Preschool Graduation & Stitches...what a day!

Today actually started off pretty well. Ashton and Gunnar both actually slept in till 9:00!!! Well I guess Gunnar didn't really sleep in till then if you count the 4 times he was up in the night (with a fever) but after getting up at 6:00, he went back to bed till 9:00 and has seemed to be feeling much better since then. That never happens...he is pretty much always up for the day by 6:00. So of course I didn't go back to bed because after laying him down I thought he'd be right back up like most days and I didn't want to go through the pain of having to get up again, so I just stayed up and got things done instead. Amazing what you can get done in 3 hours with sleeping kids!

Anyway when Ashton finally woke up (and somehow didn't wake up Gunnar)...I went into his room and asked him if he wanted to have breakfast in bed for his special day. Of course he said yes, so I made him some chocolate chip pancakes and brought them in on his tray. He loved it!Today Ashton graduated from preschool!

Well his first year of preschool anyway...(he won't turn 5 till January) so he'll do one more year at Melody Lane before going to kindergarten.

On our way...Off to school last Thursday for his last full day...He has absolutely loved his school. I can't believe his first year is already over. It seems like a week ago that he was so nervous when I was dropping him off that first day and I cried on the way home! He has grown up so much since then and I think preschool has been a big part of that. They had a cute little graduation ceremony this afternoon where all of the parents could come. They showed us their sign language that they have been practicing, sang a song and helped their teachers read and kind of act out "The Hungriest Caterpillar". Then the teachers presented them with their diplomas...and everyone went outside for a snack. Ashton also got to bring home his journal that he's been keeping over the last 9 months. It was cute to see all of the stuff he's drawn in it and funny stuff the teachers wrote in their that he's said. My favorite page is the one that asks what kind of car Ashton wants when he grows up and Ashton said "A gold colored one that goes faster than the police, so they can't catch me!" Such an Ashton comment!

Here he is playing on the little playground one last time till next year...Here he is saying goodbye to Teacher Katria...She won't be back next year, so hopefully he'll get another good teacher.

After going home he played over at Tyler's for a long time then he came home and I suggested that we go down to the school park for a little while till Daddy got home. I told him he could ride his bike while I pushed Gunnar in the stroller. He's never ridden it that far without training wheels, so he was excited to go. We got there and he had brought his little school journal along so rather than play on the park stuff at first he just wanted to look through his journal. After we were there about 5 minutes, his buddy Jace came running over...they happened to be there watching his sister Jessa play soccer, so he saw Ashton and came over to play. Here they are practicing their sign launguage letters together.

They did that for a little while, then went to play on the equipment. Gunnar was down playing in the wood chips, so I was trying to follow him around and make sure he didn't eat any. I see Ashton climb up on one part of the equipment with Jace and as I'm watching Gunnar I all of a sudden hear Ashton fall hard, then scream bloody murder. I ran to him and picked him up and immediately saw blood in his mouth and he's telling me he hit his chin. . At first I think that he just bit his tongue because all I can see is his mouth full of blood, but then as he tilts his head up I see a huge gash in his chin...the skin was completely popped open. He had been trying to go down those horizontal bars that are kind in the shape of an arch down to the ground and he fell in between two of them catching his chin on one of them. I hurry and grab Gunnar and run over to the stroller and remember that we have nothing with us, but some water and wheat thins. Usually I at least have some wipes or kleenex. And I have to admit I kind of started to panic a little. Ashton was bawling and the cut was bleeding pretty bad. I had just talked to Lars and he was on his way home, so I called him again and told him to get to the park, that Ashton had fallen and cut his chin pretty bad. I threw them both in the stoller and wheeled them over to where Jace's Mom and Dad were sitting to see if they had any wipes. They did, so I tried to kind of wipe it off and I guess he must have heard me mention getting stitches to Lars or to Adam or Tallie, so from that point until we got to the emergency room he just kept repeating over and over (between crying) that he didn't want to get stitches. After they checked us in up there and took us back to a room, they cleaned it off and told us that he for sure needed stitches and that they'd try to numb it topically and that hopefully they wouldn't have to sedate him to do the stitches. He still was just crying and crying saying he really didn't want to get stitches. It just broke my heart to see him like that so scared. I was trying to stay strong for him and not break down and cry with him, but it was so hard. My poor little sweet boy with that big gash in his perfect little face. I just wanted to hold him and take his pain away. After they put the numbing stuff on, I could tell he gradually started to feel a little better and Lars and I just kept reassuring him that he would be fine and that if he didn't get stitches it wouldn't heal right and that as long as he held really still it wouldn't hurt and it would be done really quick. Pretty soon he started saying okay...I'll get the stitches and I won't wiggle at all. And "really I just did that at the park so I could see what it was like to get stitches". Once again classic Ashton. He's so funny with the stuff he says. By the time the doctor came in after it was all numb, he was laughing at stuff Gunnar was doing...and was chatting away with the nurse and doctor. Then the doctor gave him a shot in the cut to numb it even more and got it all stitched up. 11 stitches Total. Luckily I got ahold of Gunnar's Godmother Angie and she came up to the hospital and took him out of the room for half an hour or so while Lars and I held Ashton's hands as he was getting the stitches. We were so proud of him! He did so good...he held completely still and was so brave! Once again all we had were our cell phones, but we snapped a couple pictures before the bandage went on. It will probably scar a little, but at least it's kind of under his chin and won't be too noticeable. We finally got to leave the hospital a little after 8:00, so we stopped off at Wendy's to grab some dinner and Ashton was already trying to tell the guy at the drive up about his stitches!

As he was heading to bed tonight I told him how proud of him I was for being so brave and strong and I said "Goodnight my sweet boy" to which he replied "Goodnight sweet girl". I love this boy so much...thank goodnesss he's okay. I told him to come get me in the night when it starts to hurt. It could be another long night.

And what a day!

I guess with two boys we are bound to make a few trips to the emergency room, but I hope we don't have to go back for awhile!