Bye-Bye Cast

I know Kaitlyn's cast has been off for two weeks now, but I never shared these photos. These were taken on my phone. My mom took some with my camera, but I had forgotten the memory card so they are saved onto the camera. The cord to the camera is with the rest of our household goods; wherever they are.

Waiting for her turn to have her cast removed.

She was calm the whole time the guy cut through the cast.

She had to slip her hand in the cast one last time.

Here the cast has been broken in two and some of the stuffing cut. As soon as the top of the cast came off she wanted out. I hesitated at picking her up because I didn't want to hurt her. She didn't care!

Cast free!!!

She was real lethargic the whole time her cast was being removed and afterwards. She woke up that morning with a 101 temp.

Half Birthday Party!

Family and friends mark your calenders for Kaitlyn's birthday party on May 23rd. It will be from 2-4 pm at my parents house.

Kaitlyn is going to be beyond thrilled when the guy shows up with her bouncy castle. I reserved it today. The last time we stopped by the place to ask about them she cried because we wouldn't let her out of the car to play on the bouncy castle. They had one set up to catch your eye, but they blocked of the entrance to keep kids out. Thankfully today she was nicer about waiting in the car. She loves Hermie (in the picture above) so we are going with a caterpillar and butterfly theme. Lord willing I can make a cake that looks something like a caterpillar. LOL... Here's to trying anyway. If you come you might be eating some strawberry crumpled cake with green icing. That is if I give up and just crumble the whole mess up. Haha...

Why a half birthday party some may ask??? Kaitlyn was born on Christmas Eve. Sure many kids have birthdays around Christmas and have to get over the fact they receive little celebration for their birthday. I don't think Kaitlyn has to be one of those kids. I want her to be able to have fun summer parties which her real birthday robs her of. Also, there may be gifts I want to buy her that are to big for just because (a playhouse maybe) or the wrong season for Christmas (a pool?). People are so stretched thin not only financially, but with other party commitments around Christmas time so putting her party in the summer takes the pressure off.

Her first birthday she spent about a week opening gifts first at her birthday party on Christmas Eve, then Christmas Eve night at Grandma's, then Christmas morning at my parents, then two days later at Neal's parents, and so on. Now how fun would it be for her to have her birthday presents separate from her Christmas ones? Oh wait most of us know what that's like. Now she will too. =)

One more thing... I know it's not really her half birthday on the 23rd of May. She will actually be two years and one day short of five months old at the party. When it's her actually half birthday we will be in the middle of our move to our next base. There's a good chance, just like her last birthday, that we will still be living in a hotel for her half birthday. So we decided once Neal gets back from his tech school we will have her party. It was supposed to be a week earlier right after Neal gets out of tech school, and to a point I wish it still was, but we had to bump it a week.

Neal's brother and sister-in-law are flying in with their boys for the weekend. It will be the first time Laura and the boys have been down. While they are here we must do two things (besides Kaitlyn's party), have a snow cone and fly a kite.

On a random kite flying trail... How long has it been since you flew a kite? Well that's to long. A few months ago I bought some cheap $1 kites and have been making excuses to fly them ever since. My friend Lisa came over last Wednesday and we flew them. A handful of people called her while she over and I heard her have to repeat to each one "I'm flying a kite". LOL... So next time someone says "go fly a kite" do it! It's relaxing if you let it be. If you're having a rough day you can take out your frustrations by trying to keep a kite in the air. It's not as easy as I thought it was when I was a little kid. Then again you don't have to run as much as my dad made us do when we were little. And while you glide your flying plastic through the air you can ask the question I think I've voiced every time I've flown one recently... "Why do people find such pleasure in doing thing?" The person with you may say "I don't know" all the while they keep flying their kites. Maybe we do it because it makes us feel like a kid again.

Annie Swap #2

I finished my "Annie" doll over the weekend and sent her to my swap partner today. Because she hasn't received her yet, I'm not going to post pictures. I will however put in a plug for the next Annie doll swap. She's a very easy doll to make and surprisingly tiny so shipping is CHEAP. I paid just over $2 to send her.


The sign up for the second Annie Swap ends April 30th. If you would like to see some samples of the Annies from the first swap check out the flickr group. They are really turning out cute.

note: click on the image to go to the instructions on how to be apart of the swap.

Rhino Cruiser Brace

I'm sorry I haven't posted in a while. We do have a lot going on. Kaitlyn is back to sitting on the potty. I can't tell you how nice it is to "miss" that first morning poo diaper. =) Aaah, sweet bliss. Right after she eats breakfast I put her on the potty where she takes care of her business. Now if I could just get her to do that all day long life would really be good. Yesterday I put her in some training pants to see how she would do. She vomited or spit out a lot of her apple juice wetting her clothes including her panties. Shortly after changing her and a quick bathroom stop, she wet her new panties, plus left me another surprise. *sigh* I guess I'll have to wait a little bit longer. I'm still putting her on the potty off and on all day.

My love-hate relationship with her brace has only just began. A big positive for anyone who held her in the spica cast is how she feels now. She's no longer a hard child. The brace is soft allowing you to feel how soft she is again. I believe the only people who can appreciate her new softness are those who held her, played with her, and were around her in the cast. I imagine other people would see her as being so restricted now. They should have seen her a couple weeks ago. =)

Here's the front view of Kaitlyn's Rhino Cruiser Brace. The white wrapped around her legs is foam and Velcro. She also has Velcro with a little foam going around her waist.

She can walk in the brace, but it is challenging for the time being. Here you can see the end of the Velcro from around her waist.

The blue on the back is a flexible plastic. If you look below her rump there's the ends to the Velcro that goes around her legs.

She is totally back to her old ways; into and on everything.

And in other news... Bankruptcy, bankruptcy, bankruptcy. Say it with me, "BANKRUPTCY!" Do you know anyone who has filed for bankruptcy? Maybe you yourself have done it. Contrary to what Experian Credit Bureau says I have never filed for bankruptcy. Let me say that again, I HAVE NEVER DONE IT! So picture this... You're trying to get pre-approved for a home loan when the loan agent wants a letter explaining your bankruptcy. EXCUSE ME?!!!! I sent an email back asking if that was a common request because I've never filed for bankruptcy. We went back and forth several times via email. She told me to contact Experian. I pulled up their website and learned I had several credit cards opened and some closed. I filed for bankruptcy. I had a loan through Aldine Teachers Credit Union that I didn't pay on so they put a claim in against me, I had several different names, most of which weren't me, I was born almost five years earlier, I had several mailing addresses most of which were in the two cities next to where my parents live, I had a second social security number (how does that work?), and two extra jobs I've never worked at. I was approved for a $20,000 car loan through some Honda dealership. This list just went on. It was shocking to say the least. We found out it can take a minimum of 45 days to get a fails bankruptcy removed from your record. Augh!!!! Did I mention we are trying to get pre-approved for a home loan?!!! We don't have 45 days to wait! This morning I called Experian to get the ball rolling in cleaning up the mess someone made. The lady quickly said my identity wasn't stolen my account was just merged with someone else. How in the world does that happen?!!! Thankfully she immediately started untangling mine and this other lady's credit. I'm anxious to hear how much my credit score has jumped without all her indiscretions.

Cast Free!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Kaitlyn is cast free! She now wears a flexible foam and plastic brace. Her doctor said to plan on her wearing it for at least a year. I have yet to take a picture of the brace, but I do have a picture and a video to share.

Second bath. Her first one didn't go well. She held onto me the whole time crying while mom scrubbed her down. This time she loved it. She kept "swimming". =)

Free Walking In Cast

Kaitlyn's last night in her spica cast and she's walking better then ever. =)

1 Day & Counting

Kaitlyn's cast comes off tomorrow!!!! Yaaaaay! Kaitlyn's starting to accept she is about to loose her old friend. If she isn't accepting it then she's just getting better at me telling her it's about to go.

More big news in our home? Kaitlyn is using the potty. Hip-hip-hooray! She still wets her diaper, but she knows how to use the potty which is great news for me. Yesterday she went about five times and every time she would at least pee. One big difference I've noticed is she doesn't wait; as soon as you set her down she starts going.

Here she is last night going potty before her bath. I put a Munchkin toilet seat under her and a throw pillow in a bag behind her. The toilet seat is great because it's cushy allowing her cast to sink into keeping her from sliding off. I thought of bagging a pillow yesterday. I was having a hard time holding her up while she went potty. Using the pillow allows me to leave the room giving her more time.

After going potty Kaitlyn took a bath. If she must have a sponge bath this is her favorite way to do it. I give her different toys and let her play in the water whiel I scrub her. The towel on top is to protect her cast from the water. FYI, I start with her face, arms and chest, then move to her legs, diaper area, then hair.
Every night I lay Kaitlyn on her side with a bigger pillow under the top leg. She likes sleeping on her belly, but wants to roll there herself. A couple times I've put on her belly and she cries rolling back to her back.

Cast rash... I hate cast rash. Since her first cast Kaitlyn would get rubs on her chest under her left arm. It was bad. I bought her some undershirts that I would put down into her cast trying to protect her skin; it really didn't work. I spoke to a nurse at her doctor's office about the problem once. She said I needed to put a bandage on her skin to keep the cast from rubbing. I didn't have any on hand so after a little brain storming I came up with this idea which has worked beautifully.

I take one Always thin pantiliner and put it on the inside of her cast where it rubs on her skin.

I lay her across my legs and pull the cast up causing a nice gab.

I slide the pad in under her cast; with the sticky side towards the cast of course.

It can be tricky at times when she's wiggling, but it's possible. I leave a little bit to overlap the top of the cast. It doesn't cross over to the front much; mostly just the top of the cast.

After I did this the first time Kaitlyn's cast rash cleared right up. Once in a while the pads must be pulled out and replaced. Sometimes she pees up her cast soaking the pads and other times, like last night, the pads are falling apart and need to be replaced. Because of rubs she wears three pads, one under each arm and one in the middle.

Here's a couple videos I took last week after changing Kaitlyn's pads.

Stair Climber

Not even a body cast will keep Kaitlyn from climbing the stairs just for the fun of it. I took these videos last weekend at Piney Shores, a Silverleaf Resort.

Kaitlyn loves her pizza. On Sunday night I bought some pizza and we took it back to the condo. She crawled up into a chair at the table ready for her food. Before she ever got up in the chair I was telling her to wait because I wanted to move the table so we could watch TV. I believe we were watching What A Girl Wants for anyone curious. After moving the table she flipped out. I snapped a picture before moving her chair.

What she is really saying here is (in a gruff voice), "GIVE ME PIZZA!!!" Waaa-waaa.

Seconds later with the pizza in front of her.

The End

Happy Easter

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter. Here's what Kaitlyn woke up to...
The shopping cart is to help her walk.

As you can see she knew just how to use the cart.

I made her a Boutique Easter Basket for her egg collection.

What little you can see of it, this is the Simple Sunday Dress

I didn't want her knowing the toy she was playing with had candy in it. When she asks what's in the egg on the biking bunny I tell her it's colorful balls. She knew right away what it was. She pretends to eat a piece at which time I admit it's candy. After I stopped filming she said Jelly Bean really clear.

For all spica cast parents of little girls. The Simple Sunday Dress fits perfectly over her cast. I actually made two of these dresses. The first was in a size 3/4 which is what she has been wearing since having her cast on; it was to big in the bodice. I made her a second dress in 1/2 and it fits great. The only portion of the pattern this it's made to be more fitted is the shoulders and they aren't covered by the cast.

Around & Around We Go

Cast Off ~ Coming Soon

I can't believe we are 10 days to "Cast Off!!!" Seeing how I will be going to bed soon I just changed my message on MSN from "10 days to cast off" to "9 days to cast off". NINE days!! My goodness. It's not even my cast and I'm excited. It feels like the cast has always been a part of our world. As crazy as this sounds I think Kaitlyn will miss it. If I could quickly find my camera I could show you a picture of her sleeping with her hand down the cast; this is normal.

I found it! I figure there's no time like the present to post the picture so I hunted it down. The pillow by her head... she should be laying on the other side of it. I took a shower then walked back in the room to find her laying sideways in the bed above the pillows. Crazy kid. See what I mean. Why is she on the other side? I don't know. If you look closely you will see she's sleeping on a pull out couch. Kaitlyn and I spent Saturday and Sunday night at the resort. Mom and dad were having water well issues so mom put in for the resort. When we got the call they said it was a studio condo. Studio!?! Who knew they had those? So last month we stayed in a Presidential and this month a little Studio. Oh well, it was a life saver for those of us who like to wash our hands or do anything with water for that matter.

I have to share some cuteness of Kaitlyn from tonight. I was pushing her stroller through Hobby Lobby when she started saying "Praise the Lord". LOL... People stopped what they were doing to see the small child saying praise the Lord. We left Hobby Lobby for Michael's. All through the store I could hear her saying "thank you for Mommy, thank you for Daddy, thank you for Nana..." She was praying. It was really cute. Last night we had just started eating pizza when she stopped and said, "pray!" LOL... I prayed and she immediately looked at me with a grin and said, "Mommy, kiss." As much as I didn't want pizza sauce on my cheek I turned it to her. This morning it was milk on my cheek after praying over our breakfast.

Pay It Forward!!!

Come Join the FUN!!

I have signed up and joined a Pay it Forward with Lanette from Tataville and I am so excited to be participating! I have committed to send the next (3) people (who sign up with me on my blog) a handmade item and a goodie package within 365 days.

I would be so thrilled to have you sign up to be my PIF recipient! Here is how it works: If you would like to join, you agree to "Pay it Forward" to the next (3) people who sign up with you (on your blog) and you will send them a handmade item and goodie package within 365 days.

Want to join the fun and play Pay it Forward? Please leave a comment that you would like to join and include or email me your email address. I will contact you to confirm and give further details.

Let's keep the PIF going strong - I look forward to hearing from you =)

A Forward

I don't send forwards on. I'm kind of annoyed at the ones that say "I've gotten this one before, but it's good." I think yes, I've gotten this one three times before too. I tend to delete 99% of those my dad sends, but I don't delete the ones from Grandma. I know she will ask me about them. I may keep them in my inbox for a couple days until I have time to read them. If I don't read them and she asks, I'm caught. LOL... So I read them. Here's one that Grandma just sent me. I thought it was good and wanted to post it here.

!!!Be forewarned!!!

This is a forward.

If you hate them just skip this post.

There was a blind girl who hated herself because she was blind. She hated everyone, except her loving boyfriend. He was always there for her. She told her boyfriend, 'If I could only see the world, I will marry you.' One day, someone donated a pair of eyes to her. When the bandages came off, she was able to see everything, including her boyfriend. He asked her, 'Now that you can see the world, will you marry me?' The girl looked at her boyfriend and saw that he was blind. The sight of his closed eyelids shocked her. She hadn't expected that. The thought of looking at them the rest of her life led her to refuse to marry him. Her boyfriend left in tears and days later wrote a note to her saying: 'Take good care of your eyes, my dear, for before they were yours, they were mine.'

This is how the human brain often works when our status changes. Only a very few remember what life was like before, and who was always by their side in the most painful situations.

Life Is a Gift

Today before you say an unkind word - Think of someone who can't speak.

Before you complain about the taste of your food -Think of someone who has nothing to eat.

Before you complain about your husband or wife - Think of someone who's crying out to GOD for a companion.

Today before you complain about life - Think of someone who went too early to heaven.

Before you complain about your children - Think of someone who desires children but they're barren..

Before you argue about your dirty house someone didn't clean or sweep - Think of the people who are living in the streets.

Before whining about the distance you drive Think of someone who walks the same distance with their feet.

And when you are tired and complain about your job - Think of the unemployed, the disabled, and those who wish they had your job.

But before you think of pointing the finger or condemning another - Remember that not one of us is without sin.

And when depressing thoughts seem to get you down - Put a smile on your face and think: you're alive and still around.

Flowers And Purse Swap

For my birthday Neal sent me roses. They are really pretty. It's only been in the last couple days that I have noticed one dropping off and a second one today. =( I was hoping he was flying home for my birthday, but these are a nice substitute.

Here's my swap purse. I sent it off on Monday. After much debating I decided to go green. The lining is yellow with slight print (white and black dots). I debated sewing all the visible thread yellow (top and strap), but in the end I went with green. I know it's plain. I was actually going for plain. The notebook is covered with the same fabric as the lining. I've never covered a notebook before. It came out rough... I wonder if it's supposed to??? The long pouch with the flower/sun button isn't stuffed in the picture. Before I sent it I put a Snickers in there because they're really satisfying. LOL... I just had to say the last bit. Anyway, I made it to fit a candy bar so it can be hidden in the purse from the kids. You never know when a chocolate emergency may come up. I also made it long enough for girly items just in case she isn't into chocolate. If she isn't into candy bars and doesn't use tampons then I guess she can find her own use for it.

On the inside I added a pocket and magnetic closer. The simple mushroom on the pocket is for my recipient, not for show. I read something once from a woman who sews clothes for her children and nieces. She said she likes to put a little something extra hidden on the garment for the child alone. When I read the recipients story of how people were judging her on her outside appearance, relationships, and so forth I felt she needed something inside the purse. This is her little reminder (as simple as it is) that there's more to her then just her outside appearance. People can try to label her all they want. She isn't formed by their labels. She isn't the label. She is a special person with more to offer then their opinion.