Oh wow....

I couldn't decide if I was going to post this or not, but decided that you guys should read the story of just how amazing Julien is.

This story is from Tuesday night.....

I told Julien tonight as he lay crying in my arms, "God kept you both safe, there is no other explanation for why you are both OK".

I missed the whole thing.  Chris and I were inside talking to my Mother when my sister came running through the door holding Addie and Addie was hysterical.  My sister was in charge of watching the kids as they played in the yard at my Mother's house - and was doing just that - when in a split second, things changed. 

Julien - being the boy that he is - was showing off his new skates to his cousins - and he had my permission to be doing just that.  He was skating - fast, on a slight downward slope, on concrete (in my Mother's driveway).  Addie saw him coming and like any other time she sees him, she started smiling, wanting to get to him... and stepped right in front of him before my sister even realized what was happening.  According to Julien and my sister, Julien had less than a second to figure out what to do.  At the speed he was going, he only had two choices:

1.  hit Addie (for those of you who need a visual on size difference - here is a picture - from last year)
2.  pick her up in hopes of softening the impact

In the split second he had to decide, he grabbed Addie, which made him lose his balance and sent them flying into the garage door and then to the concrete.

In the split second it took to happen, Julien said all that he could think about was that he didn't want Addie to get hurt.  Julien turned so that when he hit the garage door, his legs took the impact and he fell back, holding Addie up so that she didn't hit the concrete. 

Addie appears to be fine except for being tender under her right arm and on her collarbone - where Julien had held on tight so that he didn't drop her.

Julien's right leg is tender from where he hit the garage door at full speed.  There are no other marks on either of them, despite hitting the garage door and then the concrete.

I'm still reeling from the drama - and more than impressed that Julien was able to think logically in a frightening situation, but not at all surprised that he made the decision to keep Addie safe no matter the outcome. 

Julien is still very upset over the whole incident because he just keeps thinking about what could have happened had he made a different decision.  I am so very proud of him!