March Recap

• We made another trip to SkyZone, and had just as much fun as the last time.  My brother came along, and so did a friend of mine from work with her little guy.  I even got in on the jumping action this time and realized I can still do my front flip!  It's not as pretty as it used to be, but it's still fun!

That's me doing my flip...

You can watch my flip HERE and Hunter stuck in the foam pit HERE. :)

• I went down to see Hadley for our second activity from the February Kiwi Crate box...and apparently it was a "clothing optional" evening over there.  She refused to put clothes on!

Making our kaleidoscope from Kiwi Crate

I also got to spend a little time with Hudson before he went to bed.  He's such a good (and adorable) baby!

He's holding part of the Kiwi Crate kaleidoscope in his hand...

• Christa got some really adorable pictures of Hunter and I doing our Tuesday evening bath routine. I'm just slightly obsessed with that little guy... 

• More places I want to go:  Great Barrier Reef and Fiji. Add them to the ever growing list...

• Hadley really loves her Uncle Tony.  She gets pretty excited anytime he's around.  he was telling her jokes that she didn't even understand in these picture, but she laughed anyways. 

• After church one Sunday, they were having a Bone Marrow Registry in the lobby.  I decided to go for it and sign up!  Why not, right?  I mean, if I could potentially save a persons life from a little (or big) needle in my hip and a few days of discomfort...well, that's a no brainer for me.

• I drug my friend, Kathy, to a tile workshop at Home Depot.  I thought it was really interesting and I totally feel like I could tackle some tiling jobs now.  It's not nearly as daunting as it seemed to be.

We got to practice cutting tile...and Kathy was the first one to break a piece, haha! 

I was a tiling machine...

• My new US Airways CC came...along with two companion passes and 50,000 miles!  LET THE TRAVEL PLANNING COMMENCE!  I need to go somewhere.  Like, now.

• Got a picture of one of my future bridesmaid dresses for a wedding I am in in October!  Yay for purple!  I think it's a beautiful dress, but man, strapless??  I just don't have enough "up top" to keep those things up, if you know what I mean, haha! 

• I am officially a CASA in Johnson/Wyandotte counties now!  Well, I haven't been assigned my first case yet, but we had our graduation and swearing in ceremony this month!

• I am getting my shower re-done in the master bathroom...finally.  It's literally been leaking for years.  No joke.  So I did a little internet scouring and found some pics of what I think I want.  A little half wall and then some glass with no frame (un-like the first pic below).  We'll see what I can come up with!

• I took my down filled mattress pad to the laundromat down the street.  First time I've been in one of those places!  Did you know it's almost FIVE DOLLARS to use those big washers?  I seriously thought it would be closer to $1 or $2, so I was in sticker shock!

• We finally had some spring-like weather here in KC, so my mom and I got out and did some serious yard work.  I also finally painted/put up a bird house (to match my K-State yard sign) and bought a bird-feeder, too!  

SEVEN bags of leaves and last year's dead plants...

• And the day after our nice, spring-like temperatures...it snowed.  Aahh, Kansas.

• Time for the March Kiwi Crate box!  Here we are stamping cardboard cutouts of safari animals...which happened to be perfect for a puppet show (part of last month's box).

Jason and Kelli were clearly NOT paying attention to the show, and Hadley realized it.  So dad got pulled IN TO the show as his punishment, haha!

• It's official.  Surgery is scheduled (lapidus bunionectomy) for this month, and my doctor talked me in to renting one of these knee scooters!  

• Mailed off three more care packages for my kids in Ethiopia!  Really hoping I can make it over there again to see them this fall...

• The sunrise one morning was just breathtaking.  I mean, I pretty much always think any sunrise or sunset is pretty amazing, but this one was above and beyond!

• I went in to the DMV early one morning before work to get my  handicap sign for my car before surgery.  I always dread that place, but it was surprisingly not that bad this time!

• I made the mistake of spinning Hunter around (see below) and it now is one of his favorite activities!  Apparently he didn't get the motion sickness gene that my brother and I have!  Tony and I can only spin him a couple of times before we have to stop -- or throw up!

• The day before my surgery, I came back from lunch to see this on my desk.  I always snag some of her popcorn when she snags it, so she thought I might like a bag of my own when I'm laid up for a week!  So sweet of her. :)

• The night before my surgery, I wanted to get one last workout on.  (I'll be non-weight bearing for EIGHT WEEKS!)  So Kelli and I went to the LuluLemon store on the Plaza for their free class.  It turned out to be a Cross Fit Tabata class...that absolutely killed me.  And poor Kelli had already done a workout that morning!  Needless to say, I was quite sore the next day.

• Surgery morning!  Good-bye, bunion.  (Right foot one only.  Left one doesn't hurt, so it's staying for now!)

             LEFT:  Waiting to check in.      RIGHT:  Waiting to get wheeled back for surgery!

Turns out I  really like morphine.  Who knew!? 

However, morphine apparently makes me think that 

taking selfies with no make-up on are okay...

                                  And I now have six big screws permanently in my foot.  :(

• The day after surgery (I had to stay overnight) I got the sweetest cards from my Tony and Christa (and the kids) and then another separate one just from Hunter.  He drew me a trash truck!!  I died. :)

• Finally heading home late Friday morning.  The hospital sent me home with two carnations. :)

Upon arriving home, I realized I really should have practiced with those crutches ahead of time!  I had no idea it would be so hard!

Some funny videos of me crawling up the stairs are HERE and HERE.

Exhausted.

• The next couple of days were filled with lots of visits from Jason and Kelli and the kids.  Thank goodness.  Laying in bed...while it sounds nice...is actually incredibly boring.  The kids were very entertaining in my room with all of my workout equipment!

Hadley LOVES to do pull-ups!

Hudson is quite content just chewing on his giraffe. 

• The kids came back down another night and we watched all of about three minutes of Tinkerbell before they were both over that...

Getting a scooter ride!

• Shower construction officially started!  This is the "before" on Day 1.  Should just be a few weeks until it is all done!

And the "after" from Day 1!  I found a guy (and a quote) I liked on Angie's List...and he ripped the whole thing out in one day!

• My mom finally drug me outside a couple of days after surgery.  I mean, you can only lay in bed for so long...  I enjoyed the fresh air an just laid there on the cold, hard cement for at least 30 minutes!

• Hunter came to see me on Wednesday.  I wasn't feeling well, but seeing that little cutie totally brightened my day!  My mom even left him with me while she ran down to Jason and Kelli's.  Thankfully the iPad kept him happy the whole time. 

I always had at least one visitor every day.  

Sweet Willow came every morning to check on me...

and to beg for a bite of whatever I was trying to eat. 

• Day 2 shower progress:  Tile going up!  (I think I stopped taking pictures for a few days after this.  I was NOT feeling well for awhile...)

• On Friday (a week and a day after surgery), my mom and I rushed down to rent a wheel chair so she could push me around outside, and then we went down to Jason and Kelli's to drop Hadley off (she came with us).  It was my first trip outside the house in a week!  Jason carried me inside for a few minutes, and I almost felt alive again.

• That whole feeling alive thing didn't last long.  I ended up in the ER Saturday morning.  Turns out not eating or sleeping (or going #2, if we're being honest) for three days will do that to you. :(

After a giant bag of fluids and some anti-nausea meds via an IV, they sent me home with orders for a clear liquid diet for 24 hours.  Blood and urine tests all came back okay (except some elevated liver enzymes that I have to have re-checked).  Just have a virus or accustom bug that is going around.  

Chicken broth an jello.  Not cool.

• I felt like a new woman that day.  It was literally the first day I hadn't felt nauseous since the surgery.  We went to the nursery and bought some new plants on the way home from the hospital.  That's how quick the turnaround was.

          So that night, I decided to risk it and go to Dancing with the KC Stars - 

          Cristo Rey's annual fund-raiser.  I knew it probably wasn't the best idea, 

          but it's such a fun event and I had already paid a lot of money for the tickets.  

          

          So my mom got me all dolled up, and off we went!

I couldn't wear a dress with that knee scooter, so big pants had to do the job.

I was still feeling pretty well when we got there, waited in line to check in, 

and made it to our table.

Jordan (Cristo Rey head basketball coach) and her husband were at our table.  First year I've actually known someone I've sat with!

When dinner came, I couldn't help myself.  I had ONE almond, two dinner rolls (with butter), and some cooked vegetables (carrot, squash, etc).  I thought that stuff would be safe enough, and I had been feeling so good all day.

Mistake.  I was in the bathroom literally about 10 minutes after I ate.  Ugh.  

So we got up to leave, and ended up standing in the back of the room for close to an hour because I really wanted my mom to see at least ONE of the dancing acts.  And then a student video came on about one of my players I love, and then the students got up and danced.  And I just couldn't pull myself away.  

The students doing their thang...  VIDEO HERE.

We did eventually leave though.  About half-way through, once the students were done.  I was in the bathroom twice, and popped some of the pills from the ER doc, but I just wasn't feeling it.

Either way, still had some fun and glad we went!

• The next day, my mom took me in my wheel chair to the park with Jason, Kelli, and the kids.  It was a gorgeous day and I needed some fresh air.  (That bedroom of mine is getting really old.)  I think they just brought me along to hold the baby, haha.  But that's okay.  He's about the cutest thing ever. 

My brother and his mimi-me, Hudson

Holding Hudson awake (left) and holding Hudson asleep (right).

• Monday, March 31st.  My first day back to work.  With orders to keep my foot elevated, I found multiple creative ways to do that -- one of which was to just prop it up on my desk while I worked.  Good thing I'm semi-flexible...