A random sort of summer (Kori)



C and R playing doctor "This will only hurt for a second".

 Between loosing teeth and learning to tie their shoes, our kids have also had a crash course in the medical field. When I was discharged from Billings Clinic Hospital back in June, I was set up with Walgreen's Infusion Center to receive my antibiotics and with this service a nurse visited our home every Friday to change the dressing on my PICC line, to take blood work to the lab, and to check my vitals.  Well, each week the nurses that visited were bombarded with questions from our children.  Oh the things they have learned.  Each nurse that came to our house was awesome.  They all took time to answer the kids questions and left them with medical supplies each time.  The kids just love the masks and gloves.  It is pretty amazing that C can walk the nurse through a complete dressing change and remind the nurse to "flush with Heparin" when finished.  (I think we may be creating nurses and doctors in our house!)  Well, the hospital play has carried over to play time with cousins.

C and her cutie cousins ready to help their next patient.





R playing the very hurt patient.

The kids have learned how to hook up heart monitoring pads, change dressings, remove stitches, remove a PICC line, administer antibiotics through a PICC line (and knowing to flush with Saline first and push Heparin in the end), the importance of wearing a mask and gloves, what a sterile field is (and why it is so important) , and so much more. All the dolls in our house have band aids on them somewhere and have been diagnosed with  Pseudomonas or brain abscesses or broken bones or they have something unknown wrong with them and most need surgery STAT.         
I love listening to the kids while they play: 


"We need to double up on your meds."



"I am here to help."



 My nieces just might grow up to be doctors or nurses too!  They will be fancy nurses in heels and pearls of course.  It amazes me how much they have absorbed.  One day I was at their house and they had a cup and string tied around one of their arms, "my picc line, to get my medicine."  They are so smart and creative.

"I think you have a fever."

"Sit still, this has to go into your brain."

"Nurse, we need more Heparin, STAT!"

"There is swelling."

"I hope they can figure out what is wrong with me."

 So, this summer we didn't get to go camping or hiking.  We didn't get in as much reading as I had planned, but we did make it through this crazy ordeal and hopefully kicked the pseudomonas butt (fingers crossed)!! 

Bye Bye Pseudomonas....Party is OVER.

Rest to recovery!

We have a new collection of stuff too...LOL

They will make great squirt guns!

Over the summer our kids learned some life lessons they won't learn in school.  C and R each lost 2 teeth and learned to tie their shoes!!  W has put in extra hours at work and is now taller than his dad. w finished Driver's Ed and has his learners permit!  S traveled to Michigan and to Washington.  We finished out our first year of soccer and D graduated high school and became an Eagle Scout!

R and his cousin on the last day of soccer!

D and Courtney celebrating graduation 2012.

"You know I am an Eagle Scout, I can do anything!!"  D:)

S got into the nursing role and is thinking about nursing school now in a few years!! 

"What is your full name and date of birth?"

We have amazing kids and live in an amazing community!!  My family has been so amazing this summer.  I am so happy my little sister and her beautiful family moved back to Bozeman.  Thank you Russell for taking away that bathtub.  Thank you Nicole for coming over and doing laundry and bringing me coffee.  Thank you to my mom,Carol  for coming over and doing housework and visiting. Thank you to my dad,Gary for being my dad!!  Thank you to Aunt Cindy for cleaning the kitty box and selling cookies.  Thank you Matt for always making me laugh!  Thank you to my middle sister, Angie.  She has been truly wonderful setting up different fundraisers and such for our family.  It was very emotional seeing this in the paper.  It is a strange feeling being the focus of a fundraiser. 

I am so very thankful for all the kindness from people in our community, both from people our family knows and from the anonymous donations.

THANK YOU Christel for being so wonderful and for putting on the Thirty One party. 

THANK YOU Kristen for the painting you donated.

Thank you to all the wonderful people that came to the party.

Thank you!

It has been a very random sort of summer:)