Sean's Surgery and Begining the Recovery Process

 Just over a week ago, on Wednesday September 5th, Sean had his shoulder surgery

 that I mentioned in a previous blog post.

He went in at 8:30 am and left the Out Patient Center at 2:30.

The girls and I stayed with him while he got into this hospital gown and got his IV.

Lexi was really scared of the IV.

We tried to teach her about veins and give her a little anatomy lesson.

We left right before Sean got a nerve block.

They did an ultrasound on his shoulder and then "blocked" the nerves so he wouldn't feel as much pain.

It basically was like an epidural for his shoulder.

His surgery took about an hour and a half.

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While he was in surgery we went home.
We live just a few blocks from the hospital.

And we made Sean a big poster.

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When we saw him after he was in a lot of pain.
We think that his nerve block didn't take until after the surgery.

Sean was also really tired and out of it.

See for yourself...

 The nurses were really great with the girls.
They gave them gloves and snacks.

Avery insisted that I take her picture too.

The nurses told Sean that he needed to wear these "stockings" on his legs 

for three weeks to help prevent blood clots.

He also had three different prescriptions that I needed to keep track of.

And he had to stay hooked up to this "Cold Therapy Machine" continuously.

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When Sean first came home he was exhausted.

He just laid on the couch and slept a ton.

I just had to share this picture of Avery playing in our bed.

She was so excited to lay in Sean's spot since he was on the couch.

Sean is a great patient. He is pretty easy going and isn't a wimp or a whiner.

And he is a great sport and let me take pictures of him and then blog about him.

A few times I left Sean to go run some errands. I would leave Lexi home with him so he wasn't a lone.

I told Lexi that she was babysitting him and she was really excited to do that.

In these pictures Lexi is reading to Sean 

 and keeping an eye on him while I tried to get some stuff done around the house.

Sean was given a really nice sling to wear 

as long with the gray shoulder pad that hooks up to his "Ice Machine."

We had to purchase the gray shoulder pad for $40 and we are just renting the machine for $10 a week. 

I had no idea how much work this system would be for me.

About every four hours I have to dump out all the cold water in the cooler 

and fill it with about seven pounds of ice. 

So that means that we were going through about 40 lbs of ice a day!

After just one day I realized that I couldn't fit that much ice in our freezer 

and I couldn't run to the store several times a day so  we ended up buying a small chest freezer. 

And to date I've bought 260 lbs of ice! Which is about $50.

$50 was our copay amount for the surgery!

Sean enjoyed watching lots and lots of football while recovering.

Some of the highlights were the BYU  vs. Weber State game and the Utah vs. Utah State game.

 

The Sunday after Sean's surgery I sent the girls to church with a friend so Sean and I could nap 

(mainly, me because Sean could nap whenever he wanted).

Here's a picture of the girls kissing Sean goodbye.

And I just had to share these pictures of our two little cuties all dresses up for church...

Four days after the surgery, Sean got to take his first shower and I got to change his bandaging. 

You can see the two spots they went in and did the surgery.

I'm wondering what all those markings are all about.

This week Sean slowly started working again.

Just from home and just for a few hours a day until today when he worked a full 8 hours.

And just because he's so cute, here's another picture of Sean sleeping...

I just thought I'd add this picture of Avery napping in our bed the other day.

 

Yesterday, Sean had his post-op appointment. 

He got his stitches removed. 

Lexi was scared but the nurse let Lexi help put bandages over the  incisions 

and even gave her pink latex gloves to wear.

Sean shoulder is looking great, he has no swelling or bruising 

and he's slowly reducing his pain medication at a good schedule.

Sean was giving two different exercises to do until he starts physical therapy in three weeks.

And since yesterday, Sean has been doing the exercises several times a day and is already improving!

We were also told that he doesn't need to use his ice machine 24/7 anymore

 just as need for about another week.

And he doesn't have to wear those horrible thigh high nylons anymore either! Thank goodness.

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On another note, we got a statement this afternoon from the hospital (that didn't take them long)

and the total so far was $15,361.53! Are you kidding me? That's crazy!

I want to call the hospital and ask them what "SUPPLY/IMPLANTS" are

 because they are charging $5,611 for it!

I'm just glad that we have great insurance, but still, this seems ridiculous to me.

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Anyway, I'm happy to say that Sean is finally on the road to recovery and I'm so proud of him.

He's been a great sport through all of this and kept his sense of humor and still been his cheery old self.

Random Update - Pictures and Thoughts

 Here's Lexi all ready for church a few Sundays ago.

On this particular Sunday Sean stayed home with Avery who was having an awful morning.

Lexi just loved being lone with me in Sacrament meeting.

She just sat on my lap and snuggled up to me most of the time.

A friend of mine gave me this homemade giant "Boppy" pillow for Eli.

Lexi loves it! So I think I will be getting another Boppy for Eli.

Here's Lexi all curled up in a ball sleeping in it...

We're getting excited for BYU football to start next week.

We bought this little shirt for Eli.

We also bought one for Lexi and she loves sleeping in it.

Also, Sean taught Lexi to sing, "Raise and shout the Cougars are out."

That's all she knows right now.

And speaking of Cougars. Here's Lexi's first attempt at drawing one...

Here are the girls hugging and just being adorable in their new matching outfits from my parents.

 And here's Lexi all ready for church this last week.

This dress is a size 6 so it's really long on her.

Which makes her feel so "elegant" and she calls it a "ball gown."

And here's me and Avery all ready for church this past Sunday.

I'm 32 weeks along in this picture.

I can't believe that in just a few days I'll be 33 weeks along!

Wow! Eli will be here soon. We're slowing getting ready.

We sold a lot of our baby things in Albuquerque when we first applied for the Salt Lake job 

and before we knew about Eli.

So I've recently bought a bath tub and a dresser/changing table that Lexi and I are going to repaint.

And we've just started buying a new outfit or two every week.

It's starting to make the fact that we're having a baby seem real.

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And speaking of me and my pregnancy, I decided to "fire" my M.D. here in West Jordan 

and go see some Midwives in Murray.

I have my first appointment in 2 weeks. 

I really hope that I like the midwives because I'm running out of time before I have this baby!

I was seeing a midwife in Albuquerque and I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED her.

I didn't want to move to Utah until after I had the baby just so she could delivery.

I never really liked my M.D. here. She just was too clinical 

and always kept bringing up the possibly of having another c-section.

Which is not what I want, we're hoping for another VBAC.

I just love my little Avery Joy.

She is totally my baby (at least for the next 2 months).

She's such a girly little girl.

Now that she has to do everything herself she's always wearing dresses or at least something pink.

(FYI, Avery is actually brushing my hair and pretending to put make up on me while I type this.)

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A few nights ago I had trouble sleeping so I went into the girls room and sat on the floor next to Avery's

toddler bed and rubbed her hair and kissed her little round face for several minutes.

I even thought about holding her in arms and rocking her 

back and forth, back and forth, back and forth.

While singing, "I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always, as long as I'm living my baby you'll be."

(Who out there realizes that I'm quoting a children's book?)

We bought Avery a soccer jersey and shorts from the D.I. so she could be like Lexi.

And here's Parker and Lexi in their soccer jersey for the new season.

Don't they all look so cute and athletic?

Lexi was concerned that her cousin Halle would feel left out. 

But honestly, Halle didn't seem to care that she wasn't in a jersey too or a part of this picture.

And here's the kids all loaded up in our van.

This is what it would be like if I had a kid every year for four years.

Yesterday was Sean's sister Michelle's brithday.

We've had so many birthdays in our family this summer, Lexi has loved it.

She was so excited to help me make pies and make some cards and celebrate last night.

Last week we bought a couch!!!

Finally, I have somewhere comfortable to relax in the living room.

We found it through the KSL classifieds for $150. 

It used to be in a model home and then a family in Lehi bought it and had it for 2 years and 

loved it so much that they bought a sectional like it and had no more room for the couch.

And now that I have a couch, I am finally gonna start thinking about putting something up on this wall.

And I decided to keep it real and just take pictures of the couch without cleaning first.

And I love this picture of the girls below, they are in the zone watching TV.

Hey, TV that's something new for us too.

We just got cable last week (for football season).

We haven't had cable for 3 months and before that we just had the basic, basic cable package.

I was looking through some pictures of Sean and I in high school recently.

I just had to share.

This first picture was taken just a few weeks before Sean went on his mission.

We went to go visit my Grandpa Briggs.

And this is from Sean's senior prom.

Lexi loves all of the pictures of us going to "the ball" aka school dances.

And she loved that I was wearing a tiara in this one.

This was us the beginning of my senior year on the infamous 

 Old Spaghetti Factory date with the Lively Fively.

And since I'm just being random here, 

I am not sure what I'm going to do with Avery.

I was thinking I'd potty train her before Eli was born.

Every time she poops she finds me and says, "I poop poop mommy."

And then she'll run and grab a diaper and some wipes and lay down.

But every time I ask her if she wants to use the potty she says, "no potty" and gets really upset.

I'm not sure what to do with this girl.

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And starting next month Sean is going to starting working from home two days a week.

I can't wait! I hope that it will work out. Because I'd to have lunch with him 

and have more time with him since we won't be commuting.

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Also, we are officially a two car family! We're been looking forward to this for years.

Especially since we lost our Elantra.

Michelle and Justin gave us their old Civic and we could be more grateful.

We just went and registered it and it's officially ours!

OH HAPPY DAY!
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Avery is officially a bitter.
Within the last few weeks she's bit Lexi several times.
She's even broken skin.
So now, Avery frequently has time out in the dark laundry room.
But event that doesn't seem to bother her.
Does anyone have any suggests about what we can do to teach Avery not to bite?
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Lexi's first soccer games is tomorrow and we can't wait to see her in action.
To get ready for her first game she had me paint her (and Avery's) nails red like her jersey.
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A while ago, Lexi was talking on the phone with my dad.
She was telling him how much she loves envelopes (one of her new favorite things)
and he told her that she could mail herself one.
So she did.
She made herself a little letter and sent it to herself.
She was so excited to get mail. 
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I recently pulled out a bunch of baby items and my girls have loved playing with them.
Their new favorite toys are old burp cloths, binkies, bottles, nursing covers and baby clothes.
They are such little mothers!
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Oh and I wanted to give a shout out to Trent!
(He's one of Sean's work BFF's.)

Moving Makes Life Crazy

We have an apartment to live in.

It's about a mile from Michelle and Justin's house.
There is a big grass area in the middle.

And a great playground and pool.

For now we've reserved a 2 bedroom/ 1 bath but if a 2 bath becomes available we get it.
Either way, I'm happy.
We are finally going to have a washer and dyer.
And we're gaining tons of square footage.

We also reserved our moving truck.

We're going with Penske this time.
And we finally broke down and bought boxes.
We were trying to get free ones at the local grocery stores and had no luck.
So we went to Lowes and got amazing boxes for such a good deal.
We are going there from now on.
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In the meantime, I feel like all I do is pack and sort out stuff to take to the Goodwill.
These are the boxes I packed this past Saturday.
It doesn't look like much but it took me all day.

And to add to the craziness that is my life right now...

Did you notice 4 children under the age of 4?
Yep, I was asked to watch these two kids from our ward for two weeks.
It's making my life A LOT more exhausting but I'm getting paid and moving ain't cheap.
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Moral of the story.
DON'T MOVE!!!

Why I've been neglecting my blog...

I'm not sure why but all of my pictures

are turning really pixelated when I upload them into Blogger.

That's really annoying but I'm not gonna let anything else stop my from blogging today.

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There are several reasons why I haven't been blogging.

1) We've had sick kiddo's. Just colds, you know, running nose.

2) We are moving two weeks from Friday,

which means I have to call and change my address one hundred times in the next two weeks.

Okay, maybe only like 20 or 25 times.

And I have to pack up all the way to many things that we own.

3) I've been reading A LOT.

I just got these books a few weeks ago and am reading them.

I just finished Anne of Green Gables and I LOVED IT!!!
4) I finally started using Good Reads.

It's a website were you share which books you've read and how you liked them.

5) I've started using and became addicted to Pinterest.

It's a website that lets you "pin" or bookmark things you find online, like recipes and crafts.

Just click on the link and check out my profile.

6) We've been hanging out with friends.
Here's a picture of Sean with our girls and Lexi's two friends Julie and Tess.

Sean is learning how tiring it will be when we have four kids of our own.

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And now just some pictures of my girls...

These two love being together.

They are sweet and rough with each other. Real best friends.

We have (hopefully) finally figured out what the girls will be for Halloween...

I have a little altering to do but do they make a cute Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty.

Lexi wants Sean and I to be a King and Queen. We'll see about that one.