A-Quilting We Will Go

While I was in Spokane, my sisters Julie and Stephanie signed up for a quilt block class. As a gift, Steph paid for my enrollment and mailed the blocks to me each month. Being so far away, it was hard to catch the quilting fever, and I got very behind on my quilt blocks. But when I got here and had some time to work on them, I realized how much fun it is! And the fabrics are really beautiful, so it's fun to see the finished products. Yesterday Julie came over and we spent most of the day trying to catch up. Here are 2 of my favorite blocks. I have one more to do and I'll be caught up with the class, which is amazing.


Warning: Do not enlarge these pictures! They look much better from afar, so you can't see the mistakes!


Happy thought: I'm so grateful for sisters who live close and share my interests, and who have time to hang out with me. I also get a lot of support from my sisters when I am struggling with something in my life. (I am also grateful for my sister who does not live close anymore - thank goodness for blogging!)

Snakes & Snails & Puppy Dog Tails

There is something so sweet and special about little boys. I have 3 sisters and no brothers. (I always wanted a brother, particularly an older brother. Katelyn is lucky because she gets the benefits of an older brother, but she doesn't see Tanner enough to get on his nerves or to get torchered and teased like all of my friends who had older brothers.) Anyway, when I got pregnant with Katelyn, I wanted a girl so badly. Lucky for me, I got what I wanted and have adored buying pink clothes and stuffed animals and dolls and all that goes along with having a little girl. When I got pregnant with Carter, I wanted another little girl. Not that I didn't ever want a boy, but I justified my desire by saying that Katelyn should have a sister close to her age to play with. Really, I was terrified to have a boy. Growing up with no brothers, I have no idea what to do with boys!

So I was blessed with my little Carter, and I have gotten to experience the love of a mother for her son. Of course I love both of my children, not one more than the other. But the bond between mother and son is different from the bond between mother and daughter. I can relate to Katelyn because she likes girly things, and doesn't prefer trucks and motorcycles and wrestling every minute of the day. But Carter is the loviest little guy. I can feel that he's going to adore me for the rest of our lives. I sit next to him at the dinner table and sometimes, in the middle of dinner, he'll reach over and hug me for no reason. I end up with food all over me, but it's the sweetest thing!

I think Carter is in a grace period. He doesn't get into things quite as much as he did a month or two ago - or maybe I've gotten really good at heading him off - and he's not quite into the terrible 2's. There are days when he throws tantrums and screams all day, and of course he is so wild that he's bound to break a tooth or dislocate an arm from time to time. But he is very sweet and I find myself thinking how awesome he is more than being frustrated with him these days. I'll have to make the most of it while it lasts, because thanks to Katelyn, I know what's coming.

Happy thought: I find myself feeling grateful almost every day that we bought this house. That is due in large part to how much I love the neighborhood. I never would have thought that would be the case when we started looking at homes in this part of town!

Happy thoughts

In my quest to become a more positive person, I had an idea. I am going to start putting a "happy thought" on my blog every day. This will help me to focus on the positive, no matter how hard the day has been. So here goes....

Happy thought for today: I love that Carter repeats everything I say to him. Example: "What's that thing, momma?" asks Carter. "It's a door stop," I reply. "It's a door stop?" he asks. "Yes, it's a door stop." This happens over and over throughout the day, and he'll repeat me no matter how big the words I use. It's very endearing.

Feeling a little exposed

John took off our kitchen cabinet doors this weekend. We have an awesome friend who's going to take them to work and run them through a huge sander. This will save me hours of labor, so thanks, Kim! The kitchen looks super busy with tons of colors on tons of items screaming out of every cupboard. I didn't think about it when my visiting teachers asked if they could drop by last night, until 5 minutes before they arrived. I suddenly realized how exposed I feel with all of my business hanging out in the open for the world to see. Suddenly my great idea to cut a whole in the wall and open up the kitchen and living room didn't seem like such a great idea anymore, since you can stare from the front door straight into most of my cupboards.

Anyway, I turned off the lights in the kitchen (it was 7pm, so the sun didn't reveal too many of my secrets) and turned on some cozy lamps in the living room. I had to explain that we're remodeling anyway, since our walls are all different colors with sheet rock and mud everywhere. It was about the only thing I could think of to talk about while they stayed for 50 minutes!! I'm sure these sweet women didn't think twice about my naked cupboards, so what is my problem?

(OK, I have to admit that I chose the least cluttered cupboards to showcase here. Not quite ready to show the world what I've got, I guess.)

100 things (you never wanted to know) about me

I am a follower. I've seen several people do this on their blogs and it looked like fun. Well it is fun, so if you haven't done it, I encourage you to give it a try. Happy reading!



1. I was secretary of the chess club in high school.
   
2. My favorite car my whole life was a Honda Accord. It was also the first car I ever bought and I still had it when we moved to Spokane.
   
3. I am addicted to baking. I am trying to break the habit of baking a treat every night.
   
4. My favorite color is purple.
   
5. I got a scholarship to BYU for my first year's tuition. (I didn't maintain the 3.94 GPA that it would have taken to renew it for a second year.)
   
6. I saw my first R-rated movie when I was 21 (with John, actually).
   
7. I took notes in Sunday School when I was 14. My teacher was so impressed that she bought notebooks for the whole class. (I was not too popular after that.)
   
8. I was called to be the ward organist when I was 16.
   
9. My first accompanying experience was in primary when I was 11.
   
10. My favorite band from age 15 to 21 was Chicago. I own every album they made from 1969 to their Christmas CD in 2003. (The older ones are on vinyl!) I used to be able to name all of the band members and their instruments.
    
11. I saw Chicago in concert at least 8 times.
    
12. I could write a basic short story in Spanish, but can't speak a lick.
    
13. My favorite candy bar is Three Musketeers.
    
14. I was a BYU baby.
    
15. I played field hockey in high school. My position was right wing. I loved game days when we wore our tiny skirts to school.
    
16. I can't draw. Even my stick figures are unrecognizable.
    
17. I don't have a middle name.
    
18. I was the youngest name extraction missionary in the church. I started when I was 7 and was officially called to the position right after I was baptized. My dad is working on getting me into the church's new record book.
    
19. I can eat a 16 oz. steak in a sitting. I'm famous in some circles for that ability.
    
20. My favorite ice cream is chocolate chip cookie dough.
    
21. I would hug every animal I see that has fur if I could.
    
22. I sing second soprano.
    
23. Peaches are my favorite fruit.
    
24. I can recite all 13 articles of faith.
    
25. I have traveled to 8 countries--Mexico, Canada, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Denmark, and France (just the Paris airport).
    
26. I have a talent for remembering theme songs. I can recognize and/or sing the theme song to almost any t.v. show, no matter how obscure.
    
27. I am terrified of earwigs.
28. I love to fold laundry.
29. I sucked my thumb until I was 10 years old. (Yes, you read that right.)
    
30. I was first funner up to the Junior Peach Queen in Brigham City when I was five.
31. I love to sing. When I'm not listening to kids' songs or movies in the car, I'm singing along to my favorite tunes. I used to stop singing at stop lights so I wouldn't get busted, but I don't bother anymore.
    
32. I have my dad's very dry sense of humor.
33. I can recite the entire script of "The Sound of Music". (Not just the music, every line.) My sister Cassie went through a phase when she was little where she had to watch it a couple times a day. It's still one of my favorite movies.
34. I hate cooked peas. I love raw peas straight from the pod!
35. I have watched 7 out of 8 seasons of Big Brother. I wait all year for the new season to start.
36. I fell in love with my husband years before he realized that he loves me.
37. I couldn't say my s's when I was little, and I still feel like I have trouble.
38. I got my first pet, a cat I named Suzy-Q, when I was seven and had her until I was 24.
39. I am a terrible volleyball player. I used to dread volleyball games in gym class--nobody wanted me on their team. Seriously.
40. When I was little I wanted to be a ballerina. I took ballet lessons for a year when I was seven.
41. I love the smell of freshly cut grass.
    
42. I go to the Messiah Sing-Along at Abravanel Hall every year with my family.
43. I love shoes, and have very expensive taste. I even own 1 pair of Manolo Blahniks, a gift from my sweet husband. I have also visited the very exclusive store in NYC, where you have to buzz at the door and wait to be escorted inside.
44. I was Sterling Scholar in foreign languages at Woods Cross High School. (It's a Utah thing.)
45. I could survive with nothing to eat but chocolate.
46. I have a piece of the fence that was the border between East and West Germany. I broke it off myself the year after the wall came down.
47. I was a Brownie, but dropped out before I was an official Girl Scout.
48. I have ridden an elephant. (At Hogle zoo when I was little.)
49. I can't roll my r's. (Part of the reason I don't speak Spanish.)
50. I LOVE movie theatre popcorn!
51. I would love to drive a cute little convertible Jaguar, but will probably always drive a mini-van. (I, too, used to make fun of mini-vans and swore I would never own one.)
52. I cry way too often.
53. I am going to learn to play the violin someday.
54. I have always wanted a pet monkey. If John told me I could have one, I would go get one today. Yes, I know it's like having another baby.
55. I am an excellent speller. (I hope you can't find evidence to the contrary in my blog!)
56. My favorite board game is Monopoly. My sisters and I used to play games that would go on for days.
57. I hated the color pink until I had Katelyn. Now it's one of my favorites.
58. I could eat Cafe Rio's grilled steak salad every day. Don't forget the creamy tomatillo dressing!
59. I used to love being barefoot. When I was in high school I thought it was cool to go everywhere without shoes on. Gross, huh? Now I'm too worried about the calluses on my feet to do that.
60. The smell of eggs frying nauseates me.
61. I want to have as many kids as I can before I turn 40. (I'm working on it, believe me.)
62. When I was 21, I was called to be Sacrament Meeting chorister and ward choir director in my parents' family ward. If you haven't directed a ward choir, I wouldn't recommend it.
63. I hate mosquitos so much that it's practically a phobia.
64. John and I loved to golf before we had kids. Now he golfs occasionally, and I never do.
65. I love KFC, the greasier the better. And I love the mashed potatoes.
66. I thought it was cool to color in high school. My kids now have my collection of 20+ coloring books.
67. I still don't understand the rules in football. Luckily my husband's not a big football fan.
68. My three sisters and I had matching pixie haircuts when we were young, cut by my mom, of course.
69. My favorite soda is Diet Dr. Pepper, but my favorite drink is lemonade--the real stuff, not just lemon-flavored syrupy stuff.
70. I don't really like Halloween.
71. I have ugly fingernails.
72. I love the Indigo Girls!
73. I go to the Parade of Homes every year, and I look forward to it all year long. (I couldn't find one in Spokane.)
74. My feet are my least favorite part of my body.
75. I love math, particularly algebra. Even when I was taking Calculus II at the U and I could barely understand what we were doing, I loved doing my homework.
76. I'm terrible at telling jokes, and I can never remember any to tell anyway.
77. I completed almost all of the med school pre-reqs with John at the U because I was going to apply to vet school. Then I realized that I couldn't stand seeing animals hurt. Luckily I never got to Organic Chemistry, because I'm terrible with science.
78. I'm a night owl, not a morning person.
79. I sunburn easily, and it's almost impossible for me to get a tan.
80. My favorite tree is a Japanese Maple.
81. I get scared easily. John never gets to watch horror movies because I refuse to watch them.
82. I own all 6 seasons of Sex and the City on DVD, and I've taken the tour in NYC.
83. I have 3 semesters left to finish my bachelor degree in Piano Performance.
84. I hate running.
85. I'm clumsy and I bruise easily, not a good combination. I always have bruises on my legs.
86. I was very shy as a child. I still am when I'm in a crowd.
87. I love getting into a suffocatingly hot car after freezing to death at church in the summer.
88. I almost always wear heels--the taller the better.
89. I can't raise one eyebrow at a time.
90. My nickname in high school was Minnie Mouse because of my big ears. I hated it!
91. I have a hard time staying awake in movies, no matter how interested I am in the show.
92. I'm a procrastinator, but I'm working hard to change that.
93. I have relative pitch, but I wish I had perfect pitch. My piano teacher swears that you can develop perfect pitch, so that is one of my goals in life.
94. I am very sensitive.
95. I love plants, but I'm not very good at keeping them alive.
96. I am not flexible at all.
97. If I could, I would do yoga every morning with a good instructor. I have a hard time doing it by myself or with a tape.
98. I love frosting. I try to get corner pieces so there's more frosting than cake.
99. I'm softspoken. Jerry Seinfeld would call me a "low talker." It drives John crazy because he can never hear me.
100. I love to blog!

I'm a "mommy blog"-er

You may have noticed the new title of my blog. After reading many of my friends' and my friends' friends' blogs, I have come to the conclusion that mine is a "mommy blog." Kind of undeniable when all I ever write about is being a mom, my kids, and domestic stuff. I wish that I were more intellectual or had other interests that people would enjoy reading about it, but let's face it--my life is consumed by my kids and my family right now. That's what you get when you have a 3-year-old and a 2-year old. Well, I LOVE being a mom, so I'm going to embrace it.

At some point in my early 20's, I realized what an awesome woman my mom is. We grew up on homemade bread. My mom made 6 loaves at a time, and I'm sure she had to do that more than once a week. She can cook anything in the world. She sewed almost all of our clothes until we rudely rejected her efforts. She took up woodworking so that she could make things to decorate our house in her country style. She has more tools than a lot of men. She is an awesome teacher. She even home-schooled my younger sisters for a few semesters in high school. My parents' food storage is a wonder to behold, and it's filled with canned fruits and vegetables from her garden. I have to add that her yard is extraordinary, filled with beautiful flowers and a huge vegetable garden. What a great example for me!

Now that I'm a mom, I have this inner drive to start doing all of these domestic things. My mom taught me to sew when I was in junior high, and I made a couple of things then, but it never took. Until 2 years ago, when I suddenly wanted to sew. My mom got me a sewing machine, and I use it all the time now! I'm not a pro, in fact I've got a lot to learn, but I've made skirts for myself, clothes for Katelyn, and more blankets than you can shake a stick at. (What does that mean?) I'm even taking a quilt block-of-the-month class with my sisters.

As for cooking, I take pride in being able to make anything I have a recipe for, and I like to get creative and add my own touches to recipes. I took a year off from cooking while we were in Spokane, thanks to Le Cafe (the Sacred Heart cafeteria), but I baked several times a week. (Baking is my passion when I'm in the kitchen!) Back in Salt Lake, I'm cooking dinner every night and trying to remind myself how much I love it.

Next year we're going to start gardening. John is already getting my giant garden plot ready, and we have plans to plant almost any veggie you can think of. I can't wait! Luckily, I have my mom and my sister Stephanie, who has a horticulture degree, to lean on for guidance.

So now I'm learning to can. I never thought I would have the tiniest interest in canning, but when my sister Julie offered me a ton of pears and my mom gave me all of the jars and lids and the equipment necessary to can, I thought, "That sounds like fun--let's give it a try." I have everything sitting on my counter ready to go. I guess I should get off of the computer and get to work. I just realized how nerdy I'm becoming and thought I should share my nerdiness with my friends. Just remember the "in training" part of my blog title. I'm not saying that I really think I'm awesome at this stuff. I have a ton to learn! Here goes....

(Now I just need Jamie, Elise, and Alisa to teach me how to knit. I'm going to learn, girls!)

On our way back up

I'm sticking to my promise to make my posts more upbeat. But this is sincere. I really feel better about things today. Katelyn took both doses of antibiotics yesterday and kept them down, and she actually sat at the dinner table with us and picked at her food. This morning she had 3 bowls of cereal! She's still pretty lethargic, but she's talking more and she wants to color, which is her favorite thing to do. I feel like I can let up a little on my worrying about her.

I'm quite proud of myself. I spent yesterday trying to get our life back in order. I got the house clean--not Elise clean (You're my inspiration, Elise!), but clean enough for now. I even went to the grocery store and had dinner on the table when John got home. It felt like the biggest accomplishment, since this week I threw a $5 Little Caesar's pizza on the table one night and made John eat leftovers straight from the fridge one night. I even got a load of laundry washed and put away. If I can continue on that path today, we'll be back to normal in no time! Thanks to all of my friends for letting me whine, and for the supportive comments. It means a lot to me.

Broken kids & broken heart

I am so exhausted.........physically and emotionally. We finally figured out what was wrong with Katie and got her on antibiotics, so I thought things were going to get better. But after two days of vomiting every time we give her medicine and eating absolutely nothing, Katelyn was looking terrible this morning. So I dragged her back to the doctor and they sent us to the ER for IV fluids and antibiotics. It was a long day with two little children in a small ER exam room, but Katie started asking for food and seems to be feeling a tiny bit better now that we're home. I am very hopeful that she's going to get better now and maybe we can get our lives back.

The sad thing about being at Primary Children's today, is that I was there yesterday with Carter. I hesitate to even say this because it still makes me so sad that I want to cry and throw up at the same time. Carter was riding the tricycle in the back yard yesterday when he fell and broke one of his front teeth. I took him to a pediatric dentist, hoping that they could fix it. Unfortunately, it was broken into several pieces. I had to hold him down while they numbed him and pulled the tooth out. I cannot explain the anguish of that task. Of course, while we were there I had to take Katelyn to the restroom to vomit and we had to push her in a stroller because she couldn't walk, even though Carter was the traumatized one. I still can't look at Carter's sweet face without a sharp pang of regret and guilt. I wish I could rewind yesterday and never let him on that stupid trike!

So there you have it. The past few days have been the very worst in this terrible week and I'm ready for everything to be happy again. I realize that there are so many people going through so much worse. Our problems are really not that tragic. So from now on, no more downer posts. I know that my blog has been down right depressing lately. I am resolving to make it more uplifting to read. Tune in for happier thoughts tomorrow.....

Katelyn was not happy about the IV in her hand

Carter looks pretty banged up,huh?

Radiology in action

I finally took Katelyn to the pediatrician yesterday. I decided Sunday that if she still had a fever at 9am on Monday that I would call and make an appointment. So we set out for a walk at 8am. I took the kids to the park and they played for a few minutes. We got home at 9 and Katelyn's temp was down to 99.1, the lowest it has been since last Wednesday night. I was so happy! She and Carter played on the swingset in the backyard, and she even ate some oatmeal. I decided there was no need to take her in, and started catching up on the housework I've been letting go while she's been sick. By 10:00 she was lying on the floor in a heap, and when I checked her temp it was 102.4. Darn it!

By the time we got to the doctor, Katie's fever was above 104, even with the ibuprofen I had given her. She was so miserable as she sat on the exam table and got poked and prodded. To my surprise, they decided to do a chest x-ray. John had gotten to slip out and join us for the appointment, and he actually got to view the x-ray before the pediatrician did. Her right lung looked really bad! She has pneumonia, but the good news is that she'll start feeling better once the antibiotics kick in. Poor girl! They said she most likely got a virus first, and that weakened her immune system so that she was more susceptible to the pneumonia.

We had another rough night, with more vomiting and a very high fever still. She won't eat anything because her stomach hurts, and I can't convince her that she needs to eat to feel better. I hope that she starts feeling better today. I can't stand seeing my baby so miserable!

Mt. Timpanogos

As a former resident of Provo, you would expect that I would have hiked Mt. Timpanogos before, but I had never done it prior to Saturday. John and I planned to go with our good friends, Shane and Becky, before Katelyn got sick. Being the nicest husband who ever lived, John opted to stay home with the kids and let me go by myself. What a sweetie! When I got up at 4:45 am, I wondered if I was making the right decision (I had gotten about 12 hours of sleep between Wed, Thurs, & Fri nights), but I got my stuff together and headed off to meet the Kumps. It was raining and there was a lot of lightning along the mountains, so I kept hoping that Shane & Beck would wimp out so that I wouldn't have to, but they were determined (and I'm glad they were) to do the hike. I think we all thought that the rain would stop before we started hiking. After all, it hasn't really rained here since we moved back.

We got to the trailhead around 7am, and as Becky had predicted, the parking lot was full. We lucked out when someone changed their mind (no doubt due to the rain) and pulled out of their spot. I was wearing shorts and a tank top, obviously in denial about the weather. Luckily I had thrown a jacket in my bag. We had our picture taken (when did I get so many chins?) and took off on the 13 mile (round trip) hike.

The hike was so much harder than I expected! My sister, Stephanie, and Becky had told me how challenging it would be, but I really thought they were exaggerating. It turns out I'm a big wimp. It rained lightly almost the entire trip up the mountain. I would have been freezing if I hadn't been so hot from the workout. It started out pretty easy, and the rain actually made it really pretty. The higher we got, the more mist we could see down below us, and everything was pretty and green.
As the air got thinner, I got wimpier. It got harder to breathe, and of course I had a nosebleed. By the time we got to the saddle, I had about had it and I really wasn't sure if I could make it to the summit. (The lowest point on the top of the mountain in the picture below is the saddle.)

I think the summit was about a mile past the saddle, but it seriously felt like ten miles. After one particularly difficult series of switchbacks that seemed to go straight up, we rounded a corner and saw the summit. I would have started crying because of how far away it looked, but we had been warned by some nice hikers on their way down that the view was deceiving. So I plodded on. I was embarrassed by how many times Shane & Becky had to stop and wait for me to catch up with them. I could not believe it when we finally hit the summit! I think it took us about 4:20, which was pretty slow thanks to my wimpiness on the last leg. But what a feeling! Here are some pics from the top:
We sat on top for a few minutes trying to catch our breath and eating our sandwiches. My legs started cramping up the second we stopped moving and I was afraid it would take us forever to get down. The hike back down to the saddle was pretty tough with our shaky legs and the steep rocky climb down. But by the time we got back to the saddle, euphoria was setting in and I suddenly felt like I could fly the rest of the way down. It took us another four hours to get back to the car. Along the way we saw a deer that let us get pretty close. We also saw a rainbow below us, which was pretty cool--I've only ever seen one above me.


We had not been rained on for the first few hours of the hike down, but as luck would have it, we were caught in a serious downpour in the last hour. By the time we finished, we were soaked to the bone. The rain stopped a few minutes before the end and when we looked up at the peak we had just been on, the sky was as clear as could be.As we sat on the summit, I told Shane and Becky that I would probably never attempt this hike again. It's funny how quickly your thoughts can change. When I got home, John told me that he really wanted to do the hike and that we should do it before it gets too cold. Of course, I'm all for it! My legs and glutes are pretty tight and sore, but I've always liked muscle soreness. It feels like evidence of hard work and (hopefully) calories burned.

A Trip to the Mountains

John's mom has a timeshare, and she had a week at the East Canyon Resort, so she generously gave us Wednesday and Thursday night up there. To get there, you head up Parley's Canyon toward Park City, but then turn off and go north into the mountains. The road winds and winds and it seems like you'll never get there. We haven't done a lot of outdoor-sy things since we moved back to Salt Lake. This reminded me of how much I love being in the mountains and how beautiful and peaceful it can be. The condo was awesome--it was a townhouse with two bedrooms upstairs so that we could put the kids to bed and watch movies and hang out.

I packed everything up and drove up with the kids Wednesday, then John drove up after work and I cooked us dinner. We walked around outside after dinner and played with the kids at the playground for a while. Then we put the kids to bed and watched a movie. It was so great, until we got in bed. Just minutes after my head hit the pillow, Katelyn started crying in the other room. I got to her just in time to get her to the bathroom to throw up. She felt very hot, so I gave her some ibuprofen and spent the night cuddling with her and cleaning up more vomit. Thursday I couldn't decide if I should take the kids home or wait it out--Katelyn could start feeling better and there were lots of fun things to do at the resort. Her fever kept coming back, and I was a little freaked without a thermometer to see how high it was. We hung out in the condo all day and I worked on quilt blocks while Katelyn slept off and on and Carter played. John drove back up after work Thursday and I cooked dinner again. Katelyn seemed to be feeling better so we took the kids swimming. (We probably shouldn't have. I hope we didn't get any other kids sick!) Katie tried so hard to have fun, but she obviously didn't feel great, so we didn't stay at the pool long.

Friday morning John left for work and I struggled to clean up the condo and pack the car while Carter did his best to annoy his miserable sister. I made it by check out time and thought that things were going to be better, but as we drove down the canyon, Katelyn threw up all over herself and her carseat. I got home and cleaned everything up and spent another day nursing my poor sick daughter.

After two full days with a sick child, I was exhausted. We had planned to hike Timp Saturday with friends. I was about to cancel when John offered to stay with the kids and let me go. It was a super hard decision, but I did it (see my next post). I have the most wonderful huband in the world!

Katelyn's fever is still going. I'm taking her to the doctor tomorrow. I just feel like hugging her all day and crying my eyes out. I hate to see her so miserable.

Mother of the Year

I'm feeling like the greatest mom who ever lived. Seriously, just hand over the award right now--I totally deserve it. Here's a brief rundown of our weekend:

• Friday night: John was walking Carter down the hall, and when he said, "It's time to get jammies on," Carter lifted up his legs in protest. John instinctively squeezed to keep him from falling and felt a pop in Carter's arm. He tried to use his medical expertise to figure out where it was dislocated and pop it back in, but Carter continued to scream and wouldn't move his arm at all. So I rushed him up to the ER at Primary Children's. We were there from about 10:30 pm until 3 am! They took the x-ray very soon after we arrived but it took them forever to get us back to see a doctor. The kicker is that by the time they called us back, Carter was running around playing and using his arm like there was nothing wrong! He had dislocated his arm at the elbow (nurse maid's elbow) and apparently John's attempt to fix it had worked and he was just in pain for quite a while after that.

Here's Carter at 12:30 am in the waiting room of the ER. Obviously he's in a lot of pain--the arm he's using to hold his headphone is the one he wouldn't move at all a few hours earlier.


• Sunday afternoon: Tanner and the kids were playing downstairs when Katie decided to climb onto our little glass end table to jump off onto the couch. The glass split and she got a big gash on her leg just above her knee. The cut was so deep I couldn't stand to look at it. John had left to run errands and I couldn't reach him, so I took her to Urgent Care to see if she needed stitches. They would have stitched her up, but it was a V-shaped cut and the skin had to be stretched to sew it up. The doctor said the skin would probably die and fall off anyway, so he just bandaged it up really well. She has a huge bandage around her thigh and we have to keep re-wrapping it. I feel so bad!
  
  Here's Katelyn and her poor bandaged leg. (Don't ask what she's doing with her finger!)

• Monday: Carter was riding Katie's tricycle on our back patio and he fell off of the tricycle. His front teeth cut into the inside of his upper lip and he was bleeding everywhere. For the last two days his lip has been swollen up and he looks terrible!

I know that kids get hurt all the time, and my kids are just fine, but I can't help feeling like I must not be protecting them enough. I hope we can get through the rest of the week without anymore accidents!