Big Scare

Brooke felt sick on Thursday morning so I let her stay home from school. B was home with her, but sleeping since he had to work that night. I had to take a class at Gulf Coast that morning, so I went on into work thinking she would be ok with dad for a few hours. Around 11, Brooke called me saying that she couldn't feel anything. I called her Nana, Nana went over to check on her....Nana called me back and I hear Brooke screaming in the background in pain. I call her Dr and get her in to be seen...while in the waiting room, Brooke's hands curve inward, stiff as wood...all pliability is gone from her hands. You can't even feel the soft tissue on her hands. Her thumbs are pressed to her palms, and I can not pry them back into place. After we show the Dr what is going on, and after which I have become increasingly freaked out and panicky, Brooke doubles over in pain and clenches her entire body against mine as she holds on to her ear. I scream for MaryJo ,*my MIL, who also has fear written all over her face*, to go get the Dr again. He says that he has called ahead and wants to have her admitted to the hospital for some neuro tests.

??? moment of inner freak out


Brooke holds her hand to her ear and screams again in pain....I have never heard her scream like this. I've never seen either of my children in this much pain and the sound rips at my heart, my lungs, my stomach...my very soul.

She then holds her hand out and screams, "IT'S A BUG!"

A tee tiny water bug that has fallen from her ear.

She and her brother had been swimming in the backyard the night before. What we thought was swimmers ear turns out to be a bug that had been stuck inside her ear for nearly 24 hours. (OMG and ewww...there, I said it for all of you) It left numerous scratches and was apparently causing her little nervous system to react very strongly to the fact that something foreign was inside biting and scratching her ear.

CT scans and blood work up later, we know that she is perfectly fine. Thank God:) We did spend the better portion of the night in the hospital before her neurologist came by and told us we were free to leave....and to wear ear plugs next time in the pool! The kids did have fun in the hospital though....Brooke said she felt like a princess having her meals delivered, eating on a "fancy table" in her bed, and watching TV in her bed.

Both kids put in their orders for hospital beds and pull out table for their own rooms.

I'm assuming they also expect room service.



We were both super tired by this point.

Brooke tried to look very sick....but instead looks very mad:)

Thank God Brandon went in with her to have the IV put in....I'd heard in screaming in pain more than enough for one day!...more than enough for a lifetime!

This is the life...well, minus the IV, the cold hospital floors...the wailing of the fire alarms going off on our corrider...the weird hospital food...

Thank you God for watching out for my baby girl:)

pumpkin patch

I took the kids to a Halloween fest at the church on Transmitter the weekend before Halloween. They were the only kids there NOT in costume:) They really don't like dressing up...i'm not sure why? They had a lot of fun doing a stuffed animal walk *like a cake walk, only you win stuffed animals instead* and sliding down the boundy slide. Before leaving the fest, we stopped in the lot in front of the church to pick out our pumpkins. We never did get around to carving them this year.....
These pics aren't that fantastic because I was having trouble adjusting the color/ISO feature on the camera, but since I am documenting our lives...they will have to do!

smashingly incredible~~

I took these pics of the kids on the way to Boo at the Zoo....they were taken in the backseat of the car! I can't believe how great they all turned out....and YES, I am having a few of them enlarged and framed.


Look at those freckles...POP!

She has the angelic look down pat!

Practicing her ballerina moves in the backseat~

Kiddos Halloween

The kids didn't want to go trick or treating this year...they instead wanted to go to a fall fest with their Nana in Wewa. So on Halloween night I went to dinner at Outback with Dawn, Leann, and some new people that I'd never met before, then came home to watch a movie (Atonement). Bub came home after the fest so I wasn't alone on Halloween night:) After spending the day in 6 inch boots at work, I was exhausted!!! The day after Halloween Zoo World hosted Boo at the Zoo and the kids wanted to go out to see what all the fuss was about. I was worried that the place would be a mob house jammed with greedy idiots, but was pleasantly surprised to find that it was chaos free, well organized, and the kids were given loads of good candy and cool stuff. We had a blast and I plan on making a trip out there again next year!

Halloween

The Halloween party was a little Humane Society benefit as well....I met a few new people and had a blast with Resa as my "goddess" date! I thought I would stick to something I knew very well...and dressed up as a hot nurse:) Weird thing though...when I walked in the door, the first person I saw was one of the doctor's the I work with...it was kind of awkward but he and his wife both looked cute in their gangsta and flapper outfits:) I am looking forward to next year's gala!!!

vanessa, resa, me
a nurse, peter pan, a greek goddess, and captain hook.

daniel and vanessa
the party has arrived!!

Little Black Dress~ October

We skipped November because everyone was busy or simply too tired to get dressed up to go....but here are pics from October's Little Black Dress party at Boatyard. Dawn, Resa, Leann, and I met up early for dinner *note to self and anyone else who cares to know: never waste your money on the sushi at Boatyard. it sucks.* Be sure to zoom in on my shoes....they ROCK! I got a spicy little deal on them at Envy.

Labor Day

The kids and I went to Vicki's for Labor Day and had a nice time laughing over the way Brooke ate her corn...she'd just lost a tooth and another was extremely loose, so she would gnaw on it with her BACK teeth, if you can possibly imagine that. The girls had fun trying to catch the fish that Jamie had recently stocked the pond with, while Bub was content to hang out on the back porch with me. I also managed to shoot a few pics of the kids with their Nana.....I played around with the color saturation and this is what I came up with. I love love loooove the pics!

random

I am posting these pics for no other reason than....I like them:) They were taken at the "big ball" at Pier Park (that I am always trying to describe to Lori even though she's already seen pics of it!) while the kids and I were waiting to see "Journey to the Center of the Earth" on Brooke's birthday.

birthdays~

Here are some pics from the kids birthday party this year. We only invited a few people...cousins and some church friends...but the kids had a blast all the same.


my fav pic of the day~ I captured Bub's first expression the moment he opened his Wii:)
Dad, Brooke, Hobbes, Bub, Mom

Jacob, Brooke, Jared, Bub, and Anthony.

let them eat "cake"!

I can hardly believe that NEXT year they will be 8 and 9~~~

crash

My friend Stephanie (of NieNie Dialouges that I've written about) was in a plane crash two weekends ago. She and her husband are both in the hospital and have suffered severe burns as a result from the crash. I've followed Stephanies life for a long time, often envious of the sweet, charmed life that she leads....an incredible mom and woman, my heart broke when I learned of the accident. Steph and Christian have 4 beautiful children who are anxious for their parents recovery. Please take time to visit the link that I've posted to the left hand side of my blog. You can read more about Stephanie and track her recovery....as well as donate to help their family out. Please say a special prayer for them!!!