Chopped Thumb

***Reader Discretion is Advised...graphic details listed below***

This Thursday I was chopping items to go into a salad...you know, kiddos need fresh veggies and such...I had the lettuce chopped, I had the carrots chopped, and I was working on the green pepper when it happened.
The knife slipped off the rubbery skin of pepper and I chopped the end of my left thumb...the very tip area on the left side of it. Now, the fingers and thumbs have all the nerve endings and the endings for the capillaries of the blood. So, there was lots of blood and lots of pain. I sliced a piece of skin the size of a watermelon seed almost all the way off.
Now, I'm cool under pressure. I could feel my heartbeat pulsing in this area, causing more blood loss. I gingerly got up from the table (slicing in the front room so I could hear the documentary I was "watching") and went to the kitchen. I turned on the cold water and gave it about 30 seconds to chill down to icy. I stuck my thumb under it clean it off for about 30 to 60 seconds. Boy, did the icy water feel great! I then wrapped my thumb in a thick layer of paper towel and applied hard pressure (which hurt more than the cutting!) to stop the bleeding. After about 3 minutes, the bleeding was very minimal.
I re-aligned the seed-sized skin to be in the place it was before I chopped it. You see, I didn't manage to chop the whole piece off...It was still attached by a thin area. I figured it would hurt more to cut this area (being it was like 3 or 4 layers of skin that I cut through) so I re-aligned it and put a bandaid over it with furious pressure then added a separate bandaid to keep the 1st one attached.
At this point (about 3 minutes into the ordeal), I was very light headed from the rush loss of blood and the pain...which I thought was funny. I have a high tolerance of pain.
I sent Josh a text and laid down in bed. Doctors will tell you that if an organ (skin tissue, fingers, ears, etc) still have blood pumping to them, they can live and typically be reattached successfully. (I know! I pick up this random junk that most people think is crazy, but it was a success in this case!) I was hoping for the success.
After laying down for a while, I had to pick up the kiddos. I didn't remove the bandage until after dinner was done and the kiddos were to bed. Josh didn't want to see it at all...he gets queasy. I removed the first bandage gingerly and looked down at it. It had stopped bleeding and was only seeping a little liquid.
I quickly cleaned it with water and dried it carefully. Before applying the 2nd bandage, I applied some Oxyfresh ointment (I got this ointment when I first got my ears pierced with the 2nd hole...I think I was 16 and I still haven't used it. It's very much like a clear version of Neosporen only more gellish and less Vaseliney. It basically provides a clear coat of protection to the area and doesn't burn or sting...very nifty in this case.) and then the 2nd bandaid went on it.
Below are pictures of my thumb that were taken on Friday. On one of the pictures, I've marked where it was cut and where it remained attached. Luckily my plethora of "useless" information paid off. Three quarters of the area was successfully reattached with only a slight area (the size of a sewing pin head)not attaching fully.
It still smarts when bumbed or hit and still oozes pus and/or blood when hit. The kiddos have been fairly cautious, but accidents still happen. I was also able to clean it with alcohol on Friday to avoid any infection. Today it is doing much better...barely hurts when touched. When most of the pain has subsided, I'll trim the part that didn't reattach...unless I need to do it sooner to avoid it getting caught. Right now it looks very similar to a blister...so I'm quite happy with my "doctor" ability.
Sorry for the gross...but there's good information in here to help others who may get a similar cut. I do caution that if the cut or puncture is really deep, please seek medical attention immediately.

Bad Weather - Cool Clouds

The Wednesday before Memorial Day, Kansas City experienced very severe weather with at least 2 tornadoes touching down in the metro area. Below are some pictures of the clouds right before the heavy stuff hit.
I had actually taken the pets to the vet that day. When I went to leave the vet's office, an assistant stated a tornado had touched down near 115th and Roe. Driving home from the vet was very exciting because the wind was howling and the rain was coming down so hard I could hardly see the road.
As I pulled off of 435 to go north on Wornall, I saw a huge funnel cloud to the north and east of where I home would be. I also noticed that some storm spotters were stopped on the Wornall off-ramp to videotape it as well.
I prayed my home would still be there...It was!!! It was reported that the funnel cloud had formed near 75th and State Line. I was in the basement for about 2 hours with all 4 pets texting Josh back and forth about the weather.
Hope you like the cloud pictures...taken while driving!

Jamion Graduates Pre-K

On May 17, Jamion graduated Pre-K through KinderCare. He really enjoys the daycare and the daycare has brought him a loooooooooong way. When he first came to live with us, he could sing his ABC's, but could nto identify any of the letters or their sounds, etc. After 2 weeks at the daycare, he could spell his name...write it all by himself and correctly! Now he knows all of his letters and he learned songs and such to remember how to spell them. I've put the words down to the one he sings the most...which is RED. This is sung to the tune of Brother John or Frère Jacques. R-E-D RED R-E-D RED I can spell RED I can spell RED Fire-trucks are RED Stop signs are too R-E-D R-E-D Below is a video of him receiving his "diploma". During the announcement of his name, they also stated what he wants to be when he grows up. Several of the graduating girls wanted to be princesses, or a "hair cutter" and several of the men wanted to be firemen or policemen...one wanted to be a grandpa! But not our Jamion! Can you guess what he wants to be...the clues are below. 1) It is of ancient origins 2) It requires cool gear 3) You can be a good guy or a bad guy 4) You use martial arts Watch the video and listen carefully for the answer!

The Great Adventures of London...Part I

Well, our little London is growing up! The first picture below is of London sleeping in his car seat when he was about 10 months old. His legs are crossed "indian" style and then pulled up to his chest. When he was 10 months old, this was a common sleeping style for him. I just thought it was too cute to pass up.
The next two pictures were taken shortly after London turned 1 on May 23. He's a smart little fella...our nickname for him is Little Man because he's like a miniture man. Jamion, CJ, and CeKariya were in the front yard fighting ninjas and saving princesses. London was inside with me and Josh was putting on his finishing touches for dinner. I was working on the computer while London was attempting to walk, bear walk, and crawl around the front room.
I started to smell a slight hint of strawberry in the air...like lotion or perfume, but didn't think much of it. Josh walks into the front room with a boom "Oh, no! London! London, what are you doing?" I looked at him curiously and Josh responded, "He's eating the strawberry body butter...it's all over him!"
We took the below pictures of his look before we wiped it off. We also discussed how he got into the body butter because the lid was screwed on tightly...the Little Man figured out how to open it all by himself! The pro of this ordeal? He smelled good for the next two days!
Enjoy the pictures! Click on them to see a close-up of his face and mouth!

CJ's New 'Do

So, being foster parents can be challenging when you're not allowed to change a kiddos hairdo. For example, we'd love for CJ's hair to be in a low faze hairdo like Jamion. It would be so much easier to manage. However, we have to have permission from the biological parent(s) to do so.
Since we have not been given permission to cut CJ's hair, we've had to fix his hair as best we can on our own. We've taken him to the barber and cosmetology college here for them to do braided dreads, but they were not done correctly and were done too tightly; they were making his head swell from the pressure.
I've attempted the braided dreads, but a 3 year old is not the best person to try the braids on...he moves a lot. Also, he is very tender-headed and cries when the braids are done...even by his biological parent(s).
We've had great success with multiple "twisties" which is were you twist the hair in a certain direction while using hair conditioner gel. Below are some pictures with his hair in the twisties. We've also had success with multiple individual braids...but I don't have any pictures of those. Also, both hairdo's tend to look great when I'm done, but when he wakes...BED HEAD!!!

Hope you enjoy...I'm playing catch up and some items will be out of order.