After careful consideration and much boredom, I’ve finally caved in to peer pressure and started this little blog. Don’t expect much; our family isn’t exactly the thrill-seeking, cutting-edge type. But we do manage to have a little bit of fun every now and then, so you’ll probably manage a few chuckles here and there, or at least a smile every once in a while.
The biggest and most recent event in our little family lately was our unfortunate car accident three weeks ago. I guess that’s as good of a place to start as any, I suppose! The photo below is horrifying, but I’ll reassure you right now that we are both ok! Charlotte (who turns 3 in May) and I were on our way to Kansas for a family wedding on March 12th. Since Chris works such odd hours (more about that later), he had to stay home, which turned out to be for the best! There’s no easy way to say it, but I feel asleep behind the wheel somewhere around hour six of our road trip. Charlotte had been sick earlier in the week and I was exhausted. I’d tried to pull over to take a power nap after we’d passed through Kansas City, but you can imagine how easy that was with an extremely vocal toddler in the backseat! I knew I was tired, but obviously had no idea how bad it was, or else I wouldn’t have continued. Just as we entered the city limits of Emporia, KS, my eyes closed for a second and we went into the median. From there the details are a little harrowing, but from the pictures below you can imagine how bad it was.
All I can say is how grateful I am that we weren’t severely hurt and that no other cars were involved. Charlotte’s carseat (a Britax Marathon) did a superb job; the only injuries she had were the marks on her neck from where her carseat harness held her in. I broke my left ankle at some point, which I realized after I tried to move around to get her out of the backseat. The people of the city of Emporia could not have been nicer. Those that were on the highway with us when the accident happened came running over to help. After I managed to get the driver’s side door unlocked and opened, there were already several people there. I passed Charlotte through the door to a neary woman, who bundled her up with a blanket from another person’s car. A nurse was driving past and stopped to help as well. She kept my ankle stable until the ambulance arrived. The EMT’s took Charlotte to check her out, and thank goodness she was ok. She made quick friends with a police officer on the scene, and they were smitten with each other by the time I got there. I was taken out of the car on a backboard with a C-collar for precautions, so I was glad she had someone to take care of her. He had given her a little stuffed dog and told the ambulance crew that he would ride with us to the hospital so that he didn’t have to leave Charlotte. She sat on his lap the whole time and we tried to keep her entertained by explaining to her how she would get to tell all of her friends that she got to ride in an ambulance. My cell phone ended up right next to me after the crash, so I was able to call my parents before the EMT arrived to tell them what had happened. They were about an hour and a half away and quickly jumped in the car. They were there before we knew it and took care of us as only the best parents can.
We made it home the next day after spending the night in Emporia. I was never so glad to be back in St. Louis! I had surgery a week later on my ankle and have been off work since the accident. I go back to the doctor today to get my stitches out and get another cast on that I’ll have for the next 6-8 weeks. Just call me “Hop-A-Long” until then, although I’m getting pretty quick on my crutches. Today is the last day of my medical leave, thank goodness! I’ve been busy for the last three weeks though. Thank goodness we have a laptop; it’s helped me work from home a little so I won’t have quite as much to catch up on tomorrow when I return.
My friends and family have been great throughout this ordeal. I got a beautiful bouquet of flowers from one aunt, and an awesome care package from the other with magazines, a DVD, and a book of word searches and other brain teasers. Charlotte got some candy and a coloring book in the package as well. It has been a lifesaver on those days that I can’t be up to chase around after her! My mom has been over most nights to help until Charlotte goes to bed, and I have to constantly yell at her to stop cleaning. Chris has done almost all of the cooking and cleaning when he’s home, too. That’s no easy feat with a toddler and a wife that’s here all day to make messes but not clean them up! I don’t know what we would have done without our slow-cooker! We actually broke it last week and went out immediately and bought another one. As grateful as I am that I only have a broken ankle, I’ll be glad when I’m completely healed up and can enjoy the summer. If there’s one fun thing about all this, it’s that I got a new car! It’s no surprise that mine was totaled, so Chris and I started the car search pretty quickly. I only had one payment left on my old car though and it was still going strong, so it kind of pained us to purchase another one! I ended up with a 2009 Saturn Vue. So far we really enjoy it. Charlotte loves riding in it in her new carseat. It’s the same model as before, but this one has a much girlier print. The old one was black-and-white checks, but her new seat is yellow with pink butterflies. She feels so big riding in it!
As far as non-crash related news is concerned, there isn’t too much to report. Chris works 3-11pm at his job on Scott Air Force base, but he enjoys what he does. He works in the Defense Information Systems Agency. Right now he has Sundays and Mondays off, which is hard for our family, but we hope that will change soon. He gets to spend every morning hanging out with Charlotte before she goes to daycare around lunchtime. They love their daddy-daughter time together! I’m coming up on my 5th year with Enterprise this summer. I oversee a department in charge of all of our Federal Government contracts. We have accounts with most military divisions, as well as many non-military government agencies, such as the White House and Secret Service. I’ve been in this role for the last year and a half and I love it. I recently got a promotion as well to give me even more job responsibilities, which is great.
Easter Sunday was yesterday and we met up with my parents for brunch at the Wild Horse Grill in Chesterfield. Mom and I had taken a cooking class a while ago from a chef that used to work there, and I’ve wanted to eat there ever since but never had. Charlotte enjoyed eating everyone’s bacon while Mom and Dad made their own omelets and I had Seafood Eggs Benedict. Chris also had a BLT that looked delicious! It was a gorgeous day outside, so Charlotte played with a few of the toys in her Easter basket outside the restaurant after our meal. She got a super-bouncy ball that can go up to 75 feet in the air, a DVD, candy, a Cardinals t-shirt, and a cute pair of sunglasses, just to name a few things. After a nap at home, she went outside to fly a kite and ride around the neighborhood on her Diego bike. The bouncy ball hit her lightly in the arm on it’s third bounce at one point, and she declared, “FUN TIME IS OVER, DADDY!” After that we came inside to watch a movie and snuggle up on the couch.
That’s about it for now. I’m looking forward to getting this dirty temporary cast off and heading back to work!
