Why JT Will Never Be a Stay-At-Home-Dad...

There are lots of reasons why JT won't be a Stay-At-Home-Dad, but today ensured that his sanity couldn't handle it. For one of the few times in Nashville history, the city was mostly shut down. The roads were so bad, that it was recommended that no one get out on them because of the ice. Guess who wasn't closed...Publix! I will admit that my boss was kind of enough to let me work at the store closest to my house, so I didn't have to travel far. Hope obviously couldn't get to us by 9:00, so JT decided to stay home with the kids until the roads cleared and then he would go to work. The roads never really cleared, and his business ended up closing for the day, so he got an entire 13 hour day with Will, Evie, and Maggie. Oh boy! (He does keep the kids every other weekend when I work with NeeNee and Gram's help, but I had not worked any weekends in January and February, so this was a first for him.)

By 9:15 A.M., Hope and I both received this picture...

Signed by "Will, EB, and Maggie's paw print"

I checked in on them a few times throughout the day, and of course everyone was doing fine. Then around 5:00 P.M., I got this. Here is what I noticed...

1. They have changed clothes (just to more pj's).
2. Will is wearing JT's visor.
3. Evie is wearing JT's hat and looks like a rapper/gangsta.
4. Evie is wearing Will's "Planes" t-shirt. I'm surprised he didn't knock her out of that bumbo when he noticed!
5. Will is having one of his favorite snacks.

I think they had a great day together! It is tough trying to keep up with these two, especially when you are trapped in the house all day! At least I try to go somewhere with them for a little change of scenery. Speaking of scenery, there was NO snow on the ground. Ice only. Will and JT didn't get to even enjoy their "snow day" outside playing.

The next morning when Hope pulled up, JT announced very excitedly, "The angel has arrived!" He couldn't wait to go back to work to his easy job! I'm not going to lie, I feel the same way most days. There is no job harder than being a Stay-At-Home-Parent!'

Good job JT!

Stitches for Will

First official ER visit for Will ended with 4 stitches above his left eye.

Will was going through his normal bedtime routine of reading 2 books when he started running around his room in circles (normal for him). He fell and hit his forehead above his left eye on the end of his bed. I was cleaning up the playroom and heard the panic in JT's voice. Will was bleeding a lot and I was trying to get him cleaned up so I could see how deep it was. It was really hard to tell though, and Will didn't want us to touch it any more than we had too. He calmed down pretty quickly and JT tested his eye movements, so we weren't really concerned about a concussion. JT called Dr. Scott and he said he would go to the ER since it might not heal well on its own.

Evie was asleep, but we decided to take her with us. We both wanted to be with Will so we loaded up the car for a Saturday night adventure at the ER. I talked to Will the entire car ride to keep him awake and make sure he wasn't acting different. He was being funny and smart as usual.

We got there and got in right away. Will didn't like getting his temperature taken, but he did like the scale. Will (plus 2 airplane toys) weighed 35 pounds. Next we went back to a room where a few nurses took turns talking to Will and keeping him happy. Besides a bleeding head, you'd never have known there was anything wrong. They put some numbing gel on his head. We had to wait 30 minutes for it to be effective, so Will and I laid in the bed and played with the airplanes, counted numbers on the clock, and played with the bandage tape.

"Lil' Maggie" was injured too. 

Once he was numb, JT helped hold him down so they could clean it out and get a good look at it. 4 stitches were put in and covered with an Elmo band-aid. They offered him a popsicle (which he refused) and gave him a teddy bear.

Will tells everyone that he got "4 stitches", and he usually holds up the correct number of fingers. 

Later in the week, we were able to remove the stitches. Will's pediatrician said that I could do it at home (he apparently has a lot of faith my surgical ability), but Will wouldn't let me (he doesn't trust me). I loaded up Will and Evie and back to the ER we went. They remove the stitches for free, so I decided it would probably be best to leave it to the professionals. He was a complete angel for them! He just laid there and let them take them out like it was no big deal. I think really he was just impressed with the magnifying glasses that the nurse was wearing. This time when they offered him the popsicle, I gladly accepted it for myself!

He climbed right up on the bed like he knew what he was doing. 

So we have had our first trip to the ER. I highly doubt it will be the last.