It's almost May.

So I think I should post about March....

February 25th, Seth went to India!!! for work... for three weeks. He had the time of his life. He went there to train a team of Adobe employees to do client care - tech support - for Adobe's web analytic branch. Well, while he was off seeing one of the 7 (or many) wonders of the world - the Taj Mahal - Scarlett and I went to Iowa so we wouldn't miss him so bad.

So on Leap Day, we flew to Iowa! It was so nice to be home with siblings and my parents. My Aunt Joette was staying at our house, recovering from surgery, the whole time we were there too.

Dad and I took Scarlett up to Washington, IA to visit my grandparents Friday afternoon. It was so fun to watch Scarlett so interested in her "GG's" fabric room. She pretty much reorganized all of my grandma's shelves/projects. Yes, Scarlett's GG is very patient. We went out to lunch at the Pizza Ranch with Aunt Myrna and Uncle Jim (Great aunt/uncle). Scarlett loved all the attention she got. 

Scarlett turned two on March 3rd. I was happy I'd have more family with me to help celebrate my favorite little girl's birthday. I had made/prepped everything for her fish birthday cupcakes, got a few presents, made her a birthday t-shirt, etc. We were going to sing happy birthday and eat cupcakes/ice cream and play "duck duck goose" and sing "if you're happy and you know it" that night with my sister's friends who were coming over for a movie night.

However, that afternoon on the way to Kara, my sister's High School Jazz band competition, we were rear-ended by a drunk driver. Yes, bright - sunny beautiful Saturday afternoon, hit by an underage completely PLASTERED driver. The driver turned 21 two days later (the 5th) and was 3 1/2 times over the legal limit of Alcohol, (.28).  There's nothing more scary than seeing your dad being carefully moved onto a back board/stretcher to go off in the ambulance to the ER. There's not many other things more relieving in response to an EMT's question if your dad can move his toes or hands than seeing dad's toes move through his shoes.

 We were rear-ended, below you can see the other car's imprint - the grill/license plate, etc. And the trunk is rippled, in a wave, but you can hardly tell in the photo. I couldn't get the trunk open for a photo, but the body of the car was rippled, and the right rear door frame crunched, which is the side my mom was sitting on, in the back.

My dad was driving, Kara was up front with him. Scarlett in her car seat, me in the middle back, and my mom was to my right. My dad had an arthritic spur break off a vertebrae and hairline rib fractures. My mom hit her head on a hard plastic seat belt covering, she is still suffering greatly from her concussion and bulged disc in her neck. It's been a very difficult recovery so far, and she has a long ways to go. It's extremely frustrating that both parents were hurt so badly, and I am grateful Scarlett, baby boy, Kara, and I are all OK.

So! We spent the rest of Scarlett's birthday in the ER - until 7pm. They monitored baby boy for an hour, After I got up to Labor & Delivery and was hooked up to the monitors the nurse told me the OB on call wanted me monitored for TWO hours. Uh... I'm so grateful they let me go after an hour. I wanted to just be with my daughter on her birthday!! Mom, Dad and I were all released from the ER about 7pm.


The "accident" obviously changed the course of the rest of our stay in Iowa. My parents stayed in bed the next few days, rarely leaving. I drove them everywhere - doctor appts, Physical therapy, to the hospital for another MRI here, labs there... etc. etc. Did all the cleaning, laundry, cooking, etc. I am so grateful I was there to help in this time of need for mom and dad. And grateful for Brian, Aaron, and Kara who are so close and able to help still. 

Kara left for Spain the Thursday after the accident for a School foreign language trip, So it was a lot of work to get her packed and ready for her big and exciting trip. The next day mom, dad, Scarlett, and I drove up to spend the weekend in Prairie Du Chien, WI to visit Alicia/Tim/Ellia/Beck. We had it planned before the accident, and barely made it up there in once piece, but I'm so glad we did! We played outside a lot, made some baby boy things (both alicia and I were expecting boys at the time - past tense b/c she has since had her cute little chunk.) watched a few movies, etc.

Scarlett absolutely loved playing with her cousins Ellia & Beck!!

We celebrated Scarlett's birthday on Sunday, the 10th. Better late than never! She was so excited for presents and for everyone to sing to her. I know I'm her mom, so I'm obviously bias, but Scarlett is seriously the CUTEST 2 year old ever. ever. ever.

Back to Iowa City.... I was able to extend our flight so I could stay longer to help with my injured parents. We stayed an extra 5 days, I should have stayed longer to help...

We did have fun amongst the time spent trying to keep everything on top of. I think it was my most favorite time in Iowa since I've moved out for College when I was 18! My dad wasn't at work at all, b/c he couldn't be, and we were just all together a lot more. Of course I wish it was under different conditions, but I enjoyed the quality time. And Scarlett really got to know her grandma and grandpa. That is the best! and her Grandparents got to see how fun, cute, smart of a girl she is on a daily basis!

It was very hard for me to leave though. The accident has brought me closer to my parents, and I have more open eyes to things that are important, at any moment's notice something can quickly change life as we know it. 

I love Skype. We skyped Seth almost every morning and night. India is almost exactly 12 hours different than us. So it wasn't too terrible of a time difference. Scarlett is too young to realize that her dad was gone for so long, but it was a definite sweet reunion in the airport on St. Pat's day. Scarlett and I arrived in Salt Lake a few hours before Seth flew in from India (well, Amsterdam).

I will say, it is interesting coming back together with your best friend, the love of your life, after you both have been through a 2+ week of extreme events. It's been about 6 weeks since St. Patrick's day and I'm excited we're going on our first date, to be just the two of us, this Thursday night. That's way too long after such a time apart from one another, to have an evening to ourselves. I'm excited to say the least!