First trip to the ER

              And the winner goes to..... Trey!  If I had to bet, I would've said Trey would be my first to end up in the ER, and not just because he's a boy.  Though, he is a very adventurous and dare-devil of a little boy.  We had a hard time containing him tonight in the waiting room as he desperately climbed all over the chairs (with the hope of then jumping off I feel).
               I use to get kind of annoyed when people would look at me in public places and comment that I had "my hands full."  I even got some "hands full" comments this weekend when I was out with only Evangeline and Annabelle.  Today as I was going about my various household tasks and my kids were coming right behind me and undoing said household tasks I thought to myself, "I have my hands full!"
              For example, earlier today Evangeline was playing on the computer, Annabelle was in her bouncy seat on the counter, and Trey was hanging out trying to un-baby-proof some of my kitchen cabinets (something he's been quite successful at btw).  I go to help Evangeline with her game and turn around 30 seconds later and Trey is standing on a step stool at the stove stirring my pot of HOT soup!  Last week Evangeline fell into a hole (see previous post), yet it was doing something that we do almost every night that sent us to the ER: a bath!
                I saw the whole thing happen, but I'm still not 100% sure how he fell.  My best explanation is that he was quickly turning around and his leg slipped out from under him and he smacked his chin on the side of the tub. He wasn't standing up, but was kinda on his knees. As soon as I saw his chin, I knew he'd need an ER trip, and I was right.  This was not his first accident of the day, either.  He woke me up at 2:00 this morning crying for his paci.  When I flipped on the light I discovered he had a busted lip, and a pretty bad one at that!  Our theory is that he woke up, couldn't find his paci, and then ran into something in the dark trying to find it.  He may have fallen out of the bed, but we don't think so.
                He did pretty well getting his chin glued up.  By far the most traumatic event of the evening was when they gave him a sucker for doing a good job, and then had to take it away because it was dripping all over his chin.  :(  Poor guy.  They tried to switch his sucker for a dose of Bactrim, but it just wasn't the same at all!
                 Evangeline took a chunk out of her hair with a pair of scissors the day of the Connecticut shootings.  And now Trey busted his lip the day of this terrible tornado in Oklahoma.  It really does put things into perspective.  As we were sitting in the waiting room with my happy, lively, yet slightly injured little boy and watching the news coverage of the tornado I couldn't help but thank God that this is all I have to deal with.  I thought of all those other parents waiting in hospitals with their children or for word about what might have happened.  Sometimes something that seems bad, like a busted lip, can be a reminder of all we have to be thankful for.
                  Trey is sleeping peacefully with his paci, monkey blanket, and big bandaid.  What a blessing he is!

Through the Rabbit Hole

Had a very scary moment earlier, and I'm still not quite over it.  Evangeline fell through the floor vent in our hall closet!  We normally keep the closet locked for that very reason, but somehow it got left unlocked and when she stepped on the filter, she fell right through.  Hearing your child scream, "Help me! Help me, Mommy!" and not being able to help is horrible!  Fortunately, I was able to help her because the filter had bent and stopped her fall.  I was able to lean in and pull her out.  She was very dusty and scared, but otherwise unharmed. The first thing I did when she fell was to call Drew.  I said, "she fell down the vent!!!" and he says, "she who?"  She who?  What'd he think I dropped the baby down the vent?? The cat? (not that Drew would've cared).  The dog wouldn't have fit! The closet is now safely locked back up! I guess that's what I get for hiding the extra bath toys in that closet, which was the reason that she had decided to play in there.  It was supposed to be locked!!

I told Evangeline, as I was dusting her off, that she was like Alice falling through the rabbit hole.  Sadly, she's never seen Alice in Wonderland, so the comparison was lost on her.  

First Dance Recital

         Saturday was Evangeline's first dance recital.  I'm not gonna lie, I had been looking forward to this for months.  Years, really.  I took dance for 15 years from Mary Alpha and loved every minute of it.  I knew before I ever had a girl that dance was something that I wanted my daughters to have an opportunity to participate in.
          Evangeline has been taking all year from Ms. Amy.  I really wasn't sure what she was going to do because I never could get much out of her at home except for a few "p.a.'s"  I asked her one time if she played with her friends at dance and she said, "Ms. Amy says NO PLAYING," so I knew that they didn't "play."
           We geared up for the day by watching an old home video of me at my first dance recital.  I have to be honest, I was better in my first recital than she (but I was also an entire year older and only had to learn one dance, whereas she had two).
            I remember from my dancing days that there always seemed to be a kid on the end of the row who really didn't seem to know what they were doing.  That was kinda Evangeline.  But, she was the youngest in her class by far!  Most kids were four, and some were even five already.  She left the stage in not one-but BOTH- numbers!  The first time she exited my mom and I were both in the audience softly repeating, "get back on stage, Evangeline, get back on stage!"  The entire theater filled with 1,000 people got a good laugh out of her at least.  And, when the little girl next to her lost a shoe, what did Evangeline do?  She ran to go tell the teacher.  In the middle of the dance.  And everyone laughed, again.
           I got glimpses of my little girl's personality that I really liked during the whole recital experience.  She is not shy at all when it comes to talking to adults or even children her age.  She was BFFs with all the little girls in her class.  If they're all sitting together, Evangeline just crowds her way up in the middle of the group, something I would have never done as a child.
           She's also stubborn.  One little friend Evangeline talked about all year was "Remily."  Come to find out Remily's name is actually "Rivaly."  Rivaly's mom told me she overheard a conversation between the two of them that went something like this, Ev, "Your name is Remily."  Rivaly, "No, it's Riv-VA-ly, silly."  Ev, "NO, it's Remily!" Riv, "Rivaly," Ev, "REMILY."  You get the picture.  Evangeline did finally accept the fact that her name was in fact Rivaly, but interestingly never corrected Rivaly for calling her "Evangeleen."
             She loves her brother.  Right before she was to go on stage, she turned to me with a serious look and said, "Is Trey here?"  She wanted him to watch her dance!  He's the only person she specifically asked about.  Also, when she got a present, she wanted to know why Trey didn't have one.
             She's loving and generous.  She got her first ever medal and the moment she ran off stage she said, "Look, Mommy!  I got this for YOU!"  Melted my heart that she'd want me to have her special medal.
             All things considered, I was so proud of my special little dancer on Saturday.  She really was the cutest one on the whole stage, even if she didn't have the best moves!