Trigger Thumb/3rd Birthday Party/funny pics

I took a big bite of humble pie today. As it turns, out Kate has had a trigger thumb for quite some time. The incident in the stroller was not what caused it or made it worse. The doctor said many times an injury is what causes a parent to examine the thumb to realize the child has trigger thumb. Our doctor performs this surgery between 4-8 times a month on children. Trigger finger usually happens when you are older and have had excessive use or overuse of a finger. She said it is not the same thing. Trigger thumb usually happens in children, and she said you are not born with it, but it happens over time. Some kids will have it lock in and out of place and it does not bother them. It could be this was happening with Kate without us realizing it. It can bother some children, but it has not and does not seem to bother Kate now. However, it is now locked in the down position. She said the injury did not cause it based on the X-rays. How do you think this makes me feel as a stay at home Mom? How could I not see that her thumb was bent and not straight? However, who examines a child's thumb when they are not complaining about it and especially when it is not on their writing hand? I am always working with Kate on writing, but she is right handed, and her trigger thumb is on her left hand. I may have seen it bent but did not realize it wouldn't go straight. We are going to hold off on surgery till the end of summer; therefore, it does not our impact our swimming. When she does have the surgery, she will be in a cast for two weeks. So FYI examine your child's thumbs so you won't feel so horrible!
On a different note, we had a joint birthday party with Aubrey last Saturday, and it was a lot of fun! We had it at the Arbor Hills Nature Preserve in Plano. We had family and a couple of friends there to celebrate, too.

(Side note) We missed Zack's family, though. Please be in prayer over Zack's family and specifically his mom. Debbie had a pretty invasive back surgery a last week. Also last week, her mom, Zack's Grandma, passed away. Nannie had been sick for awhile so we knew it was time, but we are still saddened by her loss. We will have her funeral in a week. This will allow Debbie to recover a little bit more from her back surgery, too.

We had the party in the morning to beat the heat and it was really nice. This same day we took off the rails on Kate's crib to make it a toddler bed. We bought some cute bedding from Target to make it more exciting for Kate. It has gone very well! She has gotten out of her bed twice, but that is it. She never got out of her crib, though. This is why we waited for so long!

Here are some pictures from the party, Carly and Kate's room:

I was finally able to capture Carly doing this move. She loves to do this! She seriously does this about five times a day. We look over and there she is upside down looking at us or something.

Where is Carly?

Pictures from the party...here is Mom and Dad(Nana and Papa)

The Hughes'

Matt, Zack and Michael

Sheri and Lori

Kate and Hannah

Breanne and Will

Keari and Ian

Carly playing with a balloon. She loves balloons!

Ellee loved playing with the sidewalk chalk.

I love this picture of the girls, which Erika took.

Kate blowing out the candle on her donut. (We did donuts instead of cake since it was a morning party.)

Pinata time! Hit it Kate!

Kate's room before

And After

Trigger Finger

Well, it looks like Kate has what is called Trigger Finger. The good news is she no longer has to wear the wrap around her finger. The bad news is she may have to have surgery. Today when we were wrapping her finger we noticed it was still bent. Zack called around and he brought her to Children's Medical Center. After more X-rays the doctor diagnosed her with this condition. We are thankful that it doesn't seem to be bothering her at all. We will be meeting with a surgeon next week to decide what we need to do. Trigger finger is usually a condition that occurs when you are older, but occasionally it can happen in babies or from a trama to the finger. It is kind of confusing to explain, so I will just send you this link if you are interested.
http://www.rsi-relief.com/learn-about-rsi/trigger-finger/

First broken bone

Today marks a big day. It is the first broken bone among our children. It was just one of those freak accidents that happen. It is crazy how some of the biggest injuries happen when doing something that seems harmless. I met Kamara this morning at the mall with our children. We had them all strapped in our double strollers. Kate and Aubrey always get so excited to see each other. We were walking to the play area when Kate started crying pretty hard. I look down and her thumb was lodged in between the outer part of the stroller next to where the canopy folds back. I gently took it out and it wasn’t stuck very hard. Shortly after I pulled it out she stopped crying. However, once I looked at her thumb I knew something was not right. Kamara and I both agreed that it looked funny. It was completely bent and it would not straighten. However, Kate no longer seemed bothered by it. She played just like she always plays and did not cry when I tried to move it. I still was concerned based on how it looked, though. So I called Zack and I told him I wanted him to look at it before we took her to the doctor. When he saw it he knew right away that it was broken or dislocated. So, he took Kate to the ER. I am so thankful that he was here and could get away from work to do that. They had to do X-rays, give her some strong medicine and then relocate her thumb. I am so glad I was not there for that because Zack said it obviously really upset Kate. It took the doctor three times to get it straight. We have to do a follow up appointment with a doctor in a couple of days. She now has her arm all wrapped up and we have to keep it that way for 3 weeks. On her way home she already unwrapped it, so this is going to be fun! Then, she was upset that she couldn’t take it off. We can take it off for bath time, though. We keep trying to build up how cool it is and that we wish we had one, too. This seems to be working. I just can’t believe it happened from the stroller. I don’t know if she was trying to lean over to see Aubrey or how it happened. Kamara and I also think that Kate probably broke it when she tried to twist it out. Who knows! It was sad when she came home because she kept saying “mean man” about the doctor that relocated her thumb. She also said “Daddy not fix it.” She has established that Daddy fixes things around here. If something breaks in the day she will say “Daddy fix it.” I think some of that goes back to me and because I say that, too. Daddy does fix things around here, though. So that is what is happening around here. I think we are going to have some challenges on managing to keep it on, but we will have to wait and see. I will keep you posted!

Her thumb would not straighten

Kate is 3 years old

I can't believe Kate is now three years old! She turned three on June 1. We had a great day last week on her birthday. We started the day with her getting to choose a donut at a donut shop. Then, we went to swimming lessons. Next, we went to Build A Bear and she got to choose whatever bear she wanted. That night we went to Amazing Jakes in the Colin Creek Mall and had a great time with the Cox family. This was the first birthday where it really felt like she understood that it was her birthday. She kept telling complete strangers that it was her birthday. She was so excited all day! She loves getting gifts and it doesn't matter what it is! One of her favorite gifts was a little bug catcher that I got at the dollar store. Kate has always being pretty girly and she loves getting new clothes. It doesn't matter if it is pajamas, a shirt or a dress. She will put it on and keep asking us and complete strangers "Do you like my dress? Do you like it? Do I look pretty?" I think we may be in for some trouble when she gets to be older! She will get really excited on Saturday nights when I lay out her dress for Sunday. She will wake up and be ready to put on her dress. She really enjoys her class at church,too. I am excited about her starting preschool next year, because I know she will like it. Kate is just a child that seems to love and be excited about a lot of things. However, she doesn't play with things very long before she is ready to move on to something else. One of my favorite things to see is when she is playing in the playroom with Carly. I will hear her say "Here you go, Carly." I must admit that I will also hear crying when one of them takes away something from the other. Carly has learned how to defend herself, too. They both love each other very much. If Carly is asleep Kate will ask where Carly is at and if Kate is asleep Carly will continue to go to her door waiting for her to wake up. Some times Kate wants to be a Mommy to Carly and Carly isn't always fond of that. Last night when they were taking a bath I turned around and Kate was scrubbing Carly's head with soap as Carly is just crying standing up. Kate just keeps on doing it as if Carly is not crying. I have been working with Kate on understanding the message that another child is giving her when playing with them. Kate continues to be a good eater. However, she asks for ranch at almost every meal. It keeps her eating vegetables so I can't complain, right? She could eat chocolate all day! She loves sweets altogether. She also loves making friends. Kate has a little too much love at times and wants to be a little bit too physical, but we are working on that. One of her new favorite movies is Tangled. We have to be careful with some of the scary parts, but she will ask for Rapunzel and that is what she means. We try to limit the TV, but she has certain shows that she likes to watch. She loves her new bear that she got for her birthday, too. There are days like today that I pretend Kate is a baby and I cradle her as she laughs and laughs. I look at her and I still see that 6 month old baby laughing up at me except she now has curls. It brings me joy but also makes me want to stop time. I hope I can always see that light in her eye. She has a deep desire to please others and make them see her, but she also has this competitiveness about her. I just pray that she will use these characteristics for good and to glorify God. We are so very proud of our little 3 year old that has changed us and helped us grow as people and parents. We love you Kate!

I let her pick out some donuts and I also picked out a little cinnamon roll for myself. She was so excited that I let her hold the bag in the car. Then, I had to go put some gas in the car. While I was putting gas in the car I looked in the van and Kate was eating my cinnamon roll! She could have eaten the whole bag of donut holes and donuts if I let her. She is still in her pajamas because as soon as she got up I wanted to get them right away. Plus, we had swim lessons, so we had to hurry.

After swim lessons with Miss Christy.

At the play area at Stonebriar Mall.

Giving her bear a bath at Build a Bear.

Then, reading with her bear at Barnes and Noble.

Opening her presents from us.

Playing at Amazing Jakes with Daddy.

Aubrey and Kate loved the chocolate birthday cake that I made!

A quick family picture to end the day of fun! Happy Birthday Kate!