These Are the Days We'll Remember

These little cousins spent a lot of time celebrating together this weekend!

Claranna Cuteness

Despite being the bone breaker in our house, Claranna continues to charm us with her cuteness.

She talks and talks and talks all day long. She speaks in long phrases that are quite grown up for her age. Although, she is not always easy to understand she can carry on simple conversations and talks on the phone quite well. She especially likes to do video calls with Hal in California and tends to dominate the conversations.

I just returned from my 59th trip (I might be exaggerating, but only a little) up to the girls' room to quiet down Claranna's endless chatter at bed time. Her little nose as has been running all day and it looks like we might have one last round of sickness in our house before spring will take all of the germs away. I asked her if she was getting a cold. She promptly responded, "No, I warm!" Such a smarty!

After two additional rounds of x-rays this morning, Ella ended up with a bright pink cast with sparkles of glitter. The surgeon said that the growth plate in her knuckle was still aligned properly and we could do a "watch and see" and hope that her finger will continue to grow correctly. If not, there will be surgical options to correct the issues. Even if it all heals nicely on its own, Ella may always have a bump by her knuckle and a slightly crooked finger. The bone chip that is floating in her finger is from an area of the joint that a small tendon is attached to. The surgeon felt that some of the tendon was still attached otherwise she wouldn't be able to bend the joint. He felt it was critical that she be put in a cast so that the bones and tendon can heal properly. So even though it is just the end of her finger that is broken, she is now in a lovely cast from fingertip to elbow. The cast is on her right hand and of course she is right-handed. She can kind of hold a pencil, but it already frustrated that she can't write neatly, draw as well, or eat easily.

She was pretty excited about the cast at noon today when she had it put on. However the excitement is already wearing off. The surgeon is planning on her wearing a cast for 4-6 weeks. She'll wear this cast for three weeks and then we are to go in for a new one. Pray that she heals fast!! She is going to be so bummed to be sitting on the side of the pool during the month of June...

Dancing Day!

Today was dance recital day at our house. Claranna and Mommy danced together in the "Mommy and Me" group. Ella did a "Hip Hop" dance and Mark was a "Dancing Dad". James happily watched all of us while sitting with some very special people in the audience. Ella performed wonderfully, as always. Claranna did all her cute little moves and proudly waved as we left stage. Being on stage didn't phase her at all. Here's the little sweetie backstage with Mommy before the recital.

I wish I had a picture of Mark doing his routine, but I am sure he is glad that I don't. If you look closely at the picture that our budding photographer, James, took of our when we got home, you will see that Mark proudly wore a tutu in front of a full auditorium today! I might have some video to upload later...

It's finally happened!

We have our first broken bone at our house. You might not be surprised to learn that it's Ella with the broken bone, but you might be shocked to learn that it was sweet little Claranna who was the cause of the break. It seems that when Claranna jumped on Ella while they were snuggling on the floor, she landed on Ella's finger just the wrong way. This happened several days ago (when Daddy was in charge and Mommy was at a meeting). Mark iced her finger and that seemed to be enough to relieve the immediate pain. While there was a bump on one side of her finger, it didn't swell up to an enormous size and she could still bend it. We thought it would get better in a few days. It didn't bother her too much or slow her down, but she still complained about it a bit.

Ella did the monkey bars at school during recess on Friday and then was promptly in the nurse's office complaining of pain in her finger. After I found a babysitter (Thanks, Ardith!) for the three kids at my house (cousin Brennen was here, too), I picked her up at school and brought her in for an x-ray and exam. It turns out her finger is fractured and there is a small bone chip floating near her first knuckle on her right ring finger. The fracture is on a growth plate which may complicate healing. We left the doctor's office with an appointment in orthopedic surgery for Monday, a finger splint and a prescription for antibiotics because it is considered an "open fracture" due to it being so close to her fingernail bed. We're curious about what we will hear on Monday. In the meantime, Ella has been having fun saying that her little sister broke her finger.

A Butterfly and James

God Made a Farmer

I come from a family of farmers and I'm proud of it. With the sun finally shining, all the farmers I know were hard at work in the fields today and so I think it is quite appropriate to share this video today:

Robins - 4 Eggs, 4 Weeks from Fred Margulies on Vimeo.