Easter 2012

We had the most beautiful Easter this year!  We woke up and it was cold and a little windy, but by the time church was over the sun was out and it was warm and beautiful.  We celebrated with the Potts' side this year and the kids had fun searching for clues in a scavenger hunt.  When we got home they asked me to hide the eggs so they could hunt for them over and over again!  It was so lovely to be outside...I can't remember the last Easter we had that was nice.  In fact, the last few were so cold I think we almost had snow.  It was nice to dress the kids in somthing other than heavy coats and hats...love seeing their cute little bodies when it's warm out!

He's Broken!

Here is a picture of his cast his first night home
Here it is after he had everyone sign it. I can't even imagine how dirty this is going to be by the time he has it taken off. Yuck!!


On Monday, April 2nd I picked Oliver up from school and it was such a pretty day we decided to go to the park with a couple of his buddies. We ended up staying for quite a while and just as I was thinking it was probably time to head home and have some lunch, one of his buddies Spencer, went on the monkey bars and fell down. He cried and sat on his mom's lap for about 5 minutes until he felt better. Meanwhile, his other buddy Jake hops up there to give it a try and he falls and starts crying too. So Oliver was over trying to console Jake and I told Paige (Spencer's mom) since 2 out of the 3 just got hurt and were crying that was probably our que that it was time to go. She agreed. Unbeknownst to me, as Oliver was whispering quiet words of comfort in Jake's ear he told him that if he wants to go on the monkey bars he has to land the right way so he doesn't get hurt. (By the way, Oliver has never been on the monkey bars without a parent being right underneath him holding onto him so I'm not sure where these "words of wisdom" came from. Then again, today he looked right at me and said "Mom, for 5.99 you can have a dog just like this" and pointed to Ridley) So, Oliver decided to demonstrate to Jake how to dismount without getting hurt. Just as I looked over at him while I was talking to Paige about wrapping things up, I saw him swing and then fall. The way he landed it looked like he may have broken his collar bone and he immediately started to cry. I ran over to him and helped him stand up and the minute he stood up I looked down at his wrist and it was shaped like a C. I freaked and said "He's broken! He's broken! Oh Lord Jesus, please help us, he's broken!!!" My cell phone was down the hill in my car and the battery had died just before I reached the park so I started yelling for a cell phone. There were tons of people from the park there including some old neighbors and people from O's soccer team and someone ran over and gave me her phone, but I was so frazzled I couldn't dial Tom's number so she did it for me. Of course, nobody at Tom's office answered the phone so I had her dial Tom's cell phone and he of course didn't answer. I picked Oliver up and yelled "Can somebody please grab Finley?" Jen (Jake's mom) got Fin and then as I was heading toward the car I saw her milk in the woodchips and I figured we were in for a long afternoon in the ER so I said "Can someone grab my milk?" (Kind of an awkward question, huh? Not really one I ever would have expected to come out of my mouth) All of our stuff was strewn all over the park. I sped to Tom's office thinking I'd pick him up and take him to the ER with me, and just as I got there and saw their vehicles gone I remembered that they had to work in Seattle on Monday instead of Tuesday this week. So I bypassed the office and headed up the hill towards home to get a different phone and to leave Ridley home since the car would have been too hot for her all afternoon. I had poor Ridley in a "football" hold as I ran into the house. Our garage door going into the mudroom kind of sticks a little bit and I was running so fast that I turned the knob, but not enough, as I tried to run through the door and I rammed her little head right into the closed door. I put her on the floor, grabbed the phone and screeched out of the driveway hoping that when I got home I wouldn't find my dog with her eyes crossed and her tongue hanging out because I damaged her by ramming her into the door!

Since it was the middle of the day I knew the little emergency clinic 10 minutes away would be open so I raced there. Oliver screamed the whole way there. If anyone has ever heard Oliver cry, you know he does not have a dainty, polite little cry. It literally makes your brain feel like it's rattling around! I was able to get a hold of my mom so she met me at the ER and took Fin home to nap and get Berk off the bus.

As we were waiting for x-rays and pain meds Oliver was in a ton of pain, but getting bored and all he wanted to talk about was going back to the park when we were done with the doctor. I very gently and patiently tried to explain to him that we wouldn't be going back to the park that day. We finally went into the x-ray room and it was awful. They had him sit on my lap and I had to hold his arm straight and in different positions and it was so painful for him. Initially they told me it would be just a few and then after they realized his wrist was broken they ended up taking 6 or 7 and it was just dreadful for him. I was trying so hard not to move it cause I knew it hurt him, and the lady was so indifferent to it since she does it every day that she just kind of grabbed it and positioned it and then had me hold it so she could take the picture. That was the worst part. Finally they showed us where to go to get a cast and the people in that department were super nice. They asked him what color he wanted and he said "Yeyyow". I was stunned cause I thought orange was his favorite color, but he insisted "yeyyow" was the new orange. I was happy with yellow...one of his sister's favorite colors is pink and I was secretly praying he wouldn't choose pink just so Berk would be espeically impressed. I again had to help put the cast on. That was a first for me. We just got Oliver distracted with a lollipop and we got that thing right on him.

FINALLY it was time to go home and show off his new cast. I knew Berkeley would be envious because just a few days before she was talking about how cool casts were and how she wished she had one. She insisted on writing her full name on it with a huge flower. So much for a "manly" cast. Oh well...it could have been worse...could have been pink with a huge flower :)

A couple of days after he broke his arm he received a get well letter in the mail with $5 in it from my parents. He opened it up and was oohing and aahing over it and was so excited to buy a new toy. Berkeley looked through the pile of mail and said "Where's mine?" He said "Well, Berkeley, you didn't get one. You have to break your arm to get $5." I could see her wheels spinning and I very quickly said "Oh no, no, no, Berkeley, I will pay you $5 NOT to break your arm or any other part of your body." Then when he realized that she was dissappointed she didn't get any $ he said "Berkeley you can have it." He does stuff like that all the time with her. If there is one piece of candy left he'll say "Berkeley, you can have it." He has a very sweet side to him. I love it.

Since we're on the subject of cute things he says, Sherri had him a couple of weeks ago and he barely ate his lunch so she said "Oliver, don't you want to eat your lunch so you can grow big and strong like your daddy?" He looked up at her and said "Grandma, I just want to be a kid." Wow, enough said! What a wise little man!

He has been putting his underwear on backwards lately and Tom asked him why he is doing that. He said "So I can see spiderman. If he is on my bottom I can't see him so I turn him around so he is in front where I can see him." Tom said "Oh, that makes sense." Today he had shorts on and he went in to go potty. When he came back out his underwear were hiked up way above the waist band of his shorts and I said "Oh, Oliver, I can see Spidey!" (Spiderman's face was sticking up above his shorts). Tom laughed and said "You look just like your Papa Potts with your underwear pulled up higher than your shorts...all you need is a whole bunch of hair all over your body." He smiled and said "No, all I need is Berkeley" and then ran down the steps to play with his sister.

A couple of days after he broke his arm I took him to his dentist appt. This was a new dentist that he has never been to. Before the appt was over one of the hygentists called me back. I went back to where they had him in the chair and the dentist said "I just have to tell you, this is one good guy you've got here. He is very well mannered, very outgoing and polite. I have been doing this for a LONG time and I have seen a LOT of kids and I can always tell which ones are going to be good and which ones are going to be trouble and you've got a really good one here." Needless to say, after the appt was over he got to have lunch at McDonalds and then go pick out an extra special treat at the grocery store.

You're a great kid Oliver. You constantly keep us hopping and guessing what is going to come out of that little mouth of yours! You have a very sweet spirit and a very good heart. Everyone tells us this is the first of many broken bones, but I sure hope not cause I can't bear to see my little "Oliver Bean" get hurt! In 4 weeks when you get that cast off you'll be good as new and you WON'T be swingin' from those monkey bars, but you'll be making us laugh, just like always!

Finley's 2nd Birthday

Goody bags

She was quite satisfied with all her new gifts!

A little shy when everyone sang to her.

She tried to blow out her candle and did little tiny dainty poofs of air. So cute!

I'll be your best friend if you give me a bite of cake...

We love tea parties!!!

She absolutely ADORES her daddy!

And he absolutely ADORES her!

Giggling girls!

We had Finley's birthday party on Sunday, March 18th. She had a great time. She had just woken up from her nap when everyone got here so it took her a while to fully wake up and enjoy it, but once she was fully awake she had a great time.

She had a blast opening her presents (she got the hang of opening presents at Christmas so she was excited to tear into all that paper) and got many new snuggly, fun things to add to her collection!

Around 2:00 it started dumping snow. It snowed for quite a while in those huge wet flakes so it was really pretty. Berkeley thinks Finley has a lucky birthday since she got snow on her birthday and she thinks Oliver is quite lucky to have a birthday in the summer.

When we sang Happy Birthday to Fin she got really shy and buried her head in my neck. I can remember Berk & Oliver doing the same thing at that age. I think everyone standing around singing to her was a bit overwhelming. She wasn't quite sure what to do with the candles, but after a little coaxing, she finally blew little tiny breaths of air at them until big sister grabbed a chair and finished them off!

It was a fun day. I can't believe she is 2 years old. A lot has happened in the last 2 years and I don't feel like it is possible that my littlest "baby" is no longer a baby. One of my most favorite things about having a 3rd baby has been watching Berkeley and Oliver with her. They are so incredibly sweet with her and she just loves them. The other day my parents took Oliver and Finley to the play toy at McDonalds. Oliver took Finley all the way up to the top staying right behind her and making sure she didn't fall. As soon as she got to the top she wanted to head down so he very carefully held her hand as she SLOWLY made her way back down. As soon as she got down Oliver went over to the table where my parents were sitting to get a fry and she grabbed him and pointed her finger up so he very patiently took her all the way back up and then back down again. My mom said he was so good with her that she didn't even feel apprehensive about little Fin going all the way up there. My dad said Oliver reminded him of a little mother hen and he has never seen a little boy so patient and loving with his little sister. We love you Finley. Your little smile lights up the room and we can't help but smile with you. You bring unspeakable joy into our lives. We are blessed.