The skin graft is taking!!! (don't read this if you are easily queasy)

Whew! What a crazy week this has been. Last Wednesday started out fairly normal. Luke and I spent the morning at home doing normal stuff. I had to work Wednesday night so around lunchtime I started preparing our dinner. I like to do all the prep work while Luke finishes his lunch so that I can nap while he does, and then when we get up I can pop dinner in the oven so that it is ready before I have to leave for work. I was preparing a potato casserole and was grating potatoes on a coarse grater.

I'm not sure what happened next--either I looked away or the grater slipped, not really sure, but I ended up grating off a good portion of my right thumb knuckle. I realized right away what had happened and grabbed a kitchen towel to put tight pressure on it. I wanted to bandage it tightly.

Gene had used some bandage tape a few weeks ago so I called him at work to ask him where he had put it. While I was on the phone with him I got real nauseous and headed to the bathroom because I thought I was going to be sick. Surprise! I was not going to throw up, I was going to pass out. Luke had followed me into the bathroom and grabbed my hairbrush off the countertop. My vision started to black out so I layed down on the floor becasue I didn't want to fall and hit my head. I never completely lost consciousness but I did drop the phone. Luke had been brushing my hair (which was in a ponytail, so he was really just creating snags and tangles) but dropping the phone distracted him enough to stop. He then picked up the phone and hung up on Gene. Of course this caused him to panic a little and he jumped in his car and headed home to check on us. After a minute or so, I felt better so I sat up and phoned Gene to let him know we were both okay. He came home to check on us anyway.

He convinced me to go to the ER where I ended up getting a few stitches. The skin had not completely detached so the doctor was able to sew it back on. He said it would be like a skin graft, but because the area wasn't highly vascularized, it would probably turn into a scab and fall off. In the meantime it would provide a good protective barrier and speed healing. I also had to get a tetanus shot. My arm hurt almost as much as my thumb.

The first time I changed the dressing, I got real light-headed and my vision got blurry. I had to lay down and deep breathe for a few minutes before I could finish. Long story short, ths skin graft has gone from blue to purple, and now it is turning pink and flesh colored. I've decided that the skin graft is thriving and is going to survive! My little knuckle wrinkle is going to make it! Must be the excellent nursing care it has received.

Thursday we celebrated our fourth anniversary. Gene and I went to dinner and a movie while Luke stayed at home with my parents. We exchanged gifts--Gene got a season of the Sopranos and a fancy bottle of scotch. I got a new pair of Uggs.

I had the weekend off, so we just had a nice family weekend around the house. We doggy-sat for Justin and Ashley over the weekend. We had an extra Jack Russell bouncing around, but their dog is so sweet and so much calmer than Hank.

I've been out of work for a week now with this thumb, but I'm going to go back tomorrow. I don't think I can afford to stay off until it heals completely. It is difficult to write and I can't really bend it much. If I hit it on something I get a little light-headed still--but I've been focusing on taking deep breaths and relaxing through the pain. It actually is starting to feel much better and doesn't throb as much.

And a few pics to end this post.. . . .

Luke checking out the train at Trinity park a few weeks ago. He was fascinated by it.

One of Luke's classmates had a birthday party at school. Luke enjoyed the hats so much his teachers sent his home with him. We got LOTS of use out of the had before it disappeared.

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween!

p.s. i have been relieved of my costume picking duties. gene does not approve the penguin. :(

A photo for every month

As of last week, Luke is now 18 months old. Here is some of my favorite pictues of the Luke. . .


Brand new in the delivery room. . .

Sweet baby napping in the sunshine. . . well, what sunshine there was. That was a very rainy season and everytime I would put him in the window the clouds would roll in.

Exactly one month old.

About six weeks old. . .

The biggest smiles yet!

Man, he loved that bouncer. I was sad to put it away but he played in it until he was so heavy he was almost laying on the floor.

Not long after I went back to work Luke found his thumb. I found him like this one morning when I came home from work and it's been there ever since.

I just love seeing his sweet face every morning.

A very thoughtful moment.

My sweet pea in the pumpkin house.

This year's Turkey Trot was pretty cold, but Luke had lots of warmth in his reindeer suit.

Merry Christmas!

Starting to walk along the furniture and walls. . .

Sweet little face!

Happy First Birthday!

This picture is a bit fuzzy, but the expression on his face is priceless!

And the whining begins. . . .


He's always been a bit of a drooler. . .

July was for swimming lessons and vacation to Galveston Beach.

He played under this table for at least a half hour that day.

Getting to be so grown up!

First Gallery Exihibition

Luke does art everyday at school. I don't plan to hold on to every single piece forever, but its still too new right now to let anything go. For those of you who enjoy kid art--here is Luke's school work. . .

The first day. . . .

Hard to see this one, but there really was a lot of colors used. Luke, always a lover of circles, prefers to draw dots instead of lines with the crayons. He usually just jabs the paper with the crayon over and over until he throws the crayon or crumples the paper.

Second week, they focused on BLUE.

This day the teacher told me "Luke really focused well today. He glued it himself."

. . . . cows. . .

His other cow art was so good they hung it on the wall.

On to star week. Because he got sick, he only made one star project.

Sad, Sick, Slimy Baby

Around our house, we have been battling snot, slime, and drool since hurricane Gustav blew all the ragweed around. We've been treating Luke for allergies for a few weeks now but over the weekend he became extra grumpy, and by Tuesday he was miserable. Tuesday night was restless for all of us as Luke struggled to breathe through all the slime. That night he developed "stinky sick breath" so he bought himself a visit to the pediatrician first thing Wednesday morning. Surprise, surprise--he had a sick throat. I'll spare you the details and jump to the recovery. We started some antibiotics, round-the-clock tylenol/ibuprofen, and lots of yummy popsicles.

Here is our sad, slimy, sick baby.

Here he is checking out a popsicle. Trying to decide whether or not to eat this thing and how exactly.

So the popsicle was devoured and he cried when I threw the stick away. Don't worry, we have many, many more popsicles.

After about 24 hours of antibiotics & popsicles, Luke was starting to feel better. We went out to play in the backyard and we found a flower. I picked it and gave it to Luke who carried it around pretty much until it disintegrated.

Moore Family Update

Our life the past few weeks. . .

Luke started Mother's Day Out at our church here in town. We had a bit of a rocky start but things are getting easier every day. This is his first day of school picture.




I dont even remember what was going on here, but i think this is a face we will see a lot of as Luke gets older. Just found it when I was uploading my latest pictures and thought it was FANTASTIC!



This past weekend we got up early to head out to my parents house. My 10 year class reunion was this weekend and we didn't want to get stuck in Fort Worth due to the predicted hurricane Ike. Before we left, Luke was playing around and figured out how to make his easter chick chirp. He was pretty pleased with the discovery.


Thankfully, the wrath of Ike was much less than predicted. Gene and I gussied up and headed out to the reunion. Had to get a traditional shot of us in front of the fireplace. We had a great time at the reunion, but I was too busy yapping to remember to get any pics. whoops!



I've started some of my catalouge Christmas shopping and the packages have started to arrive. Guess I don't have to order anything else for Luke--he was perfectly happy to play with the box of packing peanuts.


Daddy helped out by making it "snow". . . its beginning to look a lot like Christmas. . .


What's better to an 18 month old than a box of packing peanuts? Stealing all three of your clean blankies straight out of the dryer! What a happy kiddo he was!



While we thankfully were spared the wrath of hurricane Ike, the wrath of hurricane Luke came down on our house this afternoon after school. He kept himself busy for about an hour and a half creating this mess.