STITCHES!!

This is a great story and I know I will want to remember it. On Sunday August 5, 2012 Luke was sick. He had been running a fever for a few days with a bad cold (this was the first fever of his entire life!!) So, Dan and I took turns going to church that day. I went to the first part and he went to the second part. Even though Luke was sick he still wanted to run around and be a crazy toddler. I was folding up a blanket and whenever I do this Luke likes to charge at the blanket like a bull and it is a fun little game that we play. Well, I was shaking the blanket at him and he ran through it but he just kept running full speed and ram straight into the corner of a 3 inch awning over our fireplace. His forehead met the sharp metal corner at full speed. 

I ran over and picked him up and there were instant tears and cries of pain. There was blood running down his face and even blood running into his eyes (gross!). I was alone so I knew I needed to remain calm and remedy the situation. I used the blanket to put pressure on the spot and Luke was so mad. I carried him over to the kitchen table and laid him down and put some napkins over the wound so it would stop bleeding. I just kept saying to him, "it's ok, it's ok, it's ok." I think I was saying that to myself!! 

The wound stopped bleeding profusely after a few seconds and Luke did not want me holding him down. (He doesn't like to be held or comforted when he gets hurt) So, I let him go and I grabbed a band aid out of my diaper bag and put it on his forehead. I tried to get a good look at the gash before putting the band aid on and it didn't look too good. I kind of thought it might need a stitch or two, but I didn't  know.I got the band aid on his head, cleaned up the blood mess, got him a drink and turned on Little Einstiens and we cuddled on the couch until Daddy got home from church about ten minutes later. 

We showed Daddy the gash and we really didn't know what to do. The reason we didn't just hop in the car and go to urgent care is because we have Kaiser insurance (which I LOVE) but we have to drive at least 25-30 minutes to get to the nearest urgent care. I called the advice nurse and she wasn't that helpful. She did give me some criteria for wounds needing stitches and it sounded like we met the criteria. She also informed me that we would have to drive to the Interstate facility because it is the only urgent care open on Sunday evenings!! That is about a 30-40 minute drive!!! 

We finally decided to err on the side of caution and make the drive to Interstate. We fed Luke some dinner really quick, grabbed some snacks and hopped in the car. We actually made really good time and there was NO traffic since it was a Sunday evening. We checked in and only waited 5 minutes before being called back. 

Forgive the bad phone pictures, but I knew we had to document this little adventure. Mommy and Lukey in the treatment room. 

Luke was such a tropper. Keep in mind that he still had a low grade fever, was getting over a cold, he was teething and had a huge cut on his head!! The PA came and looked at the cut and said that yes, it would probably need one stitch. They put some numbing agent on a cotton ball and taped it to his head for 15 minutes. He kept going over to the door and wanted to open it and leave! Poor little guy! 

Here he is with the numbing stuff on his head. 

What a cutie!! Of course this is the one day in his life that I don't do his hair! He looks a little silly!

After about 15 minutes the PA and nurse came back and were ready to stitch. They don't do dissolve stitches or staples on the face because they will scar more easily. So, he had regular old stitches. They swaddled him up in a sheet so he couldn't get his hands out. That was when he started to get mad! I held his chest, daddy held his legs and the nurse held his head. He was SO mad!! He was screaming like I have never hear him scream before. I thought he was going to pass out. I just kept telling him it was going to be ok and Mommy was here and Mommy loves you. I did feel so bad for him and almost teared up once, but I knew this had to be and the PA was really fast and it was only a couple of minutes we had to hold him for. When she was almost done Daddy said to him, "almost all done Lukey". Then Luke started yelling, "ALL DONE, ALL DONE, ALL DONE". That was really, really sad :(

Finally we were all done and we got to pick him up! He gave that PA the biggest crusty in the world. He didn't want anything to do with her. He was still pretty mad, but calmed down quickly and luckily we were out of there pretty quick. 

This is after the stitches. 

He quickly fell asleep on the way home. The whole thing (including driving) only took about 2 hours so that was definitely a success! I thought we would have to wait forever at the urgent care, but it was all really quick and then we had to wait 6 days and get the stitches out. They bothered him the first two days, but after that I think he got used to it. He woke up a few times in the night the first two days, but nothing after. I'm really glad it wasn't worse! The evil pokey edges on the fireplace are now covered in foam corner protectors!! No more holes in the head around here!! 

Here he is the next morning. You can get a pretty good look at his two precious stitches!! He has healed up very nicely, but is definitely going to have a triangle shaped scar on his head. Too bad it isn't a lightning scar....:)

Zoo Day

Since the summer was quickly coming to an end we wanted to go to the Zoo with our cousins. It was a perfect overcast morning with cool temperatures so we headed up to the Zoo. 

Luke LOVED this little door at the Zoo Store. He has a little obsession with going in and out of doors and opening and closing them. We play a game at home that I call "hello, goodbye". He opens the door and says HIYA, then we give kisses then he says BYE and closes the door and we repeat this many times over! I think he could have played with this little door for a LONG time! Alas, we wanted to see the animal and not just the door...

Luke loves chasing his cousins and making Kelsey carry him everywhere. I hope her arms didn't hurt too bad!! He is quite heavy to carry around and I am a mean mom and make his stay in his stroller, but his cousins are suckers and offer to take him out all the time! Here they are in the Eagles nest!

 Dawson wanted to make sure I got a picture of him climbing this tree :)

This cow was so funny. When we were coming out of the eagle area we could hear some really loud animal, but couldn't tell what it was. Well, it was this cow. It didn't sound like your traditional cow, more like a load roar/yell/moo. Luke though it was so funny every time the cow mooed. I wish I would have videoed it. 

 I wish you could see Luke's face because he is laughing and the cow is mooing right at him. 

 The most awesome teenager and the cutest baby in the world .... I mean toddler :( I still call him my baby. 

Riding some log horses. 

Playing in the polar bear cave. 

This polar bear was just getting ready to take care of his business....good thing I got a picture right before he left a large deposit! 

 Jenna is so cute with Lukey and he loves to be with her! 

I guess Luke isn't as big as I thought....only as big as a Polar Bear leg! 

The kids love to make Luke dance and all you have to do is sing "Call Me Maybe" and he will shake his little booty!

Our cousins!! 

Two kids = one orangutan

Luke LOVED the zoo. This was the first trip to the zoo that he really comprehended and liked seeing the animals. I think next spring/summer we will get a zoo pass and go all the time! 

One of his favorite things was seeing the big fish in several different exhibits...maybe a trip to the aquarium is in order... 

Lincoln City

Since Luke had never really been to the beach we hopped in the car one Saturday and headed to the coast. It was sunny and not too windy and not too cold (65 F). That is a miracle for the Oregon coast! It is usually 50 degrees, cloudy and windy which is fine, but we do like to see the sun once in a while. 

Luke wasn't too sure about the soft sand at first and wanted to sit in the chair, but he warmed up to it pretty quick. 

This kid always has to have something in his hand. Most of the time at the beach he carried around a broken shovel. It was just the handle part, but he had to have it in his hand.

He was definitely a little hesitant about the water, but when Daddy showed him it was fun to jump he started to smile and investigate. 

Daddy decided to dig a big hole to put Lukey in...

Here he is in the hole....let's just say he was "all done"

This kid is NOT a cuddler! (makes mommy sad) so for him to come over and climb on me is a treat! I will take any type of cuddling action I can get. 

I guess my bum is like a nice soft pillow :) 

Look at those sandy little toes! I will be so sad when he doesn't have squishy little feet anymore. I love that he is still so soft and squish and has lots of baby fat that I can nibble on!

Bye, bye coast...see ya next time!

Family Camp Finale

Luke's cousins were all SO helpful! They all took turns playing with him and keeping him occupied and it was fantastic to have so many helpers. 

I came downstairs one day to find this! Luke playing a little billiards. 

 One evening we were going to try to rent bikes, but they were all rented out so we went to the park instead and it was a gem! The little ones LOVED these swings and then we found this awesome little trail out to the lake. 

 Here is the awesome little boardwalk out to the lake. Notice Kelsey holding Lukey. He LOVES his Kelsey and whenever he sees her he reaches his hands out to her.

We had a lot of fun at family camp, but sure missed out on some sleep. We were sharing a room with Luke and he was up countless times EVERY night. I kept thinking he had to sleep at some point, but no, he didn't. It was crap, crap, crappy, but somehow we still managed to have fun. I felt like Lukers wasn't really his self because he was totally overtired the entire trip, but I think he still had fun. He slept great the nights we stayed in Boise on the way there and on the way back, but he sure didn't like sharing a room with Mom and Dad. The night we got back he slept through the night, slept in an extra hour and then took a 3 hour nap!!! 

Happy Birthday Olivia

It happened to be cute little Livvy's birthday while we were at Family Camp so Julie had a little fairy party for her! It was really cute!

Here is the birthday fairy!

 We all go wings, crowns and the kids got wands. Luke didn't really want his wings, but he didn't know how to get them off and soon forgot that they were on!

Dandaley had an interesting way of wearing his wings. 

 Fairy dance party!

 Searching for special fairy treasures!

 Even awesome teenagers can dress up like fairies!

The adorable fairy cake! 

 Eating fairy snacks! It was so cute. Julie had all these tiny snacks like mini crackers, jelly beans, sunflower seeds, blueberries and tiny cups of lemonade! This was when we discovered that Luke LOVES sunflower seeds!

This is the end of the pictures because I realized my camera was dying and I was going to charge the battery, but I realized I DIDN'T BRING THE CHARGER!! I was freaking out because we still had the family talent show and I was going to video it on my camera. So, my wonderful, loving, awesome, super husband drove one hour down logan canyon to Ritz Camera and bought me a charge for $40 and then drove the hour back up the canyon. Yes, he is good!!