No more boots!

So, the boots came off today!! HOORAY!!

On our way to CHLA!

Getting started...

Sammy hated the loud noise that the saw makes that they use to cut the casts, so this time we brought some music for him to listen to. He loved it! And the lollipop helped too!

One down...

All done! Reading books with Dad while we wait for the doctor.

Hannah chose a yellow lollipop...trying to match her shirt?

Helene tried to talk me into giving her a lollipop too...

I just had to include this picture. Hannah loves to hold onto Samuel's ears whenever she is on his shoulders. It makes me laugh every time.

Sammy is still pretty apprehensive about walking--more psychological than anything else I think since he was getting around okay with the casts. His surgeon said it may take up to a week for him to feel like walking, and not to pressure him. He can resume almost all normal activity, except no jumping and no contact sports, like soccer.

His little legs are sooooo skinny now. So sad. And I won't go into too much detail on how gross his feet were after being in casts for 10 weeks. There were so many layers of dead skin that I had to soak and scrub them several times with an old toothbrush to exfoliate all the layers. Yuck.

So things are looking good and we are so happy to have this all behind us. It was a long summer, but hopefully we can get in some swimming and other fun stuff before school starts.

What we've been up to lately...

I know.

It's been almost 2 weeks since my last post. There just isn't anything all that exciting to post about since we've been hanging out indoors most of the time since the temps have been in the high 90s to 100s the past two weeks. And our indoor activities and places to go are limited with the legs-in-casts situation, so we've really been BORED.

We have gone to our friend Sachia's house for a pool day once a week. And while that sounds so sad and boring for Sammy since he can't go swimming--he actually LOVES to go there. Sachia lives literally right next to the Del Mar Metro Station and from the 4th floor pool, Sammy can watch the trains come and go all afternoon. He absolutely loves it.

We also have gone to story time at the library and a music class that my kids refuse to sit through and barely participate in so I'm not really sure WHY we actually go, but it makes me feel like we are at least getting out of the house for the day besides just going to Target or Costco. (How is THAT for a run-on sentence?)

Anyway, here are a few pics. These are from the pool day yesterday. We've had so many people moving out of our ward this summer, and this was a farewell for the most recent group of people leaving at the end of the month. Good-bye to Megan, Allison, and Kimber and their familes! **sniff sniff**

Oh and my camera is broken so these are taken with Samuel's not-so-great camera, but hey--at least it works!

Sammy ready for the trains to arrive.
This is his goofy smile.

Yep--the trains are that close.

Train watching can attract quite a crowdGroup shot

Another group shot
Our gracious host Sachia with Sienna

Kimber with Tyler

Lauren with her twins: Ethan and Kate,
along with Allison and Tessa

Megan with Caden

Hannah LOVES the pool...and her sunglasses

Hannah and me

Even Helene got some pool time in thanks to Natalie holding her for me. She loved it, even though you can't tell by her face.

4th of July and Birthday Fun!

Since my niece Emma's birthday is July 1st and Hannah's is July 7th, we decided to combine the celebration this year while all (well, most of) the family was together for the 4th.

My SIL Mariann's sister, Myra, was kind enough to make a cake for the girls' special day. It was so adorable--and was super yummy too!

And my mom and niece Trishia made a darling doll cake too!
So fun to have two cakes!We spent some of the afternoon in the pool, and then had a BBQ outside for dinner. We put my nephew Jon to work shucking the corn.

Group shot

Since my kids have no interest in fireworks (well, Sammy is scared of the noise and Hannah just takes her cue from Sammy), they stayed inside and watch TV while we watched the fireworks from Mark and Mariann's backyard. But first, the girls opened presents.

Grandma helping out

On Hannah's actual birthday (Tuesday, July 7th), we met some friends at the park and had cupcakes. There aren't too many pictures because I was too busy pushing kids on the swings and helping Sammy up and down the slide, but here are just a few.

Adam and Samuel and Sammy

Hannah loved her cupcakes.
Yes, she is licking the frosting like a heathen.

Love that chocolate frosting face!

Adorable Lucy, as always

Super cute Ally

Hannah and my friend Natasha, who I just have to mention is 16 weeks pregnant after many trials and much tribulation.
Congratulations to Natasha and Jonas!

Group shot

Thanks to everyone who helped to make Hannah's birthday so special!! We had so much fun hanging out with you all!

Blue Boots

We were scheduled to meet with Sammy's surgeon last Thursday to remove the casts and take out the pins in his legs. But that Tuesday before, he kept telling me that his right leg was really hurting and he awoke at 9:30pm and 3am with enough pain that he needed codeine to feel better. His surgeon wanted us to bring him in on Wednesday so he didn't have to wait it out in pain until Thursday.

They took more x-rays and everything looked good, so off we went to the cast room to get the pink casts removed. The cast room was crazy busy and we waited about 30 minutes before they took the casts off. Sammy's legs looked so little and skinny from muscle loss and he was a little freaked out by the way they looked (with these big metal things sticking out of him), but he was happy to have them off.

We took him back down the hall to the clinical area of the office and waited for his surgeon to come back in to remove the pins. That was pretty traumatic for him. Quick, but not painless. I held him down while Samuel held his legs and the doctor pulled them out. Even though I'm sure that totally hurt, he seemed happy they were out after he stopped screaming and crying. Then it was back down the hall for new casts. They were still super busy and we waited about an hour to get new casts put on.

Sammy chose blue this time and his foot is positioned flat as if walking, so he can attempted to stand and take a few steps if he chooses to. He was too scared to walk or even stand the first few days, but he has since stood with the help of the furniture and taken a step or two as long as he is holding on to something. It's not something he does often, but he has attempted it on occasion. I am sure that he will be moving around more these next few weeks.

He is so cute and keeps telling me that "these boots don't hurt, Mom". Poor guy still thinks that it was the boots that were hurting him and not a clue about what really happened. That's probably a good thing.

These "boots" come off on July 30th and then we should be done. Whoo hoo! Sammy and I CANNOT wait!

A big THANK YOU to Danielle for watching Hannah for me while I took Sammy to his appointment. I figured it would be a quick visit because it usually is, but with all the waiting in the x-ray and cast rooms, what I thought would only take 2 hours ended up being 4. I am so grateful that Danielle was able to watch Hannah for me because it would have been an absolute nightmare with all three kids bored and restless in the waiting room for hours.

Happy Birthday Hannah!

I can't believe she is 3 today, but I guess I say that every year about all my kids on their birthdays. It just seems like time is moving so fast and I wish I could just press a pause button on life and savor these moments for a bit longer.

Happy Birthday to my beautiful, energetic, talkative, friendly little girl. You are so much fun and so loving--we are blessed to have you in our family.