Ali & Ben+Avery...

Our little pumpkin!

2009-11-02T19:56:00.012-07:00

How time flies....I can remember thinking when I was pregnant how much fun it would be to dress Avery up for Halloween and it seemed like it was forever away. Well, her first Halloween has come and gone and our little pumpkin got dressed like a pumpkin. We got her the 6-9 month sized costume, and wow, uh, it barely fit her! She's growing like a weed!! But she was so cute and didn't seem to mind it too much.

My dad came to visit for a week and the two of them had a great time getting to know each other. It was so much fun watching my dad with his new grandbaby! Just smiles and love and cuddles abound! We had tons of snow while he was here so lots of quality time while we were stuck in the house. The house is quiet now, but we'll be ramping up with family over for Thanksgiving and then Ben's parents and Ben's brother's family out for Christmas. Enjoy the photos of Avery!

Playing with my keys...I love my keys! I'll whack you with my keys....after I whack myself with my keys!

Our Little Pumpkin

With Auntie Kari...

...and Grandma...

...and Grandpa...

...and Mom and Dad!

I really like these sack things, they are comfy!

Hmmm...not sure about this one. Ben and I aren't sure if she's milk drunk or just really tired. But it's cute anyway.

Lovin' g'pa time!

Daddy's photo studio

The first bite of real food....pretty anti-climactic. She never seemed into it at all! Just kinda pushed it around on the spoon and never took a real bite, no matter how hard we tried! Fun to watch though.

Cereal aftermath

Watching Lion King on You Tube. She loved it!

Long delayed post....

2009-10-18T20:22:00.020-06:00

Well, we moved! Finally! So that's why no post in so long. The last month was gone so fast....I am still turned around a bit. We are in Parker, not Highlands Ranch, but everything happens for a reason, and I truly believe we were meant to find this house. Tons more room than the other one, space to grow into, yard, park, pool, etc.! So far it's been great and the commute into Denver hasn't been terrible. I guess we'll see with snow how it really is?!?!

Avery is growing and changing so much. I'll just post a ton of photos and let you all gander at her cuteness! She's on the verge of rolling over, laughs and giggles, smiles constantly, sleeps good, eats good, and really is just a joy to be around. We really cannot imagine life without her. She checked in at her four month dr. appt. at 15 lb. 5 oz, 97th percentile for height (can't recall exactly what the measurement was to be honest...) - but she's definitely tall! Overall, healthy as can be. One cold that stuck around for a while, nothing major, and we just had our first battle with pink eye. She starts home day care on Monday, so we are hoping that she is able to avoid the swine flu (and regular flu for that matter) until she's old enough for her vaccines. Keep your fingers crossed! Enjoy the photos, especially the video at the end! Love to all, and I will try to post more often. How time flies these days!

First, our new house. These are photos from the week we moved in - we've managed to get furniture arranged by now!

Ben's pumpkin made the trip

Front of the house

Back of the house

Avery's room

Living room (furniture is now arranged)

Family room

And now our little star!

Waking up from a nap

Getting ready for bed

Smile!

Cheering on daddy's team!

Hanging out with mommy while she works from home (I had pink eye!)

Hanging with my doggie

Cuddles from Grandpa Lowe

Mommy's favorite hat

Gonna roll over soon!

Kisses!

Love my jumper

And the best for last - my first laugh, real laugh, caught on film! I haven't done this since, so enjoy it while you can!

House update (different house) and new photos and video

2009-09-13T19:18:00.008-06:00

Well, the Highlands Ranch house didn't work out (too long of a story to get into...), but we have moved on to a different house in Parker. We are hoping to close this Thursday and maybe move by a week from today. It's definitely a house we can grow into. We love the neighborhood, there is a park a block away, a pool...and friends closeby. It'll be good for us, so keep your fingers and toes crossed!

Avery went to her first CU game last weekend. Ben couldn't have been more excited to show her off and show her around. It was so much fun to watch him with her. She's kinda stopped her "talking" phase, but we've moved on....to BUBBLES. She blows bubbles with her drool, and even though we aren't on solids yet, she is playing with her food - she blows bubbles with formula. YUM! Below are the most recent photos and a couple of videos, one of her "talking" and one where she's blowing bubbles.

Auntie Kari made me some super cute bows!

Always happy!

My big girl Bumbo chair

Another one of Auntie Kari's cute bows

After we left the CU game, still smiling even past my bedtime!

Watching the game from Daddy's lap

Proud PAPA!!!

Smiling as Daddy sings to me at Home Depot

My talking video:

My bubbles video:

Another house update, more photos and a cute video

2009-08-31T19:51:00.006-06:00

We finally got the second appraisal finished on the house and the number came back right where we wanted it. We will hopefully get final approval from our lender this week and maybe even close by Friday. If there are any hold ups we'll not be able to close until next week sometime and move on the 10th or 11th, so we shall see how things fall into place.

We haven't been doing too much outside of the house, but here are some more recent photos of Avery.

Really, just looking cute

My first sesame street experience

Cuddling with Daddy

Hugs from Mommy

Dancing with Daddy

Smile!

Kisses from Daddy

My cute hat that finally fits!

And finally, a really cute video. Avery really does like Daddy's kisses, but her new thing is to act like she's going to bite him when he kisses her. Very funny!

House update and loads of photos

2009-08-23T17:59:00.003-06:00

We are moving forward with the house purchase, but hit a snag with our appraisal. The house was a fix and flip, so the seller bought it for about $80K less than what he's selling it to us for. It is, however, priced right in line with the neighborhood. Of course, the lender thinks it strange that there is such a jump in price in less that 6 months, so they are requiring a second appraisal. Our closing date has been moved out at least 1 week, but thankfully the couple we found to move in to our house and assume are lease are willing to wait until the 15th of September for us to vacate. Otherwise, it would have been Ben, Avery and I (plus the dog and two cats) moving in with my mom and Kari (plus her two cats) in a two bedroom condo!!! So that's where we are on the house - we'll update once we know anything but it'll be a while since our lender's corporate office has to review and approve the second appraisal. Cross your fingers!!

The backyard at the house we are trying to buy needs some work, but thankfully Tanner will have a friend (yes, that is a rabbit!!):

Here's a plethora of recent photos for you to enjoy!

I am on my way to being a thumb sucker...

Lookin' stylish!

Tummy time with Mommy and Tanner

Hanging out with Daddy

Tough girl!

Waitin' for Daddy to get home from work

Watching Sesame Street

I am just ridiculously cute in this one

Best place to take a snooze!

Mini-update

2009-08-12T08:17:00.007-06:00

Well, it's been harder than I thought to keep this updated. Amazing how much time it takes to look after a little one! Once I was back to work the evenings just started to fly by, so taking photos and updating the blog have fallen to the low priority list, my apologies. One of these days we'll be back at it! I only have some photos taken with my Iphone available to upload now (my birthday present!!), so hopefully the quality is OK.

Avery is just a super baby, we truly are so fortunate - she sleeps and eats well, is hardly fussy, and is all SMILES!!! I can't get enough of them. She's done excellent at daycare, and yes, I totally cried the first two days I left her there. Ben doesn't read this blog so I can tell you all this, but he was a bit teary eyed as well.....I was shocked...somewhat...maybe not so much....We just love her and want the best for her. Which is why....we are trying to buy a house. It's so stressful, but we are working thru it and have a closing date of August 27. We can't wait for Ben's dad to come out in September once we get moved in (he can't wait to meet his first grand baby), and then hosting Christmas for Ben's family like we did last year. As for my mom's family, I think we might see about hosting Thanksgiving. We'll see how the place turns out and how the space works for a big dinner.

Between going back to work, looking for a house, finding movers, "thinking" about packing, and just enjoying our family, life has been hectic, but oh, so good!!! Hugs from Avery!

Super cute, sleepy smiler!

2009-08-01T10:02:00.004-06:00

Avery was just waking up from a nap, which one of my favorite times to capture her smiles. Enjoy!

My Girl...

2009-07-31T11:05:00.011-06:00

Let me just tell you...It is the sweetest thing when you are upstairs going through your closet trying to find work clothes for your first day back, and you hear your husband singing "My Girl" to your new baby girl! That just made my night last night!

Avery had her two month check up yesterday (along with some shots). She is in the 70th percentile for both weight and head circumference, and 85th percentile for height. I still hope she gets some height from daddy! She weighed 11 lb. 7.5 oz, was 23.25 inches long, and her noggin is 15.5 inches around. She did relatively well with her shots. She cried for maybe 60 seconds and then calmed down - she really is a mellow, good baby! She's been sleepy since then, but not terribly fussy. She slept last night from about 9:30 to about 8 this morning!

Here are some photos of the garden. We ate the first tomato yesterday with dinner and it was so good! We both agreed it was much sweeter than mass produced ones. Our pumpkins are still growing massive vines! Daddy loves to walk Avery around the garden telling her how he has developed a green thumb!

Avery's newest pictures are below, along with a video of me trying to capture a big smile. It wasn't so successful, but we'll get one captured soon!

Avery is two months old today!

2009-07-26T20:19:00.013-06:00

Can you believe it, 8 weeks has flown by! We have settled into life with a baby and couldn't be happier to have her as part of our family. Mom has one more week at home with her and then it's back to work :( - but the show must go on right! I told Ben tonight to be prepared for some major waterworks next Sunday! He just kinda rolled his eyes, but I can guarantee they will come. Monday won't be so bad since my mom will be here, but Tuesday when I take her to daycare....Let's just say, I have an image in my head and it isn't pretty. I can imagine the director of the daycare having to walk me out, consoling me, letting me just bawl on her shoulder. I show up at work a wreck and just shut my door for the whole day! Yep, that's what's in my head....I'll keep you posted on that.

Tanner was the ultimate rock star tonight - Avery was sitting in her car seat on the porch while Ben was unlocking the door and Tanner walked right by at eye level to her. Ben and I both were watching to make sure he didn't like her face or anything, but once she saw him, she gave the biggest smile. Totally cute! And he did it again, walked by, and she smiled huge again! They are going to be great buds once she's able to start grabbing on him and climbing all over him - we can't wait to see it!

Ben's got a major garden growing in our backyard. He's got way more of a green thumb than I do! He's growing corn, tomatoes, strawberries and pumpkins. Our pumpkins are totally kicking a$$ and we finally got some flowers on them. I'll try to get some pictures of the vines that are basically taking over the garden. We'll see what, if anything we get. I know we'll get some tomatoes, one is already turning red, so we're excited to eat that and see how it is. Ben also discovered a new little garden friend - some ugly spider which built a web in the door leading to the garage. Needless to say, with my HUGE fear of spiders, I will be avoiding the garage from now on....

Here are the latest pictures, enjoy!

Playtime with mommy. We work on tummy time, which strengthens her neck, back, arms, etc., which will help her to roll over and start crawling one of these days. She does great most of the time, until she gets tired and either tries to eat the pillow, as evidenced below, or starts to cry. I also got another cute smile picture, but it's a tad fuzzy - you can still see a good smile though. There is another photo which does good job of showing how blue her eyes are - we'll see if they stay blue or not.

Here she is making her cooing face - she makes the cutest cooing noise when she does this face!
Blue, blue eyes!
Smiley!
Ben's pumpkin flower and his new spider friend.

Here's a video during playtime. Aunt Kari buys the cutest toys - this one giggles. I think she's trying to figure out what it is. It's best if you pause the blog music before playing.

More photos for y'all

2009-07-24T15:12:00.007-06:00

Here are Avery's most recent photos. She met Adam (Ben's best friend from college), Mommy finally got some smile picutres on film, and we had our first playdate at the park today with 4 of my friends from high school and their kids. It was awesome!! Today was a major reason I'd want to be a stay at home mom, but I gotta tell you, I am kinda looking forward to some adult interaction! One more week at home, then I'll go thru some serious crying episodes leaving her with my mom and/or daycare, until I've eventually re-adjusted to adult life at work.....

Happy weekend!

Aubrey (my friend Jen's daughter) just LOVES Avery. Cannot kiss, hug, touch, rub her enough. It's too cute. She's getting good practice with baby, which is good, since Jen is due with her second in January!

Jen and Shaleigh's oldest (Aubrey and Kendall) checking out the newest babies. The babies were all born within 12 days of each other one way or another. Avery (left) was born first, followed by Amelia next (middle) and then Cooper (right) was born 12 days after Amelia. It was fun lining them all up!

Avery and Amelia hit it off right away - holding hands!

Shaleigh's little peanut, Kendall. She calls her little brother Pooper (instead of Cooper). It's too funny to hear her say it.

More photos!!

2009-07-17T09:32:00.006-06:00

Gardening with Daddy and Tanner

Hanging out with Grandma Lowe

I'm stylin'

Two new posts today - lots of pictures...

2009-07-15T20:05:00.002-06:00

Hope this satisfies you!

Better than Sears??

2009-07-15T19:45:00.006-06:00

What do you think of Mom and Dad's portrait studio shots - we think Sears would be better, but we do like trying!!

We've started to smile...sort of...

2009-07-15T17:47:00.006-06:00

Smiling is starting, although Mom and Dad haven't yet been able to capture it on film. One of these days though....

From Avery - Grandma Lowe is visiting from Ohio, and she's spoiling me rotten! She sings to me, feeds me and just loves me to death. We've been to dinner, lunches, to the art museum and shopping. We'll be sad to see her go! Here she is meeting me for the first time at the airport and then taking a nap at home.

Here are the most recent pictures, since Grandpa W. and Grandpa L. are practically begging for more!

Trying to capture me smiling at Daddy

Sort of getting a smile

My new favorite spot to hang out

Mommy and I sleeping in

This is how I fell asleep while watching a movie with Mommy

My two grandmas - I am really spoiled!

Daddy and I just hanging out - I'm such a big girl, I can sit "by myself"

Mommy really likes Daddy's and I's expressions in this shot!
(click the photo to enlarge)

Some time with Mommy

Forgot to mention yesterday...

2009-07-09T09:10:00.002-06:00

Avery slept thru the whole night, yes the whole night on Tuesday! We put her down about 9:30 p.m. and she woke up just as our alarm went off around 6 a.m. We were astonished! Last night wasn't as good...went to bed around 9:30, up at 2:45, up again at 6....oh well, a full night sleep once in a while is nothing to complain about!

More photos

2009-07-08T13:46:00.004-06:00

I'm on a roll posting more photos....she's just cuter and cuter each day! I know the time will come when I don't have time to post daily, but enjoy it while you can get it!

Her little hands are desperately holding in her pacifier!

I am totally Daddy's girl!

Mommy cannot get enough of my feet!

This is how I fell asleep last night....

I'm stinkin' cute, aren't I? Just don't stare at my chicken legs....

First "real" bath and weight update

2009-07-07T13:48:00.011-06:00

Avery had her first real bath, in the bathtub and not on the counter laying on towels. She loved it! No crying, no fussing, and she looked super adorable just laid out letting Mommy clean her up. She had peed all over herself again while being changed - she's now done that about 3 times! But we can't complain - bath time is going to be fun! Daddy, Grandma and Auntie Kari were on hand to see the first bath! (Photos edited for nudity, of course!)

She also got weighed today - 10 lb. and 1 oz. She's growing!!!

This is what happens when Daddy gets me ready for bed!

Just chillin' in my play pen

Tanner greets me when I wake up!

OMG - Avery is already 5 weeks old!

2009-07-05T15:17:00.005-06:00

How did time fly by so fast??!! Our little girl is already five weeks old, craziness! She's still eating well and sleeping well. Two nights this past week we had 7 hours straight. AWESOME! We've sinced dropped back to between 5-6 hours, but those two 7 hour nights were fantastic. We've been doing dinners out with her and she's a total angel. No crying or fussing for the most part, she just usually snoozes while Daddy and I eat. We've been practicing with the bottle more, but she's still a pretty messy eater (evidenced below). Here are the most recent pictures we have - she's getting cuter and cuter!

Watching a movie with Daddy

Super cute outfit - too bad the bow was way too small!

No better place to sleep!

Messy eater!

Mommy trying to get me to smile.

Fuzzy hair after my bath.

Movie night with Mommy.

Fell asleep right here, and didn't want to be moved!

3+ weeks and doing great!

2009-06-24T15:25:00.009-06:00

Nothing new to report, which I think at this point is great news! No emergency calls to the doctor, no crying that we think is abnormal, just a happy healthy Avery! She weighed in today at 9 lb., 3.5 oz. - she's gaining weight great!! Mom and Dad are tired, but to be expected, right?!?! We are just in love with Avery and now can't imagine life without her! Here are the most recent pictures we have, enjoy!

Being burped by Daddy

Avery's first bottle ever! Daddy did a stellar job.

Mommy's first bottle attempt - she's messy with bottles so far but we're working on it.

Tanner the guard dog.

Arms are always outstreched when sleeping.

Arms outstretched even when someone is holding her.

More cuddle time with Daddy.

Bath time! (She pooped and peed on the towels!)

Here are some funny photos: the faces/stages of a poop
#1 - thinking about it...

#2 - REALLY thinking about it...

#3 - yep, it's happening...

#4 - not sure if I'm done yet...

#5 - almost done...

#6 - ahhh, relief!!

2 week doctor's appointment

2009-06-15T11:54:00.005-06:00

Avery saw the nurse practitioner, Rachel, for her two week well child visit. She is in the 60% percentile for weight, a beefy 8 lb., 9 oz. today! She's also grown just over 1.5" and is now 21 and 5/8 inches tall (90th percentile - she'll be tall like Daddy!!), and her head has grown as well from 13.5 inches to 14 and 1/8 inches. She's growing all over and at the right rate. She got her heel pricked for the second round of newborn genetic screening, and although she wailed at first, she quickly calmed down. She was a gem while getting looked over and even copped a couple of smiles at Nurse Rachel. Overall, she's in perfect health and doing wonderfully. Mommy caught a cold over the weekend and is still struggling to kick it, but doing better. Daddy is getting ready for his annual backpacking fishing trip into the Black Canyon. He'll be gone Wednesday through Sunday this week and we already are thinking about how much we'll miss him. Grandma and Aunt Kari will be coming to stay with us though, so we'll be just fine.

Here are some photos from her second week, enjoy!

Sleeping beauty

Napping with Daddy

Cuddles

Love my swing

Posing!

Update and more photos!

2009-06-09T16:40:00.014-06:00

Well, let me just say - breast feeding is hard! But I went to the lactation consultant for a follow up today and she ate 1.5 oz while we were there, so I'm obvioulsy doing something right! And, on top of that, we took her by the pediatricians office yesterday to borrow their scale and she has gained 6+ oz. since her first peds appt. last Thursday. So we're on a roll! She now weighs 8 lb. and 1/2 oz. Already got chubby little cheeks and is just adorable. I'm still recovering from the c-section. Mainly I have some soreness and tenderness, but each day gets better.

Here are some more photos. Enjoy!

Dad patiently waiting during early labor

I loved the epidural!

Trepidation before I was rolled into the OR

Avery Elizabeth has arrived; 5/31/09 at 10:07 p.m.

Laid out on the table - Ben compared me to Mel Gibson in Braveheart - I didn't find it funny until later...

Meeting Avery for the first time - I was crying!

Proud Daddy rolling her from the nursery to my recovery room

Aunt Kari is so in love!

Grandma and Grandpa are in love too!

Kari's first experience with the meconium diaper (black tar)

Our special girl had tons of visitors. My grandfather's funeral was the day after she was born, so I think she helped people during that difficult time. Lots of family came to visit her.

Snuggling with Grandma

Avery's second cousins (my cousins Alicia and Jason) and her third cousins (their kids, Taylor and Owen), in town for the funeral from NC

Avery is in love with her daddy - makes me melt!

Always staring at Daddy

Dad and Mikell getting some quality time

Our first family photo

Snuggling with Auntie Kari

Home life with a new baby - loving it!

2009-06-05T10:42:00.005-06:00

Well, we made it home on Wednesday afternoon. What a surreal feeling driving home with your new baby! Ben did awesome driving home - if he was nervous, he didn't show it at all. We truly lucked out so far and have the world's most mellow baby. I know that babies sleep tons their first few weeks of life, but she's so mellow, we actually have to strip her down naked, piss her off a little bit and beg and plead with her to wake up so we can get her to nurse most of the time. Daddy does an excellent job of burping and I am making my living as a 24 hour buffet. So far nursing has gone well. There have been a few times that she hasn't been able to latch on well and we've skipped a few feedings because of that, but she'll get right back on the next time and feed well. She lost 10 oz. before we left the hospital, but within 24 hours she gained back 3 oz. while at home, so it's reassuring to know I'm doing something right in the nursing department. We are getting really good sleep between feedings, so we can't complain too much in that department. Ben really struggled at first with the middle of the night feedings, but he's rebounded the last two nights like a champ! I can't get enough of watching him with her. She lights up when she sees him - really!! He nuzzles and kisses her and just makes me melt. I tell you what, you instantly fall in love with this new baby girl from the moment you see her, but I am completely falling head over heels in love with my husband all over again.

Here's a quick recap of my labor/delivery. My water broke at home around 8:30 am Sunday. We were at the hospital by 9:45 or so, in bed, IV going by about 10:30. I didn't have contractions at home, but by the time we got to the hospital they started. Not bad to begin with, but by 11:30 or so, I was begging for the epidural. I was having contractions about every 90 seconds, lasting for about 45 seconds, so I was getting less than a minute of rest between each one. I was stuck at 1 cm dilation for about 2-3 hours, but once I got the epidural, I went from 1 cm to 4 cm in about 90 minutes - fast. I saw hope on the horizon this would be a fast labor! I went about an additional 1 cm per hour until I got to 7 cm. At that point, after two hours, I was still at 7 cm so they started pitocin to get my contractions longer and stronger. They did get a bit longer/stronger, but apparently not enough, because I was checked 2 hours later around 9:30 pm and was still at 7 cm. The doctor said that it was his recommendation to have a c-section - oh, those dreaded words! I asked if there was anything else we could try and he said no, it really wasn't a recommendation per se, and that I really needed to do the c-section. I was strong until he left the room, then just kinda lost it. Ben comforted me and told me it was the best thing for me and the baby; continuing would just cause way too many complications for both of us. My family was still at the hospital (we almost told them to go home since I was convinced I would labor for a while longer and have a traditional delivery in the early morning hours), and my mom came in and said the doctor mentioned they would have me back in the OR in 20 minutes - holy cow, that's fast, I was thinking. And sure enough, they got me ready to go quickly and wheeled me away. Ben came in soon after, the surgery started, and before I knew it, Avery was out - amazing to hear her cry!! My eyes filled with tears and I could see Ben was tearing up too! But his permagrin (that I could see thru the mask) was enough to make me feel better about everything. After all, I'd just heard my DAUGHTER cry! And then I could hear Ben and the nurse talking saying things like look at her hair, she's got so much. And then I hear: "She's a strawberry blond!" WHAT?!?! My kid is blond - I love it!!! Ben and I both had lighter hair as kids, so it's definitely fitting she does too.

Recovery went well. Not in pain, just epidural bliss. I couldn't feel a thing! I did have uncontrollable shakes, but I wasn't cold. Just kind of a weird feeling. I was moved to postpartum after an hour in recovery, but I was able to nurse Avery for the first time less than an hour after I delivered, which was pure heaven. She needed it, but I think I needed her close to me more. In postpartum we got set up to get some rest, but I couldn't sleep because she was being checked out in the nursery and I kept thinking about her. I also developed a bit of an infection during labor, so I was fighting a fever and had the chills/sweats for the first 3 hours after delivery. Ben did sleep, which was good, since I knew once she was with us, I'd need his help! We got her in our room and the world felt whole again. The next couple of days are blurs of visitors, nursing, sleeping, nursing, changing diapers, nursing, and more visitors. By the time we left on Wednesday, Ben and I were so ready to go home! And surprisingly, not nervous at all to be on our own.

Since then it's been the same cycle of nursing, sleeping, diapers, etc., but because we are more comfortable, it's much more fun for both of us. We actually got 8 hours sleep last night. Honestly, we have to set the alarm to wake her up, or else she wouldn't wake us up to get her fed! Her first doctor's appt. went great. She's 60th percentile for weight (not sure about height), had her first Hep B shot (she cried at first, then fell back to sleep within about 8 seconds...), and as I mentioned she's gaining back her lost ounces. She's beautiful and perfect and we couldn't be more happy to have her here with us!

Here are some more pictures of our beautiful baby girl!

2009-06-02T14:39:00.005-06:00

2009-06-01T08:11:00.004-06:00

Here are the first pictures of Avery taken in the nursery being checked out while Ali was still in surgery.

Avery is a timely girl!

2009-05-31T23:53:00.001-06:00

Avery Elizabeth Lowe arrived at 10:07pm. 7 lbs 15 oz and 20" long... more updates and pictures to come soon!!

Avery is coming...

2009-05-31T14:28:00.001-06:00

As Ben posted the other day... He hoped Avery would let go and take the plunge! Well, this morning Ali officially went into labor. She has received her epidural and is resting comfortably. I even went to Blockbuster for them (especially for Ben) to pick up a few movies. Since they have a DVD player in their room, they can watch movies since it might be a little while. As of right now, Ali is 1 cm dialated. I will update soon! Hopefully the next one will include a picture of my beautiful neice Avery!!!

Sending all our love to you,
Kari

Still waiting...

2009-05-28T14:25:00.003-06:00

No news to report. Nothing has changed since the last post. We are still in our holding/waiting pattern for little Avery to arrive. I am not working any longer, not because of the baby, but because my grandfather passed away on Tuesday this week. I think my boss thought that might put me into labor, so she gave me these four days as bereavement leave, and my maternity leave kicks in on Monday, so I am officially off work until August 3rd at the earliest. Seems like a ways away, but I know once the baby arrives, that 8-9 weeks will fly by so fast. I have no doubts I'll cry the first day we drop her at day care. No doubt at all.....luckily, my mom will be here with her at our house the first day I am back to work, so maybe that will help in my transition a little bit???

I've given Kari access to the blog so she can post updates once I do go into labor. Hopefully it won't be too late after Avery's arrival that we get some photos up. But since I have no clue what life after baby holds, please be patient! Thanks everyone for your good thoughts this week! Hopefully she arrives sometime soon! Services for my grandfather are Sunday and Monday, so we'll just have to see how all this timing works out.....

Still no news...

2009-05-22T09:05:00.003-06:00

Nine days to go and no baby yet. I am having contractions off and on, but none hurt and I've not hit anywhere near the 5-1-1 rule. The 5-1-1 rule is where you have contractions closer than 5 minutes apart, lasting 1 minute and going for at least an hour. Maybe this weekend she'll decide she's ready, maybe not....all I know is that if the option is given to me to be induced the day after my due date, I'll probably jump at the chance! I'm getting a tad more uncomfortable this week as she drops lower. I can definitely feel it it my hips and pelvis every time I get up and walk around. Ben and I have been walking the last two nights (firsts in about 3 weeks since I just got so tired...), since everyone tells me walking is a good way to get things moving along. But like I said, I can only go so far before it becomes uncomfortable.

Still playing the waiting game....

Nothing exciting to report....unfortunately....

2009-05-20T09:03:00.009-06:00

But no news at this point is probably good news. I'm grateful I'm not on bed rest or something miserable like that. I'm 38 weeks and 3 days and had a quick check up yesterday at the doctor's. The baby had moved down just a little bit, I'm about 70% effaced, but not dilating yet. So we continue to wait! We talked about inducement, but that would only be an option after I've passed my due date on May 31st.

Ben is still in super nesting mode. I had the nesting urge for a little bit a few weeks back, but now I'm just too tired to throw myself into anything for any stretch of time. So I watch him mostly. He planted a window box with some flowers for me this weekend, pink geraniums for our little girl! He also planted some strawberry plants in the backyard (to go along with his pumpkin, tomato and corn plants) and hung a hanging basket on our front porch. Looks like a home!! He's been busy cleaning the house, vacuuming at night after work, thinking of lists of things for us to do once we get ready to head to the hospital. In a word, he's been AWESOME. I'm very lucky to have someone so wonderful to me during pregnancy.

Here are some recent photos - none of just the belly though. I have way too many stretch marks to show off to the world!! You can get an idea of how big I am, even when I'm wearing black.

37 weeks on Mother's Day

38 weeks at a BBQ at Wash Park

And to finish it off, here's a funny video from my friend Paige. This cracks me up!!! Ben dry heaves after he cleans up after Tanner's accidents sometimes, so I wonder if he'll be able to not do the same with baby poopies!

37 week update

2009-05-12T08:57:00.003-06:00

I was 37 weeks on Sunday - less than three weeks to go!!! Crazy how time flies, honestly. I had a quicky doctor's appointment yesterday and my blood pressure is great, baby's heart sounds excellent, and everything else is progressing normally. No major complaints or complications to report. Now we just continue to wait on her arrival!! I could potentially go into labor at any time, but I think she'll probably hang out in there for a while. I was late and my sister was late, so it tends to run in the family!

We've been having some issues with the cats getting into Avery's crib, so we went out and bought a scat mat - basically it's a clear pad you set in or on whatever you don't want your pets to get to and it delivers a mild shock to their feet. Ben said it feels like static electricity. There are multiple intensity settings, so we've started with the lowest one. I have a couple of videos of the cats' reactions, pretty funny stuff, and I'll try to get those loaded up soon. We put the mat in the crib last night and at some point during the night I did hear one of the cats get in there, jump around a bit and then make a beeline out of our bedroom, so hopefully it's done the trick. We've heard that all it takes is once, so we shall see. We'll leave it in there for a couple of days to reinforce that they are not to be in there.

That's all for now, we'll keep you posted with any news!

Doctor's appointment update

2009-05-06T08:12:00.003-06:00

I had my 36 week appointment yesterday and all is well and progressing normally. I have excellent blood pressure, weight gain is right on track and the baby is moving around really well. The baby is still head down, which is great! Also, I am 50% effaced (here's a link to read more about effacement - http://www.americanpregnancy.org/labornbirth/effacement.html) but I have not started to dilate at all yet, which is good. The doctor said everything looks great and even with my effacement, he doesn't expect me to go into labor next week or anything. Next week I will be considered full term. So now the real waiting and wondering begins - when will she be here?!?!?!

Nursery update (again) - plus Baby Girl Lowe's name, and a weekend wedding

2009-05-04T09:57:00.006-06:00

Here are some photos of our weekend project in the nursery. Ben painted some reen circles (my idea!!) that match her bedding and we hung up the baby's name in pink letters - so yes, we've broken down and are sharing the name with everyone. Her name will be Avery Elizabeth Lowe.

We also had a weekend wedding to attend. My friend from college, Kate, married her husband Jace this weekend at Red Rocks Chapel in Morrison, Colorado. The weather was kinda crummy - cooler and sprinkles, but the view outside the chapel windows was amazing regardless. Here are some photos of the ceremony and then one of me and the beautiful bride at her reception.

I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow afternoon, which starts the weekly appointments until Avery arrives. I can't believe my due date is less than four weeks away!

Nursery update and belly photos

2009-04-27T19:15:00.011-06:00

We made some great progress on the nursery this weekend. We got all of her bedding on (gonna have to rewash, but couldn't help ourselves to see it all together...), got the changing table set up and ready to go, loaded up the drawers with clothes, got the diaper stacker completely loaded, hung clothes in Daddy's closet, and hung curtains to give some more separation between our master bedroom and the baby's suite. Here are some photos of where we are at:

For another baby related update, here are some photos from the shower that my mom hosted for us a few weeks back. She did great! It was great to spend time with close friends and my family!

And here is the aftermath of two awesome showers (keep in mind that I had another shower at work and got some wonderful stuff from them as well, so imagine this room even more full than it currently shows below).

Here I am (probably around 33 weeks)....this is usually how I spend my evenings after dinner. I don't normally let my belly hang out like that, but she was moving a bunch that night and we were watching her rock my belly around.

The most recent belly shots are below. As you can see, I've got the double chin thing going and stretch marks to boot. Those didn't show up until about 3 weeks ago, so maybe they won't have time to get much worse??? Not a happy camper about either issue, to say the least.

32 weeks

33 weeks

35 weeks (taken tonight)

According to our blog countdown, the due date is 34 days away - it just doesn't seem possible, does it?!?!?!

Quick weekend update!

2009-04-20T10:39:00.002-06:00

I am getting more tired again - similar to my first trimester, but not quite as bad. I definitely feel it each day after work, and yes, even though I sit at a desk/computer most of my day, I am exhausted after I get home. My evenings in the past week or so have consisted mostly of going home, taking Tanner for a half hour to 45 minute walk, having dinner, and then lounging on the couch. I try and get some thank you notes done from our showers, but that sometimes seems like too much work!!

Ben and I did so much stuff this weekend. I figured I'd use the energy that I gain on Saturday and Sunday from going to bed early and sleeping in longer to tackle the gift bags and baby clothes that have been piling up for weeks. We are finally making progress! The weather was so crummy on Saturday, I didn't leave the house until dinner time. I got through all of the bags of baby gifts, sorted everything into categories (nursery, bathroom, bedding, clothes, etc.) and started in on the laundry. I did probably 8 loads on Saturday, spent hours folding and sorting again into sizes, and then finally called it quits about 5 or so. We went to dinner at Jose O'Shea's out in Lakewood, one of Ben's new favorite, and then hit Babies 'R' Us to get some of the last things off our registry that we had some coupons for. I think we are set - now we just have to get organized and made up at the house and we'll be ready for BGL's arrival!

On Sunday Ben let me sleep in again - love him! I felt pretty good so I walked Tanner to the park and threw the ball for him. Back home and back to work on baby stuff. Man, who knew kids "needed" so much stuff!! Ben put together the glider and ottoman and bookshelf. He was a rock star. We grabbed some lunch, then ran "baby errands." Returned some things, bought more diapers and some wipes, etc. Back home and back to work again....we (and I do mean Ben) arranged the furniture in the nursery and we realized just how small that sitting nook is, so we had to leave the glider out in the main part of the master. But at least it's quiet, no squeaking or anything, so at least I won't keep Ben awake all night rocking the baby. We anchored the bookshelf to the wall and got the books we received at the showers out of the bags, and felt like we actually made some progress. More laundry on Sunday, and then finally relaxation after dinner! Woke up this morning and felt tired, but I guess I'm used to it at this point!

I'll get some photos up soon, I promise!

2 words, one reaction....

2009-04-06T13:13:00.002-06:00

8 weeks! And....OMG (oh my gosh).

Yep, we are now less than 8 weeks to go until the anticipated arrival of Baby Girl Lowe. I cannot believe how fast time has flown by the last couple of months. And yet, I am more baffled by the thought of how much we have to do before she arrives!!! We went to Target yesterday and got some much needed storage bins and a closet organizer so I can start to get some things in order. For now, my list of priorities is laundry, followed by going through all of the wonderful baby gifts, followed by more laundry, organizing the nursery, and yes, more laundry!!! But all in all, we are so excited and cannot wait to meet our daughter! Anticipation usually makes time crawl, but I think in this case it will definitely fly by!

My mom hosted a wonderful baby shower this weekend with close friends and family. It was great to see everyone and again, it's humbling to know that all of these people love a little girl they've never even met! She's spoiled already, and bound to get worse. I will try to upload some photos this week, but it may not happen. I have to go through 5 HUGE bags of super cute baby girl clothes a friend (thanks, Shaleigh!!) gave to me this weekend. Per Ben, this particular project must be done by Thursday night, so he can get into the bedrooms and steam clean the carpets before we leave town for Easter weekend in Estes Park. She's expecting baby no. 2, but it's a boy, and her daughter Kendall was always dressed to the 9's - so we are fortunate to get so many wonderful and cute baby clothes. My friends really are amazing.

Long delayed, but much needed update!

2009-03-28T13:05:00.017-06:00

Sorry for the long delayed post, been tired, been busy, been dealing with a new computer and had nowhere to upload our photos. I'll keep it short and sweet with mainly photos, since that's what everyone wants anyway, right?

Since our last post, Ben and I took a quick trip to LA the second week of March. He had to go for work, so I tagged along. It was nice to be away from work if only for two days, but the weather in LA wasn't all that great, which was my only complaint. It was nice enough for me to sit by the pool for a couple of hours on Tuesday, but I wasn't about to go anywhere near the water. We went to the beach twice to walk around, and watched the sunset from Santa Monica Pier. Very nice! Here are some photos from our trip:

Sunset from Santa Monica Pier

"Bona fide" celebrity (with paparazzi in tow) - her name is Katie Price, some model/reality star from England. It was interesting to watch the (albeit small) group of photographers follow her around. It was also nice to know we weren't the only people who had no idea who she was. Every other person on the pier near Venice Beach was as clueless as we were.

Our pets are our only children so far, so I try to include them on here too! Tanner found a new place to sleep; Andy found a way under the house in the basement, so that led to us having to bathe him, and of course we couldn't leave Milo out. First bath for the cats!

Tanner's new sleeping nook on the landing of our stairs.

Andy dirty, before the bath, during, and after the bath...surprisingly, once they got in and Ben held them in place for a while, they didn't seem to mind it so much.

Milo's bath

Last weekend, my best friend Jen and my sister threw me a baby shower. It was amazing. They did such a good job, the food was awesome, and I loved that all of my friends were in one place!

Jen and Kari had everyone personalize a onesie for Baby Girl Lowe. They turned out so cute!

And here are some long awaited belly photos.

26 weeks

27 weeks

28 weeks

29 weeks

29 weeks - Tanner has a new pillow

Baby Girl Lowe - baby or alien?

2009-03-13T09:37:00.000-06:00

So we had super alien baby moment this morning – very cool! I reached over to turn the alarm clock off and when I laid back down, I felt her poking me really hard under my ribs. I reached over there and seriously felt something protruding out really far!!! If it hadn’t been dark, I swear I would have seen a foot or hand literally sticking out – she moved right before Ben got his hand there, but he could still feel her moving around a ton this morning. It was so cool and weird all at the same time!

Here she is!!

2009-02-27T15:50:00.007-07:00

Baby Girl Lowe's first portraits! Mommy's nose, Daddy's lips! She's a keeper!

I passed the gestational diabetes screen, so from here on out, no more major testing. Mostly just going to be monitoring me and watching my blood pressure, weight, BGL's growth, etc. I visit the doctor every two weeks now until about 34-36 weeks. Then I'll be there once a week.

Oh yea, we settled on a name, and no we aren't going to tell you!

We are having dinner on Saturday with my mom and sister for Ben's birthday (March 2) at Ben's favorite pizza place. Nice and casual, right up his alley.

In other Lowe news, Tanner managed to severely dislocate a toe. He started limping around earlier this week, so we kinda watched it, and then decided better to have the vet take a look. We thought it was a broken toe. So we dropped him at Dr. Y's office (who is the coolest vet EVER!!) yesterday morning for an x-ray. Dr. Y took time to check Tanner out before the x-ray and determined that Tanner had dislocated his toe badly enough that he's torn the ligaments that keep it in place. No surgery or anything discussed, but we hope that over time, enough scar tissue builds up that it essentially repairs itself. We've used my old ace bandage from my knee surgery to keep the toe in place, and we got some self adhesive wrap last night at PetsMart; however, Tanner decided today that he's had enough and ripped it all off. He's limited to short walks now, no playing ball or chasing squirrels. You would get the impression that he thinks his life is over as he knows it - he is acting truly pathetic. Here's a photo of Tanner when Ben got home from work today. Check out the glean in his eye - "Yep, I tore that sucker off."

Hope everyone has a good weekend!

Today's dr. appt. was great!

2009-02-11T14:25:00.003-07:00

My blood pressure is really good, BGL's heart rate is fantastic, my iron levels are excellent, and weight is right where it should be. I did drink the yucky glucola stuff before my appointment today - barf. It is so sweet and syrupy, but I got it down and then they did blood work an hour later. I should have those results in the next day or two, which will give us any indication of gestational diabetes. Hopefully nothing weird shows up. I'd like to keep this ball of goodness rolling right on to the end! Two minor issues arose - our choice of hospital and the pesky pregnancy rash I have.

Hospital choice - we had chosen Lutheran, but now are seriously considering St. Anthony's Central. Our doctors prefer it based on the quality of patient care, patient perks (like massages and fresh cookies daily) and overall logistics. Their neonatal and intensive care units are really good and their perineonatologist attends each and every delivery instead of having to be called in if something goes wrong. On top of that, my nurse midwife told me that Lutheran was just bought out by a Catholic charity which is causing some issues (politically more so...) amongst OBs who deliver there. That's all tied up in litigation. So I am thinking we'll steer clear of that stuff....St. Anthony's is my docs' preferred choice, so that's enough to sway me, I think. Besides, as Ben pointed out, it's much closer to our house than Lutheran.

Rash - I've had this weird rash on my chest and now little spots on my shoulders since I was about 8 weeks pregnant. We've tried two different at home treatments, but neither have worked - I'm now going on 4 MONTHS of dealing with it!! So I got a referral to a dermatologist, who I am seeing tomorrow. Hopefully she can help me resolve this issue. It's itchy and really makes me self-conscious. I can't wear half of my maternity clothes right now because of it. I want it gone!

Weekend update and two more belly photos

2009-02-10T13:15:00.005-07:00

Nothing too exciting happened this weekend. Overall, it was nice and relaxing. I went to get a prenatal massage on Saturday morning and Ben was kind enough to clean house while I was gone - I LOVE HIM!! Saturday night we had dinner out with our friends Matt and Kate to celebrate Kate's birthday. I had gnocchi stroganoff and it was awesome. Ben had a burger, and he liked it. Only problem was he added blue cheese, so I couldn't try it (have to steer clear of blue cheese for now...). Sunday we actually made the trip to Babies R Us to register. (We have a bit of tweaking to do, but you can view it if you search for us by name.) Dare I say, it was a bit overwhelming! We enjoyed checking everything out, but it makes you realize how much stuff you really do need (or maybe you really don't need) for Baby Girl Lowe. I think most of the items are creature comforts and things of that nature that in general make life easier with a baby. We shall soon find out - I'm 24+ weeks now, right around the corner from the third trimester and into the homestretch!

I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow, which beforehand I have to drink some "yummy" glucose drink and then do some blood work. This will be give the doctors any indication of gestational diabetes and whether I need to have a more extensive glucose test done (think drinking thick cough syrup over the course of three hours....not fun!). So hopefully my results after tomorrow are good and I can avoid the additional testing!

Here are two more belly photos - I think I'm caught up!

23 weeks - Baby Girl Lowe had a growth spurt! 24 weeks - no major growth spurt, just a big dinner right before we took this photo!

Songs on the Blog and baby names/suggestions

2009-02-03T15:49:00.010-07:00

We added two of our favorite songs that remind us of BGL to the blog. Ben's favorite is "Daughter" by Loudon Wainwright III - you might recognize the song from the movie Knocked Up. Mine is "Beautiful Life" by Fisher - it's the song from the commercials for Jon & Kate Plus 8 on TLC. Hope you like our choices.

Many people have asked about the name of BGL. Here it is, short and sweet -- we are not going to be sharing the name of BGL until she makes her grand arrival. Sorry to disappoint, but we did find out the sex to satisfy many of you (yes, including ourselves), so this name thing is going to be something that Ben and I can share just between us. I will, however, offer you a tidbit....below is a list of suggestions from our friend Lauren Motley (soon to be Lauren Johnson - it'll make sense when you get to the last name on the list). She cracks me up. My favorite is Butterfly - it's kinda hippy-ish and we all know how much Ben loves Boulder, so it seems to fit. Enjoy! Oh, and if you have BGL name suggestions, respond to this post and we'll put them on the list. You might be lucky and have us choose a name you like.....we'll take first and middle name suggestions.

Names for Baby Lowe. One for each letter of the alphabet.

Aiesha
Butterfly
Chrystyna (a new twist on the ol’ Christina!)
De-lisha or De-nossis (couldn’t pick just one)
Ezola
Fajah
Germaine (yep, under girl names)
Hyacinth
Imelda (on the list)
Jack-ee (not to be confused with Jacquie, both on the list); Ja'Quaelah
K'Brianey (I just picked this one so you could try pronouncing it)
LeRinda, L'Tanga, or Larhonda (the L’s just sound too good with Lowe)
Monette (yep, also on the official list)
Skipped N’s – no good ones
Odessa
Precious
Queisha
Redonna (just shy of Madonna; a ready-made celebrity name)
Sharisha (rolls right off the tongue); Shamecca (Shamecca mecca high mecca highny ho)
Tye (not to be confused with Ty Bo)
Blows me away there were none for “U”
VeNay
Wygenia (hmmm, wonder how they came up with this one? The guy at the end of the table with a lisp….)
YoLanda (because you have to include this one)
Zelda (don’t use this one – it’s reserved for the future Zelda Johnson)

HUGE THANKS TO...

2009-02-02T12:29:00.002-07:00

My cousin, Alicia. She sent Ben and I a HUGE HUGE HUGE box of baby stuff. We got it a week ago and I feel like I'm still going through it. I can't thank her enough for taking time out of her busy schedule with two kiddos to package that stuff up and get it to us. Believe me, Alicia, it will be well used! Thank you again!

Mini-update and one more belly photo

2009-02-02T12:14:00.006-07:00

No news to report on the pregnancy front, so again, no news is good news. BGL is moving around more and more. Ben and I can feel her just about every day with good swift kicks. She actually kept me awake for part of Sunday morning, just having a party in my belly! I think more sooner than later we'll be able to SEE her moving - that will be very interesting! Next appt. is not until February 11, where I'll do my initial glucose testing to screen for gestational diabetes. Then another ultrasound (probably our last) on February 26. Nothing to report for this week, just going to finalize our registry list and hopefully make it to BabiesRUs to get that done this weekend. We'll see...the weather has been so nice, we haven't wanted to be inside for hours and hours. We are still walking on the weekends when the weather cooperates, although I have noticed that I feel it more about half way through than I have in the past. Just tired a bit, and my hips and pelvis start to feel some pressure. But if this is as bad as it gets, I'm good to go! Here's one belly photo that hasn't been posted yet. It was last week, when I was 22 weeks along.

Saturday we went to the Avs game and had a great time. They lost, but it was still close and we got to see a total of 7 goals. Ben hasn't ever been a hockey fan, so he probably got tired of me talking my way through the game, but I do think he had fun. He stood up and cheered and got into it more than I thought. Progress is progress! After the game we swung by St. Anthony's to tour their labor and delivery ward. Neither of us got a warm fuzzy from it, so we've decided we're delivering BGL at Lutheran in Wheat Ridge.

We went to our friends' Matt and Kate's to watch the super bowl last night. Had some good snacks and watched a good game. Ben and I put $10 in this pool where you had to pick results from 10 categories throughout the course of the game, like first sack, first touchdown, etc. We actually won! Took home $70 - not too bad for a Sunday afternoon of watching football.

20 week ultrasound photos

2009-01-16T15:34:00.004-07:00

Here are three photos from our ultrasound this week. Hopefully you can make them out okay. We only get small printed photos, nothing digital, so these are scanned in...Enjoy!

Baby Girl Lowe - it's official (and no, I won't point "it" out to you...)

Baby Girl Lowe was waving at us.

Head shot - brain, eye sockets and nose are visible

It's official - we are having a baby....

2009-01-14T13:22:00.002-07:00

GIRL!

Everything on the ultrasound was excellent, heart rate, aorta, brain measurements, four limbs, all 10 fingers. I’ve gained 4 lbs this month, so I’m right on track. Glucose testing next month, and then another ultrasound at 26 weeks to check my cervix (since I had surgery on it way back when). Mini-hospital tours in the next couple of weeks to pick our hospital and then we’ll probably take one fast baby/childbirth class for some basic info. I feel like I need it…..

Ben is already worried about our daughter dating, but then he did admit that she'll have him wrapped around his little finger. I can only imagine....

Photos and maybe a video of BGL (Baby Girl Lowe) will follow later this week.

New Years' Update!

2009-01-13T14:52:00.014-07:00

So I have to apologize for not posting anything in a while. The holidays came and went, I got sick, I started a new position at my firm, trained my replacement for my old position, and well to be honest, I just wasn’t feeling up to blogging much. Just too tired and run down from my cold to even attempt to keep up. I’ll try to keep this short and sweet….

First – the holidays. My in-laws and Ben’s brother, John, and his girlfriend, Tracy, came to stay with us for a week over the holidays. Even with the small house, it was nice to have people at our place for once. We watched a lot of movies and ate a ton of food. For Christmas Eve we went to Carmine’s on Penn for some awesome Italian food, and then Christmas Day Ben and I made our first full-fledged turkey dinner. I did a traditional roast turkey and Ben deep fried one. They both turned out great. I might add we did cornbread stuffing this year and it ROCKS. I’ll post some photos below. We exchanged gifts with everyone and got tons of great stuff. We got a gift card to Babies R Us, which will come handy for sure, a gift card to Best Buy, which we used to upgrade our camera with some video capabilities, and we got a jogging stroller as well. Ben’s stoked about that one! We got some baby sandals, booties, robe/bath set – all of which are just too cute and I can’t wait to get them on Baby Lowe. All in all, it was a great week and we were really quite lonely when everyone was gone. But I guess we should just relish the calm before the storm.

I caught a nasty cold which started the day of Christmas and just got worse over the next couple of days. I had bad head congestion and then it moved into my chest. Believe it or not, I finally just kicked my cough this week. I was as tired as I’d been during my first trimester. I was miserable on some days, somewhat okay on others. Didn’t miss any work, but I think I probably should have. I just didn’t have the time to take off since I had to take 6 of my vacation days for my knee surgery back in June. That just messed me up for the rest of the year to take time off.

I am now a paralegal at my firm, working on post-judgment collections and general litigation. Basically, one of my mail responsibilities will be to find money (that people likely don’t have) to pay debts to our clients. I’ll be doing investigative projects, garnishments, and preparing my attorneys for hearings in which they’ll question the debtors about their assets, etc. I’ll also be supporting associates on general litigation matters within the firm, drafting documents, doing filings with the courts, document management, calendaring, etc. The list goes on and on, but after a week and a half in the new position, I have now realized I was really ready for the change and the challenge. I trained my assistant, Stacy, last week and she’s fallen into our firm nicely. I am happy to leave my two partners and one associate in her hands!

We also got a crib, if you can believe that! I remember driving home with it in the back of Ben’s Xterra, thinking, wow, a year ago we’d have been driving home from Sniagrab (big ski sale) with new skis or snowboards or something, but here I was staring at a crib and dresser thinking, wow, this is actually going home with us. We’re not delivering it for a friend, it’s actually for us…..weird, surreal, but really very exciting!

Baby Lowe is growing - I can tell. Kicking has gotten more often and not so much flutters, but more of full on kicks once in a while. I felt the first one at the beginning of 19 weeks, and grabbed Ben fast enough that he could have a chance to feel it from the outside too. He just lit up and got this big grin on his face. I was so happy that he could feel it I wanted to cry. Then again last night, I was laying in bed reading when I felt some more. I got his hands on my belly and he felt them too! I love the smile on his face, and I got all giggly to the point where my stomach was shaking so much you couldn't tell what was going on for a few seconds. But he definitely felt them!

I am at the end of my lunch hour, so I’ll leave with one more blurb – check the blog tomorrow. We have our 20 week ultrasound and we’ll hopefully find out if we are having Baby Girl Lowe or Baby Boy Lowe. We’ll take a DVD with us, but I’m not sure if I’ll be able to get it uploaded from the office computer or not. But we’ll definitely post on here what sex the baby is. Stay tuned…..

Here are some photos from Christmas and the crib. Oh and a couple more belly shots of me along the way. Happy New Year everyone!

Cornbread stuffing, yams and greenbean casserole

Our two turkeys, roasted in the front, deep fried in the back

Ben's handiwork setting the table - it looked so nice!
Our tree
Ben's ingenious idea for stringing lights - backpack!
Baby Lowe's dresser with changing pad
Baby Lowe's new digs

16 weeks
18 weeks

19 weeks

20 weeks

Excellent test results!

2008-12-23T16:42:00.003-07:00

Just got off the phone with the doctor. I got my blood work results back from my appointment last week. My Downs Syndrome screening came back negative, which means that I am outside the result window for concern or even more testing (like a super scary looking amnio). As for Cystic Fibrosis, my chances of having a baby inflicted with that are 1/12,000. And then for Trisomy 18 and/or 13, my chances are 1/23,000. So those numbers are really excellent! Of course, nothing is definite, but my doctor has no reason to be concerned from any of our results! Here's to a happy, healthy Baby Lowe!

Tanner Wishes You a Merry Christmas!

2008-12-23T10:26:00.004-07:00

Merry Christmas from the Lowes! Tanner is having too much fun with all the sweets and treats at the house....he found some antler ears and just couldn't resist. Happy Holidays!

Tanner at 4 and 1/2 years old:

Tanner at 7 months old (his first Christmas, and yes, he got coal in his stocking after this!):

16 week check up

2008-12-18T16:20:00.002-07:00

Well, I'm in my fourth month, if you can believe that! I had my 16 week check up on Wednesday, and just had my vitals, weight, etc., checked, met with the doc briefly, and then had some blood drawn. Nothing to report, no concerns, just right on track. The highlight was listening to Baby Lowe's heartbeat! I love that - I could listen to it for hours. Ben and I are going to get one of the home listening devices. I'm so excited to get one of them! We'll get the one where

Ben's parents arrive on Saturday to visit for a week for Christmas. Then John and Tracy arrive for four days on Tuesday. It'll be good to host for once! Ben took a half-day today to get a start on cleaning, etc., as evenings are hard for me to get motivated at all. By the time I get home from work, I'm usually pretty tired. There are a few days a week that I feel pretty good, but generally, the thought of doing more than making dinner, taking the dog out or laying on the couch doesn't appeal much to me. Again, Ben's been great - taking on the majority of the housework. I don't tell him enough how much I appreciate him, but I will start doing that more for sure!

First Kick (?) and Holiday Parties

2008-12-15T11:00:00.009-07:00

So last week, I "think" I felt the baby move, kick, punch, stretch or whatever BL is doing in there. It was very faint, but happened about four times right in a row. Little butterfly flutters is the best way I can describe it. However, that being said, it's kinda early to have felt something, or so I've read....still, it's always possible. Everyone I mentioned it to said, "It might have been gas," yet to be honest, I wasn't gassy at all that day. I called Ben at work and told him, and he got just ask excited as me! Then the whole rest of the day and the following day, he asked me if I felt any more, but alas, no...Oh well. Definitely looking forward to BL's first really distinguishable kicks, although I know there will be some later on that will rocket me out of my chair, I just know it.

Ben's work Christmas party was on Friday. They don't do the spouse thing, so Kate and I met up and went out to dinner. Then we headed to Vesta Dipping Grill to meet Shelley and her crew to celebrate her birthday. Kate and I had already eaten, so we sat at their table during dinner and just hung out with them. It was great. Shelley has been dating this super sweet guy, Chris, and he was adorable with her. She seems happy, so I'm happy for her! Kate and I then went to meet up with the rest of the ALPS crew after their party ended. Ben was a tad bit intoxicated, so he was dancing (believe it or not) and rubbing bellies with me. Very cute! He is so excited about this baby, I can't tell you how excited that gets me! His buddy Pat was all about my belly, rubbing it, singing to it, pointing to it. I was laughing. Saturday night it was my work's Christmas party. A five-course dinner at the Brown Palace. It was wonderful! The food was awesome and the room was beautiful. The attire was cocktail, so everyone was all snazzy and dressed up. Both of us were tired by 10 p.m., so we headed out of there, went home and crashed.

Ben left for a one night trip to NY for a client meeting on Sunday and my mom and I went to see Jersey Boys at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts. It's a musical about the Four Seasons, and I LOVED IT! The music was great, the guy who played Frankie Valli was amazing. I would highly recommend it to anyone!

Here's a couple of photos of Ben and I from my holiday party - Ben looks so great in a suit, and since I don't travel with him, I never get to see him wear them that often. So enjoy!

First Belly Photos

2008-12-10T21:04:00.005-07:00

I'm currently about 15 and a half weeks, and people have been asking for some belly photos (Shaleigh, here you go). I will try and take a photo or two each week to post on here. I am not looking so pretty - just back from swimming. I've decided that maybe I'm not too keen on taking these belly photos - my back is all out of whack and these photos don't look natural at all. Oh, and I'd just eaten dinner, so I'm full....Maybe we'll have better luck next time...

Cats

2008-12-10T14:46:00.007-07:00

Pat forwarded this video to me and it reminded me of our cats. Milo in particular - he's been known to swipe at strange dogs and even us when we walk by and he wants to play. I could definitely see Andy getting a little persnickity about something like this though. Enjoy....

Another note about the cats - I am wondering if they can sense that I am pregnant? Here's the back story - literally. I was doing the elliptical two nights ago and at the end of my time, I got on the floor and did some stretching. My back has been bothering me since about the time I found out I was pregnant, thanks to the hormone relaxin, so if I lay flat on my back for about 5 minutes, it gets all stretched out and aligned and I feel much, much better. As I was laying on my back, Andy crawled up on top of my belly and rubbed his head back and forth on my tummy. Now I know you don't know our cats as well as Ben and I do, but he's NEVER done that before. I don't know about you, but tells me he can either smell, sense, feel or smell something in there....weird, I know. But it was totally cute! I went downstairs and told Ben, who proceeded to roll his eyes and me and call me crazy. Still, I'm starting to think Andy has figured it out. As for Tanner and Milo, that remains to be seen.... What do you think - can cats, or any pets in general, sense when their mommy is pregnant? Post your comments to let me know what you think.

Cute baby/dog photo

2008-12-04T13:52:00.005-07:00

This came from my stepsister. One of her friends had a baby recently, and she sent me this photo (knowing that we have a dog as part of the family). I cannot wait to see how cute Tanner will be with Baby Lowe. Enjoy!

Welcome Second Trimester!

2008-12-02T10:35:00.003-07:00

It's official, I am now in my second trimester. Crazy how time flies. I am 14 weeks, 2 days along. No news to report, which I guess is good. No complications, no worrisome pains, no weird stuff. I think my energy level is starting to come back up a bit, my nausea is really all but gone, and I find myself feeling hungry at weird times, like 9 p.m. before bed and in the middle of the night. I kinda don't feel pregnant, except that I'm just barely starting to show. I am able to wear my work clothes right now, but my jeans are a no go - at least not without leaving the button open and using a belly band to cover the button and zipper. It's actually comfy - no restrictions or tightness!

We had Thanksgiving dinner with my mom, Kari, Uncle Roger and Aunt Suzy at my mom's house. It was nice and quiet. Too much food! But everything was really yummy and we enjoyed it. I was sad to miss most of the family, but everyone was doing their own thing this year. Friday morning we drove up to Estes Park to see Connie, Stacey and Danny, Pat and Paul. We watched tons of football, movies and did plenty of puzzles. After being so tired and worn down for the last two months, it was so nice to go up there and have no obligations, no alarms, no nothing, except relaxing, catching up and digging into those puzzles. Oh and the leftovers weren't bad either! We ate way too much again! We took some shrimp cocktail for Friday during the CU/Nebraska game (they almost pulled it out....) and I have to admit it was the best shrimp cocktail I've ever had! Their cocktail sauce was the best any of us had ever tasted. I highly recommend it.

Sunday we drove back home, and Ben put up some more Christmas lights on the house. It looks so good! He did such a great job. I just laid on the couch, and did some laundry. He treats me well, to say the least! Tanner got way too much people food off the plates of everyone at Connie's cabin, so he had some serious diarrhea and vomiting when we got home Sunday, but he seems to be better today. Then of course, one of the cats threw up this morning, so maybe Tanner was actually sick and not just spoiled rotten.

Hope everyone enjoyed their holiday! Looking forward to hosting my in-laws for Christmas!

No news, just a weekend update

2008-11-24T12:14:00.004-07:00

Nothing new in baby land, just spent the weekend relaxing and not doing much of anything! I am still feeling tired, although at certain times during the day I do feel better and have more energy. The doctor said from this point on out, in general my energy level will be up, but I will have good and bad days along the way. Ben and I walked Saturday and Sunday, up to and around Cheeseman Park by our house. A nice hour long walk. Tanner loves it - he chases squirrels the whole time and is in heaven!

Really, nothing to report, just didn't want to leave the blog un-updated for weeks like I have been. Thanksgiving is Thursday - I'm so excited for turkey! Then we head to Estes Park for the weekend to visit Connie, Stacey and Dannie, Pat and Paul....more relaxation, right up my alley. Ben plans to fish, so hopefully it doesn't snow the entire time.

We did watch Tropic Thunder last night - it was surprisingly funny! Tom Cruise is hysterical in it, I think he is the funniest part of the whole thing. I was a bit shocked at his crudeness and language, but then again it's a movie, right! And he dances to rap, which is totally had me laughing. I just kept thinking to myself....what must those Scientologists think of this?!?! All in all, I would recommend it, we enjoyed it! It's a bit crude, bloody, etc., but it is a true comedy.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

12-week doctor's appt. and ultrasound

2008-11-19T16:20:00.005-07:00

Ben and I went to our 12-week appointment and ultrasound yesterday. It was great! First the ultrasound - got in the chair, pulled up my shirt, got squirted with some gel, and it was on! Once she found BL, we could totally tell it was a baby - no longer a gummy bear or peanut looking thing. Complete and total love! A real baby! At first BL looked like it wasn't moving much, and the ultrasound tech was taking various measurements. Then all of a sudden, you can see two little legs just kick out super fast. Kick, kick, kick!! (Future soccer player in the making!) Then back to being still. The tech kept doing her measurements and pointing out all the features (we could make some out on our own, some we couldn't). After a while, BL was being stubborn (knowing it's father, that's not surprising....), so she'd use the wand and push on my belly a little bit and then BL would move some in reaction. I loved it! Here are some photos:

This first one shows BL with its head down and to the right, stretched out, legs to the top left. You can make out both hands too! This is the best shot by far.

This is a shot of baby in the same position, but turned a little bit so you can see the spine. Legs are stretched out again. Very cool! This is a shot of baby waving! Yes, if you look closely you can see a tiny hand, four fingers and a thumb...

We met with the doctor after the ultrasound and just did blood pressure, weight, etc. I gained 4 lbs. my first trimester - right on track. Normal weight gain the first trimester is anywhere between 3-5 lbs., so I'm good to go. She went over the measurements the ultrasound tech took and everything looks great! BL did measure at about 13 weeks, even though I was just at 12 weeks, but the doctor said that this ultrasound is not generally the most accurate, so no change in due date. Last thing was a finger prick and blood spotting test. Five small spots of blood on paper, which constitutes our first genetic screening. The blood results combined with some of the measurements the tech took either indicate a higher risk of certain diseases (namely Downs Syndrome), which may or may not call for additional testing down the road. Next appt. is Dec. 17. It'll be a fast appt., just one blood draw for more genetic screening, my vitals and listening to baby's heartbeat. Next ultrasound will be mid-January at 20 weeks. We're supposed to bring a DVD so they can record the ultrasound - we are super excited for that one!

Ben and I concluded the best part of yesterday was watching the baby kick around so much. I'm shocked that I can't feel a thing - BL is really having a party in there! Must be all the Mexican food I've been eating and craving. Oh yea, we are also both feeling like this is a boy. Up until yesterday, I really thought it was a girl, but those long chicken legs look too much like Daddy's legs to belong to a girl....unless she turns out to be 6'2" or something. And the baby is really stubborn - didn't move on queue - stubborn like Daddy.....and probably just as cute!

It's OFFICIAL - We are pregnant!

2008-11-14T15:57:00.006-07:00

Okay, Ali is actually the one who is pregnant, but Ben is just as much at fault! We found out near the end of September and have gradually been telling people. We were planning on telling my extended family at Thanksgiving, but it sounds like we are all doing our own thing with other extended family, so here I am breaking the news....for family, I'll follow up with an email encouraging you to view our blog.

I am a few days short of 12 weeks today. We are due May 31, and we're going to wait to find out the sex. We want the movie moment -- it's one of the last great surprises in life, so we're willing to wait it out. I guess that means we'll be shopping for lots of gender neutral things in greens, yellows, and creams. But we're fine with that!

I've been feeling pretty good in general. The one thing your friends who have been pregnant before don't tell you is how TIRED you are during your first trimester. That really is my biggest complaint. I've gotten good at napping on the weekends, sleeping in when I can, and generally just taking it easy. I have had some nausea and queasiness, but to this date I have not thrown up once! Thanks Mom (it's genetic)! Ben and I have been pretty good about walking, I really want to try and stay as fit as I can during the pregnancy. I'm going to start swimming here soon as the weather gets colder, and then next spring its on to prenatal yoga!

We have our second ultrasound next week (12 week ultrasound). Apparently, at that time, you can make out more of Baby Lowe's ("BL") features, so we are super excited to see it on screen again. I'll post a photo below of our first ultrasound. Ben and I both got teary eyed at the sight AND sound of BL's heartbeat - such a moving moment. One of the highlights of my life so far.

I'll keep you posted on the pregnancy, I promise!

Baby Lowe pictured at 6 weeks, 3 days (Oct. 8, 2008, which was our two year wedding anniversary!). You can see the heartbeat imaging at the bottom of the first photo. Double click on the photo for a larger shot.

No post for too long, I'M SORRY!!

2008-10-02T11:54:00.004-06:00

Since my birthday back in August, it's been a bit hectic for the Lowes. We headed to Park City, UT for a week in the middle of August to meet some of my in-laws relatives who I've never had the opportunity to meet. It was a great trip and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Ben and I rode some of the rides at the base of Park City's ski resort, I'll try to dig up the video of our alpine coaster ride, it's pretty funny. Other than that, it was mostly rest and relaxation. We took some scenic drives, ate at some great restaurants, and just enjoyed the company. My mother-in-laws relatives (something like 40+ people) all showed for a BBQ in the park one day that we were there. They were nothing but gracious, friendly and kind. They were interesting, each and every one of them. And for Ben and I...well, we were fresh meat! It was great to connect with them, even though I'm not sure when we'll see them next.

After Park City, we returned to Denver with the "anticipation" of moving again. We decided of all places that we liked, the place that the people who were buying our house would work. So basically, our move was a same day housing swap. In general, nothing went wrong, except that the people who moved out of our new place didn't clean - not one bit. I was so irritated, considering I'd spent that entire morning cleaning their new place top to bottom, all while the new homeowner watched me do it while she organized her closets and bathrooms. Talk about a slap in the face. Ben and I agreed we'd wait to see if they offered to come clean or not, but alas, no. So we waited a week or so, then sent a nasty-gram email telling them we weren't happy with the condition of the house based on our agreement we'd clean as we moved each place, and that she'd watched me do all the cleaning at her place. Believe it or not, they offered to send a cleaning crew over and they paid for it! Let's see...we moved the last weekend of August, and here it is the first week of October, and I can say we are finally settled. A couple of pictures need to be hung, but nothing major. All in all, it's a good fit for us. We like the neighborhood more, and except for the living room, we have plenty of space.

Other than that...let's see...I'm still doing my PT about once ever three weeks. Mostly I'm just doing the stuff at home that I've been doing at PT, increasing my cardio and walking, working on my muscle building and still some flexibility stuff too. Not quite able to bend fully, but that's to be expected. Some people get it back, some don't. I don't really notice it much, except when I bend down to get something that's fallen on the floor or rolled on the couch. I can't quite sit on my knees and lean back all the way, but we'll see if I can't get there.

So really, that's pretty much it for now. More good things to come, I promise. I will be better about blogging (I hope). Take care!

Update from PT yesterday - more things ending with “-itis”, tornadoes in Denver, and my 30th Birthday…

2008-08-07T09:39:00.007-06:00

So I’ve been kinda sore these past few days with no real culprit that I could come up with. I’ve been riding the bike for half an hour the past three days, so I thought maybe that might be it, but turns out it wasn’t. I went into PT yesterday and showed Brandi where I was feeling sore and describing that it felt more like tenderness around some of the bones in my knee and right below, and she pushed on the soft spot right below my knee and made me jump. Turns out I have patellar tendonitis (goes well with my pes anserine bursitis). Brandi did more of her “famous” massage yesterday, and yes, I managed to cry again. I feel like such a baby, but man, it hurts! Big old crocodile tears rolling down my cheeks….wimpy girl that I am. (Side note – I’m really not wimpy. Wade, an attorney I work with here, sees Brandi for his shoulder and he tells me every day after he sees her how much it hurts!!) Anyway, she showed me how to massage it so I can do it at home. Then she proceeded to tell me that I need to cease all exercises this weekend, no bike either, and just do stretching and lots of ice. Oh, and I can use the stim machine (the electric shock therapy thing that was delivered to my office this week - we tried it on Ben - he didn't like it too much!). So yesterday at PT was an “easy” day, so to speak. I did tons of stretching and then an ice massage for my patellar tendon. Then I was out the door. First time in weeks I haven’t left there dripping with sweat.

After work, we drove home in the rain (yes, rain!!). We haven’t had rain in months! I went to take Tanner out and Ben was making dinner. As we were playing in the greenbelt by our house the lightning and thunder seemed like it was starting to get closer, so we headed back to the house. Ben was listening to the news while he was cooking and 9News had the running line on the bottom with “Tornado Warning” and listed Denver as part of the area in that warning. Ben goes and gets online to check the radar and there is a huge storm right over us, moving to the northeast (toward my mom’s house). Then we hear the TV say that there were funnel clouds spotted and a possible tornado moving to the east from the Dacono area, which is just north of Denver. So I called my mom and Kari to see if they were moving to a safe area. My mom answered, sounded a bit frazzled, and said they were, but she’d have to call me back. I ran upstairs to grab something, and as I came down Ben said, “The tornado sirens are going off.” I didn’t believe him cause I couldn’t hear anything. He turned the sound off on the TV and then I could hear them. In all my time living in Denver, I’ve NEVER heard tornado sirens! Very eerie sound! Well, of course, being the smart girl that I am, instead of going to an interior closet (no basement at our house), I decide to go outside to see if I can spot anything. Duh – not smart. But I got outside and didn’t see crap! I was kinda disappointed. Ben will tell you, I’ll watch any show in Discovery or National Geographic with tornadoes and weather stuff. I still have never seen a real funnel or tornado. So the sirens are going off for about 5 minutes and then they go off. The tornado warning expired about 10 minutes after that. All safe and sound. I talked to Kari and she told me that as they were trying to wrangle the cats into pillow cases (they have a plan already discussed), my mom proceeded to go in her bedroom and change clothes!!! Kari and I were laughing so hard. Of all things to do, that would be last on my list! I’m sure Mom was just a bit out of sorts. They get warnings up there a lot, but I don’t know if they’ve had actual sirens going off or not. Anyway, just a funny story to go along with the crazy weather. There are some photos below of the weather that I grabbed from Channel 7's website...

We’ll be working a half day tomorrow, and then heading to my friend Bonnie’s wedding up in Granby. I think the weather should be nice, hopefully no sirens up there! Then Saturday, we’ll be having the BBQ for my big 30th! Can’t believe I’m 30…oh well, I still feel young. That’s all that matters, right!?

This is near E-470 (highway east of Denver)

This is near Harvey Park in SW Denver - caption says "Possible Tornado"

So, being that Ben and I live in Central Denver, we were right between these two weather related photos...fun stuff!

Weekend update

2008-08-04T11:35:00.008-06:00

Ben and his gang from ALPS (plus some stragglers) played in the Mud Volleyball Tourney this weekend again. This was our 4th or 5th year doing it. I couldn’t play because of my knee, but I did have fun watching and taking photos. It was probably the hottest it’s ever been since we’ve been participating, but I think they all still had fun. I’ll attach some photos below.

Sunday afternoon was my grandfather’s 90th birthday party. We had a nice relaxing BBQ at my aunt and uncle’s house. We had way too much yummy food and cake. We were all commenting on how great G’pa looked and how self sufficient he still is even at 90! Still living alone and taking care of himself!

Other than that, we spent our weekend trying to find more houses for rent to take a look at. We are finding that most of them are either way out of our price range, or way too crappy to even consider. We didn’t have this issue in January when we were looking and found our current house….not sure what the deal is. It’s already Aug. 4 (I can’t believe it…), so we need to move on this pretty quickly. We were able to reach an amicable termination agreement with our landlord on Friday, so it’s a definite now. We’ll have to be out by noon on September 1 – way to spend our Labor Day weekend! But oh well, life is life. Nothing can be done now….here’s to finding a new place soon! And thanks to everyone for the well wishes in doing so. We appreciate it.

Any comments?

2008-07-28T10:26:00.002-06:00

Not sure if you all know, but you can leave comments on the blog. After each entry, there is a comment link, and if you click on it, you can comment about what you just read or ask us questions. We read them, I promise!

We are definitely moving….

2008-07-28T10:21:00.000-06:00

We are very sad to report that our landlord has found a buyer for her house and we will be moving, likely around the beginning of September. So…that means in less than 30 days Ben and I need to find a new place to live, put down a deposit and sign a new lease, pack and move. I’m really not looking forward to it at all, but nothing we can do. Our landlord is offering a lease buyout to us, so we can’t really pass that up, but the hassle and inconvenience is enough to make my not want to do it. And we finally felt that we had settled in the place (we only moved Feb. 1 this year), and now we have to do it all over again. Plus, with my surgery, we have to hire movers – I cannot lift and move things like I used to at least for another couple of months. Plus, we will be out of town for 7 days in the middle of August, which adds a bit more stress, but I think we’ll be okay. Still….wish it wasn’t happening. I just hope we can find a place as neat as where we are now. We’re a bit spoiled, so nothing will compare, but I just hope we can find something nice.

Other than that news, nothing else going on. We are so tired of the heat (13 or 14 days with 90+ weather sucks!). I know, I know, we don’t have humidity, but still, the heat is almost unbearable at times. We don’t have central AC so neither of us are getting decent sleep. They say the rest of the week is mid- to upper-90s. I can’t fricking wait. When will it end???

OMG – I’ve been bad, shame on me…

2008-07-22T11:53:00.003-06:00

So I’ve been really, really, really bad about blogging. But my excuse – my dad was here for 11 days so we were busy spending time with him! We did lots of great stuff, had tons of fun and quite honestly just got wiped out by all the goings on that I just didn’t feel like logging on to the computer at all. My apologies…

First and foremost – rehab. Still doing well, I think. I still have some of that bursitis which Brandi massaged again last week and PT. Not comfortable, but getting better. Riding the bike more and more and continuing with my exercises as diligently as I can. I did take last Wednesday night off since Brandi and Kate had me do tons of hamstring exercises during PT – I was sore before I got home at the end of the day. But for now, that’s our focus, strengthening the hamstrings and quads. I still do my range of motion exercises at home in the morning to get me loose after sleeping, but at night it’s all strengthening exercises. Sometimes I feel like its working, other times I don’t. I still see a difference in the size of my quads, so I know I’m not there yet, but each day is better, I think. Back to PT tomorrow, more strength stuff. I need to get a list from Kate of any exercises I can do at home. Sometimes when I’m doing them I literally draw a blank as to what I can do next…..I’m losing it. I remember like 4-5 of them and just repeating those over and over, and I’m getting bored with them, so I need to see them all and pick and choose and give myself some variety. Note to self – get that list tomorrow!

So, back to my dad’s visit. On the second day he was here we went to the Mile High Nationals for some good old fashioned drag racing. It was so hot, but we had a great time. I forgot my camera, so no photos….sorry. Then on Sunday we went to the US v. Brazil (women’s soccer game). Ben wasn’t really into it, so I took my friend Ann and we headed out with Dad and Kari to the game. HOW FUN! I’d never seen a national game before and we all really got into it. US won 1-0. Photos of that day are below. Sadly, the very next game, Abby Wambach (#12), the US’s leading scorer and top forward broke her leg in two places so she’ll miss the Olympics! I feel so bad for her; I can’t even imagine training for your whole life, with World Cup or Olympics as a goal and then getting hurt three weeks prior. Very sad….The following weekend we headed to Lake Granby to camp with Anthony, Lisa and Hugh and the kids. So even up in the mountains, it was fricking HOT!!! Luckily we had a boat (thanks, Jason) and we were able to get out on the water. Ben tubed with Kari and the kiddos, and he tried wakeboarding. It looks hard. He wasn’t able to get up, but he tried his best until he was just exhausted and couldn’t do anymore. He’ll try again, I’m sure. We all hung out, drank some beer, eat too much food, and roasted in the sun. Overall, a very fun weekend! Dad left yesterday, the house is quiet without him….he’ll be back in September for Kassidy and Brian’s wedding, so it’ll be good to see him again.

So that’s it for now. Here are the photos from the soccer game. I will try to post more often, just no promises……it’s hard when you sit at a computer all day and then go home and think about sitting there again. I guess if I do the mini-updates more often, it won’t be so bad. Adios!

Pes Anserine Bursitis - I have it...

2008-07-09T19:37:00.009-06:00

Yea, say that three times really fast! Basically, I have some irritation in the bursa sack on the inside side of my knee, where the three muscles that come from the hamstring connect into my tibia. The bursa sack is full of fluid and keeps everything moving smooth in thru there, but mine is really irritated and we think that's the cause of most of my pain on the inside part of my knee. Well, that and my MCL. Brandi got back from Alaska, so on Monday I was back with her. She did some manipulations with my sacrum (the lower part of your back) and then started to massage on the side of my knee that hurts the most....and the second she started I could tell it was not going to be fun. I hadn't cried in a while at PT, and before I knew it huge tears were rolling down my cheeks. There was this nice lady on the bed next to me and she was trying to talk to me and make me laugh, which kinda worked. So imagine me crying, laughing and squirming all at the same time. Fun stuff....luckily Brandi could see how bad it hurt, so she didn't go for too long, and then it was off to more exercises. I did a lot of work with balance and strengthening Monday and again today (Wednesday). I still cannot believe how tired I get after the exercises that I do there. Mentally I know it's not a lot, but physically, I get so drained. I know it's working though - after each session, I start to get sore in my butt, hammies, groin, and hip flexor, which means I'm working the things that I haven't worked in a long time. Getting all of those stronger will help my knee and leg get stronger overall. Today Brandi couldn't get a muscle near my knee to contract at all, so she hooked me up for some good old fashioned shock therapy! Seriously, it's these electrode pads that as the intensity is increased, whatever the power source/mechanism is is, it shocks your muscles into contracting. Such a weird feeling and even weirder to look at. She is going to see about sending me home with one so I can contract that muscle as much as I need to. We'll see how that goes. So, other than the bursitis, a really good week at PT. Oh, Brandi also gave me the go ahead to ride the bike as often as I want and as long as I like. Very excited about that!!

We were in Estes this weekend at Connie's place. We had such a great time, very relaxing, quiet. It's always too much food, but we enjoy it! We watched the fireworks over the lake on Friday, and then spent Saturday on scooters tooling around Estes Park and Rocky Mtn. National Park. We had so much fun! Here are some photos from our weekend:

This is how Tanner and Ben roll...

Tanner living it up at Lake Estes Dog Park

Handsome fella

My two boysStacey and I on our scooters
Ben in Moraine Park
Just a pose, we really didn't ride together
Lookin' hot!
Danny getting ready to peel out
Ben showing off
I literally ate this dust

Happy 4th of July!

2008-07-03T16:24:00.004-06:00

We are heading up to Estes Park tonight to stay with Connie, Stacey and Danny at their cabin. I cannot wait to get there. Today dragged at work, no one is here, just doing clean up stuff now, wasting away time. Half hour to go....

Went to PT as scheduled on Wednesday. Had another really good session doing exercises with Kate (biking, shuffles, more weight machine mixed with balance stuff, good stretches, wall sits - holy cow, I kept realizing there is no quad muscles left when I got to 15 seconds of a 30 second sit). Then Erika did all my measurements (got to 132 degrees flexion; still need 2 more degrees for full extension) and then she stretched and massaged me. Her little trick with the plunger is awesome! It doesn't hurt like the regular massages, but I know that it's completely necessary to do that. It can only help me, so I try to just go to my happy place and relax. One of these days I will be dropping down to once PT session a week, just not sure when...

Have a great 4th of July!

Weekend and more PT (it's my life folks!)

2008-06-30T21:19:00.009-06:00

Ben and had a pretty chill Friday night, met up with some friends for happy hour and then went out to dinner with them. It was nice - low key and good company. Saturday we had lunch at our fave restaurant, Cherry Creek Grille, and shared their tuna burger - yummy! Then I went and got a pedicure - it was FANTASTIC! I hadn't been able to do my own toes since before surgery and they were in dire need of some help! Believe it or not, I couldn't get my knee/leg bent enough to paint my toes without throwing a kink in my back, so they polish was totally worn off and my feet were looking pitiful. Mom and Kari got me a gift card to use for after surgery and it came in handy - thank you to them for a wonderful post-surgery gift.

Saturday afternoon Ben went to a BBQ with some work buddies and Kari and I picked up Shelley and we were off to Colleen's to begin the festivities for Kate's bachelorette party. I can't share many details, after all this is a family site, but we had such a great time! We drank champagne, shared some naughty cake, went out for drinks and shared a bunch of food, went dancing, and I took about 160 photos - I went a little nuts at the end of the night. Part of the reason was that Kate said she didn't want to go dancing, so when she started to tear up the dance floor, I felt like I needed some proof. I'll post a few photos at the end of this post, but they will be the tamer ones. We closed the bars down! It was seriously a good time, and we are all so excited for Kate and Matt we just wanted to celebrate some with just the girls. Really, everyone was on their best behavior. I've found as I've gotten older, yes, these are some words of wisdom, that you can have more fun hanging with the girls than dealing with drunk, random guys. Congrats Kate and Matt!

Sunday was recovery day - I was a tad hungover. Kari and I went to get some breakfast, then we came home to veg out. We watched the Euro Cup soccer finals, Spain v. Germany. Spain looked awesome. The entire second half they just pounded at Germany's goal, and Germany looked as if they were just completely beat. Spain won 1-0 (goal scored in the first half), but Germany is lucky they didn't get completely blown out. Ben took off on Sunday morning for Milwaukee to meet with some clients. Really, they are just going for fun - a concert and cruising on someone's boat, but I guess it still does help his client relationship. I'm just jealous!

Monday -- back to work. But I did go to PT today and saw Erika. Brandi is on vacation in Alaska this week, so I was a bit worried today because I'd not seen anyone but her. But Erika was wonderful! I did all my exercises with Kate before I saw Erika. I did the bike, more shuffles, some new stretches for my hip flexor (oh my gosh, those felt awesome), and then I did some balance exercises using a weight machine. The more the better, I feel! Then Erika did some massage for me and stretched me out really good. I measured just TWO (!!) degrees short of full extension today, but I was still around 130 degrees for flexion. Only 11 more degrees to go on that -- I CAN DO IT! Soon, hopefully. The best part of PT today was the way Erika massaged my IT band. She could still see bruising from where Brandi pummelled me on my IT band last week (I'm told by everyone that works at my PT it's completely normal to bruise, so don't anyone freak out), so she decided to take it easy on me. She slathered on some baby oil on the side of my quad, then got out a plunger. Yes, a plunger! She got it all suctioned on my skin, then gently pulled away from the skin without breaking the suction seal, and just kept pulling up a little bit and moving it all around. It felt so good, and I was so relieved not to be squirming. I am still tight there and in my hammies, so I know once Brandi gets back she'll be all over those again. I am telling myself the easier massages this week is a reward for living through brutal ones!

Okay, here are some photos from Kate's party:

The start of the night at dinner (L to R: Kate, Lauren, Shelley, Colleen, me, Kari)

Peace out...notice the shirt? I made that...
Shelley and Kate
Kari and Kate fooling around at Spill
I knew the night was only going to get better when Kate left Spill with her beer in hand and no one stopped her...she's mighty proud of herself as you can see.
I can't tell if she's smiling or grimicing at the sight of more shots?

Nearing the end of the night. We don't look too hideous.
Kate said she didn't want to go dancing. Yea, I didn't believe her either. Do you see that look on her face - she's totally rocking out! (And she managed to keep her "straw" all night!)
Still standing...and smiling...
Friends help friends stand up (actually, I think they are only barely standing up)

I truly love this girl and am so happy for her!

Surgery pics

2008-06-27T15:34:00.009-06:00

I finally got a CD of my sugery pics: (here are some of the better ones, and the ones of which I can remember what it actually is...)

My torn ACL (ugly, huh?) - I couldn't even begin to tell you what is what in this photo.

My new ACL (Apparenlty, I received a really good, solid, thick cadaver graft, so thick in fact they had to take shave down bit of bone off my femur - you can see the reddish brown part where they shaved off where the graft goes into the bone at the top of the photo.)

Smooth bone, no fractures

Undamaged meniscus (smooth surfaces)

Damaged medial meniscus (look for fraying)

Damaged lateral (I think) menicus

Damaged medial meniscus

More damaged meniscus (not sure which one)

And still swollen after 20 days, but you can only see one scar (I have five total)

Dr. follow up, more PT, and weekend plans

2008-06-27T15:33:00.000-06:00

Thank goodness it’s Friday! I’ve had such a long week - I think because I’m still having trouble getting a good night’s sleep. If I lay on my side (either side), even with a pillow between my legs, I get sore right on the inside of my knee (I think I found out the cause…more about that later). The only way to not be sore sleeping is to lay on my back, and I’m really not a back sleeper.

I had my follow up with Dr. Gonzales on Tuesday. He was on vacation immediately after my surgery, so I hadn’t seen him since June 4. He said everything is looking really good, scars healed nicely. He was impressed by my flexibility and extension and just told me to keep plugging away at physical therapy. I told him that my only concern was the amount of pain I had on the inside side of my knee, and he said, “Oh, well that’s not really uncommon considering you sprained your MCL as well.” I was kinda dumbfounded – NO ONE had mentioned that to me since I’d been seen this whole time. So he pulled up my MRI report from the radiologist and it was right there, clear as day, “Grade 1 Sprain of MCL.” (Grade 1 is the lowest amount of injury.) Hmmm…the only thing I can possibly think of was that with tears to two meniscus and my ACL, but no tear to the MCL, they just overlooked it. Or maybe he thought he’d mentioned it. I have no idea…Regardless, he said that my pain is likely from that. I asked how long before it gets better and he said a while. I was thinking maybe a couple more weeks, he said a couple more months….wonderful. Eh, nothing I can do at this point. More Advil, I think.

I went to PT on Wednesday as scheduled, and man oh man, what a day – highs and lows. Wednesday was also three weeks since I had surgery. I rode the bike for 15 minutes when I got there since Brandi was finishing with another patient. Kate got me started on some more shuffles with the resistance band around my ankles. Hello, tired! Then I did some squats and calf raises on the total body machine, along with some hamstring curls. Absolutely love doing all of those. I’ve really, really been craving doing stuff since I’ve been so limited since I hurt myself. Then I went over to the table of death. It really is I’m convinced. Brandi flipped my on my stomach and noticed that I had some bruising where she “massaged” my hamstring on Monday. So she conceded that she didn’t need to do that again at least for Wednesday’s appointment, so I lay on my side and she got right to work on my IT band. How do I explain this – bluntly, she was killing me!!! No tears though…still, she kneaded and pushed, over and over. My leg was all red by the time she finished, I’m not kidding. She did some massage around my knee itself and also on my scars (stellar feeling too…). Then back to more stretches and exercises. I love everything there except those frickin' massages. I remind myself that it’s all for the good of my rehab, but it’s tougher to buy that each time. Especially when I woke up on Thursday morning and had a bruise from just above mid-thigh all the way down to my knee. Yes, a really big bruise from that massage. I have a photo at home to upload later.

So, Ben and I are going to dinner and movie tonight. I think we’ll hit the Cherry Creek Grille and then maybe see “Wall-E” the new animated movie. It got good reviews. I wanted to see “Wanted” but Ben wasn’t too into that. Weird – action flick, Angelina Jolie….yea, weird. I’m sure I can convince him to go see it with me sometime. Saturday we are taking Kate out for her bachelorette party with her Denver friends - I’m very excited for that. It’ll be my first night out since surgery. We’ll see how it goes. I may be the girl crashing someone else’s party just to have a place to sit by the end of the night. Ben leaves for Milwaukee on Sunday, and I’ll be watching the finals of Euro Cup ’08 (Spain v. Germany). Have a good weekend everyone!

Democratic National Convention is coming...

2008-06-24T11:43:00.004-06:00

Last week we had like a million helicopters in and around our house, training for what they called Urban Combat Missions. They said (which is a complete load of horse$hit) that the training exercises were not related to the upcoming DNC.....yea right. Anyway, they were flying super low in Blackhawks and some other kind of helicopter, practicing landing on building roofs and parking lots around the old Children's Hospital (which is currently under demolition) and some other downtown locations. It wasn't terribly annoying, except when they started the training exercises at 10 p.m.! Thank goodness for our A/C unit in the bedroom, it drowned out the noise almost entirely. I still find it ironic that in as long as I can remember, Denver's never been home to such training missions...and they still claim it's not in preparation for the DNC.

Then today I'm just working away and two guys walk off the elevator into my office. And then, like straight out of a movie, both of them flip out their wallet things, flap them open and say, "We're from the Secret Service Sniper Squad and we're here to check out your building's windows that face the Pepsi Center." Staring right up at me is their Secret Service ID badges, all official and such. They had this color aerial map of our area and said they had to investigate each and every window facing the Pepsi Center that is not obstructed. They also needed contact information for each person who sits in the office with said windows, in order to be able to contact that person on a moment's notice should they need to come in our office and take positions in the windows. I'm not sure I see them contacting people - I figured if something were to happen and they'd need in a particular window they would just bust on it and make themselves at home. Who's going to argue with that??!! So yea, them being in our offices was the most exciting thing that's happened around here in a while. Kinda makes you wish for a more exciting career...

'Twas a good day at PT on Monday

2008-06-23T16:48:00.008-06:00

Had a great day at PT yesterday - not kidding! The massages are starting to hurt a little bit less, and it's probably because Ben has been helping me out at home and doing some of the massage and stretching with/for me. I ended my PT session last Friday at 121 degress flexion, and starting out today after only one flexibility exercise, I was at 128 degrees - proof that the boring, painful, at-home sessions actually do work! I was able to do some different types of exercises today (in addition to the normal and customary ones) including "squat" shuffles with a resistance band, a one-legged (bad leg) modified squat on the total gym, calf raises (straight leg and bent leg) and then some hamstring curls. Oh baby, the burn feels so good!! When you haven't done anything remotely close to exercise in two months, you crave it. Brandi watched me walk and said each time I go in it's better and better, so that's encouraging. My extension today was better too, and it's taking much less work at the start of a PT session to get my leg straighter. Still, when she pushes my kneecap straight down, I feel like I want to cry! But, in the end, all things considered, I can't complain about yesterday's PT. If I can be this positive about it, I think I can follow through and end up with a successful rehab program.

We didn't do much this weekend, as I was still focusing on RICE (rest, ice, compression, elevation). My swelling is still there, but gradually improving. Brandi thinks that maybe I can ditch the compression sock starting next week - I hope so!!! It's so hot and uncomfortable. On Saturday, we did go to a friend's BBQ, and had a really good time. I was getting sore and having a hard time finding a good position (stand vs. sit; or both...), so we left around 9, but it was good to see our friends for a while. I feel like I say no to a lot right now since I can't possibly go to a bar and stand for four hours. On Sunday we went to my cousin's baby shower via internet camera (she's in North Carolina) and had a great time. She looks so cute!!! I can't wait to see her newest one. They are naming him Owen.

Last night for dinner Ben and I made some grilled ginger chicken, with cucumber and red onion salad for dinner. I also tried this recipe from Rachel Ray that was lemon chive noodles, which was so good (whole grain noodles and all). Ben even liked it, and he is P-I-C-K-Y. After dinner I rode my bike - a serious woo hoo is needed here.....I never realized how much I needed that damn bike. I never got the mountain bike bug, but it's been a lifesaver before and after my knee surgery. Ben and I even contemplated selling it earlier this spring, and I am so glad we didn't.

I have my first follow up with my surgeon today. He was out of town after my surgery, so I'm super interested to hear what he has to say. Brandi told me to ask him if he did any microfracture repair since I'm still pretty sore in one certain spot when he did work on my medial meniscus. And she is dying to know why he put me in a straight leg immobilizer - she's never seen one of his patients come to her with one of those on. I will post more after I meet with him this afternoon.

Wade, an attorney I work for sent me this article about knees - I'm getting a label as the knee girl!! But I can't complain since the articles I've read so far that people have sent to me are really informative. http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_9595969

Adios for now.

I ain't gonna lie - physical therapy sucked on Wednesday

2008-06-19T10:57:00.011-06:00

Brandi was just mean yesterday at PT (I have permission from her to write this). No joke! I was almost in tears a couple different times. The massage on my hamstring still hurts like a S.O.B., we skipped the IT band massage (thank goodness), but then she worked on my kneecap. She was sliding it all around, moving it back and forth, pressing, holding, etc., until I was absolutely convinced that she was going to dislocate my kneecap. It was all I could do not to cry! No mercy tap-outs allowed on that one, so I just suffered through. After that torture, she had me work on my extension, using the blood pressure cuff and pushing my knee down toward the tabletop about 10 times. Each time I had to get push down enough to register '20' on the dial (not sure of the exact term for the measurement - lb. or psi, maybe??). Those aren't bad and I feel really loose afterwards. But then Brandi takes it a step further - she pushes my knee down for me....and not lightly either. The past two appts. it was tolerable, but this time, I swear my leg would just snap in half. I said that out loud and she deadpanned, "It's only happened once." Then she waits about 3 seconds to see my reaction, starts laughing and says, "I'm only kidding!" Honestly though, it hurt so bad, I really thought she meant it! The pain didn't stop there...so after she almost snaps my leg in half, she starts to "massage" my incision scars. I was finally able to remove my steri-strips (no stitches or staples on any incisions) this morning after my shower. Four of the five incisions are healed nicely (I thought...), no scabs, just small scars, with the largest incision where they inserted my cadaver graft still a little scabbed over and very sore. So anyway, this "massage" is not a massage - NOT EVEN CLOSE. Picture this: you have a really bad bruise on your thigh, like you walked into the corner of your desk or something. Now, imagine that someone takes their finger and digs in there really good, just digging and digging away, making tight little circles, pushing harder and harder....let me tell you - it feels fantastic. Hardly. Again, I almost cried and it was all I could do to not just jump off the table and run for the door. And again, no mercy tap-outs on this one either....she's getting tougher with me! Finally, after what feels like forever, she's done and I get to move on to my exercises. More stretches, and then I got to do some leg presses on a sliding bench/weight machine for my calves and squats for my quads, followed by sets of hamstring curls. Who would have thought I could pull my own weight up using my hamstrings only only two weeks after surgery? Not me, but I did it and I LIKED IT!

So my at the start of my first visit at PT appt. I was at close to 60 degrees flexion; end of same visit I was at 84 degrees. Man, I thought that was awesome - turns out not so much! At the end of my second day of PT I was at 104 degrees flexion - I was completely and totally stoked, but Brandi still wasn't too impressed (in all honesty, she's very encouraging, and I really appreciate it.). Starting yesterday's appointment, Brandi told me the goal was to get to 120 degrees; at the end of yesterday's appointment I was at 121 degrees! Woo hoo!! Sounds fantastic and all, but the problem is that once I get back to work, sitting at my desk, I get stiff all over again and unless I go through a complete set of my exercises, I couldn't possibly get to 120 degrees right off the bat. I keep reminding myself that this is all progress in the right direction, but it does get discouraging at times. So while I'm at work, I have to force myself to change positions of how I'm sitting - sometimes leg bent, sometimes propped up straight on my CPU unit. I also have to make myself get up from my desk and walk around (I'm so busy at work, so I have to consciously have to think about getting up), so once I get some of the stiffness out in the first few steps, I start to walk on my heels. People here have been watching me walk like that and I know they think I'm crazy, but oh does it feel good!

So reallly, Brandi is mean and wonderful all at the same time. This PT stuff is mostly mental, I think. Yes, it's hard to work muscles that aren't wanting to respond, but when I get discouraged, I remind myself that people do this everyday and really do return to normal functionality in time.

On a different note, here is a video my good friend Kate sent to me that made me laugh. Every single time we feed Tanner, sure as $hit, both Milo and Andy (our cats) are both right in there, eating out of his dish. Tanner never seems to mind (he's a good boy), and it's not like they eat much more than a couple kibbles of his food, but I could honestly see Milo pulling this crap on Tanner one of these days:

e.l.f. makeup for $1

2008-06-18T15:09:00.002-06:00

e.l.f. (eyes, lips, face) makeup is the store brand of Nordstroms. A friend of mine directed me to their website, where all of their makeup is selling for $1. No joke! I just purchased some stuff today as my makeup tends to get outdated and old - I am far from a makeup junkie. Anyway, Nordstrom is rebranding e.l.f. so they are clearing everything out with e.l.f. on it for cheap, cheap, cheap. I got tons of makeup, a set of brushes, some body butters (3 for $10), and the shipping was only $6.95. Here is their website if you want to check it out: http://www.eyeslipsface.com/default.asp

Happy shopping!

Just call me "Tiger" - grrrrrr....

2008-06-18T10:17:00.004-06:00

An interesting article about Tiger Woods: http://msn.foxsports.com/golf/story/8258466?MSNHPHMA

If he can do it, I can do it. And I have a head start on him - awesome! Maybe I can convince him to read my blog and we can do therapy together. Ha ha!

I did it! I earned my way onto the stationary bike!

2008-06-18T08:08:00.005-06:00

I spent the weekend reminding myself that I really, really, really do like physical therapy. Well, let me rephrase that….I hate when she’s “mean” to me – like her not so nice, but necessary, massages L - but by the time I leave there, I am actually walking almost normal and feel stellar. All loose, no pain, no limp! But then, within about an hour or so, I get stiff and tight all over again. I remind myself that it’s not as bad as before I head to physical therapy, and that each time afterwards, the stiffness isn’t as bad as the day before. I did all of my exercises this past weekend with more ice and elevation, and even more bitching and moaning about my compression sock. I keep hoping that she’ll tell me this week I can take it off…please?!?!

Monday was my second physical therapy appointment. Brandi thought it would be beneficial if Ben came with me so that she could show him some stuff to do with me at home. He said he believed me when I told him how bad it hurt sometimes, but until he actually saw tears in my eyes, I don’t think it really set in for him. So we started on Monday with more massage – both hamstring and IT band. When I got uncomfortable, she tells me to go to my happy place. Here's what I imagine (Maui!):

She had Ben do some of the massages on me, and I just loved how they laughed when he realized that with such a small amount of pressure, he could get me to squirm. In all honesty, we laugh a lot there, thank goodness! Brandi then showed Ben how to help me stretch my quad and at the same time work on my flexion. I am convinced it is the best stretch in the world…so far! I did all of the same exercises I did on my first visit, plus a couple of new ones. One is with a thera-band around a table leg, standing up, band behind my knee, contracting my quad, straightening my leg, the release a little bit, do again. Feels good, but man, do I get tired! Weird that doing so little can drain me. I also did some heel slides on the wall, and my flexion was much better than last Friday. I measured at about 84 degrees (bent) Friday, but today, after exercises, I measured at 104 degrees!! Since I’m past 90 degrees now…here comes the really good part --- they let me try the bike! Kate (another therapist there) put the seat way up high and I got on, really expecting to just rock back and forth without going all the way around. However, surprise, surprise…all the massage and exercises really do work! I got all the way around on my first try. I was so happy! I did about 20 rotations in all (sounds silly to say I only did 20, but what a milestone for me!!) Riding the bike was like a gift before my surgery; I would feel so good after riding it. So now that I can do that from this point on, I only see good things for PT in the weeks to come.

Between physical therapy sessions, I’ve been really diligent about doing my home exercises. I thought I would dread them; of course they would be boring and painful. But in all honesty, I feel so good after doing them, I couldn’t ask for a better incentive. I just wish I could do everything at home that I do in PT since I feel so good after leaving there. I get close to that feeling at home, but it’s not quite the same. Still, I will stick with it knowing that what I do now directly impacts my recovery down the road. And I still am super excited about being able to get on a bike now. Our friends, Tom and Colleen, had a bike trainer they let me borrow before surgery, but Colleen is having some issues with her knee now and she’s in PT as well and having to use the bike daily. I was sad when Tom came over to get the trainer last night, but excited to go pick up the used one I found on Craig’s List. When Colleen said she would need it back, I hopped online to see what they were selling for. New trainers cost anywhere from $80-$200. Considering my health insurance sucks and we’ll be paying $3,000-4,000 for my surgery and physical therapy, I couldn’t stand thinking about dropping that much on a bike trainer. So I checked Craig’s List and found a lady selling one for $25! I checked it out online and used ones of this same model were going for $125 on eBay! I totally scored getting the one I did. Now I just have to wait for Ben to get home Saturday to set it up – I’m mechanically clueless. Or, maybe I can ask Tom to come over and do it?? He was so nice last night when he came to get the trainer. He asked me if there was anything around the house I needed help with since Ben was out of town. He’s had three ACL surgeries himself, so he knows it can be rough, but seriously, what a gentleman! Colleen – he’s a keeper! Kari was there last night to help me with walking Tanner and Tom even asked her if she needed anything (I’m sure Ben’s told him that he often gets “conned” into helping with stuff for her too…), and she was like, “Well, actually, I could use a neck massage.” Tom was speechless….and I said, “Oh seriously! It’s not like Ben would do that for you if he was here, so you can’t ask Tom to do it!” We all laughed, and then Tom immediately headed for the door! Just kidding, it was all in good fun.

So, back to PT today for my third appointment. Maybe this time I won’t get tears in my eyes!

Post-surgery photos for your viewing pleasure

2008-06-16T11:24:00.006-06:00

Here are some photos of me post surgery (1 day, 2 days, and then 11 days). I should have been better about taking a photo a day, but in all honesty, my swelling didn't go down much since surgery anyway, so there wasn't much to show you. Hopefully with the compression sock and physical therapy I can get the swelling down much more and take some new photos later this week. You can still see the steri-strips on my incisions. I can take those off this week. No stitches though, so that's good. There are also some photos of the food and flowers I got at home while I was recovering.

First day post-surgery (exhausted):

Second day post-surgery (2 photos):

Eleven day post-surgery (2 photos, swelling down a little probably due to my lovely compression sock):

Some of my goodies (flowers from Dad and Kate, food from work, fruit basket from the two partners I work for):

There is a new post (about my first physical therapy appt.) below the one of Ben's GRILLZ....I started it Friday, but didn't have a chance to finish it. So it's there now.

GRILLZ....

2008-06-13T16:33:00.003-06:00

On an unrelated ACL surgery matter....here is an email I got from my wacky hubby today: (word to the wise, marry someone who makes you laugh...)

First the email: (and yes, this was all I got in the email)

Got 30 down at the bottom, 30 mo at the top
All invisible set in little ice cube blocks
If I could call it a drink, call it a smile on da rocks
If I could call out a price, let's say I call out a lot
I got like platinum and white gold, traditional gold
I'm changin grillz errday, like Jay change clothes,
I might be grilled out nicely (oh)
In my white tee (oh),On South beach (oh) in my wife beat.
V V and studded you can tell when they cut it
Ya see my granmama hate it, but my lil mama love it
Cuz when I...

And now for the photo:

And now for the explanation:
Grillz...it's the bling that people wear on their teeth to flash their dough and to look tough, I guess. Sometimes silver, sometimes gold, now they do platinum and even diamonds!! Mainly hard-core rappers do this, which means of course, Ben is a hard-core rapper. As if we didn't already know that.

Have a great weekend. I will post about my first physical therapy appointment this weekend. I'm still in pain and it was 4 hours ago...

Physical Therapy - horrible, yet wonderful - is that possible?

2008-06-13T15:33:00.007-06:00

So I had my first physical therapy appointment last Friday. I work downtown, and as it turns out, my doctor's preferred physical therapist is downtown as well, so that is convenient for me. Headed there during my lunch hour and stayed for about an hour an a half. (Much thanks to Bonnie and Kelly from work, who were gracious enough to chauffeur me there and back as I'm not quite driving yet.) I was in pain for four hours afterwards, but at the same time, my knee felt better than ever....I was all stretched out and feeling not as stiff as I have been.

First thing we did was to measure my good leg and compare those numbers with my bad leg. In short, I've lost mucho inches: 1.5" off my right calf, and at least 3.0" on my right thigh. I'm just wasting away!! But my therapist (Brandi) thinks she can get me back (even stronger) by the time she's done with me. I'm so glad we hit it off. I had read that if you can find a good physical therapist, it makes a world of difference with recovery.

After measuring me, she laid me on my stomach and began to brutalize me. I'M NOT KIDDING. (She did warn me that I was going to hate her.) She was giving me a hamstring massage on my bad leg, and oh my gosh, it hurt so bad! I had tears in my eyes and basically had to "tap out" a couple of times -- I couldn't handle the pain. She showed me the amount of pressure she was using on my good leg, and I couldn't believe that's how little she was pushing on my bad leg to make it hurt that bad! She told me I have some atrophy and scar tissue there, hence the massage, and hence the pain. But in order for it to go away, I have to continue with the painful massage. Then she flipped me on my side and did my IT band on the outside of my right quad muscle. HELLO!!! OUCH!! Aren't massages supposed to feel good?

Then it was on to my exercises. 5 new ones, so I can stop the ones they gave me at the hospital after surgery. I do wall heel slides (got to 84 degrees after 10 of them - need to get to 90+ degrees in order to earn my way to a stationary bike), IT band stretch on a foam roller (basically more painful massage stuff), hamstring stretch against a wall (feels AWESOME - not kidding), knee extensions (leg straight out, pushing my knee down on a towel or blood pressure cuff; move knee cap toward hip while squeezing quad muscle), and then I do prone hangs. THAT IS THE WORST. You lay on your stomach, legs hanging off the end of the table, allowing gravity to pull your foot toward the floor. I can't relax enough to know if my foot moves toward the floor, as my extension isn't 100% yet. Eventually she'll push down for me....I can't wait for that one. And then eventually she'll bend my knee and push my foot up towards my butt. Thinking "happy" thoughts about that as I write this...pain, pain, pain!!!

At the end, I got some ice along with some good old fashioned shock therapy. I still have quite a bit of swelling and I've developed Pitting Edema (basically excess fluid is still there, and when you push your finger down on the swelling, the impression of the finger stays there for a few seconds.) To help with the edema, I have to wear a STUPID compression sock again on my right leg. Hopefully that will be short lived, as you all know, I HATE THE COMPRESSION SOCKS with a passion. Maybe I'll luck out and when I go today she'll tell me I don't have to wear it. Ben is going with me today so that he can do some massage at home with me. The more the better, she says. I just hope he doesn't brutalize me too! Once is enough, but more...I just don't know about that.

Surgery is over! Sorry for the late (and long) post.

2008-06-12T12:44:00.002-06:00

Well, surgery was a week ago yesterday. Man, time flies when you’re having fun. But in all honesty, it hasn’t been fun, nor has it been super bad either. However, in that I haven’t posted since before surgery, I should say that life really does get a bit derailed with something like this. So my apologies for not posting sooner – I just couldn’t find time and the time that I did, I really didn’t feel like doing much of anything. But I’m back to work and things are looking up. I think I’ll just post about surgery day and maybe Thursday/Friday, then I’ll do another post tomorrow about what’s happened since then. Pictures will follow later, the camera is at home.

First, let me say that surgery day started out with me a nervous wreck. But don’t tell Ben that. I wanted to be tough, and I know now that I am such a good actress. No tears before surgery at all (I really thought that was going to be a given). Checked in at 8:15 a.m., back in pre-op by 8:25; I.V. in by 8:40, met with my doctor and his P.A. right after that (thank goodness he put his initials on the injured knee – no mistakes here), then the anesthesiologist came by about 9 a.m., met my surgical nurse about 9:30, and then wheeled to surgery by 9:45, right on time. Ben was able to sit with me in pre-op and the nurse let us have our goodbye kisses before she wheeled me toward the door of doom. For those who’ve had surgery -- HELLO…..is that operating room FREEZING or what??!! I started to feel the nerves even more as they moved me from the rolling bed to the very narrow operating table. I found myself thinking, “Seriously, will my butt cheeks hang off the sides of this thing?” Dr. G. asked if I wanted to hear any particular music before I fell asleep (Ipod connections in the operating room – what??!!), and I tell him what he has on is fine – classical. Nice and soothing. They can tell I’m cold, so the nurse gets a “bear hug” which is basically an electric blanket. Then the anesthesiologist pulls both arms out from under there, hooks up my heart tabbie things, blood pressure cuff, and I’m sure more stuff I can’t remember, then holds an oxygen mask over my face, and soon after I get the warm fuzzies. I ask if he’s given me something, because quite frankly I couldn’t see myself feeling so darn relaxed on my own. “Yes,” he said, “just a little something.” Then the oxygen mask comes back and I hear my doctor says “We’ll get started in just a few,” and the anesthesiologist tells me to take a few deep breaths, which I really didn’t have to focus on because I already felt so stoned and warm, then I was out. No counting, no nothing.

I feel like woke up about 10 seconds later, seriously time flies, how amazing is anesthesia?! I didn’t remember until later that night that I woke up in the operating room. But apparently, I came out of the anesthesia so well that I was trying to move myself to the rolling bed from the operating table. They told me they would do it, so I casually asked if I could go back to sleep and they said yes. So I was out again. Woke up in recovery with a clock on the wall right in front of me, so I could see it was about 11:20 a.m. I was told surgery was over by about 10:45, so I was asleep again for about 40 minutes more. The nurse was right there as I woke up and she asked how I was feeling. Immediately, I could tell my knee hurt, not bad, but I was freaking out that it would get worse, so she assured me I would be made comfortable before I left. Within about the next hour and a half or so, I got four I.V. doses of pain meds, but then she cut me off. That bee-otch!! I'm just kidding. She actually said before I could leave I needed to eat something, drink something, and be able to hold down my oral pain meds, so I started feasting on saltines and graham crackers, sipping water and drinking some juice. (I was eating so many crackers – 6 packets – I think the nurse kinda freaked out a little. She asked if I was hungry. I told her that I was concerned without a ton of stuff in my stomach the pain pill would make me throw up.) I think Ben came back about 12:45 or so to see me. He’d been in the waiting room for about 2 hours (they originally told him he’d only have to wait about an hour) because apparently, I would doze off every 15 minutes or so, and they wanted me to be more awake before he came back. Sorry honey. After he was back with me for about an hour, we started to get me dressed and moved to a recliner. Then Ben was off to get the car, and I was being wheeled to the parking lot. Getting in the car was pretty easy actually; I think I was still numb. We pulled out of the lot and I promptly threw up all of the crackers I’d forced myself to eat. Thank goodness they gave me this bag thing with a funnel on it for the ride home. Got home, out of the car, found myself to be wobbly, Ben looked worried, but eventually I made it to the front door. Ben pulled Tanner outside so he couldn’t knock me over. Ben thought I’d want to get in bed, but I wasn’t tired anymore, so we agreed on setting me up in the recliner. BEST PURCHASE we’ve made in the last few months – lifesaver for being laid up with a leg injury. First, to the bathroom though. I went by myself down the hall, turned the corner, into the bathroom, sat down and then thought, “Gosh, am I going to be able to get up?” I did get up, eventually, and Ben had by then got me set up with a smoothie and more crackers (so I could take another pain pill to replace the one I’d just thrown up), pillows to put my foot up, and my nifty ice machine. Let me tell you, that ice machine is AWESOME. Basically it’s a cooler filled with ice water, and it hooks up with tubes to a pad on my knee under my brace, and it circulates cold water around my knee. I love that thing. I ran it continuously for about 5 days straight. I am still using it to this day.

I think we got home about 4 p.m., but I honestly can’t remember exactly. I do remember watching the Stanley Cup game that night, but I don’t know who won. I also remember that each time I took a pain pill, I would throw up about an hour later. I theorized that if I kept it down for an hour, I must have been able to absorb some of it. Pain was minimal, just more on the uncomfortable side. And I will say that Ben was the most concerned husband ever. He made sure I was okay, brought me anything I needed and sat with me all night. He did take Tanner out for a while, but other than that, he was right there with me. Later in the evening, our friend Kate stopped by with this awesome chicken and barley casserole dish, some flowers, a trashy magazine and some Reese’s Pieces. She’s wonderful. I was ready for bed about 9 p.m., and Ben moved everything in our spare bedroom downstairs. I set my phone to wake me up every two hours so I could put the ice on and off, and every four hours so I could take a pain pill. (I was told not to miss those, as once you do, you can never really catch up.) Ben slept upstairs but took his phone with him so I could call if I needed him. Turns out I didn’t. Got up the next morning, feeling some pain start in more and more as the lidocaine wore off. But the good news was I was keeping my pain pills down!!

Back to the recliner, more ice, more smoothie. Ben got ready for work and my mom and sister showed up to stay with me all day Thursday. They were awesome help, I was so glad they were there. Unless I was getting up to go to the bathroom, I didn’t move all day. Pain came and went, but the ice and pills helped. Not much appetite, but I did eat some of Kate’s casserole for lunch and it was so good. The made sure I was taken care of, as well as Tanner. Thank goodness Kari’s a teacher and Mom’s retired. Kari came back on Friday, and it was more of the same. Recliner, small amounts of food, short naps here and there. Then Ben was home from work and we watched a movie and ordered pizza. At this point, I was feeling there was a light at the end of the tunnel and eventually I’d get off the recliner and on the road to recovery.

I actually started my exercises at home on Thursday (one day after surgery). Six exercises in all for flexibility/extension/range of motion; 3 times per day, 10 reps each. Let me just say, I was still in shock Thursday morning that they wanted me to start so early, but I was diligent and haven’t missed a set of exercises yet. Still, the very first time I tried, I didn’t do too well cause I was crying the whole way through. It was definitely painful during and after, but I was so scared I was going to pop out my new ACL it was all I could think about. Mom was there with me and comforted me, reminding me that they wouldn’t have me do these if they weren’t sure I wouldn’t hurt myself or cause further damage. So I soldiered on.

So there you go. One long post that gets you caught up on Wed/Thurs/Fri last week. Really Thursday and Friday were about the same; those two days run together in my head. But Mom, Kari and Ben were wonderful, so time really flew by. Thank goodness for family and friends. Everyone was concerned, and I got wonderful cards, calls and text messages checking in on me. And the food – wow! My office sent this huge tray of muffins Thursday morning (with more trashy magazines and toenail polish) and then the two partners I work for sent me an edible fruit display thing. That was a hit. Colleen came to visit Friday morning and brought cinnamon rolls, and it was good to have some contact with the outside world! Ben picked up our six readymade meals at Dishin’ It Up (I highly recommend this place – www.dishinitup.com) so he didn’t have to worry about cooking much these next couple of weeks. Here’s to physical therapy and a fast recovery!  (I promise some knee photos soon, as well as an update about what they did during surgery – just had a follow up appt. this week.)

Surgery is tomorrow...

2008-06-03T11:45:00.002-06:00

Well, here we go, I'm getting ready to take the plunge and go under the knife. I have to be there tomorrow by 8:15 a.m., surgery is scheduled for 9:45, likely done by about 11:30, and hopefully home in the early afternoon. Seems easy enough, right??? Still a bit nervous, but I'm sure that will pass - yea right. I'll be much better off when I'm back at home and popping some pain pills. Just sleeping away...

Not sure when the next post will be, but as soon as I'm feeling up to it, I'll get back on the blog. Thanks everyone for you well wishes - it means a lot!

More mini updates

2008-05-30T10:28:00.006-06:00

I had some questions for my doctor about surgery, so I sent him an email. Believe it or not, he actually called me back himself!! We had a nice chat and he answered my questions in detail. I have decided that I am going to go with a complete cadaver (allograft) tissue for my ACL reconstruction. Two reasons - less pain after surgery since they don't harvest from my hamstring, and also less rehab since I don't have to rehab my hammy with my knee. Seems like an easy enough decision to make. The doctor thought he might have to supplement my hammy with cadaver anyway, so why not make it a bit easier for us all??!! Haven't been too good with biking or exercises these last couple of days, I think mentally I know that I am going to be in for the good stuff soon anyway, and really the purpose of them now was to get flexibilty and mobility, both of which I'm nearly at 100%.

We are heading to Estes Park tonight for the weekend. It's Connie's 60th and we're excited to celebrate with her and to get away for a weekend. Should be lots of fun. I plan to kick back and relax with the other ladies. Ben really wants to fish and maybe hike a bit. We thought about driving up Trail Ridge Road, but I'm not even sure if it's open yet, so we'll see. Mom and Kari are dogsitting - thank you!!

We had our first round tournament game for kickball last night and we beat the "other" ALPS team 8-6. We previously lost to them the first game of the season, so to win and do it in the playoffs felt so good. I couldn't play, so I was calling out batting order and haggling the ref. He was so drunk, so he pretty much listened to everything I told him to call. Overall, it was a very fun game. I think everyone was a bit amped to start off (talk about pressure), but all in all it was competitive without being too competitive. Matt (my team) nailed Ann (my friend on the other team) in the head with the ball as she was running to 2nd base, and that was pretty much the only controvery of the game. Here's a photo of Lauren whooping it up on top of the pyramid (the "other" team is the base). Yea Lauren, we're #1!! Oh yea, it was also mardi gras night, hence the beads and feathers.

Matt Leinart also made an appearance at kickball. For those who don't know....that is code for our beer bong. A while back, Matt Leinart (quarterback from USC, now with Arizona) had some photos come out showing him partying with some maybe underaged girls in AZ. So the guys nicknamed the beer bong Matt Leinart and attached some of the actual photos to the funnel. Here's a photo from last night and the other team sharing in the Matt Leinart fun.

Polish Horseshoes

2008-05-28T20:32:00.009-06:00

I promised an update on my previous post about our Memorial Day BBQ to provide some info about Polish Horseshoes. Courtesy of Tom and Colleen, this game is now a transplant from the east coast, and has become a hit here. First, a photo (of Team Ben and Tanner - the person, not the dog):

Basically, the rules of the game change every time the boys play, so I'll do my best to recap them as I remember being told. Teams of two stand about 20 feet away from eacho ther. Right in front of them, is a ski pole in the grass, empty beer can on top. With a beer in hand at all times, each team takes turns throwing a frisbee at the other team's beer can, trying to knock it off. The ultimate goal is to hit the beer can cleanly off the ski pole, without hitting the pole. If the beer can then hits the ground, the team throwing the frisbee gets 3 points (I think...). If the team "defending" the throw catches the beer can and the frisbee, no points are awarded. There are many variations on how to earn points, but pretty much anytime the frisbee is tossed you have to catch the frisbee (and the beer can if it gets knocked off) in order to not have points awarded or being made to to take a drink from the beer you're always holding. You can score if you hit the pole, which in turn knocks the beer can off, which in turn hits the ground (see the below photo - I'm sure Tanner and Ben caught the frisbee and the beer can), but you don't get as many points as a clean hit on the can itself.

I think drinks are taken when the frisbee is not caught. Other rules include the velocity of the frisbee toss (has to be "this" fast but not "that" fast - whatever that means), how soon you can try to catch the frisbee (it's very, very bad if you try to catch the frisbee in front of the ski pole), and what happens if you forget to drink when you don't catch the frisbee (drink again, I'm sure). The boys are addicted once they start. They even set up a tournament bracket this past weekend (I got bored watching, so I couldn't tell you who won). Here are some more photos, including Team Jim and Mark.

Beware - there are COUGARS at PetsMart

2008-05-28T20:31:00.003-06:00

Yes, this is very serious, there are cougars at PetsMart. What is a cougar you ask? Let me provide you with a definition (via http://www.urbancougar.com/): cougar - species of female who seeks the pleasure of younger males. Did you get that? Good.

So Ben went to PetsMart last night to get some dog food and he came home and said, "It was a cougar-fest at PetsMart. I was getting checked out left and right." Awesome. I love that Ben is attractive to older women. Makes me feel lucky to have such an attractive husband! Just a funny story I thought I would share.

On a side note, Tanner seems to be fine. He's eating normally again and desperate to play fetch all the time. We are good to go. Here's a recent photo of him cuddling with my sister. He's a lap dog, if you couldn't tell.

Monday/Tuesday: rain and cold; today: much nicer!

2008-05-28T09:54:00.003-06:00

Yesterday's weather sucked! It was so nice on Sunday, then Monday it got worse, and Tuesday was the same. But it's getting nicer today and tomorrow should be awesome - 87 and sunny! Good weather just in time for our kickball tournament to start. I am planning to be the best dang cheerleader out there since I can't play :( We are playing the other ALPS team - who we lost to the first game of the season - can you say redemption!?!?

I rode the bike last night and for the first time I got all the way around on my bad knee the first rotation! Just pedaled and pedaled away.....and it felt so good! Surgery is one week from today. Kinda nervous, but I'm doing fine. I filled out my presurgery questionnaire online, which took forever, but at least it's done and I don't have to worry about it at the hospital. Ben took the day off work so he can take me and be with me the whole time. He's wonderful - I'm very lucky to have him. Mom and Kari are lined up to come over the rest of the week so he can head back to work. I've DVR'd a ton of movies and shows, plus my friend Kelly from work loaned me tons of DVDs, so I think I'll be fine for killing time. My boss, Missy, is going to set me up to work from home as well, so once I'm feeling well enough, I can check emails, do scheduling, etc., without having to get ready and drag myself into the office. The goal is to be back at work on Thursday, June 12, one week after surgery. Even if it's for a half day, I'll be happy to be out of the house, I'm sure.

Tanner is acting pretty weird this week. He wants to play, but isn't showing much interest in food the last couple of times we've fed him. And normally he LIVES for his food. Not sure what his deal is, but we'll watch him. We actually think he's a little bit stressed out from having that many people and three other dogs over for 12 hours on Sunday, so hopefully he'll bounce back soon. He hasn't given up the desire to chase tennis balls though, so that makes me think he's okay. Once he isn't interested in playing, then I'll start to really worry. So for now, we'll play it by ear.

I think that's it for now. On tap for tonight - leg exercises and working on my arms (I've been seriously slacking in that aspect), laundry, and packing for Estes Park. Connie's 60th birthday is this weekend, so we're heading up there to celebrate. My doctor originally wanted to do surgery today, but we'd been planning this Estes trip for a few weeks, so I was able to delay surgery for one week so I could have one more nice weekend beforehand. Hopefully the weather is nice up there. Who knows when I'll be venturing outside again!

Delayed posting, sorry!

2008-05-27T16:13:00.004-06:00

My mother-in-law kindly reminded me (thanks, Mary!) that someone actually reads this thing and I hadn't updated since last week, so here you go...

Memorial Day weekend was great! Friday night we went to the new Indiana Jones movie with Mom and Kari. My advice - wait for it to come out on DVD. I hated the ending. Harrison Ford is old. Karen Allen is annoying. Enough said.

Saturday was yard work and cleaning house. We were planning a BBQ for Sunday, so we worked on stuff around the house and yard, did the grocery shopping for food and picked up a keg at Argonaut Liquors. For those who are curious, it is cost-efficient to get a keg vs. picking up cases of beer - seriously!! And as it turns out, we really needed that keg...

Sunday morning, make french toast and turkey sausage, start setting up for BBQ. People start arriving about 2-2:30 p.m., more people filter in between 3 and 4 p.m., party is really going by 4:30. Appetizers on the grill (hot wings and kielbasa sausage), tons of chips and dip, and of course beer. Boys playing polish horseshoes, girls relegated to bean bag toss - thanks guys. I promise to post a photo and brief description of polish horseshoes later. Brats and burgers on the grill about 6 p.m., and then....the keg is gone by about 7 p.m. or so! Yes gone, completely gone. I didn't think it would be possible, but it happened. So off to our neighborhood 7-11 to get some good old fashioned 3.2 beer. (I feel truly old buying that stuff.) Dark rolls around, boys are still playing polish horseshoes (they even set up a tournament bracket), girls chatting and laughing. Then some people move inside to the ping pong table and start playing beer pong. Yes, more drinking games. Oh yea, almost forgot the karaoke crew - again, I'll post some videos and photos from that, it was classic! Alas, Ben missed some of the more funnier parts of the night, as he was passed out in our recliner, smack dab in the middle of the party. But he did get some good laughs in Monday when I rehashed what he'd missed. All in all: no food left + no beer left + everyone home safely = awesome BBQ! Thanks everyone for coming. P.S. - on Monday morning, I let the dog out and our yard looked like a frat house yard. Not kidding. I'm pretty sure our neighbors hate us....well, not really, but close.

Now, for the real stuff on this blog - exercises and bike. Only biked once this weekend, but I will get back on tonight for my requisite 20 minutes. I did do my leg exercises though, which caused me to get REALLY sore. I did some at work on Friday during my lunch hour and I sure was paying for it Saturday. I haven't iced my knee in about two weeks, but all I could think about Saturday was getting some ice on it (multiple times). Weird, but I guess at this point, nothing could surprise me with my knee. Surgery is now less than 8 days away - gosh, where does time go? I'm not any more nervous than I was before, but I'm sure as the day gets closer, Im sure I'll feel the nerves begin to creep up again.

Tanner's nemesis and bike night

2008-05-22T10:58:00.007-06:00

I guaranty this will make you laugh. Since Tanner has his staples until Friday, we can only walk him for now. Believe me he misses his tennis balls, but I think he really does enjoy his walks with us more and more each day. So this morning, I'm walking him before work and Tanner spots a metal garden bunny sitting in a neighbor's yard. He gets all tall and stiff, begins to walk slower, keeping his right eye squarely on the bunny, then VERY slowly begins to approach it like he's stalking it. When he's about 5 feet away, he starts to lower himself closer to the ground, lowering a little bit further with each step, until he's about a foot away from the garden bunny and literally about two inches off the ground, not touching the grass with his belly. Without moving his feet forward, he stretches out to get closer, and then whines - yes whines! So I laugh, which spooks him, he retreats about 5 feet back, and then we start the process all over again. Stalk, get low, stretch and whine. He does this about 4 times, then gets all wild and crazy and begins running around in circles, tail tucked between his legs. I'm all by myself, laughing hysterically (the neighbors must think we are nuts). Then all of a sudden he stops running like a mad man, gets really close to the bunny again, down on his front paws, butt in the air, and barks at the bunny like it's literally trying is murdering him. I just could not stop laughing! He must have barked at this thing like 20 times. So I walk up to the bunny, shortening Tanner's leash so he's right next to me, and I reach down and touch the bunny so he sees it's not moving, nor trying to kill him. Apparently, Tanner was a bit concerned that I might get murdered by this bunny as well, because he let out this awful doggie scream/bark, at which point, I thought my stomach muscles were going to explode (I haven't laughed that hard in a long time). At this point, I decide to stop torturing poor Tanner, and we start to walk away, but Tanner is still mesmerized by this bunny. I am literally dragging him down the street, and he's turned halfway sideways, one eye on the bunny and one eye on me, because obviously this bunny is going to come to life, chase us down and kill us! Like I said, this made you laugh, I know it. Here's his nemesis:

I rode my bike last night and for the first time, I was exceedingly sore and tight. Haven't been that way since like the first week I hurt myself. Not sure why. So I get on the bike and it takes me about 15-20 attempts to get my right leg able to fully go around (usually it takes at most five tries). Then about another 3-5 minutes to get loose enough where I don't come close to stopping at the top of the rotation on my bad leg (usually about 1-2 minutes). After that first 5 minutes, I'm good to go and just pedaling away. All in all, felt pretty good when I was done. Ben and I took Tanner for a walk before bed and did turn back a little bit sooner than we normally do, so I know I'm more sore for some reason, just can't figure out why. Tonight: leg lifts and heel slides, here I come.

Exercise annoyance for the second night and long live INDY!

2008-05-21T09:33:00.003-06:00

Ben was reading in bed last night, so I thought it'd be a perfect opportunity to see if the exercises really do annoy him. Answer - YES! I started doing them and he just set his book down and looked at me and said, "Are you kidding me? Can't you do those another time?" And I said, "Nope. You are reading, I'm watching T.V., so this is the perfect time to do these." So then I tell him, "Get used to it. After surgery, whenever the mood strikes me, I'll be doing these." He didn't say another word.

On a completely different note, I saw this video this morning of Harrison Ford doing a PSA for conservation. I just thought it was funny. In the split second that the wax is ripped off, he looks surprised. Anyone who's been waxed knows the feeling. I cannot wait to see the new Indiana Jones movie!

All time fave YouTube video

2008-05-20T11:25:00.000-06:00

Seriously, this is hysterical! Makes me laugh every single time I watch it. Enjoy!

A nice Monday evening and MRI images

2008-05-20T08:45:00.000-06:00

Got home from work and Ben took Tanner for a walk (no playing due to the staples he has). I made dinner, and we ate outside since it's been so nice here. We had mojito marinated flank steak, campfire potatoes, and grilled asparagus. Can't get much better than that for a summertime meal! Then Ben cleaned up, and I took Tanner for another walk. I came across the cutest old man on my walk, Gilbert, I think. He introduced himself to Tanner and I, and then walked a few blocks with us. He was cutting flowers and such from all of the neighbors yards, fully admitting that he didn't live in any of the houses that he was "stealing" from. I guess all the neighbors know him around there and don't mind. So he was getting lilac bushels and the other ones that are white (don't know the name). And then eventually, I turned around to see if he'd come out of another yard where he'd stopped, but I didn't see him again. I guess maybe he found his own yard eventually! Tanner usually doesn't like strangers, but he immediately loved this cute old guy.

After the walk, Ben and I wanted to finish the Everest show we'd started the previous night. So I slid my bike away from the wall and hopped on. It's amazing how stiff and sore I am when I start to pedal. I can barely make it all the way around to the top and then start around again. But once I get warmed up (about 3-4 minutes), I can just pedal, pedal, pedal. Then when I get off, my knee is all loose and feeling really good. Ben got (or should I say, fought with - it was a rough 10 minutes Sunday evening...) a road tire on there instead of my mountain bike tire, so now you can't even hear it! It's awesome. Before it sounded like I was riding across super spaced out, really puckered cobblestone. I am only supposed to do like every other day, but I feel so good doing it, I might do a little bit every day. I wasn't able to do any exercises last night, I was a tad sore from the previous night, but I'll do them tonight and see if I can't get Ben to be annoyed again. Ah, the simple joys in life....

On a side note, I've had a couple of people ask me to post some of my MRI images. I don't have the CD anymore and couldn't figure out for the life of me how to save images when I did have it. So I found some photos online that really do look like what I saw on my MRI (again, this is not my actual MRI).

Here is normal ACL (notice the solid black band,

on a diagonal between the two bones):

Here is a torn ACL (no black band, lots of loose looking white/gray material) -

this is what mine looks like almost exactly:

Regular meniscus (all black within the area the

arrow is pointed at):

Torn meniscus (see the small sliver of gray within the

black area - that's what mine looks like):

Oh well, we fix, we rehab, we move on.

Last night's dinner

2008-05-19T12:00:00.002-06:00

I met up with Jen, Shaleigh, and Lisa (some of my oldest friends) for dinner last night. Had a blast! I love catching up with them and rehashing the good old days. We laughed and laughed all dinner long. Some of my best memories in my teen years involve that group of girls. We did miss Ariana, Tiff, Leann, and Kristin. Hopefully we can all make it next time. Once I get a photo from yesterday, I'll update this post and add it on.

The photos have arrived, thanks Shaleigh. These are of me, Jen, Shaleigh, and Lisa.

Exercises

2008-05-19T10:22:00.000-06:00

So other than riding my stationary bike, I have two sets of exercises I'm allowed to do (anything more would potentially make my meniscus injury worse). So I do straight leg lifts, lifting my leg up from the hip, toe pointed up. And then I can do heel slides, leg extended out, toe pointed up, slowly drag heel toward butt, working to get knee to 90 degrees (which I can do!!). Do each 10-15 times, three sets. I can do them both easily, at least for the first two sets, but by the time the third one comes around, it's much harder! It's amazing to think that it's that difficult, but it is! I didn't realize just how weak my poor leg is. The ultimate goal before surgery is to get full extension of leg (180 degrees flat) and then also a 90 degree bend at the knee. I'm able to do both now, but just need to make sure that doesn't change before June 4.

Last night Ben and I were watching a show about the Everest disaster of 1996 and I was doing my exercises while watching TV. Ben looked over and said, "Are you seriously doing that now?" to which I responded, "Yes, why not?" Apparently, it was VERY distracting for him, watching me lift my leg up and down. Usually he's so tuned in to the tube I can do and say just about anything without getting much of a response. I think I'll try again tonight to see how distracting it really is for him. I figure too, that after surgery, he'll be seeing many more of these exercises, so he's just going to have to get used to it. I like testing him sometimes. Isn't it normal to get some enjoyment out of annoying your significant other, especially for a legit reason?

Met a girl last night who just had ACL surgery

2008-05-18T10:43:00.000-06:00

We went to a BBQ last night at Matt's (Ben's buddy from work) and in walks this girl on crutches, huge brace on her leg and I just knew she'd had ACL surgery. So I walked up to her and said something along the lines of I don't know you, never have met you, but at some point you and I are going to need to chat tonight. So we sat down and she filled me in where she is in recovery so far. She tore her ACL skiing at the end of March, had surgery at the end of April, so it's now been about 2 1/2 weeks since her surgery date. She was still on crutches! I was kinda discouraged. Dr. G. told me that he expects I'll be able to ditch the crutches within about 7 days at the most. So...Ben in all his wisdom, reminded me that every person is different and I can't gauge my recovery on what she said. Which is true. And different surgeons, blah, blah, so I really can't tell for sure what it'll be like for me. But she did tell me it gets easier over time. She and I are actually going to be at the same physical therapy place downtown, so I'm sure I'll see her there at some point. It'll be good for me to see someone a few steps ahead of me, improving each week, to know that it will get easier! She also told me that her parents flew out from D.C. to come stay with her and help her out. She said she definitely needed it. So - Mom and Kari - be prepared to help me out when Ben is back to work!