The Ferguson Femur Break of 2011.

Well, as most of you know, we had quite the trip to Texas in September. We travelled down to attend Blake's wedding, where Joel was to be best man. We stayed at a beautiful ranch and had a nice day and a half of feeding longhorns, swimming, and hiking. On that Friday, right before the rehearsal, Titus was jumping on the bed. In a second, he fell and twisted his leg underneath him in such a way, landing on it, that the bone snapped. Joel and I both heard the horrific sound, which to this day, and likely, always, gives me chills. I looked over at him and when I saw him, I knew, without a doubt, his leg was broken. He was rushed to the local ER where they determined his femur sustained a spiral fracture, which needed to be fixed 1.5 hours away in Ft. Worth. Joel rode with him in the ambulance and I packed up our room, meeting them there. The ER was a nightmare, for more reasons that one, but suffice to say, our baby had to stay with that broken femur pain until 12:00 pm the next day. It was an excruciating night, where Titus kept crying out in pain despite the medication. The next day, he went to surgery, where they put him in a spica cast. Fortunately, we were in Texas, so Mom and Tony, and Casey came to be with us at the hospital. We had the chance to recoup a little in Austin and then came home.

Titus and Joel right before heading down to surgery. I gave Titus my sunglasses in the ER and he never took them off. It was as though he felt he was in disguise with them on. With so many people prodding him, I am sure he needed some security.

This is the first cast, which went down his one leg and partially down the other, with a bar across it. The orthopedic surgeon told us that broken femurs are a frequent occurrence for the 2-3 year old set!

When we got back home for Titus's follow-up at CHOP, our new surgeon told us the bone had shifted and he needed a new surgery and new cast. I was devastated. Luckily, Joel's mom was there and we soldiered through it. This is Titus's second cast, which just goes down one leg, which was much easier!

Playing the blues on his harmonica.

Still a happy boy!

Despite how rotten all of this was, I am extremely happy and blessed that so many people took care of us. We had people bring us dinners, toys and gifts for Titus, cards, and both Joel's mom and my mom came to stay for two weeks each. We had awesome doctors and nurses, and great insurance to cover every single penny. Most of all, though, we had God, who honestly provided the fortitude to get us through this. Titus is now walking and climbing, and hopefully, soon, he will be running.

My old Kentucky home.

While Joel was away with work, Titus and drove to Kentucky to spend some time with my parents at their new parsonage in Bardstown. It is really a lovely town and my dad's new church is wonderful! I hope they get the chance to stay awhile.

Grampy and Titus checking out the magnolia leaves.

Grammy and Titus at the Kentucky Bourbon Festival.

Strong little man.

Titus is obsessed with my parent's little dog, Jackson's cage. He kept crawling in it and playing with his toys on or around it.

Helping Grammy clean up.

New Orleans.

Titus and I had the chance to visit Joel while he was working in New Orleans this September. It was especially nice because Joel's parents came to visit for a couple of days too. For what is decidedly not a kids' town, New Orleans has a lot for kids to do, especially some great museums!

Titus and PawPaw taking a break.

Trying out a beignet.

We were fortunate to catch a couple of festivals while we there, including this seafood festival.

Aha, the grandparents know this boy well.

Waving to the train.

The frog prince.

A little unsure of this.

Ginormous fish.

He loved these baby gators.

Last days of summer.

Some pictures of our last couple of weeks of summer.

I can only hope that they are listening to music and not Rush Limbaugh.

Cheese.

He may not have been born in the South, but we are trying to teach him our ways.

So, 2011 will not go down in the record books as being a great year in the Ferguson household. We had to put down our beloved Pai this year due to an unknown blood, autoimmune disease. It was horrible watching him deteriorate and simply not enjoying his life. Even now we still think that he will be there when we walk through the door. I suppose in a lot of ways, he is.

The music man ala Tom Cruise in Risky Business

Splash Pad fun!

Titus likes to put these beads on whenever he hears a song that he wants to dance to. Oh my.

Coast Guard Day 2011

Well, well, well....I have finally felt up to the task of tackling the blog again. The past few months have been pretty challenging, and to be honest, I just did not feel comfortable updating the blog until I knew that my baby boy was going to be okay. So, it really wasn't until the doctor exclaimed, "everything looks great!" that I finally felt okay. Joel was pretty frustrated that I did not update, as I know he likes to look at it when he is away from home. So, I am back on top of things with our Coast Guard Day that we had at the end of this summer. Titus had the chance to explore the helicopter and play with all of the unit kiddos. As always, we had a great time!

I got this.

Pushing buttons.

Frankly, we were pretty impressed that Titus climbed this thing because it was so tall. The other kids were doing it though, so I think he felt that he would be okay.

Our little water bug in action. Hopefully, next summer he will be able to swim completely on his own!

Road Tripping!

With all of our trips this summer, we have been on the road...a lot! I would like to say that it was super easy and that I am a super patient mom. Alas, it was not and I am not. We have learned a lot about traveling with a toddler and a lot about our individual thresholds for being confined in a car! Titus was pretty good and really only broke down about 8 hours into the trips. He slept in a travel toddler bed like a champ, which means that the crib will soon be making its exit around here, and really tried to keep his chin up!

Playing some music for everyone just past the Florida state line.

Watching Cars. This blog post would not be complete if I did not mention how many times Cars was watched on this trip. Titus doesn't watch tv at home, so I thought it would be special if we borrowed some dvds from neighbors for the trip. I had a bag FULL, and the only one he wanted to watch was Cars. "Cars, watch?" was immediately asked after finishing the movie. Joel and I can probably quote the entire thing. Now, he crashes all of his cars while playing, calls us mac (like mac truck), and every single car is a "red race car."

Pizza at a hotel. So tired, so late, so done with eating out.

Let's get out of here!

Random summer

A few random shots of summer.

Fourth of July. He sure loves those sparklers!

My Aunt Tracey got Titus this tent/tunnel combo, which he loves! He loved putting Pooh in there and sending his cars down the tunnel.

Climbing trees during a walk.

So, Joel sold his jeep. Our neighbor made us an offer that we couldn't refuse! Joel loved that jeep. Titus loved that jeep. I loved that our neighbor made us a great offer! There was a mourning period and I wanted to make sure that there was a picture of the boys with the jeep so that Joel could tell Titus about coming home from work and driving it into the garage with Titus sitting shotgun for those few minutes. Although there was a transition period, Titus seems to love the motorcycle just as much!