Paramedics at our House!

Yes, the paramedics came to our house about 10 minutes after I called 911 yesterday around 12 noon. No, it wasn't me. It wasn't Izzy either. It was Izzy's friend. What happened was this... my bff came to see me and for her 30 months old son and 1 year old daughter to play with Izzy. Something "terrible" happened at her kids' pediatrician clinic earlier and she couldn't wait to tell me about it. Her 1-year old daughter was given a wrong vaccination shot!!! The nurse admitted that instead of a Hepatitis B she mistakenly gave the little girl the shot for Hepatitis A, which is not supposed to be given to kids under 2 years old! What a serious error on the part of the nurse! Worse thing, the nurse didn't even apologize! I was really angry when I heard about it. This is the life of a one-year old girl we are talking about... how could they make such a mistake? It is so unacceptable!

Anyway, my friend and I were talking about it when suddenly we heard her 30-months old son cried in pain in Isabelle's room. It was a cry that really got our attention... we knew it wasn't one of those fights between him and Izzy because it wasn't Izzy crying, if you know what I mean. So we rushed to Izzy's room and found my girl standing on her bed and the little boy on the floor, screaming in pain. When his mother checked him, his blood squirted from below his chin! We both screamed and panicked. We thought it was more than just a little cut. We even thought the blood came from his throat! My first thought was to look for my first aid kit, only to find out I didn't have first aid kit for cuts. So I looked for a clean cloth to use to press on the cut to stop the bleeding. While his mom did that I asked if she wanted me to call 911 and she nodded. So I called 911 and answered a few questions from them. About 10 minutes later they parked the ambulance in front of out house and two paramedics came in. They suggested the boy to be brought to the urgent care for stitches. He and his mommy went with the paramedics to the hospital, where I gave birth to Izzy. I was left at our house with my friend's 1-year old daughter and, of course, Izzy. Two hours later, she called and said that they had been waiting at the emergency area and that she already got really sick and tired of waiting there. She said that there was not many people but nobody had attended to them yet. The bleeding in her little boy's chin had stopped, so she decided to come back home even before a doctor could to see them. It's terrible. They were very hungry, too! I was so disappointed at Fairview Ridges hospital! So, they came back and had lunch at our house, gave him a bath and drove back to their house.

Such a traumatic day for me and my friend. I could also feel the trauma that Izzy experienced when she saw her friend fell from her bed to the floor. I had to comfort her. Later, she explained what actually happened. She did it pretty well that I was able to understand what cause the cut below his chin. The cut was about half an inch. I have no idea how deep it was though... must be deep enough to spurt that amount of blood. Anyway, he was reaching for Izzy's stars (those that light up in the dark) on the wall by the bed. Somehow, he lost his balance, tipped over the edge of the bed and hit his chin on the foot board. I figured out that the strong pressure caused the cut. I didn't know it was possible until one of our neighbors told me. Anyway, I believed Izzy's explanation because there was an evidence... we found little stars in the boy's hand. The stars are not strong enough to cause a cut, so it was the stars. Here's the thing, when I shared this story to one friend, he said... "it's dangerous to reach for the stars without being careful!" He was being funny but yes, there's some truth in it. Lesson to learn: Always keep an eye on your little children while they are playing. Double check what the pediatricians give to your kids.

Weekend Recap

We had quite a weekend. P was off from work on Friday so we could attend the conference at our church. We had such an awesome speaker! We were so blessed. The conference started on Thursday night and ended on Friday night. I got to actually be at the conference twice and got to hear the speaker, otherwise, I was helping at the nursery so other moms would have a chance to enjoy the conference. Oh, and I made cookies the day before the conference and brought 4 dozens to church. There was a lot of good food for the fellowship after the evening session. The women at our church worked hard to serve such great food for the delegates. That was really fun.

Saturday, we stayed home most of the time because all three of us had allergies. It's this time of the year where our noses get itchy. We've been taking turns sneezing and blowing our noses! Not fun at all but it happens.

Sunday, we drove to our friends' place in St. Paul for their daughter's first birthday right after church. We got stuck in traffic because it was raining and so the traffic was very slow, plus, there was an a car accident... so that wasn't very fun... what was supposed to be a 30-minute drive became one and a half hours. Bummer, yes... but also yes, it happens. When we got to our destination, I almost didn't have time to dress up like a fairy. Yes, I was supposed to look like a fairy mother to Izzy who was dressed up as Tinker Bell. I had to make two Filipino dishes, so it used up my time to put fairy make-up on. My friend (the mom of the birthday girl) looked fantastic in her fairy outfit and make-up. Good I still managed to have time to wear my simple pink fairy dress. So we had fun at the party! Quite a few of our friends came so it was a great time catching up with the latest in their lives.

We didn't drive home until around 10:30pm. Yes, it was that late. It's all because Paul did some ministry of witnessing to the men who came. We know them so it wasn't really evangelizing strangers. In fact, some of them kind of expected for spiritual talks to happen because they know Paul loves to talk to them about God. I am so proud of my husband!

Izzy and Mommy Day

Yesterday, Isabelle and I went to the Mall of America for some fun time. She, of course, wanted to visit the Lego Land first and then the rides. We went to her favorite places first... kind of making her feel obligated to go with me (with a smile) to my favorite stores, like Arden B. And so yes, she didn't complain the whole time we hopped from one store to another. I'm glad she has now a good understanding that what is "deal" is deal... and that she has to keep her promise to me.

Miss California's Boldness

News have really been redundant the past few months. If it's not about the economic meltdown which is referred to as one of the reasons for murders and suicides, then, it's about the liberal moves of the new president. Today, though, was different, a young woman made a bold statement of her stance on the Biblical correctness of marriage as between a man and a woman. Here is a new face among the icons of beauty and brains... Carie Prejean was expected to win the pageant but she obviously didn't care if she lost the crown of the next Miss USA to someone else, she knew she had to remind America and the whole world that this is still a country of citizens standing bravely on the freedom to live as Biblical Christians. Awesome!!! We are in a free land... we have a full right to declare what we believe! We do not have to compromise our very own beliefs to appease the people who have continually refused to receive the gospel and are given to a reprobate mind.

My Favorite Wedding Songs

Well, what can I do? I got tagged by my sisi, so here I go...

5 of my favorite wedding songs:

1. All in His own sweet time (I don't know who the song writer and artist are, but that's on top of my list because in my wedding story, that song speaks it all!)

2. The Lord's prayer (That song was sung by P's best man who is an opera singer in New York on our wedding day. It was awesome!)

3. You are my song (by Regine Velasquez only)

4. How did you know (by Gary V... makes me cry! so touching)

5. Love is stronger than anything (Cathy Maliza)

Now, I don't think there's anyone left not being tagged of this one. I'll just end here, if you don't mind.

Steak Season

I call spring and summer the steak season. Steak (the real thing... beef!) is one of the many reasons I love my life in America. My all-time favorite is a well-done rib-eye. This year though, I am planning to start eating medium-rare. The reason why I have been a big fan of well-done is because I don't think eating food that is not cooked thoroughly is good for pregnant and nursing moms. Anyway, I have started to make steak on our charcoal grill. Last Tuesday, I made steak, served with baked potatoes, freshly baked garlic bread and fruit salsa, P was very happy! It's his favorite meal. And we had dinner at our deck... that made it just the perfect one for my hubby.

Spring is here, at last!

Spring is finally here. It felt like forever waiting for the winter to end. Winter seemed to refuse to exit until last week. It's been really warm since then. Belle and I have been enjoying the outdoors. She loves running on our lawn and playing basketball with me on our driveway. When a friend of mine and her two kids came to visit us from New Brighton, we took an afternoon walk together... it was refreshing. P and I and our little Belle have also started our after-dinner daily walk around our neighborhood. The little girl enjoys it because now that she is bigger she gets to actually walk and not have to sit on her stroller. Now, she gets a lot of exercise. She needs it... and loves it.

On Saturday, we did a lot of yard work. P was raking our lawn and cleaning our garden beds. I was planting flowers. We love having annuals in our garden beds because their blooms seem to last from spring through fall. I still have to study more about planting flowers in our place. The perennials are difficult for me to figure out. I still want to someday have the most beautiful flower garden- one that has a lot of blooms at least on spring through fall. Anyway, on Saturday while planting flowers under the nice warm sunshine, I remembered my mom. She loves planting flowers and is very patient with caring them. I'm not sure if I will ever have the same amount of patience and passion for flowers. I love flowers around the house but I'm not as hardworking as my mom and other ladies in gardening.

I am happy that it's been raining since yesterday. It's sporadic though. I just can't wait to see a green mini-jungle in our backyard. I'm kind of tired of the brown dead branches on the trees. I want colors!!! These rains we have now will definitely bring colors in a few days. Can't wait.