First ER visit

Having 4 kids means we are fully aware of our chances of our kids getting hurt.  Fortunately, we haven't had any major injuries until this summer.  Earlier in 2016 W fell off a playground and got a green stick break in his collar bone.  There wasn't anything to do so he just had to deal with the pain and there's still a slight bump.  Well W struck again and made us take our first trip to the ER in July.
Every year, the kids stay with my dad and Ella for the weekend while B and I move into camp.  This year was no different.  Saturday evening we got a text that W jumped out of a swing while at the park and hurt his elbow.  It was pretty swollen, but they got an ice pack for it and were giving him children's Tylenol.

Sunday, July 10th swollen right elbow

Sunday night it was still really swollen so my dad called and asked if we wanted them to take W to the ER for an x-ray.  We told them not to do that because they were supposed to bring us W in the morning anyway.  Monday morning Ella brought the kids to me and I was very excited for them to be there at camp.  W's elbow (arm) was very swollen and I took him to see the camp doctor and she immediately told me I needed to take him to Forest General for an x-ray.  I wasn't expecting that, but it's good to know important Hattiesburg people because she called ahead and had the ER expecting us.  So W and I left camp and R, A, and E stayed at camp with Bryce.  When we arrived at the ER, we did not have to wait long before they called us back and wanted to know what happened.  I had a hard time really describing the accident because I wasn't there and W wasn't sure exactly how he had his arms when he jumped out of the swing.  W was taken for an x-ray and my mom showed up while we were in the room. 

Pre-surgery TV watching

Post surgery sleepy Wes

At first a nurse came in and started prepping him for a hard cast, but then she stopped and Dr. Whitehead's assistant, Dr. Randy came in and started talking to us about surgery.  This option caught me totally off guard, but I didn't argue because I wanted his elbow to be fixed.  He fractured a bone in his elbow and there was a ton of swelling.  Dr. Whitehead said it was actually a pretty common fracture for kids and it's important to make sure the bone heals correctly otherwise the arm grows back crooked.  Dr. Whitehead told me they would actually just insert pins into his elbow and not perform "surgery" but W would still have to be put to sleep.  At this news, my mom went back to camp to get B, and the other kids stayed at camp with Bubba and Gilly.  Once B arrived, the three of us were together and watched some cooking shows until W fell asleep.  The doctor came and got W for surgery and was happy he was asleep because he was expecting W to be scared to leave us.  B and I left to grab some lunch and then waited in the waiting room for a call that W was done and in recovery.  We got a call from Dr. Whitehead that W was done and it went perfectly.  Once W was awake, B went back with him and then I joined them when W was getting moved to his own room.  W had a hard time coming out of the anesthesia and was in a foul mood.  He ate a little dinner and drank some Sprite. 

You can't even see W but I promise, he's there!

By the time the rest of the family got there, W was acting himself.  Bubba and Gilly came straight from camp and brought R, A, and E.  My mom and Chuck also came for a visit and brought W some candy.  AC showed up as well so it was a nice little family reunion.  W had to spend 1 night in the hospital and I slept with him on the hospital bed.   I think we slept about 5 hours off and on, but I'm sure I had better sleep than B, who tried to fit his 6 foot body on that little chair that folds out to a bed.

Much happier in the morning

Taking a walk around since it was boring

B's bed for the night

 

 

The next morning, July 12, W was discharged and able to leave the hospital.  I stayed with W for the day in Hattiesburg, and B went back to camp.  Since B's job was the pool and mine was an area parent, we felt it was important for B to be there during the day and I was needed at night.  I drove down with my mom Tuesday night and then B went with her back home to stay with W.  After that first night home, B and I both stayed at camp with R & A, and my mom took care of W and E.  He couldn't get his arm wet or sweaty, so that was really difficult for him in July in the hot MS heat.

W had to sit out while the rest of us swam

He was a trooper and besides the phase of coming off the anesthesia, he never complained.  After camp, we drove to Grapevine, TX for the SACSCOC conference (where he couldn't swim) and then back to Richmond.  We made an appointment at Richmond Bone & Joint and saw the same doctor that did our cousin's knee surgery.  Dr. Davino did not have good things to say about how W's arm was treated and handled, but what was done was done.

  W got a hard cast and picked the colors red & blue.  He had to keep his cast on for a few weeks and then could get it off and the pins removed.  Assuming everything went as planned, he would have his cast off before the first day of school.  The pictures are a little gross because one of the pins started to get pushed into his arm and his body was trying to push it out.  It all healed and his arm is 99% back to normal. 

The next pictures are sort of gross of where his pins were in his arm....PG-13

A month we want to forget!

I mentioned in the Easter post about hitting a deer in Cherry, but there's more to the series of unfortunate events that took place between March 29th and April 27th.  We call it the month we want to forget.

Thursday, March 26, we closed on our new home in Richmond, TX.  This was the perfect home in a great neighborhood in a cul-de-sac, with a pool.  It was a bit earlier than we initially thought we would buy a house, but God knew what was in store and knew we needed this house before "we" were ready.

Sunday night, March 29th, Cooper started barking at the front bay window (like normal) but this time, he jumped up and broke a window.  This wasn't the first time he had broken a window but this was the first time he sliced his foot open.  He had a 4 inch long cut along the top of his left paw that was bleeding out everywhere.  So between cleaning up the glass, the blood, and wrapping his foot, it was an eventful hour.  At least the kids were in bed asleep.  B had to take Cooper to a 24 hour emergency clinic where he got about 10 stitches and a cone around his neck.

Poor guy was limping around the house for a few days and didn't get much sleep with his cone, but it eventually healed.  4 days after the foot slice, is when we hit the deer with Cherry. 

We were able to drive it back to TX and we took it into the collision center so they could assess the damages.  Our insurance paid $30/day for a rental car so we had most of it covered.  We were given a Toyota Sienna that was great except it didn't have a DVD player. We found out Friday April 10th that Cherry was totaled (tear) and we had 30 days to find another vehicle to replace our beloved Cherry.
Fast forward to April 13th when we have AC for the week  AC and Jennie drove to Beaumont with A/W after the boys spent the week in MS with the grandparents.  Monday, R was in school like normal and we decided we would eat lunch with B at CBS.  While driving on Fondren, I start to hear sirens, so I pull over a little on the side, but I'm in the left most lane, so I can't really go far.  Then I see this black SUV screaming up the passenger side of us, and then cut across in front of us, go over the median, and continue driving against that side of traffic.  Right behind the black SUV, like 5 police cars came up and I was completely stopped, but one of the police cars bumped me.  It was a big enough bump that we all felt it, but I figured it wasn't going to be a lot of damage...however, we were in the rental.  So I just went straight to B's office because I wasn't really sure what else to do.  Now, I realize I should have pulled over and called the police, but they were dealing with a much bigger problem than me at the moment.  After getting Bryce, it turns out that we were not the only cars damaged in this high speed chase, and we were directed to the group of police officers where they finally caught the bad guy. 

They wrote up a report and we were home in time to get R from school.  In addition to the high speed police chase, our air conditioning wasn't working in the rental house, so we had all the windows down, trying to get a breeze.  It was hot though, and were dealing with the beginnings of pollen.
So Wednesday of that week, while at Bible Study at SCBS, we find out that B's mom (Gran) is in the hospital (we knew she was sick) and had some pre-diabetic test results.  She had double pneumonia  and diagnosed with congestive heart failure.  All the "cool kids" were very concerned, so Thursday morning, B told me that we needed to go to OK to be with his parents.

I totally agreed and AC was leaving anyways, so our plan was to pack up the family and drive to Edmond.  Anna made a good point though and offered to watch our kids so we wouldn't have them as a distraction.  I was so glad she did that, because it was better that they stayed back.  So Thursday morning, I drove AC to Beaumont to meet Jennie, then back to Houston to pack.  When I arrived home, just in time for R to get out of school, our toilets started to back flow again all in the guest bathroom (the second time it's done that).  I didn't have time to deal with that, so I just put towels on the floor and turned the water off.  Lorenzo was going to dog sit for us, so we let him know he couldn't flush or shower...yuck.  It was just not high on the priority list at the moment.  We dropped our kids off with Anna at Beck Jr. High because Avery was having her dress rehearsal for Legally Blonde.  I think we arrived in Edmond at 2:00 am Friday morning and it was just in time because Vicki was discharged from the hospital Friday at 10:00.  We got her home and settled in her chair.  We had to do breathing treatments every hour and she was supposed to get up and walk too.  Once we got into a routine, she was comfortable with, B and I went to the grocery store so I could get things to make some meal for them.  I was able to cook 5-6 meals, but in small portions that filled their freezer.  There's no way I could've gotten all that cooking done with the 4 kids with us.  So, again, I'm thankful that Aunt Mo kept them for the weekend.  Unfortunately, while she had them, R and A both had puke episodes, so Paul M did quite a bit of cleaning around their house.  We missed our kids, B had to work, and we needed to get our kids out of Anna's house, so we drove home Sunday night and got our kids from Anna's around 2:15 am and back to our rental at 3:00 am.  I let R sleep in a little before taking her to school Monday morning (April 20) and to make sure she didn't puke, and poor B ended up taking a sick day because 2 kids were puking, he hadn't had enough sleep, and he wasn't feeling good either.  Just 2 days later, April 22, the 3 kids and myself arrived back to our hose after playing with some friends, and our front door was wide open and Cooper was walking around outside.  I thought maybe I had not shut the door all the way when leaving, but it turns out, that our house was broken in to while we were gone. Thank the Lord, it didn't happen while we were home, but I feel confident that whoever it was, knew we would be leaving.  Cooper is officially the worst guard dog ever.  The only things taken were my jewelry box, earring box, and our fireproof safe.  Oh, and my pillow case.  Once I realized what had happened, I called B and the police.  B rushed home and then we waited an hour before the police showed up.  He walked through the house and then took some notes about what was taken.  The likelihood that the bad guys would be caught was low, but we still had to file a police report and then work on our renters insurance.  The front door had been kicked in, so the lock was broken. The dead bolt still worked, but not from the outside, so every-time I wanted to leave the house, we had to go out the back door and around the side gate.  Our renters insurance replaced our personal belongings, but not the door.  B was very upset (obviously) so he was ready to move into our new house like yesterday.  I asked him to give me a week and I could pack up the house...so that's exactly what we did.  We spent the last weekend in April van shopping and then we bought Storm on April 27th.  We named her Storm

to remind us of the month of storms and how God provides and gives us strength and never leaves us during our storms.  It's a 2006 Honda Odyssey, just like Cherry except with a navigation system.  I'm loving Storm.  Then we packed up our house, and moved out of the rental on May 2nd.  Yep, May 2nd, we spent our first night in our new house, and have loved every night since. 

God knew we would want to move earlier than June 30th, and it only took a few bumps in the road, before we knew it too.

Spring Break 2015

Our spring break was a bit earlier than we usually have it in NC, but we welcomed the break.  We had a full week planned and it started Friday, March 6th, when my parents came over for a visit.  They were coming to watch a soccer game and go to Sea World.

Saturday was the kids' last soccer game.  The boys played at 8:00 and R played at 11:00.  Between the 2 games, we went to McDonald's for breakfast and playtime.  B and I left the kids with my parents so we could watch Cherry and clean her out for our drive to San Antonio.  Both soccer games ended well and the kids very much enjoyed their first soccer experience.  We ran home just quick enough to load up the car and grab a quick drink before getting on the road to San Antonio.  We arrived at the hotel and checked in first, before going right back out to downtown to the Riverwalk. Granddad wanted to do a River Boat tour and eat Mexican for dinner so we were going to make that happen.  It did happen, but maybe not the way we all thought it would happen.  The boat tour was fun, except it started raining at the very end and got cold.  The kids were all fine though.  Dinner was next but all the restaurants had LONG waits, so we ended up leaving and finding a Taco Cabana down the highway a few exits.  Dinner was good except A didn't eat any of his cheese quesadilla.  We knew he was hungry, but didn't make him eat so he drank his lemonade instead.  Why is that important?  Oh, because it is!

We made it back to the hotel, but did not swim because it was nearly 10 pm.  It was jammie and bedtime for everyone especially because the clocks were going to spring forward.  Our goal was to eat breakfast at the hotel before going to Sea World the next morning, but getting there right as they opened.  Yeah, nice goal.  Around 3 in the morning, A started crying and moaning because his stomach hurt.  Of course it hurt!  He hadn't eaten anything since lunch the previous day.  B was so good and got up with him, took him to the bathroom, and took a long shower with him.  I think A dry-heaved a few times, but we just figured his stomach was so empty, that it was getting upset.  I think the boys got back to sleep around 5:00 am and A just got in our bed.  No one got much sleep that night, on top of the time, change we already were scheduled to have.  I got up at 6 am and we to the fitness room for a while.  When I got back to the room, it was still dark and everyone was still sleeping, which is a good thing.  I laid down in A's spot, next to W and fell back asleep for 30 minutes or so.  I think we all go up around 8:00 and showered/got dressed and headed down for breakfast.  We let A eat cereal without milk, and an apple just to be on the safe side.  We took our ice bucket with us in the van, just to be on the safe side and I'm thankful we did.  He lost his breakfast on the way to Sea World, and it sure enough was gross.  He managed to keep it all in the ice bucket, but then the smell just lingered until we were able to clean it out.  After he puked, he said he felt all better.  Poor boy....I guess he had the stomach bug.  We were not changing our plans and he was just gonna have to puke on a bush if he felt the urge again.  We were an hour later than planned, but after the sleepless night we all just had, no one cared.  The weather wasn't pretty at all.  Rainy and chilly, so Sea World was not crowded.  We got there and our first stop was Pets Ahoy, a cute show with dogs, cats, fish, birds, and even a mouse.  The kids loved it and wanted to watch it again.  It wasn't a bad idea seeing how it was a dry auditorium.  But we ventured out into the Sesame Street Bay of Play and let the kids do some kiddie rides before going to see another show.  I can't remember all the shows we saw, but we pretty much saw them all.  Between the 2 days we were there, we saw/did just about everything we could that did not involve getting wet.  We did not sit in the splash zone at any of the shows, and we did not do the Atlantis ride because of the water.  We will do those things when we go back and we will definitely go back.  The weather may not have bee nice, but the crowd-less park was a great exchange for wet shoes and socks.  We spent an entire 2 days at Sea World and loved it all. 

Monday night we got back home around 9 pm and put all the kids to bed.  Lorenzo had been house sitting for us and taking care of Cooper while we were gone.  B had to go to work Tuesday and my parents got up and drove home too.  The kids and I went and had lunch with B, then met the Marshes at IKEA for food.  Kids eat free on Tuesday so that's always a nice treat.  We let our kids 'play' in the little area next to the cafeteria for a while and then I looked at my watch and it was 2 pm.  I needed to get E in bed for a nap so we all left and I made it home by 2:45.  E went down for a nap, but I let the big kids watch TV.  It was a fun Tuesday together.

B took off Wednesday also, because we were headed to the Houston Rodeo and Livestock show.  We were told the rodeo had a carnival for kids, so that's mainly what we focused on.  We did go into the arena and look at baby animals, watch a cow milking demonstration, look at rabbits, and learn about bees.  It was so crowded in the Agventure, that we didn't stay very long.  We ate some fair food and then used our tickets for the rides.  We decided to go on  Value Wednesday because it was cheaper to get in, and all the rides were 4 tickets instead of 5, 6 or 7 like normal.  We got a good deal with our tickets and food vouchers.  We finally left around 5 pm and our kids (and us) were exhausted.  I can see the rodeo being so much fun when the kids are a little older and all of them can ride the bigger rides.  Poor E, was only able to ride the carousel. 

Reading about ants

Thursday, I took the kids to Sugar Creek's playscape and we met the Marshes again.  We ate lunch with B before going, so we just played for a couple of hours.  Avery was great with E, so I had a chance to just chat with Anna.  It's always nice when we hang out with the cousins and my kids get so excited.  I, of course, enjoy having adult conversation with my sis-in-law too. Thursday night we went to the YMCA and I had a chance to take my aerobics class that I like so much. 

Friday we had planned to take the kids to the Houston Children's Museum, but we were so tired of just the busy week that we had a chill out family day.  Since B is home with us, we just went to the Y, ate lunch out (somewhere, but I can't remember), and all took an afternoon nap.  We wrapped our week up with the kids winter soccer season awards ceremony and party on Saturday.  The kids had fun playing soccer for the first time and we enjoyed watching them play too.  Sunday after church we met the Marsh family for lunch to sort of celebrate the end of Spring break.

Our first spring break in Texas was a ton of fun and we can't wait to go to Sea World again!