Déjà Vu

When Jaise was three she dislocated her right elbow. We never did figure out how that happened, but our best guess is that she and Trey (4 at the time) were fighting over something and when Trey yanked it away from her, he pulled out her elbow. Wonderful parents that we are, we didn't even notice anything was wrong for a few days. Then it dawned on us that she wasn't using her arm and she kept it in a weird position all the time. *duh* So I took her to the doctor. I left the room when the doctor and two nurses tried to reset it. (Yeah, I'm a baby about stuff like that!) The doctor was unsuccessful, so she sent us right over to the emergency room. The doctor there tried to reset it, and was also unsuccessful, so he sent us right over to Children's Hospital. Once there, Jaise had had enough of people in white coats hurting her, so she did not let them touch her. The doctor put a soft cast on it and two weeks later we took it off ourselves and everything was fine.

In May, Jaise arrived at school and had just gotten off the schoolbus, when a Kindergartener we know ran over and clung on to her leg to give her a hug. Not expecting this, it threw Jaise off balance and she landed on her left elbow. However, this wasn't the story I got. The NEXT DAY Jaise tells me she hurt herself at school and showed me her elbow. It was bloody and nasty-looking. I cleaned it and bandaged it up for her. All she said was, "I hurt my elbow at school." A couple DAYS later I notice she's holding her arm funny. I thought maybe the scab was hurting her since it was on a moving joint. I asked, "So, Jaise, how did you hurt your elbow anyway?" Well then the real story comes out. This was on Friday afternoon.... and there was no way we were getting a doctor appointment now. So we waited out the weekend. On Monday I took her in and the doctor sent us over to Children's Hospital emergency room for x-rays.... which came back inconclusive, but to be safe they put a hard cast on for 3-1/2 weeks. She missed out on several fun activities and it came off the day after school got out. You should have seen the difference in arm sizes just after three weeks. It took her a couple more weeks to get used to using it again.... but I was so glad to not have to wash her hair for her in the sink anymore!

Cutting the cast off

Prying it apart

Cutting through the inside layers

Rainbow Connection

February 13, 2009

On Fridays, Trey stays after school to work with a group of students and their English teacher, as they prepare for the upcoming Pentathlon competition. As I sat in my car waiting for him to finish up, it started to pour - I mean really POUR! I don't remember it ever raining that hard! Then all of a sudden this awesome rainbow appeared. It was the brightest, most vivid rainbow I've ever seen, and I could distinctly see each separate color. The coolest part was that it was the full arch - completely 180 degress - I've NEVER seen that before; usually only a portion of the arch is visible. I took a picture with my cell phone (top) but couldn't get the whole arch into view. When we returned home, Jaise asked if we'd seen the rainbow, and told me she took a picture of it, too (bottom), in case we missed it. She couldn't get the whole arch into view either!

Happy 12th Birthday, Jaise!

January 23, 2009

Jaise has been looking forward to turning 12 and going to Young Women and mutual activities for some time now. Within the first week of being 12, she did temple baptisms, gave a talk in Sacrament Meeting, and attended a stake fireside. Just a preview of how busy things are going to be!

Jaise was supposed to have a big sleepover party, but she kind of got in trouble and it was cancelled before the invitations went out. You may think I'm a mean mom for cancelling her birthday party, but if you knew the rude and disrespectful things this child said to Ryan and I, you'd ship her off to a deserted island! We did, however, end up having a homemade pizza party with Ryan & Jan, Curtis, and Jake & Anna. As Jaise was going to bed that night, she mentioned that it was the perfect way to celebrate her birthday - at home with good friends and family, having fun together and just hanging out.

She is looking forward to attending Girls Camp in July, and starting junior high in August. This next school year we have three kids starting three new schools - Trey in high school, Jaise in junior high, and Chaye in Kindergarten.

Go Team!

Trey (#10) is currently playing on the school's 7th grade
baseball team - the Desmond Longhorns.
He gets home from practice every day at 6:00pm.
They wear white shirts and ties to school on game days.

Jaise (#15) played on the school's girls' soccer team
earlier this year - the Pershing Panthers.
She just finished cross country and looks forward
to a break from after-school practices.