Our night in the ER

Well, the week started out good enough. Izzy and I enjoyed some sun at the Sounders game- which was AWESOoooooooOOOoooooME! (imagine that in my high sing-songy voice)

Then she had soccer practice on Thursday. They were scrimmaging and needed 2 goalies, so she was brought in as the second one (their full time goalie was at the other end). She tells me at one point she made a great save. GreeeeAAAAaaaat!

Her coach, who was playing on the other team took a shot and Izzy tried to block it with her hands. It didn't go so well.

When I arrived on the field near the end of practice, they were just finishing up their wind sprints and then capped off the night with 300 crunches. I could see her holding her arm close to her and knew she was probably in some pain. But she still finished the running and sit ups.

She doesn't like to show pain...or weakness...or have attention drawn to herself.

So instead, she sucked it up and finished practice.

My first look the big bump on her wrist was filled with motherly concern.

I wanted to hold her in my pocket and stroke her hair and tell her everything was going to be okay.

During the ride home from soccer she tells me it would be okay if I took her to the ER.

WHOA.

Hold the bus. Even though she STILL wasn't crying this was a HUGE sign of how much it hurt.

We came home, and I had her shower and change (thinking if they put her in a cast, I didn't want her sweaty stinky self stuck in there for 4 weeks). Crazy? Maybe, but let me remind you that she still wasn't crying at all.

When I told her it was time to go, I found her in her room putting on make-up and putting on cuter sweat pants than the ones I had originally laid out for her.

Really? REALLY?

We took Maria to my moms house and as soon as we had Maria squared away, the tears came. 45 minutes after it happened, she finally let herself cry.

Thinking about it is making me cry all over again. One look at her face and I was tearing up. I am apparently made of weaker cloth than she. I am a mushy, gummy, emotional mess.

But you knew that already.

When we arrived at the prestigious Children's Hospital (because where else would an over protective mother take her child??) I felt better.

Izzy couldn't move her wrist at all, hardly any thumb movement, there was a huge lump on it and she kept saying it felt numb. They had a hard time feeling the pulse in her wrist.

They couldn't believe she finished soccer practice and gave her a gentle, loving lecture on taking care of herself. Then they started saying things that were freaking her out, like "bone doctor will be here soon" and "vascular damage" and "definitely broken" and "let's get an IV".

These scary words put her over the edge and had mom feeling pretty worried.

[Worried = scared so badly that her stomach was flip flopping and mom may have felt like she was going to throw up.]

Did I forget to mention that during this entire evening Morrie was at the Jabbawockeez show at the Monte Carlo hotel in Las Vegas?

Yeahhhh. Let's take a moment and think about THAT one, shall we??

When the doctor tested her range of motion and pushed on her wrist and told her to push back, this mom was a little woozy.

Isabelle was so stressed out about the IV, that her veins shrunk out of sight and they couldn't get the IV in. They wrapped her good arm in warm packs to see if that would help, and we kept her injured arm covered up because she didn't want to look at it.


(this picture is fuzzy because she lifted her head off the pillow when she realized what I was doing and gave me a stern "Moooom!")

[This picture has been removed to protect the innocent]

[And because I promised I wouldn't show it to anyone but Dad. It's just her in the hospital bed. Sheesh.]


I took this one while she thought I was texting.

(it has since been removed per Isabelle's request)

By midnight, the x-rays were done. The doctor came in and surprisingly said there were no fractures.

Wait, can you say that again? No fractures?

Then what the heck is going on?

They determined that when the ball hit her hands, her wrist dislocated and then popped back into place. Then a large amount of blood began pooling in the wrist cutting off her hand blood supply (hence the cold hand) and made a huge lump (that looked like a broken bone).


She ate the PB and J sandwich that I brought so they could give her pain meds. Then we waited for those to kick in while she slept under warm blankets.

I pushed 3 plastic chairs together and laid down. My leg fell asleep and my neck doesn't turn to the right anymore.

Meanwhile Morrie was sleeping comfortably in his bed at the Venetian hotel.


After the pain medication kicked in, the doctor came back and made Isabelle move her wrist more to begin to dissolve the large contusion she now has. She wanted to make sure the pain was masked before we did this.

It was hurting me so much that I asked for some pain meds too.


We finally made it home around 3am.

There wasn't too much traffic.

We spent the day today icing, providing meds and working on the contusion when it was icey cold and numb. Well...mostly numb. I could hardly feel it.

Tonight we had already planned a triple birthday party for my nephew, myself and Izzy at my sister's house. I ordered the cake earlier in the week and explained that it was a 14th birthday and could they make it look girly and celebratory- but no old lady pastel flowers. They always do a really good job, so with even the vague direction, I knew it would turn out great.

Plus, it would be a nice surprise for Izzy on this difficult day.

This is what I saw when I picked up the cake:



Um...wait...I did NOT order a 4th of July cake. What is going on??

When the guy saw my confused/dissappointed look, he looked at the order slip with the directions.

"Oh, I am so sorry ma'm. Our decorator had about 30 cakes to do for today and I guess she just glanced at this and saw the 4 from the 14 part and thought it was a 4th of July cake".

The cake looks lame. It looks like it has a flying mustard bottle on it and a ketchup bottle squirting mystery sauce.

Sigh.....This mom might have started crying because I went to bed at 3 IN THE MORNING and didn't get a lot of sleep with the neighbors car alarm going off at 4:30 and my mother calling me at 8 am and my dear husband calling from his plush hotel bed at 9am and I am really stressed about my girl's pain and THIS IS NOT WHAT I ORDERED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's kinda been a rough day around here.

Soccer Tournament Part II

Summer is so great because we have enough time to play a million games of soccer, we have enough time to watch MLS soccer and we still have enough time to keep up on the Open Cup, Gold Cup and the women's World Cup qualifying games.

Life is good.

Watching Isabelle play soccer has taught me a lot over the years:

1. A little elbow in the kidney never hurt anybody:

2. I wouldn't want to be in a foot race against her:

3. I really like her in all blue:

(She's cute!)

4. When you are not playing in a game, you should juggle to your heart's content.

Unless of course your mom wants you to lay down and rest, or apply more sunscreen.

5. When she gets like this, it's best just to let her have the ball:

(whatever she eats for breakfast, I want some of that!)


6. Sometimes throwing in the ball isn't all what it's cracked up to be:

7. Soccer and dancing are very similar:

The pitch. Touch lines. Goal kicks. PK's. Goal differentials. Nutmegs. Pull backs.

I love it all.

Facing Reality

I haven't really wanted to talk about Isabelle's graduation. Let's face it, I'm not the biggest fan of the girls getting older and moving forward in their lives. I prefer to bury the facts deep under some heavy blankets in the dark corners of my heart and pretend they are still 4 and 6.

Seriously.

Case in point:
This girl looks way too old for me to know what to do with. Those blue eyes! The straight teeth! That fantastic brain of hers!

Facts: Her teachers love her. I went up to one teacher to thank him for being so fantastic and passionate about history and geography and he tells me that he thinks Isabelle is "wicked smart"
and wants to keep track of her and where she is going.

Then I started tearing up and he was faced with a speechless, weepy mother and was looking over my shoulder for someone to come and save him.

I can't handle it.

When Isabelle told me her all time favorite teacher, the one she couldn't have done it without, I had to thank this woman. I grabbed her at graduation and before I finished my first sentence, I was choked up. I quickly handed her the card I had written since I pretty much knew I wouldn't be able to get the words out. It was too much for me.

They have built her up, encouraged her education, celebrated her accomplishments and held her hand through her losses (I think she got a B one time in 5th grade, she was devestated).

Fact: Images of future moments in life really make my heart gummy. Wasn't she just 4 and dancing with her daddy? Now she is almost 14? Someday she will dance with him at her wedding, and look just as radiant and I will be in the corner sobbing. Life's big moments are sometimes just too big for me to wrap my arms around.

Fact: She is gorgeous and doesn't know it. Makes her mom think that she needs to be even more protective of her little girl.

I'll just keep her in my arms a little longer, okay?

Does someone have a tissue?

A demonstration in exhaustion

I asked our dog Annie to please demonstrate how tired we have all been lately.

I think that pretty much sums it up.

Thank you Annie.

Isabelle's class had a volleyball game versus the teachers at an all school assembly last week. The cheering was so extreme and intense that I think I lost the hearing in my right ear. That is what happens when the first graders sit right behind you!

This picture is right before the 8th graders smashed through the paper and sprinted around the gym a few times really getting the younger kids amped up. You would have thought the crowd had main lined sugar and caffeine right before they entered the gym.

In a more subdued environment the next day, Isabelle had her last handbell performance to which the parents were invited. They played some great music including Amazing Grace. I didn't cry. Honest!

Okay, maybe a little.

Then the kids had to pick someone from the audience to get up and perform a group song. Luckily Morrie and my sister also had to get up and play! Isabelle is teaching me how to work a chime.

I am really doubting that I can in fact work the chime.

The play! The play! This is outside the theatre, where 2 very excited girls let me snap their picture.

Our motto: "Stage Crew Rocks!"

Mostly because we look like a lot of stealth ninja's in all black, running around in the dark carrying furniture.

This morning: One last picture with her braces on!!

No way!!!!! Look!!!

I can't tell you the extreme joy that this kid had today. She came out of the orthodontist's office giggling and exclaiming "This is so awesome!!" and "This is the BEST DAY EVER!!!".

Well, at least until Thursday when she graduates.

Thoughts

Sometimes I think that I need to go back to 1998 and hang out with this girl more...

Because when I see her like this, I FREAK OUT:

In all honesty, this picture was a little joke we pulled on Dad. I took it with my phone, and came home and told Morrie we found the perfect graduation dress. Then I showed him this picture. He says to me "Don't you...Don't you think it's a little LOW in the front???" as he started to hyperventilate.

It was the best 3 minutes of my life.

This is how perfectly beautiful she really will be. She had graduation photos at school already. I may have cried.

Unless you think that makes me ridiculous, then I definitely DID NOT cry.

Really.

Hand me a tissue please.

Then I dried my tears and we went to a Sounders game and all was right with the universe (it's funny how that works).

They gave us free stuff.

You can ignore the fact that the stadium looks empty. We were there 2 days early. We REALLY don't' want to miss anything.

Although, sometimes when it is really cold and rainy at the game, and I have a poncho on, and I can't even clap because my arms are inside the poncho, I wish I was curled up at home in front of the heater like this:

Or playing cards with this girl:

Who decidedly has NO poker face.

I like to play her for quarters.

Happy Easter!

I wanted to wish everyone a Happy Easter, and perhaps explain my prolonged absence from blogging.


I have been pre-occupied with nervousness. Anxiety.

Someone get me a paper bag!!

Maria's team was in the semi-finals of state cup, and Isabelle's quarter final game of state cup was scheduled for the exact same time on the exact same day. I was horrifically torn, not knowing which one I should go to and very nervous for both girls. We decided that Morrie would take Maria and video tape her game for me. I wanted to have game updates, but I know it is impossible to text and use a video camera. at the same time.

Morrie did NOT want any texting whatsoever. He was in his own ball of heart palpatations.


We knew Izzy would be doing things like this:


When she got dressed for this position, I was a heart attack waiting to happen:

I hate to see her in goal, and her goalie was injured, but there was a possibility that the main goalie would play. We crossed our fingers. We said extra prayers. We lit candles. When we got to the field, the other back up keeper got dressed. We obviously didn't light enough candles, but this would work out. Phew!

Then the second half came and Izzy had to put the gloves on. I was dying. I knew Morrie did not want to know this was happening. However, I was surprised that he hadn't texted me ANYTHING at all.

It turns out, all the parents watching Maria's game were freaking out as it went into double overtime.

You can see a cool highlight video that Maria and Morrie made here:

www.youtube.com/fcalliancepremier

Izzy's team won their quarterfinal and were decidedly overjoyed:

We met up with Morrie and Maria to find out that she had lost after the poor kids played an 80 minute game. It wasn't a fantastic experience for Maria and we tried to sweep up her sorrow by going out to dinner and getting caught in the worst traffic around Southcenter mall ever.


Maria's tryouts were the week following state cup and she wasn't sure if she should tryout again. In the end, she decided it was worth a shot as there would be a new coach.

Here is a picture of a girl I plan on seeing more of this year:

She was excited to be offered a spot on the A team, and we look forward to much more soccer inspired fun for the next 12 months. I sure am glad she had that one day off from practice!

Just kidding, I think she will have May off.

Maybe. Probably.

Well, I'm not totally sure.

I can't think about it anyway, as I have to prepare a stack of paper bags for Izzy's semi final game this weekend. Why does it feel like my heart is beating in my stomach? Why do I keep waking up at 3:30 in the morning?

Is this called socceritis?

Kleenex Alert!

Okay, maybe YOU don't need kleenex for this one, but I needed some. As a matter of fact, I think I need a therapy appointment for my gooey heart and melty memories that make me weepy. Isabelle was once a second grader. She was really cute. It was Christmas one time. We draw names at Christmas. Every kid (even the big ones) hope that my Dad gets their name. He likes lists. He buys the whole list. He's pretty much like having Santa in your family. This one year, when Isabelle was second grade cute, my dad had her name. She opened her gift, that turned out to be a note. That led to another note. She was obvisouly planning on something grand, because it looks like she is dressed for the Oscars. Anyway, this note led to yet another note. It was very exciting as all the little cousins chased her all over the house listening to her read aloud, telling them where this epic adventure was taking them next.

It eventually led to the porch.

Outside.

Where there was a brand new bike waiting for her.

She saw the bike, and then quickly looked at Mom to share an over the top moment of excitement that only you can share with your mom.

Because you mom knows you THAT well.

And it still makes your mom cry every time she sees the picture of the shared look of sheer joy.

Then she cries harder as she sees those little hands wrapped around Grandpa's neck thanking him for the most fantastic gift a girl could ever get.

Thanks Dad. It was a gift that that I won't ever forget!

We do other things!

You must think that by this time, we don't do anything except play sports. It's a little bit true, but I will prove to you today that we are multi talented. This is Maria after school last week. I think someone needs to get more sleep. She may want to take some of the vitamins that are sitting right in front of her. Just a suggestion. This is moi talking to my friend Kathy. Morrie is- for some inexplicable reason- using my camera. Izzy is repeatedly saying "Mom, we need to go to Starbucks" over and over. I can't hear Kathy and I can't hear Izzy (because they are both talking to me), but I can pose for the picture!

I think this is why I embarrass the kids sometimes. Not totally sure, but it's a possibility.

Maria finally woke up, and she is holding her goods from Starbucks. Can you believe they sell cake pops now? I keep thinking some baker just totally scored the giant contract with that decision!

Starbucks in my family makes everyone very happy. The happiness lasts too, so it is in my best interest to keep it coming. The joy lasted so long for Maria, that she is actually posing on the soccer field here.

Who does that?

Poses all funny when they have a camera pointed at them?

Weird.

Izzy and I spent HOURS shopping for her graduation dresses. No, that is not a typo, they need TWO. I think they are trying to kill the parents. Morrie said we should go for high neck and long skirt.

Does this foot the bill?

It's not a shirt folks. It is really a dress. My dad had it easy in our day.

OMG, she looks so cute here! I have to go hug her. She is getting to grown up and I need her to be 7 again.

I will also have you know that I don't always hold the camera at soccer games. Well, most of the time I do. Unless my camera is broken. Then I sit around with these two squirrels. I wonder what piece of priceless advice Maria is passing on here. Maybe I shouldn't ask.

There you have it, we drink Starbucks, we lay around, we talk on the phone and we make fun of ridiculously short dresses. Ialso make Izzy try on floor length gowns just to pull pranks on people when we text them pictures of it. Then we lay on the floor of the dressing room laughing until our sides burst.

Finally, more soccer pictures!!

Okay, so you may not have been waiting on the edge of your seat for these...but I have! We had an incident with the camera last week and I was not able to take any pictures of Izzy's game on Saturday. It was dreadful for me not to have the camera. Izzy saved 2 goals from being scored in super fantastic fashion- one included tons of people around the goal and Izzy literally kicking it backwards over her head and out of the goal. Due to that performance her team voted her captain of Sunday's game, which was a pretty big deal for her. If I describe this tournament that she is in one more time, I am going to make myself sick, so I will leave it at "she's playing in a tournament that lasts several weeks" so as not to torture you with the details. This the the defense having their pre-game talk. Are they talking game strategy? Their favorite songs on their ipods? Justin Beiber's haircut? The sex episode on Modern Family? I have no idea, but I am going to invest in a microphone right away.

This is Izzy jumping into action. Can she not use her head? It would make my neck feel a lot better.

Here she is giving another girl a headache. Somehow Izzy came out of it just fine and the ref had to ask #16 of she was going to be ok.

This is her "Leaning" move. In Saturday's game she may have turned up the volume on this move and actually checked -hockey style- and had a foul called on her. When we asked her about it later, she said she didn't mean it, and then in the next breath said it was payback.

Izzy's team mate fractured her heal in that game and it was heart breaking. I don't like to see these girls in pain. Run Forest run!!

Izzy is kneeing the ball out.

This is Izzy scaring the crap out of the other girl.

This is the ball mark that made Izzy smile and say "YES!!" when she saw it.

I don't understand soccer players. But I sure love them!!!