Concussion!

Sunday evening Joel gave us a big scare! While playing in our friends backyard during our church small group meeting he was pushed off their trampoline and landed on his head on the concrete. Our friend Max was the only adult outside, and he did not see him fall, but all the kids who did see it said he landed on his head. When Max happened to notice Joel he was lying on the ground near the trampoline, would not talk back to him and was limp. (Levi got a good talking to about getting help if his brother or friend is hurt or falls like that, he "thought he was just tired") We are pretty sure he blacked out or was knocked unconscious for a short time.

Max carried Joel in and handed him off to Philip and it took us what seemed like forever to get him to answer questions. When Max picked him up he started crying, but he remained limp for several minutes. Once he woke all the way up he would point to the left side of his head when we asked if anything was hurting. It took some time, but we finally found a large lump on the right side of his head that was slightly abraded as well. Joel was confused, walking clumsily and didn't remember even being on the trampoline. We called his pediatrician's office and they asked us to take him to the Children's hospital ER to be evaluated. Once there we was examined, had a CT scan and diagnosed with a moderate concussion. Thankfully there were no fractures or bleeding inside the brain, only a scalp hematoma (goose egg). We didn't get home until nearly midnight, and Joel slept in until 8:45am the next morning (very rare for him). When he woke up he was still a bit confused, had a headache, nausea and threw up his breakfast. Thankfully the doctor told us to expect those things. As the day went on he slowly improved and by Wednesday he seemed like his old self!

Joel has been suffering through physical restrictions all week, because another head injury with in a weeks time can cause much worse damage. He is so glad that today he was given the all clear to return to PE and recess on Monday! We bought some special crayons, markers and notepads, for him to use during those times, but he has been antsy! It was a scary night, but we are praising God that he was not seriously injured! I don't think we will be buying a trampoline any time soon.

Rachel at 8 months old!

Rachel is EIGHT months old! She is getting more mobile by the minute and therefore into everything she can stretch to reach. Lou Lou is a fast crawler and seems to make a mess or get herself into trouble in seconds. Her reach has increased because she can now pull up on anything and is much more confident on her feet, even letting go to stand independently for a few seconds here and there. Thankfully, she continues to be a mostly content and happy baby and is easy with her smiles and giggles. Her brothers make her laugh all the time, and I think that won't be stopping any time soon. You can't be too frustrated with the chaos she creates because she is just so cute and filled with joy.

 

New Skills:
pulls to a stand with any kind of support (even just a flat wall)
feeds herself anything (from peas to cucumber sticks to holding her own squeeze pouch)
waves when prompted
uses the pincher grasp

Favorite Things:
water (bath time, splashing in a puddle, swimming in the spa)
her brothers
watching Penny
meal time (especially bananas)
naked time
sucking her thumb when sleepy

Dislikes:
napping away from home
eating off a spoon
sleeping through the night (sigh)

Rachel's adoration for Nate continues to grow, unfortunately, Nate's annoyance with Rachel has also seemed to grow. Poor girl is suffering through regular attacks from her brother. I have caught him sitting on her, pushing her face into the carpet, knocking her over, taking her toys etc. Although he also gives her lots of hugs and kisses. I know this is all normal considering his age and her increasing ability to interfere with his life, but I am ready to move past this phase! Otherwise, Rachey Lou lives a pretty charmed life, where she is adored by all! Dressing her up is more fun than I even imagined, and her bow collection might be a bit out of control. Luckily, I have received so many cute hand me downs, or we might really be in trouble! We sure do love our Lou Lou Lemon!

Spring Break!

We had a lovely spring break which included LOTS of time outdoors! Is there a better way to spend spring break, I think not. The week started off with each of the big boys taking a turn to spend 2 days at Pop & Moe's ranch house for some special time with their grandparents and "cousin age mate." Joel and Asher were up first followed by Levi and Nora. They both seemed to have a wonderful time filled with fishing, exploring, tasty treats and adventure!

We also spent 3 nights camping at Martin Creek State Park in East Texas. Since it was about an hour South East of the ranch, we swung by to pick up Levi in the afternoon and then headed to the park to get set up. Philip, the babies and I stayed in a screened shelter while Levi and Joel felt very grown up and stayed in Philip's old 2 man tent right next to the shelter. They LOVED having their own tent and did such a great job sleeping on their own. Unfortunately, on our last night Levi woke up at 4am with a stomach bug (not a fun thing to clean up in a little tent), but otherwise it was a great trip!

  

We had lots of yummy campfire meals, took the canoe out for it's maiden voyage and a couple more laps in the lake and spent time hiking, geocaching and looking for creatures. The park ranger had a special birding event one afternoon, so we all enjoyed learning about birds and building a bird house and bird feeder to take home. The park was small, but had a lot of great features, including a neat bridge across the lake to an island with trails to explore. We would love to go back again someday!

 

 

 

 

 

Basketball

Levi recently finished his first season of basketball. He really enjoyed playing and learned a bunch about the game too. Luckily, he was placed on a team with a bunch of boys from his school and his coaches were wonderful. It was a fun season and he is looking forward to playing again next year. He didn't make many baskets, but he had several great steals. Maybe that is part of why he decided that defense was his favorite part of the game (I'm proud...it's my favorite too). It sure is tough to photograph basketball, the gym lighting is awful, the kids are moving constantly and you cannot get close. It sure was fun to watch him play, the Lakers had a great season and won 7 of their 9 games!