Pumpkin Painting

We didn't get to go apple picking this year (we were planning to go the weekend that the Princess hurt her finger so that didn't happen). We didn't go pumpkin picking because time got away from us. But we did at least get pumpkins (shhh....from the grocery store and one from the Handsome Man's hayride field trip). And, the kids painted them.  They had tons of fun!

Can you see all the paint color samples in the background? We finally picked one! Pics coming soon!

Also, if you look closely, under all the paint, you can also see the Princess's band-aids. The doctor said that we don't have to go back for 4 more weeks! Her finger is healing really well. Now we're just waiting to see if her fingernail will grow again.

Decisions, decisions...

Sometimes I'm decisive. Sometimes I not. Usually I'm not. Right now, I'm really not. Case in point....

Every wall in our living room and dining room looks like this. I just can't decide on a color. It's getting a little ridiculous now.  Hoping to make a decision this week so we can finish painting these two rooms. (We've already done the trim and ceiling; just waiting on my color choice to do the walls.)

First Family Bike Ride

For the first time since before being pregnant with the Munchkin, I got on a bike.  I'll admit, I was a little nervous. I had visions of myself falling in front of my kids.  Ben's been taking the kids for bike rides lately, and they're getting to be quite the little bikers. (The Princess rides in a bike trailer that Ben pulls with his bike.) Today I decided to dust off my bike and join them. We rode a 1.5 miles to the playground, stopped to play, and then rode home. I LOVE that we can do that here in our new town. We had fun, and I loved seeing my kids encourage me this time...."Good job, Mom. How's it going, Mom?  You okay, Mom?"  The Munchkin even rode behind me so that, in her words, in case I fell, she would be able to help me.  So cute. Next time, I'll take pictures.  This was officially our first ever family bike ride. :)

Just a quick update on the Princess's finger....we're successfully getting the Betadine on her finger. She won't let us soak it but she will let us pour the solution over her finger in the sink. There were many tears in the beginning, but now she's doing just fine.  She'll see the surgeon again on Tuesday but it looks like it's healing pretty well. We are so thankful.

Update

The Princess saw her plastic surgeon today and her finger is healing well. It will be about 3 months before we know if her finger nail will ever grow again, but he's hopeful it will.  She's down graded her bandage to 2 band-aids now, and this week we are trying to get back to her normal life (i.e. not staying home and watching Elmo all day). 

Tomorrow I have to pick up some special solution that the doctor wanted me to add to water and soak her finger in for several minutes twice a day.  When he said that, I looked at him for a few seconds to see if he was totally serious. He was. Then I proceeded to ask if I could maybe fill a basin of water, add the special stuff, and then let her play with it. (Because, clearly, my almost 2 year old who climbs everything in sight, is not going to sit still while I soak her hurt finger TWICE a day.)  The doctor's answer was, "Well, you could do that. But she should let you soak it." Hmm...we'll see about that.

She'll go back again next week for another check up. And if he's happy with her progress, I think we'll get a week off and not have to go back for a couple more weeks.

The Little Patient

Here she is watching Elmo in our bed this morning.  She's doing really well.  Elmo and Tylenol are keeping her happy for now.

ER Visit

This morning, I had been feeling like this week was full of ambulance visits. Two separate times, we heard sirens down  the street at the Munchkin's new school. Once last week when a teacher (and good friend of ours) broke her ankle. Another for a little girl having a seizure. Tonight it was our turn; this time at our house.

As we were cleaning up dinner, the Princess pulled her booster seat (which is attached to a dining room chair) over. It's not totally abnormal occurrence for chairs to fall over around here. She's a climber. Things fall and sometimes she does too. But this time, Ben said "Call 911."  Some part of the chair hit her finger with just enough force, in just the right (or wrong) spot, that she almost severed the tip of her finger completely off.

We only live 2 miles from a pretty good hospital. After talking to the 911 operator and got the police and ambulance on their way, I dropped the kids off to a friend. God's provision #1: She was home and available. And so kind and generous to watch them on about 30 seconds notice.  And, Ben was home.  It would have been much harder to this all on my own. We thought about just driving the Princess to the hospital but then the police pulled up and the ambulance was right after. Provision #2: The EMTs said we really need to head to the hospital that is a state trauma center. She needed a hand surgeon.  Provision #3: The police took care of my car and told me to ride in the ambulance. It was rush hour and it would have taken me way too long to follow in the car.   Provision #4: Once we got to the hospital, the plastic surgeon was already in the pediatric ER and was already finishing up with the last patient. We barely even waited for him.  Provision #5: Tonight, we was on call at both hospitals--the one 2 miles away and the one we were at. But God sent us right to wear he was. Had we chosen the closer hospital, we would have had to wait a long time for him to get there.

Just looking back over the last few hours, it's truly amazing to see how God provided for the Princess and us.  The surgeon reassured us that her finger should be okay. He reattached it and it should heal.  He's not sure her finger nail will ever grow again; we'll just have to wait and see.  We'll know in about 3 weeks or so. 

We were reminded tonight how life can change in an instant. But the Lord is always there, always present, always working. On the way home, the song "Healing Rain" came on the radio.  The song repeats this phrase often, "Healing rain is falling down." I was reassured that God is our Healer...my baby's Healer.