Emily Alien

The real Emily ;o)

No cast for Emily - woohoo!

We had good news at the doctor's office yesterday. Emily doesn't have to wear a cast and can go swimming, shower and bathe. Woohoo!! A week after her surgery (when she was supposed to have the real cast put on), the doctor decided the incision looked a little infected. So he put her on antibiotics, told us to keep her foot wrapped up in an ace bandage and wear a special, non-weight-bearing protective boot.

He decided since she has done so well with that, there's no need for a cast. She's free to lose the ace bandage and wear socks. Last night, Emily looked down at her socked feet and said, "Look Mom, it looks like I have normal feet!" She will go back to the orthopedist in two weeks to see if she can start putting some weight on her foot.

We are so grateful for a quick healing!

(Insert screaming teenagers here)

Someone help meeee.............I've been swept back into the preteen zone! It's the Jonas Brothers and "Camp Rock" which I just watched with the eternally teenaged Barb (yes, she really does still have a crush on Donny Osmond!) and the preteen cousins, Emily and Melanie.

It was a fun evening, laughing and giggling over the "cute boys" until I looked at Barb solemnly and said, "Barb. Joe was born in 1990. You could be his MOTHER!" LOL

Rock on, JoBros, you little cuties!

How much is that doggie in the window?

Phoenix discovered tonight he can stand up and look out the sunroom window to watch the girls in the yard next door! Look how long he's getting! He's four months old already. (Sorry for the blurry photo. This was taken with my camera phone.) He has a lot of nicknames now: Feefers (my name for him), Feenie-Weenie (Em's name for him), Fee-Fi (Kat's name for him), Snickerdoodle, Scrappy Doo, Skeeziks, Monkey Dog, Felix, and the list goes on!

Em

My beautiful girls - relaxing on the deck!

Kat

My Rooftop Garden....

That's what Emily called this batch of maple seedlings that took root in our gutters. We got an abnormal amount of rain this spring, so these little guys really went crazy! (again, sorry for the poor quality photos)

(before)

Katie helped me clean out the front gutters a few weeks ago, but I wasn't about to brave the extension ladder on the 2-story backside of the house. However, I HAD to do something as a 1,000 little maple trees had established their own little forest in my gutters!! So I called this great company which I found on the internet. They were incredibly nice and helpful.

(after)

They filled up this bucket FULL of the little trees and years of leaves and other gunk.

(I promise to use the real camera next time!!)

My Latest Obsession!

O...M...G.....!! I swore I wasn't going to get sucked into it, but I have been! Facebook is SO fun!! Here's the link. (Hopefully that works. Message me if it doesn't.) You do have to sign up to get in there. Did I tell you, it is SO FUN~!! :o)

Twilight - The Movie

Wow, I know....two posts in one day!! I just have to comment on Twilight. Katie has managed to get Barb and me acting like a couple of giddy teenagers over this series of books and the upcoming movie. Rob Pattinson, though a bit dorky in interviews, most certainly channels the character of Edward just as perfectly as I've imagined him! We are looking forward to the movie's release in December!


Back in August, Stephenie Meyer was at a local Border's for a book signing. It was so cool for Katie to meet her and get to speak to her.


Steph liked Katie's shirt!

Got Mustard?

Look what a wiener dog Phoenix is turning out to be! The cool thing is that when I first saw his picture (below), I had no idea that he had any dachschund in him. It's always been my dream to have a beagle and dachschund . . . and now I do!

School's out! While we enjoy the mild summer days before the full force humidity and heat hits, we've been spending lots of time in the sun room with the windows flung open and also much time out on the deck. Emily's been doing really well since the surgery. That nerve block was wonderful. She only had some minimal pain and is already off the pain pills.

Cast, Crutches - Take 2!

Emily had outpatient foot surgery this morning. If you recall this, her broken foot turned out to be a blessing in disguise. It was discovered on the xrays that she had a noncancerous cyst in her right heel. The doctor called it, "like walking on eggshells," as the bone could have shattered if she would have jumped or come down on it firmly.

They made a two-inch incision on the right side of her heel, scraped out the cyst and filled it with cadaver bone graft material ("dead people bones!" Emily petulantly calls it!) Next week she goes for her cast which she'll wear for six weeks.



This picture was taken right before surgery. She has a phobia of needles. Shortly after this, the nice anesthesiologist okayed her going under the mask before the IV was inserted. She also had a nerve block, so she has no feeling in her leg. She's flying around the house on crutches like nothing right now. I have the Tylenol with codeine ready for when that block wears off!