Our 1st Trip to the ER--Gracie goes thru a Glass Window Pane

Wed night was just a normal night at home for us after finishing dinner we got the girls in the tub and settled in for the evening. Matt hung the remainder of the shelves and frames in the babies room. As I was finishing putting some clothes in the dresser and Matt was downstairs putting away his tools and both girls were on the main level getting ready for us to watch a movie. I heard both girls yelling for me that they needed help. I ran down the stairs faster than I have in months to find Gracie outside a window sidelight next to the front door sitting in a pile of glass and a pool of blood. I opened the front door to get to Grace and carefully picked her up and carried her to the kitchen. I yelled for Matt and he came running as well. There was blood everywhere. It had dripped down the cabinets to the floor and Gracie's PJs were covered. Hallie was crying asking if Gracie was going to die and Gracie was crying and seemed pretty freaked out by all the blood and I don't think Hallie freaking out helped. Immediately I was in nurse mode I sent Matt for gauze and some wraps as well as my phone so I could call the dr. I one by one figured out where the blood was coming from and put pressure on them to try and stop the bleeding. I called her ped and they said to come on up and they would check her out. As we were headed out the door Matt realized there was a giant hole from the outside to inside our house so he stayed to tape it up and was going to meet us at the dr. Once we got the the ped it only took a sec for them to realize it was more than what they could handle so I loaded the girls up again and headed to the ER. They checked us in quickly and got us into the back. They one at a time unwrapped all of her cuts to see what they were going to require. 

At this point I started to fall apart now that we were where someone more qualified could help take care of her. They determined that she was going to need multiple layers of stitches in her leg and some xrays to make sure there was no remaining glass in the wounds. Matt took Gracie to xray and we made the decision to have her consciously sedated while they stitched her up. While they got everything ready Matt took some pictures of her poor owies. The ER had a fantastic child life specialist that brought the girls some prizes to keep them occupied but Gracie was completely content to watch her ipad with disney shows on it. It was a welcome distraction.

They gave her a IM shot and she was pretty out of it quickly after that. Then I had to lay her down on the table so they could  look over her hands as well since she wouldn't let them touch them before that it was really hard seeing her like that 

Once they got into stitching her cuts I was really glad we had chosen to sedate her. They gave her about 10 shots of lidocane to numb the area they were going to stitch.

Hallie was very facinated and protective asking what they were doing and why. She watched the entire time. I felt bad for her that she had to go thru that as well but I thought it was so sweet that she was so worried about Grace.

She had one cut in each leg that required serious stitches. They did 3 layers. 2 of dissoluble and the top layer normal stitches

Towards the end she started to wake up and got more aggitated so I stayed by her to help keep her calm the best I could

After they finished she was still out of it and when you talked to her she was pretty silly. At this point we returned phone calls and texts to concerned family and friends. It was about 10pm and Matt and I decided he would take Hallie home and get her to bed and I would stay with Grace until she could be discharged. Although Hallie was not ok with this plan since she wanted to stay with Grace she finally agreed to go home after Gracie was able to talk to her a little more. About every 10 minutes the nurses would come in and assess how aware Gracie was about an hour later she was alert enough that we could head home. We got her redressed and got a pictures before heading home. While at the ped they had given her a sucker while they attempted to look at her cuts which didn't work at all but once she was dressed she actually asked if she could have her sucker and I was happy to give it to her...she more than deserved it.

We got home about 1130 and stayed up a couple more hours getting her settled. We finally got her some pain meds and then she fell asleep. The next couple nights were rough she would wake up multiple time hurting and wanting to be held. The following day Nic, Rigs, and Kinley came for a visit and brought her a little get well gift she really liked that.

She would have times where she would run around and play and then realize her legs were hurting and then would spend the next couple hours on the couch watching shows. The first couple days we had to wrap her legs multiple times since she was bleeding through them. This was traumatic for everyone involved she would scream and cry that it was hurting and even the site of them made her totally freak out. The Dr. told us to keep them wrapped for 10 days and then come back to the ER to have the stitches removed.

 The further out we are getting the better she is getting about having them cleaned and getting them wrapped. She and I have figured out a system that if I need to touch them I will tell her before hand so that she will know what to expect. It has worked really well for us especially if I put her in charge of something she is usually in charge of the tape and the scissors. 

 Here is a picture of the glass that she went through. We had to have it replaced with regular frosted glass since the yellow stuff is pretty much impossible to find but oh well who really liked the yellow anyways? Once we got Gracie taken care of it was time to find out what had happened. I guess Gracie was spinning and singing Elsa songs when she lost her balance. She put her hands out to catch herself  and the glass gave way. After her hands had fallen through the glass the rest of her body followed cutting her legs up on the glass that was left on the bottom and sides of the frame. Knowing this it could have been so much worse. We truly feel blessed that it wasn't worse. She has apologized countless times for breaking the glass when in reality we don't even care about the glass just happy that she is ok.

 Update: It has now been 10 days and we took Grace in to have the stitches removed. She did really well although she was very nervous and worried. People have asked why I didn't just take them out and my response is this. It is covered under the same visit to the ER and honestly I would prefer for her to see me as mom and not the one bugging her owies. Yes I am very capable of taking them out but just didn't want to. She got a sucker and they steri stripped it just in case and we were on our way. There were still plenty of tears but she got through it and held very still. Distraction works great for her she told the nurse all about Hallie's soccer game and what happened the first time she came to the ER that kept her less focused on what was really going on. I am hoping to remember to take pictures of her legs currently. I am amazed at how well and quickly she is healing. The cuts on her hands are gone and the multiple ones on her legs are looking so good. The 2 main ones are going to take quite a while to heal but so far I have been impressed.

Although I hope to never have to visit the ER again.
18 Days Out we have started using Asea's Renu 28 to help heal and resolve the scars. It seems to be working so far we will continue to watch it

We are now 5 weeks out from the accident. She is healing nicely. We are using vit E as well as the asea. A stitch on the left leg 2nd layer has come to the surface and the scar is now growing in around it and isn't healing properly. Matt was brave and took the tweezers to it while I did my best to comfort Grace and tugged a little and it came out! I was very relieved by this so it didn't mean another dr visit. It now seems to be healing better.

Easter with Grandma and Papa

Saturday after Manor Care we headed home so Matt could go to Weber and take one of his last tests for his Master Program. I will be so thrilled when he is done!!! While he was gone we ate lunch and had naps. As soon as he got home we headed to Nics for more Easter festivities. My mom had an egg hunt set up for the kids. There were 120 eggs for just the 4 of them. The kids anticipation was high I didn't think they were going to make it thru taking pictures before they could find the eggs....hence why none of them are really paying attention.

After they found the eggs and ate way to much candy it was time to dye some eggs. My mom had seen this new idea where you color some shave cream and then put your eggs in. It was fun to try but didn't really work so we wont be doing that again but it was fun to try something new.

After that we ate dinner and then the boys headed to the priesthood session while we stayed home and visited and the kids just played. Just a side note we had forgotten Matt's church clothes so it would have been really easy for him to just stay home but he went anyways in his jeans and tennis shoes. Im grateful for his example and his desire to do what is right. After the boys got home we did cake and ice cream to celebrate Maddi birthday. In the two below pictures I captured what Gracie really likes about cake and ice cream....the frosting(just like her mommy). When you ask what she is doing she just looks really guilty before a smile covers her face and she tells you she is just eating frosting.

The birthday group  minus mom who is taking the picture

After cake and ice cream my mom "attempted" to get a picture of my dad with the grandkids and well lets just say none of them were interested in holding still or having their picture taken minus Hallie. But it is a great picture of her with her papa.

After that it was time to call it a night we were all tired for the long day and everyone was pretty sugared out. I was sad to head home knowing that my parents would be leaving the next morning but I have a feeling that we will be seeing them a lot more in the next couple of months which will be a welcomed treat for us. Sunday we stayed home and watch conference. Matt caught up on some much needed homework and took it easy. That morning I had woke up feeling pretty awful...I think I had over done it the previous 2 days and not only had pregnancy caught up with me but also a very nasty cold so I was very glad to have Matt home so I coul dtake it easy on the couch, All in all it was a fun weekend. I wish that weekends like this would spread themselves out more so we had more time to enjoy each occasion individually but it is what it is and it was fun to have conference fall on actual Easter weekend. The girls are getting old enough where they are really understanding the true reason we celebrate Easter and for with that Im thankful for the weekend and the memories that were made.

Manor Care Easter Egg Hunt

It has become a tradition to attend the Manor Care Easter Egg Hunt. We just love how they do it rather than hundreds of kids running and grabbing eggs as a free for all they give each child a number and they are allowed to find only the eggs with their number. In the pasted it has been a little difficult for my younger girls to understand but this year they made it even better the younger kids were assigned a color instead . Here are the girls anxious as ever to get out there and get all the eggs.

"The sun is too bright daddy"

After each child had found their color/number then they allow the kids to get the remaining eggs. They find them in a fenced area where they can set the residents up so they can watch the kids and be part. It really is such an awesome idea and one of the "best kept secrets" as far as easter egg hunts are concerned.

This year along with the color/numbers they also did a "prize" egg for each category and Hallie was thrilled when she found it. This is the basket she won...it was really cool

After they served giant pink frosted cookies and hot cocoa. Gracie was pretty pleased with her findings.

While we ate our snack we emptied out our eggs so we could give them back and keep our candy. I also love that they do awesome candy like real chocolate goodness not the cheap crappy candy like most places. This is about half of the girls eggs we had to empty their buckets about half way through. It took about 20 minutes for them to find all of their eggs.

I guess you can eat a cookie any way that you choose.

It was such a great and fun way for us to spend our easter morning. I hope they continue to provide fun activities at the nursing home that also encourage interaction with the "old" people. I don't want my kids to be afraid of them and I think that regular and fun interaction with them help with that. 

Family Comes to Town

Over easter weekend we were lucky enough to have my parents and Maddi here to visit. Friday after we got off work we decided to load up and take a trip to Huntsville to see our lot and enjoy some delicious BBQ. The kids had a ball running around and exploring. Im really excited for the girls to have open space where they can explore and grow up using their imaginations. We also took our plans so we could show everyone how the house would lay out and what the house would look like. My parents had some good suggestions and then we were off to fill our bellies with delicious food.

After we spent some time letting the kids run around the park chasing each other and getting their wiggles out while we visited and planned out the rest of our weekend. We missed Kim and Ez but look forward to when they are here in June getting to show them our lot as well. 

It was a fun night and it made us more excited about building after getting to show our family. It is hard that they are so far away but trips like this make it do able and when we get together you would never know that we had ever been apart.

Easter Festivities Begin---Huntsville Easter Egg Hunt

I saw on one of the Valley Facebook pages that there would be an easter egg hunt in Huntsville during the middle of the week in the morning so the girls and I decided we would try it out. It was the first time they done it and although the kids had some fun it was really cold and unorganized.

The girls quickly decorated their cookies and decided to eat them in the car on the way home with the hot chocolate they also provided

This is a giant balloon Hallie won as one of her "prizes"

We didn't stay very long since the weather was so cold the poor girls hands and noses were red by the time we were done.

To The Zoo With Daddy!!!

I honestly can't remember the last time Matt went to the zoo with us. We usually go in the middle of the day when he is at work but since he traveled over the weekend a couple weeks ago he was able to take a couple days off during the week. It just so happened that Hallie was out of school for Spring Break the entire week so that made our schedule even that much more flexible...it was awesome! I loved having Hallie home the entire week and Matt home for a couple days I just really enjoyed having time together without adding something else to the schedule if only it happened more often. When we got to the zoo I was a little worried since there were a lot of people there but Matt assured me it would be fine so we unloaded our stuff and headed in. I was really glad we didn't have to wait in line for our tickets because the line was way long. 

The temperature was perfect the animals we really active. They were bathing the elephants. It was really fun to see their personalities come through as they played in the mud and water. The girls thought they were so silly.

These 3 are my whole world I don't know what I would do without them

The grizzly bears were also really active wrestling and playing.

Our little family

The tiger was sleeping and pretty lazy but was close enough to see really well

They had a new baby orangutan about 5 months old! Seriously one of the cutest things I have ever seen. 

The girls were really excited about sitting on the elephant to show Matt and then we were all tired and ready to head back home from our fun day. I hate how tired I get from doing the simplest things but I guess that is just what happens at this point in my pregnancy only a few short weeks until we meet our newest addition.

We got home just in time to get some dinner and get Matt headed off to teach class. It was so fun to have Matt home and to not have the girls by myself. I loved getting to make memories with all of us and can't wait to do more fun things