Festive Day

Last Sunday we had a very festive day. In the morning we went out to rivers to meet up with Ryan's parents and sister. From there his sister's boyfriend took us out to cut down our Christmas tree. This is Ryan and I trying to tie it down on the roof.

Once we dropped our tree off at home we headed to Winnipeg for the evening. My work was holding a dinner with Santa at the Manitoba Childrens Museum. The boys got to run around and explore for an hour before dinner. Everett went straight to the water station and even with his apron on he got soaked.



After dinner Santa was there and evereychild got to have their picture taken with him and got gift from him. Rawley got a little 3d viewer and Everett got dirty pigs that come clean in the bath.

After hanging out with Santa they got to play till 9 pm, and we stayed right till the end almost. Everett was asleep in the car a block from the museum and Rawley fell asleep half way home. It was a long busy day with lots of driving but it was so much fun. Greatest family day we have had in a while.

And this is just Everett on the swings looking cute.

Toys are so overrated

Hello world,

Its been a while I know. I have no spare time in my life right now. I have not even mailed out my Christmas cards and it is already Dec. 7. I always mail them out before Dec. Anyway, I just wanted to share these.

Last week i took him with me to watch Rawley curl and he was so bored until he found this large empty box. Then for the next 30 minutes he pushed his box back and forth across the lobby happy as can be. Too bad I already bought him 2 christmas gifts this year I could have just given him everyones boxes.
:)

Everett has a ride on fire truck that was Rawley's, he also has a bounce and spin zebra that we bought him a few months ago. He has ridden both occationally. But ever since I left the vaccuum in the living room on Monday he has been laying it down on its back and riding it instead. He is more happy on that vaccuum than any toy we have ever bought him.

Kids are so fun.

A Busy Saturday

Saturday morning Ryan and I got to sleep in because the boys spent the night with Grandma & Grandpa. It was a much needed break for us from all the crying. Mid-morning I headed out with my mother-in-law and sister-in-law. We went to check out the craft sale in town.

The boys picked me up from the craft sale and we headed out to the pumpkin patch by Oak Lake. Everett fell asleep in the car for about 15 minutes, and then slept for about 30 minutes in his stroller. It was nice that he was sleeping though because it rained pretty hard for bit right after we arrives. It also gave us time to eat and drink some nice warm beverages. The meander Creek Pumpkin patch has amazing Apple Cider (and i don't usually like apple cider).

~Rawley had a hot dog and hot chocolate~

Rawley really loves the pumpkin patch, they have these huge mazes made out of large hay bales, and they are pitch black inside. I remember last year Rawley asked me to go in once with him and i nearly had a nervous break down. Rawley found some friends there and they played hide & seek in the maze.

Rawley did the corn cannon last year and he actually got to shoot a dried up corn cob, but this year they just shot tennis balls, yet still called it the 'corn cannon' (not quite the same). He pressed the button to shoot at the same time as I got this picture, i think it is so funny.

Once Everett woke up it got a lot nicer out so we headed over to the hay ride. It is a 1/2 long ride in which we stop to feed the horses. We were the first on so we got great seats. We had to wait a bit because the tractor had a dead battery. Everett did not mind the wait at ll because the smaller tractor was going and he just enjoyed watching it and waving at the kids.

The hay ride was bout 5 minutes too long for Everett, he had trouble sitting still the last little bit. So, once we got off we let him run wild for a while and i think this was his favorite part.

Weeeeee

Everett has definitely grown since last year.

They have a separate smalled hay bale maze for toddlers, but Everett preferred to hang with the big kids. he even crawled in the dark tunnels a few times. Ryan had to go in a fetch him.

After the pumpkin patch we came home to have dinner then headed out to the Wheat City Stampede. The Wild dogs started the show and both Everett and Rawley loved this part. Everett clapped a lot.

Everett went through a few cranky times. I don't blame him though because we got there at 6pm and stayed till after 11. That is a long time for a little guy to try to sit still. We got up and went for walks. from 8-9 he was pretty cranky, but from there 0n he did awesome. He pigged out all night long and stayed up till the very end, 11:25. What a little party animal.

Rawley had a lot of fun. He always amazes me when we got out. He has the ability to make friends anywhere and he is never afraid just to walk up to other kids and hang out with them. Last night he was sad none of his friends were at the rodeo to sit with. He then spotted a boy and said, can i go sit down there with that boy?" I asked if he knew who it was and he replied, "no, but i will make friends", and he did. He made 2 different friends that he sat with. the only part that was a little sad was that he did not want to sit with us at all. guess he is getting to that age where his parents re just not cool enough anymore. I will say that near the end of the night, he did cuddle up with me and put his head on my arm. lol.

What an amazing Saturday!!!!

A Whole Month

I cannot believe it has almost been a whole month since I last blogged. I guess i really am a busy girl.

Our trip to BC was amazing. We got to see lots of friends, hang out with our niece and nephew and enjoy a great night out. The wedding was so much fun. The music, dancing and food were all incredible. Sunday my grandma had all the family over at her house. All my cousins and all their kids were there. There were 5 generations in total. It was well worth the trip.

Since we have been home Everett has been a challenge, but Rawley has been doing wonderful. Rawley saw a psychiatrist right after our trip and his meds have been changed just a little bit. He seems to be thriving. His concentration is good, his behaviour, for the most part, is good. He seems more focused and positive. I am so happy for him. We are even two months into the school year and I have had no phone calls or letters from his teachers. Go Rawley!

Everett has gotten worse instead of better. We have been really struggling with him at night. I am not sure what our next step is. We took him to the doctor and they listened to what I had to say and decided that it was not stomach problem but probably more with his internal wiring. He thinks Everett's sleep cycle is messed up and believe he never gets into the REM cycle, which is the deep sleep. Because of this almost anything can wake him up through the night, being cold, hearing noises, his stomach digesting... Then because he does not know how to self sooth he cries. I am not sure if I am completely convinced that this is what is happening. I mean it could be but if that is all it is, you would assume that as soon as Everett is picked up he should stop crying because he now has us to sooth him.

The doctor told us that we could give him sleep aids, like melatonin or gravol. This will help him fall into a proper sleep cycle and some people need to be on sleep aids their whole life. he also told us that we need to start letting him cry it out so he can learn to self sooth.

The crying it out does not seem too bad, but Everett seems to cry for a long time. We have tried a few times and given up after 45 minutes or so. When we expressed this to the doctor he said that strong willed babies, like Everett, can cry for up to 4 or 5 hours the first night or so, then only 3 hours. He did say that is would decrease over time and after a couple weeks he should be fine.

Now I understand the idea of crying it out, but honestly how many moms out there can listen to their baby cry for 4 or 5 hours? Seriously? I never could. 30 minutes to maybe even an hour would be my absolute tops. I don't think that we are built to listen to our babies cry like that. And when Everett cries, you would think someone is hurting him if you heard him, he also scratches at himself when he is that upset. And the worst part is in the back of my mind i think he may have some tummy troubles still and if he is uncomfortable or hurting, letting him cry it out is just not fair to the poor guy.

So now I wonder what do i do?

Do I get a referral for a gastro intestinal specialist and make them do proper testing to make sure there is nothing going on?

Do we just continue to stay up with him for hours on end listening to him crying and holding and rocking him, and hope one day it all stops?

Do we go see if we can find a sleep therapist and hope they have some better ideas?

Anyone who has been through this please tell me what you did, or if you have a better idea please share.

6 More Days

Ryan and I fly out to BC in 6 days and I cannot believe how ready I am for this holiday.

I am exhausted with life right now and so in need of holiday. Life is busy in an awesome way. I am picking up a few extra shifts at work here and there and working long hours which is awesome, because we could use the extra cash. I am working hard with my Mary Kay business and this is the best kind of busy to be. I have signed up my first recruit and am moving up the carrer ladder. My goals right now are to find a larger customer base and hold at least 2-3 skin care classes a week. This is a lot of work in the beginning because without referrals you have to just ask anyone to host a skin care class. I love this kind of busy though because I know it is making me more successful in this business.

As well as that I am still the primary house keeper, because although Ryan is able to do more with his hand, he still cannot do a lot of things.

Rawley is still a very challenging and time consuming child and he will always be, but to add to that Everett is his own little challenging and time consuming child. I love them both to pieces and know that the extra time spent will only have good results.

Having said all that....Holy Crap am I tired.

Thursday next week Ryan and I get to send Rawley off to school and Everett off to grandma`s day care, then hit the road. We will be heading to Winnipeg to check out some liquidation stores because i still have nothing the wear to the wedding. By 4pm we will be at the airport and 5pm up in the air.

I get goosebumps just thinking about this. Thursday we get to see my little niece (nephew will probably be asleep), we get to watch canucks game in my brothers totally awesome basement while visiting with my dad, brother, and sister-in-law.

Friday we get to see my grandparents, stop in at both our old work places and have a late dinner with our friend Lindsay. And our weekend only gets better from there. Saturday is the wedding, Sunday is dinner with all family. The Monday is our free day. Ryan & I will have an amazing date day of doing anything we want all day.

A Weekend Off

...gives me time to hang out with my boys.
Saturday was date night for Rawley and I, then Sunday the kids and I were on our own (something that is very rare since Ryan's accident).

Date night at Glow Bowl.

followed by Dinner at Boston Pizza

Sunday the boys and I headed to a near by park. they had a small car show in the park with some things for the kids to do as well. Super Thrifty Pharmacy donated toy cars for the kids. They got to pick a car and then race it down the ramp. Rawley loved this part . Everett had fun too, but got in the way of most of the other kids. Everett also had a hard time understanding that only ONE of the cars were his.

He often grabbed other kids cars half way down the ramp. oops.

There were some really awesome cars and trucks here.


Everett enjoyed his very first snow cone. This is one of the frozen treats that he can actually have. Rawley did not eat his because the sugar was attracting wasps and he was freaking out. We almost had to leave because of the wasp situation.

Fall Is Just Around The Corner

Thank Goodness. I am so over summer. Actually I was over summer by the end of June. It has been hot here this summer. So the cooler weather will be nice. We have had cooler nights but it was still above 30 during the day all this week. Ryan is out Golfing with his dad today. They are in the father-son tournament. This means the boys and I are on our own.

There is a car show and kids carnival in the park today so as soon as Everett is up from his nap we are going to check it out.

Check out this cute little gnome.

We were at ryan's parents trailer last weekend and there was a huge rain storm. After the rain let up Everett took off exploring the puddles. He splashed in puddles for nearly 30 minutes. Every time he went through he left out roar of laughter. He even did a few face plants but that didn't seem to bother his. He is definitely all boy.
Ryan and I decided we needed a new couch since ours was nasty and full of mouse poop. We gt a great deal form the furniture store where i work and i am in love with my new sectional. It is so comfy. Rawley was excited to play wii on the new sofa. Everett was extremely ticked off at first because it is higher than our old and and at first he was unable to get up on it himself. He has since figured out if he goes to a corner he can make his way on. He now loves to run all over it.

Everett and his box. He really does not need fancy toys at all. A $3 bag of tennis balls and a box is all he played with on Friday.

Peek-a-Boo

I have been working a lot lately and Rawley is feeling it. He misses hanging out with me. We used to spend lots of time alone together when Ryan was working but now Ryan is always around so I guess I can understand why he misses me. Yesterday Rawley and i went on a date. We started with a bowling. Rawley is singed up for kids bowl free.com so he bowls free all summer and now till Sept.30th. It ended up being glow bowl yesterday when we went so it was a lot of fun. We followed bowling with shoe shopping for Rawley. He didn't' get new shoes for the start of school, but then when his fell apart the other day I had no choice. To end the date we went for dinner at Boston Pizza. Rawley chose this place because we used to eat there quite frequently in BC but we never go anymore. He really enjoyed himself and it was nice to spend time together. I will try to post the few picture I got of our date tomorrow.

Off to write the grocery list before Everett wakes up.

High Needs Family

We have had a busy few weeks here; it seems like every day we have something to do. It is never really anything exciting (doctors appointments, physio, ot, counselling, work) but it keeps us busy.

Yesterday we spent the whole day contemplating buying a new sofa. We went to the furniture store 3 times throughout the day trying t0 find one we both liked in our price range. We went home without one. We talked for hours last night about it and decided that we need to see a few more before we make our choice. Because I work at dufresne furniture I get a few special deals. But there was nothing in my store that was going to fit in our living room that we liked, so tomorrow when Ryan and I go to Winnipeg we are going to check out Dufresne there and see if they have anything different on their floor. Hopefully in the next week or two we will have purchased new couch. That should give us time to mouse proof our house a little better before the furniture arrives.

Rawley has been enjoying his summer, but I think he is ready to go back to school. He needs to get back on a schedule. I am not sure how our mornings are going to go though. After having almost 2 months to lounge around in the morning and not get ready for anything, it is going to be a shock to his system to have to get up and get ready for school. I think we will start our new morning routine next week though to help him have some time to get back on schedule.

Rawley is in with his counsellor right now. He has been going to weekly counselling sessions here at the child and adolescent treatment centre. I think it is really good for him. We have also been filling out a lot of paperwork for him to meet a psychologist in October. I am looking forward to having someone work one on one with him and his meds. They have a suspicion that he may also suffy from anxiety disorder so we will be looking at coping with that as well. I think with all the help he is receiving here and all the love he gets t home he will do just fine. I just need to work on my patients a little still.

Everett had an appointment with his pediatrician last Tuesday and I cannot say I am overly happy with what he suspects is wrong with Everett. We have been aware of Everett’s food sensitivities for some time now and have been catering to them. We definitely know that it is helping but yet we still struggle with many things with him

After we explained all this to the doctor he asked a few questions and then came to a conclusion. Everett’s pediatrician seems to think that his nervous system is out of whack, he is low on serotonin and will have sensitivities to all things not just food. He may be sensitive to lights, sounds, people, colours, toys…. Our job will be to keep a daily journal of his life and figure out what his triggers are. So, it appears he is going to be a bit of a difficult one. We will have a lot of trial and error to go through with him. Hopefully it will not take long to fnd some things that soothe him and make him comfortable.

Oh Rawley is done, time to go.

Water Park

It has been hot here. It is hard to beat the heat because Everett really likes to be outside. We took the boys to near by water park t play for the afternoon. Neither boy actually went right in the water, but having the spray get us seemed enough to cool us off. Everett actually seemed scared of the water, which is a first.

Rawley really likes to spray people with the cold water, but does not like to be sprayed.

My goofy boy.


Everett has found a new hang out. He opens the corner cupboard and plays inside, often closing the door behind him.

hee hee

He's Talking

Everett is talking a little bit. He has been saying 'Dada' for months now, but some other things over the past couple weeks have become more clear as well.

Everett just started saying 'Mom-mom' last week. I worked on this one for a while and he still does not say it often.

Everett says :
"uh" which means 'up'
"ta" which means 'tata'
"yeah" which I am not sure he knows the meaning to or if he just says it.
"uh oh" which does not need explanation

At the camp ground last month we were all finishing up supper when Everett threw what was left of his on the floor. Immediately after doing this he looked around and said "Isk, Isk". He was saying Risk, which is the name of Grandma's dog. He has a bad habit of feeding risk most of his meals, but this was the first time we could prove it was deliberate.

Every time Everett pets Risk we always remind him to be nice. Some times we take his hand and pet Risk and say "nice" while we do it. Ryan's mom was telling us that last weekend when she had Everett he was sitting on the edge of the bed petting Risk and each time he pet risk across his back he would say, "ice".

Other Cute Things Everett Does:

If I tell him we are going to go have a bath he gets all excited and laughs while crawling up the stairs to the bathtub.

Everett has been giving High fives for a bit now and each time he laughs but Ryan is teaching him how to 'pound it' (which for those who don't know, is when you bump knuckle together) and Everett thinks it is hilarious.

He uses my cordless mouse and a telephone

Waives hello and good bye to almost anyone.

Other Things Everett is Doing That is Not So Cute:
- getting up 4-6 times a night
- crying when put down in his crib, even if you think he is fast asleep
- rolling over and screaming when having a poopy diaper changed
- throwing fits when he can't have the remote or sell phone
- screaming if I leave the room

As Promised

Here are the pictures

Everett Playing at our Mary Kay year end BBQ

Everett just being cute as a button

This picture is awesome for 2 reasons.

1. Everett's outfit: it looks like Richard Simmons dressed him

2. He is so out of it, this is so odd for Everett

That's all

Opps Sorry

I know I said I would post pictures, but I ran out of time to upload them while I was home.

I wanted to post though because I am so excited that.........

We are going to BC in 2 Months and 8 days. Woo Hoo!!!

We received an invite to a friends Wedding for October first. I mentioned to Ryan one day that I would really like to go home for the wedding and a little holiday. He completely understood and decided that no matter what we would get me home (isn't he the greatest hubby ever?)and then if we found a really good seat sale he would come too. We have been watching flights for a bit and decided that even if we fly out of Regina at $149 a ticket that maybe Ryan should come too as he needs a holiday as well.

Then today Ryan was on facebook and saw his friend mention something about seat sales out of Winnipeg. We are flying to BC for only $105 and home for only $85. We save over $200 and an extra hour and half drive each way not going to Regina. I am so so so pumped.

Not to be all whinny but I think Ryan and I have had a really hard year. Between Everett's troubles, Rawley's ADHD troubles and Ryan's accident at work we so deserve a break from life to just have fun, and we are going to do it.

Just knowing that we have this to look forward to makes me so happy. To have carefree time alone with Ryan to just have fun and enjoy each others company has me all excited.

Of course this trip would not be possible for us if it were not for Ryan's amazing parents. They have been incredible since the very first time I met them and continue to amaze me with their love and support through everything. They are keeping the boys while we have this holiday and I could not be more thankful.

Thank You Mom & Dad!

And thank you WestJet for your seat sale!

oh and Thank You Meredith and Dustin.....as we will be staying with you ;)

Going....To .....Die...From.....The....Heat

Oh my word it has been so hot here, and not their usual dry heat I was told about. We have had 90-100% humidity for days and days. Last night when we went to bed at 11 it still felt like 43 degrees out and then this morning when i woke up at 6:30 with Everett it was already (or still) feels like 35 degrees. Every time you walk out the door you start to sweat. I feel gross. Everett is sleeping in the dinning room in front of the a/c. Ryan and I close our door about an hour before bed to trap the cool air from the A/C in there and Rawley has 2 fans blowing on him in his room. It doesn't really seem to bother Rawley though. I am like my Grandma though, I get cranky when it is too hot.

Ryan has been doing really well. His hand is healing up so nicely. Maybe tomorrow I will take some new pictures of it to post. He still has pain and there is very little movement in his fingers and thumb. he is supposed to be doing exercises every hour, but because they don't move and it hurts he does not do them as much as he should. I guess I should be harder on him and get him doing them though. His Physio Therapist does not really know how much movement to do right now. Because his tendon repair was minimal they should be able to move the thumb a lot, but because the skin graft has not heeled they should not move it much at all. So for now they are leaving it a week or so before they really beat him up.

I think Rawley is starting to get bored of summer break. Not that he would ever admit it. For the first few weeks he would get up and go outside, come eat lunch then go outside, even after dinner he would go outside and find friends to play with. This past week he has kind of hid in his room reading and playing. He doesn't have that same excitement about being able to go out and play anytime. He has enjoyed his time spent with Grandma & Grandpa at the camp ground, he takes his bike with him and usually can find someone to ride around with.

The first week of August Rawley is going to going to Mini University. It is a summer camp set up like a university. Rawley has 6 blocks in a day to fill up, 3 before lunch and 3 after. There were i think 6 categories to choose from like Science, Literature, PE, Computers, Drama... and I can't remember. Rawley is taking Golf, Archery, Computer Games, Flying Machines, Floor Hockey and I think Concoctions. He is really excited to go to that. I am excited to see him learning and having fun.

Everett is doing a little bit better with his sleep lately. We had slowly started him on some dairy, fruit and wheat's about 2 months ago. He seemed to be handling it all very well so we thought maybe he had grown out of some of his tummy issues. However, after a few weeks of really awful sleeps, screaming and crying at night, wanting to be help and lots of pulling up and kicking out his legs I wondered if his tummy was still sore. Last Thursday I decided to cut everything out of his diet again and see if it made a difference. It did. He only woke up once the first night, slept through the night the second night, then went back to getting up once a night. I almost feel spoiled right now. It is like night and day. I mean he still has a hard time getting to sleep, still cries and needs to be help when he wakes, but it last 20-30 minutes instead of hours and hours. I have only had to sleep with him once in the past 6 nights. That's progress!!!! Poor baby is not happy about his diet though. No more bananas, no more cherries, no more toast, no more ice cream. We did buy him some lactose free stuff and some gluten free stuff to try to make up for it though.

Everett also now has 5 teeth. He got his two top eye teeth first so he looked like he had fangs. After that he got one on the bottom, then his two middle top teeth came in. Also, Everett is walking. He can go about 20 or so steps, but still tumbles a few times here and there. He will not have me video tape him though. He will walk up a storm and then I try to catch him on video and he sits down.

Everett's favorite toys are the remote, our cell phones, the laptop, pens, scissors, nail clippers and any kind of long stick he can smash stuff with. He can climb onto the couch himself. Then from there he gets up on the coffee table, from then he tries to get on the computer desk, which is right by an opening from our living room upstairs to our kitchen downstairs. Since this is not exactly safe we had to get rid of our coffee table for now.

Rawley used to sit on the floor and play with toys for hours, Everett plays with them so a second then finds something to destroy. Still loves to smash the TV, loves to find small things to hid in Daddy's sub woofer. Loves to through anything down the stairs. He has a pretty good hand on him too.

That's what is up with us. I will be posting some pictures tonight or tomorrow.

Updates

Ryan has been doing okay. He is feeling pain now and then but mostly just a lot of discomfort and weird sensations that he cannot really describe. We have has an assortment of different nurses visit us in the home. The first being the private nurses that we told we would not need anymore. I did his dressing Then we saw Ryan's Occupational Therapist and she did his dressing that day. We decided that i could do his dressings over the weekend, but by Sunday STEP (short term emergency program) was able to send a nurse. We liked her and she seemed to know what she was doing. She also listened to us and made sure Ryan was at ease. STEP then sent another nurse today who also seemed to be good. She was a little rough and wrapped things a little tight. By 9 pm Ryan had me re-wrap everything a little looser. We would be able to work with this nurse though just by asking her to wrap looser next time. The problem, we have now been switched over from STEP to actual home care. So, starting Friday we have to explain to yet another nurse how to wrap up his poor fingers. This has been a bit frustrating, but certainly not the end of the world.

Ryan goes back to Winnipeg tomorrow to have his stitches removed. Plastics will also look at his skin graft and make sure it is healing properly. I really hope having his stitched removed is not as painful for him as when they put them in.

Other news: Everett is still working on some teeth, he is cranky as stink. Driving me beserk. I love the little bugger, but he can really push button. and temper....holy moly man.

Rawley has been really good lately. He spends most of his days outside on his bike, even when he goes to the trailer with Grandma & Grandpa he finds friends there and rides his bike. He has a never nice tan.

It is hot and muggy here and then the second it is nice enough to go outside the bugs are out. We do try to get out for a few hours in the evening with Everett. I got him a little second hand pool and he has his water table he got for his birthday out in the yard and that keeps him pretty happy. Here are some pictures to prove it.

Daddy Cuddles

Daddy may have a lost a few fingers but he is still a great cuddler.

This picture melts my heart.

Nurse Tammy

A little update on how Ryan is doing.

Monday morning we had to head back to Winnipeg to see plastics and occupational therapy. It was a long hard day for Ryan. Plastics may have been the worst of it because they had to pull off all the dressing and some of it was stuck on there good. Plastics took a good look at his x-rays and then a good look at his hand. They were happy with the way it was healing. They checked out the skin graph and all looked well. We see them again next Wednesday to have the stitches removed and get new x-rays.

Ryan was already in pain from that experience and then it was on to a 2 1/2 hour appointment with therapy. Our Therapist was exceptional though. She was gentle and kind and worked with Ryan very well. She took off the dressing and gave his whole hand a good cleaning. Then she dressed it again making sure to have a lot of gauze on to absorb any moisture. At this point they are a little afraid as maceration, (prolonged wetness that can cause skin layers to deteriorate and cause open sores) so we want to keep his hand as dry as possible even between the fingers. This was a little bit painful for Ryan as no one had pulled his fingers apart yet to get in between. After he was all wrapped up with new dressing they molded him a splint out of thermal plastic. The main purpose of this is to help keep his finger straight and protect the skin graph. The tendons still need time to heal before he can move his thumb.

Right before we were able to leave the therapist gave Ryan some exercises to do. Because of the 3 hours of touching he had already been through, this was exceptionally hard, but he did it. He has been so strong through all of this. I am so amazed with and proud of him.

The doctors want Ryan's dressing to be changed daily so they got in touch with Brandon to set something up. Unfortunately Brandon's home care service is very busy and there is a 2 week waiting list. Obviously that is not an option so the lady that set it up had to contract it out to a private nursing company in town. They came yesterday to re-dress Ryan's hand. It was the first and last time they will be doing it.

Everything from reading the doctors orders to listening to us was too hard for them to do. The nurses showed up without any sterile gloves, or sterile towels, pads....anything. We had told them twice that we had enough gauze to do at least one dressing, and their orders say to bring all supplies with them, but apparently that is too confusing. Right from the start the head nurse seemed out of her element, she said she would watch as she undressed it to dress it the same way, which she did not do. She refused to read my hand out from OT on how to use one of the products claiming she uses it all the time. She did not listen to me when I told her how our OT wants it done, all she did was complain about how we did not have the right materials to do the job and that she thought we had gloves and everything. Honestly what nurse does house calls for dressing changes without bringing sterile gloves? Really? . Ryan was huffing and puffing, not because they hurt him physically but because their incompetence scared him. I was ready to just 'snap lose it' on them. Once they were done Ryan got up and went to his room. I was left to explain that this was not what we expected and that we were unhappy with how this worked out. They finally left and I went to check on Ryan

This is how he explained it..."of all the things that I thought would take me to my breaking point, I did not expect it to be 2 nurses changing my dressing. They are never touching me again. I would rather have a no-handed monkey do it next time".

So I set out to find what will do for the next day. We decided that we would take Ryan to Day Treatment at the hospital, but couldn't without a doctors referral. So, we went to the home care pharmacy and got all our supplies and decided I would do it today, tomorrow we see his Occupational therapist in Brandon then we will go from there.

Then we hit problem #2: not a single pharmacy in town stocks sterile gloves. They can order them in but do not carry them. I went in to the ER and told them this, " My husband cut off his fingers and part of his thumb last week, he needs daily dressing changes and I am capable of doing them. The problem is that I can find any sterile gloves in all of Brandon so, you need to either supply me with some gloves or I will have to bring him in here and have one of your nurses do it." She went and got me the gloves and gave them to me. :)

Today I was Ryan's nurses and I took down his dressing, cleaned up his wounds and then redressed it. Now, we both agree it is not quite as good as the Occupational Therapist, but 100x better than the private nurses. I can not explain how good it was to be able to do that for him; to see him more at ease, to know that he trusts me enough to take care of him like that. I has been a hard go but the fact that I can be there for him to help him with everything from the paperwork to his medicine and be his nurse makes me feel...almost special.

Props to Ryan's parents who have been helping out with the kids because with the kids home I almost lose my mind a bit. They are both very very demanding children who need A LOT of attention and right now Ryan needs that attention so not having the boys home is a huge help.

Thanks Mom and Dad!

watch for cute picture I will be posting tomorrow. :)

Ryan's Accident

I know I have not been blogging much lately but there are a few family members and friends out there that do not use facebook so I just wanted to update those people with what is going on.

Last Wednesday afternoon Ryan had a terrible accident at work. He was using the table saw and near the end of his cut the cork tile got stuck, or twisted and kicked his hand back through the table saw cutting off 4 or his fingers and a piece of his thumb.

He has working down in Deloriane that day to was rushed to the Deloraine hospital. At that point they called me to tell me what was happening. He was then rushed by ambulance to the Health Science Centre in Winnipeg. It was not till 5 hours after the accident that Ryan's parents and I finally got to see him.

What we found out when we got the hospital was that it was his right hand and that there was little chance they could reattach the fingers. When plastics arrived they explained to us that because or where the cut was on his fingers reattaching was not really an option. He said that if they did reattach the fingers would be useless and would just kinda hang there and they would be extremely painful. He said that 90% of the time when they reattach fingers like that they have to remove them within the first year anyway. So it was decided to just close off what was left without reattching.

It was a very long night sitting by his bedside. He was in incredible pain for about 6 1/2 hours from the time of the accident until they finally gave him enough drugs that he fell asleep. Both his parents and I sat by him while plastics closed up what was left of his fingers. They fixed the tendons in his thumb and skin graphed it as well, so once he heals up he should have full use of his thumb; it will be weaker but it will work. The entire process took over 3 hours but luckily Ryan slept through most of it.

That night he had a pretty good sleep. The next morning there was a lot of pain. The doctors wanted to switch him over just to t3s but after trying it once he was then pumped full of Fentanyl & morphine. Eventually they decided that they would put him on Percocet (Oxycodone & acetaminophen). Once he could just take that orally he would be allowed to leave the hospital. Thursday was very up and down but Ryan was determined to get out of the hospital. He was so strong and by 6:30pm they released him. I would not let him go back to Brandon that night so we all stayed in a hotel incase anything happened.

Besides experiencing some intense pressure pains in the middle of the night he did great so Friday we brought him home.

So far Ryan has been in incredible high spirit. I am just so shocked and amazed at how he is couping. I think a part of it is that the shock has not really worn off and it has not really hit us but for now we are playing it hour by hour and that is working for us.We have been receiving so many kind words from family and friends and I can see how that is helping him. It is so good to have those email and messages to read when he turns on the computer. So those of you that are sending them please keep it up.

Monday will be a very challenging day. We are back at plastics and occupational therapy. He is going to have his hand unwrapped so they can look at the skin graph. I am worried about this because Ryan has not actually seen his hand since they sewed it all up. In order to close the skin around his fingers they had to cut more length off of the bone so his fingers are actually shorter than when the accident happened. I think that the first time he sees it is going to be hard. Also it is just going to be extremely painful to have everything unwrapped and them touching and moving the fingers. Then he has to have a custom splint made. The reason for the splint is to hold his thumb out and not let it move or he will ruin all their work they did with his tendons, as well as to keep him fingers protected.

Ryan has about a 1/2 inch of length left on his pinky and ring finger, his middle finger is a little bit longer, and his index finger is the longest. They stiched it closed just below the first knuckle. They explained to us that there are things they can do in the future to give him more use. They can cut down the webbing between the thumb and index finger to give him more area to grasp. They can also take one of his toes and attach it to his finger to give him a longer finger and a better pinch.

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PO BOX 50034
Brandon MB
R7A 7E4

What's Up

Life sure has been crazy lately. We had a flood at Dufresne Furniture. We survived the rising river but got caught by a water main break. I showed up for work 2 weeks and could hear water running into our store and everyone was running around trying to move furniture out of the way. I have been working crazy hours along with everyone else. First it was because we had to manually take inventory of everything that was in water damaged areas. Now we are all working long busy hours while we have a massive liquidation sale. Everything has been 25% to 60% off and that has brought us a lot of business.

We have managed to squeeze in some family time here and there. Last weekend we picked up Everett's wagon and went for a walk. Everett LOVES his wagon. He just hangs out and just smiles. Rawley pulled him half of the way then climbed in with him and rode the rest of the way home. While I pulled.



Last weekend I set up a booth at the mall in town and worked with some other consultants to raise money for the MARY KAY ASH CHARITABLE FOUNDATION. We also had a draw going on to get some new names for each of us. It was a long weekend as I set up in the morning than went and worked at Dufrense then came back to the mall and worked our booth. It has been a long time since I have had 2 jobs and I am feeling old and tired. lol. The booth at the mall was a huge success though so I do not regret it for one minute.

Every Tuesday night I go to my Mary Kay meeting here in town. We talk about our week past, set goals for the new week, pamper guests and learn skill to help us along in our business. It is always so motivating and inspirational. I absolutely love going. It is also a chance for me to spend time with a group of really wonderful ladies. This week we were graced with a national sales director from Ontario and our VP, Lynda Rose, from the Dallas Head Office. They were both amazing speakers and it was such aa wonderful evening.

This is Lynda Rose and me.

Lynda Rose brought out a whole lot of expensive jewelry for us to see. She was showing us all the jewelry that we could possibly earn within the company. As long as we were returning in the morning to attend her workshop we were allowed to take a piece of jewelry of our choice home. So, I picked out the the Queen of Sales ring. It is worth $10,000. It sure felt great to wear that on my hand.

Anyway, that is a bit of what we have been up to. The weather is odd here. One day is 24 degrees then the next day is thunder, lightening, hail, down pours and only 6 degrees. We have crazy mosquito's already and Ryan has had his first tick *shutter*. The Assiniboine River went down about 5 or 6 feet but is back up abut 4 feet. So we are going to have a lot of water hanging around for a long time. YUCK!

Good Night!

Happy Birthday to Everett

I made a really great video of Everett through his first year but blogger will not let me post. :( So you will just get a few great pics of his party.

Everett being just cute at 11 months old.

Everett's awesome Puma shoes that I bought on eBrandon for $10

Rawley helping him open his gifts

Rawley helping him ride his new toy

Everett's first birthday cake, same cake I made for Rawley's first birthday.

Everett trying out the cake.

Everett did not eat much of the cake but he was cute anyway

What is a party without beer, right?

Uncle Al played with him when it was getting late and he was getting tired.

We got in the car to drive home and Everett was asleep in about 2 minutes. This is so unusual for Everett. He usually screams for a while in the car before giving in and falling asleep. I guess that is a sign that he had fun.