First Daniels' Broken Bone...

 We had an awesome New Years Day!  We just had fun as a family.  That evening a little wrestling and piggy back riding went downhill fast.  Teagan asked Dad for a piggy back ride and Zac said yes so Teagan ran over to him and stood in front of Zac.  Zac said "Oh, you want to give me a piggy back?  Okay!"  Then he pretended to jump on his back, but put just enough pressure on his shoulders that his leg broke.  Zac thinks that his knee hyperextended right as Zac pushed down on his shoulders.

Teagan screamed and screamed and we weren't sure if it was serious or not since he screams and screams for a scrapped knee too.  It wasn't visibly broken so we weren't sure.  Zac was messing with the knee trying to figure out what was wrong and and one point Teagan exclaimed, "It hurts so bad I would rather die!"  Then he hung his tongue out of his mouth and closed his eyes as if he was dead, oh the drama.  We didn't think it was broken at the time, but looking back wish we had given a little more sympathy, poor kid.

It was bed time so we decided to wait until morning to see how it was.  In the morning, Zac tested it again, nothing seemed to hurt except at a specific spot and he couldn't put any weight on it.  At that point we knew it had to be something with the bone so I took him in that day, sure enough it was broken.

 You can barely see the break, it goes across the big bone and up a little.  There is a little bump on the right side as well.

It was a rough day for everyone.  Eloise was just 3 days out from the hospital and was extremely traumatized still, so every time she saw anyone in scrubs (secretaries, nurses, doctors...) she started to scream and cling to my leg or grabbing to her arm where they did all the blood draws screaming "OWIE!"  Teagan couldn't walk so I was trying to carry him in and out of the four different offices that we had to go to (Pediatrician, X-rays, Orthopedic Doc, and Crutches place).  Remember that I'm pregnant, so I had a screaming one year old on one hip, a bun in the oven, and the 6 year old clinging to my waist as I tried to help him walk too.  What I wouldn't give for a picture of that spectacle!  Most places were nice and helped us back out with a wheelchair, or we parked close enough that I could take Teagan in first, set him down and then go get Eloise.  We all took great naps that afternoon!

 Teagan was extremely excited to be able to get a cast and didn't even hesitate when choosing the color, "RED!"  Once he found out that there were no shots involved, he was delighted with all the attention and fun.

Grandpa Durtschi brought him some army guys to play with while he was getting over the initial pain and spending lots of time on the couch.  He got sick of laying on the couch and started just crawling all over the house, dragging the bad leg behind.  He also did lots of hopping.

Dad felt so bad about what happened!  He spent lots and lots of time trying to help Teagan feel better.  He taught him how to use his crutches to walk, run, and go up and down stairs (first he had to undo all the wrong teaching that mom did).    

Teagan was getting around really well on his crutches after just a couple days.  He went back to school (with mom on day 1) and was a celebrity for a while.  All of his friends, especially one name Tanner (Lund), wanted to help him with his backpack, pencil box and any other little thing that would be difficult with crutches.  Teagan loved the attention, but hated having to tell the same story over and over again, "Me and my dad were wrestling and he jumped on my back and broke my leg."  By the end of the day he just said "My leg got broken" when people asked.

After about a week and a half I had to jog to keep up with him because he was getting to be too quick on the crutches.  Now (two weeks later) he can walk on both feet and there is no pain so he just limps around because his leg is bent in the cast.  He didn't even take crutches to school today because they were making it harder for him.  He will get his cast off on February 4th and he couldn't be happier.  He has missed a few great sledding days and is looking forward to being able to run and play with his friends again.

Sick Little Eloise

Poor little Eloise got really sick over the last week or two.  About 2 weeks ago she got a nasty cold that lasted a few days, by the weekend she seemed to be getting better, but she woke up Monday with a high fever and the high fever was not going anywhere.  If she was taking Motrin it would stay around 100 or 101, but without it she was in the 104 range.

  By Thursday it was still just as bad and she was showing no signs of improvement so I took her to the family practice.  They checked her out pretty well and decided it was just a cold so we headed home for rest, fluids and a humidifier.  We left for our 24 hour anniversary date and Saturday when we got home she was still just as bad with a really high fever when we stopped the Motrin.  This time we took her to her pediatrician, I figured she had an ear infection or something.  The PA was extremely concerned since the high fever had lasted so long.  They started testing her for all sorts of things and found that she had the flu and an ear infection.  The PA wasn't convinced that that was all and insisted that we go to the hospital for chest X-rays and blood work.  We felt like she was being over the top, but did what she asked.  After a few more hours of testing we disovered that she had pneumonia pretty bad as well so they kept her overnight at the hospital.

This picture was before the nurse dug for 5 minutes to get the IV in, she finally admitted defeat and called in the guy that can get it first try, I wish they'd just call him first, especially for Eloise.  She wouldn't go on the bed much after that unless she was asleep.

They finally let her go to bed around 9:30, she was physically and emotionally exhausted.

She showed slight improvements the next morning.  Her white blood cell count went down from 26 to 21 (it's supposed to be less than 10) and the number that tells how inflamed she is was 34 (supposed to be less than 1).  It wasn't enough improvement to go home though, we had to stay another night.

She ate a ton of graham crackers and apple juice.

Slept a little.

And spent many hours snuggling in this rocking chair, watching movies and sleeping.

She loved having daddy there too, he actually got her smiling and laughing as only he can do.

Her fever finally broke that afternoon.

She slept about 12 straight hours the second night and woke up hungry, she ate a ton and even smiled at a nurse.  She usually just screams when they walk in and continues until they leave.  She was obviously feeling much better.

After more blood work and a phlebotomist who was awful, we got great news.  Her white blood cell count was normal, 10.5, and the inflammation one, CRP, was down to 17.9.  Good enough that we get to go home!!!

She is still pretty sick, but well enough that we can take care of her at home now.  Poor lady, she'll be so so happy to kiss those IV and pulse deal and blood draws and strangers goodbye!  So will I!  It breaks my heart to have to hold her down while they poke and prod at her, I'm so glad it's over!

I am so grateful for modern medicine, I can't help but wonder what might have happened without the medicines that helped to put her out of her awful sickness.  I'm so glad we live now and not 100 or 200 years ago.  Science is amazing.  So grateful for the prayers that were sent her way!

Our 8th Anniversary

For Christmas Zac got me a fun trip to Salt Lake.  He planned it months in advance and had every detail arranged.  We were to stay at a fun anniversary hotel bed n breakfast, go to Catching Fire, eat at Rodigios (the restaraunt where he proposed), and go to The Nutcracker.  After our overnighter we had big plans to spend the weekend with my mom and sister's families.  Eloise ended up getting pretty sick so we had to refigure plans.  Instead of bringing the kids, we left them home with Aunt Rachel and made the trip a quick one.  All the reservations were non-refundable.  

It was so much fun and just what we needed we hadn't been on a date in forever and we had a blast relaxing with no responsibility.  The food was amazing and the shows were awesome!

We stayed at the Armstrong Mansion Bed and Breakfast which was so cool.  It was from pioneer times so it had a lot of history, but was still beautiful.  The woodworking was impressive!  Zac made me pose for a few pictures to show off the room. lol

We want to do more couples get-aways, it was such a blast!  Thanks Zac for the most amazing present ever!

Teagan's 6th Birthday

Teagan had his 6th birthday.  He enjoyed a big breakfast,  a date to McDonalds with his dad, boxed Mac N Cheese for dinner, and a minion cake.  Life doesn't get much better than that!

Teagan is so much fun.  He loves to play outside with his buddies, Eli and Mason, but would also watch movies and play video games all day if we let him.  He does really well in school and is loving social studies and science.  He is a good worker and is growing up so fast.  His favorite things to play with are Legos, rescue bots and dad.  He loves to scare us and also loves to make anyone laugh.  Love you buddy!

Christmas

Christmas this year came fast.  We moved into our home  December 14th and Christmas came and went quick!  We missed some of our favorite traditions like making gingerbread houses, delivering cookies and doing little service activities, but there's always next year.

After moving in we got the decorations up quick, it was so fun to hav a new house to decorate.

My mom got the kids a cute train set, they loved it!

We went to a Christmas party with Zac's family, Eloise enjoyed a snickers as large as her.

We enjoyed the most amazing ribs ever!!

And discovered that pictionary is an awesome family game, even the kids can play.

The next weekend was Christmas fun with my family, this is the only picture; Eloise stuffing her face with delicious taffy.  We had fun sharing musical talent, eating good food, pulling taffy and laughing lots.

We were driving down candy cane lane and saw Santa and Mrs. Claus outside.  It was freezing, but Teagan wanted to wait in line to visit with them.  Santa told him to go to bed early, bless his heart.  :)

Christmas Eve was fun with new PJs and a game.

Eloise watched carefully to see how the jump picture is done.

Ready, set, 

Cheeser smile!

We got two Christmas morning pictures, which means we fully enjoyed being in the moment.

Here is the wild condition of the post Christmas room, it just looks like fun!

We got to enjoy a visit from Grandma Packer, and Christmas lunch with Zac's parents and Aunt Arene.  It was so nice to stay home and enjoy our time together.  Merry Christmas all!

Blooming Artists

Teagan has started to love drawing.  He has such a vivid imagination and comes up with fabulous stories and drawings.

Santa Claus

Some work he brought home from school.

This one is sideways.  It has something to do with an excavator and a zebra I believe.

And little sis has to be coloring if Teagan is. 

Pretty Little Lady

All ready for church in her new dress.  Eloise loves new clothes and actually twirled when I put this dress on her for the first time.  Is twirling an instinct in girls?  Must be.