Laughter is the best medicine

Miriam has been doing extremely well with her sling. She is feeling so much better and healing well. The doctor said she would get a huge knot where her collar bone was healing. The knot is definitely there, so we hope this means she is healing correctly. We go back for a follow up visit next week. She has been using her arm a lot more and it is getting harder to keep her arm in the sling just because she feels better and wants to use it. One of her major hurdles has been trying to sign with the sling on.

Miriam's knot on her collar bone

Miriam is always one to keep everyone entertained. Since we are at Grandma's house she knows she gets all the attention. She loves cracking herself up and making everyone else laugh too. When you ask her a question she looks at the ceiling and says "umm", like she is thinking of the answer. She likes to make funny faces. Since we are so close to an airport Miriam gets to see a lot of airplanes which she loves. She also loves tractors and trucks. However, she is extremely girly in most ways. She loves jewelry and shoes. She loves trying on shoes at the store. When she picks up clothes off the rack at the store she holds them up to her body to "check for fit". She likes to pick out what she is going to wear each day. Miriam loves to read books. When we ask her what the book says she holds it close to her face and babbles like she is reading. Some of her new favorite words and phrases are gross, it's dark, rainbow, my turn, oops, Gus (Grandma and Grandpa's dog), and snuggle. We are so glad that Miriam is happy and keeps us laughing everyday.

one of Miriam's silly faces

Latest Finds

Today at the garage sales we found a bunch of Little People. We got Noah's Ark, the construction site, a ABC tree-house, and an addition to the barn. Miriam loves playing with all the animals. I also got Miriam a cute umbrella for $1, two shelves for Miriam's room for $1 each, and another Baby Bjorn for my sister for $8. We are headed to a huge consignment sale next Saturday.

THIS JUST IN

I just got a call from Michael about 10 minutes ago, I am so excited that I had to get on and post right now. I want everyone to know how wonderful he is. I am so proud of his accomplishment. Are you ready to read some bragging about my husband?

MICHAEL PASSED ALL FOUR PARTS OF THE CPA EXAM!!!

I am so happy that he worked so hard all summer to take the test. He is so smart (he did really well on all four parts). It is such a relief to have it all over so he can now concentrate on starting his new job. Michael was training at his new job all last week and will finish training this week. Way to go Michael!

I love a deal

On Saturday we decided to hit up some yard sales. One of the neighborhoods around here was having a community yard sale, so there were many sales to chose from. We basically drove around looking for toys. We got a Baby Bjorn carrier for $2.50, a Little People Zoo for $4, a puzzle for $1, and my favorite find was the cozy coupe for $2.50! Miriam loves it. She cried when we had to put it in the car to take it home. She thought we were taking it away. She was so happy to see it waiting for her when we got back. I seriously love the yard sales out here. We are going to hit more this weekend.

miriam trying her best to play with one arm

Miriam's big break

Sunday after church Michael's sister, Rebecca, asked if she could pick up Miriam from nursery. When she brought her to me I could tell she had been crying and then she broke down again when she saw me. I asked if they said what had happened in nursery. Rebecca said she fell backwards off a small bench. Michael took her to try to calm her down, but she was inconsolable. We took her home to feed her lunch but she wouldn't eat. She just wanted to lay on me and so I let her fall asleep. Forty-five minutes later she was awake again and she was screaming. We noticed she wouldn't turn her head to the right. We decided to call the nursery leader to find out what happened for sure. She is a nurse and said she felt her head for bumps, but thought we should get her checked out. We decided to take her to an urgent care to make sure she didn't break her neck (or something like that). They took x-rays of her neck and the doctor said there wasn't anything broken. He said she just had whiplash with some sore muscles.

Miriam signing "hurt" to me on Monday

We spent Monday just hanging out on the couch. She didn't want to move at all, so I propped her up on some pillows so she could watch Signing Time. Later that afternoon I got a call back from the urgent care facility saying after the radiologist re-examined the x-rays he couldn't rule out a break because Miriam was so small and the images weren't clear. They recommended we take her to the ER to get a CT scan as soon as possible. As soon as Michael got home from work we took her in. So off to the hospital we went. When we got there as part of protocol they had to put her in a neck brace and on a back board. (The only pictures we got were on Michael's phone and now we can't get them off.) The poor thing was so sad, I was trying so hard to keep it together. She had to leave it on until the CT scan was over, she was much happier once they took it off. The doctor came back, checked Miriam, and said that there wasn't a break and diagnosed her with a cervical strain. She discharged her and told us to follow up with a pediatrician in a couple of days.

Tuesday was spent much like Monday, on the couch with Miriam not wanting to move much. She told me it hurt every time she moved. We were really careful with her neck and shoulders. Tuesday night when Michael brought Miriam down to bed she started crying a lot and didn't want to take a bath. Michael said it seems like she isn't moving her left arm. While she was in the bath I also noticed she wouldn't move her left arm. Then I saw that her left shoulder was a little lower than her right. I felt her collar bone and definitely felt something move. All I could think was that deep down I knew that the cervical strain wasn't right. Call it mother's intuition or whatever, but I felt like there was something more.

This morning I made an appointment with a pediatrician. I told her of the concerns we had after last night. She felt Miriam's collar bone and said she knew it was broken without even needing a x-ray. At this point I was mostly relieved. I was just glad to finally know what was wrong. The doctor sent us to x-ray just to find out what kind of break it was. Michael was at work, so Miriam and I headed back to the hospital for a clavicle x-ray. The pediatrician called me quickly and luckily we didn't need to head to an orthopedic doctor. She has to wear a sling for 3 weeks before we go back to the doctor. She was much happier today and has been such a great sport with the sling. Her collar bone should heal just fine.

Michael and Miriam (showing off her sling)

The Start of Real Life

Michael's first day of work is today. He is starting life as a real working man. I am so proud of how hard he has worked to get here. He is a great husband and father. We have enjoyed having him home with us for the past three weeks, but I know he is ready to start working again. Michael was very excited to head off to the office today. He doesn't enjoy sitting around too much. Miriam will miss having her dad around to help her all day.

National Zoo 2

Last summer when we were out here on an internship we took Miriam to the zoo. She was really too young to enjoy it then, but she had a great time at the zoo today. There is a Signing Time episode called The Zoo Train that Miriam loves. We rode the metro down to the zoo and Miriam thought riding the "train" to the zoo was great. She knows a lot of the signs for the animals and loved seeing them up close. Her favorite animal is definitely a gorilla. We had to go back twice to see the baby gorilla. Enjoy some pictures.

Baltimore

We headed up to Baltimore today with Michael's family. We walked around the inner harbor before heading to the National Aquarium of Baltimore. While at the aquarium we were able to catch a really great dolphin show. After the aquarium we went to have lunch in the park. It was a fun, relaxing day. Miriam loved the jellyfish the most.

Miriam driving a ship

Baltimore Harbor

outside the aquarium

Miriam leaning over to see the rays

checking out the fish

Michael's great shot of the dolphin show

checking out the jellyfish

family picture with lovely fish

Miriam pointing at the shark

I didn't disappoint with the pictures this time, did I? There were so many to post. We hope everyone has a great Labor Day weekend. We are going to have ribs on Monday... jealous?