Our Anniversary in the ER

This post is dedicated to my fellow bloggers who happen to be nurses - Angele and Heidi. You are appreciated!
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On New Year's Eve, our 11th wedding anniversary, Aaron and I drove off into the night like giggling newlyweds. Our three little men were at a friends' house and we were headed to dinner and movie - what a rare treat!

The first crinkle in the evening was the restaurant - a three-hour wait. 'Scuse me?? I couldn't believe the hostess kept a straight face. So we headed to a nearby movie theater to pass the time. Shoot, we could've gone to Dallas to pass the time!!

When we pulled into the theater parking lot, my cell phone beeped at me, letting me know I had a message. It was my friend Ashley (she and her husband Patrick had the kiddos) saying, "Hi Jeannie! Call me back!" Uh-oh.

Apparently, Greggie had taken a hard fall on their ceramic tile and busted his chin open. They had not been able to stop the bleeding for quite sometime. I asked her how big the cut was and she figured it was about an inch wide. Yikes. We decided we had plenty of time, so we headed back to their place to check it out and see if he needed stitches.

Ashley came out as soon as we pulled in the driveway (not a good sign). She was on the verge of tears and feeling horrible, but of course it was an accident - things like this can happen anywhere. "I just want to warn you," she said, "it's a pretty big gash. But he's calm; we're watching a video and he's doing okay."

Gregory was sitting by Patrick who was helping him hold a wad of paper towels to his chin. His face was a little pale, but he seemed alright. When I asked him to let me look at it, I took a quick glance and looked back at Aaron. "Oh, yeah -- we're going to the ER."

Our friends kept Daniel and Jonathan (thank you, Lord, for the McBrides!!!) and the three of us headed to the ER. He ended up receiving 6 stitches right under the edge of his chin. He was a real trooper and stayed amazingly calm through the whole ordeal. As my Mom said, this was probably the first of many trips to the ER for my sons. I have already had my share of ER trips with ear infections, and when Daniel burned his hand on the fireplace in Michigan, but now the injuries are getting a little more sophisticated.

Some funny things I want to remember....

- Gregory said he wasn't hungry while we were waiting, but when I started working on a bag of Fritos from the vending machine he quietly said, "Well, maybe I am just a little bit hungry..."

- When we got there, a nurse taped a thick pad of gauze to his chin. Right next to Greg was a guy in a wheelchair who had just dropped a glass table on his foot. Yeah. I could see Greg's eyes getting wider so I'm trying to motion to Aaron to get him away from that guy, but Aaron just looked at me like I'd lost my mind. (A common occurrence..)

- Eating a Wendy's dinner on little kiddie chairs and tables in the waiting room.

- Holding Greg close because he was cold (and needed comforting).

- When Aaron saw them start the stitching he asked, "Is that monofilament?" I thought maybe my husband had some great medical knowledge, but no, he just recognized that it was fishing line! Got a box of it in the garage! We laughed, "Hey, we could've done this at home!"