Things you learn at the beach

We took Charlotte to the beach today. Dad learned a few things in the process.
A. Always bring a hand towel to the beach.
B. When taking the baby to the water wear a tshirt.
C. Bring hand towel with baby to the water.

Dad wearing his shorts and no t-shirt (this is important) carried Charlotte down from the beach blanket to the water to "play" in the water and sand. Dad sat down in the wet sand as the baby waves slowly covered his feet. Charlotte did the same.

Dad dug a hole in the sand to show Charlotte how it fills up with water. Dad got wet sand all over his hands. Charlotte did the same.

Charlotte then took a fist full of wet sand and shoved it into her mouth. What did dad do? Tried to wipe it out of her mouth and off of her face but of course since his hands were covered in wet sand it only made it worse. Charlotte stared at dad with the "Im going to cry in a minute or choke to death in minute because of all this sand on my face and mouth" look. Dad wished for the above three things. A hand towel to wipe the sand off of her, or even his tshirt. Instead he resorted to the only thing he could do. Lick the sand off her face before she choked on it. Dogs clean themselves by licking it could work for kids too. Gross yes and people must have thought dad was crazy (he is) but it worked. One big lick across her face and the sand was now in dad mouth and off of her cheeks and mouth. The good news is that she didn't choke on the sand. The bad news is dad almost did.

Dad carried Charlotte back to mom the same way he carried her there...on his shoulders. Except on the way back Charlotte still had wet sand stuck to her face and hands...dad did as well. Mom was shocked with the amount of sand still on Charlotte (if she had only seen how much she had before he cleaned her off). Dad will always now carry a tshirt or hand towel with him at the beach.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Saturday we had a babysitter! Jasmine came over around 11am to watch Charlotte while Mom and Dad got ready for Danny and Juli's wedding. Charlotte was very excited for some "girl time" with Jasmine. We left for the wedding comfortable that Jasmine would do a great job...although we were a little surprised Charlotte didn't end up with her ears pierced or something. Regardless we were happy she was in such great hands and was a well behaved baby (or at least that's what we were told). We will surely ask Jasmine to come babysit again! Thank you very much Jaz.










-----------------------------------------------------------------------


We washed Charlotte Sunday after the beach incident to get rid of the remaining sand out of all of her rolls and crevices. Charlotte showed us how she wants to be a Labrador and retrieve ducks. Pictures below:

YUMMY!

"What a pretty blue toy"

We always thought we would have to keep the dogs from chewing Charlotte's toys. It seems we are going to have to keep Charlotte from Abby and Ollie's toys



Getting closer. "how do I get this big toy in my mouth"



SUCCESS! I did it, this taste delicious! YUM

Girl Uninterrupted

Dad awoke at 6am but something was wrong. Where was Charlotte?? He didn't wake up and feed her in the middle of the night. Panic struck in. He open his eyes and stared at the video monitor. There she was. Laying there. Mom woke up too.
"Do you think she is ok?" dad asked.
"I don't know" mom said.
"I think I should go make sure she is breathing" dad said.
Mom said nothing.

Just as he was about to leave the room...there we saw it. Charlotte stirring in her crib. We could see her eyes open....but she wasn't screaming and crying. Instead she was laying there....moving around....playing with her doll. She woke up without crying. She even seemed to be content!

We both couldn't believe it. Down at 6:30pm and up at 6:00am. A full night of uninterrupted sleep!


Tonight we had to lower the mattress in Charlottes crib. At bedtime Charlie was standing on the mattress, head over the railing. One step away from heaving her body out onto the floor. This was a job for dad. He busted out the drill, a bunch of allen wrenches...and of course a cold beer. You would think a crib would be easy. Nope..not a chance. One of the bolts was stripped. Charlotte was on the floor trying to eat the screw bits. Mom trying to keep her occupied. Thank God for cold beer.

Baptized

Charlotte basked in the glory of her day today. Mom and dad have NEVER seen her so happy before. She hammed it up for the cameras at the church....didn't make a peep except to make some gooo's and gaaaa's, and was the best behaved child we have ever seen in church. More to come about the weekend later....(someone is having a meltdown in her bedroom right now)

Headed to Vermont

Charlotte is being Baptized this weekend. We are headed to Vermont. Check back next week for photos. I am sure there will be a great one of Charlotte crying once that water hits her head as she is being help by a stranger. She loves strangers....

4th of July

90 degree heat and 99% humidity always makes a wonderful environment for a 4th of July Parade. Mom, Dad, Charlotte & Kelly, Dave, Mason, & Brodie strolled to the center of town to watch the parade. Charlotte watched from dad's shoulders for most of the parade and smiled happily. We got to see the original Molly Stark Cannon (look it up if you don't know what that is). The parade lasted a solid 45 minutes. By then Charlotte was cooking and dad was drenched in sweat. We headed back to our house for some air conditioning and cold beer. We even made some margaritas to take with us to the next event....the 4th of July Fair!

Fairs are a great way to judge a town. City fairs have lots of rides, few animals, and lots of arcade games geared at ripping you off. Usually they are held in mall parking lots. But we were at a good ol' fashioned NH country 4th of July fair. There was horse pulling contests, watermelon eating contests, lawn tractor pulling contests, a dunking booth, mud volleyball and child entertainer extraordinaire Wayne from Maine. It was held in the 4h fairgrounds, lots of dirt and grass. Try finding that in the city!

However after a few hours outside in the heat and humidity we had enough and headed home. From there the excitement continued. Charlotte had her own little contest...called an avocado eating contest. She won and the pictures prove it.

2am tango

Charlotte forgot how to sleep last night. She decided to remind us that she forgot how to sleep. She reminded us at 9:30, 11:30, 12:30am, 2:00am, 3:30am, 5:00am. Dad didn't need any reminding after the 12:30am waking. It was a long night.

Sunday mom went shopping with Kelly and left exhausted dad at home with exhausted Charlotte all day. Charlotte did fall asleep for a nap at 11am. Of course it lasted a whopping 15 minutes. Not fun. Dad took Charlotte for a little car ride out to Wilson's farm. While he did debate leaving her at the farm, she did take a nap on the way there so he decided to keep her. He brought her shopping for fresh produce. They had a very enjoyable trip. Dad loves spending the day alone with Charlotte, even fussy and tired.

Mom came home from her shopping spree with a dress and a new pair of shoes. Of course dad asked her why she bought two since she can only wear one. She said they only sell them in pairs. Makes no sense to waste a perfectly good left shoe. Dad is going to try to sell it on E-Bay.


Mom and dad ate dinner outside Sunday evening.

Handbags & hand grenades

Actual argument on Saturday July 1st when leaving Vermont.

Shelby "Are you going to make a bottle for the car ride home for Charlotte?"
Michael "Yes...where is the formula?"
Shelby "In the diaper bag! How many times do I have to tell you where things are?"
Michael "Which diaper bag?"
Shelby "Michael there is only ONE diaper bag we brought to Vermont!"
Dad "The green one?"
Shelby "I swear to God! The pink one"
Michael "Obviously there is more than one diaper bag. The only diaper bag I know is the green one I bought you when you were pregnant. The pink one must be the 'new' diaper bag."
Shelby "The pink one is the only diaper bag we have with us"
Michael "So that is the new diaper bag? What about the green one? Im going to get luggage tags for you to name all of your bags. I don't care what you name them as long as they have names so I know what bag to get.
Shelby "They already have names. The pink on is the Vera Bradley Paisley bag."
Michael "No you have 5 Vera Bradley paisley bags. That doesn't help. You need to name it. Wilma or something so I can remember."
Shelby "Michael you still won't remember. When I call the name of the bag you are going to have to run around the house checking all of the name tags on the bags until you find the right one"
Michael "that's fine with me, at least I will get the right bag for you."


Shelby has at least 20 bags. In her mind if she puts diapers in the bag it suddenly becomes a diaper bag. This makes it very difficult for dad. He bought her a real diaper bag, but she doesn't use it for diapers. And the canvas beach bag we have? That is now a toy bag even though in dad's mind it's the canvas beach bag. So confusing the life of a father.

Diaper bag. Not to be confused with the diaper bag below.


New diaper bag even though the bag is not new.

Quiz answers

So the correct answer to the quiz is E. Dad is So tired he fell asleep mid day in the car during his lunch break. It was a quick nap, but he is lucky he woke up! To some extent I guess C is also the correct answer...Dad is ready to start a dad only fraternity since hell week can't be much worse than 6 months of sleep deprivation. Dad really likes this idea...the problem is most of his friends don't have kids. He will still let them pledge Lambda Krappa Diaper but he would have to alter the pledging process for them.

Sure hell week would consist of the same sleep deprivation for the dads and non-dads, but he would also throw in things like making the non-dad pledges wipe the exploding diaper poop off the babies using nothing but one quarter of a wet wipe...knowing fair well that they will end up with more poop on their hands then on the wipe. Then things like making them hold a 10lb bag of potatoes with one hand and making a bottle with the other hand in under 1 minute while blindfolded to simulate the dark. Of course all during hell week the pledges would have to listen to nothing but crying babies playing on the stereo all while memorizing The Very Hungry Catepillar and Brown Bear Brown Bear, What Do You See. Once they complete this they are in. At that point they get the Lamda Krappa Diaper T-shirt and are officially brothers.

Chow Hound

Charlotte hit a milestone this weekend. She is now eating solid foods...and liking it! Dad was able to feed her some Oatmeal on Sunday. At first she was having nothing to do with the food...aside from spitting it out and making a mess. Dad was persistent. Eventually that giraffe tongue of hers started coming out and she was slopping up all the oatmeal she could eat! Dad even filled it up again (remember at first she made a mess so half of it was now on her). She then ate helping number two. Mom yelled...GET THE PEARS! Dad made a b-line to the freezer and microwave to heat up the pears. Of course he over cooked them until scalding hot, so he added some formula and more oatmeal. She then ate that!! Amazing.

Now if we could only get her to sleep through the night.

Dad is:
A. Loving getting only 4 hours of sleep a night
B. Starting night time hobbies like stargazing and hunting for worms
C. Ready to start a dad only fraternity since hell week can't be any worse than 6 months of sleep deprivation
D. Able to see in the dark like a cat
E. So tired he fell asleep mid day in the car during his lunch break.

The answer to the quiz above will be given tomorrow. If you know dad any of them could be the right answer.

PS. Dad left Mom and Charlotte and Abigail and Oliver in Vermont for the week. What time is dad going to sleep on Monday night????

One Less Organ

Mom now has one less organ in her body. At about 8:45am today the doc took out her gallbladder. She is still in the hospital and will be spending the night. Dad and Nanny are watching Charlotte. So far so good (dad leans over and knocks on wood).

Charlotte was great at the hospital today. She took almost a two hour nap. Dad and Nanny walked the hall back and forth pushing Charlotte in her stroller as she slept. There are 170 steps from one end of the hallway to the other end. It takes about 2 minutes to walk from one end to the other. According to dad each step is approximately 2.25 feet. If his math is right (yes feel free to confirm for us) he walked 4.4 miles today with Nanny. Yes, these are the things dad thinks about instead of thinking about his wife in surgery.

After mom got out of surgery she was really feeling sick and was not looking so good. Dad took Nanny and Charlotte home and then came back to spend time with mom making sure she was ok. As the day went on she started feeling better. He had dinner with her (not much of a dinner for mom)....and made sure she could get up and around. Then he came home and mowed the lawn. Guess how many steps that was? Dad doesnt know...he didnt need to think about it because mom's surgery was already over.

Hopefully mom will get a nice nights sleep at the Hotel de Eliot Hospital. She needs one. Dad doesn't think she had a full night of uninterrupted sleep for over 8 months. Hopefully she will be released tomorrow (dad reaches over and knocks on wood again).

Mom almost made dad cry tonight. As he was saying goodnight to her and rubbing her head, she asked...."am I done now?" A finger, c-section, broken foot, now gallbladder. Dad certainly hopes so.

ps. the good news. Mom got her cast off. She has a lovely walking cast (it looks like a ski boot). She still has to use crutches but should be walking soon!

Back from VT

Mom, Charlote, Abigail, Oliver, and Nanny all arrived back from Vermont today. As promised here are some pictures from the weekend!

Fathers Day Weekend

Dad celebrated his first Fathers Day in Vermont. He opened his presents from mom and charlotte (a very nice cookbook and a Polo shirt) and then took little Charlotte for a walk around the neighborhood in the 90 degree heat. Shortly after they hit the pool for Charlottes first swim (pictures to follow when mom gets back from VT). Nanny bought Charlotte a little raft to float in and she loved it! It was like having her own boat. Dad made boat noises behind her while he pushed her in the raft. It was so hot outside but nice and cool in the pool.

Saturday dad, Ian, and Michael went riding on the dirtbikes in the Green Mountain National Forest. They rode for hours finding new roads and exploring. Of course, they only got lost a couple of times and eventually made it back to the house.

Mom is coming home today (tuesday). Tomorrow she gets her cast off her foot and replaced with a walking cast!! Charlotte hopes that she is able to carry her around and be a little more mobile. Mom hopes so too. Thursday morning mom is having her gallbladder out and will probably be staying in the hospital for a night. Dad thinks its a good idea so she can get some rest. Lets hope it all goes well and mom is back on her feet for the weekend!

No More Doctors Please

That was running through Charlottes head. She had her 6 month checkup today. She is doing great! Almost 15 lbs and she is growing like crazy. She has caught up to the median curve for weight & height. Then came the shots. Lots and lots of shots. We tried to spread them out the last time but with everything going on right now the last thing we want are additional doctors appointments. So at this point we just said give them to her, let em rip doc. So it was two in one leg, and one in the other. Of course Charlotte SCREAMED for dear life...but seemed to get over it pretty quick. She loved sitting on the doctors table playing with the paper. She loves to touch everything, especially things that make noise.

After her appointment dad met mom and Jaci at the other doctors appointment. As we suspected mom's gallbladder needs to come out. So she will be going in for surgery next Thursday. Hopefully it will go well and she won't have to spend the night. Regardless it's going to be a tough week. Mom has another doctors appointment on Wednesday with her foot surgeon. So as you can see next week is going to be fun, hence the title....No More Doctors Please!

On a lighter note Mom is leaving dad tomorrow for a little vacation in Vermont. We aren't sure who is really getting the vacation...mom being away from dad for a night or dad not waiting on mom for a night. I think mom is going to enjoy being away from dad more.

Who Wants Food?

Charlotte certainly doesn't. So we started with potatoes. She didn't like those. We then tried carrots. She didn't like those. Then sweet potatoes. Still no luck. Mom finally tried a frozen banana and she liked it. Notice how I said liked and not loved. For now she doesn't seem to like breast milk, or formula, or cereal, or anything else for that matter. She eats for a minute or two and then stops. For one, her teeth are coming in. Her gums are bulging, she has been really fussy. She seems to really like frozen washcloths.

So take her picky eating habits out of it and she is doing great! She loves sitting up and loves to roll over. She also loves to ride around the house on dads shoulders, smiling from ear to ear at how high she is. Dad wishes he was that tall too! Poor kid...Genetically she has short families on both sides.

Dad had planned on updating this blog every day. Funny how one day turns into the next as life spins by at it's hectic pace. We have had a few rough months and time continues to fly by at lightning speed. The one good thing about any of this is dad really appreciates the family he has created. He has realized while he tries to update this blog on a regular basis...he rarely takes the time to sit back, tell his wife how much he loves her and just enjoy the time while he can. We all know that life is too short but we rarely do anything about it. He hopes that everyone reading this, if only for one day or one night...goes home...gives their spouse a big hug and kiss and spends a few extra minutes with their kids.

The results are in.....

So the results came back for Shelby's gallbladder ultrasound and we found out she has polyps on her gallbladder. Not really the news we wanted to hear. It would have been nice if they found chunks of gold or diamonds on her gallbladder....but instead they found polyps. So next week we get to meet yet another surgeon who will probably take her gallbadder out. As for the surgery itself, it looks like it is rather quick and easy. They will have to test the polyps but it sounds like the majority of gallbladder polyps are benign. I think we have both had enough with doctors for a while.

Thankfully Nanny will be in Vermont soon so Shelby can get out of the house and get away to relax. She has not had a very fun fall, winter, or spring. Summer actually begins on the 21st of this month. Let's hope and pray we have an enjoyable summer.

Bouncy Bouncy Baby

This weekend was pretty uneventfull. Based on our prior weekends we are A OK with that. The less that happens the better at this point. :) It was a rainy weekend so aside from a little grocery shopping and a run to the dump, mom and dad and Charlotte stayed in. Saturday we watched movies. Sunday we watched tv. In between the television and movie watching we did hook up Charlottes bungee jumper that Hayley and Mike and Piper gave us. That provided some entertainment as you can see by the pictures. Dad also tried his hand at cooking some food for Ms. Charlotte. He made some potatoes and some carrots. The potatoes were not a hit at all. Charlotte quickly clammed up and refused any more. The carrots went over much better but still not great. Dad has a feeling she is going to love sweet potatoes. Maybe he should also try asparagus and brussell sprouts?

Sunday morning Jon, Tracey, Paul, & Jena came over so we could all go to the Fireman's Breakfast down the street at the firestation. Hard to believe has already been a month! Mom finally ate something other than yogurt and macaroni & cheese and ice pops. She had some home fries and english muffins without any problem, as well as shephards pie. She has her ultrasound on Tuesday to check out her innerds. Lets hope it goes well and she doesn't need a new gallbladder. (they wont give her a new one, just take the old broken one out).

Charlottes eating but mom can't

Charlotte started eating Cereal. She had some last night and slept like a rock. Let's see if it works tonight. She doesn't seem to mind it too much although dad has to make funny noises to get her to open her mouth up so he can feed her. As you can tell by the picture most of it ends up on her face and not in her mouth...but hey...she is getting used to it.

As for mom her stomach is still bothering her. She went to the doctor on Wednesday and found out she did have mastitis again. Ontop of that the doctor wants to check her gallbladder because of her stomach pain. Since her dad had his out and her cousin had hers out...who knows what will happen. Mom and dad should be hitting their medical insurance deductible very soon.

One legged, c-section, chopped finger, breast infected, stomach pain Mom. We love her.

Memorial Weekend

Another exciting weekend in our household. Friday dad had a sales manager meeting at Fenway Park in Boston. Mom was stuck home. Friday night after the meeting dad got to watch the Redsox beat Tampa Bay. Mom was stuck at home. However, Kelly came over to keep her company but she was not feeling well. Dad ended up getting in pretty late (after midnight). Mom and Charlotte were sleeping.

Saturday was a beautiful day. Dad took mom to Target to do a little shopping. Mom got to practice driving the electric carts again. She needs more practice. She was looking for sunglasses....had to back up...beep beep beep...and crashed into a display.

After shopping mom and dad took Charlotte to Greeley Park in Nashua for her first picnic. Charlotte loved it!! We played together on the blanket and ate hot dogs from the hot dog guy. It was so beautiful out. Then we went to the Big 1 Ice Cream and got a couple of cones for the ride home. Such a perfect day. Of course mom and dad were in bed early as usual. Charlotte even slept great Saturday night. She got up only once!



Sunday dad did some work around the house before heading to Ryan and Lisa's house for a cookout. Charlotte's FIRST cookout! Dad headed downstairs to Ryans bar and got a little break for about an hour. Mom started to not feel so great so he came back up and gave her a hand. Ryan and Lisa have a little plastic pool that Charlotte was eyeing. So we decided to take the kids for a little swim. Charlotte borrowed a pair of swimmy diapers and off she went. She loved sitting in the pool and was busy splashing around. We have a feeling she will be swimming by the end of the summer...Especially since she loves water.




Sunday night mom got sick. Monday morning mom got sick. Monday afternoon mom got sick. And you guessed it Monday night mom is sick. She seemed to catch whatever Kelly had and is not enjoying it at all. She feels horrible and seems to have some painful stomach flu thing. Not good. Dad so far has not caught it. He did his best to help out while doing work in the yard and around the house. Let's hope she wakes up and feels good. Otherwise it's going to be a very long week.





Charlotte started eating cereal on Sunday. It was hard to tell if she enjoyed it. We will try again tomorrow to see how she does. We can not believe this little baby is growing up infront of our eyes. Dad got the pleasure of getting Charlotte this morning at 5am to feed her. He took her downstairs cause mom was still sick and fed her in bed. Her hands and feet were cold from the a/c in her room. He held her tight against his chest. The next thing you know they were both sound asleep. When they both woke up they just looked at each other and smiled. Dad is a very lucky man.

Bed Hog

I thought Shelby was bad. God help her husband one day. Oh and those sleep positioners work really well as you can see.

Soon to be 31

Mom's birthday is tomorrow May 25th. Soon to be 31. Only 4 more hours before she gets one year older! Dad is planning a huge extravaganza! Have you ever seen the Sweet 16 show on MTV? Dad is going to throw a sweet 31 party for mom! There is going to be a grand entrance with Mom coming into the party riding a camel. Then she is going to be carried in by half naked buff men carrying her on their shoulders. She will of course be wearing a super expensive white dress and white fur coat. Just like P Diddy. There will be balloons and searchlights and a guest musician. Dad is going to have Katherine McPhee from American Idol come sing since she is going to get voted off tonight (she will need a job). Its going to be great. At the end of the party dad will get on the microphone and announce the new car of her dreams that she is getting for her birthday. Its not going to be like on the show with a Mercedes or Hummer...Mom will get the minivan she has always wanted! If you are reading this and you haven't received your invitation I am sorry. I had to be very selective with who was invited since this is only for the coolest people. Don't worry the paparazzi will be there taking lots of pictures.

In reality mom will be at home with Charlotte. Dad will be at work. There might be a card and a present and if she is lucky some cake and icecream. Maybe even a streamer or two. Lets face it 31 just is not as exciting as we all wish it would be. Abigail and Oliver are going to the groomer on her birthday so that is sort of like a present in itself. Im sure Charlotte will give to mom her usual gifts of dirty diapers and spit up. So lets all wish Mom a happy 31st birthday tomorrow.

Electric Carts and Target

Friday afternoon Jackie headed back to VT after moms doctors appointment. Mom got the gigantic splint removed and got a regular cast put on. Dad is going to miss the mother of all casts. That thing was HUGE. The good news is now there is room to sleep in the same bed with mom. So 5 more weeks and mom will trade the new fancy blue cast in for a walking cast! We wonder how ugly that thing is going to be?


Friday night was uneventful as usual. We we have neglected to tell everyone about was that Charlotte is now rolling on her own. Sounds great....but in the end it just means she is even more squirmy and wormy. She also loves to now throw her head back. Dad is doing his best to hang onto her and is ever paranoid that he is going to drop her. Mom still cant carry her so we don't have to worry about her.

Saturday morning the Mom< Dad, and Charlie went for a shopping spree at Target. Ha ha ha. They have these lovely electric carts there for old people etc that mom got to cruise around in. It was pretty funny mom trying to drive an electric cart around target. What was even more funny was when mom got stuck and had to back up....suddenly all you could hear was BEEP BEEP BEEP! Dad and mom almost peed themselves it was so funny. Charlotte did.

So our adventure at Target was fun. It was nice to see mom having some fun again.

The rest of the day mom and Charlotte played in the living room together. Dad was busy doing work around the house....mostly trying to fix the driveway. After 8 wheelbarrows full of dirt and sand he was exhausted and only half done. He will finish the rest during the week. At least he got the lawn mowed.

Sunday dad tried to celebrate mothers day for mom again. This time he made breakfast and a gourmet dinner for her. He was also called into the living room by mom to check Charlotte out. She was sitting up on her own!!!

Soon after she took a nap in her swing. Sideways. Not sure how she didn't fall out but she managed to say in the seat.

After dinner dad also gave Charlotte a bath. This is the 2nd time he gave her a bath on his own. She really loves to drink the dirty soapy water. This is the expression on her face after.

More help has arrived

We forgot to tell you that the beloved Nanny has left the building. We couldn't have managed without her. Thank you Nanny and Grampa of course for letting her stay. She left us on Friday but her adventures didn't end there. On Friday she flew home to NC and then on Sunday had another flight to Long Island to visit Liam. And guess what? She had her debut on TV you may have seen her. Tiff got her tickets to Live with Regis and Kelly and she was in the audience on Tuesday. They tapes two shows so Mom and I watched Tuesday and Wednesday for their faces. They made their appearance on Tuesday. Yes if you had watched every moment of the show you would have seen them for a split second. Nanny was wearing her cool glasses and a black sweater. Did YOU see my Nanny?
Jaci arriced last night. She is mom's cousin..I guess she would be my cousin too. She came to town around 8:40pm with my Uncle Bill, he left though, I guess he didn't want to have to take care of me. No..he has to work mom says. Jaci is going to help mom out with the household duties and to take care of me a bit. Thank you Jaci! And thank you Aunt Becky and Uncle Bill for helping us out and offering to have Jaci come, we appreciate it.

It's still very wet outside but we are still dry inside. Dad must have made a very good dam on the street because it worked. Yeah Dad!

Flood of 2006

Thursday May 11th Rain.
Friday May 12th Rain.
Saturday May 13th Heavier Rain.
Sunday May 14th More Rain.
Monday May 15th Rain.
Tuesday May 16th (TBD but it looks like rain)








Dad spent 8 hours on Saturday hooking up cable in the livingroom/crippled bedroom. It was not easy. Plaster walls, tin ceiling, etc. etc. Mom was pissed. To make a long involved story short he finally hooked it up but mom is still mad. Saturday night dad went to Lowes to buy another sump pump. His other one burned out from running non stop due to the rain.

Sunday MOTHERS DAY!! Mom had such a great day. No breakfast ready for her, no special treatment, just dad working outside trying to prevent the house from flooding by building a dam with the neighbor. We called the police and closed our road. Seems the stream down the street that usually drains was clogged due to another neighbor plowing snow and sand into it all winter. Now the stream was coming down the street to our driveway, the dumping down the driveway into the backyard. Not good. It ended up washing a 3ft deep gulley in the driveway and turned our backyard into a pond until the dam was built. It got so bad the town called in a backhoe to open up the drain...unfortunately it fell low on the priority list and it never made it.

The river near our house is almost over the banks. Dad was up every two hours on Sunday night to watch it to make sure it was not overflowing. Mom and Dad had an evacuation plan in place to go to Paul and Jena's house in Bedford until we found out the road there no longer exists...it was washed away. Oh and all the roads but one into and out of town are closed too. So much fun.

The Mother of all Casts

Today was surgery day. We all arrived at the hospital on time at 10:30. Charlotte, Dad, Mom, and Nanny. 5 bottles of breastmilk were stored away frozen in the diaper bag. We had toys for Charlotte. We had diapers. We had blankets and everything and anything else we could or would need. Surgery was scheduled for 12:45. Two hours later the doctor would be done, an hour after that we would be leaving the hospital heading home....if all goes well we would be home by 4:30. At least that what we thought.

The hospital was a madhouse. The "surgery waiting room" was packed. After Shelby was prepped we found out the woman next to her was being operated on by the same doctor. Her surgery was scheduled for 11:45 am. By now it was 12:45. Needless to say a hospital is exactly like an airport. One delay just bumps everyone else. The hospital was like Logan Airport during a snowstorm....at Thanksgiving. Nurses running around looking for spots to stick patients, waiting for patients to come out of the OR and doing their best to shuffle around each other. Around 3pm they were finally ready for Shelby. Charlotte at this point had already had a bottle, had taken one nap, and had done an amazing job being confined to her stroller for four and a half hours. Not to mention we think she was the highlight of all of the nurses in the prep area. I would imagine they don't see too many 5 month olds there.

Nanny was busy trying to put Charlotte to sleep by giving her a joy ride in her stroller around the halls when they came to take Shelby to surgery. Her IV was in, Johnny was on, and she was ready to go. They came out to talk to us about the surgery and suddenly Shelby said..."Did you just give me something in my IV?" They said yes. It was valium or some other drug that hit mom like a ton of bricks. She started laughing and smiling and telling the doctors how she was "ready to go to the party with this shit". They told her "oh yes, you are going to a party all right" and that was the last I heard or saw of my wife until the surgery was over. At least she left smiling. :)

Dad and Nanny took Charlotte down to the cafeteria to finally grab some lunch. Unfortunately they found out it was Hospital week which must be a big deal at the hospital since the cafeteria was closed. Figures, it was suposed to be open from 7am to 7pm and we picked the one day it was closed. However we were told to come back at 4pm for a free meal. Yeah. Instead Dad at lunch at Dunkin Donuts the only place open.

Nanny, Charlotte, and Dad decided to hit the Spa at the hospital while mom was in surgery. It sounded like a great idea, Nanny could get her haircut, dad could get a massage. Unfortunately the haircut person was not in so we scrapped that idea. Good thing since Charlotte was waking up from her nap and was not too happy.

We headed back to the waiting room. It was now almost 4pm time for Nanny to watch Dr. Phil. There was a 10 year old kid in there with his family and he had the television remote and the channel was set to some stupid cowboy show. Nanny and dad were not happy. He wasn't even watching it. Just as Nanny was about to go rip the remote out of his hands the family was called out of the room. Nanny grabbed the remote and finally took control of the television. She had a VERY big smile on her face, she now got to watch her show.

Charlotte this whole time was awesome. She had some fussy moments, but in general she was looking around at all the people gooing over her. And there were a LOT of people who were gooing over her.

After Dr. Phil was over Nanny started looking for outdated magazines to "borrow". I think she ended up with a People magazine from January 2004. And a few torn out pictures from one of the Gardening magazines. Dad, Nanny, and Charlotte then went down to the cafeteria to celebrate Hospital Week by having a free meal. Everyone else in the hospital wanted a free meal too. We didnt wait in line for too long but soon after getting in line dad realized he could not hold Charlotte and carry a meal tray. He had to put Charlotte back in her stroller and strap her in. One of the cafeteria workers tried to push past him nearly knocking Charlotte out of his arms as he was trying to strap her in. He swore a little at her and decided it wasn't worth making a big scene. Regardless she was an impatient bitch.

As soon as dad got his food the doctor called his cell phone and mom's surgery was done!!! Dad met with the doc and he showed him the pictures of the screws in her foot. He was quick to point out there were only two and he had to use washers with them (not sure why but he did). He said he could have used three but that two was going to stabilize her foot just fine. In 4 months or so he will take the screws out and once the incision heals she will be back to normal!

After another hour or so mom was out of recovery and Charlotte was able to finally see her. Her face lit up seeing mom. She was also amazed with the size of mom's cast on her foot. The doc had warned her it would be huge. It sure was.

The way we like it.

Nice Shot of Mom's fashion cast...black.


Uneventful. Just the way we like it. Saturday we spent the day doing things around the house. Dad moved the bed from downstairs onto the first floor for mom's upcoming "vacation at home". We figure after surgery mom is not going to want to try and make it up the stairs. So dad installed some blinds and got the room ready. Charlotte will be camping out in her pack-and-play in the dining room to be close by. Surgery is scheduled for Thursday so we still have a few more days to prep the house. Not only will it be baby friendly but crutches friendly as well. We should have bought a one floor ranch.

Sunday morning Paul and Jena came over and we all went to the Fireman's Breakfast. We love the breakfast. $6 for all you can eat. Plus its only a 30 second walk for us....ok, today it took a little longer becuase of the one foot wonder but it is still close. The rest of the day dad finished installing the blinds, mowed the lawn, fertizled the lawn, put lime on the lawn, went to the grocery store, helped bathe Charlotte, and just did more stuff around the house. Nanny and Shelby were busy keeping Charlotte occupied. Thank God we have the help...Dad and Mom could not do it alone. That much is for sure. It's going to be sad to see her go and it's going to be a long hard road to recovery.



Dad Chillin out with Ollie

Do you really want to know?

Mom and dad went to the appointment today and the news isn't good. Yes Shelby needs surgery. According to the doc it is a textbook case of a Lisfank fracture. He was pretty excited about it. We were not so excited. He gets to teach his assistant all about it. I guess if your job is to deal with feet all day, seeing something like this is much better than dealing with bunions and smelly feet.

So the surgery will last two hours. Mom will get three screws in her foot. She hopefully will be able to go home the same day. He is also hoping to do a minimally invasive surgery (not have to slice her foot open). But it all depends on how it goes.

After the surgery Mom has to keep off her feet at least 6 weeks. After that they will put her in a walking cast for who knows how long. 6 -8 months later she will go through it all again when they take the screws out. Its back into surgery, back to a cast, back to a walking cast...then she is done. It's going to be a long year.

Mom goes in this Thursday for the surgery. Dad is going to tie ribbons and a note around the foot to make sure the docs work on the right one. He already questioned the doctor with how many of these surgeries he has done and he said one a month. Lets hope it all goes well. Now that mom will be getting screws put into her...when she does something loopy Dad can really say Shelby you have some Screws loose!!

Haaaa...not funny.





See below:
Ty Law had this injury if you know who he is.
The Lisfranc injury is an injury to one of the small joints of the midfoot. The injury occurs when there is a dislocation or fracture and dislocation between the forefoot and midfoot joints.

Today.....

Mom has a doctors appointment today at 3pm with the Orthopedic surgeon to read her CT scan. We will find out her fate. We are hoping they just take off her cast and she walks out of the office with a bone bruise. Our fears are that it could be torn ligaments or the lisfranc fracture. Keep your fingers crossed for the bone bruise as she will then have a speedy recovery.
Check back tomorrow for the results...and please keep your fingers crossed.

The good, the bad, the ugly

So Mom went to the Orthopedist today....what kind of news do you want to here? Good, bad, ugly?

The good news is it isn't broken.

The bad news is she may need surgery, she will find out more after her CT scan which will take place hopefully by Thursday. Ever heard of a Lisfranc injury? that is what she might have. She is going to need screws in her foot if the CT scan isn't PERFECT the doctor said.
If the CT scan is perfect then she will just have to let it heal and it shouldn't take too long......hopefully.

The ugly news..well there really isn't any ugly news. I guess mom would say that the ugly news is that dad thinks I am going to daycare if mom has to have surgery. I refuse to go and I know mom will as well.

As far as I go I cut my first tooth today! I guess that is why I have been a bit more grumpy than usual. You can hardly see it but I can feel it. It's a very small hard dot of white coming through my gum. When it really shows I will have mom or dad take a picture because I am sure I will look very cute with teeth. I don't think mom is looking forward to teeth :( can you say ouch?

tata for now

I will keep you posted when we know more about mom.

The Savior

Nanny arrived today around 3pm to help out mom. By the time dad got home the dishes were put away and the kitchen was cleaned. Mom was resting comfortably on her duff, foot elevated and iced. Charlotte was ready for bed. Oliver and Abigail had worn themselves out. Dad even had enough "free time" to update the blog. Thank you Nanny. Thank you.

Mom needs to see the orthopedist tomorrow....Doctor Wang. It's the same doc that fixed her finger...which turned out pretty damn good considering the mess it was in. We can't wait to see what he can do with her foot! We are also taking wagers to see what body part is next for mom. I have a feeling it will be her elbow. Twenty bucks...any takers?

Nanny goes back on Friday. Mom won't be walking by Friday. If anyone wants to come help out next week please let us know. We will need it. Dad was even thinking about finding a day-care for a couple of days to make life a little easier. We know he is dreaming.