Quick Update ...

• Visit with Wound Care Center and Dr. Boykin went very well. Learned how to take good care of her little foot and we will visit with him again next week (and following weeks) until it is completely healed.
• Found out that doctors & nurses get mighty nervous when a momma brings the FO-TOs with her, documenting the progression of her baby's wounds as well as the poorly wrapped splint. Kind of leaves them speechless. See how being a neurotic pitcher-taker has it's advantages?
• Clara is so much happier and already feels a TON better. We haven't had prescription pain medicine all day and this is the first full day since Sunday. The pressure and support of the boot feels good to her and she DOES NOT like to take it off.
• She knows the Jahnke Road exit all too well and starts to well up when we turn in that direction. :(
• It's good to know that I wasn't the only momma who got to the boiling point over this whole ordeal. I am very grateful for the kindness and empathy that has been shown to us by the Chippenham hospital staff, since we had our little "conversation."  (link)
• And glory-hallelujah, she can take a bath tomorrow!

***And best of all ... Daddy is home!***

He flew in early today so we had him for dinner and bedtime tonight, which was an added treat. Looking forward to spending tomorrow together :)

Under Pressure

Clara went to the orthopedist yesterday for what we thought would be a visit to remove her splint and put on a cast to help her toe to heal.

When the temporary splint was removed we found a very ugly pressure wound on her heal. The splint was put on incorrectly by the emergency room nurse on Saturday and extensive pressure was put on her heel. Unbeknownst to us, it has been the primary source of her pain.

It has broken my heart over & over again, thinking about her writhing and crying out in such anguish, these last few days. We thought it was her toe that was giving her such fits.

I am exhausted in countless ways. I spent the better part of the morning speaking harshly to those who were in charge of the responsible parties, doctors & nurses alike, pleading with them to consider this mistake a very important problem to remedy ... THEIR problem. It was nasty at times and I am sure if salvation could be lost in a telephone conversation, mine is gone forever.

(oh, so thankful for grace)

After a visit with the Pediatric ER this afternoon and several properly concerned doctors, nurses and folks from administration, we have a suitable plan for getting this foot healed up. We meet tomorrow with the doctor at the wound care center for what may be a long process.

Thankful that she is feeling so much better already!

You can tell in this pic how she will flex her right foot 

but keeps the left foot more pointed. 

Notice the splint on the left having more of a 90-degree angle. Clara's foot was left in a downward position and then bound that way. 

Phony Pics

Having a camera in my pocket has proven to be handy on many occasions and now that Hannah has her own iPhone we are double the trouble. Of course she takes way more pics than I do and of things I would NEVER take pictures of (like the BLESSED laundry!)

It tickles me to see some of what makes the cut ;)

This is sorted laundry. It's our way of making progress 

when you know that FOLDING is asking a bit much.

Fear does not exist in this dojo, DOES IT??

 

Broken toe and a bad case of the coo-coos. 

She has lived out "fit to be tied" like I have never seen.

Emma made these. Pecan Meltaways.

Oh, they melted away alright.

It's disturbing and amazing at the same time.

Kind of like my life.

They stay entertained back there.

Seriously? With a cell phone?

LOVE.

Aw, the good ol' days.

When she wore both boots.

Emma made these too. She loves me.

Peanut butter cookies with little Reese's Cups.

She is Sugar Britches.

Okay?

Like this.

I like to call this one, "NO BEN-BEN! IT'S MINE"

That is basically the theme song of their relationship.

This Little Piggy ...

Dad came home early Saturday morning to start off our 30-Hours-With-Dad! weekend. Gosh, with sleeping it seemed like so much less!

Saturday morning we got up super early to see the girls off, as they left for the Focus Conference. The younger three were way too excited to sleep in and we spent the morning together before heading to Sam's basketball game.

Afterwards, we came home, ate lunch and then I left to run a couple of errands.

Chris called as I was leaving the cleaners, and said to come home immediately. Clara had hurt her foot really bad and there was a lot of blood.

Gracious.

From what we can tell, she pulled the piano bench over and it landed on her foot. The bleeding made it impossible to see what kind of damage had been done but she was pretty good at letting us know we needed to head on to the hospital.

Chris stayed with the boys and I took Clara to Chippenham Hospital where they have a pediatric ER. We were seen quickly and the x-ray revealed that her big piggy was broken. An open fracture to be exact, because the skin was open at the break. Where the toenail meets the foot, the nail (with the pressure of the bench) punctured the skin and then broke the top portion of her toe.

She was a very sweet patient. She cried sweetly when anyone spoke to her ... and she cried like a wild animal when they cleaned that nasty wound. I sang a few dozen rounds of Jesus Loves Me, The Wheels on the Bus and My Father's World. We were both drenched in sweat after that little episode and  after they wrapped her up in a make-shift splint she was good to go :)

Took me back about 12 or 13 years ago when I held my Emma in a mummy restraint singing those same songs. She left a piece of her forehead on Dusty's kitchen counter and we had them stitch her forehead closed. I remember them telling me that it would be better if I waited outside because it would be too hard for me to stay with her.

Ummmm ... That's dumb advice. I'll sit right here and you fix my baby so we can go, thank-you-very-MUCH.

They gave us antibiotic to prevent infection and narcotics for the pain.

I think it makes good sense to give the mother at least a dose or two for the night, don't you?

I will take Clara to the orthopedist on Wednesday ... Dr. Christopher Kim.

Let's stay right here for just a minute and enjoy the ridiculousness.

Tex, her trusty physical therapist 

(I think he just hopes she drops food at some point)

They will do additional x-rays and decide what to do before putting her in a cast, possibly a bone reduction? ... At which point I may need a stiff drink and a designated driver.

She cycles in and out of pain and her patience level is just about tapped out. Like when she is sitting on the couch and just hollers out as loud she can ... "MAAAMAAA! I CAN'T WAAAAALK!!!"

She doesn't actually want to get up at that point but rather remind me and anyone else within earshot of her woeful condition ;)

Chris left Sunday around lunchtime for the week, and the girls just got home last night. We have had an interesting couple of days around here ;) My sweet neighbor has picked up groceries and taken Benjamin to play when things were crazy Monday morning. Jamie came Sunday night and brought dinner and stayed until bedtime. She took Sam back with her to their house where he had the time of his ever-lovin' life.

Thank you Jamie!

He was tearing up last night and I thought maybe he was missing Dad, or worried about Clara, or maybe he had even missed me? ... but NO. He missed Carson ... and I think they had just pulled out of the driveway ;)

So we have to keep Sugar Britches still as much as possible, which you can tell by the video is no easy feat. Once the cast gets on we can let her be a little more mobile.

Who would have thought that a piano bench and a big toe could cause so much trouble?

The Weekend

Up tonight getting the girls ready for a weekend away with their youth group. They are going to the FOCUS conference in Asheville, NC and will be back Monday night. I am so excited for them! I am so freaking out that I will be here without any big people for 2 days!

Chris has been working out of town for 6 weeks (3 weeks down, 3 more to go!). He comes home tonight or actually early morning because his flight was delayed. He leaves again Sunday.

Stinks to high heaven but the days go by fast. I do feel myself start to come unwound about this point each week. Knowing that he is almost here ... and knowing he won't be here long enough.

Me and that fella have spent the better part of our life together. We can have some pretty gnarly "discussions" and we aren't always as good to each other as we should be.

But I love him oh-so-much & I MISS HIM when he is not here. For goodness sakes I miss him when he goes to work each day ... gone for a week is too dog-gone long.

Poor thing has a pretty long list of stuff to accomplish in just a little over 24 hours ;)

Including lots of hugs & kisses from this clan ...

And we'll see if this one lets him outta her sight for a split second ;)

Resolving Things a Bit ...

I have lofty goals ... they include me losing weight AND being more kind to the people who live here.

Pretty lofty, I know.

My thoughts are scattered. Hold on tight.

My oldest is getting older. Well, they are all getting older but she is definitely getting to be too old TOO fast. I make peace with that and then I feel my eyeballs start to leak & swell shut. And then my heart falls into my gut.

There went the peace.

Say what you will about being thankful for the good times, but I don't wanna think about this house without the 7 of us in it.

I know He'll meet me there when the time comes.

For this I am sure of.

I have seen Him meet the broken-hearted a time or two these past few months ... and He never shows up a second too late. Oh, how I wish I could write more poignantly about it.

It seems impossible. But, she does a beautiful job of it.

I ran errands today with the three younger kids. Sam took notice of the print on the McDonalds bag.

"I wanna go there! To the Ronald McDonald house! Is it like a big Mcdonalds?"

I tell him no. It is like a hotel but it looks more like a house. It is for families with sick children. They can stay there while their children are in the hospital.

I tell him that sweet Lydia stayed at the Ronald McDonald house with her family when they went to see the doctor last year at UNC.

(what he had read from the bag)

"When Scottie got sick he had to fly to a hospital far away.

Ronald McDonald House gave his family a place to stay close by.

With his family near, Scottie got better quicker...

so he could go back home."

"Yeah ... but it says on the bag that Scottie got better and Lydia ... Lydia didn't get better."

I wish my heart had not skipped so many beats. I wished I had thought to tell him that Lydia was better. Better than she had ever been and better than we will ever be!

Glory! How do I land here when I start off with weight loss and being sweet?

My girls have been reading through old posts on my blog. They were too young to care too much when I started ;) It has been a sweet time of remembering and it has blessed me to be reminded! Heavy moments like today and sweet moments sprinkled with memories make me think hard.

I want to pause and rest with the thoughts of my 9-year old boy when his heart is heavy. I want to avoid the ever-present rushing through my life. I want to be content more and compare less.

I want to wake up and not open my laptop before I open my bible.

When I spend time purposing to recall the most beautiful parts ...

It points me to His work in my life ...

In their lives ...

Facebook has been such an amazing thing. Amazing at connecting and drawing people together.

And amazing at sucking literal hours away from my life.

I cannot begin to tell you how I have struggled with whether or not I should remove myself from that world. I have really good arguments for both. I have really only validated the one side up until now.

I am taking my first Facebook hiatus.

Not sure how long. Can't think about the implications for too long either. I'll be posting here more often, though!

I have to do something with all these pictures of Sugar Britches.