I'm finally able to write about...

our family's first experience with a broken arm.
Yup. Delaney broke her arm a week ago today while on a bouncy slide at a nearby children's facility. We saw her feet stick and then she tumbled twice. Zap and Dash were maybe five feet behind her on the slide, and I was just a second or so away from her once she fell. She never fell off the slide. Zap yelled at me that she broke her arm and I scooped her up. Zap got Dash in the car while I carried Delaney and asked for an ice pack (that never came. I ended up using an ice pack our friends had on hand).
We rushed to the Emergency Room and were worked through triage pretty quickly. Joyce and Jerry met us at the hospital to help us out and they eventually brought Dash home and put him to bed. We got Delaney some pain medicine and then some x-rays.
It's actually upside down, but you can see the bowing and if you look closely you can see the break.
We got an IV put in (on the fourth try, mind you) and then the doctors and nurses went to work doing conscious sedation on Delaney. They had to put the elbow back in place, correct the break, and set the bone. We came home with her in a plaster cast and a sling.
During the entire hospital experience, Delaney was incredibly brave. The hardest thing for her was the IV sticks but just a few minutes later, she was giving us an IV. She kept saying "Laney says all done. Laney want home". I just wanted to take the IV for her.

We had our visit with the orthopedic specialist a few days later and they placed her into a long arm cast.
This cast has been easier to work around and she hasn't needed the sling, which is nice. We've since had it signed by a lot of our friends and family. We got some stickers in the mail from Delaney's godmother, Brenna. When we put one of the Piglet stickers on tonight (it had sparkles, Delaney pointed out to me), Delaney said "its flablos" (fabulous), which I'm sure means that she loves it.
Again, she's pretty amazing and resilient. Since the long arm cast gives her the use of her fingers she's a little more able to do things for herself.

From here, we have another orthopedic visit on Friday to check and see how she's doing. We are expecting about six weeks of cast wear and we will probably have another cast placed since if it grows loose she will likely wiggle out of it.

I'm feeling better; less anxious about the whole deal. It was quite an experience.

Summer has been such a whirlwind

I've loved this summer. I love (almost!) having a toddler and (almost!) a preschooler. It's been a joy to see the summer through their eyes. I think about next summer with two walking children and all that they're going to get into and I can't wait!

I started the interview process for a position that fell into my lap around July and I was offered the position a few weeks later. I'm going to be working part-time at the hospital in Centralia in the rehab department as a speech pathologist. I'm so excited about the opportunity to work with a mix of children and adults and hopefully be more challenged in my work environment. I have started to feel under-stimulated mentally as this year has gone on. I love that I have had the opportunity to stay home and raise my children full time to this point, but I was starting to get concerned that if I remained out of work much longer that my licenses would lapse beyond a point of quick return.
So we had a lot of family discussions and looked at nearly every option out there for childcare. Every single option. It was exhausting and it made me question if my returning to work was the right thing for our family at this time. We found our way to a nanny search website and we started up interviews. We had a total of four interviews and we also scheduled two interviews with me and the children so that we could see how the nanny would interact. Our first choice came back and by the end of the four hour interview I had offered her the contract. Her name is Savannah and we're hoping she becomes part of our family and that she will provide, safe, loving, and attentive care to the little ones. I feel confident in her abilities and how she interacts with the kids and knowing all of this makes me more excited to start back to work.

So Dash is NEARLY walking. He has taken up to four steps between Zap and me (especially if there is a food motivator). We actually have an Occupational Therapy visit scheduled tomorrow to see if he is on track. I'm hoping he's close. I'd love him just as much if he didn't walk until 15 months or later, but boy would my back be tired. He's a hefty little boy!
Dash now can sign: more, eat, please, all done, drink, hot, and hear. He learned to say "papa" today which makes Zap so happy. We think he's saying "more" when asking and at lunch today he joined more and please. He rocks!



Delaney's language is growing and growing every single day. It's amazing to see typical language development in action. She has started to tell stories: "I push the button and the dinosaur said ROAR". When she sees something she loves she says "OH...MY...GOSH!".

Together they are often Pete and Repeat. Dash loves his big sister and she loves him back. She likes to say things to make him copy her and she loves to copy him. We are still working on her getting aggressive with him sometimes, but sometimes I think its almost to see what will happen. The other day she stepped on him. She's never done that before and hasn't since (there was a time-out given) but I thought that maybe she just wanted to see what would happen if she put her foot on her brother.



We took a trip up to Bremerton with our friends Jill and Roan so we could meet up with our other friends Laura, Emmett, and Bridger. We did the Kitsap fair with the kids and it didn't take us long to get worn out. The best part was the rides. Delaney has no fear, which we saw at Lakefair, and she rode every ride with joy.



We went camping with our family, Grandpa Jerry, Grandma Joyce, Cousin Lance, and Sean and Sheryl for Labor Day weekend. Our close friends went with us and they brought their two year old and nearly three year old. So we had four children under three sleeping in tents in the (very) cool evening weather. Needless to say, we didn't get much sleep, but we had a really great time. We went geocaching (or treasure hunting as Delaney calls it) and cooked s'mores.

bad blogger Mommy!

but the summer has just been so busy. Here's what I have to blog about.
County Fairs and just how much Delaney loves them
Visits to friends near Bremerton
Delaney's new funny sayings
Dash nearly walking
Mommy got a job!
Camping with the family/very close friends on Labor Day weekend
our new nanny (doesnt' that sound so posh?)
and plenty of pictures.

All that..as soon as we return from said camping. I PROMISE!