From clubbed to corrected, casts to braces

On Tuesday, September 15, we kissed these beautiful little feet good-bye for the last time. Technically, I suppose, Madeline Kate still has the same feet, but oh, what a difference surgery and six weeks in casts can make!

Waiting in the lobby for someone, anyone, to call her name! She was entertaining everybody.

Nurse Mike very carefully begins to cut through the bright pink casts.

Not so happy about having to be on her belly!

Peeling away the layers

Both feet unwrapped!

Compare the first picture to this one!!! See how straight?

The butterfly bandages are still on, complete with a lot of dried gunk.

See the pins? 6 total: 3 in each foot.

Wrapped after the pins are pulled out. That was a little weird. I can't imagine how stomach-turning it would have been to see them twist them in during surgery.

All ready to go see Ahmed! She's playing "So Big!"

Ahmed makes moldings of each leg so that he can make braces withing two days. This was a slight change in plans. Dr. Didelot had originally said that she would have a second set of casts for two to three weeks. If Ahmed wouldn't have been willing to speed up the process of making the braces, that definitely would have been the case.

Finished molds

On our way to pick up the braces!

Waiting with Carli (Olivia used to wear the outfit that Maddy is wearing. Carli's tights still fit, so I found another outfit that would go with them.)

Finished product. I was disappointed not to have any solid colors to pick from. Everything was print, and not a lot of choices at that. I tried to pick something with small print that wouldn't be too obnoxiously clashing with everything. This was the best I could do. They are very cute, but won't go with a whole lot. I think I'll have to practice ignoring that issue! I wish I would have thought of that BEFORE I wore brown and purple striped tights on her though, since I took lots of pictures! :) I was very pleased, though, to discover that they didn't go clear to her knees like I thought they would. Aren't they adorable?

Since she doesn't need to wear shoes yet, Ahmed made them with extra padding and a little bigger than necessary so that she'll have some growing room.

Happy Birthday, Stellan! We're praying

Stellan McKinney turns 1 today. After a nice long stint with no SVT, he is in the hospital and not doing well at all. Please join me in praying for little Stellan and for his family. You can read his whole story at www.mycharmingkids.net.

Stay tuned for pictures of Maddy's casts coming off, her newly straightened feet, and braces!

Awesome giveaway by MckMama!

MckMama is doing an awesome giveaway on her giveaway site, www.mckgiveaways.blogspot.com. Up for grabs is a $200 Best Buy gift certificate! Enjoy....

Not me! Monday

Thanks to MckMama for once again having a Not Me! Monday blog carnival.

I am not sitting here thinking of something to type since the drawing this week is for a $100 gift certificate from PURSEnally Yours.

I wouldn't dream of laughing out loud at MckMama's oven mishap that she so sweetly did not confess to today.

I most certainly did not ignore my daughter's fake sounding cry and just assumed that she was not hurt or she would have actually really cried.

I do not have suitcases in my bedroom that desperately need unpacked from our vacation that ended a week and a day ago.

I do not still have boxes and bags of clothes pulled out of the shed and received from various and sundry people, still sitting on the top bunk in the girls room because I can't figure out when to do the nasty job of switching out the clothes.

And who would ever accuse me of being frustrated at my dear hubby for forgetting to bring home the remaining dip that I'd sent to a get-together? I'm definitely not that focused on food.

If you have non-confessions about ready to spill forth, head on over to MckMama's blog to find out how to join in the fun!

Momentarily disturbing.

I was a little disturbed to find that Carli spelled "stepmom" on the tub wall, with foam letters....at least until I found out they were playing Cinderella. Whew, it's a relief to know that she wasn't rooting for one! :)

Thanks to Linda Kokinda for two more cool sites for teachers/parents/kids: abcteach and SoftSchools. I like mixing it up for Carli instead of the same things day in and day out, and these can help with the endless reviews.

Off to get the kids out of the tub, quick clean up of the girls' room and schoolroom, fold laundry, start Maddy's feed and breathing treatments .......................................... Why are there still lists of things to do at almost 9??? I think instead of To Do lists, we should make things of all the many things we accomplish through the day...then we would see our fantastic amounts of hard work and pat ourselves on the back instead of thinking "but I didn't get it all done....." Sound like a plan?

Back home again in Indiana

Well, we had a whopper of a trip, visiting friends in WV, taking a three-day field trip to Washington, DC, and spending some time with Mom in PA. I'll write more about the trip later, but tonight, I wanted to pass along some Madeline news and a great site for all elementary students.

LISA S.* gave me some flashcards for Madeline--touch and feel animals that Maddy likes a lot. Today, I kept showing her the dog flashcard and saying and signing dog over and over. Then I introduced bear with the sign. Then I started asking, "Where's the dog?" and over and over, Maddy would pick the right one, even after I'd mix them up. Ok, I know most of you are thinking that I'm being overly excited about something so small, but for us this is huge! I'm so excited to see Maddy catching up slowly but surely. It's like watching a flower blossom, and I love it.

In other news, LISA B.** gave me a great website for spelling fun. It's www.spellingcity.com, and you can type in the spelling list and they can play games or take practice tests with them. Carli loved it. Her first time on tonight, she just played "Which one?", choosing the right word to complete the sentences. Now that she's reading quickly and without a lot of help, I don't have to stand over her shoulder to help her, and even though it's basically the same thing she does on her worksheets, she likes the diversity of using the computer.

*Lisa Myers Sommers, in WV, friend dating back to teenage years.

**Lisa Bryant, in IN, who is a new friend who never lets me live it down that I once put Lisa Sommers' name in CAPS on FB. Hence, so as not to hurt any feelings, every Lisa gets equal-opportunity CAPS. :)

***I should clarify that Lisa B is not really that sensitive, but a great tease for someone so old. HeeHeeHeeHee.