Aaron is fully recovered- pretty much. Just a little bruising and soreness left. He did much better than we thought and didn't even fill his prescription for the strong pain meds.
I worked 7-11 the last two nights and it has been busy. They want all the RNs to have ACLS which is Advanced Cardiac Life Support. I have never been certified in it and they offer a few classes a year.
I went to sleep around 12:30 am this morning after working 7-11.
I set the alarm for 6:30am and was planning on getting up, taking a shower, dressing the kids, dropping them off at Mom's and making it to work by 8am.
Aaron has a cold and slept on the couch last night where he could prop up.
Somehow, Hannah can sense when there is an empty spot in our bed, and shows up.
At 2:30am this morning. Normally, Hannah is not bad to sleep with, she moves minimally and doesn't dig under or kick like the other two. Except for all this morning, where she would not keep her little toes out of my back. Constantly, I would push them over, she slept through it all, and pretty soon, I would have toes digging in my back again.
I woke up hearing Aaron's alarm clear in the living room at 5:20am. So did Hannah and Aaron sent her back to her bed.
Before he left at 6:45, she was back in our bed asleep, digging her toes in. Somehow sleeping, her body in a 90degree angle bent at the waist.
Needless to say, I decided not to go to the pre-ACLS class that started at 8am. I hadn't signed up anyway. But then I awoke at 7:10, slightly more refreshed, called Mom to see if she could make it to the house by 7:45.
She came over and I barely got out of here in time to make it to work by 8am. Dreading 6 hours of classes that I didn't want to take, after sleeping a very broken 6 hours, I found the teacher.
Who promptly said that if I was the only one who showed up, she wasn't going to waste her time teaching it to one person.
No one else showed up and she rescheduled. Don't know if Mom will be working then and I won't have a babysitter. Oh well, I tried and that is all I can do, right?
So, I came back home. Did a little school before lunch. We just ate lunch and the girls are playing. I think that I may not make it much longer before I have to lie down. Hannah could probably use a nap too.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Falling Ladders
Aaron needed a new ladder for Christmas. He got one. Now he needs a new ladder for his birthday.
We have a small wooden, shaky ladder that isn't very tall and has 4 legs. His parents bought him an aluminum ladder that I think will stretch out to 20ft. When it rains here, our porch fills up with water, especially right in front of our front door. So, we decided to put up gutters, just on the front porch for now. Last weekend, we got most of it finished. We needed a few more parts from Lowes to finish, so he went New Years day with the girls to go get those parts.
I was working New Year's day and I get a phone call from Aaron. Now he never calls me at work, so I knew something was wrong.
Here's the story. He was working on the last seam. He said he had been on the ladder in the same position for about 10 minutes with no problem. All of a sudden, the ladder is falling out from under him. The ladder stopped when it got under the porch and hit the concrete on the porch about 3 ft above the ground. Aaron was working on the gutters, probably 10ft up. His L leg slipped a little through some rungs and got scraped up pretty bad, when the ladder hit the concrete and he was thrown off onto his R hip. I think his leg getting caught, if just for a split second, probably helped slow him down.
Of course, all the girls were outside and Natalie was watching. Apparently, he was rolling around a little in pain, and Natalie doesn't do well with people in pain, so she went running in the house. Madelyn and Hannah came to watch Aaron, and Princess came to waller on him, probably thinking that finally someone decided to roll around on the ground and play with her.
Since he could feel all his limbs and move them all, he sent Madelyn inside to make sure that Natalie wasn't calling 911. (She has been taking a Safety for Kids class on Fridays at our Coop) She wasn't.
After lying on the ground for a few minutes and having Madelyn hold the dog off, he was finally able to painfully walk into the house, where he was able to call me at work.
The other nurses heard me asking nursy questions, so they were concerned when I got off the phone. My supervisor was standing there and there was an extra nurse that was going to take over for me when I left at 3pm (it was 1pm). So she told me to go on home and check on him.
I still had to give report and chart a few things, so I called Mom to see if she would at least go over there and watch the girls, because I knew she could get there before me. Plus, if I needed to take him to the ER, I didn't want to take the kids.
We did eventually go to the ER, since he had a small abrasion over his hip and he fell on rock. He didn't hit the padded part, but hit on a bony part. Thankfully, he didn't fracture anything.
The ER doctor was very impressed. He kept saying how good Aaron's bones must be for him not to have broken something falling from that height. We are thankful.
But he does need a new ladder. His is bent. We don't know if it bent during the fall, or if it bent and caused the fall.
He did fix the last seam that night, after going to the ER, by putting our old rickety ladder on top of the jeep and having me hold the ladder still while he climbed up to finish. If he had fallen off a 2nd time, I think I would have taken him all the way to another hospital, instead of the one where I work. But the gutters are done, now we wait for rain to see how well done they are.
I was able to work 10 of my scheduled 20 hours this week. They called me Tues. and told me to stay home. Then they called me on Wed. morning trying to get me to stay home, but the supervisor said he would call some of the other nurses to see if they wanted the day off. One did and he called me back and let me work.
Today, Aaron left to go hiking with some of the men from church. Apparently, there is a BIG TREE somewhere in the forest. It is probably a 2 mile hike to the tree. A hard hike. So he is armed with ibuprofen. The hike would normally be a breeze for him, since he does that every day, we were just a little worried about his hip. Don't know what the girls and I will do today.
We have a small wooden, shaky ladder that isn't very tall and has 4 legs. His parents bought him an aluminum ladder that I think will stretch out to 20ft. When it rains here, our porch fills up with water, especially right in front of our front door. So, we decided to put up gutters, just on the front porch for now. Last weekend, we got most of it finished. We needed a few more parts from Lowes to finish, so he went New Years day with the girls to go get those parts.
I was working New Year's day and I get a phone call from Aaron. Now he never calls me at work, so I knew something was wrong.
Here's the story. He was working on the last seam. He said he had been on the ladder in the same position for about 10 minutes with no problem. All of a sudden, the ladder is falling out from under him. The ladder stopped when it got under the porch and hit the concrete on the porch about 3 ft above the ground. Aaron was working on the gutters, probably 10ft up. His L leg slipped a little through some rungs and got scraped up pretty bad, when the ladder hit the concrete and he was thrown off onto his R hip. I think his leg getting caught, if just for a split second, probably helped slow him down.
Of course, all the girls were outside and Natalie was watching. Apparently, he was rolling around a little in pain, and Natalie doesn't do well with people in pain, so she went running in the house. Madelyn and Hannah came to watch Aaron, and Princess came to waller on him, probably thinking that finally someone decided to roll around on the ground and play with her.
Since he could feel all his limbs and move them all, he sent Madelyn inside to make sure that Natalie wasn't calling 911. (She has been taking a Safety for Kids class on Fridays at our Coop) She wasn't.
After lying on the ground for a few minutes and having Madelyn hold the dog off, he was finally able to painfully walk into the house, where he was able to call me at work.
The other nurses heard me asking nursy questions, so they were concerned when I got off the phone. My supervisor was standing there and there was an extra nurse that was going to take over for me when I left at 3pm (it was 1pm). So she told me to go on home and check on him.
I still had to give report and chart a few things, so I called Mom to see if she would at least go over there and watch the girls, because I knew she could get there before me. Plus, if I needed to take him to the ER, I didn't want to take the kids.
We did eventually go to the ER, since he had a small abrasion over his hip and he fell on rock. He didn't hit the padded part, but hit on a bony part. Thankfully, he didn't fracture anything.
The ER doctor was very impressed. He kept saying how good Aaron's bones must be for him not to have broken something falling from that height. We are thankful.
But he does need a new ladder. His is bent. We don't know if it bent during the fall, or if it bent and caused the fall.
He did fix the last seam that night, after going to the ER, by putting our old rickety ladder on top of the jeep and having me hold the ladder still while he climbed up to finish. If he had fallen off a 2nd time, I think I would have taken him all the way to another hospital, instead of the one where I work. But the gutters are done, now we wait for rain to see how well done they are.
I was able to work 10 of my scheduled 20 hours this week. They called me Tues. and told me to stay home. Then they called me on Wed. morning trying to get me to stay home, but the supervisor said he would call some of the other nurses to see if they wanted the day off. One did and he called me back and let me work.
Today, Aaron left to go hiking with some of the men from church. Apparently, there is a BIG TREE somewhere in the forest. It is probably a 2 mile hike to the tree. A hard hike. So he is armed with ibuprofen. The hike would normally be a breeze for him, since he does that every day, we were just a little worried about his hip. Don't know what the girls and I will do today.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Mom is coming over today around 2, to watch the girls while I go to work from 3-7. I called and talked to the secretary last night and she sounded pretty overwhelmed, and said that the census is up so hopefully they won't cancel me this week. Right now I am just signed up for 20 hours. I was planning on Mom just staying the night, since she is watching them while I work 7-3 tomorrow. That would keep her from having to wake up real early and get here by 6am or me having to get the girls up and tote them to Mom's. When I signed up for work today, I didn't realize that our church was changing the Wed. night service to Tuesday because of the holiday tomorrow, so looks like I will miss again.
I am trying to do a little schoolwork this week, Like catching up with the books the girls are reading. Aaron came home yesterday and went straight to work after supper on the gutters. He worked up until around 8pm or later. He started around 5:30. It was cold out. I went out periodically to help hold something or hand him something. Madelyn and Natalie ran around in the dark with flashlights for a long time. Hannah was running a 102+fever, so she stayed inside with me. I don't know what is going on with her. She complained of a headache yesterday and was so irritable. I finally put her in my bed and she slept a couple of hours. Then ran a fever last night. So far, no fever or irritablility this morning.
Maybe it is a 24 hour headache virus. I had a horrible headache Sunday morning. So bad, that after class, I sat down for church services and felt a little sick to my stomach, so I took Mom's car back to her apartment and stayed there during services. The headache lasted all day, but was a little better to where I went Sunday night. Then Aaron complainded of a headache Sunday night, and Madelyn was sick with a headache then. Strange.
I am trying to do a little schoolwork this week, Like catching up with the books the girls are reading. Aaron came home yesterday and went straight to work after supper on the gutters. He worked up until around 8pm or later. He started around 5:30. It was cold out. I went out periodically to help hold something or hand him something. Madelyn and Natalie ran around in the dark with flashlights for a long time. Hannah was running a 102+fever, so she stayed inside with me. I don't know what is going on with her. She complained of a headache yesterday and was so irritable. I finally put her in my bed and she slept a couple of hours. Then ran a fever last night. So far, no fever or irritablility this morning.
Maybe it is a 24 hour headache virus. I had a horrible headache Sunday morning. So bad, that after class, I sat down for church services and felt a little sick to my stomach, so I took Mom's car back to her apartment and stayed there during services. The headache lasted all day, but was a little better to where I went Sunday night. Then Aaron complainded of a headache Sunday night, and Madelyn was sick with a headache then. Strange.
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Oh wise 4 year old
Last night, Aaron had been working outside and he was sitting at the table with Hannah. He had his baseball cap on backward. She said matter of factly "you know, some people wear their hats like that because they are trying to be cool, but some turn them around, so that they look like daddys." So, Aaron promptly turned it back around the "daddy" way.
Another funny... the other night Madelyn had been asleep about 45 min. when she woke up and came into the living room. I was still up. She just stood there staring at me.
I said "what?"
She says. "you know they slide when you move them"
I said "what slides when you move them?" thinking that her sleep induced answer will be pretty funny.
She says' "brooms, they slide when you use them"
I said "go to the bathroom and back to bed" She had no memory of that the next morning, but I thought it was pretty funny.
Can't think of any funny or embarassing stories about Natalie right now,but I am sure they will happen soon enough.
Before going to TN for Christmas, we took the rattlesnake out of the freezer and Aaron disected it for us. Pretty interesting, and we were hoping to see some babies, since we killed it in September, and they give birth soon after. But it was either male or not pregnant and we couldn't tell the difference.
So, afterwards, Aaron put it, guts side down, down by the peach trees out our side window, so we can look out there and watch the buzzards eat it. I know, we are a little weird, but we like wildlife. It was still there, apparently untouched, the whole 5 days we were gone.
Aaron flips it, hoping that guts side up will stink more and draw something to come eat it. The next morning, the girls saw 3 buzzards eating it, but by the time I got to the window they had been scared away.
Now Princess has gotten ahold of it. She was eating on it yesterday, still under the peach tree, which was gross enough, but when we got home from church this morning, it was on our bedroom porch.
She carried it around all day, here and there, nibbling on it. Gag! I wish we had buried it now.
Aaron and I went yesterday to Lowes to get gutters for the front of the house. The whole house needs them, but we are going to do a little at a time. Whenever it rains, our porch made of concrete, holds a ton of water and we have to walk through a big puddle to get in. We bought the supplies yesterday and Aaron put most of it up this afternoon. My help was minimal, but I did have to climb up a scary ladder balance on the ground and a rock to hold the chalk line for him. I hate ladders, but it was his new one he got for Christmas, and it didn't rock like his old one does, so it wasn't as scary as I thought. It looks good so far, there are a few more supplies that we need, so he will probably be finishing that project 1/1 when he is off work, since it is dark when he gets home.
Madelyn was complaining of a headache before church, right across her forehead, but then ate supper and said she felt better. So we went on and she didn't complain again until about 1 hour after church. We were invited to a friends house and she was walking around smiling, but then I could tell she wanted to cry, so we left and she was crying by the time we got home. Of course a headache, 3 miles of curvy road, plus 2 miles of gravel road, and what do you get???
Vomiting! She didn't get sick until we had been home about 1 hour and about 45 min. after her tylenol. I am really hoping that it was all motion sickness and not something contagious. She says her stomachache and headache are gone now, but we will probably be sleeping on the couches tonight, just so I will be close if she needs me.
Another funny... the other night Madelyn had been asleep about 45 min. when she woke up and came into the living room. I was still up. She just stood there staring at me.
I said "what?"
She says. "you know they slide when you move them"
I said "what slides when you move them?" thinking that her sleep induced answer will be pretty funny.
She says' "brooms, they slide when you use them"
I said "go to the bathroom and back to bed" She had no memory of that the next morning, but I thought it was pretty funny.
Can't think of any funny or embarassing stories about Natalie right now,but I am sure they will happen soon enough.
Before going to TN for Christmas, we took the rattlesnake out of the freezer and Aaron disected it for us. Pretty interesting, and we were hoping to see some babies, since we killed it in September, and they give birth soon after. But it was either male or not pregnant and we couldn't tell the difference.
So, afterwards, Aaron put it, guts side down, down by the peach trees out our side window, so we can look out there and watch the buzzards eat it. I know, we are a little weird, but we like wildlife. It was still there, apparently untouched, the whole 5 days we were gone.
Aaron flips it, hoping that guts side up will stink more and draw something to come eat it. The next morning, the girls saw 3 buzzards eating it, but by the time I got to the window they had been scared away.
Now Princess has gotten ahold of it. She was eating on it yesterday, still under the peach tree, which was gross enough, but when we got home from church this morning, it was on our bedroom porch.
She carried it around all day, here and there, nibbling on it. Gag! I wish we had buried it now.
Aaron and I went yesterday to Lowes to get gutters for the front of the house. The whole house needs them, but we are going to do a little at a time. Whenever it rains, our porch made of concrete, holds a ton of water and we have to walk through a big puddle to get in. We bought the supplies yesterday and Aaron put most of it up this afternoon. My help was minimal, but I did have to climb up a scary ladder balance on the ground and a rock to hold the chalk line for him. I hate ladders, but it was his new one he got for Christmas, and it didn't rock like his old one does, so it wasn't as scary as I thought. It looks good so far, there are a few more supplies that we need, so he will probably be finishing that project 1/1 when he is off work, since it is dark when he gets home.
Madelyn was complaining of a headache before church, right across her forehead, but then ate supper and said she felt better. So we went on and she didn't complain again until about 1 hour after church. We were invited to a friends house and she was walking around smiling, but then I could tell she wanted to cry, so we left and she was crying by the time we got home. Of course a headache, 3 miles of curvy road, plus 2 miles of gravel road, and what do you get???
Vomiting! She didn't get sick until we had been home about 1 hour and about 45 min. after her tylenol. I am really hoping that it was all motion sickness and not something contagious. She says her stomachache and headache are gone now, but we will probably be sleeping on the couches tonight, just so I will be close if she needs me.
Saturday, December 20, 2008
8 measly hours
Well, I had hoped to get in 40 hrs this week with Aaron being off work, but unfortunately, even though I was scheduled 7-3 M-W, I only got to work Tuesday. Only 8 hours this week. They called me off M and W and I tried to work yesterday- no luck, but the census was up from the last time I had worked. So, I called this morning and the census had gone down 10 since yesterday, which may not seem like a lot, but when you work at a hospital with one floor, it is. I went ahead and emailed the Nursing Director my schedule for Jan. and Feb, hoping that if I am already on the schedule to work, I would be more likely to be able to work. I signed up for 80 hours in Jan. and 68 hrs in Feb. That is way more than usually. (Sometimes I barely get in my 32 hours a month). Well see how many hours I actually get to work.
I think I have all my Christmas shopping done except for the girls' stuff. I will probably either leave the girls with Aaron tomorrow and go to Walmart with Mom, or go with Aaron and leave the girls with Mom.
Since I didn't work today, Aaron and I decided to tackle the garage. I am embarassed to admit, but it was NASTY. We have 3 cats and even though there is always a litter box out there, at least one of them has taken to pooping and peeing anywhere but the litter box. So, the cats are on their own outside. One of them sleeps in the doghouse with the dog anyway and the other one is welcome on the porch, but no more cats in the garage. Our smallest cat always uses the litterbox, so he is allowed inside. We also had lots of boxes half empty from the move and still a lot of boxes full. We put a lot of stuff in the unfinished room above the garage, like baby beds, baby clothes, etc. and we probably got at least 5-6 trashbags of stuff. I have a box of books that I am going to take to our homeschool coop to give away. I can't stand the thought of throwing them out, but we really have no more room. It looks sooo much better. I cleaned the floor with water and soap and an old broom we have designated for outside and it looks and smells much better. I might even take someone out there on a tour of our house too. Instead of pretending like the garage doesn't exist.
I think I have all my Christmas shopping done except for the girls' stuff. I will probably either leave the girls with Aaron tomorrow and go to Walmart with Mom, or go with Aaron and leave the girls with Mom.
Since I didn't work today, Aaron and I decided to tackle the garage. I am embarassed to admit, but it was NASTY. We have 3 cats and even though there is always a litter box out there, at least one of them has taken to pooping and peeing anywhere but the litter box. So, the cats are on their own outside. One of them sleeps in the doghouse with the dog anyway and the other one is welcome on the porch, but no more cats in the garage. Our smallest cat always uses the litterbox, so he is allowed inside. We also had lots of boxes half empty from the move and still a lot of boxes full. We put a lot of stuff in the unfinished room above the garage, like baby beds, baby clothes, etc. and we probably got at least 5-6 trashbags of stuff. I have a box of books that I am going to take to our homeschool coop to give away. I can't stand the thought of throwing them out, but we really have no more room. It looks sooo much better. I cleaned the floor with water and soap and an old broom we have designated for outside and it looks and smells much better. I might even take someone out there on a tour of our house too. Instead of pretending like the garage doesn't exist.
Sunday, December 14, 2008
I know I am cheap...
We went out to eat tonight. We hadn't even had anything other than food from the house for over two weeks, I am proud to say. Not one stop through a drive through, and we hardly ever sit down in the restaurant. When we do sit down at a restaurant, there is no wasting of food. We all get water, and we share. For instance, tonight, Aaron and I both got a hamburger and fries, and I ordered the girls ONE kids' chicken and FF which they all shared. We all ate for $23 at Ruby Tuesday's and left full. However, Madelyn did make a joke at our cheap expense. Since there was only one kids' meal, the waiter only brought one dip and one ketchup cup. So, I had to ask for more dip and ketchup. After he left our dips on the table, Natalie says "Do we have to pay for these dips?" To which Madelyn replied dryly "no, because if we did, we wouldn't be eating any."
Aaron and I found that amusing, but someday, when she is raising her family, she will look back and be impressed by her parents miserly ways, or be embarassed by the fact that she had to share a kid's meal with her sisters and overcompensate with her kids and always buy them their own meal AND a drink other than water.
We went to this thing called Santa's Village about an hour away from us. It is an extension of the museums we bought a yearly pass to. We got a small discount for being members of the musuem and thought we would check it out. I worked the last 4 nights, and it is supposed to rain the next few days, so we wanted to go while we had a chance. It was a flop. There were a few activities, and the girls enjoyed it ok, but there were about 3 times as many people meandering around than there was room for. Add to that rude, rude children, running, pushing, yelling and cutting line and their parents chuckling along behind them, that Aaron and I were about ready to leave once we got there. We stayed about an hour and then left for the restaurant.
I am signed up to work 7-3 the next 3 days. I don't know if they will need me or not. The hospital wasn't full when I left last night and they have a tendency to call me off on the days I sign up for 7-3, so we will see if I go in or not. Aaron is off until Jan 4 I think. I would love to get in 40 hours this week before we go out of town. I may have to switch my days to 3-11 though. They hardly ever cancel me when I work evening shift.
Aaron and I found that amusing, but someday, when she is raising her family, she will look back and be impressed by her parents miserly ways, or be embarassed by the fact that she had to share a kid's meal with her sisters and overcompensate with her kids and always buy them their own meal AND a drink other than water.
We went to this thing called Santa's Village about an hour away from us. It is an extension of the museums we bought a yearly pass to. We got a small discount for being members of the musuem and thought we would check it out. I worked the last 4 nights, and it is supposed to rain the next few days, so we wanted to go while we had a chance. It was a flop. There were a few activities, and the girls enjoyed it ok, but there were about 3 times as many people meandering around than there was room for. Add to that rude, rude children, running, pushing, yelling and cutting line and their parents chuckling along behind them, that Aaron and I were about ready to leave once we got there. We stayed about an hour and then left for the restaurant.
I am signed up to work 7-3 the next 3 days. I don't know if they will need me or not. The hospital wasn't full when I left last night and they have a tendency to call me off on the days I sign up for 7-3, so we will see if I go in or not. Aaron is off until Jan 4 I think. I would love to get in 40 hours this week before we go out of town. I may have to switch my days to 3-11 though. They hardly ever cancel me when I work evening shift.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Much better now
Thankfully, no one else got sick other than Natalie and I. I thought Madelyn was going to come down with it, but she didn't. I went ahead and signed up for 44 hours to work over 8 days, which is a lot for me. I am working Wed-Fri this week 7-11, Sat. 3-11, then M-W 7-3. I don't know if I will be able to work all of them or not, often, I get cancelled, but I will take what I can get. I just got home from my first 4 hour shift a few minutes ago.
It has rained so much here the past two days. Since we are at the highest point around, and all the trees, add to that our tin roof and thunderstorms sound about 10x louder at this new house than they did at the old place. Plus, the wind really whistles as it is whipping through the trees. When we first looked at this house, there was a small, small pond close to the house. That was almost 1 1/2 years ago. I wouldn't have believed there was a pond there at all if we hadn't seen it for ourselves that first summer, it has been dried up ever since. Well, now it is full. When it reaches a certain point, it goes through the culvert under our driveway and down into a ditch that goes into the forest.
Today Madelyn said "Mom, can I play outside?" I said "are you crazy, it is raining and cold" and she says "I'll put on shoes" Well, duh, it is December.
It has rained so much here the past two days. Since we are at the highest point around, and all the trees, add to that our tin roof and thunderstorms sound about 10x louder at this new house than they did at the old place. Plus, the wind really whistles as it is whipping through the trees. When we first looked at this house, there was a small, small pond close to the house. That was almost 1 1/2 years ago. I wouldn't have believed there was a pond there at all if we hadn't seen it for ourselves that first summer, it has been dried up ever since. Well, now it is full. When it reaches a certain point, it goes through the culvert under our driveway and down into a ditch that goes into the forest.
Today Madelyn said "Mom, can I play outside?" I said "are you crazy, it is raining and cold" and she says "I'll put on shoes" Well, duh, it is December.
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