Nate and Laurel: A Series of Fortunate Events: High highs and Low lows

We've made some wonderful memories this month! Unfortunately, the laws of the universe demand we have some bad luck come our way as well to balance it out. This past week has been one of the most stressful weeks, but I'm happy to report we are alive and well.

I'll start with the lows so we can end on a high note! We got home from vacation last Tuesday and got into a car accident that afternoon. Talk about a rude awakening home! The girls and I had gone to pick up Ollie from a friend's house and were on our way home. I was stopped at a stop sign waiting to turn left onto a busy 5 lane road. I checked left and saw the car coming had their blinker on, so I checked right and it looked clear as well. I checked the left again, saw the car was slowing down and still had their blinker on so I started to pull out while double checking to the right. Well, while I was looking to the right, the car coming did NOT turn and I ran into it. The girls were scared and confused wondering what happened, but thankfully we were all ok. I got a ticket for "failing to yield to the left" and we'll have to shell out some money for repairs, but in the grand scheme of things it's only money. I felt really stupid and guilty but I also felt humbled. I was reminded of things that are truly important. Alyssa, dropped everything to come and pick us up the minute I called her. Friends and family reached out to us to check on us. And most importantly, our girls (and dog!) were unharmed in what could have been a much more serious situation. So through it all, I've found so much to be grateful for.

After the accident, we had a series of unrelated injuries to each of our girls. First, Adeline got hit by a rock in the eye! Eden was helping Nate move some rocks in the yard and accidentally hit Adeline. She got a cut on her lower eyelid and a black eye to boot.

Next, Lydia had a drowning incident on Memorial Day! I think I can safely say that looking over and seeing her with her arms extended and face in the water, was one of the scariest things I've seen in my life! We had gone swimming at a friend's neighborhood pool and the girls had been wearing their floaties the entire time. As we were getting ready to leave, we took off their floaties and Lydia wandered back over to the stairs in the pool. Nate and I both saw her and I even reminder her she didn't have her floaties on so don't step off the step. We got to talking with our friends and the next thing I know someone says she was under the water and Nate was sprinting to pull her out. Thankfully, she was fine and even seemed relatively unphased. She didn't cry and didn't have a ton of coughing. I think she knew she was supposed to hold her breath because Nate had been working with her teaching her to go under water. It was just such a crazy experience because it happened so fast. We were right there watching but looked away for a second. I read an article last summer about how drowning doesn't look like "drowning." It's not like what you see on t.v. It's not a loud, dramatic, splashing in the water calling for help. It's quick and silent. I'll just post the information on what the Instinctive Drowning Response actually looks like. Please stay safe this summer, friends!

“Except in rare circumstances, drowning people are physiologically unable to call out for help. The respiratory system was designed for breathing. Speech is the secondary or overlaid function. Breathing must be fulfilled before speech occurs.
Drowning people’s mouths alternately sink below and reappear above the surface of the water. The mouths of drowning people are not above the surface of the water long enough for them to exhale, inhale, and call out for help. When the drowning people’s mouths are above the surface, they exhale and inhale quickly as their mouths start to sink below the surface of the water.
Drowning people cannot wave for help. Nature instinctively forces them to extend their arms laterally and press down on the water’s surface. Pressing down on the surface of the water permits drowning people to leverage their bodies so they can lift their mouths out of the water to breathe.
Throughout the Instinctive Drowning Response, drowning people cannot voluntarily control their arm movements. Physiologically, drowning people who are struggling on the surface of the water cannot stop drowning and perform voluntary movements such as waving for help, moving toward a rescuer, or reaching out for a piece of rescue equipment.
From beginning to end of the Instinctive Drowning Response people’s bodies remain upright in the water, with no evidence of a supporting kick. Unless rescued by a trained lifeguard, these drowning people can only struggle on the surface of the water from 20 to 60 seconds before submersion occurs.”

Finally, to top it all off, Eden fell and split her head open on a corner yesterday! Once I got the bleeding stopped and the wound cleaned, it was pretty obvious it would need stitches. Luckily, our neighbor is a P.A. and her husband is a paramedic, so they were able to help us and stitch her up. She was a brave girl, and did great while she got three stitches.

All of this happened within the last week, and I am exhausted! I hope we've had our share of accidents for a while. But, like I said, we've also had a really great month so let's talk about some positive things!

The girls ran their first race and Nate and I were beaming with pride! They had so much fun and they were really proud of themselves as well. It was a half mile run and they both ran the whole way. Nate and I joined in with them and made it a family affair. I really hope they continue to enjoy running and we have many more of these races in the future.

Eden and Lydia also had their spring dance recital. It was definitely an entertaining night. There was a lot going on onstage and probably only half of it was the choreography! But, the kids all seemed to enjoy themselves up there.

We took a trip to Miramar Beach this month. We absolutely LOVED it, so that trip will be getting a post of it's own soon!

Nathan and I went on a date to the Adult Prom! First, we went to dinner with our friends Danielle and Remington (and their 8 week old baby!), and then we hit up the dance, ready to show our moves. We were disappointed in the music selection as it seemed we were at more of a 70s disco, but we still managed to have fun. We weren't really sure how to dance to a lot of the music but we were able to bust out some of our best interpretive dance moves! I bought the fabric to make my dress months ago, but of course managed to procrastinate until the day before the dance to actually start it. I worked some magic and it came together just in time.

We took a hike with some friends on Memorial Day. The kids had fun playing in the creek and did great on the actual hiking part. It was short (just less than a mile) but a good length for them. We tried out our hiking carrier and Adeline seemed to really enjoy riding on Daddy's back.