end of April 2017

afternoon water fun!!

Dilly, Seth, Chlo, Mari, Abs, Kayla, Kinsley, Cooper, Ryan, Kaden, Lucas

[Oakley ran out of the picture]

water balloons!

Happy birthday Daddy!!!!!

Sweet Escapes on the way home from baseball.

first cool day with the cast - she wasn't keen on trying to get a jacket over the cast, so I cut a long sleeve shirt for her

Your daily dab compliments of Chlo!
She's doing great, we joke that her cast has super powers, it's not slowing her down one bit. She had another ortho follow up this morning and everything looked perfect, doc was very happy with her progress.   **

and check out the spider eyes on her socks!

a thank you gift for the ambulance that took care of Chloe.  they gave her a Bugs Bunny stuffed animal, so we thought this would be a fun way to pay it forward.

that ambulance on the left was our ride!  

Unfortunately the EMT that accompanied us wasn't there, I had hoped to thank him in person, he was great.

Kerrigan, Chloe, Couper, and Josh at preschool fun day.  

Josh's mom and I volunteered at the turtle bowling station.

 Seth's movie theater birthday party!

Ryan, Jackson, Abby, Nickolas

Josh, Alice, and Chlo-Chlo

we went to Chick-fil-a after preschool

Couper and all the mommies met us there, it's just fun to ride in Ms. Amy's van! :)

speaking of - Couper's mom picked him up, but he knew he was going with us, and tried really hard to get in my car too!  His mom and I felt so bad for him, so you'll notice in the May album that he rode with us to BK!

Ryan pitched this entire game and he did awesome!!  It was one of only three wins on the season.  I love watching him doing something he loves.

Add to his Win a couple of good hits, and he earned the game ball for sure!

gotta love a nice rain :)

Oh how I miss these lazy Friday morning snuggles.  

Can you tell that Maya is hugging my arm?!!

mid- April 2017

 

Thursday - 4.13.17 - preschool Easter egg hunt!

still adjusting to the cast, I think she was afraid to bend over?  she was very excited about using this chomper!

kids are adaptive and resilient!

Josh, Alice, Chlo, Annsley and Couper

 I love Chloe's sweet class full of friends!

[her shoes match her cast!]

Saturday night Easter service

Easter sunday morning hike!

we had this great plan - attend and serve Saturday night, serve our normal Sunday and then hike, so that we could go to our favorite pizza place when they opened at noon.  Never thinking that they would be closed for Easter!  oh well :)

Easter afternoon egg hunt at the Conleys'

a long Easter weekend calls for a Sunday afternoon movie!  And Mommy finally finished Chloe's new critter.  

This is #3 if you're counting.  #1 was lost on vacation and #2 was literally falling apart.  so glad she loves them!

as Grandpa says, fastest way to get to the bigs!  Ryan loves catching.  I think it's because he's in on the action.  And he's got a great mind for the game and can see the whole field.

hamming it up at another ortho check.

she's doing great and healing perfectly, doc's been very happy.

a good doc's appt calls for Starbucks to celebrate?!  [and even better it was a free gift from church for serving on Easter, thanks :)]

and since we're in Cumming anyways, we stopped at Fowler park for a picnic lunch, a run for mommy, some walking time for Chloe, and then the playground.

"I can do it myself!"  This cast isn't slowing her down!  And we've finally mastered keeping the sling on and in the right place, hooray for safety pins.

we came home to a gift from Macedonia baseball on our front porch!

cool view of Ryan batting

photobombing Cooper's game ball picture

my birthday lunch at Scottsdale Farms! 

Sarah, Sonia, and Alyson [and KG too!]

Birthday fun :)

Abby's 7th Birthday!!

birthday lunch!

some of my most favorite peoples! - with Lyla and Aaron

the bounce house that she was so excited about!

Jackson, Ryan, Asher, Brendan, Oakley, Gracie, Hannah, Kayla, Abby, Lyla

Elli, Zoey, Cooper, Chloe, Andrew, Seth, Dylan, Kinsley, Max, Naomi, Caden

awesome babysitter Taylor stopped by

Chloe, Oakley, Mari, Abs

Asher, Oakley, Cooper, Jackson, Abs, Mari

birthday request - brownies and ice cream

At her seven year checkup, Abs weighed in at 52 lbs and was 46.7" tall

Chloe's broken arm

Monday, April 10th, 2017

Our sweet Chlo-Chlo broke both bones in her left forearm at Ryan's baseball game.  She fell about a foot from a sitting position at the bottom of the slide

[as you can probably tell, that bandage isn't actually helping.  I'm convinced it was so Chloe and I couldn't see it.  Her arm was bent at a very awkward angle]

sleeping it off the next day, we didn't get home from Scottish Rite until 3am.  Fortunately she slept until about 11:30.

The sweetest thing ever!!  This is from neighbor Oakley.  She wrote this 100% by herself as soon as she got off the bus and saw Chloe's arm.

Kayla, Kinsley, and Oakley signing the cast.

The first morning [well early afternoon by the time we got out of bed!] was a bit of a downer adjusting to our new normal.  

But a bath and a stroller ride and then seeing all her friends at the bus stop really perked up Chloe's spirits a lot!

sweet Kayla, we are blessed with amazing neighbor-friends

just like her mama, she just needed some fresh air!  

And lots of loving and spoiling from all her extended siblings.

the spoiling continues, the Conleys brought all sorts of treats and Pizza Hut for dinner!

we weren't sure about sleeves yet, so here's her new, super awesome, one-sleeved PJ shirt

I was a wreck leaving her at preschool her first day back.  her awesome teacher sent me this picture of her doing great.

Emery, Chloe, and Lainey Kate [they're both in the other 4s class and not two that she usually talks about, but she sure looks happy so I'm happy :)]

worn out from her first day back

shutting down is also her coping mechanism though ;)

-with "the bear that Addie gave me" her sweet friend Addie brought over a care package after school.

  Our friends have certainly rallied around us and made Chloe feel super loved!  

My facebook post from 4.11.17

So yes, our sweet Chlo-Chlo broke her arm at the baseball field playground last night during Ryan's game. She was sitting on the bottom of the slide and fell straight forward off it. It was visibly bent and broken, and I could barely look at it. But she has proven that she's one tough cookie and has been so strong through it all. We took an ambulance ride to Scottish Rite, and she got her hot pink cast. It's her left arm, not her dominant right. We made it home about 3am, and she slept all morning.

It's times like these that give me goosebumps in a good way. Coleson and I are so thankful for our amazing community that has rallied behind us. As you know, I rarely get on Facebook, and when Coleson and I decided we should post about Chloe's arm, we both knew we wanted to post about the many blessings our family experienced. From the off-duty paramedic who was in the right place at the right time to whoever called 911. For amazing friends and teammates and coaches that were sending texts and emails and prayers our way all night, your messages were so appreciated. Our awesome friends [the Esterlings] who took care of Ryan and Abby so we could both be with Chloe, they loved their ice cream party sleepover! Having to leave behind your other kids when one goes down is a horrible feeling, but I'm so grateful for trusted friends who cared for and loved on them. for Chloe's sweet friends who spoiled our girl with love and flowers and stuffed animals and handmade cards and stickers and cupcakes and sidewalk chalk drawings. And most importantly their presence, Chloe totally perked up this afternoon when her siblings and amazing neighbor-friends got off the bus and showered her with attention. Our dear, sweet friends [the Conleys] that brought us dinner and their company tonight. We love our community and last night we saw how truly blessed we are. Thank you for all of love and prayers and concerns! Y'all are the best, and we are so thankful!

Birthday weekend with the family :)

Saturday 4.8.17 - Dawgs baseball vs. Missouri at the new Braves Stadium

the new SunTrust park

cool kiddos!

Stratton, Maxim, Nana, Grandma, and Grandpa all joined us for the game [and Abby's birthday dinner afterwards] 

[don't you just love Abby's hat?!  she can totally pull off hats!  thanks for the bday present Grandma]

Abby's birthday dinner!  ::  Steve and Howard met us back at the house after the Braves game

Happy 7th birthday!!

Sunday Fun

celebrating with confetti on UpStreet

a stop at Lowe's on the way home from church in preparation for a fun afternoon of planting!

Abby & Nana's garden, complete with the new fairies Abby got for her bday