First Scare

Tim with His Mini-Me's

I have been debating whether to write about this or not, but alas I have chosen to share the drama of last Tuesday morning. It actually started a little after midnight on Monday night.

We heard Jude start crying, which is fairly normal for him. I guess I fell asleep (the product of two and a half months of disjointed sleep) I woke up about an hour later and realized he was still crying off and on. This was surprising. Then I heard him ask for water. I woke Tim and asked him to get Jude water. He stumbled into the kitchen and went into Jude's completely dark room, handed him the water and came back to bed. A few minutes later, Jude was quiet and back asleep.

Tim left early on Tuesday morning to meet some guys for a morning Bible Study so when I  heard Jude talking and calling for me at 6:30am I knew I was on duty. I was standing outside his door listening to him and realized that he was saying, "Mommy. Yucky. Wash." "Hmmm....this can't be good", I thought. It wasn't.

I opened his door and greeted him as I turned on the light. To my utter shock, his face, hands and pajamas were covered in blood. Yes, you read that correctly - B L O O D.  There was blood on his bed sheet and bloody hand prints on the crib railing. I took a deep breathe and kept in mind that he was standing and talking happily, but my stomach was in my chest and my eyes were filling with tears. I tried to keep my voice calm and steady for Jude and told him we needed to clean him up. First things first, I called Tim and asked  him to come home asap.

Let's back up a bit...in late June, Jude got a red spot on the left side of his jaw back near his ear. It began to stick out a bit and then by the end of July had significantly increased. In mid-July the doctor told me to watch to see if it grew. Boy, did it! In three weeks it tripled in size. I am pretty sure it will be diagnosed as a Hemangioma when we see the dermatologist.

Back to Tuesday morning. Jude's red "bump" as he calls it had either burst in the night or he had picked it and broken it open. However it happened, it was quite a bit of blood for a twenty two month old. I took a picture of Jude before I "cleaned" him up because I wasn't sure what the doctor would need to know and I am not great with blood or anything medical for that matter.

Enough Said

Holy Cow

Tim then walked in the door as Jude was beginning to eat some banana bread (good sign that he was hungry and wanted food pronto). As we were discussing what to do, Jude stood up and said "Wow" and acted like he was dizzy. I flipped at the thought of him being light headed so we all got in van and started driving to the ER.

At the end of our street, we paused and looked at each other. After our recent ER experience, we wanted to stop and think about what was best and what was necessary. We decided to make our first stop Tim's sister Linda's house. She works at a dermatologists office so we figured she'd have some insight into what we should do. At this point I should stop to say that this is the story from my perspective and not Tim's. I'm pretty sure he knew Jude was fine once he saw him eating the banana bread.

Linda cleaned him up and stopped the bleeding and we all returned home. Jude watched some Curious George while I gained my sanity and Tim eventually left for an appointment. We saw the doctor later that day and will be pursing further diagnosis through a possible CT scan.

I was hoping the hemangioma would shrink with all the blood loss, but it hasn't. It looks worse than before. Jude is just fine and up to all his antics, jokes and silly faces. Though he does touch his "bump" and ask me to cut it off. Maybe someday, Kiddo, but it ain't gonna be Mommy.

Jude, you are a courageous little man and we love you so much.

Camping with Kids

Every year, the Whitacres and Friends meet in Big Sur for a summer campout. Last  year, Jude and I were in Austin, Texas visiting my BFF since elementary school so we didn't make it. Thus, 2011 was our inauguration into camping with kids. Let me just say that it is a whole new world for us. We had a great time and Jude especially thrived (during the daylight hours). On that note, I think it took us the same number of days to recover from camping as the number of days we actually camped.

The best part about this annual trip is the people. Tim's brother Brian and his family fly out from Tennessee and friends come from far and wide to enjoy their company. Jude got to hang out with his cousin Rose (Brian's ten month old daughter), as well as the other adorable and "same as cousins" kiddos Edie (5), Clara (2), Emery (21 months), and Everette (8 months).

We look forward to and plan for this trip every year and it has without fail been a very special time each summer. This year we lucked out on a river site which as a huge blessing of white noise for the kids while they slept.

Our days were spent playing with the kids in the dirt, water, tents or the back of the van. We sat, ate, slept, walked, talked and mostly enjoyed a slower pace of life for a few days. Of course, we managed a few trips to the camp store for ice cream before dinner.

Jude's favorite activities included throwing rocks into the river, wading in the river and jumping off tree roots. Eli's favorite activities included watching the wind in the trees and being held all the time.

I think the thing I will remember most about the 2011 Big Sur campout is the fact that we got yelled at by our neighbors on the first night because Jude was screaming bloody murder and we couldn't calm him down. It was epic! Eli slept through it so I don't know why the neighbors couldn't:) I'll have you know the consecutive three nights were much better - Praise the Lord.

Here's to many more Big Sur campouts over the years and to watching our kids grow up together (which means we'll be growing old together)...

Garbage Day

We had a moment - Jude, myself and...the Garbage Man.

Tuesday morning at Casa de Whitacre is garbage day. Jude loves listening for the truck and then finding me to tell me it is close. We then run out the front door and sit in front of our neighbor's house to watch the truck make its way around the court. We watch it lift the garbage cans, dump them out and put them back down. The best part of all is when the Garbage Man stops to wave at Jude and honk his horn.

We have been doing this for many, many weeks now. Honestly, I am not a huge fan of garbage trucks but seeing the joy in Jude's face is priceless. I'll follow garbage trucks around town to see Jude light up like that. Don't worry. You'll get to see it too. I am posting a clip below.

Well, this Tuesday we proceeded with our normal routine. After the Garbage Man finished his pickups in the court he turned onto our street and then backed up (on the wrong side of the street) to come alongside where we were cheering on the sidewalk. He said hello. Jude was speechless and wide eyed. Then he said he had something for Jude and pulled out a toy yellow garbage truck! It was the coolest thing ever.

Honestly, it was so sweet of him to have thought of Jude and brought the truck with him. We will definitely continue to run out to the sidewalk on garbage truck day (as if I have a choice).

Thank you, Garbage Man! You made our day.

This is a clip of Jude's pure delight in garbage trucks. It was taken during a recent camping trip when the garbage truck made its rounds through the campgrounds.