A New Cast

Miss pitiful goes for a wheel chair ride.

New arm, new day.

Friday morning at 9:30 we went in for Greta's final surgery. I mean final. I hope this is totally and completely the last one. Ever. Ever ever ever. She was brave. I was brave. It went off without a hitch and low and behold, her arm is bendable again. It also sports a state of the art purple cast for another 3 weeks, followed by a removable splint. Our Dr. Gupta said she is healing beautifully thanks to all the vitamin D and glasses of milk. He did also say that her arm will indeed have a curve to it once the cast is finally removed, and it will be noticeable but will disappear as she grows. Grow Greta, grow.

Greta got a new friend after surgery. Orange Blossom from Strawberry Shortcake is in the house. The gang is complete and does it ever smell sweet around here. We can't believe the fall happened clear back in March and now we are counting down until June. These past weeks have been a total blur, a bit bittersweet to me. We are redecorating Greta's room. It seems silly. It was a gorgeous room that we have already taken apart and I never took a single picture. But I keep having flashes of terrible memories play in my head from seeing sweet Greta on the floor. We are painting it pink and lining the floor with bean bags...well, maybe only one. We debated removing her bed and placing her box springs and mattress on the floor. We debated getting a new and lower bed. We debated a futon mattress Mulan/ Asian themed room. Can I now tell you how many times strangers have dropped their flapping jaws in awe after asking Greta how she broke her arm and asked me with their tactless sense of being, "Well, how high is her bed???" I reply with a smile. Apparently it was too high. Thanks. Bitch. Several even asked if Child Protective Services came by. Nope. Don't be surprised if they do. Alrighty. Adding insult to injury. I am putting it behind us and moving forward a stronger family.

Greta always wanted a pink room, anyway. Yellow was nice, but pink is the answer. Greta wanted pink and purple and I had to draw the line. So it is now going to be pink with purple things inside. And, two framed casts...one pink....one purple. And a bed that is not too high.

Kids in the Hall

VML hosted the wee ones at work for a day. After ballet, we went downtown to see Derek and have pizza and rootbeer and raise some hell. The office is in the downtown airport, which is super cool and has a retro feel that reminds me of visiting my dad at work when I was little in Omaha at the airport flight kitchen. Another cool thing about it is that my dad used to work at THIS airport long before I was even born. And, the final cool thing about it is that you can see planes taking off and landing. The kids totally love going. I love seeing all of Derek's coworkers and I love seeing how proud he is of his little tikes.

Thanks for working so hard, Derek! We are proud of you, too!

From the mouth of Greta

I'm in Heaven wit dees pancakes.

We had breakfast at Le Peep last Saturday. It was so good. I love big breakfasts, for instance, "The 18 Wheeler" is what I ordered. I love the hot coffee carafe on the table and little syrup pitchers. Greta loved her pancakes. Servers are always amused.

When Derek and I were dating he used to take me to Mammas on 39th Street for breakfast. The coffee was amazing there and each mug had a different saying or logo on it. They had a spinning cake case that was always filled with pretty coconut cakes and chocolate. We would sit by each other and not across from each other in the booth. Pretty sweet.

The Cows Have Come Home

We got to go to a cool birthday party at Faulkner's Ranch in Lee's Summit. Jackson is a cutie in Greta's class and he was celebrating 4 years of fun last weekend. We had such a great time feeding the goats with a cup on a conveyor belt that took food up to goats waiting in a tree house. We rode a sweet pony named Sandy and we milked a fake cow, yelled Ye haw, and mosied about.

I am digging the fun birthday parties that we have gotten to go to. I love how excited the kids get. We should all be so excited about birthdays. These kids are funny together. They were mostly classmates in preschool and I am not sure they all know it. Sometimes Greta comes home and tells me there is a new student named so and so...and they have been in her class since the beginning. How's that for paying attention in school? Greta said Jackson was her boyfriend. I asked her what that meant. She looked at me with a straight face and said he talks to her sometimes. They are friends. And, he is a boy. So true.

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A Field Trip to the Farm

Swingin
Peter
Breast is best
Greta
Greta and Jack bottle feed the babies
Jack
Green
Corn
Corny
Greta's class

Greta greets Gracie

The farm was fresh with new babies and little preschoolers. I was so thrilled to go with Greta and Jack and her class on their first school field trip. The class was so good. I just couldn't get over how sweet they all were to one another and how well they minded. They walked in a line behind Mrs. Cowden like little ducklings.

Deanna Rose is one of my very favorite places. It is a treat to go and share the farm with my kids. I love the fresh air and farm noises. The cows were going crazy - like, milk me, already! Greta loved seeing the dairy cow get milked. She said, they put a hat on his horns and the milk came out into the bucket. It was vanilla.

Only

I'm only. I'm the only one in here. My sister, Sarah, used to say that when she was little. I always think of it when I am alone. I am not alone very often, these days. But, Derek is in You Nork again, and I feel like talking. I am only. I hate it when he travels. There. I said it. I think it totally sucketh. I worry. I find that the kids, though it is subtle, are wired for trouble. I feel a sense of pause in my life, like I am waiting for my turn. I talked to Derek a few times today on the phone and he said, "it is torture being here and being trapped in an office for 9 hours when NY is right outside my window." I know how he feels, and more. I felt like saying, "yeah, at least you don't have a two year old pawing at your boobs, grinding his teeth and telling you "Me no like you". At least he got to eat an incredible sandwich at the Carnegie Deli and walk though Times Square without a toddler trying to poke his eyes out.

I hostessed a miserable play date today. Greta and Jack were up late last night and got up at freakin 5 am, so by noon they were malfunctioning. My old buddy from the days before kids and I set up a date with her kiddos, Atticus and Jules. They came over for lunch and broke in the playroom. When they left 3 hours later, it looked like an Alabama tornado blew through and Greta and Jack warmed their butts up by sitting in time out more times than I can count. Jules almost flopped face first down our steps and I think I might have even scared Claudia, my buddy, by my sweet angel children's' taste for destruction. I have never seen them behave this way...I take that back. Greta bit me once when I told her it was time to leave the java momma playgroup. I carried her out kicking and screaming and we have never been back.

The only reason my kids aren't in time out right now is because they are asleep. Thankfully tomorrow is Friday.

My Hero

The week following Greta's surgery and ambulance ride we payed a visit to the fire station that our call came to. We baked a pretty plate of chocolate chip cookies and wrote a card. The morning of our planned visit we got a call asking my permission for news channel 5 to have an interview with Greta and run her story. They said they were quite taken with her and her story. I asked Greta if she would like to be on the news and she made it clear that it would be right up her alley for such an interview. We put braids in her hair and called before we came down.

But, as it goes, the medics were dispatched several times that afternoon and by the time we could sync up, the reporter had another lead for breaking news. We were not to tell our story, but still went to tell them how thankful we were that they came to our house and made us feel better. Caitlin was Greta's heroin...and might be forever. She tells me she loves her. I do, too. I told the medics that what they did for us goes way beyond answering a 911 call. They reached out to us and made such an impression that I get tears in my eyes when I replay that evening's events, and I still do, over and over again.

They told me they wanted to do something special for us and have offered their services of teaching me and anyone else I want to invite, a free CPR course here in my living room. Yet again, I am touched by them and their generosity. Incredible people. They definitely made a big difference in a little girl's life. There is hope for this world, yet.