The "incident"

Fair warning: I like to use run-on sentences with lots of detail. It's a bit long.

Last Saturday, I went to a graduation party of a dear friend of my family's. My mom used to watch kids at home so she could be home with us in the afternoons until I was in high school, and Christine was one of her kids. Christine was with us from 6 weeks old until she went to Kindergarten and quickly became part of the family. My mother and Christine's mother are best friends and although they have grown apart in the past few years, will always have a special relationship. We used to travel together every year for vacation. I used to take Christine and Melissa to the mall for walks and people would look at me like I was crazy for having two kids at so young an age… really people?? And she has now graduated high school. And now I feel old.

Susan put on a wonderful graduation party for Christine, with yummy food and fun entertainment in the form of Dance Party 2. Skylar was a little too shy to showcase her dancing skills, but Grey jumped right on in there for a minute!

They also have a wonderful, enclosed and fully-padded full-size trampoline in the backyard. I was kinda excited to get on myself, but Grey really just didn't want to be bothered with the heat. So, I let Cheyanne take Skylar out to jump on the trampoline while I watched from the window. They were happily jumping along, with Cheyanne enticing animated laughter from Skylar like only she can, and I turn to get Grey some more drink. I look back up and Cheyanne is pulling a crying Skylar out from the enclosed trampoline and run outside to meet them. No, she didn't fall or jump onto anything. She didn't trip over her own feet. She just got double-bounced. And it broke her leg in two places. :*(

I, being the wonderful mother that I am, believed she was just overtired and hot and needed to cool down and rest and she would be fine. She kept saying her leg hurt so we put ice on it, however there was no swelling or bruising and she fell asleep in my lap after about 10 minutes. I decided it was time to head on out then, and so we loaded up the car and headed home. Skylar kept crying out that her leg hurt and she needed ice on it, but again, I was just thinking she was over-tired.

We get home and Ken has a conniption fit over her leg (and my letting her jump on a full-size trampoline) and after another hour or so of Skylar saying her leg hurts and refusing to stand on it at all, we decided it was time to take her to see a doctor.

But, where to go?? This is where it is great to live in the same city as my mom… I can call her anytime and say, "hey, Skylar's leg is still hurting, so I'm gonna go ahead and take her in. Where should I go?" and she gives me a list of places to check hours for and sure enough, we find an Urgent Care still open. We are on our way.

In the car, Skylar is much more animated and happy than she was at home and I keep asking her, Skylar does your leg still hurt? and she replies, "Umm, it's a lotta, lotta, lotta, lotta better. But it still hurts a little, little, little bit." Complete with finger cues. I'm trying to get her to tell me that she is fine and we don't need to go see a doctor so that I don't have to shell out $75 for an Urgent Care visit for an overly-tired and hot child with a possibly bruised shin. She hates going to the doctor (unless we are going for Grey) and so I thought, "surely, she will start walking on her leg now, so she won't have to go to the doctor." I even stooped so low as to tell her they would probably give her a shot.

Yes, I know. I'm not a good mom. It's a good thing its Father's day tomorrow instead of Mother's day. Oh, the guilt!

So, we are in with the doctor and she hates it- she refuses to let them take her temperature, refuses to wear the mandatory ID bracelet, absolutely refuses to get x-rays. There was a small, slimmer of hope when they brought out the princess stickers, but that only went so far. And then she balled them up and threw them back at the nurse when she suggested she open her mouth to take her temperature.

What can I say? She has her daddy's temperament and my bones.

Overall though she was happy. When the doctor was in talking to me, she was very cooperative. Even played "itsy-bitsy spider" on my face one time and laughed when I looked down at her. In the doctor's words, "sick kids don't act like that!" He had pretty much decided to send us home with the promise to call her doctor on Monday or even try the Hospital's pediatric ER if things weren't better by Sunday.

Yet, she still refused to even stand on that leg. He had poked, twisted and prodded her leg all over and she only barely flinched when he touched the shin. She would point to a place on her shin and the corresponding calf area and say that is where it hurts (we put band-aids over the booboos to help them). The doctor was worried since kids just don't refuse to bear weight without a problem. So we did x-rays. Or, the picture machine of death as I like to refer to it now.

And he came back in our room later and said, "you won't believe this, but… she has two fractures just below her knee."

Jaw drops to the floor.

Pick said jaw back up- you never know what's on the floor of the Urgent Care…

So, we got a hard splint that night, which Skylar was very cooperative and talkative for, and headed home. On Monday, we went to the Orthopedist and got a blue cast put on. Skylar was so, so excited about the blue cast and even asked if we were going back to the new doctor (meaning the Urgent Care) because they were good doctors.

Really, after all that drama?

She was great at the Orthos until they had to remove her bandaids that we had put on at home, that were still on under her hard splint. It was like ripping a security blanket away. Literally. From a three-year-old with a broken leg, about to get a full-leg cast for 6-8 weeks at the beginning of summer. Who hates taking pain medicine.

Oh, the guilt.

She was carried out of there with multiple bandaids on her fingertips, and huge puffy cheeks and red eyes from crying over those bandaids. She still talked about them days later.

The next night we were laying bed and she asked me why we had to take those two bandaids off and I explained, for the hundredth time, why, and she looks at me funny and says, "but you left the other one" on and points to the spot that I had indeed put on a third bandaid, on the bottom of her calf. Are you sure its still on there? "yea, its right there mama!"

Whoops. I guess we will see you in four weeks little bandaid. Please don't hurt my babies skin too bad in the meantime.

Here is Skylar in sleep mode. She has taken over Ken's spot in our bed and sleeps with Grey's monkey pet pillow and the snowman pillow under her leg.

We had a short-notice cast signing party this morning at the house and here is Skylar showing Granny her cast (at least that is my interpretation of this photo?)

Aftynne and I are singing for Mackenzy and Grey while Skylar is getting Granny to put a blue star on her other leg to match the black one Papa put on last night.

She is much more excited about her stars than what is written all over her cast!

Here's Mackenzy giving her mom, Aftynne, the "what are you doing holding another baby" look while she is holding Grey! Love her! And seriously, Mackenzy talks more than both of my kids combined. She is sooo cute!