Lauren « anyways…

Trying to go to bed…

August 15, 2007 at 3:51 am | In Caleb, Lauren, Natter, Nursing School | 1 Comment

I tried to go to bed. I almost did so, then I saw a piece of paper on the counter. I wrote down some thoughts to share with you today. I couldn’t resist.

Want to know a bit of magic? Just give a graham cracker to a kid. Do you remember NEEDING to break the cracker at the lines into smaller rectangles before eating it? Well, that’s what Lauren did today. The look on her face was precious. She broke it into the rectangles with a shadow of concentration. After it was over, she gave a grunt of satisfaction and shot a smile over my way. Eating it was good. Eating it having broken the cracker into smaller ones was simply magical. She reminded me what it’s like to be a kid. You know, I can’t eat one without breaking it into smaller pieces either.

Liam’s walking. He takes little baby steps. It’s cute!

Caleb’s over half-way through Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. He’s a fast reader. He’s lovin’ it! This is the biggest book he’s ever read! Way to go Caleb!

Forgiveness. Well…forgiveness. Hmmm. I guess I haven’t forgiven my old clinical professor - as you’ve probably gathered from my previous posts. I will take you on a journey of finding out how to let go of this grief and pain. I don’t know how. I thought I did forgive her - that is until I saw her in her BMW convertible coming out of McDonald’s. I saw her and terrible feelings of revulsion belched out of my heart. A place I don’t really want festering memories to linger. But alas, they’re there. I need to shed them. It is unhealthy, but more importantly, it is spiritually degrading and fiercely un-Christlike. I had faults during that time in my life, but I still don’t feel I deserved to fail the semester of nursing school. I got B’s in all my classes, but the clinical instructor can really hold you hostage. I don’t like that place. I don’t like the unforgiving heart, either. I wan to look at Karen Rogers and not think about whether I will tell her off - what way will I really try to really give her a piece of my mind? I don’t want that! I just started to realize this is still in me and I need to get rid of it.

Nursing school is right around the corner. I need to get a few things done before going back. One of them is watching my kids do things like breaking the graham crackers before eating them. I need to watch them, because when the semester starts, my blinders keep me from seeing much of them. Nursing school is hard hard hard. It consumes me. It will eat me alive, but hopefully my clinical instructors will be OK and my study habits will be regular. Hooooorrrrahhhh!

Lauren Breaks Her Leg

April 30, 2007 at 8:59 pm | In Extra! Extra!, Lauren | No Comments

Today, Lauren broke her leg. She was in her room playing alone when we heard her crying and calling for us. She told us she fell from the ladder. She couldn’t walk on it and it was very painful. Although this was the case, she spent the majority of the day calm. She cooperated with the Dr.s and the X-Ray people. The orthopedic surgeon decided to set the fracture under anesthesia at 6:30 a.m., Tuesday. She would come out of the procedure with a full leg cast, bent at the knee so she wouldn’t try and put weight on it. We continued to give her Advil and tylenol to help with the pain. The break was of the 2 lower bones in her leg. It was a complete fracture of both bones typically found when a leg gets caught in the rungs of a ladder, and the person falls over.

UPDATE TUESDAY, MAY 1, 2007:
She went in this morning at 5:30. They set the bones without major problems. X-ray shows the bones lined up well. When she was getting ready to go in, they gave her valium. She was a bit anxious and scared. When it hit her, she was playing patty-cake and singing the itty bitty spider. She told kim she has jeans in her eyes and she was playing with caleb as if he was in the room with her (though he was sleeping quietly at home). When she woke up from the procedure, the first thing she said was, “Mommy, my yeg is stuck!”

UPDATE TUESDAY, MAY 1, 2007 - AFTERNOON
Lauren spiked a fever of 104 in the afternoon. She went back to the hospital because this could have been a reaction from the anesthetic. She’s probably just getting whatever the family has.

FINAL UPDATE: As it turned out, she just got whatever the family had - not a reaction to the anesthetic. They wanted to change the cast every week to check the condition of the skin and the condition of the break. It was close to the growth plate, so they wanted to keep a close eye on it. She had yellow, pink, orange and blue colors. Also, the cast came off on May 23rd! I don’t even think it was on for just 3 weeks and a day! Amazing! They said it may be on 4-6 weeks. When the cast came off, Lauren had a hard time walking. It took a few days until she even wanted to walk on it. Once she did start walking, she had a major limp and a hard time. She’s still limping, but not as bad. Now she walks pretty well!

Friendly Banter

June 18, 2006 at 11:24 am | In Family, Glad Tidings, Lauren, Natter | No Comments

There are a lot of wisecracks here at the Smith home. None are more amusing than those which come from our children. After bath, Lauren’s naked bottom bounces from the bathroom to the changing table, all the while she chants, “hiney…shiny…hide it…bite it!.” (We always sing - I see a hiney, all bright and shiney, you better hide it, before I bite it.) A friend of ours says of Lauren, “She’s going to be a great friend to all those around her.” And she’s right. Lauren is just that way. You know what she says when we say, “I Love You?” She says a simple, “Too!” Cute, huh? Our kids all have wonderful personalities. We are trying to, and still learning how to, let them develop into who they are and contribute positively. Along the way we’ll share and maybe you can comment and love them a little like we do. These stories about our family can keep you up-to-date while giving you a feel for our life and the little lives we call ours.