"Kid Stuff" organization in progress

This project was inspired by a real problem.  Lack of organization in the "coat closet" and the kids unable to put their own winter gear away.  After being left with too many wet sopping piles of winter stuff on my kitchen floor and being annoyed that I had to do all the work putting away everything (when they are fully capable to do themselves if they could!), and the kids truly unable to put it all away themselves (hangers too high, storage baskets too high), Dave and I got creative.  

I had an idea to create a wall of hooks for the kids to put their stuff on in the garage right by the door to the house, and Dave suggested building open lockers with space for each kid, hooks their height for coats, snowpants, and backpacks...and storage compartments low down for their boots, shoes, hats and gloves.  We thought about this and drew up plans way before Dave broke his hand, and were unable to get the wood for the project until I took out all three car seats so he could make a flatbed in the back of the van to drive the wood home.  Soo...all this takes time. After Dave broke his hand this project was put on major hold...until Saturday of last weekend.  Dave was able to pick up the wood a week ago, but its been sitting in our garage for a week. 

We made Saturday, Jan 28th a work day, cutting wood and putting some of the pieces together.  He helped me cut the wood with the table saw, and was the brains for the project while I was the hands.  I used the power drill to screw every piece together.  Violet helped draw some lines with wood and helped with a small amount of cutting.  The kids were a challenge to work with while we were working.  Naptime for Vanessa was movie time for V and C, so that gave us a couple hours of uninterrupted work time.  Other than that, all 3 kids scrambled around the garage and we took lots of breaks to accomodate their needs and mealtime.

I documented the construction of this event...and its not done yet, but you can see what it will look like.  Its really nice to know we are having 4 kids, and we know this is a boy.  So we can construct the right amount of lockers and paint them colors.

The beginning of the project - 3 full sheets of cabinet-grade plywood and some backing material. 

Measuring, with our little helper:

More cutting:

Frame 1 of 4 completed.  And yes, she wore pajama pants and a shirt all day. 

Add cubbie holes:

Four frames completed, 2 have cubbies:

That's where the progress stopped.  We have plans to finish all of them, paint each one a different color, put backing on them, add hooks to each, and put them against the wall.  Can't wait to be finished with this one!  My hands were pretty beat up after that day, rough, scratchy and my skin has spot where there are cracks from holding the screws.

Calvin's 4 yr doctor check up

I brought Calvin into the pediatrician for his 4 yr well child check up on Wed., Jan 25th.  I knew he had to get some shots so I didn't tell him until a few minutes before we had to leave, so he wouldn't freak out and anticipate the worst for any longer than he had to.  When I told him I was taking him to the doctor, he immediately got a scared look on his face and started to cry saying "Do I have to get shots!?" and I told him yes, but the doctor would start by checking out his eyes, ears, tummy, knees, feet, etc, and he started to smile.   I tried distracting him from the big "S" word with other doctor type conversation.  I got him there at 9:30, his appointment was at 9:45.  He remembered the snowman at the end of the hallway right when we walk in.  His favorite part is always pushing the elevator buttons.  He liked pushing the #4 button for floor 4 because he is now 4 yrs old.  We waited what seemed like forever in the waiting room.  Calvin wanted Vanessa to play with him, so they both ran around like crazy.   The waiting seemed so long that both kids got bored with all the toys there.  Vanessa needed a diaper change in the time we waited and Calvin eventually stared out the 4th floor window watching cars and trucks drive by from high above.

The snowman is barely visible at the end of this long hallway, but it provided much conversation!

Vanessa's stressed out expression from her dirty diaper:

When we got called back, he got his weight and height checked. He is 3 ft 5.5" (41.5") tall, and 38.9 lbs. (At 4 yrs old Violet was 40 inches and 40 lbs). He is predicted to be 6 feet tall or taller when he is full grown! I can't believe my little guy is going to pass me up someday!

The nurse had him to a quick vision test. He stood at one spot far away from a wall with pictures on it and she asked him certain things. He motioned in a circle with his fingers when she pointed to a circle, and said "cup, cross, hand" for the other things. Vision is about 20/30, pretty good.

When we got in the dr's room, Vanessa started whimpering and crying.  She remembered her last traumatic visit to the doctor, and eventually calmed down and got comfy in the stroller when she realized she didn't have to get out. 

The nurse came in the room (#4), and took his blood pressure.  He sat very still and smiled through it.  BP was 98/64.

The doctor came in, and did all the checks I told him she would do.  He put on a little hospital gown which he thought was pretty funny.  She looked in his ears, eyes, mouth, checked his belly, knocked his reflexes on his knees/ankles, muscles (and noted he seemed super strong!) etc...can't remember everything.  He was quiet, cooperative, and answered back to all her questions by nodding, as she kept trying to ask him questions that would get him to talk.  :)  He eventually got talkative.  Doctor complimented him, not finding a thing "wrong" with him saying he was perfect.  He got that idea in his head that he was perfect too.

 

She left, and I got his shirt back on, but not his pants. He got silly and put his pants on his head.

I knew he had to get his shots now so when the 2 nurses came back in with the vaccinations on the tray, I got him back up on the table, lay down, and I had to hold his arms down. They made quick work of the shots, 2 in his right leg, 1 in his left.  He screamed and tensed up when he realized what was going on....bandaids slapped on, and then they left. He seemed pretty sad, but I held him for a long time and told him it was all over and I would get him a special treat. He took a few minutes to calm him down, get his pants on, and head over to the sticker basket. They told him he could have 3 stickers, but he only wanted 2. He picked two Ratatouille stickers and put them on his shirt. We left, and made a short shopping trip in Ben Franklin right nearby, and I got him a big cherry sucker and a pinwheel toy (that yard thing that spins when you blow on it).

All better!

I drove through Cabin Coffee (I had to have a treat too, right?) before heading home, and the drive back was quiet and uneventful. Vanessa wanted Calvin's sucker, so I asked him to hide it from her. 

Dad and Rachel, just for the record...when we got home and he finished his sucker, he informed me he had to brush his teeth because he had just eaten a lot of sugar.  haa!  So we brushed his teeth. :)

The next day Calvin complained that his leg hurt, so I offered him some medicine for
the pain.  He admantly said no.  Not sure why...trying to be a tough guy already?

Mission organization

We are planning ahead for the addition of a small sink to be added on the counter top where the coffee machine is.  The left drawer below will not be useable so we emptied EVERYTHING out of those four "junk" drawers, and tossed a whole bunch of stuff, moved some tools and garage things to the garage, and re-organized the rest of it. 

Before, emptying the drawers, Dave is making use of his left hand.

 All the STUFF.  Feels good to have most of it in the trash now.

 Down to two drawers now.  The second one will hold towels/rags for the other sink. 

Violet's 6th birthday

Thankfully my mom was still here!  I got a text notification super early in the morning saying Waterloo Christian School was CANCELED because of the heavy snowfall!  Yayyy!!  How fun to stay home and have fun all day on a birthday!  Violet was excited to stay home.  My mom also helped us celebrate Violet's birthday as Dave was unable to do much.  The morning started with Violet coming into our room in the morning around 7am, and we said happy birthday to her.  I told her school was canceled so she could pick any breakfast she wanted, so she chose pancakes.  I told her I'd try make my best "6" pancake I could, and she seemed pretty excited about that!  I just realized I do a lot of pancake art with the kids! 

So since school was canceled, there was no official plan for the day.  She put on her favorite brown and pink butterfly dress.  She worked on coloring more of her cardboard princess castle.  Her and Calvin played.  I cut her out a large number 6 out of cardboard so she could paint and decorate it to help with our party decorations.

She wrote "I love you" in purple piant, added blue butterflies, and purple stripes.  All over her "new favorite color" orange.

I baked her cake.  She wanted an orange cake with purple frosting.  She said "I have the best parents!" after picking up on the fact that we were all working on something or another to make her day special.

My mom went out on a little shopping trip to get fun helium balloons.  She also helped Violet put up some streamers.

They worked on shaping some thawed bread dough into snowmen using raisins for their eyes...they turned out really cute.

 

 

She got a "decorate your own jewelry box" from Grandma Martha ~ this is the 2nd one she has done, but seemed JUST as excited to do it again!

 A butterfly earring holder and some new earrings:

 A fish bowl with fake fish. :)

 Other presents were: A unicorn book she had wanted for months (she saw it at school and wrote down the ISBN number for me, ha!), chapstick on a string, Hello Kitty stamp kit, and here's a family pic!

 Me and my 6 yr old!  wow, I look tired.

Violet wanted cheeseburgers, mac and cheese and broccoli before cake and opening presents.  So that's what we had.  She said she had a wonderful day.  I can not believe she will now be working her way to age 7.  I measured her on her growth chart and she has grown 2 inches since her 5th birthday.

Dave's first surgery experience

My mom was able to come down on Thursday morning (the day of his hand surgery to fix the broken bones) to help us get through the first 2 days during and after Dave's hand surgery on the 19th of Jan.  She was mostly on kid duty, and picked up both kids from school that day.  Thank you mom for helping!

I went with Dave to his outpatient surgery at United Medical Park.  Since it had been 5 days since his bones broke, he was just excited to get this finally taken care of and move on to healing.  This was his first experience being a patient in the hospital, never having experienced anesthesia or an IV poke.  When we checked in at 9:15 am, he was immediately taken back to a prep room, where a nurse named Terri came in to do all the paperwork, get him in his hospital gown, start his IV, and everything else they do pre-OP.  He regularly donates blood so he is used to being poked somewhat, but he is used to the middle of his arm, not the delicate back of his hand.  I could tell it hurt going in, he grimaced.  The smell of the hospital made me nauseous, reminded me of being a patient myself 3 times in the last 6 yrs.  The anesthesiologist came in to talk to Dave about his options.  He opted to get a nerve block so he wouldn't be able to feel his arm 8-14 hrs after surgery.  The plan was to do the nerve block after he was knocked out.  The surgeon, Dr. Delbridge, was running about 30 minutes behind schedule, so the anesthesiologist came to do the nerve block before the surgery.  Dave wasn't too excited about that...but agreed to get it done anyway.  I had to wait in the waiting room before they did that.  When I got to come back about 10 minutes later, he said it was pretty painful getting that in too. :(  He had a moment to ask the nurses if he could pray before the procedure, and they quickly and happily agreed to do so, and Dave prayed for the surgeon and the nurses and overall care.  They seemed receptive.  He was ready for surgery at that point so I took his things with me and gave him a kiss, and headed to the waiting room.  I was getting pretty hungry so I went to check out the café.  I served myself up a salad and some cottage cheese/grapes.  The eating area was absolutely freezing, right by the door where people walked in, and it was close to zero degrees that day.  I moved to a different spot, finished up quickly, and then headed back to the waiting room.  I talked on the phone with Rachel for about 45 minutes...she was on her lunch break from work running a few errands.  That helped to pass the time.  I was then moved by the nurses to a different waiting room, where I had a chance to speak with Dr. Delbridge about the procedure.  He stopped by quickly and didn't even take the time to sit down. He said the procedure had gone well, they got his bones back together with 4 screws (no plates), and expects a good recovery.  He also said make sure he doesn't move his 3rd and 4th fingers.  After that, I was moved to another waiting room where we wait for them to wake up from surgery.  I stayed in that room for about 15 minutes, and then the nurse called me back saying he was somewhat awake.

Before surgery:

When I walked in the room, two nurses were helping him settle more comfortably, moving his bed to his requested recline, asked him if he wanted something to eat (he opted for cran-apple juice and an english muffin with grape jelly).  He smiled and said "hi" when he saw me.  His arm was wrapped up in a different but similar looking semi-solid cast.  He was pretty groggy, and said he was looking forward to eating something since he hadn't eaten breakfast.  His left hand still had the IV in, his right hand was casted, so I helped him get bites of his english muffin.

The post-OP nurses kept him in that room for close to 2 hrs.  They checked his blood pressure a few times, talked to him about discharge instructions.  Dave asked for a sling, and they said they don't give them out because they tend to hold his arm lower than its supposed to be.  He was annoyed they couldn't at least give him a sling.  He'd been holding his arm above his head for 5 days now and his arm was tired and sore already.  The nurse was adamant that he wasn't supposed to have a sling because the doctors don't recommend them, he and the nurse went around in circles for about 15 minutes about this sling issue...so he left mainly annoyed that he wasn't given a sling to hold his arm up. 

He felt more able to get up, so I helped him get dressed, and we got in the car to go home. 

After surgery, and ready to go home:

We drove my mom's car as she used the van to transport kids.  He seemed more "with it" as time went on.  We filled his pain med Rx at the pharmacy, and had to wait 20 minutes for that, so we went to the mall to find him a sleeveless jacket - as he can't get his casted arm into any of his current coats.  I wasn't so sure he should have been walking around right after surgery, but he insisted on finding something.  So we searched Scheels, Younkers, Aeropostale, and Von Maur - and he found one he liked at Von Maur.  The most interesting thing about that shopping trip is that we ran into somebody from my past.  My principal from elementary school in Nashua - Ken Erpelding!  He was working at Von Maur in the men's department and helped him find the vest.  I knew he looked familiar, so I asked him his name, and when he said Ken, I said Erpelding!  And he nodded, and when I told him my (maiden) name, he smiled, and said "oh yes! How is the family?" and asked about my mom, dad, sister and brother.  Small world.

We left Von Maur and got his meds from the pharmacy, and went home.

A friend of ours from BBC told us she planned to bring us dinner the day of his surgery, Becky Anderson.  She insisted, even though we couldn't really believe it, since she had just gone through surgery herself on her right wrist a few weeks ago.  She was full of advice about right hand surgery and how to cope.  She said bringing dinner to use was like therapy, so she enjoyed it.  Many had helped her a few weeks ago, she wanted to return the favor somehow.  She brought over a big pot of chicken noodle soup, a big bowl of sweet corn, a container full of cut up oranges, and some frosted chocolate cupcakes.  I transferred the food to pots/containers of my own and washed up her things so she could bring home clean pots.

We ate the delicious supper (everyone enjoyed everything!) and got the kids to bed at a decent time...can't really remember.  Dave is hard to get to relax...he said he felt fine and kept walking around to try help...but I kept asking him to lay down and rest.  He finally agreed, and when he sat down, said it felt good to sit.

He goes in Thurs the 26th to see the surgeon to take off the cast, put something different on (hopefully something he can take off to shower with!), and assess healing.