3/30/12 - Apple Seeds

While I was sick as a dog, Callie took care of everything and helped the kids have a great time as well.  They took seeds from the apples they ate that day and decided to plant them in our backyard to see if they could grow some apple trees.  Cute!



3-29-12 - Callie To The Rescue!

Callie and Baby Morgan flew in on Thursday to help me out while Nick returned to work.  We went to a nice dinner at Gringo's and had some good conversation before going to bed that night.  I was 2 weeks post surgery at this point and still unable to move my arm much at all.

When I got up to help get the kids off to school the next morning, I had to go back to bed immediately!  I felt so nauseated.  I didn't know if it was the medicine I was taking or what, but a few hours later I was sure it was the flu or a stomach virus.  I couldn't even sit up.  I had to lay around with a bucket up to my face all day long.  I wasn't even able to tell Callie what to do with the kids or anything.  I was also unable to take the pain medication for my shoulder because of my stomach so that added a whole new set of problems....I was in a world of pain!

Callie didn't need much direction.  She took care of the kids, the house, her baby, and me.  I don't know what I would have done without her....honestly!  She was amazing!  I felt sick almost the entire week she was in Texas.  However, by the next morning I felt good enough to come out of my tomb and sit in the living room - which is pretty much where I stayed the rest of the week.

3/28/12 - Trampoline Trouble

Our little 3 year old neighbor, Phillip, broke his little leg on our trampoline.  His older sister accidentally jumped on his leg and that's how it got broken.  We felt so bad!!  I went to the store to get him some fun things to do while he recovered. 

This isn't the first broken bone on our trampoline.  A few years ago our niece broke her elbow on the blasted thing while visiting from Salt Lake.  She had to have surgery and metal pins in her arm and everything.  So far, our kids have been fine on that death trap....all the other kids better beware the curse.

3/26/12 - DUDE II

This is Dude the 2nd.  Original Dude was a little lighter color of green.....he is dead.  Andrew shredded him with a pair of scissors along with Kennedy's Twilight - Breaking Dawn blanket.  We all loved Dude so much that I decided to replace him when Nick and I took Andrew to the zoo today.  There will not be another Dude, so the new Dude better be well taken care of.  :)

3/24/12 - Summer Thunder Easter Party

Kennedy and her friends threw this "Summer Thunder Easter Party" for the younger kids and our big slide was one of the main attractions.  They also had an Easter egg hunt, a food table with lemonade and a fruit tray, and they helped the little kids make their own individual pizzas.  What a nice thing for them to do.  They even did a pretty good job cleaning up afterwards.

We did have a little unplanned error.  The girls turned the oven on to pre-heat so they could cook the mini pizza's and didn't check inside.  When opened it was discovered that Andrew had put ANOTHER plastic bowl inside which had completely melted.  Nick got to clean up this green mess, complete with toxic fumes :)

3/23/12 - Solo & Ensemble

Kennedy received an Excellent/Superior rating on her cello solo at the Solo & Ensemble festival after school today.  We are so proud of her progress with the cello and she will also be playing with 3 other string instrument players in a sacrament meeting on Easter Sunday.

Later in the evening Kennedy met with her friends to finish planning a Summer Thunder Easter Party for all of the younger siblings.  They plan on doing lots of fun activities with the younger kids this summer and they are calling it "Summer Thunder."  After the planning meeting, Kennedy went to the store with the neighbors and ended up spending $54 of her own money on food, decorations, candy, Easter eggs, etc. for this party the following day.

3/22/12 - Fresh Air

Nick took Andrew and I to a nearby park today to get some fresh air while the older kids were at school.  It was so nice to get outside and feel the sunshine on my face after days of being trapped inside the house.  I am feeling so much better!

 

Andrew was really cute at the park and kept playing "restaurant drive-thru" with Nick and I.  We had to go up to the window and place our orders and then give him a credit card to pay for the food.  He is such a cutie!

There is a lake right next to the playground and we brought Drew's fishing pole with us.  Nick taught him how to cast for the first time and gave the pole to Drew....the kid is a natural.  He did such a good job of casting....he looked like he had been doing it for years.  He had a great time "fishing."



3/21/12 - Stitches Out

I went back to the Dr. today to get my stitches out. It was painless but still creepy.  This is a before and after picture of the front of my shoulder.  With stitches and without.  I had stitches on the other side of my shoulder also, but I did not include pictures.   Seven stitches total, and 5 holes from the arthroscopes.  The doctor is pleased with my progress and I was given some elbow exercises to do daily, but I am still not allowed to move my shoulder and (except when I do the 5 mins of elbow exercises every day) I have to keep my arm in the sling for the next 4 weeks - until April 20th. 

3/20/12 - My New Phone

What good is having surgery if you can't take advantage of your husbands sympathy.  So.....I talked Nick into getting me a new iPhone today. Nick has an iPhone, and I have always wanted one, but Verizon never carried them until last year - and then I had to wait for one of our contracts to need to be renewed before we could afford to get one.  Well, today is that day and I am sooooo happy.  Thanks again Nick!!!

3/19/12 - Removing the Block

I was so excited to remove the IV block on Monday morning and finally take a shower after 5 days.  However, I knew that the wire tubing from the IV had been inserted about 5 inches into my neck and I knew it was going to be gross and weird to take out.  Nick was my nurse and did an excellent job of pulling out the wire and removing the tape.  I was so happy to finally get a shower but I was also worried about taking my arm out of the sling for the first time.  It was probably a good thing my entire arm and shoulder were still completely numb because I didn't feel much pain.....just discomfort.  It is very hard to do everything with one hand!  Some thing's I just can't do without help.  It took forever, but I finally got clean and refreshed and back into the sling.

My husband Nick has been the best nurse and he's done a great job taking care of the kids and house during this time.  He is incredible and I really want to thank him for all he is doing for me :)

3/16/12 - Thank You

We have had, and continue to have lots of people showing concern and helping us out.  Our neighbor friends, the Mistry's brought over this bouquet of flowers and a very nice meal that can be re-heated anytime.  Our other neighbors the Rathe's brought over a delicious dinner tonight, and our church is having different people bring in dinner for us every other night for the next 2 weeks.  We are so grateful for the help from everyone.  It has been nice to be so well taken care of - Thanks so much to all of you! :)

3/15/12 - Surgery Day

We woke up at 3:45 on Thursday morning to get ready for the big day.  We had to be at the Surgical Center at 5:00 am.  I was very nervous.  They got me ready for surgery and put an IV in my left hand.  Then the anaesthesiologist came to insert a surgical nerve block IV in my neck.  That was kind of scary and uncomfortable, especially because the little wire tube went about 5 inches into my neck.  Then it was off to surgery and I went to sleep.

These are some of the pictures my Surgeon took of the problems in my shoulder during the procedure.  He repaired the front/interior labral, removed a large flap of loose tissue, smoothed a large area of cartilage and repaired an area of the cartilage that had ground down into a deep groove, and then tightened some ligaments.  He was glad to see that he did not have to repair the back/posterior labral area because that area had almost fully healed itself and he could see the scar tissue from the tear.  He could have put a stitch in there but he said it would cause me a lot more pain and it was not necessary.

These pictures were taken the day of my surgery in the evening.  My face, arm, and hand were SO SWOLLEN from all the water and medication getting pumped into my body.  It was scary looking.  I came home with the nerve block IV still in my neck. It continually pumped medicine to block all feeling to my shoulder and right arm.  I had to keep that IV block in for 5 days to block the pain.  It made my whole right side numb.  I was really out of it from the anesthesia and medication.  I slept the rest of the day and then couldn't sleep all night.  I was a bit uncomfortable.

3/10/12 - Breakfast Break

What could be better  than someone else (besides me) making a pancake breakfast for the family?  I'm a lucky Mother :) 



3/9/12 - Kennedy's Room

Kennedy has been asking for a room makeover.  I think her room looks great, but she wants it to be more grown up.  We decided to re-do everything for her birthday in June, but with my shoulder surgery, I won't be able to paint and move furniture around for months.  I told her that the room makeover will have to wait and we will do something else for her birthday this year.

  

Nick and I decided to surprise her when she got home from school today.  We did not repaint or get new furniture, but we did take the love seat in our living room and put it in her bedroom.  We re-arranged the furniture so she could watch TV, do homework, sleep and hang out with her friends more comfortably in her room.

 

She was excited when she got home and invited her friends over to check it out.  I don't think we will see much of her when she's home now.

3/7/12 - Trouble

Andrew was dancing around with Carter in the living room when he tripped and fell into the glass door of our entertainment/TV stand.  I heard the crash and went running into the room where I found Kennedy holding Drew and examining his body for any cuts.  He was fine but very scared.  He fell backwards and his booty was what hit and broke the glass.  I didn't get upset at him, but he was worried I was going to and kept saying he was sorry.

A little bit later, he brought his old tricycle into the house and started riding around super fast while I was making lunch.  Carter started chasing him and Andrew ended up crashing into the couch and we got a big surprise.  He had filled the compartment in the back of the bike full of dirt from outside.....lots of dirt.  It didn't take long to sweep it all up and expel the bike from the house.  I'm very scared of what the rest of this day has in store for me.  :(



3/6/12 - Drew's First Date

I had a really fun first date with an adorable little guy.  We went to see The Lorax at the theater.  Drew was cute about getting movie snacks and insisted on taking everything home with him after the movie.  We were going to go to McDonald's to eat and play after the show, but my hot date fell asleep in the car.  I ended up getting him a happy meal through the drive-thru and he got to eat it when he woke up.  He's such a cute kid!

3/2/12 - Book Store

I love books!  I also love Barnes and Noble.  I can take Drew there and he is entertained by the train table and I am able to look at books in peace.  I am really into a bunch of older kids and teen book series.  I have dreams of writing my own adventure series for older kids one day.  For now, I will just read what other people have had the time and imagination to come up with.  ;)

3/1/12 - Dread

I took Carter to the Orthodontist to get some x-rays taken and find out what needs to be done to fix his massive under bite.  HE WOULD NOT HOLD STILL for the x-rays.  I knew it was going to be a nightmare before I even got there.  No matter how much you explain to him what's going on, all the equipment scares him.  He thinks he's something is going to hurt him.  The x-ray machine that rotates around his head was what they really needed to get an image from.  Of course, that's the machine he was the most scared of.  It took about 30 minutes and a few failed attempts before he stayed still enough to get a blurry, but usable x-ray.  At the end of that process I was exhausted and ready to go home.

 

We went into the doctors private office to hear what treatment Carter was going to need.  The Orthodontist is a friend of ours.  We were in the same ward together for 7 years and he is the main sponsor for Kennedy's swim team.  He began explaining that Carter will need 2 expanders (one for the top teeth and one for the bottom), top braces and a head gear to fix his under bite and we will need to begin this treatment within the next year.  While listening to him I knew that Carter was rolling around on the hardwood floor (he likes the smooth texture) of the Doctor's office.  I decided to ignore Carter's behavior (which I never usually do) because I felt comfortable that the doctor was a friend and that he knew about the struggles we face with Carter's mental disability, and also because I really wanted to concentrate on what Carter was going to have to have done.

 

I made a big mistake.

 

The doctor stopped talking to me after a little bit, looked at Carter and Said, "This type of  behavior is not going to be allowed in the main exam area."  I immediately knew I had made a mistake by not trying to control Carter's behavior.  My 3 year old was sitting quietly next to me like a little angel, but my 8 year old was acting like superman on the floor.  I WAS HUMILIATED AND EMBARRASSED. 

 

I never let Carter act that way in front of people without correcting him....why did I feel safe to ignore him this time?  I have been carrying him, pulling him around, etc., for so long that this has also done more damage to my bad shoulder.  When he doesn't listen, I am unable to pick him up anymore.  Facing surgery in the very near future, I am trying to talk Carter into compliance, but sometimes it doesn't work.....which is what happened at the Dr.'s office.  I ended up pulling him to his feet and trying to hold him in my lap.  Then the Dr. asked Carter to act like a gentlemen.

 

I left that office never wanting to return (however, I am no coward and we will return).  I am not perfect.  Sometimes when I am around people I know and feel safe with (especially members of the church) I let my guard down and try to relax a bit thinking they understand how difficult it can be raising a child with a mental disability.  I generally don't feel judged.....I feel loved.  Sometimes it doesn't work out that way....and that's OK too.