Extreme Makeover and a Little Backyard Fun

The other morning E came downstairs and announced, "Look how pretty, Momma!" I guess I expected to see her in some dress-up clothes. I was not prepared for the vision in front of me...E had gotten into my makeup. Her choice of colors and application was a bit surprising...but she was beautiful nonetheless.

As a family, we've been enjoying the lazy summer evenings outside in our backyard. The kids love playing on the swingset, kicking the ball around, jumping rope, or throwing the frisbee with Daddy and me.

Please know that Daddy is standing very close to C (just outside of the photo)...don't worry grandmothers! And E has on her hospital gown...it has become a favorite piece of clothing!

C loves to slide...although in this picture you might not know it! M loves to be in charge...looking out over everyone...giving instructions as to what game we will play next.

Monday's Trauma

So Monday we were laying low...enjoying a lazy morning after a crazy Sunday. C was down for a nap, the girls were playing outside (still in their night-gowns!), Pop was doing a cross-word puzzle and Mom and I were chatting in the kitchen. I noticed E scream outside and my first thought was that the girls were fighting...a typical noise heard from outside while they are playing. I looked out the door to check on them and saw E headed to the door crying with blood streaming all down her hair and face, literally dripping onto the ground.

I quickly grabbed her and started to freak out. This is why it was such a blessing that my parents were still here. I'm not sure what I would've done without the calmness and decisiveness they brought to the situation. I set her on the counter and my mom quickly applied pressure to the top of E's head to try and stop the bleeding. My mom said I needed to take her to the closest ER, so I headed to my room for shoes and a hat (still hadn't showered!). I prayed the whole way up the stairs and all the way back down: "Lord, help her be okay and help me be calm."

When I got back downstairs, my parents had the bleeding stopped. My dad and I loaded E up in the car and he drove us to St. John's children's ER. We were seen pretty quickly and had wonderful nurses and dr's attending to E. The most she cried in the ER was when they put her on the scale to weigh her...not sure why that was so scary but am thankful it didn't get any worse than that!

What we gathered from E was that she was swinging on the "big girl swing" on her tummy and went too high and fell out on her head. We're still trying to imagine what that looked like and we can't really figure out how she managed to land on her head. M didn't see it happen and so all we have to go on is E's version...remember she's only 2!

In the ER they cleaned her wound and the Dr. came in and said that thankfully it was not a puncture but a deep cut. They put a local anesthetic on the wound several times for about 30-45 minutes. After that had set in, the Dr. cleaned it some more and decided it needed staples. She said staples is good for scalp wounds in girls because no one cares about the scar and you don't need to shave the head. She gave E a shot of another anesthetic and then proceeded to put 4 staples in our baby's head! I think it may have been harder for us than her! As the nurse was cleaning her up afterwards, she noticed another smaller cut on E's head. The Dr. looked at it and said it was small enough to not need any treatment...whew, we were glad to hear that! E was a trooper...so very brave! She did get away with a grape popsicle, six princess stickers, and both of the hospital gowns that they had on her, so all in all, not a horrible trip to the ER :)

Not a great pic...it was taken from Kris' phone. They wrapped her head in gauze to keep the local anesthetic in place.

She will go to her pediatrician on Monday morning to have the staples removed. I'm guessing that won't be very pleasant! She has been an excellent little patient, allowing me to clean it every night and put neosporin on it. She might just be my new hero! Along with my parents, without whom I quite possibly could not have survived this day. Mom for staying home with M and C...keeping them comforted and having fun. Dad for driving us to the ER and being a source of comfort to me as I could hardly stop shaking enough to fill out the hospital forms. And Kris, dear husband and father, who met us at the ER and made E laugh by being silly and letting her play with his phone and helped me to relax and calm down even more.

Nana, M & Dixie enjoyed a picnic in the backyard while we were gone

E's 4 staples...kind of hard to see!

Both girls needed some snuggle time...in their hospital gowns (we brought home two)! Also, note the princess stickers on E's legs and hands...she will not let me take them off...it's been 3 days!

Our inital plan was to top off the weekend with a trip to the Cupcakery. Since E had already had a very eventful day and M was needing a little attention, we left the "Littles" home with Daddy and headed down to the Central West End for a little taste of heaven.

Happy Father's Day and Dance Recital

Sunday was very busy...but we still found time to celebrate with two of the Dad's in our family. We are so blessed by each of our fathers and Kris has become an amazing father as well. Thank you Lord for putting these godly men in our lives!

It's been a long time since I've been able to spend Father's Day with my Daddy!

After a short and sweet celebration it was off to M's dance recital. It was so cute...she did a great job...of course, we thought she was the best. Pop even said he didn't see any other dancers on the stage! (Sorry for the poor lighting in the recital photos...we weren't allowed to use flash photography.)

note that M is second from the right

Note the look on her face after spying the medal she is about to receive!

To celebrate our little dancing queen we went out to Murray's Shaved Ice...best Snow Cones EVER!!! We discovered this little shack back when we lived in South City...they make their own syrup and that is why they are the best!!!!!

Snow Cone Tongues!

Visit from Pop & Nana

My parents came up for a visit this past weekend. We had so much fun...it was a busy weekend with Father's Day and a dance recital. Here are the first couple of days of fun:

The Camp-out...a game with Pop invented by M. Camping out is apparently just hiding under the blanket. Little E is under there too, but she is hard to spot!

On Saturday we spent time at Longview Farms...it was a gorgeous day!

We had a little nature walk...

...and we played on the playground...

...even Dixie came along for the fun!

Fun in the Pool

Nothing says summer like a plastic pool from Walmart! And this one even has a fancy slide in it! The girls have thoroughly enjoyed our little pool, while C is not so sure. He would much rather enjoy the pool from the outside...sitting in a chair or reaching in to play with the toys.

Southern Tour, Part 3...Grand Finale!

The last part of our Southern Tour revolved around our boy C. We had a meeting with his birthfamily and finalized his adoption...in Anderson, SC (the town of my birth...cool how the Lord did that, huh?!). Everything went so smoothly and we are so thankful for the Lord's care of each little detail. Our judge appeared to be a believer and before he called the court to order he quoted scripture and said how honored he was to be our judge. He has a true heart for adoption and this made the finalization even more special.

With the Judge

Outside the courthouse...happy, complete family of five!

(We started and completed our family in S.C....very special to us!)

With Kris' parents outside the Anderson Courthouse

Two in One

In the middle of dinner last night, M piped up with this realization:

"God is Jesus, and Jesus is God. Their heads are stuck together!"

Trying not to burst out laughing, Kris then tried to explain the Trinity to a five year old. He did a great job. And now M believes that she is also three persons: a daughter, a sister, and a cousin.


p.s. The last installment of our Southern Tour will be posted soon!

Southern Tour, Part 2

The next part of our trip was heading to SC to visit Kris' family. Kris' parents bought a house recently and this was our first time to see it and stay there. As usual, YiaYia had it looking fabulous...the woman has a way with decorating! They have worked so hard on this house: new paint, new tile floors, changed garage into a den, etc. And all in just a few weeks time! It was so fun to be there and enjoy the new home with lots of extra space to spread out. While we were there a family in their church gave them their old "playground" so the kids really got a kick out of that. On our first morning there, we got to visit a new pony that had been born to neighbors down the road. The kids also enjoyed rides on Papa's riding lawn mower, visiting downtown Greenville, and learning what it means to be from South Carolina! It's a different way down there...a good way...a way we truly miss and are thankful our kids get to experience every now and then!

This little pony is only 2 hours old! It was so fun to see her walk for the first time and love her momma. I had 2 ponies growing up, so this took me way back and it was fun to see my kids get excited about the pony and horses.

Visiting downtown G'ville is also something we love to do: fun shopping, cool restaurants, and a cool place by the Reedy river to hang out with the kids.

Down by the river there are also lots of good backdrops for pictures, too bad the kids were not cooperating!

On Sunday I turned 36...yes, I'm now on the other side of my 30's...feels weird. On Saturday evening, Kris and I enjoyed a night out on the town by ourselves. We ate at High Cotton in down town G'ville and had most likely the best meal we have ever had! Highly recommend this place if you're ever in the area...really yummy southern food at a high class restaurant. On Sunday, I was treated like a princess by everyone...M helped with the decorations and cake, I received some fabulous gifts, ate another delicious meal, and took a glorious birthday nap!

We couldn't have had a better time...thanks for the delicious food, good rest and relaxation, and hilarious games! We love you Papa, YiaYia, Kate and Sophie!