Best followed by worst day

I had one of those days on December 26 where I felt so completely content. I was feeling so in love with my family, our positive financial outlook for '08, my business improving, satisfaction in almost all areas of my life.
The boys went with the sitter for the morning, Jon and I painted the kitchen and spent some well needed time together being friends and not just parents. I think it's turning out pretty good:

When the kids came home Jon ran some errands with Xavier while Xan and I hung out. When the returned and Xavier woke from his little nap I took him to Cast on Cottage (LYS) and watched him explore the different yarn saying "Oh this so beautiful, so pretty!" as well as watching other people adoring him I thought about the hard times when all he did was cry and I couldn't enjoy him. We ran to the store and him jabbered away helping me shop. He brought a smile to everyone's face and felt that this child was turning out to be somebody so special.

We came home, ate dinner and watched TV. Xan and I played his DS and Xavier played trains as Jon worked on the kitchen.

Xavier has a habit of shoving his fingers in his mouth which results in gagging. So when he came up to be acting like he was choking/gagging (it was the second time within an hour) I paid no mind. If I'm being totally honest I was annoyed! After 5 minutes of his sticking out his tounge and grabbing his chest it became obvious he had swallowed something. For about 45 minutes we prayed it was just a piece of candy or dog food or anything that would pass. At 9:15 we gave him some milk which made it much worse. He kept grabbing his chest saying "boo boo ouch!" and crying and shaking. Jon, exhausted from painting said "Get him dressed". He took him to Scottish Rite (Children's ER) and I stayed home with sleeping Xan. Xavier screamed for Mommy all the way downstairs and into the car, all the way to the hospital an inside.

I stayed at home crying hysterically with a feeling of dread. I wanted to be there. I carried my cell phone waiting for updates from Jon. At eleven he called and told me a quarter was stuck in his esophagus and they had to do surgery. Hopefully within 4-5 hours. The coin was in a spot that, if it turned, it would be very dangerous and they needed to keep him in the hospital for observation.

I cried and cried. Then I text everyone asking for prayers for Xavier. My sitter said I could drop Xan off whenever I needed to. I decided 6am, because the latest news I got from Jon was surgery between 7-8 as they were waiting for the anestesiologist. I felt much better once I was there and so was Xavier.

At 8 o'clock they took him away and I felt so helpless. It's a very easy procedure but there's always a risk when you go under. Jon and I were a wreck.

At 8:10 the doctor walked into our room with this:

A freaking penny. The value of this sucker is now well over $8,000!

We were able to get home by 11, and he was off the wall all day. On top of everything else, he's a bad drunk. He was throwing things and yelling all day!

I slept with him beside me last night. I would reach over and put my hand on his back, feeling his breath rise and fall. I couldn't stop thinking about how he could have been seriously hurt or worse.

He woke me up at 7:15 with a kiss and a smile, the most wonderful way to start a day.