Carpool Story

Sammy's thumb is looking so much better, thank you to everyone who prayed for the little guy. He is done with his antibiotics and we are just keeping our eye on it. The doctor did call back to say that it was a staph infection. One really good thing is that he has stopped sucking his thumb through this ordeal! The girls are getting close to stopping also.

We are getting ready for Grace to begin Kindergarten on September 8. We have visited the school a few times, got her uniform and shoes, all her shots, and done her homework (yes, she had homework!)

Out of the blue, a lady who lives down my street called me to tell me that she would love to be in a carpool this year with us! I have been praying about this all spring and summer. We have a sticky situation because with the new baby coming, we only have room for one other small child in our mini-van and my front seat is open. Well, her son is a senior in high school! That means he can sit in the front seat with the airbag. They stopped by randomly the other day to introduce themselves to Grace! He doesn't drive and his mom will do all the driving. They are literally 8 houses down from me (on another street) and with the school being about 25 minutes away with traffic, this is a big help! I am also praying that it will work out that another kindergarten girl can join in but I know something great will work out.

Update Fri afternoon

Yippee! Thanks for all the prayers! Sammy's thumb is ugly and gross looking but isn't spreading! Here is another photo.

Thursday Evening Update

Another long day! Sam's doctor appointment was prodcutive. The doctor decided to puncture the blister and drain it. He cultured it to see if the antibiotics will be resistance to this particular bacteria. We will know tomorrow or as long as next week. This afternoon was the first time that he was just miserable and crying, "owie." I had to rock him to sleep - fine by me! It looks like a big red swollen thumb and wrist. I will try to take a photo in the morning for everyone to see. Thank you for all the phone calls, emails, and inquiries. Our phone has been ringing non-stop it seems! Keep praying that the infection will be killed. His hand is so little to be so infected.

Update Thursday morning

The blister is bigger, everything else looks the same. Have a dr appt for 11:50 to get it cultured. Poor Sambo - he is becoming miserable!

Staph YUCK

Please pray that Sammy's thumb gets better tonight after his two doses of antibiotics so far. I am also praying that it doesn't explode in his crib overnight so there isn't spread of an infection. Icky stuff. He feels fine and ran around the high school track tonight with Nate. The concern is that there is a red line that is trailing down his wrist from the infection... will update in the morning!!

Sammy - it isn't a grape!!!

What a day! Sammy woke up with something "stuck on his finger" according to Grace - my official wake-Sam-up family member. Went in to find this nastiness on his finger. Emailed a photo to my nurse mom, showed my nurse neighbor Beth, and went to the doctor immediately. They all (including the doctor) said it was definitely something pretty serious because of the redness. The doctor said it is probably a staph infection and he was concerned because it looks to be traveling down his arm in a red "line." I would describe it as a green grape under the skin. He is already on the oral antibiotics and we will wait and see. Here are some photos!

No Hurricane, phew!

Nate's brother Marvin and wife Lindsay just moved to the DR. She is teaching at a school there for two years. There was talk of a bad hurricane, I am so glad it didn't hit them! Although Marvin was excited to see the storm.

"People in flood-prone Haiti and the Dominican Republic awoke to good news Tuesday as it appeared Ana, the first named storm of the Atlantic season, had largely spared their shared island. The two countries that share the island of Hispaniola are vulnerable to storms, with many impoverished people clustered along rivers, but there were no reports of major damage from the remnants of Tropical Storm Ana. The system had been downgraded to a tropical depression and then largely dissipated before reaching Haiti and the Dominican Republic, but its rains were still considered a potential threat."

Bathroom Helpers

Little Reet loves to help Sambo in the bathroom... especially brushing his teeth.

Martha's Vineyard - last set of photos

We took a day trip to Martha's Vineyard. Here are some photos from that day. This is the carousel we rode. Sam won a "brass" ring and got to ride again!

A typical and beautiful Cape Cod scene.
The gingerbread houses are in Oaks Bluff. They are very fun to walk around and look at. Here is a photo of my mom and dad.

This was while we were waiting for the ferry ride home.

Sam was entertaining himself and licking the garbage can. YUCK.

On the way home on the ferry, we saw a Coast Guard helicopter over the water dropping people into the ocean near this boat. Very interesting, we don't know what was going on.

~ Falmouth ~ Part Two ~

Little Ree

Sam and Martha playing together

Sam's birthday pinata - Great Grandpa was holding down the rope



The pinata broke open finally! I bought it at a thrift store - go figure.

Rita, Audrey, Sam, Joy, Bryce and Tyler

Sammy posed with my mom for this photo -

(Best pizza on earth (in my opinion) - Paul's pizza. The place doesn't even have a sign up and is only open at 4 PM, Wed to Sun. My Aunt Nancy worked there before she passed.)

All the cousins...

2nd Birthday Cake

The lineup

Joy, Grace and Audrey in the water

...Cape Cod Part One...

We just got back from our 8 day trip to the Cape (seemed short). We are unpacking and sad to be back to reality. There were so many highlights from our trip! I am going to post some photos here in the next few days.

My sister in law Sandy and I at Ben and Bills ice cream shop.

Sam and Ree helping Papa water the flowers. The house is now officially a rental and it looked so wonderful this year - hydrangeas, flowers, decor inside.

Family walk by the harbor - a favorite thing.

It was so nice to have a single stroller again!

We celebrated Sam's 2nd Bday the day we arrived.