Quite a Week!

Well, it's been a week since it happened and I've finally found a moment to write about it.  One week ago right now, I was (impatiently) waiting for my guys to get home from the ER.  Last Sunday evening before bed, our kids begged for one of our usual family wrestling/tickling sessions in the living room.  If only we'd said no and watched some cartoons instead...... Long story short: in the midst of the wrestling, Nathan rolled one way, but his leg didn't quite come along for the ride.  The sudden crying made it pretty obvious: this boy had broken a bone.  Cliff swooped into action and tucked him in the car for a trip to the ER.  Hours later, the diagnosis came down....a broken tibia.  Nathan was put into a splint and sent home, and we were instructed to keep it elevated until the swelling stopped and we could get him to an orthopedist at the end of the week.

The splint/temporary cast.

Nathan is such a trooper.  Despite this turn of events, he spent most of the week in a very good mood.  He spent his time split between his bed, the couch and our bed (where he could watch the Apple TV).  We kept him entertained as best as we could with books, toys, games of Sorry and Guess Who and, of course, plenty of TV.  The nights were a little rough for me and him until we got his pain meds worked out, but now he is sleeping much better (and so am I!).

Friday morning, Laura (who had the day off school), Nathan and I left bright and early for our 8am appointment with the pediatric orthopedist in Macon.  Laura was a good sport to be up so early on her day off, and she was a huge help, carrying pillows and opening doors for me so I could carry Nathan.  I'm not sure how I would have done it without her!  The splint was removed and a full leg cast was ordered for 3 weeks, after which Dr. Lincoln feels pretty confident Nathan will be fully healed.  Thanks to the advice of a friend, we asked for the waterproof cast so Nathan could still take baths.

The new, sturdy cast...blue, of course!

When we got home, Nathan rested on the couch for awhile, and then after an afternoon bathroom trip, when I sat him down on the floor for a moment, he discovered how to scoot around the house on his bottom.  Sweet liberty at last!  He happily scooted around from room to room playing with Laura and enjoying his new freedoms.  He scooted so much that he just plain wore himself out.  In the middle of cooking dinner, I found him sound asleep on the middle of the dining room floor.  As all of our Southern friends would say, "Bless his heart!"

Friday afternoon: happy to have his companion home from school to play with him!

Yesterday, Nathan got to take his new blue leg out in public for his buddy Freddy's pirate themed birthday party.  Nathan got to go on a treasure hunt, learn to talk like a pirate, and even walk the plank (and yes, Daddy helped him hop across the plank on his good leg).  He even came home with a bag of treasures, a pirate hat with accessories and a bag of candy.

While the boys were at the birthday party, Laura and I took a day trip up to Athens to see the #9 University of Georgia women's gymnastics team, aka the Gym Dogs, take on #1 Florida Gators.  UGA gymnastics is a big deal: they sell out a nearly 10,000 seat coliseum for every meet.  It was fun to enjoy the environment, and the quality of gymnastics was fantastic.  A friend of mine has season tickets to the Gym Dogs, and since her family couldn't go yesterday, they were kind enough to sell us 2 of their tickets and their parking pass.  Our seats were right down near the action, in front of the floor, and we got to park right across the street from the arena.  A highlight for me was watching one of the Florida gymnasts, Bridget Sloan, who was on the 2008 Olympic team and was the 2009 women's all-around national and world champion.  So cool to see such an elite gymnast in action!  Laura and I had a fabulous day out, complete with free posters, free pompoms, snacks at the meet, and fast food on the way home.  A great day to end what has been an exhausting week.

Me and my girl, ready for the meet to start.

Gina