Back Stuff

On March 18th my back started pinching up again like it did after I had Kobe, kind of like sciatic pain but a little different. I went about my day and it wasn't until the last hour before work that I had a hard time walking, but it was too late to call in sick so I just went to work. The next morning I went to stand up and couldn't move, much like when my back gave out a week after Kobe was born. I called Lane to come help me up and it was just excruciating pain. I was so frustrated but last year I was able to walk after about a day so I just had hopes that later that day or the next I'd be fine. The next day it was the same, so Lane took me into the clinic to get checked out. They gave me pain meds and then referred me over to the spinal care center who couldn't get me in until the next day. I was hoping by the third day I'd be able to stand up/walk/sit...something. Lane was physically picking me up off and on the toilet, bathing me, dressing me. The drives were excruciating, sitting in wheelchairs were excruciating. I was in unbearable pain. I got some X-rays done but I couldn't sit/stand on my own and it was painful with help so they didn't test much. A friend of ours, Dustin, whom I had done physical therapy with in September stopped by that Monday night and checked a few things on me and kind of decided he thought herniated disk. He set up for me to come in the next day and try this traction table that decompresses the spine. I started a new medication called Gabapentin (Neurontin) that they originally used for seizures and it basically numbs the nerves. After seeing Dustin- that was day 7- I was finally able to walk with a walker. I went in the next day to review my X-rays. In the X-rays it showed that I had a little bit of arthritis in my SI joint, and two small Pars Defects (tiny fractures) in my L5 S1. My sacrum and hips were all out of whack. They had originally planned on giving me a cortisone shot but when they saw the fractures they wanted to make sure they weren't new before doing it, so they ordered me an expedited MRI; which luckily got scheduled for that Sunday, March 30th. My MRI results were also expedited so I got them that evening. I have a ruptured and herniated disk that is almost fully sitting on a nerve root. (Similar to this MRI)

We were planning on leaving to visit my parents in California that coming Thursday, April 3rd, also the last trip to my hometown because they're moving, and we had already bought tickets to a couple events for while we're down there so I started stressing out that I wouldn't even be able to go. I was scheduled to go meet with the doctor on the 2nd to review the MRI results and discuss options. I was praying that I'd at least be able to walk by myself, and sit up with out holding myself up. I had an incident in the shower where I passed out, but we figured out that was from standing by myself for the first time (longer than a couple minutes). After meeting with Dustin a couple more times, and the doctor on the 2nd, we decided to get set up with talking to a surgeon. Prior to discussions with them, seeing my MRI, and talking to people that actually had this specific surgery, all I had been hearing from people was, "Oh do whatever you can to avoid surgery. I heard..." but it was all, "I heard." Yes, there are incidences where the surgery doesn't work out, but so-and-so could have had a different surgery, or it was 20 years ago, or 10 years ago, or they didn't do the PT, or their spine was different. There are risks that I would take in getting the surgery but after doing our research, we feel that it is the best option for me, especially being young and a mother wanting more children. It's a slick surgery and a quick recovery. 

The two+ weeks of being on the couch, 7 of those days not being able to walk at all were the most depressing and difficult days of my life so far. I accepted that I needed help from Lane and others, but I had a hard time accepting that I couldn't do anything for Kobe. There was a difference in how he acted, and Lane did an amazing job taking care of us both, but that baby needed me. I am able to lift him a little now and take care of him with what's needed, but I want our lives back. I have been so blessed with the great network of friends and family in my life that will take time out of their busy lives to come play with Kobe (which they claim is more of a favor for them), and change his diapers, and sit with me and listen to me complain, and bring things to me on the couch, and clean my house, and bring me magazines, and help me get into a chair to go to the bathroom. I can't express my love and gratitude enough for those who have helped out the last month.

11 Months of Mr. Stink Face

I love watching this boy grow, but I am getting sad as the big 1 year is approaching. He is turning into his own little person with his own little interests and his own little personality. He's grown up so much this month. He's learned how to pull himself up and sit back down, and is getting more brave walking from one thing to the next. He has turned all his toys and anything that will scoot into little walkers. He loves hanging out in the corner by the window where his toys are---throwing things, looking out the window, playing with his cars, pulling everything out of his toy basket one-by-one, talking to himself. I love sitting there and watching him play in his own little world. He's also quite the copy-cat now. He has finally mastered waving (left-handed), copying noises and gestures that we do. He's figuring out the association with the words: nose, eyes, mouth, ball, ba-ba, last bite, bath time, bye-bye, yay, hi, high five, puppy, monkey, teeth, dance, and a few others. He amazes me.

He loves his cousin, Tate. He gets excited when he sees him, but then everything is already turning into a competition. They compete for toys, speed, attention, food... we're in for it!

I would label month 11 as his biggest teething month so far. He had a rough couple days here and there. He had a pretty high fever one day and just felt miserable. It broke our hearts watching him be so uncomfortable and not being able to do anything but snuggle him.

This is the progress we've made, plus the two bottom ones.

Kobe also got his first round of hives. They didn't bother him but we're still racking our brains on what they might be from. We kind of decided it was from the residue from when I washed out the tub the other day. But who knows...

Since he has learned how to pull himself up and sit back down, that's about all he wants to do in the bath now. Well, he has also recently found his pee-pee; which is his new fascination. Oh the joys of having a boy. At least he has a cool mullet (taking care of that next month).

The weather has been so bipolar with snow-sunshine-rain-sunshine-snow. It's driving me bonkers. I have been trying to convince myself spring is here on the days when the sun peaks through so I take Kobe on walks. He loves barking at the neighborhood dogs. So. Dang. Cute.

Little man is growing like a weed, so we upgraded his car seat. Such a big boy! Now we're ready for our road trip to California in a few weeks.

Before Kobe was born, a couple of my friends bought him a pair of Jordan's. I thought then that they would be the only and nicest pair of shoes my baby would ever have because I had already figured out that buying shoes was ridiculous even though I have a shoe fetish. I guess I was wrong. Kobe doesn't fit into that pair yet so Ranzy bought him his next pair of Jordan's (the fit now pair). She found another pair at Ross one day that are the same size as the very first ones. So then he needed some in-betweeners so now he has 4 pairs of Jordan's. They are good shoes, I will admit. And obviously, they're pretty stinkin' adorable.

Now we have a problem though... haha.

Another perk of having a boy...we had our first collision with the head and a chair. Luckily this was just the calm before the storm, I'm sure. I don't do well with blood. At all. This minor cut that has left a scar almost had me on the floor. "Almost" because he's my son and I was trying to be extra tough. I'm screwed.

He loves looking out the window, especially when the garbage man  and snowplow are out. And dogs.

Our kitchen is almost baby-proof. I left the bottom drawer for him full of Tupperware. He likes it, ya think?

I just love these two babies!

I know I have many stink faces, but I don't know that he totally developed this from me. I think this is a classic Kobe stink face. He makes it 50% of his day. Happy or mad. Like I said, he's turning into his own little person!

We will be spending Kobe's first birthday in California with my parents before they move to So.Cal. It will be the last time visiting my "hometown" although, not even in the same house. It'll be a bittersweet visit. Kobe's party will follow when we get home...can you guess what the theme will be?

 

10 Months of Our Not-So-Baby Baby

This kid has changed so much in the last month. I say it all the time, but I can't believe how much they change in just a month, let alone a couple weeks--physically, mentally, emotionally. Now that he's repeating things and adding to his "vocabulary" I kind of expect him to repeat everything I do, but it's weird how just certain things spark his interest and then he's all of the sudden like, "Oh, I like that noise, I'm going to make it." 

He decided one day that he was going to pick his official 'first word': "Uh-Oh"...as he drops things. We must have been saying it when things were dropped because he picked up on it. He makes such a cute "oh" face when he says it. I love it! I don't put up with the dropping game though. 

Kobe likes to stand and walk now...as long as he's holding on to something or someone. He walks from one thing to the next. He is capable of pulling himself up and sitting down, but he lacks the confidence (which is fine with me for now). 

His hair is getting crazy long. He has a comb-over because there's not much we can do with it right now. I think it's about time for a little trim aka first haircut! eek!

Last week Lane and I bought him about 30 Hotwheels because they were on clearance at Walmart. It was one of the better purchases we have made. He LOVES playing with them. I seriously don't understand how boys develop the interest in cars and start making motor noises at such a young age. The other day I was playing with him and I had the police car and was doing a siren. He all the sudden was copying my siren saying, "wow-wow-wow". Whaaaaa??! This kid. He kills me. 

I just love him to pieces. He makes us smile.

He is also capable of getting on his knees and crawling but he prefers to army crawl; which takes longer. However, now that he can stand and hold onto things, he is starting to scale the wall and shuffle along anything he can get a grip on. 

He looks exactly like Lane here. I'm sad at how big he's getting!

Loves those cars.

Our Seahawks won the Superbowl!!! That was pretty dang exciting! I started becoming a fan when I started dating Lane, but I--like many other "12th men"-- have become a big fan this year. They did so well this season so each game week we usually had people over to watch and eat. Their last game when they won the NFC Championship almost felt like the Superbowl, so it was exciting enough that they went into the Superbowl, but that they dominated to the degree they did--whew! I am proud. SEA...

HAWKS!!!!

9 Months of Our Lil' Busy Body

It amazes me how much these babies change from month-to-month. And all those parents who say, "It goes by fast..before you know it they're a year old and walking and talking, and graduating high school and going to college." ...well, they aren't lying. I never quite understood just how fast it goes until I had one of my own. 

 This little boy is about 28.5" long (we think longer) and 21lbs 6oz. He checked off a couple milestones in the last month. He got his two (bottom) front teeth for Christmas, and has started crawling (it's more of an army crawl and he kicks his feet like he's swimming). He gets around though!

 We had a group date before Christmas with some of our friends. We all went bowling and then had dinner at Laurel and Ranzy's house. It was fun to get together with friends and do something other than work or watch TV at home. We of course brought Kobe because our two main babysitters were part of the date, and he's just pleasant to have around so far.

 Christmas morning, Lane woke me up at 6...of course the one day Kobe decided to sleep in. We got Kobe up and started opening presents. I was actually impressed at how interested he was in gifts and the process of opening gifts. Everyone always said, "Oh he'll just be trying to eat the paper and be more interested in the boxes." He was, but he actually tried opening presents and got excited to play with his new toys...and eat ours. Lane spoiled me again! We went up to Blake and Kim's for breakfast and gift exchanging, and then we did a late lunch up at Curt's with the rest of the family. It was a nice day spending time with family.

 Santa got Kobe this walker, and he has such a thrill in it. You can tell he feels like one of us when he's running around in it because he can grab things and maneuver around the house. We finally had to put up a gate at the top of the stairs. Before that, we were using all 8 chairs from the dining room table  to block off areas. Now that he's walking around in his walker and crawling, it's definitely time to baby-proof!

More Seahawks gear at our house!

 Soda Stream! ....just what we needed

Precious moments with Gran and Popo

 When Lane was younger, he would be at church and pass down a menu to his family to Restaurant X and fix something from the menu after church. So his gift to his parents this year was a coupon to Restaurant X for a dinner for two, including an appetizer, dinner, dessert and a movie rental. He went all out and made salmon crustinies, lobster, steak, salmon, potatoes, fresh green beans, and caramel cheesecake. It was the most fancy dinner I'd ever had! Restaurant X should become a real restaurant someday.

 

I love looking at this face every day!

 And those teeth! A-d-o-r-a-b-l-e! He has two visible, one more on the bottom and one on the top starting to cut through.

He loves to follow us around the house in his walker. It's hilarious because we'll be sitting or standing somewhere and feel a tug on our clothes, or a little hand on our leg and look down and he will just get so excited, start panting and squealing and run away. If you're walking behind him he thinks you're chasing him so he'll start running and giggle. So. Dang. Cute.

 And here's the gate.

 

You may think I'm a bad mom for allowing this to happen, but think away. I sanitized it, but even so, he's going to get germs somewhere else. He just likes to chew on everything! And it was funny.

 And at the end of the day we have bath time where he splashes and giggles those germs away!

He is definitely a boy. He has already learned how to make motor noises when playing with his trucks and cars. It amazes me that this is a trait that develops so early on.

 I stopped being lazy for a couple hours this year and decided to make Christmas cards. I thought they turned out cute. I can thank Pinterest for some of the ideas!

Aunt Britt and Uncle Mike got him this little walker. He can't quite walk with it but he is so into all the songs, lights and noises. He plays with it for hours throughout the day! 

 He has also learned how to throw temper tantrums. It's so entertaining, but I'm a little worried about where his attitude is headed. He barks, growls, bites, grabs, grunts, and stiffens his body when he's mad. Sometimes, I have no idea what he's mad about. He gets jealous of where peoples' attention is. Uh oh! (At least he's cute) Lane says he gets his dirty looks from his mama. I can't say I disagree...

 Ranzy spoiled him and bought him his 2nd pair of Jordan's. I always thought I'd be the mom that would buy all these cute miniature real people shoes, but the prices are outrageous for how long they wear them. He's lucky Ranzy is a sucker for them because they're pretty dang cute on him and mom won't buy them for him!

He loves playing 'pass the ball' with anyone who will sit by him and retrieve. It's also pretty cute. Who am I kidding, everything is cute that he does-- well maybe not the poop so much anymore.

 He got his first toothbrush in his stocking. Gotta brush those two teeth!

 He loves being read to. I need to do it more because he is fascinated with books.

 I think I've about covered it all for now. He learns something new every day and is just turning into a little functioning human! He hasn't said any real words yet but he seems to say "mama/mumum" when he's upset and "dada/dehdeh" when he's happy and content (is that a sign of something?). He's such a blessing to us and a joy in our home. I love my little family so much!