i think i'll move to australia..

okay...finished blogging my smiles and posted those at noon....ate a quick lunch...took a deep breath and thought, only a little while until naptime, i can do it.....and then the day really started...

around 12:30 this afternoon kate managed to have a nasty run-in with the corner of the door frame. a run-in that caused a nice gash and lots of bleeding from her forehead...and one freaked out mama, not sure just how deep or bad it was. i couldn't get reach daddy via phone...so, of course, i did the next rational thing and called my dear sweet friend jill, who also happens to be a pediatric nurse (because really, why would i rush to the idea of calling my pediatrician too quickly...that would just make sense, right!?). the incredibly loving and sweet jill immediately packed up her little guy and headed to my house...both to give her assessment of the gash and to stay with elizabeth should i need to head to the pediatrician or ER for stitches. while we waited for jill to swoop in an save the day, my mom just happened to call (and get a tearful earful from me...)...and my sister (who mostly got to hear kate crying like crazy...since by that point my tears were done)...and finally mike called back (and was fortunate enough to talk to a more rational and calm mama. :)

anyway...jill's recommendation was to call the pediatrician...and the pediatrician's recommendation was 3 stitches to close up what was a nice deep gash a little over 1/4 inch long. after the uber-traumatizing shot to numb the wound and the slightly less (but still a wee bit) traumatizing stitches (and i will report that even the super-prego, slightly highly emotional, hormonal mama managed to hold it together and not faint, vomit, or cry while restraining her) kate is now sporting three fresh stitches on her forehead. other than the actual numbing and stitching part kate walked around the exam room and doctor's office with a HUGE grin for all the nurses and the doctor...as if she really was quite proud of her little war wound. and she was definitely quite thrilled by the strawberry dum-dum she received at the end of the ordeal.

i've had several friends jokingly predict that kate would wind up with stitches before her second birthday...and i suppose she managed to prove them right...and with just hours to spare since tomorrow is the "big day". to be honest, i'm not that surprised to have kate end up with stitches...she is quite fearless...i just assumed her stitches might come from something a bit more daring or remarkable than bashing into a door frame. so here's her new look...just in time to be captured in her 2nd birthday photos and remembered for all time....

up close-ish...for those who are into that kind of thing....

she is doing well....but not really into the idea of giving up her "comfort" thumb at the moment

and just to show how "cruel" i am...i was just trying to get her to crack that big ol' grin she was sporting at the doctor's office...clearly she wasn't into the idea!

after a wee bit of a nap for kate...and some down-time for me...we're all ready for daddy to arrive home with a pizza for dinner (and maybe some fresh energy). i am counting the blessings in what was a LONG (and at times terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day)...like a friend who is there at a moment's notice (and even finishes working on the onion chopping and ground beef browning i was working on before the "incident")...the fact that the doctor did the stitches at her office, sparing us a trip to the ER....that my first child getting stitches experience was with kate (who is quite hardy and resilient) as opposed to the more squeamish libbers....and, most of all, of course, that God's grace is sufficient...and He knows what we need and what we will face before we ever need or face it. if you had told me this morning that my day would turn out as it did, i might have simply crumbled...i LOVE, LOVE, LOVE how His grace is there when we need it...not before...but just in time. it is simply amazing...and humbling...and gracious...and good. and now, Lord, just one little request...perhaps an uneventful evening...and perhaps a relatively calm thursday...just maybe! :)

....but until then i think i'll stick with good ol' indiana....because my mom says some days are like this...."even in australia"! :)