I'm here y'all.....with updates!

I'm still here.  I've actually been incredibly busy lately, and blogging has, obviously, been put on the back burner.  I'll try to give a quick update on everything.  

Our most recent trial has been the last three days, with Gavin.  I noticed last Thursday when I was changing him that he wouldn't let me bend his left leg.  I didn't think much of it, but it continued through the weekend.  On Monday morning I called the doctor and made an appointment for him.  Going in, I wasn't overly concerned.  Once we got there, they wanted to do a throat culture,  (because, of course, Jackson got strep throat that day too) blood work, and X-Rays.  Apparently hip problems in kids can be really serious.  The X-rays came back fine, but some of the blood work didn't.  She called me the next morning and told me to take him to the pediatric ER to get more tests and an ultrasound done.  I spent all day with him at that hospital.  They were taking blood and pinning him down and didn't let him eat or drink for hours on end.  It was heartbreaking.  The doctor left us saying that she was baffled as to why he wouldn't bend his leg.  And the blood work came back totally fine.  Even though his numbers were very elevated the day before.  She told us to go to an ortho doctor today.  So we did.  It turns out, he thinks he has some scar tissue on his thigh muscle from his shots 5 weeks ago, and that's making his leg stiff.  We are hoping that this is actually what's going on, and we are going to go back in two weeks to follow up. I'm still unsure why he had inconsistent blood work, but I'll ask his primary care physician in the morning.  I feel so bad for making him go through all of that for nothing.  But apparently it needed to be done to rule out any thoughts of septic arthritis and other really bad things.

The other thing keeping me busy is good news!  I've gotten back into making my silver jewelry pieces and have been busy fulfilling orders.  I had a craft show this past weekend in Decatur and it was very successful!  My newest creations are taking handwriting, signatures, or hand drawn pictures and turning them into jewelry pieces.  

This is my grandmother's signature from her bible.

This is Jackson's signature

This is a picture Jackson drew of me, that I made into a bracelet.  (striking resemblance, right?)

And finally, if you are local, I can make fingerprint charms.

I'm loving making this jewelry, and I especially love that it's so sentimental for so many people.  Some people even cried at my booth this weekend, at the thought of having something so sentimental of their own.  I have an etsy site and I started a facebook page too, if you are interested in seeing my other jewelry, placing an order, or just following what I'm doing. 

We are still adjusting to Alabama life and finding our way around.  The weather is still cold and rainy, but I'm making some great new friends.  (I mean, really great.  Not sure how I got so lucky to find them so quickly)  The kids are good, when they aren't sick.  It took Gavin 18 months, but he is finally a walker.  And Jackson has really matured lately.  He's a completely different boy than he was 6 months ago.  (Well, maybe not completely different.  He still tells the best stories ever.  He's just much more mature.)

So I'm here.  And I'm still reading your blogs.  And I'll try to get better about writing in my own!