"Jack's Blue House"

*In case you're getting these posts as emails: I just added a few people to my email list for our family blog. You can always see the original blog posts at http://sommerfeldts.blogspot.com/.

Last weekend was exciting because Jack got two new blue things: his blue cast (see previous post) and his blue house in Illinois!

Well, it's not ours yet. And it will come with a nice mortgage to go along with it. But we're excited and are hoping and praying everything goes well with the home inspection, financing, etc in the upcoming weeks.

The short version: Ryan and Will and I spent 5 days in Illinois. We spent a lot of time with our realtor looking at a lot of houses (most of which either had structural problems or neighborhood problems). We spent even more time talking to neighbors (establishing and finding out about said neighborhood problems). Finally, on our last full day there, our realtors sat down and found a house in a good neighborhood that they thought we might like. It was a little out of our price range but had been on the market for a while, so they thought we could talk it down. It wasn't the nicest or newest of the homes we'd looked at, but the neighbors described the street as "great" "good" and "fantastic" which was so much better than the "okay" "fine" and "good enough"s that we had been hearing from other neighbors in other areas.

We fully recognize we're paying a little bit more for a slightly less-nice house, but throughout this whole process we realized that being in an area with other families with kids, on a safe street and near a bus line was more important than having updated countertops and wall finishes. We both prayed (a LOT) and felt really good about this house. And our initial offer was just right, such that we ended up agreeing on a price that we felt good about.

Here are some pictures of "Jack's blue house!" Feel free to pray with us that the home inspection will come back clean and that financing and closing will all go smoothly.

Love, the Atonement, and a Broken Femur

This past weekend was an emotional one, as we got our first taste of the sorrows of parenting. To date, Ryan and I have had a blissful and blessed marriage, where the "hard things" we've gone through together really haven't been all that hard (or perhaps, as Ryan would point out, we tend to go through our trials with an optimistic perspective, which, in turn, makes them seem less severe... hmm, that's a question to ponder at another time.) The point is that our life together has been a happy and fairly easy one so far. And to be honest, after a few days of perspective I would say that it still is. However, sitting in the surgery waiting room after spending the day with our little Jack and watching him suffer, wishing with all our hearts that it could have been us with the broken femur instead of him - it didn't feel so easy right then. And the next day, trying to sing him to sleep while he begged to get up and walk and have me carry him - none of which was possible - it didn't feel so easy then either.

I came out of his room and commented to my mom that I wished so badly to take his place... and then observed that she, too, wished she could take my place and suffer instead of me... and that Heavenly Father must also wish He could take our place... And Christ DID take our place.

That chain of thoughts has been on my mind for several days now. I've commented many times that I wish I understood the atonement more. Today I realized for the first time that an understanding of the atonement comes not from studying and studying and studying about it - it comes from living it. It comes in the moments where we experience Christlike love for another person, free of any selfish impulse. It comes when we catch a glimpse, however small, of how much he truly suffered for us. So today I am filled with gratitude - for Him, for His love for me, our family, and our little boy, for our family, and for all the blessings I take for granted every single day.

Now on to some pictures of our little trooper! To tell the story in his own words, "Jack tripped on the yellow ball and broke his leg and went to the doctor and got a pink sock - where da pink sock go? Huh? And got a blue cast, and Mickey Mouse came at home!"

Interpretation: Jack was playing with a kickball and somehow either kicked it or stepped on it such that he fell and broke his left femur. We thought it was a sprain and waited until the next morning to take him in - which we later felt horrible about - but how were we to know? The pediatrician splinted us and checked us into the ER, where they x-rayed it and sent us up to pediatrics. At 5pm they took him and did anesthesia so that they could put on a Spica cast (which wraps around his whole waist and all down his left leg) to immobilize the femur. They didn't actually have to operate or do pins or screws or anything. He'll have the cast 4-5 weeks if all goes well. We are SO grateful it isn't something worse, and Jack is doing fantastic now - if any little boy could handle something like this, it's Jack!

At the doctor's office - before we even knew it was broken!

Elevator selfies

"Jack has a pink sock!"

Mickey Mouse blanket - a gift from the Pediatrics floor (Thank you, all you Young Men and Young Women out there who tie blankets for hospitals as a service activity - it made my little boy's day!)

Jack's "blue cast"

Getting to ride around in style :)