BUSY, BUSY, BUSY!

Things are very BUSY around here these days, well at least for me. It is quite a task to get everything for everyone! I have a new appreciation for moms of lots of kids. I feel like I am the mother of 6 right now, not just one. Well, I kind of am . . a mother of 4 anyway . . . a husband, two dogs and one actual child. Every moment is filled with getting something for someone, feeding the dogs, cleaning the house, laundry or one of Randy's chores that are now mine as well. Lucky for me I am a person that gets more done the more I have to do so for the first time in a while my ironing is getting done and things are getting organized! I love it!!! Thank you to all who have offered to help us. Right now we are doing well. I will keep you posted!

Update on the patient:
Randy is doing well on his path of recovery. We went to the doctor this week and most of the swelling is down! He got a normal size cast which is lighter and much easier to move around. Randy's pain is already less then the level of pain he has been living with for 2 years. We are so grateful! Tomorrow will be 2 weeks, only 10 more weeks of crutches.

Girls Night Out!

Since Randy was going into surgery and will be on crutches for 12 weeks I will be responsible for his care, Rhett's care and taking care of the house and dogs! Before all of this started I needed a Girls Night Out! So, the night before surgery some friends from the ward went out to Chili's. We had a great time, as always. We were really loud (what do you expect when there are 17 ladies together), we laughed a lot and I ate WAY too many chips and salsa (delicious)! Thanks to everyone who came and for all the offers of help in these next few months. I am very grateful for all of you and your friendship.

Update continued . . .

Here are the pics as mentioned in the last post. Sorry if you don't want to see this but it is more for the purpose of journal keeping for our family.



Randy hanging out with his huge cast!



An up close picture of the cast. Yes, it really is that big!




This is what was in Randy's ankle before this surgery. Now there are 5 other screws in different places.

Update on the Patient

Randy's surgery was yesterday and went great! He went in at 3:30pm and the doctor said it would be about 3 hours. 5 1/2 hours later the doctor came into the waiting room to talk to me. It was a LONG wait!!! The surgery went well and the doctor was able to do everything he needed to plus an additional procedure to make things the best they could be. Randy's pain is manageable which is an improvement from the last surgery he had on his ankle two years ago. He is in good spirits and very relieved to have the surgery over with and on the path to recovery.

We are so grateful for all the prayers on our behalf. We have such great support around us, we feel so very lucky! Love you all!

(I will post some pics a little later when I have more time).

Surgery

Two years ago Randy injured his right ankle snowboarding. He went off a jump and missed the landing by about 3 feet, instead landed from about 20-25 feet in the air and shattered his ankle! He knew it was bad when the ER doctor wouldn't even touch him! He referred him to an orthopedic surgeon instead. We went to the orthopedic surgeon who told us "you powdered the bone" . . . not what you want to here!!! Come to find out not only did he shatter the bone but he destroyed the cartlidge in his ankle as well. He had surgery to piece the bone back in place and a plate and 8 screws were added. About a year ago he had stem cells injected to try to help rejenerate some cartlidge. Here we are two years post injury and Randy is still in a lot of pain! His ankle joint is bone on bone and grinding away. So, the plan . . . fuse his ankle. This will restrict the mobility in his ankle but because of that it will take away virtually all of the pain. Randy is so excited for his surgery! After two years of pain and frustration he is about to be a real person again. He will be able to do the day to day things without pain or with very minimal discomfort.
Well, last week he gets a call from the orthopedic doctor's nurse saying she spoke with the insurance and they will not cover the surgery!!! what?!?! Randy was devastated! There was a light at the end of the tunnel, the pain was going to be gone and now, back to square one! The insurance company's reason was because we were laid off from our jobs back in the summer, ending our health coverage, we had a short laps in coverage and this was a pre-existing condition, they were not covering anything regarding his ankle for 1 year! We tried every loop hole we could come up with, made phone calls etc. but it looked like it was a dead end.
Then Monday Randy received a letter in the mail from the insurance company that stated they had reviewed his case and his surgery was approved!!!! We were so excited! We had the letter reviewed by the doctor and my step dad who does health insurance to make sure were weren't missing anything and this was really true! They both agreed, all is well and we are in the clear! So to surgery we go, Friday afternoon.

Thank you so much to all of you who said prayers on our behalf. It was definitely a good lesson in Faith for us. We are so very grateful!

Happy Birthday to Me!

My 28th Birthday was yesterday. It was a great day . . . actually few days! We celebrated with family on Sunday with a wonderful dinner and dessert at my mom's. Monday my mom and I went shopping with my birthday money. We went to Rancho Cucamonga to Tai Pan Trading. It is a wholesale home decor store that was originally in Utah only. This is the first one in California. I had been in Utah recently and couldn't wait to be able to go to the one here and get more stuff for my house. It is a great store and we had a fun time together!
Monday evening friends took me out for dessert. Always a good time! And yesterday I went on a great walk in the morning with Stephanie, always better to walk and talk with a friend. My Dad took me out to lunch and Randy and I went on our first solo date since Rhett was born. We went to CPK for dinner (yummy Waldorf salad Mmmmm) and saw the movie Seven Pounds (a different, but really good show). It was my birthday so I indulged in movie popcorn and a slurpee (so good!) It was a great birthday!

Christmas 2008

This Christmas season was my absolute favorite! Yes, having Rhett was part of it, but honestly the best part was not working!!! The job I have done for the past 5 years was always extremely busy at Christmas time. It was month end, year end and we worked a lot of hours. It was such a joy to be able to take the time to enjoy the season, family, friends, shopping, decorating and of course Rhett. We had some friends over for Family Home Evening the Monday night before Christmas. Always fun to sit around and chat and enjoy each others company.

Christmas Eve dinner was at our house. Since we got married I have always hosted Christmas Eve dinner for whatever family is around and wants to come. This year it was a small group but it was very relaxing! This year’s dinner was two different soups, corn bread muffins and salad. (I am still trying to nail down a dinner tradition for this holiday, feel free to share your suggestions and family traditions.) We then went to see some Christmas lights at a few houses here around town and then came back home for warm cookies and milk.
Christmas morning was Randy, Rhett and I at home. I love Christmas morning! And not because of the presents, there is just something special about it. In fact Christmas morning was pretty dull at our house this year. Rhett got a few books from us this year. We totally jipped him since he doesn't know any better. And no presents for Randy and I. We decided to take advantage of the after Christmas sales this year and score ourselves some much needed new electronics for great prices. You will soon see much better pictures on my blog as I FINALLY got a new camera! Hallelujah! We also got a video camera so we can join the club of really annoying parents and capture family video! It is kind of a right of passage right? Every parent has to do it.
The rest of the day was spent between both my mom's and Randy's mom's seeing all the sisters, brother and cousins! Christmas is a busy day for us but very fun!

Christmas Eve

Christmas Morning

(This is Randy "watching" Rhett for me while I got a few things together for the day. Great "watching"! Good thing he was entertained by the cartoons and didn't move!)

YUMMY!!

Rice Cereal! What could be more delicious!


Ready and waiting mom!


Yum!


That's It! I am still hungry!!



Rhett loves his rice cereal. He cries between bites because I can't get it in fast enough. He goes after the spoon and is sad when it is over. Dad is a little OCD and doesn't like that it makes a mess! :) Get used to it Dad, this is only the beginning!!

Lunch with Friends

Just before Christmas I met some friends for lunch. We all used to work together and haven't seen each other in quite awhile. We worked together for a few years and saw each other through many different things. We had a great time together catching up and eating a delicious lunch at Cheesecake Factory, one of my favorites. Mmmmm!:)
The only downside to the lunch was the crazy old lady that literally took Rhett out of my arms. Her and her husband were lunching next to us, we were so close we were practically lunching with them. She had been talking to Rhett and asking me questions about him but then when she was done with her lunch, she stood up and announced that she would take him (as she took him out of my arms) and walk around with him while I ate my lunch. Um . . . excuse me, what? You are doing what? I was speechless . . which does NOT happen very often. I didn't know what to do. I mean, I didn't think she was going to take off with him or anything, her husband stayed sitting next to us, she was with in 5 feet and in my eye sight the whole time, she was clean, she was old, she was just trying to help. But STILL, you DO NOT take a mom's baby from her arms! I ate three quick bites and got up, told her I was done eating and took my son back. It was quite interesting and gave us more to talk and laugh about the rest of lunch.
Thanks Amanda, Jeannette and Amy for being great friends and for a great lunch. We must do it again soon!