It has been an interesting evening. Annika and I just got back from the emergency room. I am fine. Annika is fine. Everybody is fine. But, as the triage nurse explained to me, all foreign bodies must be seen by the emergency department as opposed to Urgent Care, even small rocks stuck in tiny little noses, apparently. Yep, Annika had a rock stuck in her nose. I tried with tweezers but couldn't get it out myself so off to the emergency room we went. How did the rock get there? Well, neither Kris nor I are sure. Kris and Annika were out car shopping today with Papa and Kris said he noticed Annika sneezing and playing with her nose but didn't think much of it. And when I got home from work, Annika was still napping so I laid down with her. I noticed her breathing through her mouth which is unusal for her but she was laying on her back so I didn't think much of it. After she woke up (and oddly enough, after Sesame Street was over) she said "Nose?" I looked at it and sure enough, there was a rock in there! As for the "rockectomy" as the doctor referred to it, it wasn't too bad. Annika was definitely not having a good time (there was crying and thrashing and me forcefully pinning her down) but she wasn't hurting either. First the doctor tried alligator forceps but couldn't get around the sides of the rock to pull it out. He left and came back in with what looked like a long, narrow tube with a syringe on the end. He stuck the tube up Annika's nose, alongside the rock, plunged on the syringe and out came the rock! Turns out there is a small balloon on the end of the tube and the syringe blows it up and easy-peasy, out comes the rock. After the rock was out, he needed to check both nostrils and ears to make sure there weren't any more hidden treasures. As soon as he approached Annika again she burst into tears and tried to get away, poor girl. But when he didn't try to stick anything up her nose, she was fine and let him look in her ears and such. Let's hope we don't have any more foreign objects in any orifices again. Although, to be honest, we've gotten pretty lucky with Annika. She's never really been sick (the occasional cold but no fevers and nothing requiring medication) and she's never been injured. This was our first trip to the ER and she's almost two years old. I think we're doing okay so far. Although, I don't know about Daddy and Papa and their parenting/babysitting any more! Just kidding!

Please say a prayer for Marcia and Grandpa Dan. Marcia lost her father yesterday. He was a great man and he is surely missed already. I think the memorial service is going to be Thursday night. Please keep Marcia and her family in your thoughts and prayers this week.