When I grow up...

I walked into the living room this morning I found Anna studying our wedding picture.

"When I grow up, I'm going to marry Daddy."

"Really, honey." (I'm melting.)

"And I'm going to have flowers."

never say never

I've been saying for six years now "Mommy doesn't go to the emergency room." Six years. This stems fairly naturally from a fear of emergency rooms, hospitals, and nearly everything medical.

And I've never needed the services of an emergency room. I've been born, and I've given birth three times.

Well-visits cause me much stress.... so much so that until recently Marc would take the kids.

All my years of saying never came to fruition today, about an hour and a half before church. Caleb and Anna were playing, Caleb with a basket over his head. Caleb took a turn into the bathroom, but misjudged, and went down the stairs right next to the bathroom door, head first. The basket stayed on his head all the way down.

Caleb stood up screaming. I ran downstairs. Blood. Everywhere. I start screaming. Marc runs downstairs (fresh from the shower). Grabs towel. Apply pressure.

Call doctor. Go to Emergency Room for stitches. And of course since I'm married to the preacher, I'm the one going to the ER (although Marc did offer to get coverage and to take Caleb, knowing my pre-disposition.)

So, Caleb and Anna (for support) and I got into the van and took a long one mile trip to the hospital.

Everything went so well, and everyone was so proud of Caleb. He was incredibly brave and peaceful, even though he said his head hurt like crazy.

By the time we left the hospital, Caleb had six staples in the side of his head.

thepitmans.chronicles

I just posted our most recent Family Chronicles on our website. Click here to read the latest: http://www.thepitmans.com/chronicles.htm.

ooowww...

Sofia had a well-visit today. Everything went very well. After she had seen the doctor, the nurse came in, this time armed with three shots. Sofia very patiently lay down on the table and allowed the prep on her thighs.

First shot. No response from Sofia, not even a gasp. Then she made eye-contact with the nurse and said 'ooww'. Not even in a raised voice.

Second shot. A whimper.

Third shot. A howl.

Bandaids applied, Mom quick with the hug.

Sofia settles down and says "Bye-bye" to the nurse.

Closure

The kitchen has been nearly finished for nearly two months. It has taken me that long to get the photos together and up on the web. For a look at the work that I did on our kitchen this past June, follow this link. http://www.thepitmans.com/kitchen/index.htm

A recap of the kitchen history: this past winter/spring both the oven and stovetop (separate originally) began to act 'tempermental' (is only the broiler working and a burner arcing considered tempermental or broken?). So, we had some money and borrowed the rest (thank you LLBean credit card .... at least I'll get a pair of shoes out of it). Emily did the majority of the work, only using Marc when his brawn was necessary, and hiring an electrician for the electric work (thank you Jason Marks! what a great guy!). We were able to use the existing cabinets, just changing where they were in the kitchen to fit the new formation.

Some people wonder if they could ever do something. Well, remodelling the kitchen was one of those for me. Now that I know I can do it, I don't think I'll ever put myself in the way of doing it again.

Enjoy the photos.

First Day of School

Today was our first day of school. Caleb started 2nd grade and Anna started pre-school. Sofia, well, she watched, fussed, made messes, and tried to figure out how life had changed all of a sudden.

This picture is actually taken at the end of our first day, after dinner. I think their smiles pretty accurately summarize the way we all felt after day 1.

Caleb even said he enjoyed math.

New strategies this year... regular snack and play times in the midst of our work. And Caleb has a desk in his room, so he could go into his room and shut his door to do some of his work. He seemed to like all of the changes.

I feel pretty great about the whole day, too, though I am puzzling about the Sofia piece. She took two naps today rather than one, so I am hoping that she is just out of sorts in general, and that it wasn't specifically school that threw her into a loop. We shall see. But the good thing is that we all (the ones directly involved with school) are going to bed looking forward to our school-day tomorrow.