Snapshots of our Lives: November 2014

I bought a new phone earlier this month, so I haven't been taking as many pictures since I was getting used to the settings on it. And now I feel like I can't even remember what we did the first half of this month!

 

 Like most moms, I feel like I am go-go-go from the time I wake up in the morning until I fall into bed exhausted most nights, so the days start running into one big blur. I love that I have pictures to look back on to help me remember. If it wasn't for looking back at pictures - I feel like I would forget so many of the little things that we experience as a family.

 

I cannot get over how Kimber is looking like such a big girl these days! One of my most favorite things to do is get her dressed up for church on Sundays since she normally wears casual clothes to daycare during the week. She looks like a teenager in this picture!



 

And she has perfected the pout. If she doesn't get her way, she'll put on her best pouty face!

She still doesn't normally get her way...but she looks adorable!

 

Kimber had surgery for her second set of tubes on November 10. The recovery went much smoother this time. She didn't cry at all. She was happy & dancing when she came back to the room. They thought her tubes had fallen out, but they ended up being 100% plugged with wax. They replaced them and we're hoping to keep this set wax free!

Kimber sees me wear a scarf to work almost every day, so she has started putting Daddy's underwear around her neck like a scarf. It's SO cute...except for when she tries to pull them out of the hamper & wear them! I really need to buy her a couple Kimber sized scarves!

 This girl LOVES ribs. She's only had them when we've been at events where someone else has made them {Super Bowl Parties/Family Events}, so I decided to put them on the weekly menu. I think we'll add them to the rotation - they were easy to make and she ate everything on her plate!

Auntie Oobie bought this puffer vest for Kimber and I can't get over how cute she looks in it!

Does anyone else stress to the max when it comes to planning outfits for family pictures? I am your typical Type A personality and this kind of stuff drives me crazy, but I love it at the same time! I completely overthink it, search Pinterest for hours and can't sleep at night because I can't turn my mind off!!

 

I think I've decided to go with the traditional black, red, white and gray combination for one outfit.

But I'm still not 100% sold on it.

 

Ofcourse, I have to try everything on and see what it looks like on me. And send pictures to all my friends to see if it looks good.

 

 I went shopping by myself. For 3 hours.  On a Friday night. Usually, it would be a nice and relaxing time for me. But not when I was on a mission to find 'the perfect outfit for family pictures.

 

Nick & I were suppose to go to the Garth Brooks concert in Minneapolis last weekend. Aunt Deb bought a group of us tickets and I was SO excited to go. I listened to my Garth CD all week long & even wore my cowboy boots to work. We were going to get a hotel room, sleep in, have brunch and do some shopping the next day before we headed back home to pick up Kimber.

 But our planned changed quickly when Kimber threw up ALL OVER at Arby's. As in, all over herself, the table, all over me, down my shirt and in my hair. This was the first time she had the flu and I wasn't going to leave her alone. Plus, Papa was already watching Chloe & Abey, so I wasn't going to leave her with him and pass it along to the other kids. We stayed home and snuggled in the chair. She was sick on & off for about 6 hours. She slept thru the night and felt much better on Sunday morning. I'm sad that we missed the concert, but I wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere else than with my sweet baby girl taking care of her.

 

Kimber has really started playing with baby dolls all the time. She carries them around, sings to them, feeds them - it's all so cute! I'm sure she'll be getting lots of baby dolls & accessories for Christmas this year!

 

We had our first measurable snowfall of the year last weekend. It looked really pretty from the window, but I was fine with staying inside under the blanket where it was nice & warm!

Since it snowed, we figured we better try Kimber's snowsuit on her. It took over 10 minutes to get her all bundled up and she could barely walk in it!

And I think she's already wishing for warmer weather! She found her sand bucket & beach toys in her closet this week and she's played with it all night long. She'll take the toys out of the bucket, stack them up and put them back in the bucket one by one. She did this for almost an hour last night!

Almost every night, Nick & Kimber have a treat after supper. Usually, it's a couple oreos. The first thing Kimber does is pull hers apart, eats the cream filled middle and hands the outside to Nick for him to eat. I'm not sure where she picked that up, but she does it every single time.

Muffins with my Monkey: Daddy's Special Birthday Breakfast

Every morning, Nick & Kimber sit in the chair together. Snuggling & watching tv until it's time to go to daycare. Nick will fill up her sippy with milk, she'll run over to the chair and wait for him. Sometimes grabbing the Iowa blanket on her way over, if it's not already laying by the chair.  They'll snuggle together, while she drinks her sippy and they watch cartoons on IPTV.

 

I know Nick loves this time with Kimber. And during harvest season, this might be the only time he sees her during the day since he's usually still in the fields when I put her to bed at night. 

 

I wanted to make this time special for him on Saturday morning since it was his birthday. Nick calls Kimber 'his little Monkey' and I found the perfect birthday card to him from her, so I thought of 'Muffins with my Monkey' as a breakfast theme. {I LOVE a good theme}.

 

Along with the birthday card, Kimber & I bought a book they could read together while snuggling in the chair, Daddy's favorite kind of orange juice, milk for Kimber and muffins/donuts for breakfast. It might not seem like much...but Nick loved it and he said it was the perfect gift. Time with his baby girl.

 

Nick's Fall Update

Our weekend started out like any other normal harvest weekend. Friday night, after work, Kimber & I hopped in the combine with Daddy to go for a ride. He had been working late all week and Kimber was running around the house saying "Dada, Dada", so I figured they would both enjoy a little 'combine date'.

 

 

On Saturday morning, Kimber woke up extra early. 5am to be exact. Daddy & Kimber sat in the rocking chair watching cartoons while Kimber drank milk from her sippy. About 7:30 Nick left for the farm, so it was my turn to sit in the chair with Kimber before getting ready for the day.

 

At 7:51am, my phone rang. It was my MIL telling me I needed to come to King's bin site in a serious tone. She asked me if I knew where it was and gave me directions. Yep, I knew where that was. And then she said "Nick fell from a bin. I've called 911 and the ambulance is on the way". The second I heard those words, the tears started. She said that he was breathing and not to speed, but to get there as soon as I could. I remember putting my shoes on, putting Kimber's coat & hat on her and running out of the door. I couldn't get to him fast enough.

 

When I pulled up to the bin site, the ambulance was already there. They were putting a neck brace on Nick and getting ready to put him on the board. I saw him move his legs & arms. I was relieved. I heard him talk to the first responders. Again, I was relieved. He was moving and talking. Two good signs that hopefully there was no head or spine trauma.

 

The rest is kindof a blur. I can't remember if I went over and gave him a kiss. I know I wanted to be close to him, but I also knew the first responders needed their space to do their thing. I know I was crying. I know my MIL was telling me what happened and hugging me. I know I was praying over & over to keep Nick safe.

 

It was cold. Maybe 30-40 degrees that morning.  In my hurry to get out of the house, I didn't grab a coat for myself. Sandy found a blanket for me. I wrapped it around Kimber & I to keep warm. Nick was cold, too. He was in shock. They moved him to the ambulance to check his vitals. We knew some of the first responders personally, one goes camping with my inlaws and another goes to our church. They kept us updated on his progress and how his vitals were doing. Luckily, they said things were looking pretty good.

The first responders called for life flight, which is typical in a fall situation. By 8:30, Nick was leaving on the helicopter to the hospital in Des Moines. It was so hard not to jump in there with him. I didn't want to leave him alone. But it wasn't an option to ride with him.

 



By the time he left, the entire family was at the scene of the accident. Great Gramma & Grampa, his parents, brother & sister in law and sister. Everyone was concerned about him. We were getting text messages from local friends that had already heard the news. I didn't have a chance to call my family until after he left on the helicopter and was driving up to the farm to drop off Kimber & my car. I called my dad and asked him to tell the rest of the family. It was hard to say the words out loud and I started crying all over again when I heard my his voice.

 

Great Gramma & Allysha said they would take care of Kimber and Sandy drove me down to the hospital. It was the longest drive of my life!! On the way down to the hospital, I was already getting message from people asking if it was Nick that fell. Someone had posted a video on Facebook of life flight landing on the road and news travels fast in a small town.

 

About 10 minutes before we reached the hospital, the trauma doctor called me to let me know the results of Nick's CT scan. Luckily, there was no internal injuries. They were concerned about his spleen and kidneys, but she said they were fine and would not need to be removed. He did bruise his lung and they would need to monitor that closely to ensure he did not get fluid in them and develop pneumonia. He also broke 6 ribs {ribs 2 - 7} and broke his hip socket. But overall, for the fall he took, his injuries were pretty minimal compared to what could have happened.

 

When we reached the hospital, he was still in the ER. We were able to go see him. The first words out of his mouth were "Where is Kimmy?". I told him I didn't bring her because I didn't think she could sit in the waiting room all day. That brought tears to his eyes. And then mine. As hard as it was to see him, I was so thankful that he was alive. And was not paralyzed or have a brain injury. Our lives would have been forever changed.

 

Nick was moved to his own room around 11am. And it turned into a very long day. He was waiting to get an epidural to ease the pain in his chest, so he could breath easier. They could not give him much pain medicine during this time. An nothing to eat or drink. All he wanted was a drink of water and they wouldn't even give him that! They kept saying he would go shortly, but he didn't go down until 5:30. And it turned out they were not able to get the epidural in. So he sat for 6+ hours in pain without much pain medicine. Needless to say, we weren't very happy about that. But once he got back to his room, they were able to hook him up to an IV and give him stronger pain meds. And he got that drink of water!!

 

Over the next 4 days, I stayed at the hospital with Nick to take care of him, while Kimber stayed at Gramma & Papa's house. As hard as it was not to be home with her, I knew Nick needed me and I wanted to be there for him. And Kimber was in great hands with family.

 

Kimber came to see Daddy every day he was in the hospital and it made our day to see our sweet little girl. The first day, Nick was still in the bed and she didn't know what to think about that. She didn't want to sit still next to him on the bed - it was more exciting to run up & down the hallways!!

 

On Monday, Nick was able to get out of bed and walk down to the hallways for physical therapy. Kimber was happy to see Daddy out of that bed! She even helped him with his physical therapy!!

 

We were humbled by the kindness of others while Nick was in the hospital {and the weeks to follow}. Sending balloons/gifts/food, stopping by to visit him, bringing meals and so many thoughts & prayers!!

 



On Tuesday, Nick was released from the hospital. He was able to control the pain with pills {and not an IV}, so he was allowed to go home with little to no physical activity. He needed to allow his body to heal. Which is easier said than done, when you are a farmer and it's harvest season!!

 

We were so excited to be home as a family. Kimber & Daddy missed each other like crazy and enjoyed snuggles in the chair every morning & night. Nothing melts my heart more than watching the relationship between these two!

 





 

I went back to work Wednesday-Friday part-time and lined up people to come visit Nick and bring him meals while I was gone. I didn't want him to be alone too long, but I wanted him to be able to get the rest he needed. By time I got home at night, he would be going stir-crazy and we'd have to take a drive so he could check out the harvest progress. It was hard for him to see everyone working in the fields and he wasn't able to help out.

After two weeks of being home, he was back in the combine. He was feeling pretty good. Still sore and couldn't lift over 10 pounds, but he was ready to get back to work. And now, four weeks later, you can barely tell he had an accident. His ribs & hip still hurt him and it'll take time to heal completely, but I am amazed at his progress!

 

I've always been the type of person that has enjoyed life and don't let the little things bother me {too much}, but after a situation like this - it makes you think that way even more. I love my little family and want to spend all my time with them. It also makes you realize what amazing family, friends and community we live in. People were willing to take time out of their busy lives to visit him, bring us meals and say a prayer for him.

 

It's been four weeks since the accident and I still tear up when I think about everything that happened and how different our worlds could have been. As I was sitting next to him at the hospital, I thought I could be sitting at his funeral instead of at the hospital. He definitely had a guardian angel watching over him that fall morning. Nick & I like to believe it was Gramma & Grampa Hicketheir that caught him as he fell.