Urgent Care

We recently had our first trip to the Urgent Care center. A few Sundays ago, the kids were playing after dinner. They usually have lots of energy after dinner, the last little burst of energy before bed I suppose. I was actually video taping them because of all the fun they were having. Lots of laughter, lots of cheerful voices I like to capture. I had the camera on Luke when we heard a bang. Sarah had run and jumped into Luke's chair and I guess she had so much momentum that her head went back and hit the corner of the wall. 

She landed at a angle and hit the corner of the wall. It still makes me cringe!

I immediately picked her up and wasn't sure at the time if she had hit the corner or not. Jim quickly said he saw her hit it so I sat down with her while he looked at the back of her head. It didn't take long for him to move her hair and see all the blood. When I looked down all I could see was her head split open. I knew immediately she would need staples. While trying not to panic, trying to comfort her, trying to figure out where to take her, trying to calm the boys down was no easy task. Jacob and Luke were very concerned at this point. Seeing blood is always scary to kids...and mommy and daddy!

At this point it's 7:30 on a Sunday night. Our kids go to bed at 7:30 and Jacob was going back to school the next day after being on Christmas break for two weeks. So we decided it was best for Jim to stay back with the boys, calm them down and get them to bed while I took Sarah in. We were able to put some old towels behind her head and on her car seat to control the bleeding in the car. Assuming she would keep her head back and apply the pressure that was needed. She had actually stopped crying when she saw the boys crying. She seemed to be more concerned at that point that "aw, boys sad". Sweetness. I turned the movie on in the car so she would put her head back and watch it. And stay awake. I was nervous about the trauma to her head and didn't want her falling asleep. 

After debating on where to go, we decided I should go to the Acute Care for Kids in Frisco. We had been there before and they were great. And I really preferred to go to a pediatric clinic instead of the general ER anyway.  After calling to confirm they were still open and staples were something they could do, we made our way there. They told me they could help me as long as I was there before 8:00. I signed in at 7:58! I was talking to Sarah most of the way to make sure she was doing ok. As we got closer I was telling her that the doctor was going to look at her boo-boo and make sure she her head was ok. She said several times, "me, okay", "me, okay". I think she was trying to tell me to turn the car around and go home. :-)

*note- these next few pictures are bloody- just warning you!*

The doctor and nurse tried to clean it up a bit, which she didn't like. I asked the doctor if they could numb it and thankfully she said yes. Honestly the hardest part was having to lay her on the table on her tummy. She wanted no part of that as you can imagine. I held her arms down and the nurse held her head still while the doctor did her thing. At this point I think Sarah was so tired from all the crying that she never fought us while she was laying there. She was crying but still. She ended up getting four staples and her cut was about 3/4" long.

Once I picked up her up she stopped crying and seemed fine. She really is a strong little one! We were out of there by 8:30 and on our way home!

She was happy with her sucker she got from the doctor's office. 

When we got home, she was acting like her normal self. She amazes me. At one point I told her, "You are a tough cookie." She laughed and said, "Me no cookie." We wanted to keep her up for a bit just to make sure we didn't see any signs of a concussion.  

While I was gone with Sarah, Jim had the job of calming the boys down. They were worried and scared. He reassured them she would be fine and they asked if they could read their book, "Franklin Goes to the Hospital." And for the first time since they got their bunk beds last fall, they wanted to sleep together. Jacob's bed is a full size on the bottom so they slept well together.

These boys love their baby sister!

We couldn't get it wet, especially for the first 48 hours. But Tuesday night I couldn't stand the mess that was still there so I was able to clean it up a bit.


As the week went on, it started looking better...


and better.

She had the staples in for seven days and I took her back the following Sunday to get them removed. The first one took some tugging but the nurse got it out. The second and third one came right out. The fourth one didn't want to come out. The nurse tugged and tugged but couldn't get it. She put a gauze on it to control the bleeding and goes and gets the doctor. Luckily I was able to hold Sarah and she was crying but still. The doctor comes in and he tries and tries. Lots of tugging and pulling. Apparently the ends of the staple were bent in different directions?? Something like that. He finally got it and we were done! The skin was actually open again where the fourth staple was. But he reassured me the staples had done their job and it was just open superficially and would close up on it's own. 

The rest of the scab fell off  later in the week but the part where the fourth staple was, the scab is still there.

As crazy as this situation was, I'm so thankful Sarah handled it as well as she did. She never messed with it or tried to pick at the staples. She didn't fight the doctors and nurses. She let me clean it when I needed to. She let me look at it and check it several times a day and she let me take pictures when I wanted to. She really is one tough little girl. Kids really are so resilient and bounce back so quickly. And for that I am incredibly thankful!

A New Tradition

For as long as I can remember I've spent Christmas Eve and Day with my family. Even last year, we woke up at my parents Christmas morning, had our Christmas then drove to Rusk to spend the rest of the day with my Grandpa and the rest of the Eckel family. Since this year was going to be different with our beloved Grandpa no longer with us, we decided it was time to make some changes. We decided that we would stay here at our house for both and drive into my parents later on Christmas Day.

We started out two days before Christmas celebrating with Jim's family. We had a great ham dinner and enjoyed our gift exchange.

G-Lana and Alyssa

Papa Jim and his five grandkids.

Gift time

While we missed being with our family Christmas Eve and Christmas morning, we had a wonderful time celebrating with our little family. We spent Christmas Eve doing a little baking, watching Beauty and the Beast, which Sarah got the night before, playing games, enjoying a roast dinner and Christmas Mass at 7:00.

We let the kids open a few gifts on Christmas Eve. 

Laser Tag and a Slushy Maker which were both put to good use during the day. 

The boys both got a little baggie of reindeer food from their Christmas parties that they spread in the back yard. 

Making sure it's there!

Sarah got a princess hair accessory kit from Aunt Rhonda and after her bath she decided to dry her hair. She wanted to look good for Mass!! I think she has watched Mommy one too many times. :)

I walked out for a minute and walked back in and heard Luke say "I'm going to make you look all pretty." I mean really! So stinkin' sweet! He was using the straight iron. 

Sweet brothers!

I couldn't get Sarah to part with her new toys. Somehow we managed to talk her out of taking them into church without a meltdown. Whew!

My life!

Love these kiddos!!

Silly!

After Mass we got the milk and cookies ready for Santa. 

Santa and Mrs. Clause had fun putting out all the gifts!

Santa always leaves three gifts for each kiddo. 

For Luke it was an art kit, a Jake pirate ship and a Wii game, Mario Party 9. 

For Jacob it was a new chair, a remote-controlled helicopter and a Nintendo 3DSXL. 

For Sarah it was a My Little Pony train set, a singing Belle doll and a stool for her bathroom. 

Cozy, isn't it!

Stockings are filled with goodies.

Christmas morning was everything we wanted it to be!

Santa left the kids a note by his milk and cookies. Jacob has had many questions about the big guy this year so we were hoping a hand written note from Santa might help!

Luke was so sweet and was very thankful for his gifts.

Sarah loved the opening process and had a blast with it all.

Despite the long face, Luke loves sharks and has enjoyed his new shark books. He can tell you all kinds of facts about sharks.

Sarah was so excited about her new Minnie night-night dress. She had to put it on right then!

Luke got a stuffed shark, the one from Finding Nemo. We named him Bruce! He sleeps with him every night! Sweet boy!

Jim was most excited about his KU spatula! A man can't have too many BBQ tools!

Stocking time.

The first day we put our advent calendar out, Luke asked if he could be the one to put baby Jesus up. He waited patiently all month to be able to put him up on Christmas Day.

After gifts we enjoyed a pancake breakfast. This is our Happy Birthday, Jesus angel pancake. We sang happy birthday and they each got to blow out a candle.

After breakfast we loaded up and headed to my parents in Kilgore. A snow storm was making it's way into Dallas and we wanted to get on the road to beat the snow. Once we all arrived, the fun began!

As we were opening gifts we noticed it started snowing. We all bundled up and headed outside.

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow! Look at those flakes!

Joseph and Michael

Luke was trying to catch some with his tongue. 

My Grandpa wore this red shirt and Santa hat every Christmas day. My Dad knew how much we loved this about him so he continued this tradition in memory of our sweet Grandpa.

We got Sarah nail polish along with her lip gloss. Here we are...her very first mommy mani/pedi. She sat very still and kept saying "pretty". Such a girl! I love it!

Aunt Katherine gave Gracie and Annie one next.

Time for the toes.

Happy girl!


We woke up to a winter wonderland the day after Christmas.


My Dad hooked up the sled to his four-wheeler and took the kids for a ride around the yard. They loved it!

Even little Joseph wanted a ride.

Then Joseph got to help Grandpa drive.

Fun times! But it sure did melt the snow!

Trying to make snowballs!

The girls!

Sweet cousins!

The girls!

Kristina's kids got a dog for Christmas. Trooper is his name. And Sarah had lots of fun playing with him.

Movie time! Comfy cozy!

We had a wonderful, blessed Christmas and I hope you did as well. What a better way to celebrate the birth of our Savior! Happy New Year to you as well!