A sick boy, A night away, and A charred husband?

Wow, it's been a while. We have been very busy lately. A week and a half ago Brad went on a fishing/camping trip for his birthday. I was excited about a weekend with just Parker and I. That Friday I noticed that he wasn't quite himself but he definately wasn't sick enough to take to the dr. I thought it was just sinus stuff. That Saturday he was a little worse and Sunday he was really sick. This was his first time being really sick. (He's had a couple colds/runny nose and one ear infection last summer). He wasn't eating and drinking just a little bit. He had a fever on Saturday and had one most of the day on Sunday. Sunday he started to fall asleep at about 6:15 in the evening. We keep Parker on a strict schedule of sleep so we know that this wasn't a good sign. I kept noticing he was feeling hotter and hotter and he had ibuprofen in him. Took his temp and it was 102.0. We finally decided to lay him down at about 7:15 p.m. We kept taking his temp and it was slowly going up. I was crying and just completely beside myself.

My oldest brother died when he was 4 from meningitis. Being that this was Parker's first time being really sick all I could think of was if something was seriously wrong with Parker and he wasn't going to make it. Generally speaking, I always seem to think the worse thing could happen in any situation. So then my mind began going and going and I was thinking of what life would be like without Parker and if I could even continue living. I called my mom and talked to her for a while, which helped a lot.

Took Parker to the DR a week ago Monday, (which was a terrible experience). My child was sick, very sick. Our appointment was at 10 am. We arrived just a few minutes before 10. The lady behind the desk wasn't helpful and was doing other work while I stood waiting at the window. There is no germ-x in the waiting room. And I kept thinking we were all going to catch the flu/strep because I touched a door knob that other people have touched. gross. We finally got called back to an exam room at 10:30. We waited...and waited. Around 11, I finally open the exam room door ...thinking someone would walk by. Again, my child is very sick and we are sitting in a small exam room and all he wants to do is sleep. We try to keep him awake so the Dr. can examine him. At 11:15, the dr. rushes in and says, "well we have strep. Here's an antibiotic. It may turn his poop pink." I say to her, "He is about to fall asleep so if you are going to examine him you need to do so now." She listens to his heart and checks his ears and that's it. She was in there maybe a minute...and that may be exaggerating. Really? YOu don't offer any suggestions on what to do with a sick child or if we can alternate tylenol/ibuprofen? you don't offer anything...and we've waited an hour and a half to see you? Ugh. I was totally disgusted. I kept thinking to myself...your clinic opens up at 8 our appt was at 10..you are really that far behind? really? you are making sick kids wait that long? It was a terrible experience. (This was our 2nd time at this clinic. Our first time we had to wait an hour.) I miss our LR pediatrician.

Anyway, Parker had strep. My poor baby. He is feeling better. Praise God.

Last week I had a continuing education class in Little ROck. Bradley took off work to watch Parker. I spent my first night away from my baby boy. And, I did not like it...not one bit. All I could do was think about Parker and wondered what he was doing. I missed him like crazy. His daddy took good care of him. I wouldn't leave him with anyone else overnight. I hated being away from Parker overnight and don't plan on doing it again.

This past Sunday morning (after early church), we were playing in the front yard. Bradley wanted to make a burn pile and burn some leaves. I tell him, "Are you sure you know what you're doing? How do you know it's not going to catch the grass on fire, or the trees?" Bradley reassured me, "I've done this hundreds of times. This is what we did growing up. It's not going to catch the grass on fire." I still doubt him and say, "Should I call the fire dept and alert them what you are about to do?" I am totally not convinced that this is going to go right. (See, I do think of the worse case scenerio!) I had a feeling that something wasn't going to go right. I have never burned leaves in my life nor been around a burn pile. Brad seemed pretty confident in what he was about to do. He asked me to go get the camping fluid out of the garage. I ask, "What's camping fluid?" He told me and I went and got it. Again, I say to him, "Bradley, Isn't this going to catch the house on fire? Are you sure it's not going to catch the grass on fire? How do you know?" I was totally concerned but Bradley seemed not to be. So, I took Parker and we stood very far away. Bradley put some camping fluid on the pile of leaves. (Which on the container of the fluid it says, "highly flammable.") He got down by the leaves to light it. I hear a BOOM and Bradley screams. I totally see his life flash before my eyes and run over to him. He looks a little stunned and confused about what just happened. He is not on fire, his still has his hair and his eye brows. "How are you not on fire," I asked, "because that fire came towards you and it looked like you were on fire." I called my husband an inappropriate name and told him not to do that again. it scared me. We laugh about it now and I enjoy telling the story. So thankful he is ok and not burned...because he could have easily been burned. Praise God.

Have a good day everyone!