Sprout

Yesterday after taking Mackenzie to "school," Josiah asked me to take him fishing! Umm, we're not really camping and fishing type of people so this request surprised me. I began to explain to him that someday we would be happy to take him fishing, but right now we don't even own fishing poles. That's when he piped up and said, "I want to go fishing at Sprout!" LOL! This explained a lot. Since we were already in the vicinity of Sprout when he asked, I was happy to oblige. Josiah proudly showing off his fish! :)
Look! Another one!

Josiah loves anything on wheels. He enjoys riding on the cute cars, planes, and bugs at Sprout!
Here's Josiah stacking these things really high! I thought it was funny to watch the tower lean.

As we played, I noticed a lady staring at me. I began to make small talk as I was a bit uncomfortable with her blatant staring. She quickly blurted out, "Is your name April and are you a nurse?" What?!? I'm feeling a little strange right about now, as I don't recognize her and she obviously knows me from somewhere. "Yes," I respond with some hesitancy, "I am April and I'm a RN." Her eyes immediately began to fill with tears.

Now I'm really worried; what on earth have I done to cause this lady to recognize my face, remember my name, and cry upon seeing me?!? My mind is now racing. I am stealing sideways glances at her three year old boy who's playing happily nearby. Do I recognize him? I don't think so, but I keep trying unsuccessfully to place him in the pulmonology clinic. No, no, that's not it either. I'm dumbfounded. Standing speechless and clueless.

After a short pause which seemed like an eternal pause to my racing mind, the lady launches into her story. "Do you recognize me?" She asked. Uh, oh. I remain silent with a quizzical look on my face, shaking my head slightly. She quickly continues on saying, "No, I guess you wouldn't remember me. It was over five years ago now. July of 2003. I'm sure you've had a lot of other patients since then, and I look different now. I'm "L...B..."(she tells me her name) and I had a radical extensive surgery at Baptist. I was there for eight days. I had several different nurses. You were my very favorite." (More tears forming in her eyes.)

She continued on and on and on about the impact I made on her and her mom and sister. She told me how they had many questions that apparently I took the time to answer. She actually remembers (OVER FIVE YEARS LATER) several specific questions, as well as the answers I provided with amazing clarity and detail. She said she had wanted to thank me on many occasions but had no way to do so...and here we stood in Sprout-Ha.

God does some crazy things with the way paths cross in life itself. I envision Him laughing as He watched that episode unfold in Sprout. I still get chills just thinking about it. This lady was not suppose to live, by all medical standards. Yet here she is, five years later, doing well and thanking me. Me?!? Too wild. Very humbling.

What an amazing God we serve. For some reason this lady had several burning questions, and she really wanted to know my opinion. One of her questions plunged me directly into a conversation about the brevity of life itself and the Only One who matters from an Eternal perspective. I marvel at how God uses us in His master plan when we least expect to be used. Then I sit back and know that it is when we least expect it that God is best able to Shine and all the Glory goes to Him.

Surprise Outing

We surprised David with an outing to Market Square this evening as an early birthday celebration. We ate at The Tomato Head (very yummy-thanks for the idea, Sara!) and then went next door for ice cream at The Marble Slab. David was surprised to find a cake decorated with his name on it upon our arrival! My hats off to the lady working there tonight...she was very accommodating and helped me pull it off as a surprise. :) She even snapped this rare picture of the four of us together.

(I have a blog post about Sprout today with Josiah and a former patient of mine--from FIVE YEARS ago, but I just don't have the energy to put that one together tonight...perhaps tomorrow...)

Friends

Avery and Mackenzie

I enjoy hearing all about Mackenzie's day when I pick her up from school. The problem is, sometimes she talks ninety-to-nothin' about the day and other times she hardly speaks at all, leaving me to wonder about it. Well, one day within the past two weeks as I picked Mackenzie up she informed me that Emma says Mackenzie is not her friend. Mackenzie told me that she is Emma's friend, but Emma says she does not like Mackenzie. I simply told Mackenzie that I am glad she is choosing to be Emma's friend, even if Emma won't be her friend.

Then I asked, "Who are your friends?" Mackenzie did not miss a beat in saying, "Avery's my best friend, Momma! She likes me and I like her, too." She went on to say that all the boys are mean except for one named Jared. "Jared's nice to me, Momma. He's my friend, too. I sit at the same table with him." So, after learning all this, I was surprised and excited when we received an invitation to Emma's 4th Birthday party at Bounce USA! We went, of course, so that I could attempt to get names and faces together.

I very quickly met Avery as Mackenzie beelined for her upon our arrival. I also met Avery's mom who was quick to exclaim, "So this is Mackenzie and you're Mackenzie's mom! We hear all about Mackenzie!" We launched into a full conversation, during which I found out that Avery tells similar stories about friendship issues as Mackenzie does, including that Mackenzie and Avery's friendship is very mutual. To watch Mackenzie, Avery, and Jared all play together at Bounce USA was a treat. Sure made me feel good about the friendships Mackenzie is forming at school. Good kids from good families. The pic I snapped of Avery and Mackenzie was taken at the party.

(I realize I need some more posts about Josiah soon...we'll see what he's up to these days and come up with a good post on him in the not-to-distant future.) :)

Girls Night Out

Just Mackenzie and Me! I have spent a lot of one-on-one time with Josiah lately. I have time with just Josiah in the mornings as Mackenzie does not wake up as early as he does, and time with Josiah while Mackenzie's in "school" from 9-2 twice a week. I am enjoying my one-on-one time with Josiah, but was missing my time with Mackenzie. So. To solve this dilemma, David and Josiah had a "boy's night out" and spent some time at Sprout and Chuck E. Cheese, while Mackenzie and I had a "girl's night out," just the two of us. We opted for an adventure together, to places we've never been... We started at the Knoxville Museum of Art (free admission!) and explored the children's area and the gardens. Let's just say that I'm VERY glad it was free-Ha. If you're looking for a garden area, UT Gardens has this beat by a long shot; if you're looking for interactive children's areas, well, just about anywhere has this beat! :) That said, we enjoyed seeing it for about 15 minutes max, then left for a new adventure! We ended up across the street from the Art Museum at a park called Fort Kid. Excellent place! We both had fun climbing around a fortress-like park. Notice the Sun Sphere in the background--cool place!
I loved the sunlight on Mackenzie's hair!
Couldn't decide if I liked it better in color or black and white.
Then we got hungry...next stop Market Square! I had actually never been there before, so we enjoyed it. Mackenzie was thrilled with getting to pick the restaurant; she chose one with outdoor seating and umbrellas overhead! Then she insisted on a table for two (rather than four), since it was girl's night out. After our lo mien noodles and fried rice dishes, we began our journey back to the car.
Mackenzie was delighted with getting to play in the splash pad/ fountain area at Market Square. She did a great job of staying dry, which was nice as I had no extra clothes in tow.

By the time we all four met up at home, we were tired but had made some fun memories to treasure.

(Random Side Note: As Mackenzie and I began our first journey from the car to the museum, she held my hand and asked me to skip down the sidewalk with her. I know we were a sight to see! I had to look funny skipping down the sidewalk. But as I did so, tears came to my eyes as the precious time with my children seems so very fleeting. They are growing and changing every day, which is a blessing, but makes me sad, too! I just want to treasure every "skipping down the sidewalk" moment that we are granted.)

Check-Up

Today was Mackenzie's four year old routine well child check up. We arrived. We sat down. Mackenzie had to go to the bathroom while we were still in the waiting room. No problem. I asked the nurse for a cup (knowing they would want a urine sample) and the three of us (Mackenzie, Josiah, and myself) headed into the bathroom. We were barely in that bathroom door when Josiah announced that he wanted to use the potty. Rather than wait for my assistance, my two year old boy pulled his LOADED diaper and shorts down to his ankles. Yes, folks, it was loaded with poop. Nice. He had the poop smeared clear from his bottom down to his ankles in no time flat. Great. I sat him on the toilet seat in hopes of containing the mess. By the time I had him in a fresh diaper, we had cleaned the entire lower half of his body, as well as the parts of the bathroom including the floor and toilet seat. Somehow we managed to keep his clothing clean, which is a blessing as I did not have a back-up outfit with me! After all that...Mackenzie no longer needed to go at all. That "urge" had passed. Therefore, we still needed a urine on her! Ha.

At this point we were pulled from the bathroom (we were in there awhile, you realize) directly into the exam room. I was already exhausted by this point, and the check-up had not even started yet. The rest of the trip was fairly uneventful in comparison, though Josiah was a bit wired.

Mackenzie passed the hearing and vision tests with flying colors (and had fun doing them as this was the first time!) and her urine tested normal. She weighs 31 and 1/2 lbs which puts her in the 25 % for weight. She is 40.25 inches tall, which places her in the 50 % for height. She received four shots today: Polio, MMR, Varicella, DTaP. That catches her up on immunizations until she is twelve years old! (Except for annual flu shots, of course.) She screamed as I held her down while the shots were given. She calmed down immediately once they were over. I tried to explain how terrible the diseases are in comparison to the shots. Yeah, that's the nurse in me. I did give her some sympathy, too, though! :)

We did it! We survived! That's how I felt by the time we were done. Other than Josiah's diaper incident, all went well. Ha.

Chocolate Covered Kenzie

After a day exploring the Norris area (hiking, playgrounds, driving), we all four enjoyed some ice cream from Bruster's on Labor Day! You might think Josiah would have been the messiest, but he ate his too fast to be messy. Mackenzie, well, the pictures truly are worth a thousand words! :)

I Love You

As I tucked Josiah into his toddler bed tonight...
he said, "Night, night."

Me: "I love you, Josiah."

Josiah: "I love the chairs." (giggle)

Me: "Silly boy! Whatever happened to, 'I love you, Momma?'"

Josiah: Smiling, "I love the chairs!"

Weird conversation. So it goes at 2 years old! :) Josiah keeps us on our toes. He has been a Momma's boy lately, and I love all the extra cuddles and those precious hugs!