Joseph's Broken Leg

Less than a week after Elliana was born, our neighbors threw a wonderful birthday for all of their children.  They are the kind of people that ask for stuffed animals to donate to the children's hospital in lieu of gifts. The kids were entertained with balloon animals, magicians, food, and a very fun bounce-slide.  The kids would climb up one side of the inflatable slide and bounce/slide down the other.  Just before we were about to leave, Tanner carried Joseph to me crying loudly.  After a day of him not putting any weight on his leg and taking long naps, we decided to take him to the doctor.

The brave boy awaiting the doc

The x-ray didn't show a break, but Joseph would twitch when the doctor touched his shin in one place.  He was trying to be strong and not show he was in pain.  What a tough boy.  Turned out that he had what they call a "toddler break" and would need a three-week cast.

Joseph's new friend James prepping his leg.

After some thought, Joseph chose his cast to be in bright orange.  He chose it because it is his favorite color.  However, in these parts, the University of South Carolina's rival is Clemson.  Clemson's color is orange.  He doesn't understand why people keep asking him if he is a Clemson fan.  His older brothers know the difference and would have never chosen orange. 

Mom gets to sign the cast first

Dad asked Joseph for a "sad face" for effect. 

Other than not going to the swimming pool, the cast hasn't slowed him down at all. He had to find a way to bend over to kiss his baby sister, but he runs around just fine (with a limp like dad used to).  Casts don't prevent him from turning a lamp shade into a helmet and a lamp into a weapon. 

Three weeks after the cast went on, it was time to come off.  Unlike his father and sister, he enjoyed the saw cutting off his cast.  Although his nerves are now hyper-sensitive and he walks a little funny, he is back to being Joseph and reminding us so much of his sister who showed him how to be a 3 year old. 

The saw that cut off his cast "tickled".

The brave boy getting a clear x-ray.

Elliana's Blessing

Isn't she lovely
Isn't she wonderful



Dacia's induction was scheduled for August 21, so at 7am we arrived at Lexington Hospital and by 2:15pm, we welcomed Baby Girl Shumate into our family.  She was our biggest baby, weighing 8 lbs 12 oz - the same as her mother.  Just before we left the hospital two days later, we decided to name her Elliana Leigh.  We thought "Elliana" is a very pretty name and means something like "answer to our prayers".  Any similarities to her older sister's name is completely coincidental and absolutely welcomed.  Devin suggested that she take her mother's name for her middle and we decided on Dacia's middle name of Leigh (pronounced "lay", not "lee" as would be the southern pronounciation of this spelling). 
Two days later, Dacia's mother joined us and helped us maintain a house of order while mom rested and tended to our baby.  She stayed for almost two weeks and worked very hard from morning till night.  She even tried to adjust to the eastern time zone, which is not always an easy thing to do.  As Grandma Heather was going to be here for the first Sunday in September, we chose to have her blessed that day. 

 

Elliana's aunt, Dani, made the blessing dress out of some remnants from Dacia's wedding dress and luckily it arrived in only two days from Hawaii.  Otherwise, we would have had to postpone the blessing.  It is sad that she will wear this beautiful dress just one time.





 

She has been a great baby.  She sleeps despite the noise in the house or Joseph's insistance that "she needs more smooches".  We have been asked if Elliana looks like Ella.  So far, it looks like she will have similar blue eyes and she does have a resemblance.  See for yourself:

 

Big sister Ella at six weeks in her blessing dress (also made by aunt Dani)



Elliana at one week







 It is interesting that three years ago, we thought our family was complete.  But then a year ago we started feeling that that wasn't the case.  Again, we see that when we turn ourselves over to the Lord, he makes our lives more beautiful and joyous than we can on our own. 

Yes, there is a baby head under that bow


All of the above photos were taken by our friend, Naomi Jennings, who took some amazing photos as a gift to our family.  Obviously she has a talent.