Letter to a fixator

Dear Fixator,
I know we've had a love/hate relationship over these last 5 months. We knew you'd be the right choice to help our strong boy grow.  We knew it wasn't going to be an easy process. But, like all challenges you've brought strength to all who have known you or known about you. You have helped our family grow stronger and closer by seeing how amazing a 3 year old can be when faced with tough times.
You've banged up quite a few things in our house and on our bodies, so it's clear you've made your mark.
Now, that you are no longer a part of Jeffrey's leg, literally, I think we can reconcile and appreciate all that you've done. Truce?
From this day forward, you will forever make sweet music as a set of wind chimes hanging in Jeffrey's room. This will be a reminder of the blessings you have bestowed on our family.
You will also be remembered every Christmas, as part of you will adorn our tree as a Christmas ornament for 2010.
We will see this fixator life again in a few years when one of your fixator friends takes us down the lengthening road once more.

Fixatorless :)

Peace out, fixator!

Love,
The Schwanti

I love my man!

I would be remiss if I didn't mention how great I've got it! I went back to work 2 weeks ago and it was a strange transition for both of us.
The man who lives with me, who wishes to receive no recognition so I won't mention any names, has been an awesome stay-at-home-dad for the past 2 weeks. I've come home to a clean house, laundered clothes, and a cooked meal. He has been busting his butt playing with the kids, doing pincare, physical therapy and keeping the house amazing!
He has completed more projects (finding the laundry room, cleaning out cabinets, finding the floor in our bedroom...etc) than I have in the summer months and my 3 months of family leave combined! So...since this person did not want any attention, I say thank you to the man on manternity who takes care of his family in all senses of the word! Love you!

Question Machines

Where have we been? Well, it's been busy around here. I do LOVE to keep up with the blog, however being back to work and busy at home cause me to fall asleep faster than usual.
Jamie and I have decided to rename our children, jointly. Their new name(s) are "WhoWhatWhenWhereWhy?" It's like a new game/hidden camera show they play. How many questions can we ask mom and dad before one of them literally explodes??
Jack and Jeffrey are fans specifically of the words "what" and "why".
I came close to losing it last night when Jeff was in the car with me. We had just gone to Walgreens to pick up Jack's meds (for his 1st official ear infection of the season) and Jeff wanted a lollipop. No problem, we get the meds, my debit card, the receipt and the lollipop. All Jeffrey cares about is holding his lollipop. I hand it to him and begin our drive home. I pull over about a minute later only to begin to freak out about not finding my debit card.
From the moment I slowed down, Jeff's questions began. "Why are we stoppin? What kind of lollipop is this? Why aren't we going home? Why did you stop the car? Where are we? Is this a shortcut?" My patience was long thrown out the window when I tried my hardest to quiet him down. "Jeffrey,...dear,...please stop asking me questions. I am trying to find my debit card."
"What's a dennit card? Why did you lose it?" GGGGGGGGGRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!

Merry Christmas

Guess who is getting an early Christmas present...give up? It's us!!!
Jeffrey had his clinic appointment in Baltimore on Monday at 8:30. After xrays and talking to the doc it looks like we will be scheduling surgery to get his fixator off on December 21st!!! How exciting!!! This came as sort of a surprise but a wishful thought in the back of my mind. I knew that some of his friends from the Hackerman-Patz House had been getting theirs off last week and this week so our time would be soon.
Here is the xray from Monday, the 29th:

Super cool regenerate bone. Gotta love technology!

Bein' silly. Check out that knee bend!!

What happens during the surgery is Jeffrey will go to sleep (sounds so peaceful, right?) and the doctor will take out the fixator screws. He will then drill a hole through the head of his femur and insert a rod. This is to help prevent a break in his femur since the bone is still quite pliable. He will be casted from hip to foot, probably. It may be a hard cast or a removable one. He'll wear that cast for 2-4 weeks and then begin physical therapy again. This operation requires one overnight stay so we'll be at Hackerman for a few nights and the hospital for one. This'll make for a very lazy Christmas break. Nice!

So, we keep taking our Flintstone bone building vitamins, drinking our chocolate milk, and trying to keep him from running and hopping. It's been a fun journey for momma being home. Now...the boys get to enjoy their daddy all day long :)

Jeffrey, my hero!