"The Sinks"

The same weekend after Madison got out of the hospital we decided to picnic out at "The Sinks" state park just above Lander. Lander is about 25 miles from Riverton. Sinks Canyon State Park features a geologic phenomenon in which the Popo Agie River vanishes into a large cavern (the Sinks) but reappears in a trout- filled pool, the Rise, about 1/3 of a mile down the canyon. The interesting thing about it is that the walk down to where the water comes out is only about a 10 minute walk. They have done dye study tests on the water and it takes it over 2 hrs to reach the  trout pool from when it enters the cavern. So they are unsure where all the water is going before it empty's out. They have a ton of hiking trails around the area and we found a fun little picnic area to have lunch. The above photo was taken off the sinks canyon state park website since for some reason I never took a picture.

 They had this cute buffalo rock formation thing that the kids enjoyed playing under. As well as a fun place for Blair to climb around.

Madison's Hospital Stay

This whole thing started about a week earlier. Madison had come down with a lot of cold/flu/strep throat symptoms on Monday April 9th. She had a fairly high fever from 101-102, wouldn't eat, and pretty un-energetic. Statton and Cassidy followed with the same symptoms the following day. Thinking it was strep throat I took Madison into the local public health for a rapid strep test for $10. I figured if it was positive I could safely assume the twins had the same thing. Well the strep test was negative. The nurse at public health did say her throat was pretty red and that I should take her in. Not wanting to be the mom to take her kid into the doctor for every small fever and cough I opted to wait it out. Also my friend Amy's girls were also sick with the same thing and she had taken them in to a doctor and he told her to wait it out there was nothing they could treat. So also not wanting to incur a new patient fee of $125 just to be told wait it out I felt better with my decision. By Wednesday evening she was feeling better, fever was down, and eating again. The twins shortly followed and by Thursday we all felt well enough to go to the park. By Friday Madison had developed a small cough, no big deal I thought just residual from being sick. By Saturday she sounded croupy, developed another slight fever, not eating, and runny nose. No big deal I thought just developed a crappy cold now. Sunday night the nose was getting better. By Monday she was eating more, nose had stopped, fever was down, and cough wasn't terrible. Great! I thought. We are on the mend. Tuesday the 17th she was still feeling a little under the weather but I thought she was just still recovering from all the crap she'd had going on for the past week. Put her down for her usual nap at 1 and finally had to wake her about 3:30. When I did she was burning up! Took her temp and it was almost 104! I gave her some motrin and just sat and cuddled with her on my lap trying to figure out what I should do. Call and doctor and see if they can see her TODAY or just skip it and take her to the ER. Blair came home shortly after that and took one look at her and agreed she needed to be seen. So after a little discussion I opted to take her to the ER. They got her in right away and started taking vitals, temps, oxygen levels, blood, and x-rays. They could tell she was struggling to breath. Her sides would suck into her ribs when she would breathe and also the indention of her neck between her clavicles would suck in a bit which were all indications she was having a hard time breathing.(there is a clinical word for those but I can't remember them.) Sure enough her temp came back at over 104 and she was only in the low 90's high 80's for her oxygen levels. After all the tests it came back that she had a double right-sided pneumonia, rsv, and an ear infection. They told me they wanted to to admit her into the hospital for a few days so they could get her feeling better. I agreed this would be best. Oh my poor sick little girl! I had no idea she was so bad off.

 These top two pictures were just some I snapped with my camera at the hospital that night after we got settled into our room. Oh poor thing. She has oxygen tubing in her nose which took her awhile to get use to. You can imagine an almost 2 yr old doesn't like things stuck up her nose and face. She is also bound up on her left arm where her IV is giving her antibiotics and fluids. She was just happy to lay on my most of the evening and watch tv. Poor Statton and Cassidy came in to visit us that night and were so distraught that I wasn't coming home with them.They were both in tears when they left. Blair's boss was super nice about Blair needing to take the day off the next day so he could watch the twins. By about 10 pm Madison was still awake in bed with me so I finally asked her if she wanted to go sleep in her own bed and she nodded yes. The hospital crib/beds for the kids are ginormous and the bars go up pretty high. I wasn't sure she would want to sleep in it but she was happy to lay in there by herself with the bars up (I only put the one side up half-way) and soon was sound asleep. They came in a few times in the night and checked her vitals and oxygen levels and even administered a few breathing treatments. Needless to say neither one of us got much sleep.

 Blair came in that next morning with the twins to give me a break so I could go home and shower and take a little breather with the twins. The doctor had come in that morning and said the usual stay with pneumonia coupled with rsv is about 3-4 days. Crap I thought, we really are going to need to find someone to watch the kids for the next few days so Blair can go to work. I was looking up some daycares in the area and was going to check them out but I finally decided to go ask my friend Amy if she wouldn't mind watching them for us and she happily agreed.She even offered to let them spend the rest of that afternoon playing at her house so Blair and I could have some time with Madison. Thank heavens for good friends! So before I went back to the hospital I rounded up some toys for her and her pillow to sleep on instead of some folded up towels. So I went back to the hospital and Madison and Blair had just finished having a loooong nap together. Go figure! She was happy and trying to run around but you can only go so far when your attached to an iv pole and oxygen tubing into the wall. Let's just say it was hard keeping her unraveled from her cords the rest of the afternoon. Blair kept looking at me saying "she seems alright to me." I would just nod and smile. After about an hour I sent him to pick up the twins so Amy could have a break.

So later that evening after a not so appetizing dinner I called Blair to have him bring me something. He got there and shortly after that the doctor arrived and said that with all of Madison's vitals being so good today and her being able to keep her oxygen rate up on her own she felt comfortable in letting us go that night as long as I brought her in the next day to her office for a check-up. Yes I can do that! That would be great! The doctor said she was so amazed at her turnaround.  So about 8pm we got released with a prescription for antibiotics and an albuterol inhaler. Oh I was so glad she was doing and feeling better and that we didn't have to stay another night and that I would be able to watch my own kids the next day. So we only ended up staying one night and a day at the hospital and were so glad for the recovery Madison made.

Happy Easter

We thoroughly enjoyed our Easter weekend. We were able to hit two different Easter egg hunts, went swimming at the local warm springs in Thermopolis, church on sunday and a little four-wheeling that afternoon. The kids were worn out come Sunday evening they didn't even make a sound after we put them to bed.
The local college put on an Easter egg hunt on Thursday night but due to some lack of planning on time and not being familiar with the area we ended up getting there after they let the kids go so we got the overlooked candy and eggs. I didn't mind them not getting much considering I knew the Easter bunny would be visiting and they didn't need to load up on candy previous to his visit.

Friday morning we went over to my friend Amy's and dyed eggs with her two little girls Trystan and Aubrey. (Amy lives in the same RV park as we do.) Our kids love playing together and since we both are on the road a lot we know how hard it is to make friends and let our kids have friends. The kids enjoyed dying eggs and even more fun playing afterwards.

Poor Madison did get to help dye eggs but at the moment she had to wait for a chair and an adult to help her, considering we were busy trying to keep the older kids from making a mess.

Saturday morning we met Amy, Trystan, and Aubrey at the local kids park where the community holds a giant Easter Egg hunt for the kids. They were divided up into age groups and Madison was clear on the far side so Blair went with her and I took the older two.

Cassidy, Trystan, and Statton all excited after finding all their eggs. Side note: The egg hunt didn't start until 10 that morning so while I got ready to go Blair was "practicing" with the kids how to hunt for the eggs. He would hide the plastic eggs from our egg hunt on Thursday around the trailer and then have the kids run around picking them up. The kids thought it was the funnest game ever! Blair's word of advice to his children in the car before the egg hunt started. "Remember to use your elbows and go for the eyes and shins." Best dad ever award right here!

The kids after the Easter egg hunt was over. They had a fun time running and gathering the eggs. Statton got right into it. I had to pull Cassidy along for the first little bit but then she got going and getting the eggs. Blair said he just let Madison walk along and pick up the candy and eggs at her own pace. He didn't care for the parent's who were picking up all the eggs for their kids so he just pointed things out to her and she was happy to get them herself.

Statton and Madison were the first to wake up Sunday morning and find their Easter egg baskets. Cassidy joined them about 10 minutes later when she heard all the commotion. At that point they had already dived into their candy as you can tell from Madison's filled mouth.

We really did enjoy our Easter weekend and I loved spending it with my cute little family!

Happy 4th Birthday Cassidy and Statton!

Happy Birthday Cassidy! Happy Birthday Statton! Today you turn 4 years old!

Today my twins turned 4 years old and I wonder where time has gone. I can't believe how grown up they are getting. I wanted a picture in front of the cupboard right here because I have an older picture when they were about 2 1/2 and their heads fit under that little lip of counter. It just shows me how much they have grown.

We celebrated their Birthdays in Riverton,wy where we are currently working. We took the kids out for pizza for their Birthdays.

It's been awhile since I've had a picture of all my children with me together. I then wanted to have a picture of Blair with all the kids, just for memory sake.

After pizza we took the kids to DQ and let them pick out an ice cream cake. This is what they settled on together. Plus the selection was pretty poor so this was the only Birthday-ish themed cake they had. We brought it home and let it de-thaw a little bit and let the kids open their gifts.

Cassidy got her barbie with a horse that she had asked for.

I have been wanting to get Statton some sort of a farming play rug for quite some time and finally broke down and ordered this cute tractor shaped rug for him to drive his tractors on. Blair felt bad that he was getting a rug for his birthday so he stopped at the local tractor dealership and picked him up a new tractor with baler.

We then sat down and enjoyed our ice cream cake. Well Madison enjoyed hers anyway. The kids wanted to play with their new toys they only ate a few bites and were done.

We certainly feel blessed to have such cute kids in our lives to teach us patience and unconditional love. They are sweet kids and I'm so glad to be called their mother.

Cassidy- Loves Barbies, anything pink, jewelry, barbie movies, singing (she breaks out into barbie songs all the time) She makes sure to come get me every morning and tell me that Madison is awake and I need to go get her. She loves to color and play with stickers. Likes to help me cook dinner.She still puts her shoes on the wrong feet but I think she likes them that way. Always wants to pick out her own clothes and shoes. She's fairly easy going and really loves her siblings. She's usually pretty shy but gets pretty attached once she gets to know you.

Statton- Loves tractors, cars, 4-wheelers, pirates, and playing outside. Wants to help with everything. Always wants to help me cook dinner, wash dishes, and clean the house. (He'll make some woman very happy someday) Loves to throw balls, shoot fake guns, and play swords. He loves to come and crawl in bed with me every morning and watch cartoons until his sister's wake up. He's such a loveable kid and pretty tenderhearted. He loves to play with anything and anybody. He loves to meet new kids and never has a problem getting involved with new things.

Statton gets staples!

Saturday the 4th of February was such a nice day. It was around the low 60's and the sun was shining. It had snowed thursday night and so we still had some nice snow hanging around. Well we put Madison down for a nap and so Blair and I took the kids out to play in the snow. Theres a small hill that all the Rv's are back up against so there was a free spot just two down from ours so we were letting the kids slide down on the sled. After a while of letting them do it themselves Blair attached a rope and was pulling them around in the parking lot above the slope and then would give them a little pull of force to have a good slide down. We had done this a dozen or so times with the kids going in a straight line when the last run down the sled veered off to the left and ran right into the picnic table that was sitting off to the side. The kids slid between the top and the seat of it and at the last minute Statton raise his head and ended up hitting the edge of the seat. We ran down to them and Statton was screaming. Blair grabbed him and pulled of his hat and blood was gushing out of the side of his head. Blair told me to go get a towel so I ran to the trailer with Blair behind me with Statton in his arms. We put some pressure on the wound for a minute and then Blair told me to look at it and see if we needed to go the hospital. As soon as we took the towel away I could see his scalp was peeled back and I just broke out into tears and nodded my head. Seeing me cry freaked Statton out and he started crying and screaming even harder. That's when I realized I had to pull myself together in order to keep Statton calm. So I grabbed they keys and helped Blair into the pickup with Statton. I yanked Madison out of her bed and hurried and buckled her into her car seat and then got Cassidy into the truck. Statton calmed down on the way to the ER and the bleeding had mostly stopped. I dropped Blair off with Statton at the ER doors and then went and parked the truck, got the girls out, and then went and found Blair and Statton in the ER. The Triage nurse had put a piece of guaze on his head and wrapped some guaze around his head. He was perfectly calm and nodding yes or no to all the nurses questions. The doctor came in and took a look at it and said it tore in kind-of a star pattern. It was torn 3 ways. So they got some things together and came in and wrapped Statton up like a burrito with blanket and laid him on his side. He was so happy and willing to do anything they wanted. Then when the doctor started numbing him up with the lidocaine and needle Statton was crying and screaming and I was standing there with my hand on his shoulder with tears. I felt so bad for what he was going through and felt bad that the incident ever happened. Blair was feeling a little guilty about the whole thing and said he had the thought to move the picnic table but didn't. So as soon as they numbed him up they cleaned out the wound really well and then put the staples in. He got 4 staples! He cried again when they did the staples. The doctor assured me that it was probably the noise and pressure of them going in that was making him cry and not that he was in pain from feeling them. I was able to pick him up and hold him until he was done crying. The nurse offered him a popsicle and then he was all better all the sudden. Go figure! We left the ER and Statton was walking down the halls with his orange popsicle and bloody scalp laceration with staples in place and just looked super happy.

The picture a few runs before the 'incident.' Who knew things would take a turn for the worse.

Statton with his guaze head. He looks perfectly calm and whatever about things. We was asking us when we got done at the doctor if we could go home and go sledding some more. What! Are you kidding me!

Just trying to get a few close-up shots with my camera phone. I think you get the idea.

This was after they shaved his head around the lacertion and put the staples in. Oh my poor guy! I feel terrible that he might have a huge scar for the rest of his life!

I wanted to get a few shots at home with my nicer camera to better see the staples and the wound.

He ran around all night like no big deal and kept telling me about his owie on his head. It's like he's proud of it! His sunbeam teacher at church on Sunday came up to me after church and said that it was the first thing he showed her in class today and Cassidy was the one telling her the story of what happened. We have to go back in a week and get the staples out. I hope the wound heals up nicely and that there is minimal scarring. I love this little boy and was so heartbroken to see something like this happen to him.