The Apple of my Eye

Kids. You can't live with them, you can't live without them. Not 3 days after I posted last about Dylan and his ridiculous cuteness, and about lessons learned, did Dylan run himself into a picnic table resulting in an extraction of two teeth. 1. Dylan is still cute, in a more southern hick kind of way, and 2. he will never run again. The real lesson is learned. :)

Monday was Columbus day and so we decided to have a family day out. We went with another family to visit the Animal Safari which Dylan has been begging to do for months now. Within the first 30 minutes of being there, we decided to play a game of freeze tag while waiting for our van to arrive. 1 minute later, Dylan had face planted into the side of a picnic table leaving two teeth shoved up into his gums and two teeth knocked forward and down. Why you ask? He was running while looking behind him so not to be tagged. Wonderful. It was devastating, scary, and to say the least, painful. We immediately hopped back in the car for another hour drive back to Carrollton. We went to the ER to find out that the next morning we would be having Dr. Rubin, an oral surgeon, remove his teeth. Having two teeth removed, although horrible, was a much better prognosis than what it could have been. We were worried about a broken jaw, and permanent facial damage, none of which was a problem. Thank goodness for someone up above looking over our little boy. (Had he not turned his head that last second who knows what could have resulted, a broken neck, jaw, nose, etc...it had the potential to be so much worse)

It is moments like these that remind me of how very precious life is. All it takes is a second, for a life to be taken. A second, for a tragedy to occur. A second, for a life to be changed forever. It is SO scary, and it makes me wonder, who the heck am I to take care of another human being? I don't deserve this responsibility, nobody does. It is too precious. There are too many risks that come along with motherhood. I don't want to screw up my children, and I worry that I already have. What am I doing!? It is so stinking hard, but I am comforted with the fact that there is someone out there helping me every step of the way. I am not one to always talk about my religion openly, I find that it makes many uncomfortable, but I just have to say, I KNOW that someone up there is really looking out for me, and I am so glad that I have that faith and that knowledge. While driving home from the incident, my first thought was to say a little prayer with Dylan. I was at the brink of hysteria, D was in pain, and a prayer was the only thing I could think of to help. And guess what, it did. I quickly calmed down, we made it to the hospital, and by the time we got there, though the pain was not gone and Dylan still was unable to close his jaw, Dylan was happy and making grunting noises to be funny. What a blessing. Not 5 minutes after Dylan was brought back to have the Dr's look at him, did I leave to have my breakdown moment, outside, alone (on the phone with my sister). I held it together when needed, then I had my time to unleash my emotions. I am so grateful for that strength. Dylan was amazing through it all, and I knew I couldn't let him see my fear and pain, it just wouldn't be fair.

(I do just need to say a quick something about Cameron. He was amazing. He held it together the ENTIRE time; on the phone with his family driving to the hospital, in the ER, at home that night, all up until he saw Dylan in bed with his bloody rag hanging out of his mouth. That was his breakdown moment. When he lost it, I realized that he was human, he was and is a father. I hadn't seen this kind of emotion from him since Syds seizures in the hospital over two years ago, and I admit, I don't want to ever see it again. But, it was good for me to recognize the strength that he has for his family. He is amazing, and I am so lucky to have him!)

I hope that I never need to witness a thing like this again. It was so horrifying. My kids have been through so much, I just hope that these ER visits slow with age. They are both just so active, I just want to tell them, SLOW DOWN! STOP RUNNING! You think they would listen? Do you think I did? NOPE! I was the one 50 ft climbing polls as a 2 year old. I guess the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree now does it?

Here he is in pre-op. He was actually excited, and loved showing his "scary faces" to the Drs, and nurses before they removed his "crazy" teeth. He is ALL Mount and LOVES the attention.

Here's D bit drugged before they put him under. He couldn't stop giggling. I called a friend in our ward, Dr. Barry Barton, and asked if he could come and do Dylan's anesthesia. He was so great and changed his schedule around to be there so that we all could have peice of mine and so Dylan would have a familiar face in the OR. What a good guy! I love having friends in high places! :)

Post Op. Dylan's obviously still a bit numb in his face. He touched his nose and said while crying because of the tingliness, "my nose feels like it doesn't want to be there daddy."

Dylan is still as cute as ever, right? Whats a few teeth? I mean really, it will only be for another 3 yearsbefore his other ones come in. Oh well. I think I will just have to hold onto

Dylan a bit tighter and longer every night. I love him so much and can't imagine if anything worse happened to him.

I love you Big D, SLOW DOWN!