Jump Jam in Taupo on Saturday. Here's their video.
http://youtu.be/fCOonAelIvw

TOFW 2013

I have been watching the live-stream of Time out for women 2013 in Salt Lake City. Here are some of my favourites:

VIRGINIA PEARCE
Sometimes we think if we give up our desire to punish someone, we will lose and they will win. Forgiveness is really about us and the Savior not us and the other person.
True forgiveness shows when you desire the welfare of the perpetrator.

You can only reap what you sow.

BOYD K PACKER
You are a child of God. He is the Father of your spirit. Spiritually you are of noble birth, the offspring of the King of Heaven. Fix that truth in your mind and hold to it.

CHRIS WILLIAMS
Let it go! All of it, hold nothing back.
What burden can I lay at the feet of the Savior today??

BRAD WILCOX
The Lord's goal is not to get us to heaven, it is to make us heavenly.
A covenant is not a contract between two parties, it is a warm relationship between two friends who are on a first name basis.

JOHN BYTHEWAY
Regardless of your original intention, you will eventually become what you surround yourself with.
The way we spend our days becomes the way we spend our lives.

MERCY RIVER
A Father never gives up on his children.

EZRA TAFT BENSON
Nothing will surprise us more than when we get to heaven, and see the Father and realize how well we know him, and how familiar his face is.

EMILY FREEMAN
When was the last time you had an answer to prayer? If it wasn't in the last three days then you need to change how you pray.
When was the last time you had an answer through scripture study? If it wasn't sometime this week, then you need to change the way you're reading your scriptures.
Don't just read or pray, make an appointment with the Lord.
Trust God enough to also trust his timing.
Minister as you go along your way, not when it's convenient. Others are praying for you to help when they need it, not when you're available.
What do I need to learn? What am I willing to sacrifice to learn that lesson?

A broken leg - the whole story

This was a big event in our house, so writing it down seems to be called for.

    Saturday started just lovely. A big lie in, kids happily watching tv, Emmy helping the boys get breakfast... relaxing! Scott and his boys turned up to help Nate paint the eves of the house and to play, and even brought mama's donuts - YUM!! It was all going lovely until Emmy decided to climb the ladder to see what Dad and Uncle were painting on the roof. She said she had the thought that she was too high and that she should get down as she was about waist high to the guttering. She started her descent but the ladder wobbled and she crashed down.
    The noise I heard from the office...... I just knew it wasn't normal. I ran outside to Emmy lying on the damp front deck, the ladder beside her, her screaming "my bones are wrong", to look down and see the bones of her left leg so obviously out of place and pushing against the skin. It has been an image that has been difficult to remove from my mind since. I yelled for Nathan ('cause I didn't know he was on the roof, I thought he was around the back of the house) and all I heard was "call an ambulance". So that was me on the phone for a while.
    Scott jumped off the roof down to Emmy cause I didn't think to put the ladder back up first, then Nate got down. They immediately gave her a blessing and comforted her. Em went into shock, we put a couple blankets on her and waited for the ambulance. It took about 15 minutes. My poor girl. What pain she was in! Nate was awesome keeping calm and focused and directing everything while he held our baby. I packed a bag for her, knowing we'd most likely be overnight. Mum was called to come and Joesy had already been on her way over to visit us. Leah got quite upset watching it all and had a good cry in Granny's arms. To give her something to do I told her to take some photo's. Emerson was NOT impressed with the photo taking but it helped Leah.
    Ken and Trevor from St John's ambulance were awesome. Got her on the gas and gave her some other pain relief, splinted her leg and got her on board. The boys were excited about the ambulance and just wanted to sit in it. They were very content to climb up for 10 seconds then back down again. I travelled with Em, Nate stayed to sort out things at home. When we left Joesy took all the kids for a big walk and play at the playground and Mum cleaned up our house (thanks very much for that!).

    At the hospital Ken (turns out he lives around the corner from us) and Trevor were happy to stay longer with her and take her for an x-ray on their trolley then return her to kids emergency. That meant she only had to change beds once not three times. Small things are so helpful. From the x-ray they could see that she had broken both bones and that the muscles had contracted and pulled her bones up past each other, pins or plates most likely needed. She kept on the gas and got morphine too, and asked her Daddy for another blessing once he joined us. We were there about 3 hours before being transferred to Ward 26.

    She got her own room (#4) and we waited for her to go to surgery. She went just after 5pm. I thought the anaesthetist was awesome - I can't remember his first name, but the last name was Walsh. Em was really scared she was going to feel everything but he distracted her by giving her an ipad to play with while they prepped her and put her to sleep. She didn't even notice it coming. That made me cry - being in the prep area with her and watching her cry due to her fears and knowing my words weren't enough, she was still scared. Thank goodness for the ipad!

    Resetting her leg went really well and they didn't even have to put pins or a plate in as initially discussed. Didn't cut her leg at all, just manipulated it back into place and plastered it in a plaster-of-paris cast. She was only in about 35 mins so we passed the time in the closest waiting place to the theatre - the cafeteria - having dinner. She was distressed coming out of la-la land and it wasn't until we returned her to her room on the ward and let her have a little sleep that she really calmed down and her heartbeat slowed down.

    Kimberly, Cierra and Kaiya arrived which made Em cry. The emotional day and having some family arrive was a little bit much but she soon settled down and they came in to visit. Nathan chose to stay the night with her and Kimberly drove me home about 9pm (to an open front door, lights off and no alarm on but thankfully all ok and untouched. Mum had forgotten to shut the door after three attempts to leave and take the kids home for the night :) ).

    It was a bit of a weird feeling to be at home on my own, very lonely. I went into Emerson's room, laid on her bed and cried. My poor girl. It was hard to sleep and I was awake by 6am. I returned to the hospital at 8.30am with some food and more supplies but neither Nate or Em were hungry - until he finally succumbed to the rest of mama's donuts (have I told you how yum they are??).

    They kept Em on Tramadol (a strong pain relief from the morphine family) and panadol throughout her stay. After the pain relief kicked in we managed to give her a shower, it took two of us to figure it all out including lifting her out of bed while the other supported her leg. She was sore.
    She has no appetite and only drinks when we encourage her. Nathan decided to go home for a shower then Nanny arrived with Leah, Ammon and Caleb. Well, she arrived with Leah and Caleb - Ammon had followed someone else off the elevator on an earlier floor so Mum and I rode the elevator and ran down stairs trying to find him. Mum did, what a little panic. We returned to the room and Donna, Tylan, Natalie and Nadia Robinson arrived to visit. Papa came too. We had brought the ipad and movie player to entertain her when there were no visitors and the twins brought up some movies for her to watch along with some coloured felts. She quickly put the felts to work and had people signing her cast - only on her foot or above her knee though. She didn't want anyone pressing on her calf!
    Nathan returned about 1pm and Paul, Jayden and Jasmine Leith came to see us. After they left we encouraged her to try crutches. It took forever for them to bring her some and a wheelchair that we could go for a walk in. Had to ask about three nurses for them to finally order one. Em was keen to try, however as her leg was lowered (had always been raised before this point) the blood rushing back down was painful and she cried, and cried. Right then Chris and Hannah Dawson and Rosetta Forbes turned up. What timing! I asked them to wait in the lounge while we settled her down, she was most upset at the pain. We visited for a bit but Emerson was chomping at the bit to go for a walk to the cafeteria. They went off to visit another friend in the hospital and we headed off. Didn't make it to the cafeteria though as Ru and Ants and the kids arrived to visit. We talked for a while in the hospital hallway but thought better to return to the lounge, Emmy wasn't impressed. She wanted to go to the cafeteria. Probably didn't help her mood that her dinner arrived and was not appealing to her. By now she was tired and we returned her to bed. Nathan went home as the kids were returning home for the night. He had to go to work on Monday and would drop Leah at school and the boys at Donna's on his way.
    She still had the room to herself. Petria came to visit. She waited for her tramadol before going to sleep at 9pm, she was wasted. She was having a great sleep until 10:45pm when they brought in two new roommates at the same time. Man nurses are noisy! I don't think they have the concept that it's night time. For them it's just work and they do it regardless if the patients are sleeping. Emerson of course woke up and was getting angry that they wouldn't be quiet and let her sleep. I tried to shush them through the curtain, fat lot of good that did. Emmy started to cry and asked to go home. I was so annoyed. I finally got up and asked them to be quiet, that my daughter was trying to sleep. Downside was it was only the families in the room at that point. Although they were great and whispered after that, the nurses would still come in and talk at normal tones. Argh!
    I didn't sleep well, getting up a couple times in the night. Who sleeps well in the hospital?? We were awake by 6:45am and Anthea came to visit when her shift finished at 7am. (Ants works in the NICU). It's quite helpful to have someone with medical knowledge to answer questions you didn't know you had and to give tips you hadn't even thought you'd need. So glad she came. Emmy was happy to see her aswell. Breakfast came - weetbix. Em didn't want it, she had ordered it for her Dad, so that he'd have something to eat. Awww.... only thing was she thought she was ordering all her food for Sunday, not Monday.
    The doctor came round and said we could go home once physio had seen her. Yay. Em wanted another shower but there was only me to help her. We had to wait a bit for the nurse to be free to come help her get out of bed. It was harder taking her by myself and she wished for her Daddy to come help too. His strength was a huge comfort for her and made her feel safe. Her leg did drop off the wheelchair at one point though and that caused alot of pain but we managed in the end. Emmy wanted to go for a walk but someone had taken the wheelchair during the night and we couldn't find another one. She was stuck in bed again. They brought a cot into the room and Em looked at me with horror. She did not want a crying baby in the room, she REALLY wanted to go home now. We waited and waited for the physio to arrive. Nanny came to visit.
    She had her painkillers about 12pm and they did not have the same effect by the time they finally arrived about 3pm. Nathan had arrived before then and it took a fair bit of coaxing to get her willing to try. I think her motivation was that her room was now full and noisy, as was the ward. As painful as it was for her she gave it a go. She had to be able to master steps before she could leave. The cast was so heavy she struggled. The physio let her try her shoe on her good foot, and the extra height really helped her get her cast off the ground. She did it! We could go home!
   Of course things aren't that simple and it took the nurses a good while to discharge her and order her a wheelchair to take her to the car. Lucky Nanny had taken a few things home for us including Em's flowers so we only had to take her bag, her crutches, her shower stool, her walking frame and another bag of 'stuff'. You gather a bit in two days don't you?
   Daddy promised her a visit to Burger King on her way home for some real food, and although she wanted a combo she was full after eating just the chips. We stopped at Petria's to pick up dinner that she had so kindly prepared for us, then went to Donna's to pick up the boys and Leah who had gone home with the twins after school. It was nice to be home together as a family again.
    Emerson just wanted to go lie in her bed. Isn't your own bed just the best?! She was so happy to be in it. She asked if it would be okay if she didn't have any dinner and just had a rest instead. Of course it was, and she was asleep within minutes. That was at 5pm. Sandra, Noah and Ezra Gudgeon came to visit followed by Doug Rathbone and Karen Belk and her girls Shae and Brooke. They brought us the wheelchair from work (Godsend!) that Shae had used when she broke her leg and woohoo it was the same leg! So good. We tried to rouse her for dinner but no luck. We did get Em up to go to the toilet, got her in some pyjama's then she went back to bed and that was her until 7am! Oh - she did wake at 4am needing painkillers but was straight back to sleep. Finally she could catch up.
    Monday night was the hardest night for me. We were finally home, the kids were in bed asleep, the house was in order and Nathan and I could just stop. It was then that the emotional part caught up with me I think. We went to bed and all I could see was Emmy's leg as she lay on the deck, the look on her face, the pain she was in, I could hear the screaming, the crying, her going so pale as she went into shock. I cried and cried. I couldn't get it out of my head. I tried reading for a while till I got tired enough to just go straight to sleep. It took a long time.
    We decided to keep her home from school all week so that her leg had a good chance to heal. We had already promised Leah we would watch her do her cross country and Emerson was keen to come too and see her friends. We took her in the wheelchair and she was the star on centre stage with all the attention she got. It was a good chance also to talk to the school about the help she would need when she returned. Leah won her race and was very proud of herself :) as were we.
   So life has settled back down as Emerson has gained strength and is more independant. She's been to her own cross country to support her friends, had dinner at Valentine's and been to Faith In God and church. She can go to the toilet by herself now, is using the crutches alot but still needs help getting in and out of the shower. Her leg hurts if she doesn't sleep with it straight on the pillow it rests on and her tramadol has run out. We will see if panadol is enough now. She gets the plaster of paris cast taken off this Wednesday and she is hoping for a purple glitter cast to replace it. It will still be above the knee for another 4 weeks with one after that below the knee for a few weeks possibly.
    Today is Monday 27th August and she has gone to school. She may last the whole day, she may come home at lunchtime. Her class missed her and she missed them but I'm sure she enjoyed having no school work to do :), back to reality Miss McAnnalley!

    For me, sleep does not come easily any more. As tired as my body is and as drained as my mind is, every night I struggle to sleep and replenish myself. There is still a household to look after and things to be done. Work is usually a nice break from home, but even that has been hard this week to get my mind around it. And I only worked Friday! Caleb has not been well since Saturday with fever and who knows what else, conjunctivitis maybe?? Ammon had a rash on his legs on Friday morning so we went to the doctor Friday night as it had spread so much more - thinks it was an allergic reaction to something, it was gone by the morning. It just doesn't end does it? This week brings a ward FHE, fracture clinic, parent-teacher interviews, singing lessons, gymnastics lessons, primary meeting, book club, and more painting on our house if the weather fines up.....
   Nate isn't much better off. His laptop broke down at work so he can't get much done. Even the replacement one he received today doesn't let him log in. It's frustrating him. He also went to a specialist on Tuesday about his back, he had an MRI scan on it on Wednesday and essentially something in it is broken, so he will need surgery to fix it. He feels the pain more and more lately. Bring on our holiday in Queenstown I say!!!!

Question

Ammon: How do babies get out of your tummy?
Mum: You push them out.
Ammon: But your hands can't fit down your mouth!

Girls School Blogs

Leah's has been updated and Emerson's will be next week I think, but there is a version of the 'like' button at the bottom of each post now, so even if you don't know what to say you can click on the WHAT DID YOU THINK buttons and the girls will know that people are looking at and reading their blogs. If you've lost their blog addresses they are on the right hand column of my page.

Hospital Check Up

Em had her 6 monthly check up yesterday. All I wanted from it was to come away doing something different this time, and thankfully that has happened. She has made no progress at all in the last six months, so finally they are going to refer her to the Child Development Centre and in particular the soiling clinic. It has a psychologist as part of it, and I am leaning more and more towards the idea that it is way more a mental issue for her than a physical one. So I am happy.
She has also started a new medicine today - Movocol. It will flush out her system so we can start again with an empty bowel and hopefully maintain it easier. But it means staying around home and a toilet, so I've taken the day off work to get it all started. She also needs to take Senokot and Cefaclor. I've started her on a probiotic too and she has to increase her liquid intake majorly.
You are all gun-ho at first and can be quite religious about what she needs to do for the first month, then it fizzles out. I'm really keen for her to talk to the psychologist and start helping herself and wanting to fix herself. If I'm out or not around when she needs to take her medicine, she won't. And usually whoever is watching her doesn't remember to make her take it especially if I haven't told them to remind her. I'm tired.
So cross fingers for us that this is finally the path to the end!

Caleb is a real jabbermouth now. His language continues to come along in leaps and bounds. He LOVES playdates and being with his cousins. He and Ammon are right into the Dinosaur Train show by Jim Henson. It's a good show. They watch it every morning and we have recorded it on my-sky so they watch it a couple times through out the day as well. I have decided to put the boys into gymnastics next term and Ammon is real excited about it. Leah and Em will do basketball and Em will do singing. We are going to take a break from swimming although we may still hit aqua gym on a thursday morning.
The rest of the holidays is not planned besides Rose & Jean's birthday party and Brooke's Baptism. Nate does want to take the kids to see Brave sometime so it's lucky some movie discount vouchers came in the mail this week. It's an expensive family activity these days isn't it?

Caleb

Caleb did a poo on the toilet today! Awww my baby is growing up. He's very keen to wear undies and to go on the toilet. No potty thank you very much. Still a long way to go but it's a beginning.
Now if only I could figure out how to get him to keep some clothes on in this freezing weather????

June is coming

It's never ending is it? There is always something coming up. Next is Caleb's birthday and he's going to be two. If anyone has any ideas for presents for me, I would be grateful! It's in 3 weeks.

I feel like I am more of a House Administrator than a Mother most days. I need to change something. I feel like all I do is tidy up or instruct the kids on tidying up, or cook or wash. Blah. I want to spend more time WITH my kids, interacting with them, playing with them. Leah and I spent some time doing her nails today and that was nice. Alternating purple and blue with sparkles, but still.....
I'm not asking for ideas or comments here, just voicing how I feel. Of course the housework still has to be done to help our home function but there just seems to be more of a focus on that then on being a family.

The girls both got good school reports last week, they are usually above where they need to be in all subjects. Emerson is reading "Once" by Maurice Gleitzman (I think) in her class, so we got a copy so we could see what she was reading/studying. It is from the viewpoint of a young boy at the time of the Holocaust. It's a simple read but I have yet to talk to Emerson about what she thinks of it and if she is 'getting' it. It has parts 2 and 3 - "Then" and "Now" and we have been given them also. I just struggle to pick it up because it is written from the first person and definitely for a younger audience, I just want them to hurry up and tell the story :).

Leah has fallen in love. With basketball. Is super excited to be playing and even wrote her speech about it. She gives the speech tomorrow she says and even got pictures from Papa to go with it. She wants no help though in writing her speech. We're trying to get her to be a little more descriptive and working out which pics to show when, but nope she has it sussed thank you very much.

I am enjoying being back in primary. For Mothers Day we got to have a day off and go to Relief Society class instead but I realized how much women waffle. I received a good witness that I am in the right calling right now. Nathan is still in the Bishopric.

I am very much into my family history at present. What a surprise eh? The focus has been on my ggg grandmothers family on Mum's side - Mary Jane Tims who married Jeremiah Grace. She had three husbands. Another I was working on had four! Sometimes it is a tangled web yet quite fun to figure out.

Must go, I am making Bacon and Potato Soup. Smells good so far.

Ammon turns 4

Here's some pics from Ammon's birthday. Thank you for the presents, he loves all of them!

Ready for Breakfast

Happy Birthday Ammon!

Rocket from Mum

Pillow Pet from Leah

Clothes from Dad

Bubble Machine from Emmy

Fireman Hose from Mum

 

Dinner request: Fish and Chips

Aston, Tony & Caleb

Chocolate from Brooklyn (and a jacket)

Game from the Prattleys

 

Spiderman Bag from the Bells

Gumboots from Granny

Nanny & Leah

it's a good week

Hello all. I am happy because this week I only have to buy nappies for ONE child now. Yeeha! We ran out for Em on the weekend, so we said nope that's it, no more for her. If she wets she can wash it and remake it. I guess she hasn't wanted to do her own washing because she has been dry since! So happy. Ammon wets now and then, but on average is dry too. This is gonna save me some money. Money we can spend on paint!

We've starting painting the inside of our house. We have done the lounge with Resene Metamorphis. This photo is a bit dark but gives you an idea.

I might change the curtains yet though. Next is the hall then our bedroom. I'm trying to decide between a light blue or a chocolate colour....

The outside of our house is progressing aswell. Scott (Nate's brother) has been painting it for us. On Saturday he did the eaves. We are not in a hurry except it would be nice to get the outside finished before the wet winter arrives. We did the first coat last summer, heck maybe we will finish next summer??

Leah is going to be playing basketball in term 2 (we are quietly stoked she wanted to play as she is not usually interested in team activities, so this will be great for her) and swimming. After school today we are going to get her assessed as to which swim class she should be in. Then we'll pick up the boys from Mum's, home for dinner and get dressed for their school disco tonight. It's an easter theme and Emerson want's to go dressed as a cupcake. Funnily enough we do have a cupcake dressup so that will be easy. Leah doesn't like attention so she'll probably go in her normal clothes.

We are waiting to see if there is a basketball team for Emerson to play in next term, depends on how many children are interested enough to form a team. Otherwise she'd like to play hockey. We'll find out tomorrow. Caleb is signed up for swim lessons again next term, this time in the kids pool instead of the hydrotherapy pool as he's now tall enough to stand up in the pool by himself. Ammon isn't booked into any activities yet, I should think about that.....

Nathan is not enjoying work, he's bored. I still enjoy my work and like how it breaks up my week by only working wed and fri. The boys and I have been having fun outside alot lately in the lovely weather we are having.

Congratulations Em

Emerson was chosen to be a school house captain this year. She is very happy and did well explaining herself on her application. Well done my girl.

February 2012

Just a reminder there is a link to the right for the girls school blogs. One of their own each, and one for their class. Their class blog gets updated more often then their personal one's. Leah has posted but I don't think Em has yet. They both love their classes. Leah is in Room 7 with Mrs Natusch (year 3) and Em is in Room 14 with Mrs Gunn (year 5).