bury my heart at wounded hands

Today we took Emilia in for her allergy testing. Unbeknownst to us, we were supposed to have done this several weeks ago but due to a misunderstanding at the doctor's office we didn't go until today. We (Mama Mama & I) took Emilia to LCH for her labwork to be done. The facility is really outstanding - all new and beautiful and as calming as a hospital full of sick children can be. It made me oh so grateful that my girl is healthy and whole. In any case, we thought we were in for some skin allergy testing or something along those lines but we came to find out that Emilia would have to have 2 tubes of blood drawn. I almost passed out (and I am not at all squeemish about blood.) Fortunately our nurse was a wonderful woman who although she had to stick Emilia in both hands (the first one wouldn't bleed) jabbed her as quickly and as painlessly as possible. Mama Mama kept up an entertaining show with tape, blood vials, and a little windup toy Tita sent in Emilia's Halloween basket (thanks Tita - it was a lifesaver!) and I held on to my girl and cried on the inside. Most importantly, my brave brave girl cried just a very little bit (when they had to wiggle the needle around in her first hand to try to get the blood flowing) but other than that the only word to describe her was stoic.Not the best picture - but the best I could do to show her wounded little hands.