Stitches Are Out!

Liliana got her stitches out today! Sadly it was another traumatic ordeal. She refused to stay still and so we had to papoose her again. The scab had attached itself to the stitches and so it bled some as they removed them. She cried and yelled- told off the nurses a few times. (Seriously, you don't want to get this child mad at you!). They steri-stitched it to help it continue to heal. Moira wasn't quite sure what to do with it all. At first she was content sitting on the floor playing with my wallet, but she eventually got very concerned for her sister and started crying. It was sad, very very sad.

We ended up going to Chick Fil A for lunch (I didn't want McDonald's again). That made it better. Our next step is to see the plastic surgeon in November to see if they can help us with the scar. The nurses said she was healing fast, let's just hope she heals well, too.

Summer's Farm in Frederick, MD

Last October all our Saturdays to go to the pumpkin patch were rained out. This year we made sure that we went the first good day we got! So we were at Summer's Farm, in Frederick, MD this past weekend, which is the patch we've been going to since 2006. They've added some things, revamped some others, but we love the family atmosphere, the yummy fresh food, and picking our pumpkins right off the vine! Every year I picture the years past and I'm amazed by how much the girls have grown. I'll supplement some older pictures to give you the same comparison. :)

Then:

Now:

Waiting for the pig races

Going down herself didn't work out so well...

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Wound Pictures

This probably looks as bad to you as it did to Kaylon this morning- but I have to tell you, it looks amazing to me. Course, I saw it gaping open yesterday morning...

Ever Seen Your Kid's Skull?

I have gone 6 years without a trip to the ER. Six years and three kids. My time was bound to run out.

I dropped off Liliana and Moira at a friend's house this morning while I went to the gym. I was setting up my step when my phone rang. The caller ID said that it was my friend who was watching the girls. I asked if there was anything wrong. I asked this many times and the person on the other end always has said, "No, nothing's wrong."

Not today.

Liliana fell down, she told me, and there is blood everywhere. She's gonna need stitches.

So I leave, call Kaylon, and head back to her house. I was imagining a cut. Maybe a long one. Some blood. I wasn't prepared. It was a gash, over one inch long and gaping open. The skin was sliced all the way to the bone. I could see her skull.

Yeah, she was going to need stitches.

We are guessing that she tripped/slipped on the kitchen floor and hit the marble tile step at just the right angle. No one saw it happen, but they were right there after the fact. Thankfully they cleaned up all the blood before I got there. That was a merciful act of service.

The ER took us right in- no waiting required. Liliana is still traumatized from the blood draw a few weeks ago, so she wanted nothing to do with the nurses at first. She told most of them to leave her alone when they tried to talk to her, and even told one "You're scaring me." But they had to clean the wound (luckily it didn't need more than water and gauze), and they had to access her mental state. And miraculously, after the TV was turned on, she turned back into the sweet Liliana we all know.

Until they had to put her in the papoose. Actually the papoose wasn't the problem- it was the drape that they put over her face. She cried that she couldn't see and she begged us to let her go. She struggled, and they held her head tighter. I held her hands and tried to soothe her. I don't know how much I helped, but it helped me to be there. At least I felt a little useful. Sadly the numbing medication wore off part of the way through and she started to feel the sutures. The doctor numbed her up again and finished. I had no idea her had been sewing her up for over 45 minutes. It had seemed like 15 minutes. But there she was with 7 deep stitches and 13 superficial ones. Twenty stitches total.

She calmed down after some momma-love and some apple juice slushy. In 20 minutes she seemed to have forgotten what had happened. They released us a little before noon and we headed to McDonalds for a promised Happy Meal. The poor girl deserved as many Happy Meals as she could eat! As she talked to Kaylon on the phone, she barely mentioned her ordeal- her focus was on the chicken nuggets, french fries, and toy that were in front of her. Sometimes I wish that my memory was that easy to erase.

It was a growing day for me. I'm proud to say that I kept my cool through the whole thing. I never fainted or got sick. I made good decisions. I didn't drive like a maniac. I didn't get irrationally angry (in fact I felt awful for my friend who felt so guilty that it happened at her house- but really, it could have happened anywhere!). I was a bit shaky after I put the girls down for a nap- the after affects of shock I'm guessing. But I proved that I can handle a medical crisis- which is important in a house of three kids. And I realized in a new way how much I love my girls. How difficult it is to watch your child in pain. And I reached a new appreciation for my mother, who must have taken my brothers and me to the ER over a dozen time (maybe even two dozen). That's a lot of time in hospitals worrying about those you love the best.

All in a days work for a mom.

Knock Knock Jokes

Grace got into telling jokes at the end of the kindergarten year, so they came up a lot this summer while in Arizona. Usually they were knock knock jokes that didn't make a whole lot of sense. And I couldn't remember any of the ones I had learned in my childhood except the banana/orange one (orange you glad I didn't say banana). Luckily Uncle Curti told us a good one while we were out there, bringing our jokes to two.

Knock knock.
Who's there?
Interrupting cow.
Interr--
MOOOOOOOOOOO!

Little did we know that Moira was keenly listening to all of this. So we were surprised a couple of weeks ago when she started yelling KNOCK KNOCK at us. This is what we get (over and over again) when she gets on a roll.

New Liliana Quote

"I love Jesus. He cracks me up."