Trick-or-Treat Street

Cora and I were invited by our neighbors to go to "Trick-or-Treet Street" being held at the I-X Center. THey had it set up with a "street" around the edge that the kids could stop at different "houses" and get candy. In the middle were all sorts of kid-sized fair rides. Cora surprised me by wanting to go on some of the rides and overall I think she had a blast! It was nice to get out with people of our age and have a fun time too! Due to me not being too in to Halloween and not being overly creative when it comes to costumes our neighbor let us borrow her girls' tu-tu, princess hat, a wand and sparkly purse. I only barely got the tu-tu on Cora! :) Oh, well, she's cute regardless! 

I hope Cora and "J" become good friends. J is a few months older than Cora.

This is J and her sister E. Cora thought this was the life, being strolled around and having candy handed to her! :) 

We found some pumpkins for a cute photo op!

All the girls! 

Taking a ride on a real live pony!

She LOVED it!!!!!!! I had to pull her off the pony!

On her first fair ride--LOVED it!

She and J would smile and wave every time they came around to us.

Unfortunately, she wanted to ride this ride--just like the teacups at Disney World. I was not impressed, but she thought it was grand!

My little princess fairy ballerina, or...just plain cutie! :)

Apparently, princess fairy ballerinas can't feed themselves! :) J would lick all the cheese off and then we found Cora eating the cracker...oy vey!

Not too impressed with this ride. It was REALLY fast and we thought too fast for the little ones. Oh well! She lived! :) 

Mmmmmm... M&M's! :) 

From Plaster to Gortex

Cora had a bit of a mishap a week ago at the playground. We've discovered this GREAT playground just 2 blocks from our house and have had lots of fun playing on it! Two Sunday's ago Cora and I were coming down the slide and unbeknownst to me her foot was caught under herself. She was not happy when we reached the end and was crying. We could tell she was in pain. We decided to just give her ibuprofen for the night (since it was right before bedtime) and see how she was in the morning. She was NOT good and we decided to take her to a pediatric ER nearby. They took X-rays, which showed a tiny little break in her leg between her knee and ankle. We were set up with a pediatric orthopedic doctor and she got a cast on last week on Tues. She only has to have it one for 4 weeks (2 weeks and 6 days, but who's counting???) and she can do whatever she's able to figure out to do--she's starting to walk on it now! We're also allowed to bathe her like normal due to the cast being made out of gortex! Who knew? This is not your grandmother's cast--or our childhood cast, for that matter! I was fascinated by the process that I took lots of photos!

This is the little pre-cast they put on her to keep her leg stable until we got into the orthopedic dr. the next day. 

First, they wrapped her leg in the gortex...

Then they put this blue path on each side so they know where to cut when it's time to do so...

Then her leg was wrapped in white/clear fiber glass...

And, finally, the blue fiber glass cast. Yes, she picked out the blue color! :) 

Here she's chillaxin' while the cast dries.

It was apparently a long day at the hospital. She actually fell asleep. I think this makes TWICE in her life now...

Then and Now

At the beginning of the summer Cora HATED grass...

...by the end of summer she was willingly running through it and we could hardly get her to come inside!

At the beginning of summer, Cora had hardly any hair...

Now, she has lots! It just can't decide to be curly or straight! 

By the end she LOVED it and couldn't get enough!

At the beginning of summer, Cora was a little nervous about water...

She got to milk a "cow" at the Farm Days at COSI...

Play in a fountain...

Learn how to color and draw...

Continuing in her love of reading...

Got her own room--FINALLY!

And still loves balloons! It's a been a great summer! At her 18 month check-up, Cora measured 33 1/2 inches tall and is 28 lbs! She's totally healthy and coming right along! It's been a great summer/fall and we're looking forward to winter fun! :) 

Um, Cora...

Says Molly to Cora: "Um, Cora? I don't think you're gonna like it in there...."

Says Cora to Mom: "MOM! STOP TAKING PICTURES AND GET ME OUT OF HERE! Molly was SO right! I DON'T like it in here!"

Sigh...I love my daughter! :) 

Our First Supper

We were so excited to sit down as a family in our own house. It took a few nights before we were able to actually sleep in the house, so it was a few nights before I cooked anything. But, when we did, we sat down to tacos and brownies! I can't think of a much better way to spend our first night as a family in our new, wonderful, God-given home!

I love these two. They are my life!

I'd say she enjoyed her brownie! :) 

Apparently, according to Molly, just because we're in a new house doesn't mean we should get rid of old habits (begging).

Mmmmm... I could go for one of these right now...

I think we enjoyed the tacos... :) 

Full Circle

So, last Sunday I was sitting in church, the church God has brought us to, the church my husband gets to be the preacher/pastor/shepherd of, and I couldn't help but think of where we were last year. It seems life has come full circle. Last year we were very much unsure of where God would be sending us, where he would be using us, where we would be living, etc. And now, here we are in Bedford, OH! God is so good!!!!

Slides ARE evil!

I don't usually do 2 blogs in a day, but I am today! Last night, David, Cora, Molly and I went to this playground 2 blocks from our house to play before bedtime. Cora has been afraid for slides the last couple times, so we thought we'd help her. Well, she and David went down and all was fun and fine and dandy. So, I thought I'd give it a go. All was NOT fun, fine OR dandy. Unbeknownst to me, Cora's foot had gotten caught under my leg, or something. In any case we kept going and her leg was a little further behind. We thought it was just her foot that was affected so we opted to not take her to the ER last night, as it didn't seem to bother her to have her foot touched, etc. The only thing plaguing us (me) was she wasn't putting any weight on her leg/foot. When she woke up this morning at 3:30 screaming I got up with her, gave her more ibuprofen, rocked her, she eventually fell asleep and we slept in the chair until just after 7. I came upstairs, told David we needed to get to the dr. and so, we did. We spent the morning at a pediatric ER at one of the hospitals around here and were cared for by wonderful nurses and doctors. After waiting forever to get into X-ray and then another forever to get a dr. to talk to us about what was going on, we were finally told Cora has a "hidden tibia fracture." Basically, a small fracture btwn her knee and ankle. The dr. told us this happens all the time to kids when they go down slides and though it seems a big deal to us, in the world of bones and kids it's not a  big deal at all. Sure...easy for him to say! In any case, they put a splint on Cora's leg (from butt to toes) so she won't put any pressure on her leg and make the break worse. We will be heading to a pediatric orthopedic doctor tomorrow for a cast, which will be on from 4-6 weeks. I didn't get a photo yet, I'll wait for her to have the cast on.

We're thankful the break isn't any worse and that it seems it will heal well. Now, we just pray for complete healing and, to be honest, the funds to pay for this! We have not been able to get our insurance set up yet, so we're trusting! In a world that seems to be controlled by health insurance it's hard not to panic a little, but God is bigger than insurance, and he knows our needs. Our main concern is that Cora be restored to full health very soon!