I go home this week

Colleen and I are going home on Friday. I'm kind of excited to get home, because rory comes home later next week. But I'm also going to miss hanging out with my parents. I'm glad Colleen got some time to spend with them. She had lots of fun being spoiled. Tonight we're going to mammas to eat. Its a little Italian place that I love. I have to eat there every time I come up this way. The bread on their subs is homemade and delicious. mmmmmm. Its just a tiny hole-in-the-wall joint, that most people wouldn't think of stopping at, because it is not the most attractive place, but it is the best place ever. I think Americans have gotten hooked on chain restaurants and miss out on special little places like mammas.
My mom highlighted my hair last night. The color is called caramel. It was so much fun. I love change. Maybe its because I grew up moving around. I think my sister has blogged on the subject of change in the past. I've lived in North Carolina for I think going on 6 years. The longest I've ever lived anywhere. I have ants in my pants to move. You can ask Rory. I ask him all the time about orders and applying for different programs at different bases. If God wants me to stay in North Carolina though, I've learned to deal with my eagerness to move. I rearrange the house all the time for change. I do stuff like dye my hair or take trips up to the folks. That's always fun. This summer we get to take a trip to Colorado for my brother's wedding. yippeeeeee.

I'll never eat at Denny's again

In Alaska we used to eat at Denny's all the time. It was so yummy and clean and friendly. Since we've moved to the lower 48 I've only had bad Dennys experiences. Last night we were meeting Rory's grandmother for dinner at Dennys. It was horrible. They told us that the only big booth was just starting to eat, so it would be a good wait. We sat down in the waiting area, which was right in front of the bathrooms and right outside the smoking section. The smoking section was this huge room, which had a lot of big booths, but there were only 2 people in there sitting at the same table. They didn't have good ventilation either, because the whole place was smoky. I talked everybody into leaving, because I'm an over protective mother that doesn't want her baby breathing in all that second hand smoke. Not to mention it was not a clean restaurant. I will never eat Dennys ever again.
I have good news though. Colleen went to the plastic surgeon on Friday. He was amazed by how fast she's healed. She needs no more bandages, just lots of lotion on her burn. If we keep her out of the sun this summer, she should have no sign of scars or anything. When he came in the room to examine her the first thing he said was "wow, she's healed." God had answered all our prayers. :)

Hooray for snow

It snowed yesterday and today. We got about 12 inches. Colleen and I had so much fun playing in the snow. She loved it. It was her first snow. She built her first snow man. boy do I love snow. Its so beautiful and refreshing. The sad news is the snow will melt fast, because its supposed to be warm this week. I'm not going to complain though, because I got to play in the snow.
I'm drinking an egg cream soda right now. Don't know why it is called that, but its yummy. you put chocolate syrup in a glass and then about an inch of whole milk and then seltzer water and stir. Very refreshing. I'm going to go to bed soon though, so I'll probably have to get up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom. I hate it when that happens, because then it takes me forever to fall back asleep and as soon as I do it always seems like Colleen wakes up. I don't know why, but it takes me forever to fall asleep. Its because I think to much. I can't turn my brain off. I think about everything pretty much.
Colleen likes to have jobs. Its so much fun to her. One of her jobs is to feed the dogs. She lines up the dog dishes on her little table and scoops the dog food into each one and then takes them one by one to the dogs. As she puts them down she calls the dogs. Bandit is "bambi", Patch is "PAA", and Chance is "Chas." It is the cutest thing ever.

The funny librarian

Today I took Colleen to baby story time at the library to get her out of the house and see other babies. We got there a little early, so we look around the library and other kids started coming in. I sat down with Colleen in a chair near the circulation desk. The librarian looks over to me and says "Its too quiet in here." I laughed so hard on the inside. I've never ever thought a librarian would say its too quiet in the library. Funny librarian.

a quick shot out to nurses

I just wanted to say that I think nurses are the bomb. When Colleen was in the hospital all the nurses were so nice to us and worked so hard to make us comfortable. Don't tell our doctor this, but I think the nurses worked harder than the doctors. Yea to nurses.

Friday

I can't believe today is Friday. This week was such a long week. Today Colleen had her first appointment with the plastic surgeon since we left the hospital. He said she is healing up so well. He said that we'll have to do bandage changes daily for about another 2, maybe 3 weeks. We see him again in 2 weeks to check on her. He said that after a few years she shouldn't have any signs of scars. He also said that if I feel confident enough changing her dressings, I can tell the home nurse she doesn't have to come anymore. We already have her scheduled to check on Colleen Monday, but I think that will be the last visit. She took too long changing the bandages yesterday. I can do it much faster. With a one year old, its much easier to just get it done fast, because it is still painful for her.
On our way out of the appointment a nurse stopped to talk to us and told us the same thing happened to her daughter when she was colleen's age, but it was with hot soup. She said her burns were almost just like Colleen's and now she is completely healed. She made us feel much better.
My dog patch has been so protective of Colleen now. He won't even let my dad get near her without a little warning. Its cute.
I'm craving a root beer float in a frosty mug right now.

hard week

I haven't been able to post, because Colleen had an accident on Tuesday afternoon. She pulled down hot tea on her and got badly burned. My mom and I immediately soaker her with cold water, removed her clothes, and took her to the ER. They took care of her burn and gave her some morphine through and IV and the Lifeline helicopter took her to the children's hospital in PA. I couldn't go with her. That was the absolute worst experience of my life. She got 2nd degree burns to 10% of her. Mostly her left shoulder, chest, and abdomen. Tuesday evening when I arrived at the hospital they told me that we would be there several days and that on Wednesday they would giver her more morphine through the IV and the plastic surgeon would change her bandages and then Thursday and Friday try it with just Tylonal 3 and maybe go home after that. I prayed for her so much that night while she was sleeping and asked God touch her and heal her and I know many other people were praying for her and God took care of her, because Tuesday night she slept all night without waking up for pain meds and the plastic surgeon said she looked good enough for the nurses to change her bandages with tylonal 3 and send us home. A nurse came by the house today to help me change them and it was hard and painful for colleen, but it is still a miracle that she healed so well to come home the day after the accident. We should still be at the hospital right now according to the doctors. She is doing so well too. She is playing and happy. Besides the bandage changes once a day she doesn't act like she is any kind of pain at all. I know if I had those burns on my body I'd be laid up in bed. God has given her so much strength and an amazing sense of humor. She was laughing and having fun in the hospital yesterday. They had a splint on her arm to keep it strait for the IV and when she was trying to eat she couldn't reach her hand to her mouth. I thought she was going to get frustrated, but she just laughed so hard about it. I just wanted to let those of you who were praying for her that she is doing well and thank you so much. I know that God heard every single prayer and is going to continue to heal her very quickly. Knowing that is the only reason I have been able to sleep at all since this happened. Just please continue to pray for her and also for strength for my parents and I each time we change her bandages, because it is hard.