Our Week - The One with Summertime, Week 1 (Olivia’s Broken Elbow)

Hey everybody, happy Wednesday!  As you can see, I’ve finally decided to stop titling our weekly updates as “quarantine.”  While we’re still not totally back to normal over here, things are getting closer and closer, so I decided to drop the “quarantine” so I can start titling all of my summertime posts accordingly.

Our first week of summer got off to a wonderful start, but as always, when things start to look up, we get knocked back down again.  I feel like the last few years have been one long roller coaster with lots of ups and downs (I mean, that’s life, of course, but it seems we’ve just had so many downs in recent years), but we’re still holding on. 

As most of you know by now, Olivia broke her elbow last week, so this is going to be quite a long recap telling the story.  I will be omitting all of the gory details, so feel free to read on, but do know that it’s not sunshine and roses up ahead. 

Prior to Olivia’s elbow break, we’d also already received two other pieces of devastating news, so Olivia’s broken elbow was number three just in the last week alone, so it’s been tough.  The other two pieces of news directly affect some of our closest loved ones, but I’m leaving out the details to the public to respect their privacy.  Please do keep our family in your prayers, though… it is so appreciated.  

Monday, May 24 

Monday started out with an early morning run, and we spent nearly the entire day outside in the back yard.  The kids played in the pool and I read my book and life was good.  Brian is still working from home for now, and he was kind enough to make some mini pizzas for us for lunch, and he joined us on the back porch to eat. 

The afternoon was made up of more outdoor time, some video game time, and some work for me, and then I cooked dinner and we had a relaxing evening together at home.

Tuesday, May 25

Tuesday was when the crap hit the fan.  My friends Jeannine and Adrienne and I had FINALLY decided to get together for a playdate for the first time in over a year (I hadn’t seen them since before Covid, other than to pick up books from the library where Jeannine works).  I was STOKED to see both of them, and our kiddos were equally as thrilled to be reunited with their friends whom they’d missed so much the past year.

We decided to go to the downtown playground because there’s a huge playground and a splash pad all in one area, plus a food hall where we could go grab lunch outside afterward.  It was the perfect setup and the weather was perfection. 

My girlfriends and I found a shady spot to set up where we could see the kids, and we were able to start catching up after being away from each other for so long.  We were there for a good hour when I heard a terrifying scream, and someone immediately yelled, “Olivia is hurt!”  I jumped up and ran to her… I didn’t see the fall (which is probably best), but the second I laid eyes on her, my heart fell out of my chest.

I’m not going to go into details, but what I saw was incredibly gruesome and I’ve been praying ever since then that I can eventually somehow “unsee” it in my head.  I felt completely helpless and remember saying over and over, “I don’t know what to do, I don’t know what to do” because the break was so awful.  I knew there was no way I could get her loaded into the car to get her to the ER because her arm was so unstable, so two other kind strangers (one who had been standing right by when she fell and got to her before I did), helped me lay her down, head in my lap.  I screamed for someone to call 911 and I held her arm together until the fire truck arrived.  Why is it that the fire truck always arrives first?

Jeannine and Adrienne were able to round up all of our other kids (Jacob included) and send them to play somewhere away from all of the bad stuff, thank God, because I didn’t want any of them to have to witness another second of what was happening.  Adrienne grabbed all of our stuff (I’d run off and left my purse with my wallet and keys and everything), and Jeannine called Brian and then crouched beside me to pray over Olivia, even getting Olivia to help say The Lord’s Prayer and the Hail Mary to distract her, even though I think she was in shock anyway.

Three firemen were able to get her arm into a piece of cardboard to serve as a makeshift splint, and they also started an IV right there on the playground because they knew she was going to need meds as soon as possible.  The ambulance arrived shortly after, and they got her onto the stretcher and loaded into the ambulance.  Moving her was the most terrifying part as the slightest movement could have been devastating, but they got her there safely.

The ambulance was ready to leave in record time, so I climbed in with Olivia and left Jacob with Jeannine before Brian even got there.  I cannot tell you how grateful I was that she and Adrienne were there that day to keep Jacob.  I don’t know what on earth I would have done if I had been there alone with them. 

Fortunately, the children’s hospital and ER was a very short drive from the playground, so we got there in all of about three minutes.  They turned on the sirens so they could run all the red lights, but the EMT told the driver not to drive too fast since Olivia’s arm was so unstable. 

The paramedics had called ahead and told the ER to be ready for our arrival, so there were people waiting at the door for us.  They got her into triage immediately and the orthopedist on call was already heading our way.  By then, Brian had already gotten to the playground and had been told to go to the hospital, but the hospital wouldn’t let him back because of Covid.  Argh.

When we arrived, they had to cut Olivia’s bathing suit off (she’d been wearing that for the splash pad), and then they had to move her arm to see what they were dealing with.  When they started moving her arm, she started screaming in pain despite the morphine the nurse had already started in her IV, and the shock of all that had happened finally hit me.  My body went weak, I felt severely nauseated, I broke out in a crazy sweat, and I just knew I was going to faint.  I was SO MAD that my body betrayed me because I knew all of the attention needed to be on Olivia and not on me… and I needed to be able to be there for her. 

One of the sweet nurses got a blanket for me and I was able to lay down on the floor next to Olivia’s bed.  At that point, they ended up letting Brian come back with us because they obviously needed a functioning parent.  My spell passed after about 15 minutes and then I was able to get up and function again.  I guess it ended up being a good thing that I’d almost passed out, because at least Brian was able to come back.

The next hour was a blur of x-rays, doctors and nurses coming in and out, and paperwork.  It was determined that she needed emergency surgery, so they called in the pediatric orthopedic doctor.  Fortunately, we were able to get the best one in town, so that made me feel worlds better knowing that she was in good hands.

I was able to call my mom from the hospital phone (there’s no cell service down in the ER for some reason) to tell her what was going on, and she then spread the word to our family so everyone could pray.  As always, it made me feel the tiniest bit better hearing her voice.  She also told me that one of our priests just so happened to be at the hospital doing visits and that he was going to try to see Olivia.  Unfortunately, because of Covid, they ended up not allowing him back, but he did send me a prayer to pray while she was in her surgery.

Most of the time there’s a lot of waiting around in the ER, but not that day… we were heading up to surgery in no time at all.  Brian and I were not both allowed to go to the surgery floor (stupid Covid), so I went up while he headed to the main waiting room.

When we arrived on the surgery floor, a team of nurses were already waiting for us, and they were just fantastic with Olivia.  By then, Olivia had been on morphine for a good hour, so she was a bit drowsy, but thankfully, not in as much pain.  When we got there, the nurses told me that they’d make an exception for Brian to come up, and they told me to call him and tell him exactly what he needed to do to get in. 

The doctor/surgeon came out to talk to me almost immediately, to tell me everything that would happen during the surgery, and he was fantastic with Olivia, too.  He had great bedside manner and a really nice demeanor which was a relief.  I signed the last paper, kissed her little forehead and told her I loved her, and then I left her in his capable hands.  She was so brave.

Brian didn’t make it up in time to see her before they took her back, but thankfully, he was able to sit with me in the surgery waiting room.  The doctor had said the surgery could take anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour and a half, so we were prepared to wait for a while.  The time passed surprisingly fast while we waited.  One of my friends who works at the hospital (but was off that day) sent one of her coworkers to come check on us, so she chatted with me for a little while, and that was nice because it took my mind off of things a bit. 

The surgery ended up taking just over an hour and we were able to get back to the recovery room before Olivia woke up, so that when she woke, she was able to see Mommy and Daddy first thing.  We were expecting her to cry or be grumpy when she woke since anesthesia often does that to kids, but she was just as pleasant as could be. 

The surgeon came in and told us that her surgery had been a success, but he’d had to put in four pins – three on the outside of the elbow and one on the inside.  He told us that this particular break is super common in children and that he’s done thousands of them over the years.  He did say that hers was one of the “gnarlier” ones he’d ever seen, though.  Because of the fact that she had extensive tissue damage in addition to the broken bone, she had a ton of swelling, so he said she needed to stay overnight and be monitored for compartment syndrome as that can be fatal.  He said that he’d put her in a splint, and she’d need to be in that for about two weeks.  Then they’ll remove the pins in the office and put on her hard cast.

While in recovery, she was able to sip some water from a straw and she held it down just fine.  She was extremely hoarse from being intubated, so she had asked for water almost immediately.  Once she was fully awake, they wheeled her to our room in the pediatric wing for the night.  Brian wasn’t allowed to set foot onto the pediatric floor, so he told us goodbye and she and I started our overnight journey.

Our room was very nice, spacious, and PRIVATE (praise!), and it had its own bathroom, which was super convenient.  There was an oversized plastic reclining chair for me, a TV with cable (including aaaallll the cartoon stations), and, of course, Olivia’s giant bed that made her look positively tiny.

By then, it was 5 PM-ish (maybe, IDK??) so Brian headed off to pick up necessities for Olivia and me for the night, and he also picked up dinner, too, since none of us had eaten since breakfast.  He couldn’t bring the stuff up to us, but the hospital had a runner go down and get it to bring back up to us after he dropped it off. 

Olivia was starving, but she wasn’t allowed to eat solid foods right away… they had her on a progressive diet.  So, after the nurse got us checked in, they gave her a popsicle, and after she kept that down for a few minutes, they let her have some orange sherbet.  Once that had settled for about an hour, she was finally able to eat her Chick-Fil-A that Brian had brought and she was soooo grateful.

She was super weak, and since she had one arm in a splint and one arm with an IV, she couldn’t really use either of them, so I fed her like a baby.  She always loves when I “feed her like a baby” at home, so I’m sure she enjoyed that part.  Haha.

After she was done eating, I was just about to sit down and eat since my appetite had finally started to come around, when Olivia said she needed to go to the bathroom.  The nurse came in to help me get her in there and discovered that the pillow under her arm was soaked with blood.  The nurse was a bit alarmed and I was VERY alarmed, so they called the doctor in, and the doctor called the orthopedist on call.  The orthopedist said some bleeding post-surgery is expected but that he wanted to come check it just to be safe.  However, he wasn’t on campus as he’d been called to one of the other hospitals for something else, so it was going to be a while.

Getting Olivia to the bathroom was a NIGHTMARE because even slightly moving her arm caused her to cry out in pain (even with the hard drugs).  The nurse carried her broken arm while I wheeled the IV and held Olivia up by her good arm, and slowly but surely, we got her in and out with success.

I had zero appetite after that, so I passed the time talking with Olivia.  She wanted to talk about what had happened earlier, and unfortunately, she remembered every single bit of it in great detail.  I had prayed that somehow, she wouldn’t remember the really bad stuff, but, somehow, she did.  After she was done talking, she wanted to watch TV, so I turned on cartoons for her and we watched those for the next little while.

Meanwhile, Jacob had spent the day living his best life with my friend Jeannine and her two boys.  She had taken them to get Chick-Fil-A for lunch, and then they’d played the afternoon away in their back yard.  They have a blowup water slide and a tree house and a swing and a hammock, so Jacob was in heaven.  I’m so, so grateful to her for being so wonderful and keeping his day filled with fun so he’ll hopefully be able to look back on that day as a good one instead of a traumatizing one.  He did tell me later that he saw Olivia’s arm right after her fall and that it made him feel sick to his stomach.  I had prayed so hard that he (or any of the other kids for that matter) hadn’t seen it, but most of them did.  Ugh.

My parents had picked him up from Jeannine’s house late in the afternoon and they took him to Burger King for dinner (which I’m sure he LOVED).  And then they went back to my parents’ house where he got to Facetime with my brother and niece and watch some fun videos.  They ended their day with Dairy Queen Blizzards before they took him back to Brian at our house.  

When he got home to Brian, the four of us were able to FaceTime, and Olivia smiled for the first time all day when she saw her Jacob.  She absolutely adores him, and he was all she needed to see after her whole ordeal. 

By the time we got off of FaceTime with them, it was 9 PM, so I got into some leggings and a sweatshirt, we said bedtime (and lots of extra) prayers, and then she was off to dreamland in no time.  She wanted to hold my hand while she fell asleep, and it just made my heart ache.  Motherhood is just so hard and beautiful, y’all.

After she fell asleep, I attempted to get some sleep in my recliner, but knew immediately that wasn’t going to happen.  No matter how many blankets and pillows I stacked around that chair, it was still the most uncomfortable thing ever.  I spent the next three hours scrolling through my phone aimlessly and talking to the nurses and doctors as they came in to check her.  The ortho on call finally arrived just after 10, and he told me he wasn’t worried about her bleeding, so I was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief. 

Thankfully, Olivia stayed asleep the entire time, and she was able to get in three full hours of good sleep before waking during the midnight blood pressure check.  When she woke up, she was hungry, so she and I had a midnight snack of Cheez-Its that Brian had brought in our overnight bag. 

Wednesday, May 26 

She went back to sleep after that and continued to sleep and wake off and on through the night.  I ended up getting one stretch of 30 minutes of sleep at one point, but that was about it for the night.  Olivia woke again at 4 wanting another snack, so I gave her some fruit snacks, and then she drifted back off again.  She’d asked to watch TV, but I knew there’d be nothing appropriate on for a 7-year old at 4 in the morning, so I told her to try to go back to sleep.  I figured sleep would be best so her body could start healing.

A little after 5 AM she woke for good, and after another snack of Cheez-Its, we turned on the TV.  Thankfully, Disney starts their cartoons early, and she was delighted that Mickey Mouse was on.  Once Mickey was over, another show called Bluey came on, and she fell in in love with it immediately.  We’d never heard of it prior to this, but apparently, it’s a new-ish show and it’s super popular right now.  The dog family on the show is English so they all have the most wonderful accents.  I could listen to them talk all day!  

Olivia was enamored and all she wanted to do was watch TV, so I tried to read, but couldn't concentrate, so I scrolled mindlessly through my phone until it was time for breakfast.  I, surprisingly, wasn’t too exhausted at that point.  I was just grateful that she’d been able to get about six decent hours of sleep.

The ladies called up to take our breakfast order shortly after, and Olivia was THRILLED because they had pancakes.  They delivered her pancakes just before 7 and I fed them to her like a baby again, and then I ate some of her grits since she didn’t want them.  I still didn’t have much of an appetite even though I’d eaten next to nothing for the last 24 hours, but that’s what my body always does when I’m under high stress… my hunger mechanism just shuts right down.

After breakfast, it was finally late enough so I could call Brian and my parents to give updates, and Olivia watched more cartoons.

The anesthesiologist came in to check on her bright and early, followed by the orthopedist on call, and then finally, her surgeon from the previous day popped in to check on her as well.  They all said that she looked great and that WE COULD GO HOME as soon as the pediatrician cleared her, so the nurse told us she’d get him and get the paperwork ready.

Olivia’s splint needed to be changed before we left, so the nurse came in with another roll of purple bandages, and Olivia politely asked if she could have pink or light blue.  Haha.  The nurse went all over the hospital and finally found pink, so Olivia was able to have her arm re-wrapped in her favorite color.

I was terrified of the whole “re-dressing” thing, but thankfully, the nurse left her entire arm covered in guaze so we didn’t have to see her actual arm.  She was so gentle and really great, and I was grateful because I just couldn’t bear seeing Olivia in pain again.  We were able to get her out of her hospital gown and into a tank top and shorts, too, and Olivia felt so much better after that being able to have real clothes. 

By then, the lunch trays were coming around, and Olivia had opted for peanut butter and jelly and macaroni and cheese, but she didn’t want to eat.  All she wanted in the world was to go home.

Just after 12 PM, the nurse cleared us, and Brian and Jacob were able to pick us up.  My vehicle was there, but I had no desire to drive after being awake for over 24 hours, so we opted to be picked up instead.  Olivia was wheeled out in a wheelchair, which she thought was really cool, and Brian was able to get her in the car comfortably.  Again, I’d been dreading the transport part of it, but thankfully, it went smoothly.  Moving her for the first few days was the scariest part since her arm was so delicate.

When we got home, B headed straight back out to get Olivia’s prescription filled and I got Olivia to the couch with her arm propped up, fed her the lunch from the hospital, and turned on Bluey, which is on Disney+.  She and Jacob started it from season one, episode one, and they both loved it so much!  Each episode is only about eight minutes, and there are 50+ episodes in each season, so they had a lot to catch up on.  At that point, I was just in survival mode and couldn’t have cared less if they watched 10 hours of TV.  Haha.

B called a few minutes later and said that CVS didn’t carry the prescription.  The doc had sent her home with Acetamenophen + Codeine for her pain, but apparently the liquid form for kids is rare, and no CVS or Walgreens in town had it.  B drove from place to place while I called around to a few places, and we finally found a local pharmacy who carried it and had it in stock.  Thank goodness.

When B got back home, he had to get back to work (thankfully he was still working from home), and since he couldn’t give Olivia his full attention, I didn’t want to shower or nap because I didn’t want to leave her.  At that point, she could do nothing for herself, so I couldn’t bear the thought of not being in earshot in case she needed something. 

Since I couldn’t shower or nap, I decided to do what I always do when I’m in a stressful situation – I started tidying the house.  I popped in my Airpods (with the volume super low so I could hear the kids), and I loaded and unloaded the dishwasher, I unpacked all of our stuff from the hospital, I organized all of the medical supplies we’d been sent home with, and I got everything tidied.  So dumb for me to be running around like that on no sleep in over 24 hours, but that’s just what I do, probably because it’s the one thing that I can control.

I had to get her to the bathroom shortly after we’d gotten home, and that was tough.  For the first few days, every time she needed to move from one place to the next, she had to put on her sling, and that was the hardest part.  Her arm was so dang delicate that it hurt her to even move it slightly, so it was a very slow and dreadful process. 

In the late afternoon, my friend Jeannine and her boys stopped by the house to see Olivia.  They brought her a “surgery sloth” (in their family, everyone who has surgery gets a stuffed sloth… so dang cute) and they also brought her some orange sherbet push pops and some other popsicles and artwork the boys had done for her.  Olivia loved that sherbet so much in the hospital that she had been begging for it since we’d gotten home, and I think she was most excited about that!  Although, tough call, because she’s barely put the surgery sloth down this last week.  She adores that thing.

After they left, I finally got a shower – it always feels amazing to do that after staying overnight in a hospital.  I put on my PJs and headed downstairs just in time for my father-in-law to arrive to take Brian to pick up the car we’d left at the hospital.  He also brought a little stuffed animal for Olivia. 

By early evening, Olivia’s fingers had gotten hugely swollen and they looked like little sausages.  Her arm had sustained major soft tissue damage during the break (the ortho in the ER told us and I quote, that “her skin on her arm was only hanging on by about three skin cells.”  So, it was nearly a compound fracture.)  I obsessively checked her nail beds over and over to ensure her blood was circulating properly, and I even texted my trauma nurse friend a picture of them to make sure we didn’t need to take her to be checked out.  She assured me that as long as her nail beds were filling properly that her circulation was okay.

When B got home, he made hot dogs for dinner, and then we watched one episode of some prank show on Disney that I can’t remember the name of, and then we got the kids in the bed.

Olivia didn’t want to sleep in her bed, and she wanted to sleep with us, but I felt horrible about her sleeping on the floor in her condition.  I ended up making the softest, fluffiest pallet on our bedroom floor and we surrounded her with loads of pillows to keep her propped up and positioned correctly.  We gave her another dose of her strong medicine and she fell asleep quickly.

The doc told us that the codeine would probably make her sleepy, loopy, and cranky, and he was right.  She was definitely not herself all day, but that’s to be expected after you are traumatized, have emergency surgery, and are on narcotics.  I asked her if I could take her picture a couple of times throughout the day, and she said yes, but she never smiled.  We got no smiles that entire first day home, and it just killed me because she’s always a ray of sunshine.

After the kids were in the bed, B and I watched a show (I don’t even remember what) and then we headed up to bed where I passed out.

Thursday, May 27 

Thursday morning, we set an alarm for 2 AM to check Olivia’s nail beds and give her more meds, and she pretty much stayed asleep during all of that.  B had to get up at 7 to walk downstairs to work, and Olivia and I ended up sleeping until 8.  She woke up in a little bit of pain, but she never really complained much. 

The kids watched more Bluey Thursday morning after breakfast, and then Nana came to visit and bring Olivia a little water activity book that she could do with one hand.  B picked up Chipotle for lunch, thanks to my wonderful friend Emily, so I didn’t have to worry about preparing anything.  Then afterward, we turned the TV off for a bit in attempt to get Olivia up and about for a bit. 

She felt good enough to go outside and check on her sunflowers, and then she and Jacob and I sat on the back porch and did a few rounds of Mad Libs.  She enjoyed the fresh air, and a change of scenery, I think. 

After all of that, Olivia was exhausted, so we moved her big fancy pallet to the playroom so she could watch Jacob play video games.  I used that time to work work work in my office as I was already way behind on blog stuff from my unexpected two-day break.

Late in the afternoon, I got Olivia back down to the couch, and I actually cooked dinner.  Life’s little wins!  B played baseball in the back yard with Jacob while I cooked so Jacob could get in some physical activity, and then we all ate dinner together.  At that point, Olivia wasn’t feeling well enough to sit at the table, so I fed her on the couch and then ate my dinner.

My mom and dad stopped by after dinner and brought over fresh hydrangeas, chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream, and about ten different toppings so the kids could have an ice cream sundae bar.  All of the adults partook, too, of course.  ;o)

After they left, I gave Olivia a sponge bath, and I finally got the cotton ball/tape off of her arm where her IV was.  The tape they had used was like glue and it was a nightmare trying to get it off of her skin.  Not what she needed after everything else she’d already been through.

We got her to bed on her pallet on our floor again and gave her one last dose of her strong meds just before nine.  The doc wanted her to be off of it totally by Friday.

Friday, May 28 

Friday morning, we got her up at 2 AM again to check circulation and give her some Ibuprofen, and she woke up near 8 with little pain.  Woo hoo!  We had breakfast and then the kids watched some cartoons (more Bluey – haha) and then mid-morning, we got Olivia changed into some real clothes so she could go for a short walk on our street. 

Our walk was short, but I was happy she’d been able to do it, and then we played a game of Sorry! followed by doing some coloring pages.  Olivia was feeling pretty strong on Friday and she was able to color sitting at the table in her sling!

After coloring, she was beat, so she went to lay back on the couch while I ate a quick lunch.  B came out to get lunch ready for the kids (Olivia wanted to eat on the couch again), and I headed to my office to meet with my therapist via Zoom.  Thank goodness I’d had that appointment set already… it was much needed after the week we’d had. 

After my visit with my therapist, Jacob and Olivia and I played a couple of rounds of Princess Cupcake game, and Olivia felt good enough to play sitting on the floor!  More progress! 

Afternoon was video games for the kids and work for me, and then when B got off of work (early because of the holiday weekend!), he came up to my office to help me move my furniture to (FINALLY) get my new rug in place.  It looks amazing, and even though it was a pain to get in place, it was worth it!!

B picked up BBQ from our favorite local place for dinner, and I mixed up some Moscow Mules… again, much needed after the week we’d had.  We brought down Olivia’s extravagant pallet for family movie night, changed her into some fresh PJs, and she was able to rest comfortably while we all watched Pirates of the Caribbean 2.  I’m not a fan of those movies, so I spent some of the time catching up on emails while we watched. 

After the movie, we got the kids in the bed and B and I FINALLY watched the Friends Reunion!!!!  It was SO GOOOOD, y’all!  I love it so much and it was just what I needed after a trying week. 

Saturday, May 29

Friday was the first night Olivia didn’t have her strong meds to help her sleep, so she woke up at 1 AM asking for some water and wanting to get up for the day.  I told her it was the middle of the night and she needed to try to go back to sleep, and she broke down crying saying, “I wish this didn’t happen.”  It tore my heart in two. 

I laid with her on the floor for about an hour until she fell back asleep, and then I crashed back in the bed where we all slept until about 7:30ish maybe?  I can’t even remember. 

I made homemade waffles for breakfast Saturday morning, and when I opened the spice cabinet to grab a couple of the ingredients, I saw this:

Apparently, I had been so exhausted/brain fogged, that I put the butter in the cabinet instead of the fridge at some point.  Sigh.  Lol.

Brian and the kids and B finished up Pirates 2 afterward, and then I got in a work out while the kids watched TV and B mowed.  Olivia sat up on the couch in her sling for quite sometime and that was the longest she’d been able to do that.

Late morning, I let the kids each pick out some broken-arm-summer-survival-mode toys on Amazon (a 1000-piece puzzle, a 2,000-piece puzzle, some Legos, and some activity books), and then I printed coloring pages for each of them yet again.  I’d also ordered a waterproof cast cover the day prior to that, so we’ll see how that goes when her hard cast is on.

After lunch was video game time, and mid-afternoon all of Olivia’s medicine caught up with her and she had a very upset stomach.  The doctor had told us that could happen, but thankfully it was short-lived. 

Once she felt better, we got her hair brushed out and put in a ponytail because my father-in-law and the rest of B’s fam were coming over to celebrate his sister’s birthday.  At that point, she still hadn’t had a full bath or shower since Monday, so I’m sure it at least felt good to get somewhat cleaned up.

We had pizza and cookie cake outside, and then the boys all played baseball all evening long.  The weather was INCREDIBLE – so cool it was chilly! – and it was just a really nice evening with everyone.  Jacob got in tons of activity and it was just a relief to see him finally getting some really good exercise after such a lazy screen-filled week.  Olivia and I took several laps around our giant back yard, too, so she was able to get some physical activity, too. 

Once the kids were in bed, B and I got caught up on A Million Little Things and Handmaid’s Tale, and then we were off to bed as well.

Sunday, May 30 

Sunday morning was church and cinnamon rolls, and then we headed to my MIL and step-FIL’s for lunch.  Olivia got dressed in real clothes and she ended up wearing her sling the whole time we were over there!!  By then, she was ready to start walking around more and I had to tell her on multiple occasions that she couldn’t be doing so much activity with her older cousins as she was starting to get a little rougher than she should.  Definitely a good thing that she was feeling okay, but not a good thing since her hard cast wasn’t on yet.  She also didn’t ask for medicine all day until around 5 PM, so her pain had gone down tremendously, as did her swelling in her hand.  Praise!

We stayed at my MIL and step-FIL’s for a really long time enjoying everyone’s company, and by the time we got home it was after 4 PM.  I did a few minutes of work in my office, and then headed back downstairs to prep for Sunday dinner with my fam.

B grilled some burgers and made some guac, and my momma brought her famous baked beans.  We made watermelon margaritas and enjoyed some chocolate éclair cake for dessert that I’d made Sunday morning, and it was such a nice evening.  We’re at the point now where we can safely get together with my family indoors, but the weather was so dang gorgeous that we opted to eat on the back porch anyway. 

They didn’t leave until the sun had almost gone down, and then we got the kids in the bed and headed downstairs to watch a couple of episodes of Little Fires Everywhere that we finally just started.

This week was not an ideal week for sure, but it definitely had it’s silver linings… like the outpouring of love and support from friends and family near and far.  It takes a village to raise a child, and we are so very grateful for our village.  They always step up when they are needed… and they were so needed this week!

As for Olivia’s accident, it was just a freak accident as she wasn’t even doing anything dangerous or risky when she fell.  I had JUST looked at her prior to her fall, and she was climbing on this little spider web looking thing that’s only 1-2 feet off the ground.  When she fell, she wasn’t very high off the ground at all, but the doc told us that sometimes that doesn’t matter… all that matters is HOW you fall, and apparently, she fell in the worst possible way. 

After we left for the hospital that day, my friends talked to one of the other parents who had been standing right next to her when she fell, and she said that Olivia was so low to the ground, she thought she had just tripped over her own feet.  That’s how low to the ground she was.  Sigh. 

Naturally, I’ve been beating myself up ever since then with the “if onlys…”  If only we hadn’t gone to that playground (I had chosen the place).  If only I had been standing next to her so I could have caught her.  If only we’d gone to the beach that week instead of the week we chose.  If only.  If only.  If only. 

That doesn’t do any good and I realize that, but it’s always hard not to beat yourself up in these situations.  Anyway, our girl goes to get her pins out and get her hard cast on tomorrow, so please keep her in your prayers!!  We need a smooth, successful appointment and NO PAIN FOR HER as we are scheduled to head to the beach on Saturday.  Sigh.  Lol.  You can’t make this stuff up! 

Happy Thursday, y’all!