2-12, Rough Week

It's been a rough week at the ol' Krauss Haus.  Sunday, Em shut her finger in the car door and we had to make a trip to the ER at Children's Hospital.  This little girl never ceases to amaze me.  She and I were up at the open space.  I was doing a light check for an outdoor session I would have the next day. I opened her door for her, told her to get out, close the door and meet me at the back of the car.  As I was getting out my gear, she made her way around to me and said, "Mommy, there's blood."  My response:  "What do you mean there's blood??"  I looked down at her gaze and saw blood dripping to the ground from her hand.  (Keep in mind that me just typing those words makes me nauseous and woozy....)  I glanced at her finger and saw a very distorted nail and blood cascading down from it.  I loosely wrapped up her hand with tissues and drove (think Mario Andretti) from the open space to our house (only 2 minutes away).  Once home, I called (urgently, very, very, urgently) for Sven.  He assessed her finger, bandaged it and made the decision to head to the ER.  Through all of this, Emalie only cried a little.  She didn't scream or cry when she did it, thus my response "what blood?!"  When we were in the triage at the ER, the nurse showed her the diagram of the sad to happy faces and asked her how she felt.  Her response?  "A little happy."  WHAT?!  Man, I love this girl.  She's all the things in life that I am not.  She's a little lesson in life every day of the week.   The long and short of it is that she fractured the bone at the tip of her index finger.  It will need to be in a splint as it heals.  Odds aren't in favor of the nail surviving the trauma, so we're thankful (umm.... me especially....) that the doctors have ordered it to remain bandaged between the check-ups.  She had it checked with her primary doctor on Wednesday and we'll go back for another check in two weeks.  The most distressing part of this for Emalie?  No karate for now.  What a bummer since she was just getting in the swing of things.  Oh, so what else has happened to continue this rough week?  Nik then got sick and had to stay home from school.  Then, Em got sick and had to stay home from school.  Oh, and now, surprise, surprise, it's a FOUR DAY WEEKEND.  (....the sound of nails on a chalkboard to a stay-at-home-mom who's already had more in a week than she can bear.)  Sigh.... God bless these little ones.... and ibuprofen..... and movies..... and wine.   Hope you all are having a good week and that I have NOTHING to report next week!!!

Getting checked in with the hospital.  "I'm a little happy."

The intermediate bandage before being seen by the doctor.

"I love my daddy."

This was the HIGHLIGHT of the ER trip.
Em got to ride in a wheelchair "just like Curious George!!!"

"Hey!  That looks like the picture they took of George when he ate the puzzle piece!"

Ugh... Sven had to take this pic for me....
and I'm gagging while trying to type this caption.....

That's a big bandage for such a little hand.  And what, PINK?  Are you kidding me?  PINK?  Em gave the nurses lip about not having blue and red bandages.  LOL.....

Here's how the finger looked on Wednesday at the check-up after getting it cleaned up.

Back on with the splint.....

"Orange!  Alright!  Broncos orange!"

And we even made it home in time for the Super Bowl, minutes to spare.  What a day!

2-6, Pics of us minus one

It makes me sad when I hear moms exclaim that they haven't had family photos taken in years-- some times even before the arrival of their youngest kids.  I can't imagine having a deficit of family photos.  I just can't comprehend it!  I love preparing for upcoming sessions and updating our own family photos at the same time.  Here are my favorites from yesterday.  Obviously the 'minus one' is Nik.  The older he gets the harder it is time find him lounging around the house on the weekends.  I can't complain about that though.  It makes me think of the move from Maryland to Colorado.  He had trouble making new friends here and was sad about leaving his good friends back in Maryland.  It was a very hard transition for him.  Now, he's always coming or going and there's always a knock on our door asking if Nik can go to the park and play football or go down to the lake and fish.  Honestly, thank God the countdown to Sven's retirement (51 days) is upon us.  I don't think I could drag Nik though another move or force those rough changes on our sensitive little girl (who already has her own collection of preschool boyfriends-- just ask her).  Keep your fingers crossed, everyone, about Sven's job search and our hopes to stay in Colorado.  I may love Seattle and wish we could move back up to the Puget Sound area, but as a mom I realize that where we need to be at this stage in our lives is right here.  We'll keep you posted!!  By the way, I took these photos less than a mile and a half from our house.  As I've said before, it's not Montana, but it's not too bad!