In her ongoing effort to shock and amaze the medical community with not only the sheer volume of her ER visits but also their often obscure nature, Haley has managed to injure herself with the
back to her earring.
Yes, the back to her earring is inside her earlobe. And by
inside I mean not able to be seen from the outside, however it shows up really well on the x-ray. Oh yeah, the x-ray. We had taken. Of her earlobe. Apparently the first x-ray in the history of the hospital of an earlobe. The people didn't even know how to position her head.
It all started with a trip to the clinic on post to see if they could get it out. I figured it went in through the little hole (the hole is no different in size from any other pierced ear, that's the beauty of this) so it would come out of the little hole. She wouldn't let me mess with it so I picked up Scott so he could pin her down while the doctor took it out. Well the doctor on post said we needed to go to the ER because they didn't know what to do. Still, somewhere in my little mind I thought they would be able to just pop it out.
At the ER they thought the back was in her ear
canal. After explaining that it was in the ear
lobe we were hit with a barrage of questions: What type of back? Was it metal? Were we absolutely sure it was metal? Were we positive it wasn't plastic? How did it get in there? How long had it been there? Did it hurt? Was it bleeding?
This is when I started to develop a headache.
At x-ray it took 4 people to figure out how to position her head and where to put the camera. Then they asked me if there was any way possible I might be pregnant.
This is when my head started to throb and my vision blurred a little bit.
After it was determined that the x-ray was successful (ecstatic shouts of "We got it!!" and congratulations all around) we were sent back to the ER. The doctor came in and told us that no, it wasn't a cyst, it was in fact an earring back and after examining her ear he said that he'd been an ER doctor since 1985 and he'd never seen this before. Never even
heard of anything like this. And for goodness's sake he didn't know what in the world to do so we needed to see an ENT doctor today. We were to call the doctor and tell them Haley had a "foreign body" embedded in her earlobe that needed to be removed and they would probably set up a "small surgical procedure" in which Haley would be "unconscious".
At this point I swear to God I felt 5 of the hairs on my head turn gray.
So we're going in today at 11:30 for further assessment. And it should be fun fun fun!
Haley and Arden. This was right before they left and Arden was already getting sad.
Owen and Amber. I think they were reading.
Owen giving Arden a good-bye kiss.
This is what Owen did to the dog. Now does anyone have any questions as to why I am currently setting up a savings account for military school? The dog actually stood beside the crate and cried to be let in...
This is the picture after I used the retouching tool and evened out her skin tone and wiped off the heat rash. I am so proud of myself I might actually break my arm patting my own back for a job well done-and it was my first effort! If I keep working on it there is literally no stopping me from making everyone in my family overly presentable and good looking. And once I learn to use Flash my blog will reach new heights in tackiness, so get ready people!
This is just a picture of me sitting on a blanket. We put it on here because we thought I kind of look like Skylar in it. Also, I still have the blanket.
This is the swing. Instead of some type of strong metal bar it is held up by rope. I guess it's a good thing I wasn't overweight as a baby. In this picture I look like I am of sitting up age, yet the safety belt is not buckled. This proves that even at a young age I was dangerous and a thrill seeker. Compared to the swings of today I don't understand how any baby sat in it for any length of time, but I'm told I loved it. To this day I am still easy to please. All it takes is money.
On to the walker... Seriously? This was my walker? It's not like it was the dark ages! Did someone actually market this product because I feel strongly that Papa could have thrown something much better together in his shed. I don't look too happy in this picture. This could have been either because I am embarrassed I'm getting my picture taken in the "walker" or because someone put me in a walker and is making me do all the work to get wherever I want to go. Me: lazy and proud of it!
Here is one of my favorites. Me, as a small baby, playing with balloons. Everyone knows that is super safe. Look at my mouth, wide open, as I am about to grab a balloon and stuff it into my face. I don't know what disturbs me more, me about to eat a balloon or the fact that there is no adult also in the picture taking the balloons away from me so I accidentally don't bite one and suffocate. Why do I have the sneaky feeling that Tom is to blame for this?
This picture explains several things to me. 
All in all though, I was raised exceptionally well with only minimal scarring. We may not have had much when I was small, but I was loved a lot (despite the size of my ears-good god!) and I was without a doubt I super cool. I had to be right? I mean, good grief, I had Mickey Mouse shoes!!
This was May 2005. Again, I would always say "Don't jump on the bed." Of course I know absoutely nothing so they jumped on the bed and Haley broke her arm right above the midway point on her upper arm (which is a spot that cannot be casted) so we got a cool sling with dinosaurs on it (we had no choice in the sling pattern).
Here I said "We have two bathrooms, there's no need to race to the one in the hall." I mean, why do I even bother opening my mouth and wasting my breath? Ashlyn and Haley ran, raced, and Ashlyn won (I have to admit she is almost abnormally speedy) and went to slam the door and Haley ran into the door with her face. Result: 5 stitches, inserted into her head while she was awake and screaming in the ER.
This one I was not present for. Unfortunately, neither was her teacher, who was supposed to be supervising P.E. Ashlyn fell off the monkey bars. We got to stay in the ER from 3:00 pm to 1 am when they put her so sleep to set the bone. Then she and I got to spend the night in the hospital.
I'm not saying I know it all. Far from it. I don't claim to know much, but after a very bad incident involving my brother and I marble chess set AND the above mentioned mishap involving Haley and a sling I do know you should never, ever jump on a bed. Too bad Haley and Owen didn't believe me when I told them it wasn't a good idea and they should stop immediately. If they had it would have saved me another trip to the ER and it would have saved Owen from having to have his face glued back together.
Ashlyn and Brian. Or, as Owen called him, That Big Kid Over There.
Owen pushing Mary Kate in her car. Notice that Owen has no shoes on, only socks. This is why he only has about two pairs of socks.
Pops and Skylar. This was their first meeting. It went well, mostly because Skylar loved sleeping on Pops' belly. Pops would sit in the recliner and watch baseball and Skylar would snooze for hours. It's safe to say they bonded in a huge way. We now also know who Skylar gets her double chin from.
