Rhys' non-birthday party

Saturday we celebrated  Rhys' birthday.  He is not a big birthday guy, so he didn't tell us it was his special day even though he was coming over to hang out.  When I saw on Facebook that it was his birthday, so we had to throw together a mini party for him! 

Lauren loved the cupcakes.  Well, she loved the icing on the cupcakes.

Rhys loves babies and Max LOVED Rhys.

Lauren on the other hand, wasn't too sure what to think of Rhys trying to eat Max's toes.  She must have said "no" 50 times to try to get him to stop.  She even looked at Sammy and pointed as if to say "Aren't you going to do anything about that man eating your baby?".  It was so funny!

The ducks were a big hit with the kids of course.

We insisted Rhys blow out a birthday candle.  It was great time, spent with great friends! 

 Happy Birthday Rhys!

ducks on tour

Friday I took the ducks up to Ethan's kindergarten class for a visit.  Ethan and his teacher explained how we incubated the eggs for 28 days and then hatched the baby ducklings. 

The kids were so good!  We let them pet one of the duck's soft head and feel it's webbed feet.

The kids listened to a book about ducks too.  It was a great visit!  I loved seeing how happy Ethan was to show his friends the ducks!

10 on 10

Ten on Ten: 10 pictures on the 10th day of the month!
{Document a snapshot of your life & find beauty among the ordinary things in your day!}

We started off our morning bright and early by taking Lauren to see the plastic surgeon.  We waited over an hour, but it was worth it for the good news!

Her hand is healing nicely!  She still has open wounds on her wrist, but the other pink skin is new skin.  We now have to watch how it heals to make sure it does not limit her mobility.  We go back in a week and a half so they can assess if she needs a compression glove with silicon to keep the scarring minimal.

After the appointment, I made food for Max's Sip and See. 

Checked out my new running shoes and tried to get motivated enough to actually put them on when I have a spare moment.

I packed up some scraps for my first Scrap Swap.  I'm shipping packages to Utah and the Netherlands and I can't wait to see what scraps I get back!

Next, I headed over to Austin's school to show his classmates the ducks.  They loved them and were fascinated that we hatched them from eggs.

I couldn't resist having a quick photo shoot with a duck on a quilt I made for a very special baby boy.  I promise I washed it before I gave it to the baby! 

Then I headed over to help set up for Max's Sip and See.  It was so much fun and the company was as good as the amazing food. 

I'm so happy Sammy loved the quilt I made for Max. 

Sammy gave us aprons as our hostess gifts, so of course we had to take a silly picture.  It was a wonderful, super busy day full of laughter, good conversations and caffeine!

wordless wednesday

Cindy!

When I came home from picking the boys up from school, we were happy to discover Cindy had hatched! I'm so excited that all four ducks hatched!

Lauren LOVES the ducks too! We are going to take them up to the boys' schools for a visit later this week. They will go home to the farm on Tuesday. Boo hoo!

Daisy!

And then there were three!  Daisy hatched this morning at 8:30.  Now we are just waiting on Cindy to make an appearance!

Yogi!

Next came Yogi the duck! We were able to catch his hatch on video.  As you will hear in the video, we were all really excited!

Donald and Yogi

Austin chose Yogi's name and hopefully his girlfriend Cindy will be along soon!

Donald!

 
This morning I awoke at 5am to Donald waiting for me patiently in the incubator!  I had checked on the eggs at 1:30 and didn't see any major progress on the hatch, so I was very surprised to see the little guy. 

Donald's egg was the one that was rocking all day yesterday.  He is quite the go getter!

He never moved very far from his girlfriend Daisy's egg.  Hopefully she will hatch very soon.

He seems to like his new cage, but I'm sure he is ready for some company.

Ethan woke up at 5:15 and Austin woke up at 5:45.  They were beyond excited to see Donald Duck!  I must admit, I was too.  He is soooo cute!  I can't wait until the others hatch!

pips!

We have four pip holes and lots of eggs rocking in the incubator. We should have four baby ducklings very soon! 

Quest

We found out this week that Ethan was chosen to participate in the Quest program at his school!     “QUEST” is an acronym for Quality Utilization and Enrichment of Student Talents. It's basically a gifted and talented program that focuses on creative and productive thinking.  We are so excited for Ethan and are happy he has this program to encourage his "out of the box" thinking!

We are so proud of you Ethan! 

God's hand

Sunday 11:30 am - Lauren stumbled backwards into the fire pit's hot ashes, burning her hand and wrist. We dunked her hand in ice water and immediately jumped in the car and headed to the hospital.  On the way down the hill leaving the campground, Eric spotted a fire station and quickly pulled in.  A fireman poured solution on the burn and wrapped it for us while they told us where the closest hospital was. We drove to North Austin Medical Center where they cleaned the burn, removed the loose skin, applied silverdene cream and wrapped it up in a bandage. They told us to change the dressing twice a day and see our pediatrician in 4 to 5 days.

We were fortunate the fire station was a mile from our campsite and they were able to quickly care for the burn so it stayed clean and was protected.  It's amazing that we did not have to wait in the emergency room and were seen right away.

Thursday 10:00 - Lauren had her scheduled 2 year check up with our wonderful pediatrician. After speaking with him about the burn, he quickly left the room and grabbed the plastic surgeon standing right outside the exam room. The plastic surgeon examined her burn and lets us know that she has 2nd degree and possibly 3rd degree burns that may require a skin graft and physical therapy so she doesn't lose mobility in her right hand.

How amazing is it that a plastic surgeon just happened to be standing right outside our room and was able to access the severity of the burn!  It was obvious to us that God was watching out for us.

Monday 10:30 - The plastic surgeon called Eric directly and recommended that we take Lauren to see his friend who is a plastic surgeon for the Wound Care Center at Dell Children's Hospital. We quickly scheduled an appointment for the next day.

The plastic surgeon saw the wound care plastic surgeon at a social event and after they discussed our case, they decided Lauren would be better suited at Dell Children's Hospital.  We were able to get an appointment for the very next day with the wound care center.

Tuesday 9:15 - Lauren's hand is examined by the Wound Care nurses and the plastic surgeon's nurse practitioner and we are instructed to clean it once a day and apply Aquaphor to the healing skin, Bacitracin to her thumb area and Collagenase to the white areas that need the most healing. We were scheduled to go back Thursday to meet the doctor who would determine if Lauren's burn would require a skin graft.

The nurses were wonderful and very informative.  Lauren watched Elmo while she was examined, played with a special toy and the nurse blew bubbles for her.  The new treatment allows her to move her hand more easily and should allow the burn to heal faster.

Thursday 8:00 - Lauren's hand is examined by the plastic surgeon and he determines the burn is healing well on it's own and does not require a skin graft.  We are to continue caring for the burn and scheduled to go back Tuesday to see the wound care nurses and Thursday to see the plastic surgeon again.

We are so thankful God lead us to receive the best possible care for Lauren. With such good care, we are hopeful Lauren will have minimal scarring and full mobility in her hand.  We still have a long road ahead of us, but her hand is healing more and more each day.

The white areas on her hand need the most healing.  The pink areas are already healing and have new skin. 

God's hand was with us in the accident and continues with us in the recovery of our sweet baby girl. 

 Fear not, for I am with you;

be not dismayed, for I am your God;
I will strengthen you, I will help you,
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
—Isaiah 41:10

Lauren's 2nd Birthday

Today we celebrated Lauren's 2nd birthday!  Both sets of grandparents came down to celebrate her big day with us. 

 

 

If you ask her how old she is, she says "TWO!".   Look how much she has grown since last year.  She speaks so well now and she is so much fun. 

  

After we ate cupcakes, Lauren opened her presents. 

Even the boys loved playing with her pots and pans.

We got Lauren a kitchen and she loves it!  She was so happy when she walked in her room and saw it. 

Her favorite present of all is the phone on her kitchen.  She walked around the house jabbering and laughing.  It was so cute!  I wonder where she gets that?

Happy Birthday Lauren!  You are such a big girl and we love you so much!