The Barnhills Visit!!

On Friday I decided to go over to mom & dad's house for the day.  I really wanted to spend some time with Georgia & Gus.  It was beautiful outside.  We sat outside and watched the kids play for the longest time.

These 2 play together so well.  I wish they could play together all the time!

 They were determined to get soaking wet!!

I love this sweet, silly girl SO much!

 Awww, so sleepy:)

 This is the kind of thing you can only do with your cousin:)  Cheer each other on in the potty!!

And, eat popsicles shirtless!!!

It just doesn't get any cuter than this!!

Amy had this great idea for Georgia to make canvases with Nonnie & Poppy for the camper.  They all had so much fun painting together!

Beau decided to do some also!

Working hard!

His finished products.  The "Mom" one he gave me for my birthday!

We had my birthday dinner Friday night.  I left the house for the first time to go somewhere in public in over a week.  We went to LaFiesta in Fort Smith.  It was yummy, but I still wasn't really able to eat much without feeling really sick.

After dinner, we went back to mom and dad's for dessert and presents.  Travis got to bond a little with Gus:)

They matched!!

I wanted strawberry shortcake for my birthday and it was SO yummy!  I got a Shop Persnickity gift card from Travis, candy from the boys, my "MOM" canvas from Beau, an Amazon gift card from Kyle & Amy, and a whole bunch of "golden" jewelry from my mom and dad.  Exactly what I wanted!  It was SO nice to feel semi-normal for the day.  

Kyle and Amy packed up later that evening to start the trip home.  I hated to see them go, but was so glad they got to come and visit!

Erin's Birthday!

 So, my birthday was 2 days after my surgery.  I was SO dreading it.  Nothing worse than sitting on the couch, not even able to drive or put your contacts in, thinking about how old you are.  But, my sweet friends surprised me and had a party for me at my house!!  It was SO great!

Sharon, Sherry, and Amy all brought food.  We had chicken salad croissant sandwiches, pasta salad, and some other stuff I can't remember.  I truly was still really drugged.  Amy, mom, Georgia, and Gus came over to celebrate with us!

These 2 cuties played in a big bucket of old costume jewelry that used to be my Nana's:)

 Gus was pretty determined to get a drink out of Nonnie's Sonic cup!

 Whitney was SO happy Nonnie was there to play Scrabble.  Beau wasn't there...it was his last day of MDO.

 Sharon even brought the prettiest cake from Rick's Bakery!  It was SO yummy!!

 Baby Gus is the prettiest baby ever!!

 Oh how I love these friends!!  Amy left before we could get a pick of all of us.  They totally cheered me up and totally made my day!!  I got some of the sweetest, most thoughtful gifts also.

 It certainly wasn't the birthday that I had imagined, but I was just SO thankful to be here!  And to get to spend it with my closest friends and family!

Surgery and Life Goes On....

 The next few days were a complete blur.  Evan had a baseball tournament in Greenwood/Ft. Smith over the weekend.  Thankfully, mom came over to take care of me, so Travis could go to Evan's games.  Love this snapchat I got from the game!!

 Jacob & Emily's wedding was Saturday night.  I was so completely out of it I barely even remember seeing them all dressed up before they left.  SO handsome!!

 I spent most of my time on the couch with my arm up in the air like this.  The pain was awful.  I had to keep taking pain meds just to be able to stand it.

Kyle, Amy, Georgia, and Gus got here on Sunday.  I felt so bad because I didn't feel like going over to mom and dad's and one of them was always staying with me.  I finally made the trip over to their house on Monday and got to see this sweet little guy!!  He's so cute and fun.  It killed me not to be able to hold him, but he was WAY too wiggly for his one-armed aunt.

Monday night was really hard for me.  I was SO nervous about my surgery the next morning.   I was laying in bed and could not go to sleep.  So, I posted this on Facebook.  The next morning I had 53 comments about people praying for me.  It was SO comforting.  Social media is cool like that.  Becky came down to stay with the boys because I had to be at the surgery center at 6:00.  Travis took me and mom, dad, and Kyle met us there.

The surgery was successful.  They put the titanium plate and 8 screws in my wrist.  Dr. Bolyard told them that there was a little extra "gravel" in there he had to remove and made it a little more complicated.  I got a nerve block, so I was awake during the surgery.  It was the weirdest thing.  At one point I was starting to feel again, and the anesthesiologist gave me something that made me super loopy.  They told me my whole arm should be numb for about 12 hours.

We left their and went straight to mom and dad's house.  Travis needed to go into work, and since Kyle and Amy were there, we thought I could just get in mom and dad's bed and sleep and mom could take care of me and visit with them.  Well, the part about my arm being numb for 12 hours was a BIG lie!  I hadn't been settled for more than 45 minutes when my arm starting hurting like nothing I have ever felt before.  It was excruciating.  Plus it felt like my fingers were on fire.  I was just laying there crying and crying and I didn't know how to get anyone's attention.  Travis finally came back from getting my pain meds and I told him I HAD to go home right then.  I NEEDED my own bed and to be able to cry if I wanted without bothering anyone.  So, they loaded me up and took me home.  I took a lot of pain meds, and was finally able to get comfortable.  It was a VERY rough 24 hours.

Thank goodness for wonderful friends.  We had people bringing us dinner most every night.  I was SO thankful because I was truly helpless.  I also got some beautiful flowers!  The yellow arrangement was from Sharon (because she knows yellow is my favorite), and lilies from Aunt Jan & Uncle Hugh V.  I also had some pretty purple flowers from Brian & Amber.  I really got to enjoy them and they made me happy every time I looked at them!

At some point during this time Blake & Anna officially became boyfriend & girlfriend:)

I was so worried about my wrist that I had kinda ignored my knee.  Apparently I hit my left knee on the dashboard and it was really starting to bother me.  Only when I put pressure on it, like to kneel down, not when I walk.  Thought I should take a pic for documentation.

Beau had his last week of MDO this week.  He has had such a wonderful year with Mrs. Missy.  He has truly had pre-school and has learned SO much.  I'm so very thankful for this ministry!!

And, that sums up the first few days after the wreck....

The next day...hashing it out!

The first night was awful!  I don't know that I've ever been in so much pain for so long with no end in sight.  It's the unknown that was the worst, I think.  I was ready to get up and head to the doctor.  Bless my sweet mother-in-law's heart...she spent the night (totally unprepared with nothing with her) so that she could get the kids off to school and stay with Beau while Travis took me to see Dr. Bolyard.  

My first cast from the ER was awful.  It was below my elbow and being able to turn my arm over was what was so terribly painful.  I realized really quickly that it was pretty much impossible to get ready with only my right hand.  Travis put my contacts in for me this morning.  It was the last time I would have them in for weeks.

Seeing the x-rays was really freaky.  I knew what it felt like, but seeing it just made my stomach drop.  My wrist was in BAD shape.  Really bad.

After Dr. Bolyard examined me, they put on another cast that was much more comfortable.  It was over my elbow, which meant I couldn't even get my hand to my face, but it helped so much with the pain.  We scheduled surgery for my wrist for the next Tuesday morning. My thumb was so swollen it didn't even look like a thumb.  Travis brought me home and Becky headed home and my mom came over. 

Thank God for "my girls"!!!  I desperately needed to see their faces.  So, everyone gathered at my house to have a "hashing it out" session. Sharon came down and brought Whitney.  We sat on the couch and just re-hashed all of the days events.  Sherry and I really needed to vent, and it was good to have my best friends around that day.  I was in mourning for sure.  It was really starting to sink in that I was going to be pretty helpless and handicapped for several weeks.  The doctor had also told me that morning not to ever expect my wrist to be the same again.  That's hard for someone who is totally dominate left handed.

They even brought Sherry and I a bag of treats!!

These 2 friends were SO good.  They played together and played Scrabble with Nonnie all afternoon long.

 Melissa stopped by and brought Sherry and I both a plate of brownies and chocolate covered strawberries.  So good!! And so thankful for thoughtful friends!

 Snapchat is one of our favorite ways to communicate.  The problem is..they disappear.  So glad Sherry "captured" a few of these for memory sake!

 Ugh.  I had to keep that arm elevated for weeks!!

As hard as this day was....it was such a blessing.  I truly have the BEST friends.  I couldn't make it through this life without their constant love and support.

And, I can't end this post without mentioning my parents.  They truly became my caregivers, babysitters, and chauffeurs for the next several weeks.  My mom stayed with me every day any time Travis wasn't home for a couple of weeks.  She took over all my household chores, laundry, cleaning, cooking, and running the kids around.  She also helped me take a bath, wash my hair, and even dried and straightened my hair numerous times.  I am SO thankful that they live nearby, that mom is retired now, and that are so willing to help me with everything I needed!!

THE wreck...

I can't even figure out where or how to start this post.  I feel like it's a day that has changed my life perspective forever, and I don't know how to make the words express all the emotions I felt on this day.  But, I will say, I will never take another day for granted.  Every day is a gift to be cherished!

It started as Sherry and I headed out to go to Amy's grandmother's funeral in Paris.  We started out in plenty of time, and had the address of the church programmed into my GPS.  I decided to drive because my new car is still "new" and fun for me to drive:).  We followed the directions to the church, but when the GPS said we were there we were in the middle of an empty field.  We started googling other addresses and even texted Amy to try to get better directions.  We finally thought we were on the right track and ended up turning around on Hwy 109 and heading back toward Magazine.  We were both sweating whether or not we could make it on time, and if we would be able to find a seat....when all of the sudden a red car came around a corner right in front of us heading straight for us in our lane!

It seems like that moment was a split second and also like it was several minutes.  So many things went through my head.  My first thought (and it feels like I remember even saying it out loud, but I think that is probably impossible, because it really all happened in a flash) was that I could swerve over in the left lane and completely miss her.  Then as I started to swerve over, I knew there was no way I was going to be able to stay on the highway, but I still thought I was going to be able to miss the impact, and drive on into the shoulder on the opposite side of the highway and even if we ran on into the ditch, we would miss the impact.  Then as I was swerving, she started to swerve back into her lane, and I knew (and again, seems like I remember saying it out loud), that we were gonna crash.  I know I put my brakes on, but we were going 55mph before she appeared, so I know we didn't slow down much.  She hit us head on, angled into the passenger side of the front of my Suburban.  I don't even know how to describe the impact.  It was SO loud, and so hard, and so fast.  The sound of the metal crunching and bending....it was so harsh and the impact truly happened in a millisecond.  The airbags went off (all of them....the ones in front and the curtains on the sides) and everything basically went dark because we couldn't see anything.  Sherry and I both started screaming "Jesus, Jesus, Jesus".  My car swerved off to the left, went down in the ditch, through a barbed wire fence, made a half circle in a big field, and finally stopped when we hit a cluster of trees almost back to the edge of the highway.

I've never felt so completely numb, yet so out of control.  The smoke from the airbags was filling the car and we thought it was on fire.  My OnStar started talking to us and asking if we were okay.  I was screaming no, that we weren't and to send the police and ambulance.  (in retrospect, it was SO comforting to have that part taken care of.  OnStar is a MUST for me from now on.  Before we were even completely stopped they were talking in my car and reassuring us help was on the way).  The airbags were still totally blocking our view and we couldn't tell where we were or what was going on.  We were pretty sure the car was on fire and were trying to get out FAST.  Neither of our doors would open, so I tried to push the button to open the back gate, and it wouldn't work either.  Sherry took off between the seats and got in the backseat and was able to get a door open back there.  At that point, I don't think I had even realized my arm was broken. I just remember I was trying to crawl back there (I was also wearing a dress) and was having so much trouble.  I finally made it out and there we stood, in our dresses, with our purses on our shoulders, in the middle of a field, with my car smoking, and we didn't know what to do.  We were both SO stunned.  I remember I kept telling Sherry over and over that I was so sorry that I wrecked.  I realized at that point I didn't have my phone, and Sherry walked back over to my car and was able to get it easily.

We started walking towards the road and could see the car that hit us was in BAD shape.  It looked like people were trying to get her out of her car.  I immediately called Travis and told him what had happened.  Then I called my mom.  She didn't answer.  So I called my dad.  I knew he was closer than anybody else at that point.  Then we walked over to the lady who hit us.  She looked like she was in bad shape.  Her leg was all ms-shapened and she was talking really weird.  There were lots of people around here, so Sherry I backed up.  It took several minutes for anyone to show up.  I think some first responders were there first.  Then an ambulance came.  They came over and asked Sherry and I if we were ok, and we said we were.

We were both just so stunned. We kept asking each other if we were ok.  My arm was starting to swell up BIG time.  I looked down and my watch was already cutting into my arm.  I took it off and threw it in my purse.  The EMT's were busy dealing with the other lady.  A couple of first responders brought us over to the side of the ambulance and let me sit in the passenger seat and Sherry was sitting on the floor of the ambulance.

 We were SO thirsty.  We kept asking if there was anything to drink,but there wasn't.  At that point Sherry looked down and realized my fingers were swelling and my wedding rings were going to get stuck.  It took everything I had it get them worked over my swelling knuckles.  I was determined to get them off.  I'm SO glad Sherry thought of it.

At some point my dad called me back and said he was on his way there.  We kept asking the paramedics if we could just ride to the hospital with him.  At that point, the other lady was in the back of the ambulance, and there wasn't another one in the county.

After what seemed like forever, they decided to call the helicopter to Life Flight the other lady to the hospital.  That took FOREVER also.  After they took her out of the ambulance, they put Sherry and I in the back.  They put a splint on my arm and started taking our vital signs and asking us all kinds of questions.  My dad got there (it's at least a 35 min drive from Greenwood).  He stuck his head in the ambulance and talked to me for a few minutes.  I assured him I was ok, and he went to take pictures of everything.

My arm was killing me at this point.  The paramedic wanted to start an IV.  I really tried to talk him out of it, but he was very persistent.  So, after several tries he got an IV in my arm.  Then they gave me some Demerol & Phenergan and I started feeling better.  They insisted that Sherry and I put on the neck braces.  We started to refuse, but they told us we would have to sign a waiver if we refused, so I yelled at Sherry behind me to put it on!

We truly sat in the ambulance for probably another 30 minutes before we started headed to the hospital.  They asked us a billion questions, checked our vital signs several more times, did a CBG on both of us, and finally started driving.  I was in SUCH a daze.  Not only was I totally rattled, but also in shock, and drugged.  My chest was hurting so bad.  Every time I breathed it hurt.  Sherry was having terrible rib pain.  They put some crazy splint on her side that I don't think did one bit of good.  After we started driving, I realized my phone was in my hand, so I picked it up and took this picture:).  I sent it to my mom and snapchatted it to several others.  I'm so glad I did.  My mom had been in Ft. Smith when she heard about the wreck and had gone straight to Mercy Hospital.  When we didn't show up for a couple of hours she was beside herself.  The ambulance selfie put everyone's mind at rest a little;)

This was my view out of the back of the ambulance before we left the scene.  I have NO idea how they got my car out of that field and onto that truck??

We had quite a crew waiting for us at the hospital.  My poor boys were so worried.  Travis had dashed to Greenwood, made the rounds to all 3 schools to pick them up and then brought them all to the hospital.  Our pastor was there plus several other friends, and all of Sherry's family.

It was so surreal.  I have worked in that hospital for so many years and never been on the patient end.  I've never been so thankful to see my family!!!  I saw Travis and my mom first, then they let the boys come back.  Becky had even had time to drive from Springdale.  At this point I had had to pee for about 3 hours!!  I truly thought I was going to pee in my pants.  So, my mom helped me to the bathroom.  After that I felt better:).  The took a bunch of blood, then took me to have a CT scan of my chest.  They put the contrast in and it felt awful.  Then they told me to raise my hands over my head.  My arm hurt SO bad.  I thought I was going to die!!

Then they took me to x-ray my arm.  The girl immediately said it was broken.  No surprise there.  At that point it looked like I had a golf ball on the side of my wrist.  I was so miserable.  After a little bit, they said all the tests were okay.  They told me I would need to make an appointment with an orthopedic doctor to have my arm looked at later.  I was totally freaking out.  I wanted to know what was going on right then.  Thankfully, Travis's aunt Patty was there also.  She called an orthopedic surgeon that she has worked with and that his from Booneville.  Thanks to modern technology, he was able to look at my x-rays right where he was, and told Patty right then that I would need surgery, and that he would see me in his office at 8am the next morning.  I immediately burst into tears.  I SO did not want to have surgery.  Then the guy came in to put on a temporary cast.  He was not friendly or gentle...at all.  I had tears streaming down my face the whole time.  After that, I was given discharge instructions and was good to go.

Sherry had been in the room next door and was discharged a few minutes before I was.  It was the weirdest feeling walking out of the hospital   I was so thankful to be walking away, but it seemed like my life had just completely changed.  I couldn't move my arm (since I'm left handed it was REALLY major).  I knew I was going to be in bad shape for a while.  And my new car was wrecked.  So many thoughts about that, too.

As we drove home, I was trying to think back through it all, and sort through my thoughts and emotions.  The number one thing that I KNEW beyond a shadow of a doubt, was that GOD had protected Sherry and I.  In SO many ways.  From me choosing to drive my tank of a car (and I'm SO thankful that I had it, because I believe that God used that hunk of metal to save our lives), to how I reacted in that instant before the impact (I know angels were all around my car pushing us exactly the right way).   So thankful that we didn't have any of our boys with us!!  The fact that we both just walked away from the hospital just a few hours later. SO incredibly thankful that my family was there, and that they were going to be there to take care of me when I got home.

As I write this weeks later, I can say that even though that night I wasn't sure what the future held, I was SO very blessed.  Blessed that my life was spared, for a loving God, and for the best friends and family I could ever ask for and don't deserve.