Welcome to the world Bentely Dean!

I have a new nephew! Matt's little brother Bryce and his wife Sally had their first baby in the early hours of yesterday morning. Poor Sally (and Bentely) and a really rough birth experience, but he's here and they're both healthy! 6 lbs 6 oz 19" and one of the cutest kids around!

We are so excited to have kids in that side of the family that aren't ours! And there's one more on the way - Yay for Brad and Savs and their new baby boy!

Now - if only we could work on getting some more girls in the family!

Oh okay, I guess I can wait a few more years!

4-6 more weeks!

I just went for my post-op apt today. I have to wear this stupid t-rom brace for another 4-6 more weeks! AAGGGHHH. I am supposed to "gradually wean myself from the crutches" but keep the brace on b/c i'm not allowed to bend past 90* for 4-6 more weeks because if i do it will pop out the stitch that is in there and we'll have to do this whole process over again! loverly!

So, that's the latest on me! Aren't you glad you know?

Crutches are NO FUN!

I had my knee surgery on Friday. UGH. Turns out there was one meniscal tear, in the back of my meniscus - which meant a little more, um, manuvering of my knee if you will. And because of where it was I now have a lovely T-Rom brace that goes from my ankle to almost my hip and only allows me to bend it to whatever degree the doc sets it at (which happens to be 90* right now, but I haven't gotten anywhere near that). It wasn't as bad as it could have been, because the MRI showed that there were two possible tears and my pcl looked "abnormal" but the doc checked everything out and only found the one tear. So, that's good. But - at the same time, IT FRIGGIN HURTS. My best friend Joan is an OR tech so she was explaining to me how they had to get to where the tear was, and what odd and inhuman angles I was probably bent at, and it's no wonder i'm so sore and swollen! No one should have to know what happened to them while they were out (i'm kidding!).

So anyway, I can put as much pressure as is comfortable while my brace is on, but absolutely NO pressure on it while the brace is off. I have to sleep with the brace on so if I need to get up in the middle of the night I don't put pressure on it, or roll onto it etc. But can I just say, I am absolutely HORRIBLE at crutches. I've never done them before, and it is no fun at all. I can't get up the stairs on them at all, and down isn't so good either. Good thing we have a rambler and my room is on the main level.

But I'm not all sure what is going on. I don't know if it's the meds or what, but when I stand up I get really light headed if I am standing/moving for more than about a minute. I'm on 2 Lortab every 6 hours, and honestly they don't do much for the pain. Today I have felt very nauseated and dizzy as well. So I took a nap and finally got up the courage to take a shower (with matt's help, of course). I can't put pressure on my knee, so I have to just basically lean against the shower wall for support and washed my upper body and let matt wash my legs etc. So there I was leaning against the wall of the shower and next thing I know my vision is starting to disappear from the outside to the inside, and I pass out. Not completely, I can still hear matt, but I can't hold my head up, and i'm just leaning in the corner of the shower. Matt gets me rinsed off and out of the shower and once I sit down for a little bit I'm fine again, just really tired.

Not sure what all that is about, but I guess I'll put a call into the doctor's office tomorrow. It might be side effects from the meds, but if Matt goes back to work I can't be on meds that are gonna make me pass out - but I also cannot be off pain meds and hurting so badly either. So I don't know what's going to happen...but either way, IT SUCKS.

The sound of silence....

it's like music to my ears! LOL

I'm here holding down the seven-child fort for a couple hours and EVERY SINGLE KID IS ASLEEP! Whoo hoo!

I think I might try to catch a little snooze on the couch myself!

Things are about to get a little crazy!

So, we have six people in our family. We fit nicely into our new home - 2850 SF. Finished basement, lots of playing room etc. Well - for the next few weeks all that is about to change.

My best friend Joan and her family are being evicted because the owners want to move back in. They are trying to buy a house of their own, and have put down four different offers on four different house - even went as far as having one accepted only to have the inspector find mold and homeowners refused to fix it. So, as of this weekend they will be homeless until they can find another place. Matt and I offered our house as a place for them, and their three kids, to stay! So we'll now have 11 people living in our house - seven of them children with the oldest being six. All boys except Maveri, ages 6,5,4,3,2,1 and infant!

Should be fun - if not interesting! but at least I'll have some more help after my surgery next week!

Long Time, No Blog....

Well, it looks as though I am a blog-slacker. Oh well, that's life. So here's the latest on us.

Matt turned 30 in June. That's always fun, LOL.

Matt is also getting laid off, SUCKS. They are moving his job to phoenix, and we don't want to move to phoenix. They said the move will take place sometime between now and Nov. 1st. Guess when we're supposed to go to Disneyland? If you guessed Nov. 1st you're close....Oct. 31st. So now everything is up in the air - from Matt's job, to our trip etc. He's applying like a mad man, but with the economy the way it is, and the fact that he's one class away from having his degree......ugh.

Relay For Life was first weekend in June. That went really well, despite the rain. RFL is always a "highlight" of our year, and the kids especially love "when we get to sleep on the football field".

Our Princess turned one on July 12th. I can't believe she is one. It's even harder to believe it because of her size. The girl is tiny. We had her one year check up today. She only weighs 18.4 lbs (10%), but she is somewhat long at 29.1" (60%), so I guess long and skinny is a good thing for a little girl to be. She's still the cutest darn thing I've ever seen.

And in other news - I'm scheduled for Knee surgery on August. Right before RFL something not-so-good happened to my knee and it's been hurting on and off ever since. The MRI report reads "two places with a possible meniscus tear and an abnormal PCL" so seeing as that is clear as mud the doc is going to do an exploratory scope to see what, if anything, there is to fix and get it overwith. My other option was to try therapy for four months and see if that helped, but with the whole layoff thing we may not have insurance - and especially not this killer awesome insurance we have not - in four months, so we decided to go ahead with the scope now. Oh boy - let me just tell you how excited I am to spend the rest of the summer recouping from knee surgery. sigh....

So that's about it for us for the moment. Some major life-events taking place and everything is once again as it should be - total chaos.

The circle of life.

We lost my grandpa, Keith Cox, last wednesday. Sunday evening he was fine - well, as fine as he could be with congestive heart failure. He called my uncles together and went over all of his affairs with them, and by monday morning he could hardly carry on a conversation, tuesday he was incoherant, and died wednesday morning about 4:10 am, in his sleep, holding the hand of his wife of 65 1/2 years. He knew he was "checking out" as he told one person. He was such an amazing man. He was the most talented carpenter/wood worker I know. I will forever cherish the rocking horse he made for my kids, and the old worn out cutting boards I inherited from someone in the family (who once had green fermica in their kitchen LOL).

Grandpa is the first person that I have been close to who has passed on (well, besides cameron, but that's a different kind of relationship). I will always remember his smile, hugs, his smell, and his laugh. I feel so horrible for my grandma. To see the love that she had for him, and the heartbreak she is going through just breaks my heart. She was so strong for the viewing and funeral. Us grandkids all spoke at the funeral, and that was tough, but the hardest part for me was when they closed the casket - knowing I'd never see his face again. I am sad that my children probably won't even remember him (well, Blaine might), because he is such a great man. But I am confident in the fact that we will be together again, and that he is in a better place with a body that will allow him to continue on in the Lord's work.

And Grandpa didn't waste any time getting to work. My cousin Darcy was due with her first baby on May 11th. As of tuesday night she said she hadn't had any contractions or anything. Shortly after grandpa passed she started having labor pains, and her daughter Maysen Baily Fox was born 12 hours and 20 minutes after grandpa passed away - at 4:30 pm on April 30th. We told Darcy that Grandpa was up there picking her out, and sent her on her way with a kiss.

So, this one's for you grandpa. Until we can see each other again, I love you.