President's Day at Mt. Vernon

What better place to spend President's Day than at the home of our first president, George Washington! That is what the boys and I did today. Unfortunately, Scott had to work. The coolest thing is that on President's Day admission is free to Mt. Vernon as opposed to the $16 per person otherwise. But, then again it is kind of a trade off because the place is packed to the brim with people. We had to park two miles away from the entrance and then had to wait in line for the bathroom for twenty minutes. Did I mention it was 35 degrees with a windchill of 17 degrees. Despite all of this I can still say we had fun. There was a little parade with all of the people costumed in colonial attire and it was nice for the boys to be outside for a little while, even at the risk of frost bite.

Happy Valentine's Day!

I couldn't have asked for a better Valentine's Day. I had a meal out with my three best dates. Of course, one was quite naughty, one was still a little loopy from a bonk on the head, but the big one was very good company. The day also consisted of flowers, chocolate, and shopping, how could any woman ask for more. Thanks Boys!

The Fall of Atley

Wednesday night the missionaries were teaching a family in our home. The children were playing upstairs and just as we were beginning to discuss the Fall of Adam. We heard a horrible crash. My first thought was that the kids had thrown a table or dresser or something over the balcony of our staircase. We all ran towards the noise. The investigators got there first and it only took a moment to realize that the loud crash was Atley's head hitting the tile. Carmen, one of the investigators, yelled that it was his neck, which was obviously quite alarming. She would know best since she was the first to see his grotesque position on the tile. He went over the banister somewhere near the top of the staircase, judging from where he landed and the sound he made when he hit. We assume he fell about 10 feet head first.

The problem with Atley is that he has this incredible pain tolerance so it is always difficult to determine how badly he is hurt when an accident occurs. He had a nasty purple bruise on his head but he seemed fairly coherent and he didn't cry very much. Scott and the missionaries gave him a blessing and the investigators went home, pretty shaken up I might add.

I hate this part as a parent-the what to do next part. Should we take him to the hospital? Should we wait? Should we call an ambulance like Carmen suggested? We chose to wait. We gave him some Tylenol and he became very sleepy. We let him go to sleep but after thirty minutes I tried to wake him and I couldn't. I was screaming at him, shaking him, sitting on him, throwing water on him, opening his eyes and they would just roll back in his head. I freaked out. Scott came up and of course he thinks this is nothing to worry about. Scott never thinks there is anything to worry about and I am almost always sure that the worst is right around the next bend. This is also the reason that Scott will live to be 150 years old and I will most likely die due to stress in my early Forties! The truth is we were both wrong we had a reason to be worried but, his brain wasn't hemorrhaging like I was thinking.

Scott says, "Have you ever tried to wake him up after he has been asleep for 30 minutes before? How do you know he isn't always like this?" I didn't know. The truth is when Atley sleeps we let Atley sleep. I put him in bed with me periodically attempting to wake him, by the way he was waking up but it was taking 10 minutes of Chinese water torture to get that to happen.

In the night he woke up crying that his head hurt and several minutes later he began throwing up and he kept throwing up.

Obviously, it was time to go to the hospital. They put him on an IV for dehydration. They took a cat scan of his brain and skull and everything was intact except for some scarring on his right frontal lobe, but the doctor assured me that was probably a birth injury and nothing to worry about. Thanks doc, you tell me my kid's brain is damaged but not to be alarmed. I hate doctors, especially the one that delivered Atley, but that's neither here nor there. Anyway, the diagnosis was a severe concussion. Which of course is no big deal to Scott, but I of course had to remind him, Atley is a four year old kid, not an NFL Quarterback with little or no brain in his head to begin with. It is a big deal, especially to his MOMMY!

The truth is the concussion is a miracle, Scott and I both agree on that! That fall alone should have broken his neck and the fact that he landed where he landed and didn't fall an additional fifteen feet into the basement can only be explained by divine intervention. We are so thankful that he is almost back to normal and the diagnosis is positive. He doesn't remember what he was doing or how it happened and unfortunately the investigators will most likely remember the Fall of Atley much more than the Fall of Adam!

Looking at the picture of our staircase Atley fell near the rug, very close to the gate blocking off the basement stairs. In fact, we heard his body hit the gate during the fall. Hopefully, this will help you visualize how lucky he was to only fall that far and not continue to the basement.

Clemyjontri

I love discovering new places to take the boys and today we went to one of the most amazing parks in existence--I really don't think I'm exaggerating. It is called Clemyjontri and it is right next to our new house. (BLOG POST FOR ANOTHER DAY) Apparently some millionaire donated the land and money for the park and took a portion of each of her children's names to create the park's name, Carolyn, (CL) Emily, (EMY) John, (JON) and Petrina, (TRI)! Anyway, I tried to take pictures but my photography skills cannot do this park justice. It is truly incredible. There were planes, and trains, and automobiles, including fire trucks and dump trucks, helicopters, dinosaurs, a carousel, and much much more. Of course there were slides, teeter toters, monkey bars, and swings but it isn't just a place to have fun there are balancing toys to help your kid's gross motor skills as well. We spent at least 3 hours there today and can't wait until some of you can join us on our next trip to Clemyjontri. HINT!HINT!

Thanks Buddy!

My bestest buddy from home made this tent and sent it to my boys. I was so impressed I had to put a picture of it on my blog. Isn't it amazing! My kids absolutely adore it. Thanks Shae! We love you

Ice Skating

Yesterday we took the boys ice skating at the Smithsonian Sculpture Garden. They loved it and who knew they made ice skates small enough for Nash! Because of their independence and fearlessness both of them spent a lot of time sprawled out on the ice. And of course watching the Zamboni cut the ice was almost as exciting as the skating itself.

American History Museum

Monday I took the boys to the newly opened and newly remodeled Museum of American History. After the fact I was approached by someone who casually remarked how brave I was to venture downtown with my two little hellions (my words, not hers) alone. At first I was flattered by this compliment but then I remembered that I venture out alone with my children because one, I have no friends, and two I 'm stupid. Yes, you all have my permission to feel very sorry for me, so sorry that you all come visit.

Anyway, the museum was great. It is full of lots of hands on activities for kids, therefore we only saw about half of it on Monday. The boys were so engrossed in the children's activities I didn't dare pry them away to view the First Ladies' dresses, Lincoln's death mask, or Dorothy's ruby slippers. Maybe another time. We only experienced a few traumatic moments. First, Nash took his pants off. Not only was he half naked he also mysteriously hid his pants, but I eventually found them. Then when we stopped for lunch he spilled a glass of milk all over himself and then proceeded to grab Atley's drink and pour it into the heater vent. When the milk made a sizzling sound Atley of course attempted the same maneuver but was stopped short by his maniacal mother. Finally, when viewing the transportation part of the museum, one of the big locomotives on display whistled a little too loudly for Nash's taste and he took off like Carl Lewis for the exit. This was our cue that our day at the museum had come to an end. I suspect the curators were happy to see us go!