August 6, 2015

Oh to go and redo a day...I would sleep in on August 6th. I considered it. My alarm went off at 4:45am and I thought about texting my two friends and saying I was skipping the run that morning. But it was a typical Thursday morning and I was meeting two girls for an early 4ish mile run. I left my house a little after 5am and ran about half a mile to meet up with them. When I met up with them I made a u-turn so we were headed back in the direction of my neighborhood. I was following closely behind them. Apparently, too closely. You know so I could be involved in conversation, because why else do you run with friends? I always enjoy the conversation and distraction. Then just as quickly as our conversation began, I hit an uneven part of a sidewalk and bit it. Because I was so close to them I didn't see the the step up. I hit the ground hard. My memory is fuzzy but I don't think I even stumbled or had time to react. It was not a slow-mo movement. I just hit the ground fast and hard. I had a small water bottle in my right hand and I was still gripping it as I lay on the concrete. I had attempted to catch myself with my left hand. And that was the arm I knew was injured. Before getting off the ground I said, "I'm going to need to head home. Y'all go on." I knew I was hurt. It wasn't a - dust your knees off and keep running type of thing. My friends walked me home. Later they told me that my speech was slurred on the walk home and I wasn't walking straight. I was a little tipsy. I kept saying I felt like I was going to pass out. But adrenaline got me home and during the walk I wasn't crying or feeling much pain. Good ole adrenaline. The fall happened about 1/2 mile from my house. I called my dad as I walked so he could come and sit with my boys. I knew Jeremy would be taking me to the ER as soon as possible. And as soon as I saw my husband, the blessed adrenaline was depleted and excruciating pain set in. Thankfully we didn't have to wait long for my dad and we headed to a nearby ER around 5:45am or so. The place was empty and I was seen right away. There they gave me some drugs, confirmed with a painful x-ray that I did indeed break the radius. My arm was kind of funky looking. We knew it was broken without the x-ray. And then that sweet ER doctor set the broken bone. God bless him...all the while he was yanking my arm in the air attempting to set the bone and I was trying my best not to curse he was saying something like, "I could never be an orthopedic. They have to do this to people all the time." I think he said that phrase several times. He also informed me during that visit that we would most likely be looking at surgery in a few days. Boo. At this point, I can't remember some details. 1) I was on drugs. 2) It has now been 3 months ago. But I think it was that afternoon that we saw the Orthopedic. Man, she was wonderful. If my little family ever needs another Orthopedic she will be our girl. When we started trying to figure out childcare for my surgery date, she looked at me with the most compassionate eyes. She had just realized that I was a mommy to little ones and she knew far better than I did what a challenge life was going to be for me due to this injury and the weeks that were ahead. She is also a mommy to little ones and so she quickly won an imaginary prize for best bedside manner and compassion. I'm going to spare you the 6 week saga of recovery from surgery. It was a rough 6 weeks. Full of tears and frustrations. Apparently, not everyone can break their arm as good as I can. My Occupational Therapist, who I'm still seeing weekly, calls it "my very special wrist fracture". It is called a galeazzi fracture. If I understand it correctly, it means that I broke the bone (the radius), displaced the joint and created and whole lot of ligament damage in the process. A few weeks ago, after a follow up with my doctor, the truth leaked out. I got a strong impression that she never expected my arm to fully recover from this injury. So the fact that I had as much movement as I did at my last follow up made my doctor really happy. Both my doctor and OT say that I am way ahead of the game. I'm further than they expected me to be at this point. If I didn't want to live a physically active life, I would probably be okay with where I am right now. They tell me that I'm at a "functional" place with my forearm rotation and wrist movement. But functional doesn't include push ups and those types of things that have become a normal part of my week. I haven't exercised at all since the day of my fall. I've now been cleared to run, I just need to get out there and do it once in the daylight. I have not been cleared to go back to Camp Gladiator and I probably won't for several more months. I've missed it. But my left arm is not ready for weights or push ups and planks at this point. I'm no longer in constant pain, but many things do cause pain. But it's supposed to be a good pain, so I do those things anyways. Lifting Abe and carrying heavy things is painful, but it's forcing my arm to move in ways that it doesn't want to move yet. I'm trying to push it out of it's comfort zone and stretch it a little further every day. I'm 2 months in to rehab and I've been told I have 4 months left. The morning that I broke my arm, I honestly thought that I would be in a cast for a month or two and then I would be good. I never actually went into a cast, but instead a permanent 6 week splint. I never imagined this would go on for nearly 8 months. And I'm sure it's good that I didn't know the severity of it all. Those first 6 weeks took a toll on me physically and emotionally. I was in a funk. But I am definitely on the upswing of things now. Things are improving each week. And that my friends is what happened to me on August 6, 2015. A few pictures from this unexpected little twist in my life.

 At the ER with a funky shaped arm.

 Jeremy taking off all my nail polish the night before surgery. This man... acts of service is a way he easily shows love. That is what comes naturally for him. And he was a total rockstar through this whole ordeal. He kept up with the house, the laundry, meals and made sure our little guys felt loved. Not to mention, being my set of hands and caring for me. I know it was stressful for him and I must have apologized a billion times for getting us into this predicament. But he was simply amazing. When the going gets tough, Jeremy shines.

And by the end of the 6 weeks, he could totally rock a ponytail for me. I had some sad, sad hair for a couple of months. Try doing your hair with only one hand. Not pretty. Also try putting on a bra or washing your hair or putting on deodorant. Oh I was a mess. And Jeremy had to do just about everything for me.

 I can't believe I'm even posting this one. Jeremy sent it to my parents with the caption "the lunch lady is ready for surgery". Haha. Sometimes he's so funny, at my expense. But still funny.

Post surgery. Finally getting some snuggles from my little guy. It was a hard adjustment when I suddenly couldn't hold and take care of him.

 Jeremy was home with me for a week. And then family and friends helped out for a few days and took care of some meals. That was a blessing.

 

And these two boys were the other rockstars at our house. They had to open sippy cups and peanut butter jars. They had to get Abe from his crib for me. And here they are washing the grapes and removing them from the vine. They didn't have me serving them much at all and instead it was their turn to serve me. It was good for them. And I very rarely heard a complaint.

 I won't lie. My boys watched A LOT of TV during my recovery.

 My hand...I think the doctor realized at my next visit that the medical assistant had wrapped me too tightly. I mean!! Swelling was normal post surgery, but look at the size of that hand!

 In the picture above I think I was two weeks post surgery. They unwrapped me to check the incision and pin. I didn't realize until this moment that there was a pin HANGING out of my wrist. I nearly passed out. I knew I had a metal plate and some other new metal in my arm. But I didn't know anything was coming externally out of my skin. But it was keeping my wrist stable so I wouldn't rotate my forearm at all. The radius is the bone that rotates while the ulna does not, so it needed to be stabilized during the healing process.

Then I was moved to this uncomfortable contraption that was made and molded to fit me. Let me just be honest and say they were all uncomfortable. But this one I hated the most.

 Peeling, crusty, dirty, stinky arm. 6 weeks post op and x-rays were done. Bones were healed. But still I was in a ton of pain. It made no sense. I was taken out of the permanent splint and put in this removable one...

At this point, this was as far as I could straighten my arm. It had been bent at 90 degrees for 6+ weeks. Today I can almost straighten it all the way.

 First thing on the agenda was a bath so I could wash my arm.

 The picture above is showing how I couldn't rotate my forearm.

And now I can turn it almost completely palm up. Palm down is a struggle, but I'm making progress. And Bio Oil is doing wonders for my scar. I've come a long way and I've got a little longer to go.

Anniversary Weekend!

Last month Jeremy and I celebrated 12 years of marriage. 12 years! It feels like it has just completely flown by. Two weeks after our anniversary we were able to spend a weekend in San Antonio by ourselves. It had been two years since we had an overnight date. Normally we have at least a weekend each year, but last year it didn't happen. So it felt like we were long overdue. Originally we planned San Antonio and this particular weekend so we could run the Rock-n-Roll Half Marathon together. And ugh. I'll insert my sob story here. I have consistently been running since January. I was really ready for a half in April. But at the time, the boys were doing Saturday morning sports and it was too much trouble trying to fit in a race day. So Jeremy and I made a goal to do this race around our anniversary so we could just make a fun trip out of it. So I decreased my mileage through the summer and then started increasing again around September. I lost my normal weekday running partner once school started back up so I was not as dedicated as I should have been. But I was getting enough running in to increase my mileage each weekend. And overall I felt fine. I felt amazing back in the spring. I was running more at the time. This time I just felt fine. Then the weekend after Thanksgiving, 1 week before the half, I had a problem. I ran 9 miles on Saturday morning, I was on my feet the rest of that day and then again on Sunday...that was Abe's birthday party weekend and there was lots keeping me busy. By Sunday afternoon my foot was hurting badly along the outside. That had happened once before and it was gone within 4 days, so I thought I would be fine in a few days with some rest. Now, three weeks later, I'm no longer limping and it is finally feeling better. It's still not completely normal, but I believe it's healing. I'm thinking it was/is a stress fracture. But I'm really not sure and probably won't delve into it if it's not necessary. So we didn't do the half. I couldn't even walk normal, much less run 13 miles. Jeremy hadn't really trained much so he was probably relieved that he was off the hook. We took all of our running gear that weekend in case a miracle happened and I finally felt ok to run on it. But the logical side of me decided I wouldn't further injure my body for a half marathon that I could do at a later date when I was 100%. But I was pretty bummed. A half was one of my 2014 resolutions! (Yes, I make those!). I'm pretty sure I never posted it because I don't know how much I believed I could ever do it. And then this happened. Boo. But I hope to do one in the future....

So back to our weekend. It was wonderful. We made the very best of our weekend alone. We stayed right on the Riverwalk. We ate lots of Tex-Mex and had delicious margaritas. We rode the water taxis around the area, mainly because of my foot. The weather was incredible. We did some shopping. We watched a movie in our hotel room. We slept a glorious number of hours each night. And we just had a great time being responsible for no one other than ourselves. It was a much needed weekend in a city that we love to visit. We did miss the race that I had been anticipating for many months. But I have no complaints about our trip. It was just what we needed.

 dinner outside, right on the river

 it is so beautiful all lit up at night!

 Holden is obsessed with Nutcrackers, so I had to snap this picture for him. It was right outside our hotel.

 More time on the Riverwalk. In the picture above you can barely see a guy vomiting in the river. (Not that any of you really wanted me to bring that to your attention.) Oh young boys....having too much fun.

 

 

 15 years later, I still have a crush on this guy.

 

 Mi Tierra is known for it's massive baked goods to choose from. But I think it is the largest restaurant I have ever been in. It is massive. And they never close. Not ever. Not at night. Not on Christmas Day. Never. And the decor in the picture above is not specifically for Christmas. It is like this all year long! It's loud. And I'm not talking about the noise level...just look at it. Loud!

This was the best picture I could get of the baked goods. And that was only about 1/3 of it.

Key lime pie to go please. This creepy picture was taken for my friend that shares my love for all things key lime.

Like I said, it was a great great weekend with my guy. Just a few days to rest and recharge. Now I want to go back. :)

more summer fun!

I'll begin this catch up post with my trip to Colorado. It was only for a weekend but I traveled solo, leaving my family at home, to have a weekend away with my sister. We had registered to run a 5k together near her home. At the last minute, we decided to book a hotel and make it a girl's weekend. It was a lot of fun. I was feeling a little under-the-weather (9 days later my status is the same), so we kept it low key. With the exception of the race, we spent most of the time in our hotel room talking. We had lunches and dinners out and did a little shopping. But my talk time with her was the highlight, for sure. I'm sure with children around, it would have taken a full month to cover all of the conversations we had in just a couple of days. It was a great great time for me. When we do get time together, I'm reminded of how much I miss her!

I brought along some facial masks.

 

 The aftermath of our color run. FYI: Elevation makes a huge difference when running. On Tuesday morning I had run 7 miles. On Thursday morning I had run 5 miles. I won't pretend that either of those runs felt easy. But I will say that on Saturday, those 3.2 miles were the hardest. Honestly I went into thinking it would be a piece of cake. Not so much!

 I do miss my family when I am away from them. I really, really do. But I was greeted in the airport by 4 smiling, handsome guys. And I came home to this on my front door.

 We had some morning swim time and afternoon playtime with some special friends.

 With some more unusually "cool" summer days, we had an afternoon at the park and went on a turtle hunt. I saw about 40 small turtles one morning while running, so we attempted to hunt them down, but only found one large momma turtle. And my littlest guy thinks he is so big and climbed all the way up!

 Yesterday we met some friends at Lake Granbury. We took a day trip to this wonderful place last year as well. Check it out. Maybe it will be a fun summer tradition. It's the perfect little place to pretend you're at the beach when you don't have the ocean nearby.

 Last night we met my family at the Rainforest Cafe to celebrate cousin Cameron's 7th birthday. The boys had a lot of fun and I think Abe's favorite part were the pretend thunderstorms.

We have about 3 weeks left of this summer fun and freedom, though we may be starting school a littler earlier at this house. I haven't quite decided. I've enjoyed the relaxed schedule. But I know the school routine is so good for my boys. Either way, we will be soaking up these last few weeks of not having much responsibility and productivity. Hope you are enjoying your summer break!

Another catch up post

So far, 2014 hasn't been my best year of blogging. I've been learning something the past few months though. Home schooling, being a mommy to 3, cleaning my house, spending time with Jesus, running and exercising, cooking for my family, quality time with Jeremy, time to chat with friends...I just can't do it all. At least not very well. So I'm picking and choosing those things that are most important to me and my family. What a relief! To allow myself to let go of some things and maybe not do them to my 100% satisfaction. I've never been much of a perfectionist, but it has still been a process to come to that realization that it all does not have to get done today. Or tomorrow. And I love this blog and documenting for my family. But lately it has taken a backseat to other more important things in our lives. I'm hoping this summer I can be a little more regular with it. But I do want to do a little picture catch up post while I do have a few minutes to spare. My messy house can wait a little longer.
I'm going to start with me. I ran 9 miles on Sunday morning before church. 9 flippin' miles. In a row. Ha. I've been running with a girl from church (another Melody, actually - ironic since I never meet people with my name) and she has really pushed me. And distracted me with constant and entertaining conversation. So I'm getting up around 5am 3 mornings a week and running with her. I am seriously loving it. I can't believe how much I love it. I only did 3.5 today. But I'm hoping to do 10 on Saturday. I'll be running alone this weekend, so 10 feels very iffy all by myself. We'll see.

Two weeks ago I had a bad hair day. I had seriously been contemplating chopping my hair off. Please note that it has taken me 3 years to get it as long as it was. My hair grows extremely slow. So on this particular bad hair day I called the place I have been going the past two times for trim and a bit of color. I really trusted this girl to cut my hair in a cute, short and sassy style. Well, she was no longer working there and I couldn't track her down. So I let a random girl cut my hair. It turned out to be a mess. In fact, I had to go back into the salon the very next day when I realized the sides were uneven. And one side was all choppy layers and the other side was not layered at all. One side was angled, like I wanted it, and the other side was not angled at all. Oh and bangs...well she chopped those so short you might think one of my boys had taken scissors to my hair while i was sleeping. So those are being pinned back for another couple of weeks until there is more length on them. This picture is the most flattering I have of the cut. But honestly, I hate my hair. HATE IT! I regret it every single day. The back looks awful and it's hard to make it lie down right. I won't even show you the back. I've had very manageable, short hair in the past. But this cut is so terrible. I'm hoping by early May it will have grown a little and I can go to someone else and get it fixed. That was long. Sorry. Hair is important to me. Maybe a little too important.

This little guy has become a dare devil. He is constantly climbing! He sort of acts like a dud around strangers and even our friends. But he is pure entertainment at home in the comfort of his family. In that way, he is very similar to Pax at this stage. Don't let his very serious looks (if you see him in person) fool you.

 

These two boys! I've been overcome lately by their closeness and friendship. Last Saturday they ran around the house all day just playing playing playing together. Jeremy made the comment to me, "They don't know yet, how lucky they are." I agree. Their {almost} 16 month age difference is one of the best things for our family. They really are great friends. Friends that also argue, fight and get frustrated with one another. But more often than not, they are on the same team and love their time together. For that, I am so grateful! If I'm being honest here, I really want the same for Abe. Which means, we need baby #4 to arrive any day now. :) Only by a miracle could it happen.

 

 

 

Hallelujah! Abe decided just a few weeks ago to join the book club! He now brings me board books over and over and over again and wants me to read. I love it! He finally is loving books. I really thought it might not happen with this little guy.

Speaking of reading, Holden is doing great! And I credit Jeremy for this. He has done most of the reading lessons in the evening. Holden loves special one on one time with his daddy, so it works perfectly.

Pax found a unique pencil storage idea during school one morning....

And yes, sometimes we do school in our jammies.

I took Holden to the doctor on Monday. He was having bad stomach pains leaving him doubled over and crying, plus he was running a fever. Our doctor assumed a stomach bug was hitting. He was right. We put him in our bed that night. I woke at 2:30am and Holden was shaking. I woke him to give him ibuprofen for his fever. He immediately threw up and began shaking even more. After calling the nurse line, Jeremy and Holden headed to the ER. Which seemed completely unnecessary since once seeing the doctor they just confirmed it was only a stomach bug. That was until the same doctor heard him cough. He listened to his breathing and chest, which sounded fine. But he went ahead and did a chest x-ray and found pneumonia. Poor guy! I'm actually grateful for the stomach bug and the odd shaking that had us concerned. It was because of those other symptoms that led us to the ER and we were able to get the pneumonia taken care of. He had probably been walking around with pneumonia for a full week and no signs except a cough that sounded like alot of drainage. How does that happen!? Holden fell asleep waiting on the doctor Monday afternoon. You don't mess with his naptime. Especially if the boy is sick! He is finally on the mend.

Beautiful spring weather calls for lots of outdoor time and picnics!

Holden has never shown much interest in babies. But oh me oh my, he sure is in love with his baby brother. It's been so great to see this sweet and gentle side of him and the relationship develop so naturally between them. And Pax is crazy for Abe too. Just this week, with tears in his eyes and a trembling voice, Pax told me about Abe being pushed by a little friend and hitting his head. I loved that Pax took it a little personal and was visibly upset that Abe had gotten hurt....THAT IS ME!!! I remember running off and crying (when I was only 5 or 6 years old) because I overheard my sister's friend gossiping negatively about her. (Mean girls!) 

Date nights are now happening twice a month in this house! Which also means, I babysit twice a month. I've probably mentioned several times that I trade off with another mom/friend. That way we don't have to pay for sitters very often. Well, now I trade off with two different mom/friends. It's a perfect arrangement. And tonight I have a date night with my favorite guy. A picture from one of last month's date night, pre-haircut. :( 

And just for fun...I'll share a simple recipe...if I can even call it that. This salad is becoming my favorite lunch at home. Fresh spinach, strawberries, avocado, toasted walnuts and a little bit of shredded parmesan. I top it with a couple of tablespoons of balsamic vinegar. Just seeing the picture makes me think that I need to go and make me one right now!

And that is my massive update!