Ella as Elsa

If you've spent any time around my daughter lately, you know that she is quite dramatic. You also probably know that she is obsessed with the movie Frozen, and especially the song "Let It Go." Tonight while getting the kids ready for bed, I put Ella's nightgown on her (she just started wearing these recently, and loves to twirl in them), and she was immediately inspired to channel her inner-Elsa, and she started spinning around and dancing and singing this song. Here she is, in all her glory, singing "Let It Go." Eric, Carter and I could hardly contain our laughter, and just take a look at the drama! Good grief!!! :)

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Carter had a lot of fun making Valentine's for his class this year. Ella and I went to the class Valentine party on Thursday afternoon where everyone had a great time. And of course, Carter brought home tons of goodies!! 

Fun making a craft and having a Valentine's snack

We spent the day Friday with my Mom, Grandma, and Aunt & Uncle. The kids got spoiled by everyone and received lots of Valentine's candy and toys. That night, Eric and I took the kids out to an early dinner, ran a few errands, and came home for chocolate fondu for desert! The kids especially loved it!

Mmmmmm.

 Fun day with my 3 loves!!

Adios to Ella's cast!

Ella's cast came off today! She had to wear it for exactly 4 weeks, and I've been counting the days to "off day" for about 3 weeks now, HA! Yay for normal bath time, a clean arm and hand, less messes and spills while eating because of having to use her left hand, and no more Mom/Dad/Carter getting whopped with that thing!! So glad to have it gone.... and they actually asked me if we wanted to keep it. UMMMMM, NO! Gross!

Waiting, not so patiently, for them to call her name.

She did great with the removal, and we were all so glad to see her skinny little arm! She hugged it and gave it kisses again, and said, "Oh look, I can suck my thumb now!" And promptly popped that thumb right in. HA! The doctor said it has healed exactly how he wanted it to, just perfectly - no need for a splint or even a follow up visit. It was pretty crazy to see the X-ray and see how much new bone has formed in her wrist in just 4 weeks. Definitely because of the healing process, but also just because of her age and the rapid growth in her bones right now. Pretty cool!!

When we got home, she enjoyed a looooong bath and got to play in the water for the first time in a month! And that arm got a good scrub down, too. She's going to shed the dry, dead skin, but it should be back to normal in a couple of days.

Doing a happy dance and some fist pumping to celebrate!! 

 Woo-hoo!! So happy!! Even Carter was happy to see it off when I got him from school today.

Thankful for a fully healed wrist!! Hopefully no more of those in our future!

Carter's New Do

Sooooo, Carter cut his own hair on Monday night. It wasn't as bad as I have always imagined this day might be, but considering he had school pictures today, Tuesday, (Seriously?! OF COURSE he did!!) it was necessary to go ahead and just buzz it all off. And really, I'm just glad he did this to himself and that Ella wasn't nearby. Because I could totally see that happening. :/

Getting a shave.

(Ella's devil horns, HA!)

 All done! Still handsome with a little less hair!

And Ella is still saying, "Carter, I like your haircut!" HA!

So here's to hoping another one of these incidents never occurs in our household again. Because a buzz cut on Ella is NOT an option.

Ella's First Haircut

Okay, less of a haircut, more of a negligible trim, but still worth documentation. :)

I've been thinking about trimming her hair for a few months now, and finally got it done yesterday. She was pretty excited about it, mainly because she knows by accompanying us on lots of Carter's haircut trips that haircut = sucker! We took both the kids to Sharkey's, and Ella got to sit in Lightning McQueen. She sat really still, didn't get nervous at all, and even wanted to get her hair washed! And they gave us a baggie with Ella's little curls as a memento. Honestly, you can't really even tell that we had about a 1/2 inch cut off, and hopefully it will help to even out all her layers as her hair continues to grow in more. 

Ready to do this!

 Adorable. she sat so still and was so serious!

 Getting in blow-dried

 All done! It looks pretty short here, but it's really not! Sucker and balloon for the win!

Major Injury #2

No more ER trips for a while, ok baby girl??

 This is just so pitiful and heartbreaking.

We got home from the ER around midnight. Ella refused to take any medicine, so it was a rough night for all of us, as I'm sure she was in quite a bit of pain.

:(

Exhausted the next morning.

 

Finally heading back home. Lots of snacks and movies to keep her happy/comfortable on the way, although her appetite was almost nothing. :( She didn't even raise her right hand.

 Lots of lounging and watching TV the next few days.

 

And clinging to mommy :/

 Lots of one-handed activities that were a little bit of a challenge because she had to use her left hand

 Lots of rest.

FINALLY we got in to see a doctor on Tuesday morning. In my opinion, the most amazing pediatric orthopedic doctor ever, at Children's Legacy. Not that I have a whole lot of experience with these types of doctors, but I was just so impressed with him and the whole practice. He was very experienced, and knowledgeable. He was actually a hand and arm specialist, so he was the perfect doctor to see for Ella's injury. He just left me with warm fuzzies, and he helped my girl, and I love him for that! Looking forward to our follow up with him.

Ella was so happy to see her hand when they took the splint off! :)

She hugged it and gave it so much love. Too sweet.

Finally time to get her cast put on. She was definitely skeptical, and cried when she had to put pressure on her wrist to make it tight, but overall she did great.

Of course she chose pink :)

 All done!

Headed home

 

 Tough girl!!

Carter signed her cast. When I asked her if Daddy and Mommy could sign it too, she said, "NO! Only kids!" :/

 

Eating has been a bit of a challenge at times, as she is right handed. We have had some extra spills and messes, but she's doing a little better each day.

And her cast has not stopped her from having pretty fingernails!

Overall, she's doing great. She has had it on for 2 weeks now, so we are halfway through it. She gets it off the morning of Tuesday the 4th. Bath time pretty much stinks because we can't get the cast wet. We have to wrap her whole arm in a plastic bag, so it's complicated. And I feel like her little hand is always gross because it can't be washed. I use hand sanitizer on it constantly, but still. Also, it hasn't really slowed her down much.... she's still busy and active and physical like always! The good news is it's indestructible so I guess she's pretty safe. After a few days of having it on, she got pretty comfortable using her arm. She is still careful with it and doesn't use it like normal and is definitely limited with what she can do with it, but I see that as a good thing. We're having to take a month off of gymnastics, and I know she and I both will be glad to go back in a few weeks. It will also be interesting to see if having the cast on has broken her habit of sucking her thumb. She used to suck her right thumb at naptime/bedtime, but obviously she can't do that now. She doesn't seem to be too bothered by not being able to do that, really. I have seen her on the monitor only a couple of times stick her left thumb in her mouth, but it's not a regular thing, so we'll see what she does when she has that right thumb back. :) Sooooo looking forward to getting it taken off!

Beavers Bend 2014 with the Beckmans

We spent the first weekend of 2014 at a cabin in Beaver's Bend with Eric's parent's, sister, and her family. It was a great house with tons of space for the kids to run and play, and an awesome outdoor living room that we enjoyed so much! The weekend was complete with nature walks, basketball, campfires, lots of yummy meals, games by the outdoor fireplace, family photo shoots, and just generally enjoying the time together. Unfortunately, our wonderful trip ended with a terrible fall for Ella that resulted in a broken wrist (more on that in a coming post). I hate that it had to end on a note like that, because it was such a fun weekend! But I think all the kids had a wonderful time with each other anyway, and it's definitely a trip we'll always remember! :)

Enjoying the outdoor fireplace and heaters the first night. It was COLD!!

Silly kids

Pretty girl exploring outside

Love my boy

It really was a gorgeous setting!

Heading out for a nature walk

Teeny, tiny pine cone

Someone's getting tired

Being silly with Grandpa's hat

:)

All the kids piled up in the old wagon near the front driveway. This was an interesting few moments, to say the least. :)

Silly

Gavin, Carter, Devin. Best little buddies.

Sweet girl

Love!!

Oh, that smile....

Just too cute.

 

Eric made it his mission to keep our wood supply up and our fires going. Carter decided to help him at some point. We never had a shortage of fire wood, that's for sure!!

More fun on another hike through the woods

These hikes are tiring for such little legs

Love her to pieces.

Cindy's one and only request for the weekend was that we get some pictures in our t-shirts she had mad for us. It was a success and I think we made Grandma happy! Here is what we got. :)

 The whole group.

Our family

Fun around the campfire

Gavin and Carter played a lot of frisbee with Grandpa the last night we were there. 

They got pretty good at it!

Devin

The kids helping Eric grill hot dogs.

Right after dinner was when Ella fell, so we had to head out to the ER with her. Carter stayed behind and the rest of the kids who got to roast marshmallows and enjoy one last evening playing. They were all fast asleep by the time we got home with Ella at almost midnight. After a rough night, we headed home the next morning. It was a little bit of a rough drive home, but Ella was a trooper and we made it. And I don't think I have ever been so glad to be home in my life, after that little incident!