From this . . . to this . . . 12 years

 

Scottie's (almost) surgery (very long)

Back in November, we met with Scott's hand doctor, Dr. Douglas Hutchinson.  Dr. Hutchinson has been with us almost from the beginning of this whole ordeal.  He is pretty awesome.  We've been meeting with him for eight or nine years, and for three or four surgeries.  When we've met with him, his approach has been to offer us ideas and suggestions of things we could do to increase the mobility in Scott's hand, or fix the scar, or help it grow properly.  We've heard him say, several times, "Will it work?  I don't know."  He'd then ask if he would do it on his own child, and most often he'd tell us, "Probably not.  I'd wait and see."

While that might seem frustrating (and I admit, it has been at times), we've really appreciate his candor and honesty.  He's not doing this just to make money.  He genuinely cares about Scott and the outcome of the surgeries.  He's been disappointed when the surgeries haven't worked, and stoked when there is improvement.  These and other reasons are what keep us coming back to him year after year.

So, anyway, after canceling a surgery a few years ago (in which Scottie was sorely disappointed in us) we decided that it was finally time to do some surgery to straighten his middle finger.  Concerning his middle finger: the left side of his growth plate on the left side of the finger where it connects to the hand (got that?) was completely killed during the accident.  The right side of the growth plate on the right side of the finger where it connects to the hand, was still functioning.  So, the right side of his finger was growing, while the left side was not.  So, over the years, it has grown crooked.  Time to fix that.

 

At our appointment with Dr. Hutchinson, he said that what he wanted to do, was open up Scott's middle finger, and break/cut a chunk of bone out of the right side of that finger.  Then, he would take a bone graft from Scott's hip and put that into the left side of his finger to straighten it up.  While he was in there, he would take out the remaining growth plate so that the joint that connects the finger to the hand would stop growing.  (The other growth plates in that finger are just fine, and will continue to grow until he's fully grown).  He would also (more than likely) take a skin graft from the same area in his hip, cut the skin between the pointer and middle finger and put the graft in there to him more room to spread his fingers apart.

*Phew*  That's a big explanation.  :)

So, we planned it for February 6, 2013.  Scott kept telling us that we should have planned it for after his birthday, but with me being pregnant, and not knowing what would happen after his surgery (as far as additional check-ups, physical therapy, etc . . .), we decided to do it earlier.

(Side note: for our kids 12th birthdays, we've planned to take them to the temple to do baptisms for the dead.  Scott's been looking forward to doing that, but in January, Brandon & I realized that we wouldn't be able to take him for his birthday because he would have a cast on his hand.  We called to see if we could reschedule his appointment, but were told the soonest they could now get us in if we rescheduled was the middle of April.  Not an option for me being 8 months pregnant.)

The 6th came, Scottie was able to drink/eat clear liquids (like Sprite, apple juice, jello . . .) until 10:45 that morning.  We had to be at the hospital at 12:15, with his surgery slot at 1:45.  We got down there, got all checked in, and sat down to play until it was his turn to go back.

Playing with Dad's iPad on the way down

 

After playing the Nintendo for a bit, he took apart the railroad, and proceeded to make his own.  Although, he was quite disappointed that the hospital didn't have more small curvy pieces.

And then the dr. came in.  He looked horrible.  He apologized to us several times, but said that he wouldn't be operating on Scott that day.  He was very sick, and refused to do such an intricate surgery when he felt like he did.  He was worried that he'd get halfway into it and have to have someone else take over.  He said he'd only do his best, and his best wasn't that day.  He said he'd tried to call us, but we had already left, and when he went to the pre-registration desk to get our cell number, they didn't have it.

So, he apologized again, then left us to go home and get some rest.  We headed upstairs to his office to reschedule.  He had told us that he would bump someone for any day that we wanted to do the surgery, and to just get it scheduled.  So, we rescheduled for March 6, 2013, took Scott out to lunch, and headed home.

It wasn't until several days later that I realized that we would now be able to take him to do baptisms!!  One of the Lord's tender mercies for us.  We've been planning on doing this for so long, and were disappointed when we realized it wouldn't happen until several weeks after his birthday.  The Lord knew, and helped us be able to do this with Scott.  The 6th of March was also one of the original days that was offered to us - and that Scott wanted us to take.  Prayers have been answered all around for us, and we're so grateful!  Now, we're just looking forward two and a half more weeks until the real surgery can take place!

Scott's 12th birthday party

So, first off, I can hardly believe I have a 12 year old!  When did he grow up?  *sigh*  Anyway, knowing his surgery was scheduled for the 6th of February, we decided (very last minute) to throw him a birthday party.  He originally wanted to go roller blading, have pizza, and cupcakes and ice cream, but after looking at prices around town, we decided to pull together one we could do at the church.
 

So, we planned broom hockey, balloon darts, target coin toss, and decorating cupcakes.  It was the Saturday before the Superbowl, so the broom hockey teams were, appropriately, the Ravens and the 49ers!
 

It was a pretty intense game for a while.  Braden & Gavin took turns subbing since B wasn't feeling the best, and Gavin got tired from all the running around.
 

There were so many close calls when we thought the "puck" would go in, just to be shot back out into the middle of the floor again.  I was a little nervous that the girls wouldn't like to play, but they got right into and were just as intense as the boys.



The kids played for quite a while, and the score was something like 8 to 3, but they were getting tired, so we decided to intervene.  We told them each team had 8 points, and that the first team to 10 would win.  It was a close match after that, but in the end, the Raven's eeked out a win! Scott had a BLAST and I'm SO glad we were able to do this before his surgery.  So glad the kids showed up, too, especially since it was so last minute.  (Scott literally handed the invites out on Friday, and the party was Saturday.  Yikes!)

Next was balloon darts.  We had four different colors of balloons on our board: Green, Blue, Red, & Purple.  Each color was worth a different amount of points.  Green was worth four points, red & blue were worth 3, and the purple were worth 1.  Or something like that.  We had the kids line up shortest to tallest, and tallied the points after three rounds or three darts (or throws) each.  They had a ball, and could hardly stand still in line while they waited for their next turn.

 "Get a green!  Get a green!!!"

 I like this picture because you can see the dart in the air!

Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of the kids decorating their cupcakes, or of the target coin toss.  We kept score (the tally of points each kid got), and the "winner" got to choose a candy bar to take home with them, then the next highest score, then the next, etc.  (Each person ended up with a candy bar.)  Our overall winner was Scott's best friend, Danika!  He was pretty happy about that.

The kids then ate their decorated cupcakes and ice cream while Scottie opened his presents.  He's got a pretty good group of friends, and was very happy that out of all the people he invited, only one was not able to come.  Happy 12th Birthday, my Scottie Bug!

Responsibility

I'm so proud of my Scottie today.  He asked if he could have some time on the computer, but I told him that nobody got an electronic time (Wii, computer, iPod/iPad, etc . . .) until they had helped me clean the house.  He was disappointed and said, "But, that'll take 4 hours, because nobody ever works."  I replied that if we all worked together going from room to room, it wouldn't take us very long at all.

I then told him I was going to go eat breakfast, and then we'd all sit down and figure out what needed to be done and where to start.  So, while I ate (then talked with the other boys about jobs that needed to be done), he proceeded to unload the dishwasher, load the dirty dishes, put the chairs/stools up on the counters, swept, mopped the floors, cleaned Connor's room, cleaned his stuff in his room, started the laundry for me, folded towels, and I'm sure some other things that I'm not aware of.  The whole house was clean in an hour!  :D

We've also noticed, lately, that B seems to be taking more responsibility on his shoulders.  During the first week of January, he attended the 5th grade maturation class (with me).  Since that time, he has started to get up early (around 6:30 - 6:45) in the morning to shower and get ready for school.  He'll come up and eat breakfast with Brandon, and then finish getting ready while the other boys are coming up to eat breakfast.  I haven't had to remind him in a while to get dressed, or make his bed, or brush his teeth, etc.

He also has been complaining less when I ask him to do something.  He'll just jump right in and do it, and get it done.  A lot of times, he'll see something (usually the dishes right after dinner) that needs to be done, and he'll just do them without me having to ask.  His homework gets done at school so he doesn't have to bring it home with him.  He'll help Gavin with his homework, often reading with him while I'm fixing dinner, and again, he doesn't complain about it.  He just says, "Okay, Mom."

Now, I'm fairly certain that this won't last as they both enter teenage years - at least, that's what I've heard - but I'm enjoying it right now while it does last.  I'm happy with the choices they're making, and the ways they're trying to help me out.  I get frequent hugs from both of them, and I love it!

Another ultrasound?? Sweet!

So, the other day I met with a PA for my dr's appt. and after measuring and listening to babes heart rate (high 140's - low 150's), I mentioned how disappointed we were with our ultrasound last month and how rushed it felt. The PA said she'd talk to the dr about it and see what they could do. I said okay, but wasn't really expecting anything.

Well, I got a phone call from the dr.'s office the next day saying that they'd do another ultrasound for us right before my next visit - free of charge! :) Sweet!  So, on Feb. 14th, we'll get to see another shot of the babe.  That's also the day I have to drink the lovely orange soda drink to test for gestational diabetes.  Babe might be REALLY active.  :D  Happy Valentine's Day to us!

Whatcha' doin' in there?

So, we sat down for a family "dinner and a movie" downstairs, and babe was just going crazy during it.  So Brandon & each of the boys took a turn feeling my belly, and they were able to feel him dancing around in there!  So much fun!  Bear keeps coming up to my stomach and saying, "Hi baby."  I'm sure he doesn't get it yet, but he does get that Mom doesn't have as much room on her lap anymore.

I remember one time when I felt my brother moving around in my moms stomach - something I think I'll always remember - so I think it's pretty neat that most of the boys will probably always remember this.  Fun memories to have!

Okay, everybody . . . Here you go!!!

Bear's excited!  Grandma's gonna open a present!

 This is a big box.  Wonder what's in it?

Waiting . . .  Waiting . . .

It's a . . .

. . .

. . .

. . .

. . .

. . .

. . .

. . .

. . .

BOY!!!

In B's words, "Do we really need another boy?

Dad, I'm really saying this - I'm sick and tired of boys!"

Anybody want to know???

Anatomy Ultrasound - Baby #5

So . . .  our ultrasound today went well.  Faster than I would have liked - I swear all of my others were much longer.  And, Brandon just about missed it all - he was about 15 minutes late, which normally would be fine, but they got me back there within two or three minutes of checking in!  The tech did a quick recap for him when he got there, though, asked if we wanted to know the gender, found out for us, and we were done.  A bit anti-climactic.  :/  The tech did send us home with a DVD of the u/s, though, which is pretty cool, since we never got that with the other kids!

But, baby is healthy - brain looks great and the perfect size, four chambers in the heart, stomach, kidneys, liver, etc . . .  Weighs about a half a pound right now, so I should be feeling more movement within the next week or so as baby grows some more.  Saw a 3D picture of the face - this one will be as cute as my other kiddos!

And, we saw the gender, too!  :)

Santa Claus???

So, tonight as Brandon & I were walking into Smith's Marketplace, a woman and her little girl were walking out.  As the two of them walked out, the little girl looked up at Brandon and said, "It's Santa!"

I haven't laughed that hard in a LONG time!

Weekend with Great Grandma

Back home after a somewhat emotional weekend.  Hard to walk through my grandparents home knowing that it's probably the last time I'll ever get to walk through.  (They lived in the home - or the garage next to their home - for almost 70 years.)  Lots of memories, from the old piano I used to play, to the kitchen and helping Grandma bake, their tiny little bathroom with the pink tub, Grandpa's den & the smell of his shop (oh, how I love the smell of his shop), when the family would gather at Grandma's after Thanksgiving dinner to sing songs and visit, to the wringer washer out back . . .

Harder still, being present for a blessing for Grandma, tears streaming down our faces, knowing that she won't be there the next time we come to visit, and saying goodbye.  Good thing she's still within driving distance up in Idaho.  Hoping we can find a time to drive to Nampa to visit.

We also had family pictures done, spent part of the day shopping with my mom, four wheeling, horse back riding, family BBQ, a visit with my sister . . .  Pictures, and more details on the weekend to come.

"I Believe in Christ"

So, we have an amazing violinist/vocalist/pianist in our ward, named Angela, who is moving to the Y for more schooling.  (Don't judge - she's an awesome person!)  :D  Anyway, our ward music director wanted the two of us to play a piano duet in sacrament meeting before she leaves.  Angela didn't really feel comfortable doing a piano duet, but brought up the idea of a violin/piano duet.  I thought it sounded awesome.

So, we got together a week and a half ago to look over some music she had, and decided on "I Believe in Christ."  We were both super excited, but nervous too, because it's quite a difficult piece.  But, we went our separate ways and throughout the week we each practiced our parts.

Friday evening, we got together and practiced, and picked out a few more trouble spots to work on, then arranged to meet Sunday morning for one more practice.  So, I practiced some more that night, then again on Saturday morning.  I headed to the church to practice on the baby grand, (still quite nervous about the very last page) and got it down.  (This has some amazing, difficult runs in it that are played really fast.  So, you can see why I was nervous.  You'll hear them in the last couple of minutes if you listen to the recording.)

We practiced Sunday morning, and got goosebumps!  It was awesome, and we were both so excited to play in sacrament meeting.  It was fabulous!  The only downside was that the bishop announced it as a violin solo that was accompanied by me, instead of as a violin/piano duet.  But, oh well!

Anyway, since my family lives far away, and my FIL wasn't able to make it, I decided to record it during our Sunday morning practice, so that I could share it with my family.  We worked really hard on this, and I think it turned out beautifully!

Thanks, Angela, for the opportunity to play with you.  It was awesome.

You can click HERE to listen.  (Keep in mind, that I recorded this Sunday morning in the RS room while people were there setting up for our meeting.)

GM Cleanse - Day 6

Rough start to day 6 . . . Woke up feeling tired and weak, and when I raised my hand up, I could feel it shaking. Managed to make it out to the kitchen where I ate about 6 handfuls of small carrots. The shaking was getting worse, so I had Scottie come and get me a bowl of frosted mini wheats and a bowl of grapes.

Still kind of shaky and light headed, and after considering the past week and how I have felt, I've decided to stop the "cleanse." It's not worth it. And, I just have to say I have some amazing friends. They've all been supportive, and have offered counsel and advice, but none of them have said this was a dumb or crazy thing to do. They've stood by me - obviously concerned - and I thank them for that.

GM Cleanse - Day 5

Okay, Day 5 - Today is feast day. You will eat beef and tomatoes. Eat two 10 oz. portions of lean beef. Hamburger is OK. Combine this with six whole tomatoes. On day five you must increase your water intake by one quart. This is to cleanse your system of the uric acid you will be producing.



(Not sure I agree with this about being "feast day." Yes, it was A LOT of meat, but having to eat 6 tomatoes. I like tomatoes - I really do. But, I was worried.)

So, I started the morning out with a bowl of the wonder soup. I sliced half a tomato and put it into my soup (cold). Pretty good. I ate the other half with a bit of salt. Still worried. Not sure I'm liking this.

Ran out to do some R.S. stuff, ran a couple of errands, then was back home. I was feeling quite weak at this point, and had to sit down for 15 - 20 minutes to get my strength back up. Put a Bear down for a nap, then went to make my lunch.

Cooked me up some hamburger (about 1 cups worth) with some salt, pepper, and garlic. Sliced and cooked 1 1/2 tomatoes to mix in with my hamburger. Ate the other half raw. This one was REALLY hard. I literally had to force myself to eat the cooked tomatoes. Not that they were bad or tasted gross, but, like I said before - it's A LOT of tomatoes to eat all at once. I knew it would be hard, though, so I actually sat down and watched a one hour documentary on the Titanic while I ate. That helped.

By the time Brandon got home from school, I was feeling kind of weak again. (And, I swear this cleanse has sucked out part of my brain, too.) I ate another tomato before we ran a couple of errands, then rested on my bed while Brandon cooked us some steaks for dinner. I ate my steak - probably another 8 oz. worth, (and I couldn't even finish it all), and my last 1 1/2 tomatoes. I decided to save 1/2 tomato for my salad tomorrow for lunch.

Throughout the whole day, I've downed over 100 oz. of water. Will drink another 20 before I go to bed. Definitely not my favorite day. As I posted on Facebook: Okay, I did it. Well, most of it. I ate my beef (although I'm not sure I got down a full 20 oz - that's a lot of meat), and I ate 5 1/2 tomatoes.* sigh* Not sure how my relationship with tomatoes is at this point. And, I don't know if this is a result of the cleanse or something else entirely, but I have been freezing ALL day long.

Just two more days. I can do it. I can do it. I can do it. Struggling at this point - I REALLY wanted a cookie today. Or a graham cracker. But, I didn't give in. Just two more days.

(Weight this morning - 142.4)

GM Cleanse - Day 4

Now onto Day 4 - Bananas and milk. Today you will eat as many as eight bananas and drink three glasses of milk. This will be combined with the special soup which may be eaten in limited quantities.



I like bananas. I like milk. I like batidos (which is basically a milk and banana shake served in South American countries). SO yummy. So, I started the day off with a batido and a banana on the side. 1 banana, 2 cups of milk. But, my bananas weren't ripe enough (I like my bananas to still be a touch green), so my batido was a tad bitter. But, I still drank it.

I felt pretty good. Almost full actually. I kind of puttered around the house, cleaning this, doing that, doing some laundry, playing with Bear, eating a snack of - you guessed it, a banana . . . By lunch time, I was starving!!

So, I had a couple more bananas and a big, cold glass of milk. I was full again. After a Bear was napping, I started making "the wonder soup." The recipe is as follows:

The following soup is intended as a supplement to your diet. It can be eaten any time of the day in virtually unlimited quantities. You are encouraged to consume large quantities of this soup.

28 oz, Water, 6 Large Onions, 2 Green Peppers, Whole Tomatoes (fresh or canned), 1 Head Cabbage, 1 Bunch Celery, 4 Envelopes Lipton Onion Soup Mix, Herbs and Flavouring as desired.

Not a big fan of peppers in soup. HATE cabbage, don't get along with celery, so I was bummed about this soup when I first read about it. But, it goes on to say that you can basically put whatever veggies in it that you want. So, I put an onion soup mix in, some carrots, peas, tomatoes, and corn. And, it was SO good! I had my soup and another banana for dinner, and I actually went to bed full.

Although, I wasn't entirely sure I liked feeling full like that.

Definitely my favorite day so far.

(Woke up to a weight of 142.6!)

GM Cleanse - Day 3

Woke up hungry today, but not feeling like I was starving or going to die. I didn't even really feel like I felt after a day of fasting. Just hungry.

So, Day 3 - A mixture of fruits and vegetables of your choice. Any amount, any quantity. No bananas yet. No potatoes today.



Both combined? I can do this. For breakfast, I made myself a smoothie. Strawberries, pineapple, grapes, clementines, blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, spinach . . . You get the idea. Also, had a grapefruit - yes, topped with about a tbsp. of sugar. (Oh, and my smoothie was REALLY good!) Yum.

Still drinking lots of water. Went shopping with a Bear to replenish my banana supply (for Day 4), my tomato supply, and to get a salad and cucumber. Came home and ate a lunch of salad, topped with carrots, cucumber, and tomatoes. Grapes, pineapple, and strawberries on the side.

I had a presidency meeting in the afternoon from 4:00 to about 5:30. I was feeling pretty hungry during my meeting (it probably didn't help that we were talking about yummy food!), but just kept drinking my water. By 5:00, my arms were tingling, and the muscles in my right hand were seizing up. At times, I couldn't even open up my hand without help - either from my other hand, or from Brandon.

After the presidency left, I asked Brandon to cut me up some pineapple, since I didn't think it would be a good idea to use a knife. I ate the pineapple, and another grapefruit, and felt much better. Dropped Scott off at scouts, while the other boys and I went to my RS activity that night. We tied a quilt for our Stake RS Women's Conference in a couple of weeks.

It went quite slowly because we only had one person show up that either wasn't on our RS Activities committee, or hadn't previously been specifically asked to come help. Brandon was at a delegates meeting, so the boys were stuck with me. In the gym. With a basketball. And, B thought it was so much fun to tease his younger brothers. *sigh*

After an hour, though, Scottie was dropped off to come help, and help he did! He tied about 1/2 row of stitches on the quilt, then helped to entertain Bear and the other boys while we finished up. By the time we got home, I was really hungry, and very irritated. I sent the boys off to get ready for bed, then said prayers with them and tucked them in.

9:30; Brandon still wasn't home. I fixed me up another salad, some fruit, and my last piece of corn on the cob. Brandon finally came home around 10:15. Yikes! I finished my dinner, drank another 20 oz of water, and headed to bed.

Day 2 has by far been the hardest as far as food is concerned. Day 3 was the hardest as far as my mood was concerned. Although, I'm quite surprised (knock on wood) that I haven't had any headaches. Probably because of all of the water I've been drinking.

(Starting weight this morning - 143.4. Wahoo!)

GM Cleanse - Day 2

Okay, onto Day 2 - All vegetables. You are encouraged to eat until you are stuffed with all the raw or cooked vegetables of your choice. There is no limit on the amount or type. For your complex carbohydrate, you will start day two with a large baked potato for breakfast. You may top the potato with one pat of butter



So, for breakfast, I had a baked potato, with a bit of butter (and a little salt), with a handful of carrots. Not too bad, although, I was not really looking forward to the rest of the day. (I'm NOT a veggie fan.) I continued to drink a lot of water, and those couple of times when I was feeling really hungry, I popped a handful of carrots, and drank more water.

For lunch, I tore up some cabbage (at least, I think it was cabbage), and topped it with tomatoes & carrots. Okay, okay, and a tsp. of light ranch dressing. (I wish I would have thought to put some cold peas on my salad, but I didn't.) And, a piece of corn on the cob. And lots of water. Pretty good. I can do this.

Then came the hours between lunch and dinner. Yikes! I was hungry. I do not like asparagus, brussel sprouts, squash, raw peppers, or canned green beans, so I was struggling. Brandon came home and I tried to make a stir fry for dinner for the two of us. Let's just say - I failed. I do not know how to make stir fry. I steamed some broccoli, but without butter or cheese sauce . . . Yech! So, I again had corn on the cob and lots of carrots. And some peas. And lots of water.

I went to bed feeling okay - just weak. Oh, and kind of hungry. Really. Only kind of.

(Starting weight this morning - 145.something. Yeah! I'm down a pound.)

GM Cleanse - Day 1

So, a couple of weeks ago, a friend of mine mentioned doing a cleanse. She had searched around and found one that she thought might be a good one to do. (It's called the GM cleanse or GM diet.) I looked at it, and decided to do it with her. So, we waited until Spring Break and Easter was over, and then we dived right in.

Day 1 - All fruits except bananas. Your first day will consist of all the fruits you want. It is strongly suggested that you consume lots of melons the first day. Especially watermelon and a loupe. If you limit your fruit consumption to melons, your chances of losing three lbs. on first day are very good.



Well, since I don't like melons (or a loupe), I cut those out. But, I did eat a lot of grapes, clementines, strawberries, apples, and pineapple. And, I drank about 100 oz. of water. (So, yeah, I was in the bathroom a lot!)

By the end of the day, I was feeling pretty okay - just bored with lack of variety. All in all, not too bad.

(Starting weight that morning 146.6. Boo.)