Boys + Baseball

Last night Wade took Wells to a Bee's game. When I told Wells daddy wanted to take him to a baseball game he said very excitedly, "YES!!!  I knew he would take me to a baseball game some day!!!!"

When wade got there he went a little over board and bought wells a stadium hot dog for dinner, a "big" drink, some cotton candy, and a little bee's baseball bat. 

Wade sent me a text during the game that said, "This is a day I've dreamed about!  Taking my boy to a baseball game." Then sent these photos. 

Here's to many more perfect baseball nights to come. 

Wells singing to Chandler

A few weeks ago Chandler woke up from his nap and Wells decided to go in there and tickle his back and sing Chandler back to sleep.  This is what I saw from the monitor.  Careful while viewing, It's so sweet you might feel your heart swell a little. (Oh and the song Wells is singing is a Wells original).

Hand Issues

Last August I had a little lump under my right hand midder finger joint and it was causing some pain and my joint to swell. So I went to my doctor and he injected a steroid and told me that if it doesn't start to feel better to go to a hand surgeon. So two weeks later when the pain came back I went to Dr. Sanderson and he said that it could be what's called a single cell tumor and that we should get it out. So the next week I went in for surgery not knowing what a mess was to come. This is my lovely hand before surgery. Oh how I long for my old hand back...

This is after surgery...

After the surgery the surgeon said that he couldn't see any "single cell tumor".  Then a few weeks after my tendon started to slip down between my middle finger and my ring finger whenever I bent it. They sometimes call this a trigger finger. So I went back to the surgeon and he said that it needed to be fixed or my finger could eventually stay in the bent position and I wouldn't be able to pop it back up. So back into surgery another month later... I was so bummed because I was just getting my life back and was using my right hand again. 

Here is a photo after the second surgery. 

After this surgery the surgeon said that my sagital bands (the things that hold your tendon right over your knuckle) where torn and that my tissue looked like "crap". He said it was a mess and that he had a hard time finding anything to tie my tendon down to. Then about two weeks after I started physical therapy the tendon started to flip again...  This time I decided that I would go to another surgeon and see what he had to say. He basically said that if it didn't bother me that I didn't need to get it fixed until it did start to bother me. So I just went home and planned on living with it. But then one day while I mopped my floor and my whole hand started to swell up. I thought I must had broke a blood vessel and didn't think anything about it. It stayed swollen for about three weeks. 

Then I was walking into my moms house and put my hand up to open the door and I heard a little crack in that finger. I didn't think anything of it because it didn't hurt. But then when I went to show my mom my swollen hand I realized that I couldn't lift my middle finger AT ALL! It was just floppy. I had a little cry because I realized that I would need yet another surgery and I really didn't want to go through all that again so my dad gave me a blessing and that helped calm my state a lot. 

We decided to go to Dr. Sanderson and to a new hand surgeon Dr. Fraizer to see what each of them recommended. When I went to dr. Sanderson he removed a syringe and a half of fluid from my swollen hand and told me I needed to go in for surgery the next week. Then the next day we (Wade and I) went to see Dr. Fraizer and he couldn't believe that I broke that tendon. He said it's very rare to have a tendon brake on a healthy (somewhat young) person. He said that we could go to a hundred surgeons and none of them will tell us they've seen all the things I've had going on in my hand. Anyway he seemed like he really knew what he was doing and we both walked out feeling so good about him doing the surgery. He was truly an answer to our prayers. 

So the next week I went in for surgery número trace. 

I had to have my hand wrapped like this for a week. 

 

Then when the physical therapist (a different one) took of the bandage off to make a brace this is what it looked like. 

Nice right?

After surgery the surgon said that my tissue just was crap and partially gone and my sagital bands were totally gone on one side. He said that the tendon tear wasn't as bad as he thought. So that was good news. 

So now I'm wearing this lovely brace for six weeks. 

I can't  make a fist or bend my wrist at all! This has been a trial unlike I ever thought I would have to go through. It's been so upsetting and frustrating and depressing. But through trial comes triumph and I can't tell you how kind people have been. We've had friends family and mostly ward members bring in dinner almost every night for two weeks. I've had neighbors offer to change diapers. My mom has mopped floors and done dishes. I've had sweet notes and words of encouragement. And most of all I've had Wade pretty much take over and be Mr. Mom. He has done dishes, bathed kids, folded laundry, put my bra on for me every morning, put my hair in a pony tail when I need it out of my face, he has changes diapers and brused the boys teeth all while working as much as he can in between. And he has done it all with out complaining once. He just keeps telling me to not push it and that he doesn't want to see me go through this again. I have been truly amazed at the love shown to me and my lame hand!  I never would have imagined how important a right hand could be. 

As of right now in the next four weeks I have physical therapy appointments, a post op appointment, a rheumatology appointment (to rule our rheumitoid arthritis) and a blood test to see why all of this is happening. 

Chandler at 18 months

Chandler is 18 months!  I can't believe I can say that now, it's gone by so fast. He's such a dream baby (unless he's sick...because every second he's attached to my hip and I can't get anything done.) but he's always so happy and content and easy to please and he's so smart!  He will mimick anything I ask him to say and he's usually pretty close. He's saying so many words I can't even count. He understands so much. The other day I looked at him and told him it was time for his nap. Then I turned to Wells and started to talk with him for a minute. Then I went to find Chandler to put him down and I found him in his rocking chair with his blankie and book all ready for his nap.

He loves when Wade comes home from work. He runs to the door saying "da da da da!!!!" Then he gives him a great big hug. 

His favorite thing right now is books. All throughout the day he will go grab a book, sit down and pat the ground for me to sit next to him and read it. 

I can't get over what a sweet tender little spirit he has. And I'm so grateful that Heavenly Father has chosen me to be his mother. 

His 18 month stats are:

42% head circumference at 18.7 inches

42% weight coming in at 25 lbs

And 91% in length at 34 inches. 

Halloween

I know it's almost Christmas but I just have to post a few cute pictures of Halloween so I can move on to the Christmas pictures. Here we go!

This next photo is of a pumpkin Wells preschool teacher carved. I had to include it because it has braces!  So cute. 

San Francisco getaway

For our golden anniversary (7 years on the 7th of October) Wade gave me this sweet card:

Yup. You read it right. "Pack your bags. We're going to San Fransisco." He gave me two weeks to prepare and wean Chandler. 

We left on October 25th and we came home on the 27th.  It was a short trip but we had such a good time. It started off a little rocky with our flight being cancelled because of mechanical problems while we were sitting on the plane.  After talking with customer service we found another flight that left about four hours later. But to be honest we didn't let that get us down. Even though we were stuck in the airport we had so much fun laughing and catching up on our everyday lives without being interrupted by the kids.  We really do enjoy each other's company. 

Once we got to San Francisco we hopped on the BART (Bus And Rail Transit) that took us downtown. There we bought tickets to ride the trolley to China Town. 

Oh by the way when I way "WE", I really mean Wade. He did all the navigating, buying the tickets, figuring were to eat, and where to go to get the best experience. He even held my license and tickets for me so all I had to do was follow him and enjoy the city. He really is a gem. 

We hopped off the trolly in China Town and did what you're suppose to do... shopped. Then we went to a really good Chinese restaurant and ate Peking Duck. It was a first for me, and it was really good.

After china town we went to our hotel. Wade using is magic powers of persuasion got us an upgraded room with an amazing view.

Then after dropping of our backpacks at the hotel we walked to Ghirardelli Chocolate Factory and had a really good, very rich ice cream sunday.  Mmmmm I could go for one right now.  Then we walked around the little shops on Ghirardelli's Square.

The next morning we headed to our Alcatraz tour.  This was the boat that took us the mile and a quarter of shore to the island.

While we were there they let a hand full of us in to one of the cells to see what solitary confinement would feel like.  After filing in they shut the big metal door and it was pitch black!  You couldn't even see your hand right in front of your face.  They said some prisoners would stay there for up to TWO MONTHS!!!  All you had was your thoughts.

This next picture is the court yard that the prisoners used for exercise.  I thought it was an interesting view because in the distance you can see the Golden Gate Bridge and the city of San Fransisco.  It was just in sight for them to see real life that it was like torture for them.

After spending the whole morning at Alcatraz we were pretty hungry, so we stopped in for a San Fransisco staple.  Clam chowder in a sour dough bowl.  Very good.

After lunch we were ready to bike across the Golden Gate Bridge.  It took us two and a half hours round trip.  On our way we looked at all the beautiful homes on the shore line, we took a lot of pictures, we walked up the huge hills, we stopped in at the warming hut for some hot chocolate, we looked down at the water and took in the view once we reached the middle of the bridge, we watched the wind boarders on the water, and we took our time just soaking up the people, sights, and smells. 

After we dropped off the bikes we headed over to see the famous Lombard Street.

At this point we were pretty hungry from all the biking and walking around.  A few weeks before we left Wade made some reservations at this really good seafood restaurant on Pier 39.  We both ate an entire crab.  Mmmmmm  I could go for that right now too. 

While there it was the Pier 39's 35th anniversary so they had a sweet firework show just off the pier.  Wade knew this was happening so he made the dinner reservations so that just as we were done eating the firework show started.  It was pretty romantic ;)
Then to end our night we stopped in a chocolate store for dessert.  We grabbed a box of the best fudge I have EVER had in my entire life.  It was called Heavenly Goo and boy was it heavenly.  Mmmmmmm I could go for some of that right now.

 

The next morning we slept in (which was wonderful, I don't remember the last time I've slept in) then ate breakfast in the hotel and just relaxed for a couple of hours.  We both read our books and just sat.  It was so nice.  Then we headed off to the airport to come home.

Even though it was a wonderful weekend we sure missed the boys.  We're so grateful to our family who watched them for us. 

Virgina Part 4

This first photo shows the way we walked everywhere. And we walked a lot!  Wells loved it because he didn't have to walk and Chandler loved it because he loved his brother holding him. He got quite a few stares and a lot of smiles and a few "awwwww. That's so cute!"

We had the opportunity to tour through the U.S. Navel Hospital Ship.  The Comfort.  It had everything a hospital would and even a dental unit (which I found really interesting).  The actual tour was very long and for a four year old and a one year old it was very boring. Let's just say we were all glad when it was over.  Although if we didn't have the kids I'm sure it would have been very interesting.

This was our tour guide.  He gave Wells the sticker he's holding and Wells just thought it was the coolest thing EVER!

One of the days Wade was really busy preparing for his keynote speech and he needed some time alone to prepare.  So I took the kids to a Children's museum in Portsmouth.  It think it was probably the first time that I've driven myself somewhere other than Utah.  I was a bit scared but I did not want to sit in the hotel room all afternoon.  Anyway the next pictures are of the cool museum.