Table topper giveaway

There is a darling table topper giveaway over at Linz Sews. If you want to check it out, click
HERE
Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

PIN LESS! (but not stitch less)

Last Tuesday (Jan. 11 th), I had the pin in my thumb removed! I was supposed to have surgery for the removal of the last pin in my hand, but the pin had started to work itself out of my thumb. The very tip of it was protruding out of the end of m thumb. The doctor was able to clamp down on it enough to pull it out. The idea of not having to go into surgery and be put under general anesthesia was worth the pain, or so I thought.

After he pulled it out, he asked if I has any questions. I said I did, then I inquired after my ring finger. The occupational therapist made me a splint, and I had been wearing it for a few weeks because I could wiggle my finger from side to side, and it was not supposed be loose like that.
When I showed this to the doctor, he just stared for a little while (it was probably only seconds, but it felt like minutes). Then, he told me I would have to have surgery on my ring finger. He offered to do it that day, since I was all ready for surgery anyway. So, my husband and I took him up on the offer.

I now have a very small metal plate and six screws in my ring finger. Three in the top bone and three in the bottom bone. I am hoping to someday have a complete set of brass knuckles built into my hand (yeah, I hope you can tell I am JOKING!)

I am taking Eliza to the doctor at the end of the month. If I can get a copy of a current X-ray, Ill post it for y'all to see.

Playing in the Snow

On New Year's Day we drove as far as we could on Kolob Mountain, then we played in the snow. Mostly just the boys played.
Brycen made a snow angel, and had a snowball fight with Ryan and Tucker. I guess I need to find some more kid sunglasses. Tucker is squinting in every picture we took of him. Does anyone have a suggestion on where to find a great deal on sunglasses that fit a child's face?
Eliza fell asleep on the way up, so I ended up mostly staying in the warm car with her. When Brycen and Tucker were done, I warmed them up. It was fun. Maybe we should start a new tradition!

2 Years Old!

Tucker turned two on New Years Eve 2010, so we had a little party. Instead of an actual b-day cake, we made individual brownies for everyone, served with ice cream and chocolate sauce.

As you can see, he was pretty excited.

It took a little while to get him to blow out the candles. He was very fascinated with the fire.

September 26, 2010-Post Surgery

As hard as it is to find the time to type this out. I am finding it to be rather therapeutic. I actually think it is helping me get over the post traumatic stress.

I woke up wondering how long I had been out. It felt like a few minutes, but I later learned it had been about 17 1/2 hours (1046 minutes). Th first hing I heard was, "Okay, you have all your fingers and you are a mom."

I thought, "Wow! I have ALL my fingers--NEAT! And, Of course I am a mom. I have two sweet little boys, and I am going to have a girl soon. . . (as I reach down to feel my middle). . . Oh, I am a mother of three now! I can't wait to see my new sweet little girl!"

I laid in the recovery room for what felt like an eternity, it was actually about 45 minutes. I just sat and processed everything that had happened. there was no one to talk to, and I couldn't really talk anyway, due to a massively dry throat. Eventually they wheeled me upstairs, I saw my family, asked for water and was told "No.", then Dr. Fryer came and looked at my fingers. He examined them, said he did not like the coloring of my index finger, so I was re-prepared for surgery, and I went back in for about 3 1/2 more hours (192 minutes) of surgery.

I went through the wake up/recovery process again, then made it back to my post-op. room again. I had a lot of family coming in and out of my room to see me and say "Hi". It was rather overwhelming for me. I remember feeling desperate for some water because my throat was so dry. I was only allowed ice chips for several hours after surgery. After a while it became a very difficult production just to swallow. I felt silly when I had to ask a person to pause whatever they were doing to me just so I could focus all my energy and chi on swallowing, but it really was that hard for probably the whole first day or so. Then some fabulous person brought me some chicken broth. After sipping a couple big cups of that, life was good again.

Okay back to Sunday night. I had a lot of people coming in and out of my room and calling on the phone to check on me. It was a little overwhelming. My room was really hot too(yes, like a sauna)! The Dr. ordered a sauna like atmosphere to keep all my blood vessels dilated so my fingers could heal at optimum level. Then, the room started vibrating, or so I thought. My pulse jumped up to about 160 beats per minute. I was vibrating, my chest started hurting, and my vision had become blurry. I was scared. I asked my husband, dad, brother, and brother-in-law to please give me a Priesthood Blessing. After the blessing I felt a little better and the tightness in my chest decreased, but I was still vibrating. That lasted a long time. I want to say half a day to a whole day. (I don't have a great grasp on some amounts of time in the hospital because I had no watch, and I couldn't see the clock very well from my bed). My vision stayed blurry for a few weeks.

Without going into much detail, I will say this; After all the visitors left and my husband fell asleep for a little while. I was left mostly alone, and my body told me it was exhausted. It had been "raked over the coals" and did not want to do this any more. My spirit made a choice at that point. That choice is what gets me through my difficult days. I am so grateful for my family and my support system, especially my husband and my older sister who coordinated everything for me for such a long time after I got home. I am eternally in debt to them. I am out of time, but I want to post this. I will continue on with stuff soon.

Mostly Pinless and Oranges

This is what my hand looked like 8 weeks after my accident.
I got all the pins out of my finger tips at 10 1/2 weeks. This is what my hand looks like today:
It kind of looks like it did before my accident. I am amazed at what modern medicine can do! (I still have one pin in my thumb that I will get surgically removed in January). When Dr. Fryer removed the 6 pins from my fingers he did not numb anything. He used some surgical pliers (they looked similar to thick scissors) to clamp down on the pins. Then, he just twisted and pulled/yanked each pin out. It was quite painful.

It has been/is still a hard adjustment to get use to my new hand, but I am grateful for what I have left.
There are so many things I am having to re-learn. I have had a hard time peeling oranges since this happened. One if my main concerns with citrus fruit right now is getting juice in the sores on my finger tips. Today, I successfully peeled an orange without getting any juice on my finger tips.
Lemons and limes, here I come!

May you all enjoy lots of yummy oranges this Christmas season!