Tooth Losing Machine

Before

After

It was ready to come out this morning but we didn't have enough time before school. I think he played with it all day at school and as soon as we got home it was just a tiny little tug and it was out.

Big Muddy

Brandon's cub scout den had a trip to a wildlife refuge by the Missouri river. We thought we would get rained out but it stopped long enough to go on our hike.

Frog they found as we hiked along what used to be a Missouri River Levee.

Turtle shells found near a scour hole where the levee used to be.

Looking at the scour made from the 1993 flood.

Name

I've decided that this blog needs a new name. It may still chronicle the journey of our life, it isn't really an adoption journey.

Now I need to think of a catchy title. Any suggestions?

Brandon's creation

Brandon worked very hard in art weaving this satchel like Indiana Jones. He couldn't wait to bring it home to show me.

Working with Papa

Ethan had fun helping Papa work on the edging stones in front of the house. He is quite the worker.

Digging the hole.

Tossing the dirt out of the way.

Checking if it's deep enough.

"Bonkers"

Ethan won a certificate for a huge, loud, very overstimulating indoor play place from the Read-A-Thon at school. I knew that it would be much more than he could handle so since he really had no idea what Bonkers really was, he now thinks that the indoor play place at Burger King is called Bonkers. It was a much better size for him and a lot less crowded and no one would complain that he has to keep his shoes on because of his braces.

Ethan took this one of Brandon after he had played for about 30 minutes and was worn out.

Reading

Here is Ethan 'reading' a book from school. I tend to think it's a bit more memorized than read, but it was great to have him read to me either way.

Valentines

Brandon with his Valentine box at his class party
Brandon's box

Ethan's Valentine Box

Ethan worked hard putting foam heart stickers on his box. Notice he put them about 8 deep on the sides.

Kindergarten holidy concert

Today was the Kindergarten Holiday Open House. Ethan did a great job. The kids sang several songs then the parents joined in for a couple of carols before we got some cookies and punch.

Thanksgiving

Ethan wished to loose his front tooth and Brandon wished for more strength in order to wrestle Uncle Barry. Brandon got the bigger half, but Ethan was the one who ended up getting his wish.

Basement update

Wetbar before

Wet bar during. I have the sink installed and plumbing done, as well as a new outlet under the cabinet for the mini fridge, and under cabinet lights. Next stage, finish polyurethane on the doors and do a back splash.

Tooth Time

Before.

It was held on by one tiny little part and he could wiggle it diagonally. A few screams and "It hurts," finally a sit on moms lap and Daddy got it out. Once he saw it he realized it hurt and cried some more.

After.

Later that day he told us it wasn't so bad. ;o) I wish I had that on tape to play back for him next time. And it won't be long. The other top front tooth is going to be ready to come out very soon.

Check out the paint!

It looks even better in person. I'm very glad to have all the wall color on. It took 2, and in some places 3 coats of cutting in, and 2 coats with the roller. I have blisters from so much painting. Tomorrow I'll start work on the trim and doors. Daddy and the boys primed the doors for me today, so I'm ready to go.

Basement

Operation basement remodel began. After waterproofing anything and everything in everyway we could think of we framed in the wall. Notice the shadow of the studs, you can tell how not straight the cement wall was.

We had to get creative on this wall. It was partially finished with drywall but what was already there hadn't been framed out enough for us to use traditional studs to frame it. So we got a 1/2 inch piece of plywood and made our own studs. The biggest problem was that the cement wall was so hard to drill into that we decided to just liquid nail the 'studs' on. Did you know that when you cut 1/2 inch ply it tends to warp a bit? After sitting there holding the wood against the wall so the liquid nails would dry for a while we finally rigged up a way to hold it until it was set.

Ta Da!!! Check out the new wall! I had fun learning how to hang drywall and mud it. Now I'm working on priming everything and getting it ready for paint!

Raingutter Regatta

Brandon had his Raingutter Regatta this past Sunday. He did well, especially considering him and Daddy didn't get their boat made until the day before. Brandon won 3rd place in design and 2nd place in speed and qualifies to go to districts for both.

Riding bikes

Ethan was up on his bike for the first time since his surgery!!!! It was great to see him back on the bike.

New Braces

Ethan got his new braces this week and we're working on breaking them in. He wore them for 3 hours yesterday and we can keep adding about an hour a day until he can wear them all day. We're still working on endurance and stairs are still very hard but he has improved greatly! It will be nice to be able to run again and get exercise.

As you can see, he was very proud that he could run again.

Playing in the dirt

We had a fun weekend playing in the dirt.

All the way down to the foundation.

A new layer of tar sprayed on to help with the waterproofing.

Thats a lot of dirt.

Skid loader driving lessons.
Add gravel.
Lots of gravel.

Ethan's turn to climb in the cat. He was very confused when we called it a caterpillar. He kept thinking it was a furry little bug that turns into a butterfly.

Guess what??? No more cast!

This is what you do when you have to wait an hour for your appointment.

First stop, the cast room to take the cast off. The cast guru did a great job explaining things to Ethan and he was fascinated with the tool used to cut off the cast as well as the pliers type things that he used to pry the cast apart.

This is the button on the bottom of his foot. I had no idea what to expect.
You can tell the button was pulled fairly tight to hold the tendon in place. We can't wait for our first bath in 6 1/2 weeks!!!!

Instead of another cast, the surgeon got him a walking cast instead. Ethan is pretty sore and so far today he has stood on that foot for about 5 seconds then he was done, saying that it hurt. It might be a day or two before he's ready to get back up on there. Hopefully we'll be able to get better practice and get back into the swing of walking again very soon.

We then went across town to have molds made for his new braces. We got to pick this time and Ethan chose camo straps with green foam. We should have them in about two weeks.

Learning to walk

It has taken quite a bit longer than we expected for Ethan to be able to get up and walk on his cast. When we first started getting him up with the cast boot on, it seemed like he couldn't even remember how to walk. He would hold on with both hands and try to lean back against me if I was right behind him and really concentrate on making his feet move. At first it was one a step at a time, then two or three steps, then finally yesterday he was able to start taking several steps, even a few by himself. He is still very wobbly as you can tell, and we need to make sure someone is near to help catch him if he falls, but a lot of improvement. If you notice, he will make his hands into fists to help him keep his balance when walking. He would do this quite a bit before, but a lot more right now.

We go back on Wednesday to take this cast off and the button on the bottom of his foot. After that they will make a mold of his foot in order to make a new brace, then another cast until the brace comes in. At this point he thinks he wants a red cast. We'll see what they have.