little Boys, big Love and a Latte #2

In this previous post, I mentioned I had a big story. And I thought it to be fitting for my lBbLaaL series. So I will just dive right on in.

There is nothing like seeing your baby in pain. And boy was Leighton in pain on Sunday. He took a forehead-first dive into the corner of our garbage can and split open his head. Which sent us straight to the ER. Where, by the way, a lot of people who think they have H1N1 also happened to be. Which is real nice added bonus to an already crappy situation.

Leighton took the whole thing like a trooper. Of course, the intial head-crack and subsequent sitting with mommy while she held pressure on the wound, was horrible for him. He cried and screamed "mommy, mommy" in my arms for what seemed like hours. I had to hold him there and keep the pressure on it to stop the bleeding. I was shaking and freaking out on the inside, trying to stay calm for him on the outside.

By the time daddy swooped him up and loaded him in the car, he was all done crying. Man, fruit snacks are like miracle workers. Nice thinking, daddy! At the ER he acted like nothing happened. He just sat on my lap while I scratched/rubbed his back, tummy, leg, odder leg, foot, odder foot. We did our best to keep him quarantined from the aunslaught of H1N1 contestants coming through the door.

Several hours later, we FINALLY got to have the stiches put in. And that was pretty much just horrific. The procedure went well actually. It was just horrific to see the look on Leighton's face while he screamed, "mommy, mommy," over and over. I was unable to hold back the tears at that point. Although I knew the nice doctor was fixing my son, I sorta wanted to punch him in the face at the same time. Cuz, it just isn't right so see that little needle sewing it's way in and out of your baby's head. But..I didn't punch him. I just kept on blowing bubbles hoping they would distract my poor child. And it worked for a while. Leighton was showing off his counting skills and made it to 20 bubbles when the doctor commented on how smart he was. At one point, my husband looked really irritated with me because I had been blowing the bubbles straight into their faces (he was holding Leighton on his lap and keeping him still) for several minutes without realizing it. All I could think about was blow as many bubbles as you can Shannon, blow as many bubbles as you can! So, I did pull back a little and aimed them off to an angle.

Finally, it was over and Leighton went right back to his chattering about. He got to pick out a bunch of stickers and got his own little bottle of bubbles to take home. Nothing like hospitality at the ER! We finally made it home to see our little Chase sleeping on the couch next to his auntie Valerie. And then we were all better.

Except me. Who now lives in constant fear that something bad could happen to one of her children again. But wait.....throughout the week I have realized something about this. I have prayed about it and I think God has used the situation to once again make me realize that I MUST BE fully reliant on him. That he will protect us and provide for us. Just like he provided us our people that day.

Let me take a quick break here and tell you about my people on Sunday.

First of all, my best friend Melissa is my people. See their photo shoots with me this summer here and here. She was there with her own adorable little boy, Colin when it happened. (Which they were totally dressed so cute and we were just about to head to the backyard to take a family picture of her and her adorable little family before it happened....dang cuz Colins little hat and vest were soo cute!) Anyway...Melissa was there with me and you would swear that she used to be an EMT or something...."get the rag wet, I'll grab some ice, he's gonna need stiches, let me call ours husbands to get home, let me call the walk-in to see if they do stiches,nope they don't, you will need to go to the ER, we will stay here with Chase (even though they needed to get back home and pick up their dogs..2 1/2 hours away).....all while corralling her newly walking one-year old and holding my 2 month old!!! She was like an angel who was supposed to be there helping me. Because, honestly, I had NO CLUE what to do except for put a rag and pressure on it. I don't even know how I would have managed to find my phone if she wasn't there! I was a wreck and God planned for her to be there with me at that time. Thank you, Melissa! You were my "hair-angel" at our Prom in 1999 and you were once again my angel on this day. Happy Birthday, by the way!

My other people was my sis-in-law, Valerie. I called her on the way to the ER to ask her to come over and watch Chase for us. And she didn't hesitate a second to go and hang out with her favorite little newborn boy, Chase. Her and Chase have a special bond and it was comforting to know she would be with him. When we returned she told me how the day was like a vacation to her and she enjoyed cuddling with him in peace and quite. Oh and as an extra bonus, she got to watch this cool documentary on HBO.

Get this, there is a town in the south that just had their first integrated prom!! It was filmed in 2008. Like really, people. Let me repeat that. A town in the south had their FIRST integrated prom just LAST year!!!!That means the black people had their own prom and the white people had their own prom. And they were just always seperate-until last year. So, for those of you who don't think that racism is very much alive and well in our day and age, wake up! Wake up and realize that our culture still spews out hatred and in-acceptance in the most unsuspecting and innocent ways. It really is all around us. But sometimes, it just takes a "slap you in your face" documentary to make you sit and think about it.

So, thank you Valerie. Thank you for hanging out with our littlest peanut while we were getting our biggest peanut fixed. Thank you for telling me about the documentary. Thank you for always being there for us at the drop of a hat!

Back to mommy's little lesson of the week: God did not call us to live a life of fear. Fear of your children getting hurt, Fear of your husband or wife being hurt, Fear of not having enough money to pay the bills, Fear of an illness, Fear of a broken relationship, Fear of failure, Fear of the "what comes next" in life...the list really goes on. God called us to live a life of confident hope through full RELIANCE on Him.
And I may cringe everytime Leighton goes peeling through the kitchen with daddy running behind. And I may reach out to hold his hand more than he needs me to. But I must remember that The One who created him, ultimately sustains him. The One who breathes every breath into his little lungs, also sends the angels to soften his fall when he trips up the stairs. I can't ALWAYS be there but God is. And sometimes he will get hurt and sometimes God allows little boys to get stitches. Sometimes it's a life lesson God is teaching them. And sometimes, like this time, it's a life lesson God is teaching me. ALWAYS TRUST, ALWAYS HOPE.

Thank you Lord, for reminding me how BIG you really are.

In closing, check out this new song that I LOVE!!