Pumpkin Patch!

On the first day of fall break, we were able to make it to the pumpkin patch in Elsinore! It did not disappoint, and we got an amazing deal on all of our pumpkins!

Cooper Gets Stitches!

Every time I get a phone call from the Elementary School in the middle of the day...I groan. Something is wrong. Cooper has called me a lot from school! So when they told me he got hurt and I should come to the school, I feel bad that I asked how bad it really was! They told me they had an EMT looking at him...so I took off toward the school! 

Cooper was playing around the monkey bars, and a boy going across them accidentally kicked him. It sent him off balance, and his face met the metal playground. He started gushing blood (head wound) so they brought him to the office. 

We got the bleeding slowed down, but it kept dripping...even two hours later, it was still going! The EMT seemed to think he could use a stitch or two. It looked bad enough that I agreed. We got an appointment with the clinic in town. I ran home, woke Lucy up from her nap, put jackets and shoes on everyone, put bribes in my bag, and we headed to the appointment!

Cooper was SO brave! In fact, the doctor told us that it was the easiest set of stitches he has put in a six year old--ever! Don't get me wrong, Cooper was freaking out. He wrapped his arms around my neck the whole time, and I bent in half holding him back. He is just like his dad and talks non-stop when he is nervous, so I found out a lot about Cooper that day! I handed out candy to his three little siblings and told them they had to stay in their seats. For the most part, they did really well!

Cooper ended up with a numbing shot (which partially came through his wound because it was clean through) and three stitches! He also got to go to Wal-Mart and pick out any toy he wanted for being so brave. Hey, I am a huge fan of bribery around here!

A week later, he was ready to get his stitches out! One of his stitches, he ripped out himself. (He was itching his eye at school and ripped one out....yikes!) But the doctor took out the other two!

Lucy and Harper!

I get quite a few of these snuggles lately. Lucy and her baby (Harper)...it warms this mom's heart!

Crazy Hair Day!

Quinn's Sedated MRI

So the next step of Quinn's eye-healing process was a sedated MRI to determine that nothing was seriously wrong with his brain. When any sort of doctor mentions the words "brain tumor" your mind goes there, and as a parent, you become worried that MAYBE that is what is going on. The doctor assured me that he didn't think that he had one, but it's always a possibility, so they have to check. 

Scott and I felt really at ease about the whole process--like it was part of the process to get to the next step. The big "brain tumor" diagnosis loomed in our minds, but we felt at peace that all would be well.

Quinn had to have a brain scan, and he had to hold really still. In case you don't know, getting a 3 year old to hold still is quite the process! The best way to do it is to sedate him. The closest place they do sedated MRIs is Utah Valley Hospital, about 2.5 hours away. 

We scheduled our appointment, and our wonderful Grandma Bagley took a day off work to watch the rest of the Bagley kiddos. Thankfully, Scott was able to go up with me, and help this 30 week pregnant mama deal with the emotional and physical side of helping Quinn! 

Because he would be sedated, it also meant he had to be fasting. The night before the MRI, the cheerleaders were having their McDonalds fundraiser, so we went to grab dinner and support them. We told Quinn it was all for him, and he didn't put up a fight!

Scott is Quinn's favorite person in the whole world! He loves his mom...but only if his dad isn't there! He snuggled right up to his dad, and stuck by his side. He wanted to hold dad's hand, and his dad didn't mind!

The staff and pediatric portion of this hospital was AMAZING!! They called beforehand to see what kind of toys Quinn was interested in--so they could be prepared for him. 

He got a doll that he could color on, his own fleece animal blanket, a stuffed t-rex, and they even gave him some medical supplies. A nurse taught Quinn how to give his t-rex an IV, and then they gave Quinn his IV. Quinn was so calm and at ease. 

Watching Quinn get rolled away was hard to watch--especially for his dad! They brought him back still sleeping, and they slowly woke him up. We were told that he would be sleepy for the rest of the day, and if we wanted him to sleep that night, we needed to make sure he didn't go back to sleep past 3:00 or so. We also were told not to give him solid food--just clear liquids. He wasn't supposed to play outside because his balance would be off.

We got a bunch of instructions to make us paranoid...and I think it's a little laughable now! Quinn never went back to sleep! Once he was awake, he was awake! (In fact, we heard someone playing in his room at 10 o'clock that night...he had the lights all turned on and was still awake, playing! His sleep schedule was SO thrown off!) He was starving on the way home, begging for food, so we started with some small cereal--he was eating normally in no time! Oh, and by the time we got back to Grandma's house he was running around with the rest of the kids!

We got the results back that night that he was fine! He had no abnormalities or noticeable problems with his brain. It was great to get good news!

Dad and Lucy!

For a long time I have been trying to tell Scott that I thought he and Lucy were twins! With this picture, I think I finally proved it to him! 

Pink Eye and Stomach Bug

I feel like we have just been pounded with sickness this season! My kids have all stayed home from school. I feel like I spent the last 2 months forcing my kids to go wash their hands! But we have just been slammed, one sickness right after another.

I guess I shouldn't have been surprised when pink eye found it's way home. I loathe pink eye. It jumps children, and there is little you can do...besides yell at kids a little more to wash their hands! I have used the same bottle of leftover, trusty eye drops for years. Well, I think after being expired for two years...they finally lost their potency. We discovered this 12 hours after giving drops for the first time...meaning we stayed home from school and scheduled a doctor's appointment to get more drops. Besides bringing 4 kids with me to the doctor, getting drops wasn't a big deal!

Sadly, pink eye went through every single child in our family (minus Jemma). Thankfully, we now had eye drops (and a refill!) to combat it!

A couple days later, Jemma brought home the stomach flu. She had it, and then Lucy had it. We had about a week break, and then Jemma had it again, Macey had it, Dad had it and Mom had it. It was terrible! It was so hard to keep on top of all the laundry and cleaning (especially being 30 weeks pregnant and sick too!). 

The hardest night of sickness was with Lucy. She just couldn't get comfortable. She wandered all around the family room, trying to sleep. She held off throwing up with all her little will power! She would gag, stomp her feet, proclaim "NO!" and try not to do it again. It was pretty adorable, and I felt so bad that she couldn't will it away. I wish I could have willed it away for her! She finally fell asleep for the night on me. My fit bit told me that I got 3 hours of sleep that night. Thankfully, Heavenly Father helped sustain me and Scott that next day! She only got sick one time the next day, but she loved the bath that followed!