We're Back! Legs are healed and the Purcells are functional again.

 I'm warning you right now this is going to be a super discombobulated post of randomness. But I figure something is better than nothing, right?

Here's what Caleb's been into of late:

Falling asleep in the car when we drive anywhere before his nap, then skipping his nap that day. But other than that, he's become a MUCH better napper. He does require being nestled into my pregnancy full body pillow though to get his full three-hour nap, which feels a little high maintenance.

Coloring! But only with pointy and/or staining writing implements, such as pens, markers, and colored pencils. I think those are some cucumbers in his bowl-- he likes those. 

And... he got his cast off! It was a pretty traumatic day (each time we've taken him in for x-rays it's taken 3 adults to hold him down-- and since I'm pregnant I can't be in the room with him). Not going to lie-- the cast was super annoying. On one of the worst days, we got this super cute care package from my sister-in-law. It made everyone's day!

Caleb is OBSESSED with trains (or "Thomases," as he calls them), so the stickers have been a huge hit. He often requests sticker books as a bed time story, and my narration is always a little lacking ("here's a circle where a sticker used to be, and here's half a sticker that you tore apart, and here's a train!"), but Caleb never seems to mind. 

 Caleb turned two! This has always been sort of a weird birthday to me, I knew what one-year olds and three-year olds were like, but two is sort of an in-between. Now that Caleb is two, it's fun getting to know his little personality better as he continues to grow and develop. He definitely is a little helper and generally obedient. He definitely has his toddler moments, but if they gave children a percentile for their level of easiness, he has gone up at least 80 points since he was a newborn.

We had a very Amazon birthday, and I decided to take full advantage of Caleb's state of semi-non-awareness of what was going on and not wrap presents this year. Next year, I know I'm not going to get away with that. Plus this was still in the midst of the crazy leg crisis, so that's another excuse. 

2 already and old enough to attempt to blow out his candles!

My whole family was here and Aaron's parents joined us via Skype.

Loving his "ano" from Grandma and Grandpa Inouye!

My mother-in-law found this awesome rug. Caleb loves it as much as I do. He likes just laying on it and pointing out all the trains.

 For Halloween, Caleb was a pumpkin.

The day before actual Halloween Caleb re-injured his leg (luckily it wasn't broken, so he just had to wear the walking boot again for a week and a half), and Aaron was out of town, so we just stayed in. I wasn't really in the mood to push Caleb in his stroller up to every door by myself. So glad we went to the ward Trunk or Treat a few days earlier! He sure was excited about giving and getting candy (though sometimes he would take candy when he was supposed to be giving it, and vice versa). 

 And, in case you missed the Facebook announcement...

We are very excited! Caleb was most likely excited about something else in this picture (like a parent making faces), but I think he'll get plenty jazzed about it over the next couple months. I hope. 

And a quick preview of some SUPER cute pictures that a friend in our ward took for us. We think she did an awesome job. 

Two ER Trips in Two Days. WHAT?!?!

A subtitle to this post could be, "In which Lauren complains and rants, making for a possibly annoying read." You have been warned.

I'm pretty sure I've never been to the emergency room in my life, except for when I went into labor with Caleb. And possibly when I stuck a raisin really far up my nose when I was a toddler. My mom always referred to that as a "raisinectomy," but I'm not positive that is a real medical term.

But this week Aaron went to the ER on Wednesday for a dislocated knee, and Caleb went on Thursday for a broken leg. Now I am the only member of the family that can walk or drive competently.

Aaron was riding the T (the Boston under- and above-ground subway system) to work Wednesday morning, and it was really crowded as usual. He was standing in the stairwell and turned to let someone go by when his kneecap just popped out of place-- basically 90 degrees around to the other side of his leg (sorry, no one thought to get a picture). He couldn't move, so they had to stop the T while an ambulance came to take him to the hospital. Finally, two hours later, they popped his knee back in place.

Meanwhile, the paramedic called me and I thought I had to rush over to the hospital, so I grabbed Caleb and put his sweet little high-tops on over his footed dinosaur sleeper and drove straight to the hospital. It turns out they don't really want kids there (plus Caleb is in the peak of his button obsession, and that's not really a great obsession to have in the ER). So, luckily, I was able to drop him off with my friend and then drove back to the hospital. At that point Aaron had had all his X-rays so they let me in to see him. I think the worst of his pain was over, but he was still pretty pale and exhausted. They released him, with an immobilizing brace which he needs to wear for two weeks before moving on to a more flexible brace. They're trying to avoid knee surgery, so Aaron is going to do physical therapy for 8-10 weeks. We're counting our blessings that Aaron can still get his work done and that we have great health insurance, but it is kind of an inconvenient time with Aaron pushing to study for the GMAT in October.

Then, Thursday (as in the next day), cute little Caleb tripped over a kitchen whisk he had been playing with (he likes to mix things in bowls), and fractured his tibia. It didn't even look like a bad fall, but he cried HARD for half an hour. This from the kid that touched a lightbulb in a lamp and didn't cry when he got a second degree burn. He refused to walk on it, so after much denial, I finally agreed with Aaron that, yes, we did need to return to the Emergency Room. We took him back to the same hospital ER Aaron had been too, and the lady, after being surprised to see us AGAIN, sent us to the Children's Hospital ER, (which, in retrospect, I guess makes sense). We were in the ER from about 5PM to 10PM. Caleb was finally allowed to eat dinner at 9 while he was getting his cast on. Luckily, he only has to wear it for three weeks. But I can already tell they are going to be a LONG three weeks, given the fact that I swear that thing adds an extra seven pounds, and Caleb hasn't figured out how to walk in it yet. He is so frustrated to have it on. And none of his pants fit over it. We had to come home from the hospital with just his diaper on his bottom half. I went to Target today to pick up some sweat pants for him because those seem to work okay. And, as a personal favor to protect his dignity and mine, I would ask that nobody smell him in the next three weeks.

In the waiting room with his cool hospital gown.

Caleb finally gets to eat his vending machine dinner at 9PM!

His jeans wouldn't fit, so he had to go home with no pants. He didn't seem to ashamed, though.

I guess it is what it is. And when all is said and done, our family has become much more grateful for legs this month!

Back to Virginia! Thank goodness for grandparents!

Aaron's been super busy at work lately-- not quite as bad as banking hours, but close enough to make me nearly lose my mind (i.e., home no earlier than midnight on weekdays and most Saturdays for about six months straight). Luckily, D.C. is a super easy and cheap flight away from Boston, so we went back again for our third trip there this year. It was wonderful to sleep in sometimes and take naps occasionally. Seriously rejuvenating. 

We went to the zoo and rode the train. Caleb seemed pretty oblivious when he was actually on it, but passing it again he went crazy screaming "Choo choo! Choo choo!" He wanted to ride it again.

My mom is always on the lookout for ways to turn our house into a super fun zone-- so this was the latest acquisition. Here it is fort-style. Caleb LOVED sliding down. Toddlers are so light they really fly down this thing. Caleb usually bounces once at the bottom before coming to a stop. I tried it (pretty sure I'm over the weight limit), and it was a little less exciting. Think slow slide to gradual stop.

We went back to Chuck E. Cheese again, and it was still a big hit. Caleb was actually pretty good at this Sponge Bob game. He got almost 25 tickets in one go.

My brother flew in as a surprise for my mom's birthday (no one knew). Caleb thought "uh-Mah" (Uncle Matt) was amazing and hilarious.

We took some time to visit Great Falls.

My mom's training Caleb up to be a news-junkie. (He's sure not going to get it from me.) 

It was sad to leave my plush living situation, but great to see Aaron again when we flew back to Massachusetts. We did a little day trip down to Rhode Island (usually Aaron can get in a morning of fun time before it's back to the grind).

We actually mostly wanted to go just to eat at this little lunch place called Rosemary and Thyme because it is AMAZING. We went once when Aaron's parents were here and we were blown away. So we made the two hour drive down only to discover that they were closed!! Sad day. We stopped at Wendy's on the way back. Turns out Caleb likes Frosties. But who doesn't, really? 

Trip to Virginia and More

Time for the monthly-ish photo dump!

Lots of trips to the park (Caleb loves the sandbox the most)

Playing at the Frog Pond downtown. 

We got passes to the Museum of Science so we'd have somewhere to go with air conditioning. Caleb is clearly more intrigued by the stool than the gigantic triceratops skeleton behind him.

Went to the aquarium-- this was not a big hit. (Dark lighting and ominous large floating objects apparently aren't Caleb's ingredients for a grand day out.) Maybe next year. 

Caleb loves to cook and help me out in the kitchen.

Visit to the Lexington Green.

Sometimes he tires himself out.

Finished replacing torn letters in his room.

And added some numbers.

 

Whoops, embarrassing. You can see my finger. But the point of this picture was to show how we visited my parents in Virginia. We visited Frying Pan Park and saw the animals.

Caleb also helped water the trash can (and plants).

He loved playing the "ano."

We went to Chuck E. Cheese where he had more fun than all previous science museum trip combined.

His favorite part was putting in the token. Luckily this excitement has carried over to putting quarters in the washers and dryers when we do laundry.

And... I started a personal finance blog with my good friend Lisa. Check it out! And if you really want to do me a favor, like us on Facebook.

Button, button, who's got the button?

It's time for another photo dump!

Caleb is really into buttons these days, so whether we're at the zoo or any of the wonderful children's museums here in Boston, he gravitates towards the buttons (even if the associated exhibit is broken). He played with the one at the zoo for fifteen minutes (that was one of the broken ones). I was starting to lose my sanity.

And he's started climbing. Fortunately he is only into going up, not down. We're hoping that translates into not crawling (and falling) out of the crib any time soon. Several times I walked out of the room only to return and find Caleb in unexpected places. (Please note that I was ready to catch him in both of these pictures.)

There are a lot of awesome parks near our house. Caleb loves them (especially the water). His love of playgrounds has survived in spite of a run-in with a crazy four-year-old girl who tried to squeeze him to death before I could get to him. We saw her at the park again a week later from 20 feet away and Caleb completely froze and clung to my leg in terror. 

Aaron humored me and let me dress him and Caleb in matchy-matchy clothes. (The sacrifice of dignity counted as one of my birthday presents.)

We went to the Museum of Science and visited the little space pod. Caleb's shadow is standing at attention!

Went on a date night to Ben & Jerry's and World War Z courtesy of Valerie! I always hope seeing a good old fashioned zombie apocalypse movie will jump start my emergency preparedness efforts.

I found a stowaway, (or should I say MANY stowaways?!?) in my Amazon box. There was a webbed pouch that contained a live spider and her egg sac. Sick. They gave me 10% off what was in the box, but frankly, I think that did not fully compensate for the emotional trauma.

And here's a bonus picture with no explanation.

Liebster Award

Be warned: This post is a whole lot of Lauren with no cute pictures of Caleb, which, let's be real, is the only reason my readership (aKa the grandparents) follow this blog.

My friend Lisa tagged me for a Liebster Award (if you clicked on this post because you thought I had won an actual award, I'm sorry to disappoint you) which entails the following:

1. Post 11 random facts about yourself.
2. Choose deserving bloggers and tag them in your post.
3. Tell them you've tagged them.
4. Answer 11 questions the tagger has asked you and give 11 questions to the people you've tagged.
5. No tag backs.

I've chosen to do my Liebster a la carte and only follow rule 1 and rule 4 (the first half).

The Random Facts

1. I loathe seafood.
2. I love oatmeal and have trained Caleb into tolerating it (since that's what he gets every morning...)
3. I love getting rid of clutter and organizing (the great purge of 2012 was ruthless and oh-so-gratifying.

   

   Words cannot even describe how excited I was about these wire shelf dividers.

4. I'm a Mormon.
5. Our BYU team won first place in a national tax competition. What? You didn't know they had tax competitions?? Don't worry-- only the participants and their parents know about them.
   
6. I go on kicks- right now it's healthy eating, so hopefully it's a long kick.
7. I am a personal efficiency nerd and a huge proponent of David Allen. Fellow GTD-ers, are you out there?
8. I love money! Not in a greedy way, but in a personal finance kind of way. One of my life goals is to get all of my friends to open up a Roth IRA to save for retirement and a 529 plan to save for their kids' educations. Do it today! 
9. I have a master's degree in accounting from BYU and got my CPA license (currently inactive since I decided to stay home with Caleb. 
10. I love drawing, painting, reading, and writing. All through high school I thought 100 percent I would be a liberal arts major.

    

    Drew this in high school

11. I used to be a Democrat and now I'm a Republican. But I still like to think of myself as open-minded and aware of the fact that my opinions are shaped by my life-experiences which are unique to me. This world is complex and there are very few one-size fits all answers!

Lisa's Questions for Me

1. Superpower you wish you had: the ability to make my children fall asleep on the plane. Note that I'm not asking for this ability in everyday life because I'm pretty sure I would abuse my power.
2. Favorite musical artist you're embarrassed to admit you love: oh man, there are so many. But to limit damage to my image I'll just pick one- Miley Cyrus.
3. If you had to re-live one year of your life what would it be? Fall 2006-spring 2007. That was the junior year of the accounting program and a total blast. Valerie and I even started the JCoPPC (Junior Core Party Planning Committee). 
4. Favorite flower: lilies
5. What are you reading right now: How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character.
6. Favorite ride at Disneyland/World: Soarin' Over California. Or the Buzz Lightyear one where you shoot aliens if I were better at it.
7. Pet peeve: abuse and misuse of the reply all feature on emails.
8. Dream church calling: early-morning seminary teacher (but only after all my kids are out of the house. Until then, it's on my list of nightmare callings.)
9. Favorite chick flick: Clueless, Emma, or Persuasion
10. Skydiving? I'd have done it before I had a kid.
11. Money is no object, where would you most like to spend a week? London, seeing a different musical each night.

Catch-up Photo Dump

I'm behind again on blogging. Shocking, right? So instead of trying to do a quality post-- I'm just going to photo dump on you all to get caught up through May.

Caleb's first dentist appointment!

$80 round-trip ticket to DC (including taxes, fees, and baggage) to see the grandparents?? Yes, please.

Play dates. (Real men play with kitchens.)

Caleb's favorite part of the zoo.

Boston marathon (explosions had not yet occurred, but we were 2 miles from the finish, and so we and everyone we knew were safe)

Made it out of Boston the day before the city went into lockdown after the explosions to go on our planned trip to California (Caleb is testing out the headphones).

Had so much fun with our wonderful hosts, Lisa and Blake (yes, Caleb wanted to switch laps). For those of you who haven't heard me talk about how awesome Lisa is yet, she is one of my best friends from college (a fellow accountant-- and that bond runs deep). You can check out her much more thorough account of the trip here).

Impromptu business meeting ("Whatever, dude. Wait-- don't hit F1! Now we have to wait for the help screen to load.")

Caleb, Blake, and Aubrey (my friend Paige's daughter) playing together. Lisa, Paige, and I were study buddies in the accounting program, so it was fun to see the little ones together. (We failed to get a picture of the three adults.)

Lovely Lisa had my brother, Matt, and his girlfriend, Kim, over for dinner-- so much fun. Matt pointed out that there are 2.25 Asians in this picture.

Caleb and Blake living it up at Happy Hollow.

A week after we got back, Aaron's parents flew out to visit us. We are so lucky to have such wonderful parents and grandparents on both sides of the family!! Here we are at the Vanderbilts' summer "cottage" in Newport, Rhode Island. We love being able to jump states in just a little over an hour's car ride. 

My mother-in-law is super artistic and got some great shots of our little guy.

My friend Valerie (also an accountant and basically the key "network node" in getting Aaron and I together in the first place) and I ran a 5K. We look like we hardly broke a sweat right? (Picture taken before race.)

It's been a great few months! We're so blessed to have such wonderful family and friends!