NOT THE MORNING WE HAD PLANNED!

So, this is how the morning was supposed to go: 

I was to head out to Kmart to use a 50% off coupon on a few toys for Brady (for xmas) and then when I got home we were all(Chelsea included) going to go to Great Falls Park for a photo shoot for xmas cards and a picnic lunch as well as some hiking. I had made the lunches last night and put everything that was to be packed in the bottom drawer of the fridge to make things as easy as possible for Alan. The diaper bag was packed, extra clothes we packed etc.  All he had to do was get up, shower, wake, feed and dress Brady and be ready to go around 9:15.

This is what actually happened:

I did get to Kmart and got 2 toys for Brady for xmas. I called Alan around 8:30 to say I was on my way home but he didn't answer. I figured he was busy with Brady, which he was. As I'm pulling in the driveway Alan calls me back to say that Brady is getting ready to eat and he thinks they're on schedule...it's about 8:50 at this point. I get into the house and Brady is still in his pj's walking around with bacon watching Yo Gabba Gabba(not really my idea of on schedule given the time). Before you know it, it's 9:15 and Brady and Alan are still not dressed, so they come upstairs so I can dress Brady and Alan can get dressed (clothes were laid out last night). We get that done and Alan goes downstairs to do some last minute things and I start to head downstairs with Brady (at this point I'm totally annoyed that we aren't closer to leaving) and he wants to go down the stairs by himself, which can take FOREVER so I decide to pick him up and carry him. Of course he doesn't like that and starts crying but I distract him and we get downstairs and I go to put him down and he gets all jell-o like so I pull him up by his hands to get him to stand and he starts crying again. He carries on for longer than usual so I start to freak out that I dislocated his shoulder when I pulled him up. Then I try to convince myself that's not the case and we continue to work on getting out of the house...we put Chelsea in the car and the last few things in. Brady's still kind of crying and now I'm noticing that he isn't moving/using his right arm so I'm getting more freaked out. We get Chelsea out of the car and say we're going to the ER, then Brady starts acting fine, so we put Chelsea back in the car, but no sooner had we done that when Brady pointed to his arm and said, "boo boo". So once again I get Chelsea out of the car and we head to the ER...this time for good. The whole time I'm completely annoyed that our perfect day had been ruined, not to mention that I'm freaking out that we'll never be allowed to adopt again. Of course I'm feeling like a complete idiot/moron/stupid parent for picking him up like I did because I know better. Anyway, after about an hour and forty five minutes at the ER we were told he had "nurse maid elbow", which is essentially the same thing as a dislocated shoulder only with a tendon in the elbow (now, I'm not a dr or nurse so I'm sure that's not completely accurate, but it's the easiest way to describe it). We saw the check-in guy, the triage nurse, another guy who escorted us back to a real room, a nurse, another check-in lady who was more "official" and then a tech of some sort who finally pressed on Brady's elbow (the inside joint area) and twisted it until it "clicked" back into place and *POOF* he was all better!!! So, after all that time there, I think we were with a hospital employee for only about 10 to 15 minutes of that time!! Of course the good news is that Brady is back to normal and using his arm with no issues.

The whole thing just stinks because as I said before the weather was PERFECT today!!! Sunny, about 70 degrees and the trees all look amazing!!! I checked the weather for tomorrow and unfortunately its going to be 20 degrees colder so we're going to attempt to go this afternoon when Brady gets up from his nap.

The real lesson is that I knew that it was bad to pick kids up by their hands, but I always thought it was because of their shoulders, not their elbows, so at least I learned something!! You can bet that I won't be picking him up like that again for a LONG time!!!

OH and of course my camera was in the car in the bag that was packed for the park, so I don't even have any pictures of this momentous occasion!!!