It's Feet Time!!!...

The end of the casts!! Rosaline ended up doing much better than average, so she was able to get her casts off a lot sooner. Initially they told us she would have her casts on for 7-8weeks, then have the tendon cut then 2-3 more weeks of casts. Instead she had 4 weeks of casts, then the tendon cut, then 3 weeks of casts(one set on for 1 week the 2nd set on for 2). We were very pleased. She has had to go through some rough rehab since her legs haven't moved or been touched in approximately 2 months. I have had to take her foot braces off every few hours and exercise her legs and get her legs and feet used to touch. She was sore and very very sensitive. The first couple of days were especially rough with her screaming in pain and shaking as I would barely move her and do her exercises. She screamed through her first real bath(except when I very first layed her in there), as I had to gently scrub away all the dead skin. She hated her feet touching the side of the tub. It is still rough, but she is getting better. I don't have pictures of her foot braces, but I will post some in a couple of days when I take some good ones. Now, here are a ton of pictures showing the progress and process of the whole thing.

This is Dr. Klatt. I love this man! He was so sweet and loving with Rosaline. His nickname for her was "Gorgeous."

Casts 1

Casts 2 with signatures from family in ColoradoCasts 3 with mommy's doodlingCasts 4 with more of mommy's doodling a a bit from her brothersTendon cut day. This was taken a little bit after her wee surgery when they were casting up her legs againCasts 5 Tendon cut area after healing for a week.Casts 6(the last ones)Her feet before this whole process. After 1 week of casts
2 weeks 3 weeks5weeks(didn't get 4 weeks because that was surgery day)6 weeks. This was her first real bath ever!! This was the only happy time. I made this picture rated G for you all!!

I Stole this Tag Because I Am Bored and Up Late With Screaming Baby...

Rosaline got her casts off today. I am sure she is glad to have them off, as am I, but she is fussy, really really fussy. I will blog about that more later. So I stole this tag from someone to take my mind off the stress of that situation. Here goes...
1. What time did you get up this morning? I woke up at 7:30am. I actually got up 15 minutes later. Stayed up too late, again...
2. Diamonds or pearls? I like them both a lot, but I don't mind that I don't have much in the way of either. I am simple and cheap like that, haha.
3. Last movie you saw at a cinema? I saw Eagle Eye. Double date with Mark's friend from work and his wife. I suppose I could call them my friends too. I sure like them! Here's to you Doug and Jana!!
4. What is your favorite TV show? Oh gosh! We have a DVR, so we record quite a few shows that we usually don't end up watching until the season is over, haha(too many children and no time!!). Pushing Daisies, House, Fringe, So You Think You Can Dance?, Criminal Minds, Law and Order: SVU, My Own Worst Enemy, America's Next Top Model, The Hills(pretend you didn't see those last two, seriously guilty pleasures of mine. what's wrong with me?!), Oprah, Dr. Phil, Masterpiece Theater(which is now suddenly just called Masterpiece, I will never understand that, Hello run-on!!), 17 Kids and Counting(no, I am not using this as my guide to having 18 kids! Will never happen!), and for comedies I prefer Tyra every now and again. I love that she acts like she knows how to parent and thinks that she's Oprah all at the same time!!
5. What do you usually have for breakfast? That would be a bowl of cereal or a muffin and some juice.
6. What is your middle name? Jolene, I know, it totally rocks! I used to tell people that was my name when I was little and my mom would always correct me. Curse you mother!!!
7. What food do you dislike? Fish/Seafood, fruitcake, crap, etc...
8. What is your favorite CD at the moment? I don't know. I think I am down with the um, Panic At the Disco. I am always singing my best to Travis. And I shake my groove thing to Loreena McKennitt in the fall.
9. What kind of car do you drive? I drive a Chrysler Town and Country. Pretty sweet eh?
10. Favorite sandwich? Reuben, Ham and Swiss(don't you know it Val!!), Turkey Bacon, French Dip, pretty much any sandwich that rocks and all sandwiches that I make.
11. What characteristic do you despise? Flatulence. Oh wait, characteristic, hmm. Dishonesty especially. Tell me the truth, even if you think I will be upset, I am pretty forgiving and understanding, so don't worry too much(unless you really screwed up, then I will just beat you within an inch of your life, which isn't that bad because you'd still be kickin' right?).
12. Favorite item of clothing? My sexy hot jeans that make me look too bootylicious for you babe, as they say in the g-funk world.
13. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would you go? I would seriously have some Europe action going on all up in there. Russia, France, Denmark, Holland, British Isles, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, etc...
14. Are you an organized person? At heart, yes. Without children and an ADD husband, yes. My laundry is organized, my kitchen is organized. I organize before I clean. Used to drive my mom nuts. I am all about sorting and organizing, but there is not a lot of time for that these days. Ah, how I miss my youth...(PS-I still love my kids, haha)
15. Where would you retire to? Um, Colorado because that's where my homies' at yo!(An English teacher just fell down dead as I typed that last sentence.)
16. What was your most recent memorable birthday? Let me remember a birthday, hmm. They do get less exciting as you age. My last birthday I remember. I think I blogged about it. Go look it up so I don't have to type this.
17. What are you going to do when you finish this? Use the little girls' room. Take out my contacts, brush, floss, PJ myself like nobody's business, throw my baby in bed(not literally, don't you go and call CPS on me now! They're already coming about Liam's black eye, Rosaline's leg casts, Gwendolyn's drunken stumble, Duncan's anger management issues, and my yelling, "Don't make me slap you like a red-headed step child!" out the front door in a towel and shower cap...
18. Farthest place you are tagging this?Everyone in the world can see this now1 I'm finally famous!
19. Person you expect to tag first? Someone who is totally cool.
20. When is your birthday? June 23rd. What's your social security number? Stop prying!
21 . Morning person or a night person? I enjoy staying up until midnight if I can last. I don't particularly like waking up early, but I am very chipper and chatty when I wake up. So many people have told me to shutup.
22. What is your shoe size? 7. I seriously think someone just stole my identity!
23. Pets? Um, no.
24. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share? I'm pregnant! No just kidding. Wouldn't that have been funny? No, it wouldn't have! I am not a Duggar! I am a human being!!
25. What did you want to be when you were little? An EMT or a surgeon. I know, weird huh? I watched a lot of Rescue 911 as a kid! Thank you William Shatner!!
26. How are you today? Stressed, tired, I have a headache, I am wasting an hour of my time! Gosh! How are YOU today?! Don't ask if you don't want to know the TRUTH!
27. What is your favorite flower?hmm, ones that are pretty and smell good. My kids think my favorite is the dandelion. I hate that stupid weed. Don't tell them! Aaah!
28. What is a day on the calendar you are looking forward to? The day when I am living in Colorado. Chillin' wit my friends, yo! Oh, and the day when I see my husband awake for more than a couple of hours.
30. What was the last thing you ate? I think I downed some Reese's Halloween candy. What? We have to make up for our lack of trick-or-treaters!
31.Why the heck did you feel the need to fill this out? I don't know! Stop picking on me!!
32. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Pink, because it proves I am not afraid of my feminine side...
33. How is the weather right now? Cold, dark, night.
34. Last person you spoke to on the phone? ValerieRae! When isn't she the last person I spoke to on the phone?!
35. Favorite soft drink? Not really a fan of the drinks of softness.
36. Favorite restaurant?Olive Garden, Macaroni Grill, Chili's, Tucanos, Red Robin, not one of those restaurants that people say is so good because it costs a little more, but the food is not that good at all(Ottavio's in Provo, blech! Ramsay, help them!)
37. Hair color? Right now I am workin' the blond thing(or orange, as my color blind friend Valerie likes to call it).
38. What was your favorite toy as a child?Um, Barbie! Hell-o! Who can french braid Barbie's hair? I can!
39. Summer or Winter? I likes my winter before Christmas. I never want to see summer again after being pregnant in it again.
.41. Chocolate or Vanilla? Umm, Chocolate.
42. Coffee or tea? Frappicino mocha choca latta ya-ya! I have never had coffee or real tea and I don't really like herbal tea that much.
43. Do you want your friends to comment? Heck yes! I don't really get many comments, but I welcome the good, the bad, and the ugly. It's nice to know people like my crazy ramblings or that they think I am totally nuts and beyond all mental help.
44. When was the last time you cried? Today. It had been a while, so I thought, "Let's have a cry session and get all the yucky feelings out! Yay!"
45. What is under your bed? my kids, yeah, we totally ran out of room in our drawers.
46. What did you do last night? reheated some awesome leftover soup I made the night before and bedded the children. Talked with Val about how beating your children is totally cool and about how they really do like it. Then I did the ni-nite routine with Mark(read him a bedtime story, changed his diaper, tucked him in, etc...). Then I changed my diaper and went to bed.
47. What are you afraid of? Facebook not going back to the old facebook, LC getting back together with Heidi, my roots growing another two inches, and not seeing who wins Dancing With the Stars!!
48. Salty or sweet? Depends on my mood.(I know you all were just dying for that answer!)
49. How many keys on your key ring? Too many.
51. Favorite day of the week? I don't really have one. They all kind of blend together when Mark works everyday.
52. Do you make friends easily? I do, in Colorado. Something in the water in Utah must give me bad breath here and that just scares people away or something. Oh yeah, I am shy.
53. How many people will you tag? Everyone who reads this. It is only fair that the rest of the world should spend time on something as important as this.
54. How many people will comment? 1 and it will be Val because everyone else will only read it and pretend that they didn't because they don't realize the importance of this whole tag in the blogging world!
55. Do you like finding out all this stuff about your friends? Yeah! And it's a good way to waste useful sleep/housework/work/school/children tending time.

The Danger of Large Headed TV Show Characters...

My children have always had large heads. Physically, they are well-endowed in the noggin department. I am okay with that. Makes them a little top heavy when they learn to walk, but their injuries aren't too bad. I don't think they are extra smart from the large size of their heads, but I do worry that certain shows are making them stupid. There are some shows that have very large headed children. Maybe my children wouldn't feel like they were "different." I didn't have a problem with it until I watched my children watching the shows. Dora, for example, was telling kids to "catch the stars! Reach up and catch the stars!" What does Gwendolyn do? She starts smacking herself in the head! I am thinking, "Why is she hitting herself instead of trying to catch the stars?" I look at the TV and Dora looks like she is smacking herself in the head because her head is so large. This is obviously physically and mentally damaging! Then one night Mark is telling Gwendolyn to "reach up" while he wipes off her tray before he wipes her hands so she doesn't stick her soon-to-be clean hands on a dirty tray. So he is telling her to reach up and she just sticks her messy hands in her hair. All because the large headed characters can't reach above their dang heads!! I am thinking that they nee d to have real people at the bottom corner of the screen showing how kids how to really do the actions so they don't hurt themselves. Maybe I should be more involved in my child's TV watching? Hmm, I will have to think about that. But here are some of those shows with large headed characters:

Super Why on PBS

Little Einsteins on Playhouse Disney

Ni-Hao Kailan on Nick Jr.
Dora the Explorer on Nick Jr.I seriously want to tell Dora to catch her own dang stars from now on!

An Attempt At a Picture Day...(not pictured Rosaline, she was out cold)

I tried to get some pictures of the kids and Liam got all angry with me about it. This is just one of the many grouchy-faced pictures in a series.

Gwendolyn wouldn't hold still with Daddy for a cute picture, but they match!!
Duncan was doing a cheesy grin, until I told him to just have fun and started kicking his bike to distract him. I would have kicked him to distract him, but that would have produced a face that would incriminate me and send me to prison...
Uh-oh, pictures with me in them! Watch out! Mark complains that I don't have enough pictures with my children. Here's a start.
My favorite part of this one is the gas meter...

Gwendolyn thinks she's a super model.

PS-Her outfit is from Target, I seriously love it! That's what $8 bucks can get you people!!

String Cheese Science Experiment...

The other day I got free tampon samples in the mail from kotex. I know, terribly exciting! I don't wear tampons because I don't want to be implanted with some alien baby without my knowledge. I get enough of those already. Anyway, I thought I would open them up to see what they looked like. I have never seen the inner workings of a tampon before. As I was opening Gwendolyn comes hobbling over to me with excitement, "String cheese! String cheese!!" I can understand her confusion, having never seen a tampon before. I get confused all the time.
Soon after that Duncan thought it would be fun to launch the tampons into a cup of water. You see, I am a good mother, you know, having my kids do science experiments. First, he tried the "regular" tampon. I suppose that one was pretty absorbent, for regular. Then he tried the "Super" tampon. That one was especially super! I couldn't believe how much water that one absorbed! Conclusion: Regular is regular, but super is SUPER absorbent!!

Boy or Girl Baby?...

Duncan has had a baby doll since he was about 14 months old. We got him a boy baby because he is a boy and he was about to have a baby brother. Over the years the gender has gone back and forth between girl baby and boy baby. Duncan would get after me for calling it a boy when it was a girl and calling it a girl when it was a boy. Finally, one night I said, "Duncan, you keep switching genders! Just pick one!" Then Duncan said, "That's what I'll name it!"
"What will you name it?"
"Genders! Baby Genders!"
The moral to this story: Don't make your child pick a gender for his or her baby. They may just decide that their baby is transgendered or a hermaphrodite.

Hole in the Wall?...

Last night my husband and I were watching one of our shows that was recorded on the DVR. When it ended our channel was on Fox. No big deal except for the most ridiculously stupid annoying show ever to be broadcast on television. It's one of those fantastic show ideas from Japan. We all know that Japan has great TV show concepts! They have these two teams of women dressed in silver spandex suits(yes, I said silver spandex), a little swimming pool and a wall that slides across the floor and the pool with different shaped holes in it. Now don't you go on thinking that I actually sat and watched this show. It doesn't take long to get the concept of this stupid, stupid show. The spandexed out women get into different positions on the floor so that when the wall comes across they will fit through the hole and not fall into the pool. They get points for not getting pushed into the pool. I am sure all of you can see how much more intelligent you can become by watching this. I know my IQ went up 50 points.