Christmas Day Emergency Room Visit - OUCH!

It seems that we are at the InstaCare every year either the day before or the day after Christmas with Ryland (usually it's ear infections). This year we were at the emergency room with Lindsey on Christmas Day!

Lindsey had just painted her fingernails and was coming across the room to show them to me when she suddenly yelled and started crying saying that she stepped on a toothpick (we had all been snacking on little smokies). I looked at her foot and it looked like there was a small piece of a toothpick stuck between her toes. When I tried brushing it away, it didn't budge ... then I noticed a small piece of a broken toothpick on the floor and realized that the remainder of the broken toothpick was inside her foot! It had gone in horizontally between her big toe and the one next to it! Chuck tried pulling the toothpick out with tweezers. He could pull it a little ways out, and then her muscles would just pull it back in (like pulling a bit on a rubberband). He then tried to get a better hold on the toothpick by using a pair of his pliers. They didn't work either. So ... he picked her up and we took her to the emergency room at the American Fork hospital.

They took her almost immediately in (we waited about 5 minutes). The doctor was really good with Lindsey and explained everything he was going to do to get the toothpick out. He had to give her a few shots between her toes (or maybe on them, I wasn't watching) which really hurt. After that, he was able to pull the toothpick right out (all 1-1/4 inches of it)! They then irrigated the puncture wound, filled it with neosporin and then put a little gauze on it. Throughout the whole ordeal (except the shots) Lindsey was very calm and was handling everything a whole lot better than I would have been able to. Once the toothpick was out, she was happy and smiling - We were so proud of how she handled the whole event! She says that the one good thing about getting a toothpick stuck in her foot is that she now trusts doctors a lot more. She was also happy about getting to keep the medical bracelet. She also got a new pair of socks and they gave her a huge syringe to use as a squirt gun! Merry Christmas!

She is still on a mega dose of antibiotics, but all signs of any trauma to her foot is gone. You can't even see a mark where the toothpick went in! The day after going to the ER Lindsey wrote a story about what happened:

"On Cristmas day I stept on a toothpik. It went strat in my foot! My dad coodent get it out so we went to the Dr's. They wer reelly nice. I got a bracelet! The dokter told me that he was goin to put the medicen on my foot. Wen they got back he told me that her wold put a teeny needl on both sides of it. It reely hert. After that he pulled it out! I only fellt it go out of my foot. It didn't hert at all! I am glad it is out. The End."

She also drew the following pictures ...

Ryland's New Favorite Chore

Over the last few days we have had several inches of snow. After watching Chuck shovel the driveway only to have it covered by snow again only minutes later, Ryland decided that he could do it. He spent over half an hour shoveling our driveway and then asked if he could go shovel the neighbors' driveways, too! Unfortunately, he's now decided that shoveling driveways is a good way to earn money and now asks for $2 in return! (I won't let him ask the neighbors for money, though ...)

Graham Cracker Houses

One of the things that Lindsey and Ryland love to do each year is make graham cracker houses. I usually put together a basic house and then buy a ton of candy that the kids can use to decorate. It has quickly become a fun tradition!

Santa and Build-A-Bear

We took Lindsey and Ryland to the mall to take pictures with Santa. I think this is the first time neither of them cried about sitting on Santa's lap! (Although Ryland wasn't too sure about it ...) Afterwards, we decided to walk around the mall for a little bit. The first (and only) store we went into was Build-A-Bear. Chuck and I were feeling really generous and decided to let each of them pick out one of the $10 bears. Lindsey had gotten to go through the whole process for her 7th birthday, but this was Ryland's first time. Both of them were so excited and really enjoyed picking out their animals and being able to help stuff them. It was worth it just to watch their faces! Also, they both told Chuck and I repeatedly that we are the best parents in the whole wide world! A little bribery will work wonders!

Lindsey and Ryland posing with Santa

Ryland displaying his "bear skin"

Lindsey chose to make the dog

Lindsey helping to stuff her dog (the foot pedal powers the machine)

Ryland using the blow dryer to clean off any stray stuffing (look at how serious he is about doing a good job!)

Lindsey clearing off stray pieces of stuffing ...

Ryland is dressing his bear in the outfit he carefully chose for it (no suprises that he chose a motorcycle shirt!)

Ryland proudly displaying his finished bear!

Lindsey and Ryland completing the "birth certificates" for their new friends (Lindsey chose to name her dog "Mutt". Ryland heard her and decided to name his bear "Indiana Jones")

Lindsey chose not to get an outfit for her dog. She didn't see anything that she liked in the budget range we gave them and instead let Ryland have her half of the clothing money so that he could get the outfit he wanted. Lindsey is such a great big sister!

Lindsey as "Arya" from Eragon

Our niece, Ginger, recently had a birthday party where all of the guests dressed up as superheroes. Lindsey chose to dress up as Arya, the main elfin character from Eragon, one of her favorite books. She just looked so cute that I had to include a few pictures! (Ryland dressed up as Spiderman ... but I missed getting a picture of him.)

Sour Lemon

Ryland is a very finicky eater. There are very few healthy foods that he likes and he rarely tries anything new. Anyone who could see his facial expressions when he does try something new would realize it is a form of torture for him. Needless to say, I was very suprised when we were at the grocery store and he begged for me to buy a lemon so he could try it! I wasn't about to say no. That night while eating dinner he even reminded me about the lemon and asked that it be included on his plate (just the thing to go with ham and eggs)! Chuck cut it into slices and gave him one to eat. He immediately took a bite (he usually holds the food in front of his face for quite a while while gathering his courage ...) and quickly learned just how sour a lemon is. Chuck handed him another slice and told him to try another piece. He took another big bite! Over, and over again he bit into the lemon slices and each time declared that it was too sour! We don't know whether we should be be proud of him for initiating trying a new food or worry about how many times he gave into "peer pressure" to take another bite!

Decorating for Christmas

As soon as Thanksgiving was over, Lindsey and Ryland started begging for us to decorate the house for Christmas. (Before that, every time Ryland saw Christmas lights on a house he would say, "What are they thinking? It's not even Thanksgiving, yet!" So cute!). Anyway, Chuck dragged all of the Christmas decorations out and we spent the day making the house look all festive. The kids had a great time decorating their tree downstairs while Christmas music played on the stereo. Ryland only fell against the tree once - not too bad ... I was even able to find a spot for all 13 of my nativity sets!

Ryland adding a decoration to the "kid's tree"

Lindsey didn't need the ladder to reach up high!

Lindsey and Ryland in front of "mom's" tree