Global Warming, What?

So Austin had signs of global warming yesterday when it snowed. Whatever! It was colder in Austin (40) then in Vancouver (48) yesterday. Maybe that is why so many countries are backing out of the "global warming" lie. Enough about politics.

Yesterday was a beautiful day in the Austin area. It snowed. When the "safari" woke up on Tuesday the snow had just began to fall. The snow was wet and did not stick to the ground all that well. We got the "safari" in clothes and let them stand in the front yard and touch and eat the snow. Jacob did not think it was so neat because it started to touch his head.

About an hour later it started to snow hard, with big flakes and the snow started to stick to the ground. We dressed the "safari" in layers of clothes, made sure they had gloves, hats and coats on. We went outside. The "safari" thought the snow was great and thought it was even better when Nana taught them how to make snowballs and how to throw them. The "safari" started to get cold and so we headed back inside. Hannah's lips were turning blue and she was crying because we had to go inside. Here is a picture of the clothes that came off of five toddlers when they stepped in the door. It took a lot of time to put the clothes on (gloves-50 fingers).



We wanted to thank God for letting us have some winter fun even though it is February. The "safari" had a blast but I think that Nana had the most fun. Enjoy the pictures.

Hurricane Season

I thought that I was in a down-pour only to find out that we are in hurricane season.

Joshua had to go back to the emergency room on Tuesday because his face was swollen and there was a lot of redness around his eyes and nose. After only being in the waiting room for 3.5 hours this time we were seen by a physician. He cleaned Joshua's wound and told us that we needed to make an appointment with the wound care people in two days.

This morning Esther and Hannah woke up with fevers and coughs that did not sound so good. We went and saw our pediatrician, Dr. Rane Nishi. We found out that Esther has an ear infection and Hannah is fighting some kind of bug. Then this afternoon I took Joshua to the wound care facility and got Joshua's head looked at. The wound looks good and was cleaned and redressed. He has to go back on Tuesday to see the progression of this wound.

I called Pop's, Noel's dad, on our way home and was discussing how things always happen when Noel is out of town and during travel season. We also discussed how when Joshua gets older his scar will probably be hidden by his hair and how the store will be like the fish that got away. His story will be about how we had the dog lick his wound, it got infected, no one was around to drive him to the hospital so he had to drive himself.

Noel is home and hopefully we have had our hurricane quota for a while. Thank you for all the emails, text messages, and phone calls asking about Joshua. Joshua is doing great and I thank God everyday that he is such a mellow child.

When It Rains It POURS!

I have always heard that saying and thought that the way our lives were that was the NORM. I now understand that what that saying means is that when it rains you can handle that but when it starts to pour that is when you cannot handle life by yourself anymore and you need help.

Last week was the start of the rain. Joshua and Elijah with bloody noses. We have now put a humidifier in their room and make sure that we use petroleum jelly in their noses when they sleep. Then we had Joshua split his head open on Saturday and got that fixed. On Monday Hannah had her appointment where we found that we have to get all of our children tested and that he wants Hannah on antibiotics for 6 months then get her tested again and go from there. Monday we also went to see our pediatrician because Joshua had a high fever. When we got there we found out that our pediatrician was off and that we had to see another pediatrician in the office. She stated that the high fever might be from some redness in his ear and she wrote us a prescription.

After dinner I went and got the prescription filled and took Joshua with me. When we got back Noel changed Joshua and noticed that there was some puss coming from his head. Well that means bad things, so Joshua and I went to Dell's Children Hospital only to find out that everyone was there. We were at the emergency room from 8pm-3am. After we were taken to a room the doctor came in and said that his head looked bad. He asked what happened and I told him the story. You see with open wounds there is a 1 in 100 chance of infection no matter how careful the doctors are. I should have know that we would be that 1 we always are. 1 in 100 get pregnant on birth control, that was us. 1 in 9 million have the spontaneous triplets we have, that was us. 1 in 10,000 get pregnant when both parties are using protection, that was us. So why would we not be the 1 in 100?

So the doctor told me that they would give him a drug called Ketamine. This drug will allow the doctor to do what he needed to do without Joshua feeling it and without him being knocked out. So they gave him the drug and then the doctor cut open the head wound, flushed out the puss and then packed the wound. Put some gauze on his head and wrapped his head. Now we have to go back tomorrow to see if the infection, cellulitis and abscess are healing or if they have to do the procedure again. They also put him on a strong antibiotic that he had to take 3 times a day for 10 days. I know that the medication costs a lot of money if you do not have insurance, thank God we do. Here is a picture I took of Joshua in his gown in the waiting room with his puss coming out of his wound, and he is sleeping in my arms.



On top of all of that my mother is out of town and Noel left early this morning for another week of travel. I am hoping for some sunshine in my future. I would like a day here or there.

Here is a picture of Joshua from this morning. The good thing is that he is sleeping right now; he had a horrible and long night.

Bloody Mary vs. Bloody Joshua

A Bloody Mary is:

1 1/2 ounces (1 jigger) vodka
1/2 cup tomato juice
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
Worcestershire sauce to taste
Tabasco to taste
1 celery stick for garnish
1 lemon wedge for garnish

A Bloody Joshua is:

1 Gashed Forehead
1 Cleaning Solution
1 tube of "Skin glue"
1 Cherry Popsicle
1 Bloody Nose
1 McDonald's Ice cream Cone

Now I do not know about you, but I will take a Bloody Mary any day. So here is the story and at the end will be the pictures.

We went and see Pops this weekend. The "safari" was thrilled to see Pops and the doggies. On Friday after naptime we drove to San Antonio to spend the evening and then all day Saturday with Pops. Friday went well and the "safari" woke up bright and early on Saturday. Pops got the "safari" bananas, strawberries and donuts for breakfast because that it what they asked for.

Pops had to run some business errands and called Noel around 10 am to see what we wanted to do for the day. We thought that the zoo would be a nice thing to do. Noel and I got the "safari" dressed and ready for the zoo, when Joshua decided that he wanted to see the emergency room instead. He was running down the hallway, tripped and slammed his forehead into the window sill. I heard the thud and knew that it was not going to be good. I ran to Joshua as he is holding his head and blood is coming out between his fingers.

I ran into the kitchen grabbed some paper towels and put as much pressure on his head as I could. I moved the paper towel and realized that there was NO band-aide that was going to fix the gash in his head. We called Pops to see how close he was. Pops ran into the house and we ran out of the house and into the van. Noel drove to the nearest hospital and I sat in the back holding my child. I walked into the emergency room at North Central Baptist Hospital. The receptionist asked me two questions, what happened and what is his name. We sat down just long enough for Noel to park the van. We got called and were asked some general questions about Joshua to make sure that he was not allergic to any medications. They directed us to a room. We sat in that room for no more than 5 minutes. The pediatric emergency room physician, Dr. Schmidt walked in and looked at Joshua's head. She told us that she could glue it shut and that her nurse was going to clean the wound and she would be right back. Her nurse walked in cleaned the wound and then Dr. Schmidt walked in. She had the nurse hold his wound together and then she glued it shut, and put some terry strips on. She left the room for a minute to return with a cherry Popsicle for Joshua. The entire time Joshua watched Monsters vs. Aliens.

Now I want to make this clear. We walked into the emergency room and was on our way out in less than 30 minutes. This hospital did not care about insurance until we were done and cared more about my child then anything else. Noel and I were impressed at the service and true concern for our child.

After leaving the hospital we returned to Pop's house and with the rest of the "safari." When the "safari" ate lunch they wanted to go to the park and so that is what we did. While at the park Joshua decided to have a nose bleed. When that drama was over we decided that ice cream would be good. We adventured to the the McDonald's and had our very first ice cream cone. It was an experience. The "safari" did great with the ice cream, but enjoyed the experience more when the ice cream was put into a cup and they were given a spoon. Hannah ate her ice cream before everyone else and was very strict that no one was going to get her spoon or help her in anyway.

Our day was full of drama, laughter and lots of love. I am grateful for Dr. Schmidt and how we were treated and that Joshua is a mellow child. We returned safely back home and are looking forward to our next adventure with Pops.

Here are some pictures of our experience. You will see the pictures of Joshua's head, the window sill, and the "safari" eating ice cream. They were taken with Noel's cell phone.

Blood and More Blood

When you get married you do not think to ask your future spouse about all the genetic things that your children might have or traits that your spouse had as a child that you might get in your children.

I never thought to ask Noel if he had bloody noses as a kid. Well I wish that I had. You see when I was growing up my brothers and I played hard and we had bruises and scratches and on occasion a serious injury but we were and are not bleeders. Apparently Noel is.

With the weather being dry and the heater being on in the house our house is really dry. So Joshua and Elijah have been getting bloody noses. Elijah came into our room on Monday at around 3:30 a.m. with both his hands covered in blood and his face. Now as a mother that is not something that you want to wake up to. Noel was the calm one and cleaned Elijah up and got his nose to stop bleeding. The very next morning the same thing happened.

Last night we were on our way to bed when Jacob started to have a night terror. I went in to see if I could calm him down without waking him up totally from his sleep. Noel walked in and asked if I had seen Joshua. He was sleeping so I had no idea what he was talking about. His face was covered in dried blood and he was sleeping. We woke him up to clean his face and his nose started to bleed. It took over 30 minutes to stop the bleeding. Also the bleeding was not slow but fast and he was swallowing his blood from his nose. I was scared to death but Noel was calm. We put the humidifier in their room and it seems to be helping. We will live with that humidifier until the air changes or the temperature outside does.

This morning I was talking to Noel's mother and she stated that Noel had the same thing. Yeah for me! I am going to have bleeders. I am just glad that I have the stomache for it because with 5 children in the same stage in life there is going to be lots of moments for bleeding to occur.

Sorry there are not pictures because that is not something that I want to share with everyone. Know that Joshua is fine. There is never a dull moment in our lives.