1st Broken bone(s)

Wade was hanging from the highest monkey bars at the park. And he slipped and hit the ground, hard. Todd scooped him up, belted him in the carseat and headed for home. He called me, only to discover that I was at Publix with Jack...so we agreed to meet at the ER, Todd take the groceries and Brody and Jack home, and I would go into the ER with sweet Wade. After a lot of waiting, watching videos on you tube, and an x-ray of his arm and elbow, the Nurse came in to deliver the news...She said that the ER was extremely busy and that we would not be able to see a Dr (????), but that one had "read" his x-rays and that he had broken his elbow in 2 different places. They casted his arm in a temporary hard cast, open on the top in case he continued to swell, wrapped it with a bandage and gave him a sling, and gave us instructions to meet with an Ortho. Doc on Monday. Sweet boy cried after it happened, on the way to the ER and for maybe 5 minutes while we were getting adjusted into our room, and then he was all smiles. He never cried, during the x-ray, the casting...nothing. He was so brave and I was incredibly proud of our big boy! He even talked about how is hospital bracelets made him a secret agent and that he was going to share with with Brody as soon as he got home! Both boys wore those bracelets proudly all day Saturday...melt my heart! So, since we have not even seen a Dr. yet...grrrrrrrr.....we are anxiously awaiting his appointment for tomorrow at 8:45a with Dr. Thackery. Wade hopes he will "get an orange cast", while we are praying for clean breaks, that require no surgery. Ahh, life with 3 boys...pretty sure this is the first of many visits to the ER!! Little guy was so worn out from the trauma of the situation, that he fell fast asleep:

Nothing worse than seeing your child in pain:

Our brave Wade!

All immobilized and ready to leave!

Your 1st broken bone(s)...May 5, 2012. You are 3 years and 9 months old...

The boy is getting it...!!



 

Jack turns 11 months old!

My baby. Jack Jack. Littlest man. The Jickers. He is almost ONE! And he took his very first steps two days ago. At the ripe old age of 11 months and 4 days old He just stood up and walked! Shocked all of us and took 3 steps! I believe we will have a full blown walker by his first birthday... He is so proud!


And he's up!


Look Ma, no hands!

Happy 6th Anniversary to us!

We said 'I do' 6 years ago...and I love him more now than I ever have...A few pics from our honeymoon!

And he is 4!

Caden Michael Harrell, born on April 29, 2008 (the same day as our wedding anniversary!!) just turned 4 years old. I cannot believe it. I still remember the day he was born...

Our first nephew. And to think, we are about to meet our first niece...Ensley Anne, due on March 17th, but Allie thinks she will make her appearance earlier! Caden's 4th birthday was held at the Painted Pony...best place ever to have a 4 year old party! Animals to touch, hayrides, and horses to ride...it was wonderful!!

Happy 4th Birthday sweet boy!

While Daddy is Away...

Mommy and the boys will play............Todd went to Omaha for the Home Instead Annual Convention, so that meant 4 days (and nights) of single Momma duties. I say this each and every time he goes out of town: You just do not realize how much we work as a team until one is gone. We normally "zone out" our duties. I bathe Jack while Todd cleans up dinner. Todd gets the boys dressed while I pack their backpacks. You get the idea. So when he is gone, I am getting 3 ready in the morning, all the while getting ready myself, loading up the boys,driving 30 minutes to take them to school, working HARD for 8 hours, picking up the boys, driving 30 minutes home, dinner, outside, baths, laundry, dishes, stories, fall into bed. Oh yeah, and the dogs need to be taken care of too :) I know, I am preaching to the choir, but the point is, we really miss Daddy when he is gone!! Welcome home Daddy!

While he was gone, we spent many hours outside, enjoying sprinklers, new parks and popsicles:

So cute how the little bit is trying his absolute hardest to keep up with his big bros:


(The new blogger template has my spacing all out of whack and I cannot figure out how to fix it!!!)

We are finally returning to a normal way of life! For the past 2 months, we dealt with lots of sickness, packing, moving, un-packing, re-adjusting and are now pretty much settled back into a normal routine. Thank goodness, cause this once spontaneous Momma, now prefers consistency and schedules. (Just saying) Normal for us, includes a jam packed weekend, full of family activities and adventures. This weekend started off with a trip to one of our new parks in "the Tucky": This is what Todd calls Crestview. Some people call Crestview Crest-tucky, as in Kentucky...so he took it upon himself to shorten it to "the tucky". Anyways, back to the new park. It is called Twin Hills Park and it is a very "Lake-Ella" like park...with the huge lake to walk around, but it also boasts football, basketball and soccer field's, as well as a HUGE park that has water stations all over it!! Kids can press various buttons throughout the park, that in turn, create waterfalls and sprinklers and water spouts galore! After school on Friday, we grabbed suits and towels and were on our way!
 


After a good nights rest, we applied sunscreen and headed to baker for our 2nd annual strawberry pickin'! The B-man could not help himself and managed to pick and eat berries simultaneously, Wade picked the most berries out of the entire family and refuses to even taste one and JackJack just hung out and took it all in! At one point, Todd and I gasped as we watched in horror: Wade was pushing Jack in the stroller down the muddy pathways between the patches, and low and behold, it tipped. With Jack in it. Yes, on its side. With Jack attached. We both lunged, soothed the startled, unscratched babe, kissed him all over and went on our way. Thank God for the resilience of kids. (We even ran into Kathy Ard and Courtney Davis and all of their kiddos.  Trevor taught all of the kids how to plank and Tebow :) )


Then, came the rain. The kind of rain that has no thunder or lightning. Steady and thick...and cold. We took full advantage and played in the rain! Well, Mommy, Daddy and Littlest Brother watched while the 2 knuckleheads raced and darted all over the yard!


Sunday morning came early, as Todd and I attended a Bowlegs Event Saturday night while Jessamyn spoiled the boys...but have no fear, more adventures were had. This time, we tried to go to Blackwater State Park, but instead, ended up driving for 3 hours to the middle of nowhere and back home again. Sigh. The boys all slept the entire trip and Todd and I enjoyed some adult conversation. When we got home, we headed out to the front yard again, except this time, the weather was GORGEOUS!!


After consulting with Google, we re-loaded up the kiddos and headed, the correct way, to the Blackwater River State Park. It was beautiful...too cold for the place to be swarmed, but not cold enough to keep the Harrell boys out of the water and sand...


We cannot wait to go back when it is not so late in the afternoon! The weekend ended with Jack showing off his crazy crawling and standing skills. Little dude is nuts!


And a bath to wash away the weekend and start fresh on Monday!