Eva Grace Field Trip to Parker Pioneer Homestead

First field trip of the year. I got to go too- WOOHOO!! A boy (Kyler)almost got his finger cut off but other than that it was a good trip.

Happy 35th BURTday, Daddy

We have the most thoughtful girls, especially on special occasions. While Eva Grace was doing her morning chores of folding towels, she and Emma decided to leave Daddy a morning birthday message. (BD in towels for Burtday, and We love you (heart and u) spelled out in underwear. :)

Burt spent the day dove hunting with Billy and Dalton. When he got home, Emma had made him brownies, one of his favorites, and had the birthday plate and candles ready! All 3 girls had made banners and had them hanging up all over the house. Emma and Eva Grace donated their chore money for the week for a special present. (Emma even did a few extra chores for some extra money). They planned a Midnight Man's Night at the Movies. They earned enough money to get him a movie ticket, popcorn, Coke and candy. Burt decided to take them to the movies instead of his friends the girls had planned.

Eva Grace helped judge the Alpha Gamma Delta's Cupcake War.

Friday night, Eva Grace and Chloe got asked by Mrs. Mitzi to be judges for Alpha Gamma Delta's sorority Cupcake War. Eva Grace was SO excited she was counting down the days, hours, and minutes. She had to wear the "most diva-ish" outfit we could find. (I had to tone it down a little before we actually left our house...ha).

The event was at Mrs. Mitzi's house. The girls knocked on the door and gasped when it opened. There were 100 sorority staring at them. I think Eva Grace heard angels singing. She never looked back and walked right into the middle of the room, Chloe soon following. They were the only 2 kids there and the only judges. They had all these sorority girls to themselves and ATE UP the attention, and the candy! They both had a fabulous time. They got little squirrels for helping out (the Alpha Gam's mascot). We were very thankful Mrs. Mitzi thought of asking us for our help in this project!

Backpack Blessing at Church

Last Wednesday, our church had our annual Back To School Bash. This year we included our first Backpack Blessing. I LOVED it and am looking forward to doing it every year! Brother Don had all the kids hold hands and get in a big circle. All the backpacks were placed in the middle of the circle. Then, Brother Don prayed over the kids and backpacks. He prayed for the school year, the teachers, and the parents. What a great way to start the school year.

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.... Ella broke her arm

This was my little sweet pea on Sunday. It was our first outing out of the house or hospital (We were all ready to get out!!). As you can tell, the theme was PURPLE! Purple dress, purple shoes, 10 purple sparkely nails (thank you, Mrs. Mitzi), big purple hairbow, her purple Bible, and her purple BLINGED cast! Emma, Eva Grace and I also all wore purple in support.

They asked Ella when she went into surgery what kind of cast she wanted and she said, "a purple sparkely one." They only had purple so we added our own sparkles. I would have thought this was a typical thing but when we went back to the doctor for our check up they had never seen such a thing. Thankfully, they thought it was really cute too!

Blinging her cast is a fun memory I will always cherish :).

I love how this picture dates how small her little hands are :)

We have also been asked over 1000 times (literally, I think), "How did she break her arm?" So, this was my solution! HA! It is also part of my new fall line of shirts. Thankfully, we used pink in the shirt too because when we left this Dr. appointment, Ella decided to leave with a pink cast!
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September 21, 2001
We went back to Memphis today for a check up. This time, Ella decided to leave with a turquoise cast. My favorite so far! We added bling and ribbons to this one. It will be our last one, hopefully. We go back to Le Bonheur next Tuesday to have the pins removed.

September 27 The second operation went great!! Ella was bouncing and happy the entire time. Le Bonheur was fabulous. They let Burt go back with her until she was asleep- he even sang her to sleep :). They didn't start the iv or do anything to her until she was asleep!! When she woke up, Burt and I were with her and we were ready to go home. She never knew anything happened nor felt any discomfort. The cast was off, pins were out and all she had to do was wear a sling until our next appointment. (We had to fancy up the sling a bit :).

October 5
We went back today for our 10 day surgery check up. Everything looked great. She doesn't have to wear he sling anymore and we go back in a month for another check up. YAY!!

Ella has burp marks!

While giving Ella a sponge bath and trying to scrub off all the adhesive from bandages and tape, I was scrubbing a spot that just would not come off. Ella informed me that that was a "burp mark." "A what?" I asked. "A burp mark. You know, you get them when you burp."

(aka a freckle or a birth mark)
Ella Ruth, 9-3-11, 4 years old.

Ella broke her arm!

Wednesday night around 5:15 Ella fell off 3 of our stairs in the basement. She was playing on them, as she typically does, missed a step and fell off the side landing on her arm. She has fallen off dozens of times but this one was different. Maybe it was a Mom's intuition, but I knew it was broke when she hit the floor. I rushed to her and you could tell by looking.

Burt had just left to take Emma to volleyball practice so I called him, got Eva Grace ready, threw clothes on, grabbed Ella's shoes, got her some Tylenol and left as soon as Burt pulled up.

St. Bernards ER was fabulous. They got right to us. X-Rays, Dr's, nurses, I.V's, pain meds, etc.. Poppy and Granddad came for support, so did Brother Don. After our X-Ray results were in and sent to the Orthopedic Dr. he decided he didn't even need to see her, we needed to be sent to Le Bonheur for emergency surgery.

This was the first ambulance ride for anyone in our family! Thankfully, Eva Grace kept telling Ella how jealous she was that Ella was getting to ride in an ambulance, and how unfair it was she couldn't go, so, Ella thought it was cool. That was one of the biggest blessings! If she would have been freaking out, I couldn't have comforted her very easily. I was also thankful that the ambulance drivers allowed me to sit in the back with her, the hospital told me I would have to sit in the front. Ella's descritpion of the trip was, "It was better than ice cream." (Thank you, Lord!!)

When we arrived at Le Bonheur's ER, it took a while for them to get us seen and in a room. Ella and I arrived there around 10, Dad and Burt drove behind us and go there around 11. We didn't get to a room until after 1. Ella hadn't eaten since lunch the day before and was wanting some apple juice really bad. The doctors finally came in and said our surgery would be in the morning so she could have something to drink!! (Another blessing because this calmed Ella down a lot!). We were thankful for Bruce, Andrea and Ashtyn Wright who came to hang out with us for a while!! They brought us some awesome goodies: homemade cookies, snacks, and quarters!! It was the perfect time for this surprise! I also love the smiles in the picture of Ashtyn and Ella. (That wasn't the general emotion of this night). We couldn't get to our room fast enough and we were all exhausted!! I didn't sleep at all and Ella didn't sleep much but she was a trooper and didn't fuss much. The walls were thin so you could hear every baby crying down our hall any time. We slept with the tv on to try to disguise some of the cries. So sad and literally gut wrenching!

Thursday
Around 5:30 am, Dr's started making their rounds. Around 8:45 they came to get us for surgery. I am so glad Ella wasn't old enough to grasp what surgery was and what was going on around her. She was never scared (Another answered prayer)!! They took her in a toy room and she got a new baby doll, then she got to choose her cast color. She wanted purple sparkely, but they only had purple. I told her we could add the sparkles later :) The hospital let Burt and I go back with her and Burt got to go in with her while she was being put to sleep. She was such a trooper (more than her mama was) I kept most of my tears hidden from her but the surgery was tough. Honestly, it was the toughest thing I've ever done as a parent. That was my breaking point. They told us we could go eat while she was in surgery or go back to the room, like we had some spare time to spend... I couldn't leave. I was thankful my dad was with us. He made phone calls relaying information as it came available to family so I didn't have to. (That isn't my strong suit :).

After surgery, I couldn't get to her in recovery fast enough. They had put 2 pins in her left arm, right above her elbow. She had the purple cast she wanted and made it through the surgery just fine. From that point on she only got better! We got back to our room where she had some balloons from Granddad. Later in the day she got more balloons and a bag full of candy from the Colvett's. She loved sitting in the bed with all of her loot (and hiding it from her sisters that Grandma was bringing to visit her!)

Nanner came by then went and bought her an outfit to come home in. (We all only had the clothes we came in). Poppy, Ron and Judy also came by later. Another highlight of the day was meeting Olivia Holt, a Disney star on the new show Kickin' It. She came around signing autographs and meeting patients :). Ella didn't really know who she was but Emma and Eva Grace did and were quite envious!

Friday morning, we got to come home. Ella was very excited. She was tired of the hospital, but her nurses were very nice! Burt and I were ready for a shower. The hospital had no soap or shampoo. We only had the clothes we came in so we were nasty.

When we pulled on our street we could see balloons flying from the mailbox! It didn't end there. Ashley and Ella Mae Dobson and Amy Reed were waiting on us when we arrived. They had picked up my house, got Ella a cookie cake and a baby doll with a matching purple cast :) They also had her some purple KoolAid and me some unsweet tea. Berkley and Ella Mae even made her a card. It was very sweet! Later, The Pools came by and Aubrie brought Ella a bag of Blow Pops and a Webkins, which she also loved.

The one thing Ella wanted for being in the hospital was ice cream. She decided she wanted the girls to go with her! So, we picked them up from school and went to get ice cream! When we got home, Posey Peddler brought her some deliveries. She got balloons and a big pink bear from her classmates and teacher, she also got some beautiful sparkely purple roses and a basket full of goodies and candy from John, Kristin and Tindle! Nanner showed up later with groceries to stock our fridge and Mrs. Mitzi dropped by with some sparkely purple nail polish that matched her cast perfectly, a sticker book, and some snacks! Ron, Judy, Jaeden and Braxton brought her a mini pillow pet and some more suckers :)

Here is some of her loot.

We were all so blessed throughout this entire ordeal. We received over 300 Facebook messages, texts, visits and phone calls. Those simple messages letting people know they were praying for us meant so much!! It doesn't take any money, or much time. Just let people know you are praying. I will do better with this from now on. I will also be more greatful for my healthy kids.