Natalie continually surprises Scott and me! She is growing so fast and becoming a beautiful little girl. But, she is still our baby and we would give our lives for her. If it was possible, I would have cracked my head open on Sunday night to keep her from having to go through it. Yes. You read me correctly. Natalie cracked her head open on Sunday night after church on a pew. She was running up and down the aisles between Scott and me (he was up front, I was in the back). During her last run she tripped halfway up the aisle and went face first into the corner of the pew bench.
Scott and I both rushed to her. I got to her first and scooped her up. She holds her breath when she's really upset and when I pulled her back to tell her to breath all I saw was blood. It was all over her face, gushing out of a huge gash in her forehead. I panicked and just kept yelling, "Blood!" over and over. I was bawling...uh! So traumatic even now!
We went running out of the sanctuary and I don't know what happened next. It was all a blur. Someone took her from my hands (Scott, I think) and layed her on the ground to try to get the bleeding to stop. I just stood there crying, not knowing what else to do. There were people everywhere praying with me, for us, for Natalie. I think I would have passed out if a great man of the church had not been there holding me up, speaking scriptures and prayers into my ear. All I remember are her screams and his voice.
We weren't able to completely stop the bleeding but we buckled her up and went to the ER. Scott dropped us off at the entrance and we ran in only to find the waiting room filled with a line to the door of people waiting to just check in. We must have looked a sight. Natalie had blood all over her face and covering her shirt. I had blood on my face and down my neck from holding her. When Scott joined us he had blood all over his shirt. We were a mess!
FOUR AND A HALF HOURS we waited. Ridiculous! Natalie's "laceration" was an inch long and above her left eye. It was a good 1/8 inch deep. Deep enough I could see raw tissue. Ah! My Baby! She got five stitches and fought the doctors and nurses every step of the way. So much so, they had to restrain her in a papoosa (sp?), which is a sort of body board for babies. They wrap these wide straps around her to bind up her arms and legs and then take a bed sheet and wrap her up again so that she looks like a caterpillar in a cocoon. Oh..She hated that thing! The nurse then held her head with both hands. All I could see was her left eye . Every other part of her was covered (except her toes). She still squirmed enough that the doctor had to try multiple times to get each stitch in.
During this whole time of the stitching Scott held his breath. You know what that means! Yep, he started to pass out. He did make it to the chair before falling over, but wasn't able to stand up for a while. The nurse said something to him like, "if you fall over, I can't help you. You'll just have to wait till we're done." It was funny at the time and helped to break the tension caused by Natalie's category 5 screams. Once the switches were all in and Natalie was back in my arms, the nurse brought Scott some ice chips. Poor baby!
I never want to go through that again! It was so draining on this little family! I have to admit though, we surprised me. We all stayed relatively level headed and kept our wits about us. Natalie was in high spirits once she could forget about where we were and what happened. She was even able to laugh and play while we waited. I think she has handled the whole situation better than any of us.
So here we are after we got home. From time to time while we were in the ER I commented to Scott that I wish I had our camera. So many precious moments to capture for the scrapbook. He said, "or for your blog!" He's right on the money with that one! So I took a bunch of pics once we got home and have continued to snap a few ever time I change her bandages. I will post the daily pictures as I can.
Please continue to pray for Natalie and for Scott and me. We are doing very well, although Scott has become even more protective of her. He won't let her run or go up and down the stairs. It is really cute. He is such a softy and such a fantastic Daddy!
Even though I had to clean the house today, Natalie was a good cleaning partner. She loves to "help" although her "helping" is actually beginning to help. She likes to hand me the silver wear when I empty the dishwasher. She likes to wipe things, and she vacuums with her vacuum. Today I did find her on the couch watching TV, though--a quick break she said. Now, believe it or not, she went into the living room, turned the TV on, and climbed onto the sofa all by herself. This is how I found her! No joke! - remote in hand! Is she her father's child or what?!
As you can see her size is fast becoming not so little anymore! She is definitely a toddler with all it's joys and sorrows. I just had to take a picture of her yesterday as we were getting ready to go to the library. It was the first cool (and I use that term VERY loosely) all summer. (I think the high was 84 or something, but humidity was low which made the difference.) She wanted to wear socks and her Strawberry Shortcake tennis shoes. She looked like a little girl walking around the house (except for the Nuk in the mouth, but I need something to keep my baby with me a little while longer!). I can't believe how fast she is growing!
Here are some new pictures of my other baby, Alethia. She is now almost seven months old! Isn't she precious!? 
The McDowells and the Benickis hosted us at Bethany Beach in Delaware. We spent two days basking in the sun and playing in the waves! On Monday Scott went fishing with the guys in the Assawoman Bay. No one even had a nibble except for a few crabs here and there. Scott came back a little toasty on his arms and face. Even his normally pearly white legs were pink! He was a little uncomfortable for a day or two. 
Natalie and I went with the ladies and the kids to the beach while Scott went fishing. Natalie was so funny. She wasn't too sure about the water or the sand so once we got her settled on the beach towel she didn't move! It was hilarious! If a little bit of sand touched her hand or toes she freaked out! But she did enjoy chasing the waves as they splashed her as long as she was on someone's hip. That evening Ewing insisted that Scott and I go on a date and leave Natalie with them. So we went for dinner and the took a moonlit walk on the beach. This was the first time we had ever gotten to do that! It was so wonderful!
On Tuesday Soctt came to the each with us. We had so much fun while Natalie hung out on the towel. We were jumping in the waves and getting knocked over by them! We wiped out a few times, but it was so much fun!! I couldn't believe that Scott, my Scott! was jumping around in the waves and loving every minute of it! We even saw dolphins up close and personal. I was fraking out! I have never seen dolphins in perona nd to see them that close was awesome! They were still a hundred yard out, but I was closer to them than ever before. I tried to get video and even chased them up the beach, but I'm not sure if I ever did get them in the viewfinder or not. I was so concerned with seeing them with my own eyes. It was so cool!
The whole beach experience was amazing and so much more than I was expecting. Watching the waves come in and going back out was breath taking. The sound was like listening to God's own heart beat for humanity. The waves crashed in to the rhythm of His heart. What an awesome sight! I was so humbled by the magesty of it all. God's hand was in and through everything. Everything about our trip was perfect. It was as if God was heaping blessing upon blessing into our llives. Thank you Lord for Your loving-kindeness. He is so good to us, isn't He?
