A very long post.

The title warned you! I haven't been on the computer in awhile. Most of you know about what we have been dealing with lately. We thank you all for your thoughts and prayers. It's been a tough week, but we are pulling through.

Caiden is doing so much better. He is such a trooper. I am so impressed with how brave he has been through everything. He is such an inspiration to me, and all the doctors were so impressed with him too. We were so blessed that all that happened to him, is what did, and nothing more or more serious.

Here is the staircase he fell from. He somehow got on top of the pony-wall, and fell almost 15ft straight down to the floor below. I heard a very loud thump, but NEVER imagined what had happened. I thought someone fell down one or two stairs..........not 15 feet. I heard the thump, and was waiting for a cry that never came. Blaise came into the kitchen screaming that there was blood everywhere. I turned the corner to find Caiden, unconscious on the floor.

The rest after that is kind of a blur. And honestly, sitting here thinking about it trying to re-hash it is making me cry and sick to my stomach. I raced him to the E.R. and they admitted him to the trauma center immediately. There were like 12 doctors in the room, doing a million different things all at once. They kept telling me that everything was going to be okay, but having THAT many people working on him wasn't calming my nerves. I kept hearing, "i need those results, ASAP" and "call Dr. so and so and let him know what's going on." Blaise was so worried. He was just sitting in the corner of the room observing, and quietly crying. He saw the whole thing happen, and he said he tried to catch him. I can't imagine what that poor little guy was going through. Ava wanted to get into everything, which wasn't helping me to stay calm. Jason got there about 15 minutes after we did, and we said a prayer together, and then I felt so calm and I knew that whatever happened in the fall, he would be okay.

A million tests later, (ultra-sounds, CT scan, 9 sets of x-rays, blood work, urine tests, heart checks and whatever else they were doing) we got the results. HE WAS OKAY! I was able to take a breath, the first one in hours. I was so relieved, amazed, grateful, and overwhelmed all at once. The poor little guy was able to finally leave the hospital with only a concussion, a bruised spine, pulled back muscles, a huge bump on the head, a black eye, and 2 broke arms. I could not be more grateful. The doctors were really expecting and preparing us for brain bleeding, and internal bleeding. But everything checked out okay. We feel very lucky. He is doing pretty good, considering. He is starting to move a little better, (his back injuries make it to where he can't move at all without a lot of pain, he couldn't walk, he couldn't turn from side to side, he couldn't lay down, he couldn't get up, nothing.) his swelling in his head is MUCH better, his eye looks better, and he is WANTING to play. We had to take him to a specialist today to look at his left wrist. He damaged his growth plate, and they won't know the extent of it for about a year. We are hoping that he will be as lucky with that as he was with everything else, so that he won't have to have a surgery on it and add bone to it so that it will grow. The cast on his right arm goes clear up to his shoulder, and past his fingers. The bone he broke there is so severe that the doctor doesn't want any movement to that arm at all. But the good news is, that since he is so young, he should only need the casts for about 3-4 weeks because his bones still grow so quickly, which means he will heal fast. That was another huge relief. I couldn't imagine the poor guy in 2 casts for the whole summer. These pictures were taken in the hospital.

These pictures were taken today after we got back from the Orthopedic specialist. He got his new casts on and wasn't too happy with them. He started to cry when the doctor was putting them on because he realized he couldn't "ride my bike, color pretty pictures or eat!" he said. He looks so much better. Just his eye is still showing signs of trauma. The bump on his head has gone down to where it's barely noticeable, and the hematoma on his face has turned a brownish-green, so you barely notice that too. The doctor said that the right side of his face will be a bit deformed and contorted for a few weeks, but that it will snap back to normal soon. It's doing much better than I was thinking though. It already looks better, so much so that you only notice that his face is contorted if you really know him, and know what he is supposed to look like. Right now the only thing you notice is his eye, and it's so much better too. We were so blessed.

This picture was taken on Mother's Day.Mother's Day was perfect and hard all at the same time. Jason really out did himself. I got the whole day off. I didn't lift a finger. He let me sleep in past 7, the first time in weeks. He made a great breakfast, let me take a bath, with no interruptions, I even got to get out of the house by myself. He was so thoughtful. I really needed it too. The past month has been extremely stressful, and now with Caiden, the next month will be tough too. A toddler with two broke arms is not going to be fun! I think the best part of Mother's Day, is I was mothered. The past few days I have just been non-stop Mommy, like any other day, but it's just been so much more. I really needed someone to take care of me, to tell me everything was going to be alright, to let me cry and throw a tantrum, and to tuck me in. And I got that this weekend. My wonderful sister came up from Arizona to help me with taking care of Caiden. I love her for it. Of course I loved her before, but this was just beyond the call of duty. She has her own daughter to take care of, and she is sick and pregnant too. I so appreciate her. And I love that when my mom calls everyday for her daily "Caiden check-up" she asks how I am doing with it all too. Same with Jason's mom, they know, because they are Mommy's too, that this is taking it's toll on me too. I somehow feel guilty that this happened. I know it wasn't my fault, and that I couldn't have stopped it, but I feel like "what kind of Mom let's there 3 year old fall 15 feet from a second story balcony?" As a Mom I am supposed to protect my child, and I feel like I failed, and he has two broke arms to prove it. I know he doesn't think this way, and you all will tell me I am silly for thinking this way, but I think it's just a natural feeling of us Mommy's. It will make me try harder to focus on the important things, not the mundane things. I really want to play with the kids more, and hug them more, and NEVER let them near a staircase, bike, car, snake, second story window, fork, WHATEVER again!!! :) I am so thankful that he is okay. I am so blessed that I get to hug him whenever I want, and I am so blessed to have such a wonderful hubby, family and friends to help us get through this. Thank you all! And hug your kids!