The Blake Family Blog : A tale of two knights.
They say a photo speaks a thousand words.
It's true.
This little lot of drugs is how sick we are in this house right now. I've had strep throat (bacterial tonsillitis) and now a bad cough and cold on top . Harrison has a cold and cough, raised nodes and a little rash, Matt is on strep meds because he shows signs and has a race this weekend. Allister has conjunctivitis and a bad cough and cold, and even Guinness is on meds for a rash.
And winter hasn't even begun.
Last weekend we took a trip to the pumpkin patch to collect our pumpkins for fall. It's a big tradition here in the US. In England you get your pumpkins from Sainsbury's. That's if you bother at all! Next week we get to make jack-o-lanterns for Halloween!
It all began with a tractor ride out to the field. Harrison was super excited!
Then we got to chose our pumpkins! 2 big and 2 little ones, not as cheap as Kroger but lots more fun!
What a fun day we had! They had some fun bounce houses and a little haunted house, which Harrison loved and must have gone into 10 times. He's loving Halloween this year, it's going to be so much fun.
Today our contractor began work on our master bath. Or en-suit as we say in England! It is so so good to be rid of our ugly bathroom. As you'll see, it was very bad.
Since we have lived in this house, all 4 1/2 years, we haven't touched our bedroom or bathroom. It's the only room in the house, with the exception of the laundry room, that we have done nothing too. It's ugly magnolia and ugly plastic and moldy. I'll be excited to show you the after photos In a few weeks!
Our ugly shower, the hole in the wall is new so the contractor could see pipes and stuff.
The plastic shower and mold! Yes I do clean my shower, but I hadn't cleaned it recently because we are getting it ripped out. This mold grows back within a couple of weeks. It's just not worth the effort. So glad it's gone!
Ugly doors on our overfill closet.
The work begins!
Shower room be gone!
Doors be gone!
They're making great progress already on this day one of the project!
The windows have gone!
Our old windows were aluminum, or aluminium. Brown. Ugly. Hard to open, drafty, dirty, let in too much sun. There was nothing good about them.
Even so I underestimated the improvement new windows would make. Every room just looks better, is warmer, or cooler. Brighter. Here are some photos!
The front of our house before and after.
So much better!
I couldn't even see through the kitchen window before, it was so steamed up. And it was not washable!
Now I have a clear view into the garden, and can see the boys playing!
Our windows now open in For cleaning, you can even open them without help, which is useful in fires and such ;)
They also have a half lock, so you can lock them about 5" open, for safety.
We love them! Bathroom starts Monday eeek
Were excited that we are finally in a position to get some of the bigger jobs done on our house! And although the process is not fun, i love to see the transformation take place.
Firstly we order a piece of furniture for our living room a while back from Crate and Barrel. It came in damaged, so we had another wait, but it's finally here and it's perfect! It's so warm and welcoming in our living room now, and great to have some storage. Here are some photos, before and after.
.
Before- an empty space and guinness's dog bed!
after- our beautiful cabinet.
We have also painted our entry hall, and put in this awesome shoe storage from Ikea! This is the entry hall from our garage, but its the one we use all the time. The front door is for royalty ;)
Unfortunately Allister broke his leg mid paint, so the other side is yet to be done! When you come I. From the garage it used to just be an empty old hall, plain and boring. Now it's so nice to come in to a welcoming feel with somewhere to dump your keys and freshen up! And the boys can put their own shoes away too. Bonus!
Before.
After. Much better!
We had a follow up appointment on Wednesday with an orthopedic doctor. They said Allister is healing great! There were a couple of things to watch for with a broken tibia Firstly there can be over healing, causing the tibia to grow longer than it should leading to a crooked leg. Apparently this is very common. There is no cure, time is the only healer, and that can take over a year. Let's hope that doesn't happen! Limping will apparently be likely, and for many weeks as the tight muscles learn to relax again. But this is nothing to worry about.
Allister is no longer on any kind of restriction. That's a good job, this boy is now trying to walk on his bent leg cast. Yeah. And climbing like the monkey he is! He has been very very fussy and clingy the last few days, not helped by the fact he now has Croup. I told you we wouldn't escape the ER free from germs! He will barely let me put him down, and even though I like the cuddles, it's tough trying to get stuff done. We have a lot going on in the house right now- another post coming up.
Allister is scheduled for the removal of his cast on November 2nd. That day can not come fast enough! We will have another Xray and make sure all is good.
Please let me know your getting your new blog subscriptions! :) oh and feel free to leave comments, I'm sure the boys will enjoy those in years to come.
Allister is doing great! Kids are so adaptable.
He had a rough first night, but since then has slept through as normal. Just the odd whimper at night, I'm assuming he's a little uncomfortable. Understandable with that huge contraption on his right leg!
Allister is learning to get around again, and I'm getting great biceps. He is a chunker and "up" has become a favorite phrase. He can now pull up on his one leg and get up on the couch. He's crawling around again, but it doesn't look that easy!
Our neighbors and Harrison are being very sweet while Allister is restricted. They are playing so sweetly with him. We have been trying to get out and do things more immobile! We went to the Library story time for the first time in a while, and it was a lot of fun. We have many many little boys in our neighborhood. There are 6 boys under 4 between just us and the 2 houses behind us. And there are many more!
Harrison is getting on great at Moms Day Out. His teachers, and everyone, have commented on his good manners! He says please and thank you, and excuse me without prompting. In fact the other day I was passing the front desk and Ms Patti said "I was just bragging about your son and his wonderful manners!" it makes me so happy to see I have a polite and friendly little boy :)
There was a little incident at MDO last week, and Harrison got bitten. His friend Carson, who is also a boys boy, and Harrison, were fighting over a toy car. I guess Carson won! His mom was so apologetic, and Harrison and Carson play and get along great normally. I just hope it was a one off!
I still have photos to post of England, I'll catch up soon!
Poor little Allister has broken his tibia. That's the bigger of the two bones in the front of his lower leg, for those who do not remember their biology class.
While I was cooking dinner last night, and daddy had just got home, the boys were playing in the living room. Jumping around and being boys as usual! Next thing I know Allister is on the floor, crying. A very hurt cry. A different cry. My first instinct was he's broken something. It's funny, when your instincts say you need to go to the hospital they are normally right! I'm not sure if Harrison fell on Jim, or if he jumped or fell from the couch. He tries to copy everything his big brother does, and Harrison has a tendency to play rough!
So Daddy Matt and Harrison eat their dinner, while Allister and I venture off to Children's A&E on a monday night. It was PACKED! So many sick kids, if we didn't catch a cold I'll be very surprised!
I saw this rainbow on the way, and there was a beautiful red sky behind me! Its the first rainbow I've seen in many many years!
So we end up at the Children's Urgent care down town hopping to be seen quicker than in the ER. Its in the same building and actually the same waiting area as the plastic surgery clinic where Allister had his surgery a year ago. It was very deja vu!
We wait an hour to be seen, then head off for X-rays. Yup a broken bone :( here is his X-ray. Allister laid as quiet as a mouse and didn't move a muscle through all the X-ray's. He was such an angel! I think he was so tired by that point you could have done anything! The fracture is near the top and starts on the right and goes up and to the left. It's kind of hard to see.
Trouble is we have to then be transferred to ER because they don't cast at urgent care! Crazy but true. So off we head and wait another hour to be seen. Thankfully the casting wait and casting itself was pretty quick, and Allister fell asleep during the casting itself! So funny! By the time we got out of there and home it was midnight. And needless to say we didn't have a great night sleep. Allister slept all morning though, and after a few rounds or ibuprofen is almost back to his happy self this afternoon.
We have a follow up appointment with an orthopedist surgeon next week, and the cast will be on 4-6 weeks. Fun fun fun! I feel so bad for the little guy. Although aft trying to stand a few time, he's getting used to the cast and is sitting happily playing!
Allister spent almost the whole morning like this!
