Join us in the adventures of our family, with our Belarussian Prince, Guatemalan Princessa and Ukrainian Princesses!


Thursday, October 31, 2013

Happy Halloween!!




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Tuesday, October 22, 2013

another Philly trip!

Thursday pm we headed down to Philly :)
Friday am cast off!! :) Purple cast on!

We passed this on our way to RMH in Camden :)

Dr vB is working her knee as well as her foot! :)

Friday afternoon had time to kill so we went to the Camden aquarium!

touching a shark!

the view from Camden over the river to Philly! :)

cute penguins

have to pet a ray!

the hippos are always the highlight!

"touching" sharks!
 Then we headed back to rmh as she was tired.
We had a group come in to do crafts Saturday am :)
started with a scavenger hunt and then prizes!


then it was time to color halloween mugs

Gerri showing Ms Lesley how to make a bracelet with your fingers :)
Ivan had fun too!

everyone getting into the bracelet making business :)

relaxing with Brayden :)

chillin out with Ivan's ds :)
 Sunday night we had new volunteers :)
helping stir the batter for cupcakes!

time for arts and crafts!

who me? I am not eating a chocolate cupcake?!?! 
Monday morning back to Shriners for a cast change!
after only 3 casts!

almost flat! :)

camo for daddy!!
before her first cast her knee had lost much of its rom and we were at 30 degrees. this is cats #4 and we are at 45 degrees!

cast #4
We left right after casting, with some pain medicine on board and made it home in 6 hours!!
We love our philly families, love getting to meet new people. I think it is very important for Gerri to see kids "like" her, with arthrogryposis, with scars, with casts, with walkers etc.
She is doing so well, this 4th case was a bit more uncomfortable, but she was back to school on Tuesday and happy!
We leave again thursday afternoon for casting on Friday am, stay all weekend again for casting monday.
We hope to only have 2 weekends left, but you just never know!!

The hardest part is being torn between home and philly, there just is not enough time to get everything done :(
and being stuck in philly while your baby is sick at home just stinks:(
I am sure by next week I will be totally worn down, but hopefully we will be near the end.
big picture!! :)

Thursday, October 17, 2013

Back in Philly!

Knowing we would be heading back to Philly for some casting, we took the girls out for some fun:

we just love the home depot kids crafts!

need more paint!

they were SO intent! :)
 Victoria and Danny stayed home with dad while Gerri and I headed to Philly. Since we have to travel a distance to see Dr vB we do serial casting differently, we do casts on Friday, Monday, Friday, Monday etc. So we end up staying in Philly over the weekend. Unfortunately Gerri has to miss school two days a week while we do this.
Gerri was not too worried about the cast going on, it is the cast coming off that she dreads. she has been cut a few times and after a few casts her leg and foot get very sensitive. Each cast gets harder :( Her first cast was not bad since she knew she only had to have it put on :)
chillin out listening to her tunes
(you can see how much her left foot has relapsed with her growth spurt this summer)
 one of the best things about going to Philly is meeting other AMC friends! :)
we love you Monroe!!! :)
 totally by accident there was a Ukrainian Festival in the next town over. Since we had time to kill we figured why not head over! :)
in front of the stage
(mobile - she was able to walk all around)

how cute is this?!?!
 Lots of items for sale!

 Gerri loved the dolls!


face paint!

Yummy!!
 The show was amazing!!

The performers were incredible!
these little were in the daycare

very proud of her shirt!! :)
 I spoke some russian to the vendors and other folks, Gerri was totally clueless. She had to keep asking me how to say thank you . she really had no idea what anyone was saying at all :(
We had a great weekend, very quiet, kind of boring just us :)
watching a movie on my computer in the hotel room
 The closer to Monday we got the more nervous she got. Monday am she was up at 5 am tossing and turning. I decided she needed to relax before she got herself all worked up and gave her some pain medicine she gets before every cast.
playing with her new monster high doll :)
 I had her wear her new monster high head phones and play her music loud while having the cast off. I have no pictures since I had to hold her down to keep her from moving all over the place.  This process is hard, but luckily it was over quickly and no cuts. It took her a bit to calm down again.

waiting on xrays

this blue tape is something new dr vB is trying on the bigger kids. It goes along both sides under that plaster. so when the saw cuts through the cast it does not go through the thick tape. Can't wait to see if it makes a difference tomorrow when she has her cast taken off.
 so today we drove back to Philly, casting tomorrow (Friday) and Monday again. Dr already added on next weekend, but hopefully Monday he will be happy and next weekend will be it. I don't think so, but here's hoping!!
The good thing about the cast is that her foot is in a more normal position and held there. this is flattening her foot again and has taken away the pain she had when she was walking on the side of her foot. the cast also cushions the big callous she has on the side of her foot.
trying to decide what we will do this weekend, don't think there are any more festivals around :)

Sunday, October 6, 2013

Ms V's birthday! :)

she decided she wanted a monster high birthday
decorations everywhere

her new birthday clothes


she loved these life size pics :)

all ready for school 

all ready for her birthday dinner

she got her big girl opal earrings - just what she wanted!!

the cake I made! :) very happy how it came out!

tired birthday girl waiting for her cousins to come over for the family party!!

hanging around!

Harry the birthday boy :) very happy to play along!

the kids chilling while we waited for pizza

Harry opening his cards :)

ms V got a bunch of things, she loved this skirt!

so excited to get her dream lite!! (she is dressed in her halloween costume - Cleo DeNile)

another favorite gift!

then it was time for pumpkins!!

uncle mike did the hard stuff!

the boys had a great time!

what an awesome job!!

candle time!!
 we had a great time with everyone! it is SO nice to be back with family again!! :)
the kids slept late on Saturday!
Sunday was football time!!
Danny and Grampy chilling out!

the girls doing puzzles

she ate the last piece of her birthday cake! :)