Wednesday, February 11, 2009

No More Monkeys Jumpin' on the Bed...

I remember it well. Mom took me just about every week, I think. Story time at the Ashland Public Library. She would drop me off in the Children's Room for story time while she browsed through the aisles of books. In the Children's Room there was a big (it seemed like it then anyway), circular area with steps leading down to a colorful carpet. I would perch on one of the steps and listen to the storyteller. It was so exciting to me. Each week was something new. While I don't recall each and every book that was read, I do remember this one - No More Monkeys Jumpin' on the Bed. It was so catchy. I remember Alicia and I singing the words as we jumped up and down on mom and dad's blue, bedspread covered bed in the Ashland house. While in Ohio the weekend before last the words of this book kept playing over and over in my head.

Kim surprised Eric with Rascal Flatts concert tickets for Christmas. Of course, being the pain in the butt little sister that I can be and the huge Rascal Flatts fan that I am, I sort of, kind of invited myself along on their date. (Just like old times huh, Kim and Eric?) We had it all planned out. We purchased four tickets together and made a double date of it. Mom agreed to watch all of the kids overnight so we could enjoy our evening/night out, which was super nice. She and dad treated the kids to smores and a weenie roast in the fireplace. (I was sorry I missed that.)Thanks mom! The concert was so much fun. (However, I could've done without having to sit through Jessica Simpson singing. Blah.) I think we ended up getting home from the concert around 1:30 a.m. (It's been a long time since I was out that late.) The next morning Grant woke up next to me and said, "mom, I have a camp-out last night," followed immediately by, "I not move my arm." I just assumed his arm was asleep and tingly since he had just woken up.

Later that morning I heard that just before bedtime the night before Grant and Ben were jumping back and forth between the beds downstairs in my old room. Grant must have landed on his arm wrong and hurt himself. Mom said he only cried for a short while and then went to bed. He was still complaining about his arm on Sunday morning. Ethan tried to check it and moved it a little, and Grant started screaming. I took his shirt off only to find a swollen and slightly bruised left elbow. So... once again... we were off to the Urgent Care. The doctor there thought that he had just dislocated his elbow but sent us to the ER to get x-rays to make sure there wasn't a fracture before putting his elbow back into place. Getting x-rays was not at all pleasant for Grant as they had to straighten and twist his arm somewhat. He cried throughout he entire process. However, it was nothing that a couple of stickers and some candy couldn't cure - for the time being. The x-rays came back negative for any fracture.

So... back to the Urgent Care we went. In the car on the way Grant said, "mom, my arm feel better." I turned around to see him moving his arm with much more range of motion than he had previously. The doctor said that his elbow could possibly be set back in place during the x-rays. I had my fingers crossed that this was the case. Since there wasn't a fracture, the doctor tried popping Grant's elbow back into place. That really made him scream. The doctor didn't know if it was fully back into place or not because Grant still didn't have full range of motion and because there was so much swelling. We left the Urgent Care with a little sling and plenty of stickers.

We traveled back to Roanoke and figured we would just have to wait a couple of days to see if Grant's arm was better or worse. By that Tuesday his arm was still swollen, and he couldn't straighten it out completely. His regular doc said she didn't think it was dislocated but was thinking hairline fracture (which does not sometimes show up on x-rays). She advised us to wait it out a couple more days and if it wasn't any better by then she would send us for more x-rays. Two days later we were headed for x-rays. This time, the process was a lot easier for Grant and he breezed through it. Not a whimper or whine.

I was so proud of him for being such a big boy. We went for a lunch date at Burger King before I had to head back to work. He loves lunch dates. I think it's just because he never gets mommy all to himself anymore. He's definitely still a mama's boy. I don't mind it though. I love it.

Those x-rays came back negative as well. I breathed a huge sigh of relief as the thoughts of a cast up to his armpit terrified me. How would I have gotten a long-sleeved shirt over top of a huge cast? What would I have done during bath time? Would I have to listen to him whine about it for six weeks? I was absolutely glad his arm was fine. After a few more days his arm is back to normal, and he no longer complains about it hurting. Thank you Jesus!

Every time he and Ben get onto our bed to play now, the words from that book flood my mind. "Two little monkeys jumpin' on the bed. One fell off and bumped his bed. Mama called the doctor and the doctor said, no more monkey's jumpin' on the bed."

Wasn't the weather gorgeous last weekend? We took full advantage and played outside all weekend. Poor Bean. He hated it when we had to come inside. We also went to the red park and used our Coldstone Creamery coupons. I love weekends, especially when my house is clean, I can open the windows to let the fresh air in and spend a quality weekend with my family. Does it get any better than that?





Can you tell how much he loves
having his picture taken?


"Mom, Ben made a mess!"

I am looking forward to a Valentine's date with my Valentine Friday evening. We have lined up Sara (a Godsend) to babysit so we can enjoy an evening out. Sara (the daughter of my friend, Kris) babysat for us once before back in December. The boys loved her. She kept them entertained, played games with them and put them to bed for us. Grant woke up the next morning and asked, "where's Sara?" I pitched our plan to Grant last night at dinner. "Daddy and mommy are going to go on a date on Friday. Sara is going to come and play with you again. Does that sound like fun?" He replied, "Ugh, yeah. I play the matching game with her?" Knowing that the boys are having fun while we are out makes leaving them for the evening a little easier. With any mom the guilt factor is always there. I work all week long and am away from them so I have a hard time spending time away from them on the weekends. However, I'm learning that it is necessary for us to spend time together away from the boys. Since date nights are rare for us, I definitely enjoy the uninterrupted adult conversation.

Please pray this week for a good friend of mine, Emily, who will be undergoing a serious surgery this Thursday in Baltimore. I hope she knows that she is in my thoughts and prayers often. Miss you Em!

Love,
Jen

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