New home

After some work and wrangling, I'm back and blogging at the court of two sisters over here.  Join me?

A Visit From the Toothfairy

Last Thursday night Charlotte suffered the wrath of the evil combination of tile floors, slick bottomed sandals, and running in the house.  She slipped and slammed chin-and-mouth-first into a door frame, leaving quite a mark on her chin as well as a pretty serious injury to her mouth.  That night her tooth seemed a little loose (thankfully a baby tooth) and the next morning it was apparent that a dentist would need to take a look at it.

[Disclaimer: There is no blood in these pictures, but if you are very squeamish, click away now.]

Exhibit A:  

So the next morning was Good Friday and our regular dentist's office was closed.  I put out an APB on Facebook for any dentists and thankfully I have several friends who were willing to make phone calls and send texts to find us a great dentist who had office hours on Friday.  Dr. Hunt got us in at 9:00 am and she put both Charlotte and her mom at ease. They took x-rays and showed me that the only damage was to the baby tooth and root and there doesn't appear to be any damage to her permanent tooth or the gum surrounding it.  

While I was hoping and praying that they might be able to save her tooth, it wasn't possible.  The nurse was great and she stayed with Charlotte and put on Wreck-it Ralph while we waited for the numbing medicine to start to work.  Charlotte was a brave champ through it all.  She didn't even whine when she was getting the shot in her gums.  

watching the movie in the ceiling while she waited

checking out the dentist's tools

The tooth came out quickly and again, Charlotte was so brave and made it through with barely a tear.  We were out of the office within about ten minutes, off to get a special morning ice cream treat.  

This wasn't the smile I would have expected from my four year old on Easter Sunday, but I'm so thankful for a such a minor issue from what could have been much worse. 

For Charlotte, the whole thing was well-worth it, the Toothfairy made her first visit to our house for someone other than Caroline on Thursday night.  :) Even with her snaggletooth, she's my precious Charlotte-girl!  

What a waitress can teach a doctor

A couple of weeks ago Jeff's finger was the unfortunate casualty of an encounter with his car door.  That encounter resulted in lots of blood, an unplanned early morning jaunt to the ER, much pain and many stitches, and a broken finger.  The next day we saw an orthopedic surgeon who informed us that Jeff would need surgery to repair his finger and prevent something disgustingly titled, "bone infection."  So, we scheduled the surgery for the following Tuesday.  We dutifully got the girls off to  school that morning and went to the surgery center for the procedure that was "scheduled for 11:00," but of course they asked us to be there an hour early to check in and complete any paperwork, etc.

In hindsight, I'm amused by the "be there an hour early" requirement.

As we waited, and waited, and waited, it became apparent that surgery would not begin at 11:00.  Or 12:00.  When we were called back to pre-op at 12:45, I was hopeful that maybe we'd be getting closer to actually having the surgery.  The nurses took care of all of the blood work  setting up an IV, and taking his vitals in about 15 minutes.  So we settled in to watch the Karate Kid while we waited.  Another hour passed and still no sign that surgery was coming anytime soon.  Jeff was resting, in an out of sleep, and I was just growing increasingly aggravated   At this point the nurses even stopped checking in on us.

Finally at about 2:30 I went to talk to the nurse on duty.  There was basically no one else even around.  Though I knew the whole situation was not her fault, she heard an earful.  She apologized profusely and with lots of "yes, ma'am's" she called the OR to check on the doctor's status.  About 15 minutes later the doctor's OR nurse came in and she had to hear it from me as well. I wasn't surprised, but the doctor didn't come back to talk to us before surgery, I'm sure he'd been duly warned that there was an angry redhead in pre-op 1.

So here's my point:  I completely understand that doctors are incredibly busy and the unexpected often occurs in the medical field   I have the utmost respect for the burden doctors carry - trying to juggle many patients, their families, the things they've scheduled and the emergencies that arise.  I cannot, however, excuse the complete disregard for the waiting that patients and families have to endure with no explanation for what's going on or when we might expect to actually see the doctor or have the surgery we were "scheduled" for four hours earlier.

Lie to me.  Tell me there was a massive trauma and the doctor has been called to emergency surgery at another hospital.  Don't let us sit watching Karate Kid (and the first forty-five minutes of Karate Kid 2) with zero communication about our situation.  It's inconsiderate and disrespectful.

I was a waitress in college for a couple of years.  One of the worst parts about being a waitress was having to apologize for food that was wrong or late.  When a  table had been waiting for their food for an inordinate amount of time, I wanted to avoid them.  I didn't want to have to apologize for the kitchen and fill drinks and hear complaints.  But I can say that the experience of being in the shoes of the table sitting there waiting for their food with no waiter in sight made me do the uncomfortable and put myself into the discomfort.  People are better when we know what to expect.

Is it going to be another 15 minutes?  Tell me.

Is it going to be another two hours?  Just tell me.

I may be unhappy, disappointed, angry even.  But most of the time, we will endure it if we know what to expect.

[stepping of soapbox]

Believe

We had a great Christmas. We got to spend time with family, visit Santa Claus, take some time to relax, open presents, go to church, participate and watch a Live Nativity, have school parties, cook, bake, wrap presents . . .. I could go on, but I'm sure you'd all rather see it than read my words about t it all.

Here's a recap of the whirlwind of it all in photo and video

Visiting with Santa

Visiting the LSU Christmas Tree

The Live Nativity at church

Discovering all that Santa brought on Christmas morning (the girls asked for a Barbie Dream House, but Santa thought this dollhouse was a better investment :-) )

Friends, I hope each of you had a wonderful Christmas - enjoying the gift of family and the magic of believing 

When you least expect it

I often find myself trying to force a memory - getting the girls to pose or pause doing something - and nine times out of ten, it just doesn't work.  And other times I take a picture just on an impulse.  These are some of those and I love how their personalities come through.

five

Today marks five years since we lost our baby Joshua.  Marking this occasion five years out is awkward for me.  In so many ways I've "moved forward" with life, but I'm deeply mindful of how this loss has shaped my life since.  I cannot pretend to understand God's plan anymore today than I did on December 6, 2007, but I can say I trust Him now more than I think would be possible otherwise.

I've learned so much, most importantly about how I love others, and more accurately  how I'm called to love others.  I do not always succeed, but as I look at my Savior, I value being truly present with others, pressing in, asking hard questions, being willing to be uncomfortable for the sake of another, being willing to simply sit in pain or grief or difficult circumstances.  Loving those God has given me with abandon.  

As I look back on the very dark days early on and see the progression of how Light was steadily shining even in my darkness - I'm humbled and thankful.  I don't know the whole story - but I'm so thankful for the parts that I'm given.

None but Jesus.  

the voice

Each of my girls has a love for music and singing - I suppose most kids do - and it is truly a joy to hear a little voice break into song spontaneously.

Tonight as I was putting Camille to bed, I asked her what she wanted to pray for, who she wanted to tell God thank you for and she broke out into "God is so Good."  It was a precious moment, so I had to break the sacredness to run to get my phone to record her.  She gave an encore of sorts and sang one more for good measure.

I had to share.  This is what makes me get through days with fighting, whining, complaining, and general craziness. And yes, it is completely dark - I didn't want to further ruin the moment with a bright light in her eyes.  Much love, friends.