July 23, 2008 First Haircuts

Despite my affinity for Sam's super cute baby curls, he was starting to look a bit more "surfer dude" than needed. So it was decided that he needed his first haircut. All of the other kids have needed to have their bangs cut by his age, but Sam's hair seemed to be growing much more in the back than in the front. I had yet to take a scissors to his hair at all.

Allison has had her bangs trimmed many times, but the bulk of her hair has never been touched.

So...it was 2 first haircuts in one.

My neighbor cuts hair at a beauty salon here in Ravenna, so I gave her a call and she graciously agreed to come by one morning and give Sam, Allison and Gabrielle all a haircut right here at the house. It was so convenient to have them in their own surroundings and be able to keep them busy while they waited for their turn.

July 12, 2008 - Allison's Birthday Party
July 14, 2008 - Allison's Birthday

Allison had a great birthday. The theme was Little Einsteins and she was very excited about her party.

To explain part of the footage in the video below - we kept hearing this weird noise the night before. We thought that there was something wrong with our air conditioner - it actually sounded like there was a bird inside it (which we knew could not be true). Once people started to arrive for the party, the concensus was that it sounded like a frog. Lo, and behold - Uncle Cory and Aunt Catherine found a frog trapped between the sill and the air conditioner. They used something to coak the frog out and everybody had fun checking out the frog for a while.
(The weirdest thing is - the same thing happened a week later, except it was in the boys room on the 2nd floor! In the process of trying to coax the frog out that time, Paul watched the frog squeeze itself INTO the air conditioner itself. So at 9:00 at night, Paul was taking the air conditioner out of the window because he was afraid the frog would get into the house. ).

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OUCH!

I realize that this will make my posts "out of order" because I am so far behind in my posts. However, this was the easiest way to share my experience this morning. (I'll probably re-post later when I get back in chronological order).

So.... Sam is at this phase in life where he knows what he wants but can't communicate it. All those of us with kids have been there. He had one of those moments this morning and proceeded to go into one of those "terrible two" tantrums because of it. He headed from the kitchen into the living room on a mission of misery (as far as he was concerned). I was in the kitchen so I have no idea what happened next, but the next thing I know he was screaming on his stomach on the floor and all I can see is his hand covered in blood.

Sam seems to get nosebleeds fairly easy when bumping his nose, so I thought it was another nosebleed. So, I went over to pick him up and when I turned him around I realized it was definately NOT his nose. His forehead was covered in blood and his head and hands were dripping everywhere (especially all over his pants). So, I rushed him into the kitchen to start cleaning up and am afraid to look at what is underneath. I finally, get up the nerve and take a peek and notice it is not a very large cut at all. It was probably about the size of a pencil eraser but it was shaped like an upside down 'v'. The more I cleaned it up the more I realized that it might not lay very well to heal on it's own, and the longer I waited the deeper it looked. So now I need to make that dreaded decision - does this need stitches or am I just "throwing the panic button".

Not wanting to make a wrong decision, I called ahead and headed with Gabrielle, Allison and Sam to my office. (One of the perks of working in a dermatologists office right?). All the way there, I am praying that he doesn't need stitches, but at the same time hoping that they don't think I'm foolish for thinking that he might.

The minute I took the band-aid off for the nurse, she knew instantly that he needed stitches. So the false alarm aspect of the trip is now gone, but now I have to deal with the process of having my 20 month old get stitches.

He handled the numbing procedure quite well, the nurses were actually quite impressed. He fought the fact that he needed to lay down, but really only grunted during the injection process and I think they gave him 4 or 5 shots. The suturing process was a whole other story. They had to put a drape over his face which he didn't like at all. My friend Paulita, had to hold his head in place while I held his arms. I practically had to lay across him body to hold him still. He fought, and cried and screamed almost the whole time. Then, to top it off, the edges were jagged and wouldn't make a good scar - so they had to surgically modify the cut to make the edges more even and get a better looking result. They took a 'v' shaped cut and turned into a longer cut, shaped like a crescent moon.

So...when all was said and done he had 6 stitches on his forehead and nice bandage as a battle scar. The minute he was able to sit up, he settled right down without even a whimper. He got 2 suckers as a reward, as well as a "Chicken Little" balloon (as the girls have been calling it), made by dear sweet Paulita by blowing up a surgical glove like a balloon and drawing a face on it.

I guess we can be grateful that we have been parents for 6 1/2 years and this is the first instance of stitches in any of the kids.

July 3 - 6, 2008 Fourth of July at CranHill Ranch

For years Mom and Dad's church has had their campout at CranHill Ranch every year, but we have never camped their as a family. What a blast we had!
Mom and Dad went out with us on Thursday night. So....we spent all day on the 4th of July at the campground. They kids got to decorate their bikes and ride in a parade behind a big fire truck that was spraying water everywhere. The staff had painted some of the horses to look like "My Little Ponies" which the girls loved.

Friday afternoon, after holiday activities in town, Cory, Catherine, Joshua, Shawn, Erin, and Owen all came out in their trailers. This is first extended period of time that the kids have been able to play together. Normally, it is just the few hours here and there when we get together for birthdays and holidays. The boys formed their own little "Boys Club". They would tell secrets on the playground, built their own pretend campfires and just plain ran and chased each other. They really melded together and had a great time "being boys".

The kids got to go on pony rides, pet rabbits, see the horses, go swimming, and many other things. The campground was full of things to do, including a hike into the back woods to get water from a fresh water spring.

Thanks CranHill for a great weekend of family fun.
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