Turtle Sunday

Check out what Mom and Aunt Liz brought me yesterday afternoon. (Well, Mom picked it up and Liz just watched b/c she doesn't like germy things, especially bugs or apparently turtles!) They saw this little guy trying to cross the road on their way home from Wally World and Mom jumped out of the car and scooped him up to bring him home to me. Before I got to see him up close, Dad had to do a little research on the Internet to make sure I wasn't a snapping turtle. After concluding I was some sort of box turtle, we got to "play" with him.

I tried to feed him a strawberry, but he was NOT interested. 

I also got to touch his shell and feel his sharp claws. It was so much fun to see him go in and out of his shell. Mom loves when fun experiences can be educational too.  We let him go in the back yard and we haven't seen him since. Maybe he will come out to "play" again soon.

Happy Birthday Daddy and Look at me!

Today was Daddy's birthday and I got to give him an extra special surprise! In case you haven't heard, two weeks ago I broke my leg and today I had my two week check up. The doctor decided to take my cast off and take an x-ray to check the healing of my leg.  

I was absolutely terrified of the the saw and by the time he got the scissors out to cut off the gauze, I was screaming bloody murder. Thankfully, that part was over fast.

Mom was so surprised that my leg was not dried out and scaly AND that my leg hadn't atrophied all that much. After Dr. West read the x-ray, he decided that the bone was healed enough for a brace! WHOO HOOO! NO MORE CAST! He said I can take it off for baths, for SWIMMING and at night! I have to wear it during the day whenever I am walking. 

Oh yeah, I can get used to this moon boot thing.

I am refusing to put any weight on my leg. It's almost like having to learn to walk all over again. Maybe I will try to take a few steps tomorrow, but for now I am just so happy to be rid of the cast!

Tank you Family and Friends!

I wanted to say a quick thanks to all of my friends and family both near and far for all of the sweet gifts and things to keep me occupied since breaking my leg almost 2 weeks ago. Tank You Fred and Laura, for my cute bear that has a boo boo bandage on the same let as me!

Tank you, Momo and the Hills for my sweet get well card, sticker book and painting book! As soon as Dad read the part of the card that said "...I wish I could give you a kiss...." I started kissing the card saying "Momo, m-wah, m-wah. Momo, are you?" 

Tank you, Katie, Titi, and Daf for my card and books. They even sent me a picture of how sad Katie was to hear about my leg. Isn't that the cutest picture ever?

Tank you Aunt Christy and the rest of the family in Ringgold for my Get Well Soon bear with a signed cast just like mine! 

Everyone has been so sweet and I really haven't missed a beat, except for the whole not being able to walk and swim thing. And since it is supposed to be 100 degrees in Mobile tomorrow, it sure would be nice to get in the pool. Oh well, maybe in a few weeks. Thanks again everyone! I go back to the doctor this coming Tuesday. We will keep you posted on what happens next.

Happy Father's Day and the circus!

Happy Father's Day, Daddy!!! Love You!!! "Say CHEESE!"

We went to the circus this afternoon and once again Luke was mesmerized by all of the activity. We saw all sorts of things like trapeze artists, acrobats, clowns, tigers, and horses, but our two favorite acts were the elephants and the 7 motor bikes in the sphere. Fun Times!

Cream Corn

Every year since I can remember, my Grandmother Marion has "put up" silver queen corn for the family to have for special occasions throughout the following year. She and Buddy would put up 2 bushels (there are 60 ears of corn in 1 bushel.) Since he passed away, Liz, Paddy, Jeremy, and I have decided for the past two years to help her b/c this task is WAY too involved for just one person.  (This year it was just Paddy, Liz and I and of course, GM)

STEP 1: Shuck the corn

STEP 2: Wash each ear and get out as many husks as you can. (I HATE step 2!)

STEP 3: Cut the kernels off the ears. (This is not too bad thanks to this nifty corn creamer contraption.)

STEP 4: Cook the corn until it thickens and then blanche.

STEP 5: Bag the corn into quart size freezer bags.

This year, we did 3 bushels of corn, which yielded a total of 12 quart sized bags of cream corn. From start to finish, this took a little over 4 hours. Mmmmm......I can't wait until Sunday when we get to taste the fruits of our labor!

Elephant Brunch

Yea! The circus is in town!  Yesterday, they had a free event called the Elephant Brunch down at the Civic center where we got to see them feed some of the circus elephants! There were 6 of them whose ages ranged from 7 to 43 years old. They ate all sorts of fruits and vegetables including whole bunches of bananas, whole heads of lettuce, and whole loaves of bread. 

Luke loved watching them and was taking it all in. We talked about how they used their trunks to pick up the food and he kept pointing saying "el-fants, el-fants!"

The best part was when they gave the elephants their final "treats" - whole watermelons. At first, I thought they were going to pick up the whole watermelon and put it in their mouth, but instead, they took one of their front feet and stomped it and then ate the inside. Some of the elephants ate the rind, but most of them just ate the good stuff. So much fun and it almost made up for the fact that it was so stinkin' H-O-T :)

B'ham road trip!

It has only been one week, but and it feels like I have had this cast for years. So, to help pass some time, Mimi, Mom, and Aunt Liz decided to take me on a little road trip, since I can't walk/run around at all and playing in my room is starting to get really boring. Plus, Lizzy just happened to have this week off from work so she got to come, too! We left around lunch time on Monday morning and headed straight to B'ham and got there in 3.5 hours (Pedal to the metal Mommy was driving.)

After checking in at the hotel, we met one of Mommy's oldest friends, Mary Michael Garver Kelley (aka: MMGK), at Surin for dinner. Mmmmm....coconut soup! It was great fun getting to catch up, especially since she and her husband are expecting their first baby BOY in October! I hope MMGK isn't too scared to have a little boy now b/c I was a little rowdy at dinner. I think it was from all of this pent up energy I can't release b/c of my broken leg. I can't wait to meet Thomas Henry when he gets here in the fall.

On Tuesday, we got up early thanks to ME at 7:45am! (Yes, Liz Murphy Saunders was up BEFORE 8 am during her vacation week!) We had b'fast at the hotel and squeezed a few hours of shopping in before meeting my Great Aunt Karen and Alex for lunch at the Bright Star Restaurant. After lunch, we went to visit with my Great Great Aunt's Lois and Dot and Lois' daughter, Kay, who Mimi, Mommy, and Aunt Liz haven't seen in years. Lois' sweet husband, Milton, died last week and we didn't make it to the funeral b/c I broke my leg the same day. It was so nice to meet them for the very first time. I warmed right up and especially liked their self playing piano. After our visit, we rode around to see where  Great Great Grandmother and Granddaddy Mitchell used to live.

Before coming home today, we went to the Birmingham Zoo and it was fun but H-O-T. Most of the animals were just laying around and I don't blame them since it was close to 100 degrees today. My favorite thing, besides riding the choo choo, was getting to feed the giraffe's. They would stick their tongues out and grab the food right out of my hands. All in all, it was a great few days, but we are all WORN out! Thanks, Mimi, Aunt Liz and Mommy! What are we doing tomorrow!?...

And now for the "BREAKING" story....

This was the site of the tragedy that occurred on June 9th 2009! A seemingly harmless toddler slide became a bone cracking machine this fateful Tuesday at 9:30 in the morning. Daddy left for work at 7:30 am and Mommy left for her orientation at the Infirmary at 9:15 am,  leaving Mimi to take one, Luke Payne, to his second week of Mother's Day out. Mimi left her house at 9:30 am getting Luke to his class just in time for Room 104's playground time. Just about the time Mimi gets back home at approximately 9:45 am, the school is already calling "Mrs. Murphy, there has been an accident at school and you should come up here right away. We think Luke hurt his knee or his ankle." Mimi comes up to school and takes Luke home, where he is still upset and does not want to walk, but calms down enough to take a nap. After an hour nap, Luke still does not want to stand or put any weight on his right leg. Mimi contacts Doc and he in turn calls Dr. West who is made aware of the situation and tells Mimi to come to the office right away. After getting an x-ray, in Mimi's lap, the results are in: Luke has a non-displaced tibial fracture. What?...really?... and the cast goes on.... A blue bent leg cast b/c the doctor does not want any weight put on that leg. Said parents are still unaware of any of the unfolding events. Mommy was taking some computer orientation tests at employee services where cell phones are "strictly prohibited" and she had it on vibrate, so she could tell that someone was calling her, but couldn't stop to check it. She finally finished and while walking out to the car, checked her phone and was thinking "Oh, it was just Doc, probably wanting to go to lunch since I'm at the Infirmary where he works. Wow, he REALLY must want to go to lunch since he called so many times. Oh, here he is now (12:45pm)... Jessica, this is Dad. Everyone is fine, but there's been an accident....Her heart sank and she sat in silence. After Doc told the story, Said Mom (who takes after her mother and is quite stoic in emergency situations) went into a questioning frenzy trying to get the bottom of what happened... Where was he? Did he fall off the slide? Did he fall down the steps? Did he fall off the side of the slide? Was anything else hurt?" All of these still unanswered questions. Doc hung up and called the Daddy. Said Daddy (who takes after his father) upon hearing the news took off his glasses and cried like a baby. Both Mom and Dad headed straight to the house to see their baby! By the time the parents were made aware, Luke and Mimi were eating lunch at Chick-fil-a!

This was Lukie the day of the accident. He was pretty pitiful and just wanted to be held. How could this happen to our poor little baby!? He napped in Mimi's arms and went to sleep in his own bed, but slept with us from 3:30am on.  

The day after the accident he was much more his old happy- go- lucky self, but he was still getting used to the idea of having this HUGE cast on his leg. He kept saying "Off Mommy. Down Mommy. Walk Mommy." How do you get a two year old to understand that he can't weight bear on his right leg? Thankfully, the doctor said that he CAN crawl, so he is able to get around somewhat.

We have been doing a lot of this.....watching Word World.

And a lot of this......playing with all of his toys that have been packed away since the move. He also does well in the car and in the stroller, so Mom and I have been shopping, shopping, shopping...Fairhope, Target, the grocery store, etc. We are even planning a road trip with Aunt Liz next week. All in all he has adjusted like a champ and I think we are more "hurt" by it than he is. We go back to the doctor in two weeks (6/23- Daddy's birthday) to hopefully get a walking cast and will be out of casts completely in July! Thanks for all of your prayers and words of encouragement. 

What a difference a week makes.....

Our little boy is growing up and this was a picture of him just one week ago on his first day of Mother's Day Out (MDO) at Spring Hill Baptist. He would have been going 3 days a week from 9-1 and they feed them lunch. Well, flash forward to today and here is our little boy....
Yep, this morning at MDO he broke his leg. More of the story tomorrow, but tonight I am just too exhausted to type anymore. My poor, poor little baby! :(

Mexican Mondays!

Mexican Mondays are BACK!!!!  Way back when I was in high school (many moons ago) at St. Paul's we would always go and eat Mexican food on Monday nights before my Reflection practice. Now that we moved back, we are bringing back the tradition (complete with new additions: Jeremy, Luke and Kyle)! My favorite thing about the Mexican food in the south is the white cheese dip. We tried to find a Mexican restaurant in NY that had it, but they had never heard of the stuff! Ah, to be back in the south.

We're still Alive....

I have totally not been motivated to keep up with the blog b/c of our whole moving across the country thing, but I hope to start to fit it back into my routine soon. Hope these pics tide all of you over until then! 

What we've been up to....

We have been in the process of moving since last Thursday, so here is a quick low down of what we've done the past week.... I am keeping it short and sweet b/c we are ALL totally exhausted. I don't think we've been this tired since Luke was a newborn! 

Last Sunday and Monday we had a tag sale with our most favorite neighbors in the world. We did pretty good on Sunday, but not so much on Monday. 
Tuesday: Packing, sending boxes down the ramp Jeremy rigged up, and more Packing!

Wednesday: Happy Graduation Day, Jeremy! Congrats! Mimi, Mamaw and Papaw came up to see Jeremy graduate and to help us with the move. Mimi will take Luke to Mobile on a plane and Mamaw and Papaw will help us drive one of the cars down. After graduation and a quick bite to eat, it time to pick up the truck and our friends came over the help load the truck. While the boys were loading, Luke and Morganne got one last play date together. We had to say good bye to WAY to many people that day!

Thursday: Load the rest of the truck and say goodbye to Irvington. We will miss our town and being so close to the city, but most of all we will miss our friends!!! Luke left on the plane with Mimi at 11am. It was no problem. He went through security with her with no problems. We left at 6ish and stopped around 11:30pm in Carlisle, PA.
Friday: More DRIVING!!! We spent 12 hours in the car today, but made it to Ringgold to stay over at Jeremy's parents house.
Saturday: MORE driving!!! but today we get to back to Alabama and to SEE our little boy for the first time in 2 days! He was a little stand off-ish at first, but quickly gave us both hugs and then it was like we never left. Ahhh....Sweet Home Alabama!