M's First Trip to the ER!

 We wondered when our first trip to the ER would be with our rough and tumble boys, and it happened this past weekend.  We have been to the ER only once before and that is when Zander was 8 months old and had RSV.  So this marks our first (and hopefully our only) trip to the ER due to an injury.  We met up with our best friends, the Whites, for a Saturday hike and ended the day at the local ER due to a flying stick that landed right on Maddox's eye and nose.  It was a total accident that the whole thing happened but we are hopeful we can also learn from this experience and be more mindful when we are hitting sticks against trees, etc. in the woods.  I was proud that all the kids navigated the waterfalls and hills successfully and this run in with a tree limb happened moments before we were planning to leave (as in I was collecting all the lunch stuff to put back in the car).  Zack quickly assessed the situation and knew we needed to get medical assistance so the Whites took Zander home with them while we headed to the local ER (since we were about an hour from home).  They confirmed what we could tell with our naked eye..... Maddox had debris in his eye and several scrapes across his cornea.  They flushed out the debris (as much as possible) and patched his eye with instructions to see an eye doctor as soon as possible.  With it being a three day weekend, we were worried we would have to wait until Tuesday to see a specialist.  Zack texted his eye doctor and she responded Saturday evening, saying she could see us first thing Sunday morning.  After looking at his eye, she confirmed that there was a large scratch across the top of his cornea (just above his retina).  If it had scratched any lower, he could have had permanent vision loss.  She was able to buff out some more of the debris that was stuck.  Maddox was given a contact lens "bandaid" and some higher dose eye drops and we will be following up on Thursday to hopefully hear our treatment plan is working with little more required on his eye.  Prayers are appreciated that his eye is healing properly and that his check up on Thursday confirms he is on his way to years of great vision!  Here are some pictures from our week.... we had a great time hiking and going to the science center, making use of our three day weekend!

A motto I'm trying to live by (above)...... and more pictures from working at school with having a 2nd grader for remote learning... we had Mr. Ben come read with some of the 2nd graders that are there with their parents at school.  Zander is trying to use blue light glasses and Chocolate (Zander's beagle) rocked a mask one day!

Our lazy pup tries to keep me company during an early morning workout before school!  Please pray for him as Zack is taking him on Thursday to get a place looked at.  Burke had a cancerous tumor removed a couple years ago so the vet wants us to bring him in any time there is a mass that grows pretty quickly.

We love having family dinners at our house with the Bakewells and Kennedys! This week was spaghetti, garlic bread and salad!  Eli helped cook! ;) 

Great memories of our Saturday morning hike!

Not so great memories of our trip to the ER!

Grammy took the oldest and youngest for field trip Friday to the science center a couple weeks ago!  Zander loved showing us around and taking pictures like Grammy let him do!

Our Labor Day Monday activity... the science center and new carousel! 

Maddox is so incredibly tough!  He has stayed his optimistic, happy self in spite of the pain.  We are so impressed with our big boy!! I will never forget how he fell into my arms as I carried him into the ER, screaming in pain and not able to open his eye.  I am so thankful to see these pictures of him a day or two afterwards!

Maddox had a little bit of trouble following directions at school last week.  He wrote an apology card based on his behavior.  We are praying for a good week for the adults and children!