Easter 2011 with the Corbitts

T’s first “hunt” was at Goli’s…. 

Chocolate was discovered for the first time

The other kids had a ball.

 

We dyed eggs….and left them out overnight. oops.

Easter baskets….why does the toddler want the baby stuff? I made Justin’s basket liner to coordinate with Troy’s that I made a year earlier.

Of course the toddler was bribed with smarties (for the first time).

Hunting Easter Eggs at MMC. 

And then he discovered the Easter bunny,

with whom he became quite obsessed …

  

and became mad when we took him away so others could see.

Lizzy helped out a lot (and has been helping me when Brian’s out of town).

 

Our attempt at photos of our family:

This is Troy’s Easter outfit I made him. I used the Little Lad Vintage shirt pattern in Martha Pullen’s White Issue earlier this year. I love the way it turned out.

His obsession with cars landed him a ride on a golf cart. He said “weeee” while being driven on the “cars” aka golf cart. Apparently he doesn’t know the difference,

      

KK and Rebecca (and Ryder) came to visit on Saturday.

   

The boy LOVED his aunt Becca!

My sweet Troy.

    

Practicing his track moves.

J rolling over

At four weeks…

Step One: push up on hands.

Step Two: wiggle hands and arms

Step Three: push on one side

Victory!

Wardrobe change and time for a nap.

Easter

Happy Easter from our little bunny…

All About Troy

Although he went to Goli’s , it has been all about Troy the last few days. On Monday, I picked him up early and headed over to a friend’s MIL’s home to ride horses. He has been on a horse before at my Dad’s house but not really riding.

He was quite preoccupied with the cozy coupe, then the wagon and finally he discovered plastic Easter eggs on the goodie table. Oh, and the goodies. So I wanted him to at least take a turn and try to ride on one of the horses. A few snacks later, an emotional breakdown and bribing him to put on a helmet and he was on a horse…..and loved it! I knew it, just knew it. So Ms. Liz seemed to take to him also. She gave him the reigns to both horses. She was saying that he was doing so well holding himself up tall on the horse and even put him on a pony. He was smiling from ear to ear.

Telling Noel about the car (and waiting for her to get out) :

Horse # 1:

Pony (serious business holding the reins here) :

Once we got home, I started a monogram on the machine. He loves to hold onto “tread” (aka thread) when I’m working on the sewing machine. So he grabs his thread while he talks about Brian on the “awnmower” (lawnmower). I asked if he wanted to go outside at which time he ran to the door while yelling “outside”. Of course he brought along his thread. Once he has a chance to get on the awnmower, he drops his thread in the garage to ride the lawnmower for the first time with Brian.

Wednesday was his FIRST haircut – ever. Ever. It was time. I mean the child is 19 months old now.

The official mullet:

Awkward hair cutting position:     Lindsay cut the curl (yes, I’m keeping it!) Done! We walked to Mellow Mushroom to celebrate. Let’s just say that it was a bit busy, we decided to get it “to go” and an hour later walked out with our food. New haircut boy was happy to sit at the bar with his pizza dough trying to eat it while we weren’t watching.  

Club Feet – Sixth (and hopefully final) Casting

Up to B’ham – again - last night. We both were able to go and brought Troy with us. We were planning on B staying at L&G’s house while I took Justin to the appt but Gigi decided to keep Troy. It was nice that Brian was able to go this time.

So I was hoping that J would have white casts this time – only because Easter is right around the corner and I’m getting photos taken of the boys. We arrived before 9, got in a room, saw Spence (the tech) and I asked him about white casts. He said that they haven’t been sent anymore white casts. Bummer! Purple again – the only option. I said that I could make him an Easter egg with his purple casts. I quickly remembered that I should be and am grateful that we can provide Justin with the treatment he is receiving and the cast color doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things. I shouldn’t complain, right? Right. I’ll just put white socks on those casts.

Spencer removed the casts very gently. J was fine for a while.Dr. Doyle came in and talked about the braces. I wanted him to have the Dobbs bar but found out that Dr. Doyle doesn’t typically use the Dobbs bar which made me feel like using the bar that he was more comfortable with would be better for J’s treatment. I mean, that’s why we chose Dr. Doyle! So we decided to go with the stationary bar.

Then he got hungry. I fed him while Nicole was getting the paperwork and instruments to measure his feet for the shoes. Nicole came back and I laid him on the table to get measured. He was NOT happy. He cried enough to where Nicole couldn’t get his measurements. So I held him to try and help. She was able to get his measurements – the length of his foot, the width, around his ankle, around his lower calf. Each measurement was the same on both feet. I was happy to know that his feet are the same size.

He was out of the casts a good 30-40 minutes.

Next Spencer and Dr. Maddox came in to put his casts back on. He was worse than before, very upset. Apparently his skin is probably very sensitive and it hurt to put the cotton and casts back on. He screamed and kicked. Dr. Maddox said he was very strong as I was trying ot talk to him and console him. Nothing was working, he was MAD! As he finished with the first leg, J calmed down and it started all over again with the other leg.

When they were finished, I picked him up and fed him again. We both felt pretty sorry for him. It was by far the most uncomfortable he had ever been. But, I’m glad it’s over. Two more weeks before we go back…..hopefully!

Before:

     

Here is where the tenotomy was completed. There is a tiny stitch where the incision was.

 

Purple casts again!

  

Me and little J.

What to talk about….and randomness

A week ago I felt out of control. Not as in crazy lady but not quite “together” for lack of a better term. I’m so bad with words and am not able to put into words what I’m thinking. Speaking is even worse!

So anywho, it dawned on me that Justin was about to be 6 weeks old and I wasn’t sure where the time had gone! My blogs have consisted solely of posts about clubfeet treatment. Don’t get me wrong, I wanted to keep up with it and make sure I documented his progress. But that’s not my total life, right? Nor is it Justin’s! Nor is it my husband or Troy’s life. So what I realized is that my time has been consumed with documenting clubfeet treatment while I ran around like a chicken with it’s head cut off at home!

What have I been doing? Well, Brian is in town half of the time lately. Or less sometimes. This is his busy part of the year – and he’s doing a fantastic job at work lately so I’m totally fine with it. Just hope he gets good sleep when he’s out of town. So when he’s gone, I put Justin in the baby Moses basket on the bed to sleep. J usually wakes up once around 1 or 2 a.m., I feed him and put him back in the basket. Sometimes he doesn’t make it back in the basket :) My morning consists of me feeding J, putting him down, getting Troy up and ready and getting to Goli’s. Speaking of Goli – she has been fantastic! She will meet me outside to get Troy so I don’t have to get both kids out of the car (the same thing applies in the afternoons, too). As soon as I get home, my morning is about feeding J and having enough time to exercise. Wii workouts or pushing the jogging stroller is my exercise goal. Definitely not ready to put him in the gym daycare. Troy is 18 months old and has never been!

In between that, I try and do laundry, clean up a bit and sew. Oh how I love to sew! Just finished Troy’s Easter outfit. Photos to come soon. My struggles right now include finding a balance between sewing (personal time), thinking about blogging, taking pictures, keeping up with emails and loving on my babies. Once it’s time to pick up Troy, we are go-go-go! Adventures outside, going out in the stroller or running around in and outside top off the list between 5 and 6:30. Then it’s dinnertime. Inevitably Justin and Troy are hungry at the same time. Every.single.day. I often find myself holding Justin with one arm, nursing him and tending to Troy. One handed meals take place during this time. It’s not comfortable but it works and both boys are somewhat satisfied.

Troy’s new fav is a spoon full of peanut butter – this can be given to him with one hand. Again, it works.

Bath-time consists of Troy in the bath with Justin in the bouncy seat in the bathroom. This is consistent with bed time for Troy. I tried putting Justin in the bouncy seat in another room but when he started crying (to eat or be held), Troy would say “uh oh, baby, uh oh, baby!” over and over and over until “we” took care of Justin. So, sticking him in the room while I read to Troy works.

Then, it’s usually time to feed Justin again. As SOON as he’s okay, I set him down and get to sewing more. Sounds like I do a lot of sewing but it’s more like short 10 minute sessions here and there. Within a few minutes, it’s time to pick Justin up again to feed him and by then I’m worn out – onto bed I go!

Oh, and in between the rest of this (usually with Justin sitting in my lap while I nurse him), I am working on a 5k for Junior League. The event is this Saturday and I have to say it will be nice when it’s over. I worked on it pretty hard before J was born but have been absent often since he’s been born. I’m one of the race directors, too. Thankfully, my co-director has been AWESOME and the rest of our committee has been fantastic. I definitely bit off more than I could chew with that situation. Then again, I wasn’t pregnant when I signed up for that. I’m still working on it but not as much as I would be if I didn’t have a baby!

Justin is a wonderful baby. Very sweet, mild mannered and overall joyful. He is smiling more and more. One of these days I’ll have my camera nearby to catch one of those open mouthed smiles.

So many random thoughts going on here! This past weekend Brian, Jack and Alex screened in our covered porch. The only thing lacking is the rest of the trim. I LOVE it! Had a sip of coffee out there this morning while J napped. Thought I saw an ant bed, grabbed the ant killer, walked outside to the pile and realized it was a pile of sawdust.

Jack’s son Alan came over along with his mother, Laura. It was wonderful for Alan and Troy to play together. We got the baby pool out and fit right in as we had a redneck party in the front lawn! Lizzy also came over and played with the kiddos – for someone who doesn’t have children, she’s pretty darn good with them! Papa and KK came around lunchtime and played, too. KK and I got to do a little more sewing. I finished a pair of shorts that afternoon. With a baby, I’ve found that as SOON as he’s asleep, I have to hit the ground running with whatever I’m working on.

In a nutshell, our weekends are consumed by cleaning, yard work, playing with the kids, etc. Then, on Mondays we normally go to B’ham so we can be at the earliest appointment for J’s clubfeet treatment. Back home Tuesday afternoon. Wednesdays are normally free. Thursday I go to support group and free Fridays.

He needs a haircut…it’s on the laundry list of things to do around here.

I totally put Troy in a speedo-ish suit. Just thought if we were going redneck, might as well do all I could to solidify the stigma! The boys had the best time in the water.