Audrey: "Jesus lives in our hearts so our bones can't attack Him."

Dade made the paper!

The Hallsville Americans finished 4th place in the State tournament which earned them a spot in the
National Dixie Youth Baseball Machine Pitch tournament!

The Perfect Patient.

We had to take Wyatt to the ER last Sunday morning -- he was helping me cook and sitting on the counter as he often does. I was putting bacon on the griddle for our Sunday breakfast. In a matter of seconds, he turned sideways and his palm and forearm landed on the hot surface. It happened SO QUICKLY, and I was standing right there the whole time.


I ran cold water over it and tried to assess how bad the burn was {1st and 2nd degree}. We sent the other three kids to my parents' and headed to the emergency clinic. They got him to a room pretty quickly but suggested we go to the ER. I was hesitant to leave but once they informed me that they did not have any Tylenol with codeine for him, we left the clinic and drove to the hospital. 


Thankfully, they got pain medicine in him very quickly and he fell fast asleep on my shoulder. The nurse slathered his arm with silvadene and wrapped it up. Even though the PA had seen it, a doctor came in shortly thereafter and wanted to take a look. Wyatt woke up at some point during the unwrapping, inspection and re-wrapping but he was so quiet I never even knew he was awake! 


As we were walking out the ER door, he began to ask to see Audrey. We told him she was at Gran and Big Daddy's and that we were headed there to get her. He immediately began holding up his arm like a prize saying, "I show Gran and Big Daddy." A few minutes later from the back seat we heard, "I happy." Those were the sweetest words I had ever heard!

Leaving the ER the day of the incident.

Watching the All Star Home Run Derby with his sleepie and a piece of gum!

His sock friend, "butterfly."

By Sunday night when I changed his dressing, his whole palm was one big blister. When I was almost finished putting the gauze on he said, "thank you, Mama." My eyes filled with tears. By Monday mid-morning, the blister had popped. I researched whether or not we should have the dead skin cut off and spoke with my long-time friend who is about to be done with PNP school. We both thought it would be best to leave it at that time as an extra barrier for the new skin. I took him for a follow-up appointment at the pediatrician's office Tuesday afternoon; they removed the skin then redressed his hand and arm. They suggested we follow up with the wound care clinic Friday morning. I told Tommy that night that I really wanted to take him to Parkland for an "expert" opinion, but we decided at that time to try the local clinic first. Wednesday morning I received a voice mail from the pediatrician's office that they had faxed his information over to a doctor's office. I searched online for the doctor's name and town. It was until I spoke with the nurse that it was affirmed that it was a plastic surgeon they wanted him to have a consultation with. I was none too happy to have received that information the way I did. I googled Parkland's number and was connected to the outpatient burn clinic nurse's voicemail. In less than two hours, she called me back and we had an appointment scheduled for Thursday at 1:30 to see the burn doctor and rehab specialists. I was nervous but ready to hear what the doctors who deal with burns day in and day out had to say. Friday COULD NOT have gone any better! Dr. Hunt saw him first - the first words I remember coming out of his mouth were, "he's going to be fine." A flood of relief came over me! He would not need rehab or plastic surgery. Several more doctors came in, and we continued to receive the best news - he would be fine, he might not even have a scar, we only had to change his dressing once a day and did not need to scrub or spray it as I had been! The nurses that wrapped him back up before we left said he had been their best patient all day  -- including the adults they had cared for!

Utter peace... what a blessing! 

He has been SO good about his arm. He briefly cries when we're taking off the old "bandaid." He washes the soap bubbles off in the water, holds still while I apply the cream, then tells me "all done" after the last piece of tape is applied to his gauze. If his arm weren't bandaged, you would not even know anything had happened to him! He has been his usual sweet, funny, spirited self. And unless we have any concerns beforehand, he will have a follow up appointment in Tyler at Parkland's quarterly burn clinic. Wyatt tells us that God is making his arm better. And He is - every time I unwrap it, it looks better than the time before! I KNOW that the many prayers of our family and friends have had an impact on how quickly he is healing. 

Words from a wise farm boy.

We harvested our first watermelon last week! I cut it and gave all the kids a slice. Luke said watermelon's not his favorite but he could guarantee it was one of the best watermelons he'd ever eaten! Dade commented that it was sweeter than other watermelons he'd had before and Luke noted, "that's because it's farm fresh!"

We enjoyed a good rainstorm today but Luke decided that it was raining so hard that it might not be "good for the crops."

World Series?!

photo courtesy of Aunt Cindy - Dade batting vs. Panola
See the ball flying to left field?!

The Hallsville Americans won their first two games of the State tournament. They have a bye tonight. We've been told that the top four teams go to the National tournament in Searcy, Arkansas later this month and because of the way the bracket worked out, it seems that Dade's team has earned one of those four spots!