Monday, May 26, 2008

What is it About Birthday Parties and Injuries?

Last week at Austin's baseball game, I was talking to one of the boys' mothers. We were talking about active boys and how they're accident prone. She said that she'd been to the ER three times with her junior high age son. I was thinking she meant she'd been there three times this week or three times this month. Nope. She meant that she'd had to take her son to the ER three times in his life. I was a little embarrassed to admit that we go more than three times a year between all my kids. Then I realized that we hadn't been to the ER since November. November? That's six months! Oh no. We're due for another trip soon. Seriously, ever since that night I've had this feeling of dread in my subconscious. I've just had a feeling that someone was going to get hurt soon. And I'm sure that feeling has nothing to do with the fact that Clay goes flying down the street on his 2 wheeler now or how Jackson likes to say, "Look Mom!" as he rides by on his bike, one foot on his seat, the other foot outstretched behind him, and only hand on the handlebar. Nope, Clay jumping off the top off the bleachers at baseball games had nothing to do with my feeling of impending doom. The fact that Brooklyn ran into the playground equipment and got an instant goose egg on her forehead didn't have anything to do with it.

Anyway, we had a combination birthday party for Savannah and Lexi since both of their birthdays are this week. As I was preparing some food for the party, Jax asked me if he could go to a skate park with a friend. I told him no at first.
"But why?"
"Because you don't have pads."
"I don't need pads. I'll wear my helmet."
"No, you should have pads too."
"But Moooom. Pleeeeeease????"
"Yeah, Mrs. Meehan. Pleeeeease?" echoed his friend.
Now, usually, I'm the mean mom and I say something like, "No and if you argue with me one more time, you'll never skate again for as long as you live."
But this time, I looked at Jackson's pleading eyes, then glanced back at the table where 2 unfinished cakes sat and I relented. I figured if he was out doing something with his friend, it would be one less person under my feet, getting in my way while I was trying to decorate the cakes. As Jackson and his friend left, I actually said to him, "Don't go falling and breaking your head because I don't have time to take you to the ER!" That's pretty much the same as saying, "Go break a bone please!"

About a half hour later I got a call from Jackson. He'd fallen and gotten hurt and wanted to be picked up right away. Joe picked him up, drove him home, left his truck running, came inside and said he was taking him right to the ER. Ugh.

I went out to the truck to see Jax. He'd hurt his arm and it was already swollen. Off to the ER they went. Long story short - he broke his arm. They put a splint on it and told us we'd have to go to the orthopaedic doc and get a cast tomorrow. I have a feeling they'll be closed tomorrow though. He cried his eyes out when he realized he wouldn't be able to play baseball for the rest of the season.

Looped up on codeine

Miss Lex

Isn't she lovely?


Savannah's cell phone cake. She helped me to decorate it this year.


Lexi's Barbie Mariposa cake

Austin made these wings for Lexi's cake. He cut each little section out of black construction paper and then took tiny pieces of pink, purple, and yellow tissue paper and glued them behind.

52 comments:

Lisa-Anne said...

Ouch on the arm! Praying he mends quickly and well. :) Funny how you knew it was coming, does that sort of thing happen often? or are your kids just predictable? ;)
Thanks for sharing!
Lisa-Anne

Jenn @ Juggling Life said...

Great cakes.

3 times in his whole life? Danger Boy beat that by his 2nd birthday!

The evolution of setting a broken bone has been interesting to watch-they used to cast it right away. Now you're in for 4 or 5 visits to the orthopedist easy.

Sunny said...

Sorry to hear about your boy getting hurt!Skate boarding IS dangerous isn't it?Makes me wonder why I actually bought my son a skate board. I am not buying him a surf board. If he wants to do something that dangerous, he is going to have to pay for it himself. Somehow it takes all the guilt off me???
Your kids are soo cute, and the cakes you made!Beautiful!

samgramof9 said...

Hi Dawn---Don't feel bad about trips to the ER--I had to take my 3 kids so often, I expected Social Services to show up any day and start asking scary questions! They are grown up now, with a few (dozen) stitches--but all limbs intact. When I think back on those years--I choose to think that--Thank Goodness, my kids were active, inquisitive, adventuresome and fun to be around. I do chuckle at them now, as worried parents themselves, rushing off to the local ER. They lived thru it and their kids will too. BTW, I just made the fairy/Barbie cakes for my 2 year old twin granddaughters. I would have appreciated Austin's help. He did an awesome job!

Dustin said...

oh yea! I had forgotten that you are the Queen Mother of birthday cakes. These two cakes are amazing! I especially love the barbie one... Good Job! Congrats on the hospital visit haha! at least that impending doom feeling can leave now.

Glowstars said...

Those cakes are impressive - well done. I absolutely love the Barbie one.
Hope Jax recovers quickly.

Anonymous said...

Happy Birthday to Lexi and Savannah! The cakes look amazing (as usual). Looks like the kids have your amazing talent for cake decorating! Could become a wonderful family business :-) (course where you'd find the time...) Hope Jackson feels better, the whole season from baseball - that's gotta hurt way more than breaking the arm!
- Tracey

Anonymous said...

On her 13th birthday, my daughter just had to show off her daredevil skating skills to some boys in the park. She gave herself a surprise birthday present -- a hand just like Jackson's!

Heather said...

Aw, poor Jackson! He'll wear his pads next time, huh?
Love the cakes! Austin did an AWESOME job on those wings! They are gorgeous!

Brenda said...

I'm so sorry about your son's arm! Maybe that caught you up with the ER for awhile. The cakes are gorgeous. Austin great job on the wings!

Anonymous said...

I'm going to put into words what already went through your mind... well, that's one less set of baseball games and practices to go to!

Dawtch said...

Welcome to my world! I am in the process of going through the exact same thing...see this post for details...if you have time & the inclination :)
http://dawtch.blogspot.com/2008/05/details.html
bb
dawtch

ashley nicole said...

Happy birthday, to your two older girls!!
That's too bad about your son's broken arm...
And that was sweet of your oldest son to help with his sister's cake...he did a great job on the wings!
Have a great day!!

Dream of Scrappin' said...

Oh I feel your pain! My daughter fell wearing her Heely's and broke her arm last year. I hope Jackson heals quickly!

The cakes are awesome!

Here is a No accidents ticker...

1 day (s) since the Meehan house
has been to the ER!

Feel free to update it! HA! I only got the idea because we have one too!

Deirdrea said...

Well... on the upside thats one less field and game to try to be at for at least one season. I'm all about finding the silver lining. :) I'm sure that he'll heal quickly and you'll be yelling at him to put on his pads and helmet before you know it.

The cakes are really wonderful! You always do an amazing job.

Anonymous said...

Aww, poor Jackson, I know how he feels cause I broke my foot in march. nice cakes! the phone cake must have been hard to make,and the barbie one looked pretty cool too.

Jill said...

I swear that mom's have amazing intuition... I'm sure in the back of your head you just KNEW that you'd be visiting the ER that night.

Do kids (or husbands) ever listen to it? He** no.

Anonymous said...

You are amazing. I think that sums up everything. Honestly. I admire you.

I hope Jackson's arm feels better in no time. :-)

Journey_On said...

Ouch, I'm sorry to hear about Jackson's arm! I hope it gets better soon.

Those cakes are beautiful! They look like you put a lot of work into them.

Bev said...

Ugh! We just went through this. My daughter broke her arm in gymnastics Jan 29 and just got her final brace off last week--after missing 2 gymnastics sessions and all of the spring baseball season. I blogged the whole adventure, including the closed reduction procedure at the hospital What a trip!

Fortunately, that was our first visit to the ER between 2 kids for their 11+ years. KNOCK WOOD!

Chin up, Jackson!

MaBunny said...

Sorry to hear Jackson broke his arm. Hurray for codeine, lol.
The cakes are adorable.
Hope your memorial day holiday was otherwise uneventful

Becky said...

Awww, poor Jax...bummer about not getting to play Baseball anymore. That stings even worse than the broken arm, I'll bet.

FAB cakes, Dawn, and I LOVE the butterfly wings. Y'all are raising some talented kids!

Laura Paxton said...

We've done too many injuries this year, too...so far, though, only one trip to the ER.

Looks like your kids have inherited your creative abilities! Great looking cakes!

Anonymous said...

Can't even go there about the ER.
I hope he's feeling better soon. I hope he doesn't drive you crazy complaining about the itching for the next 3-4 weeks. My son was scratching inside his (1st) arm cast with a pencil that had one of those erasers that you stick on the top and guess what? Yep! The eraser slipped off & got stuck inside his cast. So then he constantly complained about THAT in addition to the itching. WHen they took the cast off, he had an indentation on his arm that took days to go away. Hopefully Jackson won't have to wear it longer than a few weeks! That would really stink for summer...
Nice cakes! What lucky kids---they have such a great Mom. It's just so awesome that you take the time to do these things for them that they'll always remember. Some of us have trouble doing the "regular" things right (I only have 3 kids and YOU have 6!!!) and look how you excel at the "extra" things. WTG Dawn.
:)

Elleah said...

You are quite the cake artist!

Suzy said...

YAY FOR JAX!! I know, totally inappropriate but I'm sick of being the only one with a bloody cast on. And tell him you can get purdy colors now! I've had red, pink and yellow, all colors I don't think he'll like. But they do have black.

And one more thing, that fiberglass rips up your sheets so don't use ones you like. And if your son is lucky enough to get the old fashioned cast? No probs with the sheets, the cast is just heavier.

Jenn said...

Happy Birthday to your girls, Dawn! I love the cakes!

Sorry to hear about your son's arm, my daughter broke hers last Tuesday falling off her horse. She isn't doing anything for the rest of the summer either. I can, however, get waterproofing put on the next cast so she can at least swim a little and possibly shower herself! Hopefully they can do that for him too!!

*hugs*
Jen

Erin said...

Sorry Jackson, not a good start to the summer. Awesome big brother, Austin! Good to see him using his powers for good. And the cakes!!!! Please tell me how to put on icing without it becoming crumbly????

Anonymous said...

Your cakes look good.
I'm sorry to hear about Jackson arm. And hope it heals quickly.

I had broken my arm in 2 places while riding my bike; popping wheelings. Please don't underestamate what he can do with a broken arm. It's a good hiding place the sling. I hid my brother keys to his mini bike and crash in the fence a few days later. And I could still clime trees. It took all summer for mine to heal. One of the bones wasn't set right. I would not let them set it again. When it starts to heal it will itch terrible. Don't let him stick stuff down in it to scratch. I used to wiggle my arm to get the cast to scratch it. When he gets it off Please bring a soapy wash cloth because it stinks, when it comes off. PU. :)
Susan

AlaneM said...

I'm amazed I haven't been to the ER with my youngest boy...he gets in the most insane situations but he's got an amazing sense of balance - not from me though, I'm a clutz!

Your cakes are amazing...my kids are lucky if they get frosting.

Donna said...

I just wanted to say great job by Austin on the wings. They look perfect!

Anonymous said...

Poor Jackson! My son broke his arm playing football with his buddies, and sadly his mean old mother told him to ice it and relax, no way was it broken...no swelling, no bruising...for 3 days! He was casted for just 3 weeks, shoulder to fingers. He fractured his distal humerus, (just barely above the elbow) He didn't complain too much of the itchiness, and no it really didn't slow him down.
Missing baseball season is killing him though, he is still out (March 9 was his injury date) because he tore some tendons and a major ligament in the arm which we found out 4 weeks after the cast came off.

His biggest complaint was bathing; he had to take baths and it was his right arm, so his back was to the faucet. I couldn't bag his arm, it was just too long. Plus I wanted to try to teach him to be more careful (as if missing baseball isn't enough)

Nice cakes for the girls!!

As Cape Cod Turns said...

Nice family effort on the cakes! I was hoping that you would show them!

Hope the broken arm is just an easy cast fix!

Anonymous said...

Hi Dawn, Is Jax right handed? If so thank goodness it is his left arm that is useless. When my son had just turned one year old I tripped over his baby gate coming Down the stairs. I dove down and broke my wrist. I have a video of me changing his diaper with one hand ( and a foot). Hope Jax recovers soon. Kristine in Michigan.

Vivian M said...

Happy birthday to your two lovely daughters! Jax, get well soon!

Nicole M, Delaware said...

I can feel your pain with the ER. We were there on Friday with my son for falling on his eye at the playground. He is 3 and has already broken an arm. I don't know how you do it with 3 boys! I have 2 girls and my son and the boy gives me nightmares!

Anonymous said...

I'm sorry to hear about Jackson's arm. I'm due with my first child in 3 weeks and all the impending ER visits scare me. On a positive note, those cakes are GORGEOUS! You are so creative! Do you want to come to Texas to bake a cake for the baby's baptism?

HeyItsBeej said...

Aw man, poor busted-arm kid! Hey, how does he like soccer? He can use the down time to practice some fancy soccer footwork. Hope he doesn't have to have the cast on too long.

And as others have said, your cakes rock. I hit my peak at cake decorating with the Blue's Clues cakes back when Kev was 3 and 4. I'd be heading over to Jarosch's for one of their cakes.

Keeley said...

Oh my, your poor little guy. =( Bawling his eyes out because he couldn't play baseball this season - that's so sad. =(

In other news, WHAT is with those AWESOME cakes? And the intricate details of those beautiful wing? Go, Austin!!! =)

Anonymous said...

"You'll shoot your eye out!"

Nice cakes as always.

Anonymous said...

Hi Dawn and thanks for keeping us updated. So sorry to hear about Jax's arm. The cakes are amazing--great job!!! And so cool that Austin helped! :)

Thanks for bringing smiles and laughs as always!

Love from the Big D (Dallas) :)

Anonymous said...

Hi Dawn,

Jackson looks so sad. :( How long does he have the cast on? Is this his first broken bone?

I have 3 boys, 2 girls and the boys proudly announce all their injuries like they are a badge of honor. They actually keep track! Some bozo told them that "chicks dig scars" and that just motivates them to see how far they can push the limit.

I feel your pain, Dawn. I just hold my breath when we have a party because someone always gets hurt and yes, it usually is one of my kids. (odds are always in my favor..yours too!)

Thankfully, Jackson arm will heal. Atleast he didn't pull out a permanent tooth or something. Hey, wait... oh yeah... one of my kids did that and they weren't even playing hockey!!

Keep up the great blogging! You are a hoot.

~Lisa, San Antonio, Texas

kmorales4 said...

Lovely cakes. They're both so beautifully decorated and the fact that the kids helped touched my heart. Nice work.

As for the broken arm, it's a shame but look at the bright side, that's one less game to rush to and freaze your butt off on the bleachers

Anonymous said...

I feel your pain! My daughter tried on my rollerblades and proceeded to fall and break her wrist. Nothing like having 3 kids in the ER waiting and a hubby in Iraq saying... Yea! Our first broken bone. LOL MEN!

Wineplz said...

sorry to hear about the arm!!!

and wow...I love your family! Look at those gorgeous cakes and how you had helpers!!!!

Britney said...

Austin must be pretty artistic. What kinds of projects does he make on his own... other than making state maps with frosting?

mommeeof10 said...

My 14 yr old broke his arm after the first snowstorm we had in January. He decided to try to stand on his sled and snowboard. It was his first trip down the hill. He broke it right below the shoulder. He was in a sling for a few weeks. The bones did not move out of place, so he didn't need a cast. Of course, this was the first winter we did not specifically tell the kids not to stand on the sleds...

roseys madhouse said...

Wow those cakes are amazing!!!!
I havent been to the ER since xmas day 2006 ( saying that touching lts of wood lol)
Poor Jax though I know it would kill my son not to be able to play soccer.

Kathi Roach said...

Your cakes are BEAUTIFUL! Can I just tell you that I love that you take the time to make your kids these AWESOME cakes. They will remember that when they are older.

StampingJoan said...

I hate when things like this happen!!! Makes us second guess our decisions as Moms! I hate broken bones! Makes life difficult for them and us! Will he at least get a waterproof one?

Anonymous said...

Yowtch! Hope he heals quickly. What awesome cakes and I love the Nokia one...I have the same lovely purple phone!

Darla said...

Way too weird! I just did a cell phone cake myself for our 10 y.o. daughter for her birthday on the 22nd! It's been the running conversation for the past 6 mos or more that when she turns 10, she needs her own cell phone. So she got it. In chocolate cake form! :) Happy Birthday my dear...you can always count on us to get you just what you want! Know what else she requested? Her own box of crayons,94 count, and some paper! Little Girl/Big Girl syndrome...still so young on one hand wanting to be older on the other. We did get her the crayons and paper too, btw!

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