summer...summer...summertime

What's up?  School's out.  So, it's a fantastic time at this Anderson household.  Well, for the most part.  We've enjoyed days of sleeping in, and watching movies, playing in the backyard, and just...laziness. Except for sometimes.  Except for when Sydney decides to snoop through Riley's room, finds a little plastic mechanical pencil lead case and tries to suction it onto her tongue.  And then accidentally inhales a sewing needle in the process, because she's found Riley's secret place for her sewing needles--secret because Riley didn't want her little sister to hurt herself.  
Except for times like that.  
Anyway, this last week hasn't had a lot of the laziness I so covet when I imagine the kids no longer having to wake early for school.   All because of Sydney.  That kid rocks our world every. Single. Day.
Riley rushed up and told us about Sydney's swallowing a needle.  Jeff and I were just getting ready to go to bed.  When your 3 year old enters screaming/crying/eyes popping out of her head...and you have no warning, or idea what to do?  Scary.  Like, calling the ambulance, scary.  
Our neighborhood is mostly old people.  So apparently when an ambulance pulls up to one of the homes on this street, everyone assumes something seriously grave has happened, and people wait on the corners to see who ends up wheeled out.  In this case, it was Syd.  A police officer kind of kept the looky-loos away.  By the time Syd and Jeff were in seated and strapped in, it seemed like the entire neighborhood was trying to see what was happening.  It was a subsequent whirlwind after I followed the ambulance that carried my baby to the Payson hospital.  After a lot of worrying, and x-rays, we all ended up at Primary Children's hospital in SLC. 

I know most of you have heard the entire story, as I kept posting details on Facebook throughout the ordeal.  When you have your phone, the waiting room, and a lot of unanswered questions, Facebook is a good way to stop tearing your hair out.  It's a bit sleazy, I'll be the first to admit that.  But sometimes just being able to tune out from the chaos helps, in its escapist way. 

Jeff spent the night with Syd in the hospital.  While we waited for the consensus on what the best way to remove the needle would be, she enjoyed a lot of Cartoon Network.  As did Riley and Cole.  Syd was amazingly stoic throughout the entire process.  Stoic, or excessively bratty, I'm not sure.  She didn't experience any pain or aversion to all the tests and x-rays and monitors. A really long story short, we felt the prayers, good vibes, warm thoughts, and the needle was found.  (Thank you, thank you, thanks to all--we were very overwhelmed with the offers of help, and gestures of love.  Also, thanks to Muff and Chris, for watching Riley and Cole that night).  We still complained about waiting around in the hospital, and the umpteenth time they had us lug her into the examination room for yet, another x-ray, (making 8 in all),...but I was humbled while there.  I think we all take our health for granted.  I know I do...I don't really think about it until I put my back out, or can't leave my house because it puts me too far away from the nearest toilet.  
But it isn't until our children, that we realize how blessed/lucky/etc. we are each and everyday they're up running around being loud and obnoxious.  And sassy, and happy. I saw some parents there that seemed to be regulars.  They'd greet the nurses, and walk right into a room, or they'd be standing outside the x-ray room and know the technicians by name.  Or they were holding the hands of their kids that were wheelchair bound.  And my heart broke.  It's not like I wasn't worried about Syd, because, she's my baby.  But, I knew we were going home, and she'd be okay.  Some parents there didn't have that luxury.  

And this was what caused all the drama.  It was actually stuck in her stomach, so it wasn't moving.  Which was good, and bad.  Good because it didn't move into her digestive tract.  But bad because it was stuck, and didn't move at all.  So no one knew what was happening.  Luckily, after a couple surgeons hashed it out, they went in and found it quickly--especially after telling us it would be nearly impossible. And then we got to go home.  And that was that.  
Now I'm hoping we get to continue the rest of summer in the laziness I so covet.  In a couple of weeks we'll all be in Las Vegas, living the good life.  And by that, I mean, laying around the pool, eating a lot of Krispy Kremes, and amusement parking it up.  Our own very white trash vacation...just our style.  :) 
I plan on enjoying our time together.  I plan on being grateful for my family's health, and our enjoyment of each other.  As sad as it is for me to admit, I know that it won't last forever...but I am adamant to appreciate it now.  I hope you all can do the same.  There's something very cathartic about just enjoying our lives.  Anyway, that's all I have to say for now.  You're welcome!