A ROUGH WEEK FOR MY SWEET BABY BOY...

My Little Mr. Roo has had quite a week. He came down with a little stomach bug and had to "go poo poo" too much and then Thursday on our way to my office he had to throw up. I was quite the sight in my little kitten heals and black skirt standing on the side of the road holding a child over the curb to throw up! I know the construction workers really had to hold themselves back! There is just something so attractive about a girl with vomit in her hair. Needless to say, I turned the car around and came home. I called and cancelled my meetings and was mommy all day. Andrew so badly wanted to stop being sick and to make his tummy better. I raised his shirt to rub his belly and found this:
He told me he put a smiley face on his belly so it would feel better. By noon he was holding down crackers and took a long nap. Maybe his idea had merit! SO STINKING CUTE!!!

My baby was much better today so I was back to work. I had a 4:00 meeting so I met Mark at his office with the boys so they could go home early and spend the afternoon with him. I tried to call them around 6:00 when my meeting ended to see if the wanted to meet for dinner or if they already headed home for the night. I couldn't get Mark on his cell or at home. I did not think much of it, just thought they must be outside or at the "Yucky House". I got home and did not find them. I was changing out of my dress attire when I read this text message from Mark:

"CALL ME WHEN YOU GET OUT WE HAD AN ACCIDENT EVERYONE OK"

I called his phone again but could not get him. I wasn't sure if a car accident happened in the town he works in (15 miles away), on the way home, or in town. My mind was racing...I called him again. This time he answered. His reception was horrible. I could only hear every other word it seemed. I kept asking, "Where are you?"...again, every other word. I repeated my question and heard, "We_____the_______gency room."

I prayed...I didn't use a single word...I knew He knew my heart...I just wanted his comfort, peace, wisdom, strength...the unknown is hard for me even in the little things... this didn't feel little. My heart just hurt...Ok, this means someone is hurt, but OK. I kept telling myself to stay calm. I could feel my body trying to contain the shaking. I asked what emergency room but could not get enough reception for an answer. Finally I started texting him and confirmed they were at the emergency room in our home town. In the 2-3 minutes it took for me to drive to the ER, I continued to text Mark to get information to prepare myself..."Who's hurt"...Andrew. I put the phone down and drove as fast as I could while I wondered if it was a car accident or some other accident...my mind was racing. I held on to Mark's first message...EVERYONE OK!

I pulled up by the emergency room door and jumped out of the car and ran inside. The sweet woman behind the sliding window looked at me and gave me a reassuring smile and said, "You must be mom". Her smile made me relax and helped me gain the composure I needed to help my baby boy. I walked into the room and saw my baby alert and talking to daddy. He looked at me and said, "Mommy, I'm sorry I got in the dumpster." I bent down and hugged and kissed my baby and said, "You aren't in any trouble." It was then that I saw the 2-3 inch gash on the top of his head. I looked over at Mark to see his white t-shirt splattered all over with heavy drops of blood, the big circle of blood the size of a saucer on his shoulder where he scooped up our baby and held his head on his shoulder to run with him. Now my heart ached for Mark. What a terrible moment for him.

Mason came to me and whispered, "I know Andrew is going to be OK. Do you know why?" I said, "Why?". "Because I was praying for him while dad drove us here" he said in full confidence. Mason is such a little comforting soul. A little prayer warrior. I am so thankful for him...he is just great!

While we waited for the doctor to close the wound Mark proceeded to tell me what happened. They were cleaning up demolition at the new house while they waited for me to get home and have movie night at home. Andrew had been playing inside the house while Mark loaded large boards in the newly delivered dumpster. Mark had been walking in and out of the door on the back of the dumpster to place large pieces inside. He walked around to pick up some smaller boards and throw them over the top inside. What he did not know was Andrew ran outside and went inside the dumpster to find Mark. When Mark threw the first board over the side. He heard Andrew cry out from inside the dumpster and said his blood ran cold. They always say you cannot turn your back for a second. That is not true, you can. You just never know which seconds you are going to wish you hadn't. Mark ran inside the dumpster and found Andrew crying and holding his bleeding head. He jumped in his truck and drove home to wash the area and quickly saw the bleeding was bad and the gash was large. Mason grabbed a towel and wet it with cold water to place on his head. Mark drove to the ER holding Andrew across his lap and sent me the message when he knew things were under control.

The doctor irrigated the area really well and put 3 staples in to close it. My big boy did really well and was so brave. I think the forceful irrigation hurt worse than anything. Once the staples were in he was raring to go again. That is a boy for you. His body moves faster than his memory sometimes. We have told the boys that the dumpster is off limits, but it has been a while since we had an empty one to fill. That is why Andrew asked if he was in trouble... he remembered our rule... just a little too late.

Mark was just sick about the accident. I could tell he was shaken but as usual he was keeping Andrew laughing with fun conversation and promises of ice cream when the doctor was done. The doctor asked Mark again to confirm that Andrew never lost consciousness. Mark confirmed that Andrew was alert the entire time. The doctor looked at Mark and said, "I know you are just sick about this. Don't be too hard on yourself, he's gonna be fine. These things happen sometimes." I thought for a moment Mark was going to break down. I was so appreciative of this doctor and his compassion for a father in such a tough moment. God is so faithful to provide people in our path to comfort us in tough times.

As a parent you want to protect our kids from absolutely everything but the reality is...we can't. We want to do all we can to keep them from the dangerous stuff. We give them rules to follow that act as guardrails that keep them in the safe zone. We would lay ourselves in front of danger to protect them. Hmmm...does any of this sound familiar. This turned out to be another one of those moments God has shown me his nature through the gift of parenthood. He wants to protect us and gives us his word to live by...our guardrails. Jesus laid himself upon the cross to save us. The love that I can hardly contain in my little heart for my family is just minuscule compared to our Heavenly Father's love for us. It is too big for us to even understand. I just sit in awe of it...and found comfort in it as I waited with the unknown.