Baby Kate

Before the Baby...

I had to go down to Salt Lake a little bit earlier than we had planned on- so rather than just sitting around doing nothing- we got to work. My mom helped me make a car-seat cover. And I'm telling you- it's so cute! My sister in law, Nat also helped me figure out how to make some cute bows- so I was feeling a little bit better about a little girl coming. I never really had to worry about accessories with the boys.

Here's a before picture of me... And while I felt HUGE- technically I was smaller with this one than the other two. Makes me wonder what I looked like back then. I'm thinking walking pumpkin.
We also had Ryan's tooth fixed while we were there. The Dentist was good and sat through all of the flip-outs. And it looked so good!! Though three days later we went to dinner and Ryan had a grilled cheese sandwich. He started dinner with his tooth in tact- but by the end of the meal- it was gone. He ate his fake tooth. And now he looks the same. Sigh. The dentist said that he'd try again for us though. Maybe before pictures...

The Boys

The boys were another part of the equation during my hospital stay. Obviously we wanted them down in Salt Lake with us- but we needed someone to help us out. Enter Grandma and Grandpa...

My parents were so sweet while we were in Salt Lake! They took the boys for us and kept them soo busy! My mom signed Ty up for swimming lessons which he totally loved. Anytime that is spent in the water is time well spent according to Ty. And mom said that Ryan didn't mind going and watching. He'd cheer Ty on from the sides.

And my parents were so good to sit down and play with them. One night Grandpa took Ty and Ryan on in a game of Twister. I think Grandpa ended up with a twisted back by the end of the night- but it was good to help Ty with his left and right. I think Ryan just liked being in the middle of it all.

The Hospital

Okay- I had more pictures that I wanted posted of us in the hospital... so you get to see another post on exactly the same thing as the last for no good reason other than I liked the pictures. Let's see if I can remember some other details...

My surgery was scheduled for 7 AM- so we had to get there at about 5:30. I was so excited about having my baby that I know I didn't get much sleep- silly since my sleep quota was about to be cut in half for the next few months- but I was getting my baby!! Shaun thought I was nuts. I got changed once I got there and the nurse started my IV and started running a few tests and I was informed that there might be something wrong with one of my blood tests and that the surgery would have to be pushed back several hours. ??? I was so upset! And Shaun started staring longingly at the McDonald's across the parking lot- I couldn't eat so Shaun thought he was being nice by fasting too- not thinking that it would last all that long since I was going in first thing in the morning. About an hour later- the nurse came back in and said that everything was a go and they had called my Dr to come in. Yay!

I walked into the Operating Room around 8 AM and the anesthesiologist gave me my spinal. The nurse in there was so cute- she sat in front of me and tried to distract me by asking about Ty and Ryan. I don't have a clue as to what I told her- I don't know that the distraction worked all that well. :) Anyway- it's crazy to me how quickly the numbing medicine kicks in. Almost immediately my legs started getting warm and I had to lay down. The nurse helped me get situated- it was nice this time- they didn't strap my arms down to the table like they did the other two times. I hate being behind the little blue curtain though- I wish I could see what they are doing. I only get the play by play and the smell...

Here's our baby girl right after she was born- she was being weighed and measured.
Here's a picture of my Dr finishing things up... Wish he'd done a tummy tuck while he was down there...
Here's a picture of the proud papa with his baby girl. Shaun loves his babies and he's sooo good with them!
My mom was also good to come and keep me company in the evenings and one night I got both her and Melissa and the nurse was sweet enough to snap a picture for us. I'm wishing at this point that I had makeup on... But it is a cute picture of the girls- we're only missing Natalie!!

Meet... Kate

No I haven't forgotten that we have a blog. But things have been... well- let's call it "busy" since I don't think there is a word in the English language that aptly describes having three children under the age of 5- one of them being a newborn.

Our hospital stay was absolutely wonderful- I love St. Mark's hospital- and my OB- Daren Watts was so worth our three hour drive. He has delivered all three of our children and if we ever do have another one- he'll deliver that one too. I was discharged after four days, and our baby with me. It took us a few days to finally decide on what to call her- she is absolutely beautiful and we had a hard time. We went back and forth for a few days between Katelyn and Hadley and finally settled on Katelyn.

Kate was born around eight on June 7th and weighed 7 pounds and 1 ounce. She was 19 inches long and had a mullet. The anesthesiologist (sp?) was nice too- he snagged our camera from Shaun and took a few pictures of all of us and the operating room. Shaun prefers to stay behind the curtain with me- claiming that he doesn't need to see all the blood and guts involved so it was nice to see a few pictures of what else was going on while I was staring at the ceiling.

Shaun and I have always held with the idea that kids should have middle names- so, next we worked on picking out Kate's middle name. This actually wasn't much of a discussion. We chose Marjorie, after my grandma. When Ryan was in the hospital back in March, I was 6 months pregnant, with a very active baby in utero. But the day that we were life-flighted to Salt Lake, my baby stopped moving. Not all the time- once in a while I would get little kicks so that I knew she was okay, but she remained extremely calm throughout Ryan's stay in the hospital. I know that part of that was because she was feeding off my stress- but instead of feeling that way- it felt like she was reassuring me that things were going to be okay. When she stayed calm, it helped me stay calm. It was such a big job for someone that wasn't even born yet. How could someone so tiny help her mom in such a big way? I don't know how or even why she did it- maybe that's why Heavenly Father sent her to us. But the fact remained that she was strong. And she needed a name to match that strength. My grandma Newren has been another source of strength and love to me throughout my life and it seemed silly to entertain any other ideas about a name. We are certainly honored to have our own little Marjorie.

I know that four days anywhere can seem like a long time- but I actually enjoyed my stay in the hospital. It was nice to have a few days to sit with my daughter and get a chance to get to know her before life started again.

I had totally planned on being the mom that sent the baby back to the nursery to sleep so that I could clock some time behind closed eye-lids- but she was so good that it wasn't even necessary!! She slept right next to me and barely made a peep when she was hungry. It was like she was squeaking at me. It was also fun because my sister would come and spell Shaun in the evenings and sit with me until it was time to go to bed- we sat and talked and watched TV together- I miss her and it's been fun to spend time with her for a little bit.

It was so funny as we got ready to leave on Thursday- both of my boys were pretty darn big babies- Ty was 10 pounds and Ryan was 9, so when we bought an outfit for them to go home in that was a size 0-3... it barely fit. I think Ty was all but bursting out of his. I remember Ryan's fitting a little better since his stay in the NICU made him lose a little bit of weight. But when I put this little 7 pounder into a 0-3 outfit... I had to roll the sleeves and the pants came up to her armpits. She looked so funny! I still can't believe how little she is or that she is mine.

But I am most grateful for the fact that she is healthy and (seemingly) happy. We have had so much chaos in the last few months that it is such a relief to sit back with our three kids- each beautiful and each healthy. We are so blessed.

The Girl with no name!!

This will be boring because Jess is in the hospital so I just put up pictures no long wisdom filled dissertation. She was born just after 8 AM weighing 7lbs. 1 ounce and 19 1/2 inches. Her brothers seemed to like her at least for the first couple of minutes. P.S. -Forward all name ideas to Jess!!!

Dr. Pepper

Ty has had a lot of questions about baby this time around. And as he gets older his questions get more intelligent. One of the questions he had was how the baby get so big since we can't feed her. I explained that there is a little tube that connects my tummy and the baby's tummy- which connects at our belly buttons and it's what feeds her.

"So- what you eat- the baby eats?" Ty asked.

I was so impressed with his line of thinking that I nodded excitedly- so glad that he understood.

Fast forward a couple of days... Ty was watching me fix a sandwich for lunch and I poured myself a Dr. Pepper.

"Mama- is Dr. Pepper still bad for little kids to have?"

"Yes Ty. It doesn't make you grow big and strong like milk and juice does."

"But if Dr. Pepper is bad for kids, then you shouldn't be drinking it since the baby eats what you eat."

I am no longer impressed with his line of thinking. I now have to drink my caffeine in hiding!!

In the meantime- I'm huge. I think my toes are painted pink... though at this point I can't tell. Now that we have officially set a date for the baby- time has started to crawl. It just can't get here fast enough- and I know I may be singing a different tune in about five weeks when I have a newborn and I'm totally exhausted- but at least then it's for a good reason. Now I'm just so tired of getting up to pee that I'm thinking about borrowing one of Ryan's diapers... okay- I'd have to borrow the whole package in order to get it around me at this point but whatever. Don't mess with me. At least we're in the home stretch at this point. Braxton Hicks is still vying to be my clingy best friend, keeping me in pain and up all night- but there is an end in sight. I just have to keep telling myself that eventually pregnancy does end. It has to. No one is ever chronically and permanently pregnant. And I refuse to be the first.

This and That

So I have a few random pictures that we've taken over the last couple of weeks that don't really go with any kind of independent post- so I'm combining them.

Today was actually a really good day- I got enough sleep last night and the pain was pretty minimal, so my family got a real dinner tonight! The boys even helped me make a Jello Cheesecake this afternoon and were so excited to eat it after dinner! I think Ryan ate more than Shaun, Ty and I combined- he just kept spooning it into his mouth! It was crazy! His little stomach felt like it was ready to explode! I guess he's just making up for the last two months were he ate almost nothing. I'd be curious to know how much weight he lost over that little period of time. Anyway- if you want to make a friend for life- feed Ryan Chicken Cordon Bleu and Cheesecake!

The boys also got haircuts this last weekend. And let me tell you- they seriously needed them. They were both starting to look like Chewy from Starwars! It was totally crazy though- Jamie (our stylist- she does my hair and both of the boys) started cutting Ryan's hair and all of a sudden there were these two little bald spots on the back of his head! She thought that maybe they were scars from the accident, but it turns out that it's one of the body's ways of dealing with severe trauma- you lose hair! Apparently in two very specific spots this time. It's totally nuts!

And the other night- I got to snuggle with my boys for a few minutes before bed. They are such sweet little kids (most of the time) and I just love them both so much. They are both so excited for new baby- Ty asks everyday if the baby is ready to come out yet and whenever I start to complain about hiccups (she has them everyday) or a foot in the ribs- he's the first one there to try and feel it. Ryan is also ready for baby to get here. If you ask him what the baby says- he starts to do a little fake cry and then he shakes his head and says "No, No, No, No, No" as if to tell baby that she can't cry. It's so funny. I don't know that he really gets what's going on- but we're about to shake up his little world in a few weeks. I guess he should be used to that by now- his life is anything but calm.
We still don't have a clue as to what we're going to name her at this point. It may just end up being girl. We officially have 19 days left to think about it though- so I suppose I have some time before I start polling nurses in the Operating Room.

Pre-school Graduation

It's that time of year... School's just about out for us here in Idaho, and we are all so excited! I can't wait to have both Shaun and Ty home with Ryan and I- we have big plans for the summer this year! But before I get ahead of myself with all of that- we got to attend Ty's preschool graduation on Thursday night.

And what's a graduation without a party!? Ty's teachers went with a Luau theme and had all things Hawaiian to entertain all of us. Ty's favorite was probably the volcano. They had built a volcano in class a few days ago out of salt dough, and got to help it "erupt" on the night of their graduation (think vinegar and baking soda). The kids all thought it was great, and everybody got a turn.

We were also privy to a very special performance put on by the class. They sang us a couple of songs and did a little dance- all to rave reviews!
And what graduation would be complete without a picture of Ty with his teachers, Miss Heidi and Miss Linda. Ty has had so much fun this year and we are so glad that he loves school so much!

Project Bathroom

For three years we have lived in this house. And for three years I have hated the cabinet in the bathroom. It is one of those pre-made oak looking things that has been so beat up that it just looked like crap. I thought so anyway- Shaun didn't see anything wrong with it and wanted me to leave it alone (actually I think he was afraid that I would make him help if I did something different with it). Anyway- here's a picture of it... See?! It's ugly.

So one afternoon while the boys and I were killing time in Lowe's waiting for Shaun as he went off and looked for some obscure object that he needed for another project we're working on- I picked up a can of black paint and a few paint brushes and promised myself that I was FINALLY going to do something about the bathroom cabinet. I even went and found new hardware for it... Shows you how serious I was!!!

However- with Ryan's recent predicament and the whole pregnant thing... needless to say the can of black paint sat on a shelf in the baby's room for months. Well now that we're trying to get said baby room put together for baby- things had to be moved and rather than put the paint can out in the garage where it would probably never get used- I pulled out the paintbrushes and started on my big project. It took a couple of days to get enough coats of paint on the stupid thing to cover all of that wood- but my persistence totally paid off! I think it looks soo much better! And even Shaun said that it looked alright.

A Date

It's official! We are having our little baby on June 7th at 7:00AM! We just scheduled surgery this morning and ALL of us are very excited.

We Have Lift Off

It's official... our little boy is walking again! I think we're more excited about it this time around than we were when he decided to start walking a few months ago! He officially took his first step on Thursday and has been honing his skills ever since. It has been kind of neat to watch him re-discover certain things he can do, like going from a sitting position on the floor to standing. He's still a little stiff-legged and he's had his share of trip ups, but all in all- we are so proud of him. We are also so grateful for all of the help that we have had since returning home- our ward and friends have been so supportive of our family. And thanks to my mom for her efforts in coming up to the house and staying for as long as she has- I know it can't be all that fun to help run somebody else's house- but she has been so wonderful and such a big help when she is here. I'm thinking of faking an injury so that she'll have to come back next week...

Ty has been loving the warmer weather that we had for about two days this week! He spends the majority of any halfway warm day in the sandbox (which I'm telling you now- if I had known how much time the boys would spend in that thing- it would have been the very first project when we moved into this house) building volcanoes and sandcastles. He had to have a bath by himself the other night, wherein I actually had to shower him off first before I could fill the tub just to get the sand off of him- then he needed a good long soak to get the dirt off and we followed with another shower just to make sure we got all the sand out of his hair. He was squeaky clean!!

I am counting down the days until June when baby girl will finally make her debut. Not that I'm all that excited for the sleepless nights and the breastfeeding again- but I am super excited to be able to lay on my stomach again. This baby will be a C-section just like the first two, but it's nice going into it knowing kind of what to expect. We will be having the baby in Salt Lake (one life-flight in a life-time is enough for me) but look forward to coming home and hopefully having life slow down for just a little bit (okay- there's a chance that I just jinxed us).

Shaun is excited for school to be out in a few weeks and is working on his big Field Day-palooza for the kids at the end of the year. The only thing he's NOT looking forward to once school is out is all the not so fun stuff that comes with summer- like mowing the lawn and spraying for mosquitoes (a must in Montpelier). Despite that- we have some fun plans as a family for the warm weather and are super excited to spend most of our days at the lake and in the backyard! Hope baby girl likes being outside as much as the rest of us!!

One Week Out

We are officially one week post cast... And it has been interesting!! Ryan still isn't walking on his own yet- but he is finally to the point where he can sit by himself and has started to scoot again (I know- I thought we'd seen the end of this- but I guess it was a good skill that he learned back when he should have been crawling). He actually didn't even want to do that- we were trying to talk him into it (which is just stupid- who ever has talked a two year old into something that they ended up agreeing with? I don't think it's ever happened), and he just kept yelling "No!" Finally Ty took pity on Shaun and I and he sat down on the floor next to my feet and told Ryan to come play cars with him. Ty proceeded in scooting over to the cars- and Ryan quickly followed. Of course. I'm still shaking my head at how fast he was to follow Ty.

You can see how excited he is to try walking again.... Umm... Can you say NOT AT ALL? But this is a good picture of his skinny little chicken legs.
One thing that has been so fun is how much Ryan absolutely LOVES his baths. It's not that he ever hated them- but I think he just tolerated them because they were a necessity. Now- he thrives on them. He has one in the morning and one in the evening and every time you mention it- he's trying to rip his clothes off in order to expedite the process. I'm glad something makes him happy!!
Alright- maybe that last comment isn't fair... Ryan is much happier now than he was at this time last week- his freedom has improved his mood exponentially, but we are still so far from where he wants to be that he just gets so frustrated. I took both of the boys over to Shaun's school today in the hopes that watching the kids in Shaun's classes would excite Ryan to try moving a little bit more. It did all that and more. He got so excited watching them play dodgeball, that he even took a couple of steps on his own in order to get to the balls. The kids in the class were sweet to him- any time they saw him try and go after a ball- they came RUNNING to help him get closer. We stayed for two class periods before Ryan was absolutely exhausted (okay- and I think Ty was too- he actually joined in the games of dodgeball and loved every minute of it) and we had to head home. I am so proud of him for everything that he has accomplished this last week. I know it can't have been easy for him to try out his shaky legs, but he did it anyway. Way to go little one!!

Look Mom! I Can STRETCH!

Ryan was so exhausted after we brought him home that we laid him down in the crib for a nap- the first thing he did was roll over. He is such a tummy sleeper- and I'm sure these last six weeks have been rotten for him. He slept for about three hours, more consecutive sleep than any other time during which he had the cast on. It was such a relief to him and to Shaun and I.

After we brought Ryan home and he got up from his nap, we threw him in the tub. His skin was so dry and itchy from being in the cast for the last six weeks that his skin was almost slimy. I had to get down on my hands and knees and lean into the tub (okay- I was mostly in the tub too) in order to get a good enough hold on him that he wasn't crying. Ryan relaxed almost immediately once he realized that I wasn't going to let him go and we got to work on straightening his legs. His Orthopedic Surgeon told us that warm baths would be the best thing for him at this point and that it was important to let him go at his own pace. So we sat in the tub that way for about a half an hour- just working on stretching out again. My legs were asleep by the time that we were done- Shaun had to take Ryan and get him dressed while I crawled out to the living room- the couch was calling me! And Ryan... Even though he could technically move around a little bit more now- he was more than content to park it back on the loveseat and just relax.

I don't know if you can really see the skin discoloration here on his hip- it matches his shoulder- I wonder if the scars will be permanent...

Cast Away

April 26th will forever be a happy day in our memories. Ryan finally got the cast off!! Ty went with Shaun and I up to Shriner's hospital at 9:45 AM. They took a few X-Rays and... The nurse came back and told us that the cast could come off.

The nurse took us back to a room with a few beds and THE SAW. Ryan wigged the second she turned it on- which I have to admit- was loud. Ty threw his hands over his ears and gave Shaun and I both a panicked look. Ryan continued to cry- even with Shaun and I next to him... until Ty came up and sat next to him. It's still amazing to me the connection that those two have- I wish that I could make Ryan settle down the way that Ty can, and I wish that I could make Ty laugh the way that Ryan can. I guess that's the beauty of their relationship.

Ty HAD to save the bar that went between Ryan's legs (and I think that if he could have- he would have taken the cast home too- but I think we have memories enough without the cast), and I have to admit that I beamed with pride when the nurse told me that it was the CLEANEST cast she has ever removed. Of course- with all of the precautions that we took- really do you expect anything else?

Ryan was relieved when the saw finally stopped- and I couldn't believe how SKINNY he was! He literally has no butt anymore.

Anyway- he has been so miserable lately, and I am so grateful that we have reached the end of THIS part of his recovery process. We spoke to his Dr, and she told us that Ryan wouldn't be able to walk for a while because of how much muscle mass he has lost, and when he did start walking, it would be with a definite limp, at least until the muscles returned to match the left side. We will have to go back in about two months, and more X-Rays will be taken and the Dr will determine if any further treatment is necessary.

Days at Home (For Real This Time)

We did eventually come home to our house- despite what our neighbors may have thought. It was nice, even if it was a little daunting. And it helped that my mom came up a few days later and stayed the week. It also helped that Ryan is no longer stinky.

We took him to the hospital for his Orthopedic check-up and the surgeon took one whiff of him and told us that the cast would have to come off. Oh bummer. :) Our Orthopedic Surgeon that we met at Primary Children's Hospital was actually a Doctor from Shriner's Hospital (also in Salt Lake)- so all of our follow-up will be and has been at Shriner's. Dr. Hennessey took a minute to sit and explain the newest X-Rays for us- which was so interesting! Because of how crazy things were when we were first admitted to Primary's- nobody really took the time to walk Shaun and I through some of Ryan's actual injuries- beyond the fact that he was in serious condition. So, to be in a more relaxed setting and have the opportunity to look at the new scans was really kind of nice.

She showed us that when the right side of the pelvis was crushed (and you could see all the breaks)- it actually moved the left side of his pelvis- almost twisting it. So while the right side was broken- we were actually waiting for the left side to straighten itself back out. And because of all of these things- Dr. Hennessey would not just cut the cast off and recast. She wanted him put under anesthesia so that she could get the cast on tightly in order to hold both sides the way they needed to be held. We arrived at Shriner's at 8:30 in the morning and didn't walk back into my mom's house until 9:00 that night. It took ALL day- which was good- it just meant that they did things the way they wanted to- and they wouldn't release him until he ate and peed.

When we got home we set Ryan up on the loveseat in the living room with plenty of pillows and blankets (and chocolate milk- he was a rotten eater throughout the weeks he was in the cast- so the fact that he would eat ANYTHING was so exciting). We had buckets of toys set up around the room and anything else we could think of that he might want. Ty was the best big brother ever though- anytime Ryan wanted a car or a coloring book- Ty was the first one running to him with the requested toys. Ty always made sure that Ryan had enough to drink and would sneak him packets of fruit snacks when we weren't looking.

After what happened with the last cast- I was a total freak when it came to keeping Ryan and his cast clean. And if any of you know me- know that this isn't a total surprise. I bathed Ryan in the kitchen sink- he liked soaking his toes (I think because he got some joy out of being able to splash me- maybe it was like a retaliation because I was making him wash his hair every day).
But like I said... he did NOT like having his hair washed. But wash it I did- every morning and he cussed me through every second of it. I kept telling him that I always win- but he didn't believe me.
For a change of scenery- once in a while we moved Ryan to Shaun and I's bed- where we would be immediately joined by Ty. They loved watching movies on the bed- our saving grace was Winnie the Pooh. Ryan has never been much of a movie/TV watcher and the fact that we found anything that he would sit still for was something you could almost kiss! Ryan's favorite is the "Super Sleuths" and we watched them over and over and over again.
As Ryan got stronger he also wanted to be more mobile (surprise surprise), so he also spent some time on the floor- where he kind of looked like a turtle laying on his back- his feet up in the air and the cast rocked him back and forth.
Anyway- we are excited for the cast to be off and life to move forward again. We are so grateful for what a trooper Ryan has been (even if he has been a grumpy little bear for the majority of the time) and even more grateful that it looks like things are going to heal the way they are supposed to.

Easter

Easter dawned bright and... snowy. Yeah. I keep trying to get Shaun to move me to Mexico so that I never have to look at the white crap ever again- but it's apparently a work in progress. Anyway- I wanted there to be a few pictures up of the holiday...

We started the day with airing Ryan out- he still stunk pretty bad because of the poop and we found that if we used my mom's hairdryer on the cool setting- we could kind of dry him out. It stunk to high heaven and we'd have to open all the doors to complete this "airing out" process (my poor parent's house may never be the same).

Ty had a blast running around in the snow looking for eggs. Because the snow was kind of fluffy- the eggs kind of got buried in the snow- making it more of a treasure hunt than anything else.
Ryan even got to be a part of the egg hunt- with dad's help of course!
Ty LOVES his new baseball mitt- and kept grandpa outside forever just so that he could keep playing.

Poop

So this last week was pretty eventful... On top of EVERYTHING else that has been going on, Ryan picked up a flu bug during one of his doctor appointments at the hospital. Yeah... Usually throwing up is enough for me to handle- but Ryan also got a case of the trots that was rather... explosive (I'm not trying to be gross... I just want to describe the situation). Wednesday night, we had poop up the back of his cast, out the sides of it and down the legs. It didn't really even get on his sheets or his pajamas. The cast pretty well contained it. I tried my darndest to reach up, in and around the cast to get everything out- but I wasn't even close. I could still see it and smell it- but there was absolutely NO way to get it all cleaned out. I called his orthopedic surgeon the next morning and she told me that there was a chance that once it dried out that he would be fine. The clean freak inside me wanted to scream at her- but since I don't have any initials behind my name (like M.D.), i decided to give it a try. Unfortunately- I don't think it ever really dried out- Ryan is such a sweaty little kid- that I think it just continued to be all moist inside the cast. As a result- anytime you walked past him- it was like walking next to an open sewer drain. I got to a point I could barely even hold him- if I got too much of a whiff- I had to make a run for the bathroom. It was awful. Props to my dad- he would still take Ryan for walks even though he smelled so bad.

This weekend was also Easter weekend- something that my boys really weren't ready for. Ty understands why we have Easter, and when asked about it- he promptly replied that Easter was about "Jesus being Resurrected," so I feel like we got the important message across- but neither of the boys even knew what an Easter Bunny was. Ty was totally confused as to why there was a bucket full of candy and eggs all over the place- but he was more than excited to find a new baseball mitt hidden in the basket. In fact- he immediately put it on and demanded that someone go out and play catch with him. He was not good- but improved upon practice- he and Grandpa even rallied to a total of 7 catches at one point! The Easter Bunny was also smart enough to make sure that Ty got a softer version of a baseball so that when it inevitably hit him in the face- it wouldn't hurt too bad...

Grandma Jacki and Papa Orllo also made the trip to Salt Lake to come and visit us while we were staying with my parents. Ryan thrives on visitors and lit up when he saw familiar faces. I think Ty was excited to see them too- they took him out for ice cream- and I think that the break was more than welcome to our little four year old.

Shaun was able to stay until Monday afternoon, since this was his Spring Break (yeah... we were supposed to be in St. George this weekend). We were all sad to see him go, but knew it wouldn't be too much longer before we were home for good. Shaun is such a huge help and comfort to me- I always hate it when he has to go.

Tuesday we had an appointment with Ryan's Orthapedic surgeon, Dr. Hennessey. She is actually from Shriner's Hospital in Salt Lake- which I have never really heard a whole lot about or had a lot to do with. We actually had to MapQwest it in order to find the right place. My mom came with me, and so did Ty, not thinking that it would be an overlong appointment. We checked in and talked to the Orthapedic Resident about Ryan and the pooping incident (we had him all but covered by a blanket in order to keep the smell contained and at a minimum). We also got to have new X-Rays taken, and the Resident took a minute to sit down with us and explain the pictures. When Ryan's right side was crushed- it broke his pelvis in three places on the right side- but at the same time- it also moved the left side- almost twisting it, and kinking the spine at the same time. This totally made sense- but no one had taken the time to explain all of this to us before. It was nuts seeing how much progress Ryan's body had already made in correcting the problem- but it was also a little sobering to see how far it still had to go in order to be back to normal.

It took Dr. Hennessey all of two seconds to decide to re-cast Ryan. I told them to make sure they take in their gas masks when they took the old one off. We were actually taken right upstairs and checked into the hospital. They couldn't get Ryan into surgery until 3:00 that afternoon, and it was only 9:00 in the morning- so we had some time to kill. But Shriners was absolutely AMAZING! They had a HUGE play/rec room for kids to play in- and we took Ryan for wagon rides to and from the gigantic space and Ty was in heaven! He got to see a magician, a banjo player, he made a butterfly and played basketball. Ryan was a trooper- he couldn't eat until he was out of the operating room- so we had to come up with some ways to keep his mind off food. The Dr was actually going to have him put out under general anesthesia again before she would even think about re-casting him- so the prep for that seemed to take forever too. Once he was finally in the OR- it only took about 45 minutes before he was wheeled back into his room- and he totally flipped out. Ryan apparently has a hard time coming out of anesthesia- and couldn't stop crying. A carton of chocolate milk helped a little bit- but it took some time before he finally settled down.

The nurses had to make sure that Ryan could eat and pee before they would let him be discharged- and we didn't get back to my mom's house until about 9:00 pm... We were ALL so tired. I still can't believe how good Ty was the entire time. He is so amazing- and I think that he may have a future in medicine- he is soo nosy!! He has to know what every machine and wire is for and doesn't rest until ALL of his questions are answered.

We spent the rest of the week gathering up our things and on Friday, we loaded up in my mom's car and drove to Logan where we met Shaun. We had a quick lunch and then our family headed on up to Montpelier. Home has NEVER looked so good. We all slept so well Friday night. We spent Saturday cleaning up and trying to figure out the best way to situate Ryan for the next three weeks. We ended up putting half of a mattress pad on the loveseat and covering it in blankets and pillows- trying to pad him enough to make him comfortable. He seems okay when he goes back and forth between his loveseat and the recliner- in fact- we even took him out to Sacrament Meeting this morning. He actually did really well (granted it was only an hour- but it was the longest he's been out for any period of time that he wasn't just laying down), and everyone was so happy to see him- we have had a wonderful support group up here and I am more than grateful for all of the love and concern that we have had from the people here.

It looks like things will be pretty quiet for the next couple of weeks- I don't think we really have plans to go anywhere, and I'm assuming that care-taking for Ryan and Ty will take most of my energies anyway.

I'll keep you updated and hopefully we'll get some pictures up from the last week. Sorry it was just text this time, but I'm on Shaun's computer and don't have access to my pictures.