ER

Rob has been gone since Sunday. The first 3 days went awesome; so totally smooth. The kids were great, bedtime went great, the weather was great, my kids even held it together with no naps great! Then Tuesday night, Wednesday and today came..........

Boom. Freezing cold shower. My dad comes over, relights the pilot light and it goes out within an hour. Find out today that it is broken and we need to buy a new one. Sweet.

Today the girls learned what happens when a helium balloon gets released into the sky and mommy learned what a lost balloon to the sky breakdown looks like in two overly tired girls....

Bunny has been lost since Monday. We know he is somewhere in the house... just can't find him....

And the topper of all toppings, an unexpected trip to the Emergency Room. We had just gotten to church for little lambs choir practice and I was getting Abby out of her car seat and into the stroller while the automatic trunk on my minivan is shutting. All of a sudden I hear a shrieking cry from Anna. I stop what I am doing and run to her and see blood everywhere. Blood was even spewing from her forehead down her face, outward onto the concrete... non stop. I run to her and start applying pressure on her forehead using the sleeve of my sweatshirt and call for help. A middle school aged boy runs up to me and does and gets help. Anna is still crying so hard at this point and I am overwhelmed by the amount of blood and the fact that I have two other kids with me.

A woman who I semi recognize appears and offers to take Ashley and Abby in. I let her finish getting them out of the car while I carry Anna into church (a total crying mess). She keeps telling me that I am hurting her from all the pressure I am applying on her forehead but the bleeding wasn't stopping. I call my sister and luckily she is driving right by church and pulls into the parking lot. The lady who brought Ashley and Abby into church proceeds to take Ashley to Little Lambs choir (she really wanted to go) and take Abby down with her. Abby is not liking this one bit but she honestly didn't have an option. As this is happening one of the girls I know walks in with her kids, takes one look at Anna's injury and tells me to take her to the ER. She also tells me not to worry about Ashley and Abby; she would look after them until my mom got there to pick them up. I don't hesitate one second and jump into my sisters car with Anna cradled in my lap.

We arrive at the ER 10 minutes later and Anna is pretty calm for what is happening. She keeps telling me that she just wants to get to the doctor so they can help her; she keeps asking me why no one is helping her. Luckily she had blankey bunny (and a teddy bear they gave her at check in) with her and kept loving on him while crying for bunny and Daddy. We wait in the waiting room for maybe 20 minutes before being brought back and put into a room. Anna handled the numbing medicine pretty well (she said it was super cold) and once it started working she really calmed down.

We sat back in her room for close to 2 1/2 hours before seeing the doctor. During that time we talked, watched lots of TV, Anna played with the remote, drank lots of water, went to the bathroom lots (Anna thought it was hilarious that you had to flush the toilet outside the bathroom), talked with Daddy and cuddled on the bed together.

We sent this picture to Ashley to help her calm down and stop crying... Kisses for Ash Ash!!

When the doctor came back he had to re-numb the area with a needle and Anna did not like that; she said it stung a lot.  But after that she was amazing.

I had explained to her that she has the biggest boo boo of her life on her forehead and that there is a hole that has to be sewn just like holes in her barbie clothes have to be sewn. I told her the importance of staying still and kept her calm (talking about swimming, dance, Frozen, Ashley) while the doctor stitched her up and gave her a syringe (water shooter she calls it). She got 3 stitches and the doctor said it will leave a scar but since she is young it should heal very well. We just have to take really good care of it and apply sunscreen to protect it through the summer so it can heal the best it can (we also bought some cream that helps with the healing). What gets me the most is that throughout the entire evening she cried the hardest after talking to Ashley on the phone because she "missed her sister very very much." These two are seriously just too much.

Then two band aids were put on her forehead to protect the 3 stitches (we go back in 5-7 days to get them removed) and Aunt Anne surprised her with some goodies. A balloon, a book, goldfish and some candy. What a treat!!! And to top that off we went to Freddy's to get a hot dog and ice cream at 9:30 pm for dinner. This child was ALL smiles!!!

When we got home Ashley comes out of her room (she was supposed to be sleeping) calling for Anna. The sisters reunite over a shard hot dog and they are both so excited to see each other and to be having ice cream with rainbow sprinkles and gummy worms at 9:45.

I worried about her overnight but she slept great. I also worried about her getting a headache today but the child has not complained about one thing. Tonight as I was changing the band aids, I had to rip out some hair. She cringed and told me it really hurt her but no tears; she was all smiles. I asked her why she was smiling and she told me, "I am so proud of me mommy." I laughed, hugged her, told her I was proud of her too, looked at her and she was beaming! I then asked if she liked the stitches (it was the first time she had seen them outside the picture I took and showed her) and she said "yes, very much so."

I just love my Anna Banana!

Much Love,
Jenny

She LOVED her hospital bracelet that is now on bear. She wanted to know what everything meant on it... she LOVES seeing her name

Teddy bear given to her at check in. She sleeps wit this guy now. We had many giggles coming up with a name for him and she decided on Ditty Cuddles. Don't ask, I haven't a clue!

Ashley send a picture of herself in Anna's bed. Ashley was having a REALLY hard time not knowing what was happening with Anna. She missed her big sis.