Photo Extra

I know Sidney is giong to be a gardner when she's older. She has always loved flowers, so she is exploring our yard pulling off whatever she can find. The snowball bush in our yard is blooming. Every time we're outside its time to pick more "flowders."

Splints and Spring

I'm alive. I'm sorry. Mom is learning to juggle many different roles with the addition of taking more work. I love working, but I'm trying to learn to squeeze everything in! A few moments ago, I had my head in the final draft of something I’m sending into a client. This is a normal scene in our house while Sidney is off in her own imaginary world involved in whatever adventure her imaginary world brings. Also not uncommon, I kept hearing her singing and singing and sing…..”Sidney you feel like singing A LOT today.” “Mom I have sing –or – eye - tis.” I’m trying to figure out which cartoon this came from.

Hmm, perhaps this was one of her more spunky days? Nevertheless
making the best of it using her left hand..

 It’s good to see her so spunky again. She did a lot of moping around with the cast, but who could blame her? Sidney’s entire existence is drawing and painting and cutting and all things creative. Her dominant hand was inside a cast over her elbow. Thankfully, she can do a bit more with the splint like easily peel off stickers and grasp a few other things. This limited her entertainment. We have another couple of weeks to go, and I assume the surgeon will tell us to go to part of the day. If I have my choice it will be during the day. I know it sounds odd, however she’s not sleeping well wearing plastic on her hand. It’s itching, so we’ve been up quite a bit in the night. Being outside and really wearing her down seems to help.

Meanwhile, Eli is finishing up 5^th grade. Do you ever feel as a parent you blink and your kids are suddenly too grown up. It’s like I want it to slow down. I can’t believe Eli is going to turn 11 at the end of the week. How does that happen? You are pregnant in front of VH1 Divas Live having contractions blink your eyes and have a preteen.

OK, off to VBS planning. I’m in charge again this year. For the first time in MANY years, we have enough volunteers. Now if I can get enough Duct Tape to make baskets we’ll be in business. 

Finding Normal

There was only one child I could convince to get in the picture.

I have a fan base that’s begging for more photos. Here you go Mom. Somewhere in the last couple of weeks I have attempted to start a blog at least a half a dozen times and always forget to post it. It might have something to do with a 39 inch girl of 32 pounds running around with an 8 pound cast. I wish I was kidding. It comes off tomorrow to released scar tissue completed on Sidney’s right hand. This was the hand that was originally fused between two of her three fingers. Syndactyly can be tricky after the original surgery separating her tiny digits. After tomorrow she will be down to a splint for three weeks with our goal to have function back by kindergarten this fall.

At the end of the workday, he's mine! 

In the meantime, lots of things have been going on. You know the Nordic man who calls himself Tom? We’ve been seeing a lot more of him! It seems a benefit of moms work is dad no longer needing to run a side business. I’ll admit, learning to juggle part-time work of at least four hours a day has its challenges, however it is my hope to move this towards fulltime work when the kids are in school. It started with screwing around with some projects on El*nce and turned into something much more permanent. This seems to work MUCH better for our family.  

Despite the chaos, I was able to squeeze in watching S*omewhere In B*tween. I think it took me two days emotionally to recover from watching it. This was without watching the additional 45 minute bonus DVD. The flood gates were released. My heart breaks to think about the lack of choices a woman has in her life simply as a result of gender and socioeconomic status.

Okay, I will descend by peach box and update with new photos after the cast is removed. We are thinking there will be use of a thumb with the fingers enclosed if it’s like last time. The difference between having a thumb and not having a thumb is huge! As a side note and a something very sweet, Sidney’s teacher let me know her classmates have rallied around her in a cast assisting her with anything she is unable to do as a result of having one hand like opening milk.