Knee update

Today marks 6 weeks out from my surgery. I wish I could say I am good as new. Sadly I am far from it. I am still feeling a lot of pain, I have minimal movement and the worst part is the almost protruding pins. As you can see in the pictures. I still have severe swelling, especially once I start walking on it, so basically as soon as I get out of bed. This definitely inhibits motion and we are thinking it is a result of the irritation from the wire and pins. So bummed!




Good news is that I am brace free. I am slowly rebuilding my strength in my quad and...drum roll please, I went back to the gym on Monday and swam almost 3/4 of a mile and didn't drown. Thank heavens for lap swimming. That time in the pool may help me keep my sanity as I wait this out. Last I heard the Dr. didn't want to take the hardware out until 6 months out, but I am going to really push for sooner. The other crazy thing which I think belongs in bad news is this sedentary lifestyle for me has ended up in a 10 pound loss. I don't really have 10 pounds to lose and I can only deduct that all my hard work for triathlon training has melted away in 10 pounds of lost muscle. Grrr.. just typing this depresses me. I will be back I promise!

Other happenings

Conor loves to help his Dad mow the lawn

Not a day goes by that there isn't some incident with a balloon at our house, water or not. I have found balloons to be a great and cheap toy.

Conor the zoo keeper-I love this picture of Conor

Josie was a good frog spotter, but preferred not to hold them. For a few weeks we had habitats on the deck for salamanders, frogs, snakes and for "Skippy's" (fuzzy caterpillars.) We had a few deaths, but no worries, easily replaced. It cracks me up to hear Josie say habitat.

Josie ended up in a little predicament in the toy room. I had to drag her out by her feet, but not until I snapped a picture.

Josie is still saying cute things as she expands her vocabulary. She brought a fossil home from preschool the other day and she told me numerous times that it was her waffle. She sometimes calls pumpkins, comptons, and one of my favorites is her word for commercial; mercialo.

Spokane got a Costa Vida!

Lincoln has mastered the stairs. He got tired of waiting for gimp Mom to hobble him up and down the stairs. He beats me up and down numerous times a day. Pretty sad when your crawling 1 year old out moves you.

Spokane Shadow

This is what Conor has been spending a lot of time doing this year. He has practice 2 times a week and games on Saturday. We decided to put him into a developmental U10 soccer program. This team will funnel into the club team. We weren't sure that we were ready to take this route, but now that the decision has been made we feel like he has really improved. He learned more on his 1st day of practice then he learned in a whole year of regular Rec soccer. I have missed a lot of the games and practices, so not a lot of great pictures.

Can you believe my baby is 1?

September 27th was a big day for Lincoln. Did he know or care? NO!! Happy 1st birthday Lincoln. He was really funny about the cupcake and the candle. He actually cried and cried and didn't want anything to do with it. Now ice cream was another story, he would eat any spoon full of ice cream given to him. He was fine with the kids opening his presents and like any normal one year old he was more interested in the box and wrappings. He got some boring clothes and a toy drum. Josie liked it more then him. This year has gone by so fast and I can't believe how blessed I am to have been given such a sweet little guy.

Before the cupcake came out! After the cupcake...who knew cupcakes were so upsetting? We even tried it the next day to see if it was just a tired thing, but nope. Lincoln does not like candles on cupcakes.

Pancakes-now that's another story all together. This little guy can put down a few pancakes. On his birthday he ate something like 8 pancakes, it was crazy.

The Ooohhh before the AhhhhHappy to eat Grandpa's ice cream. He is all dirty because Kevin was trying to force feed him some of the cupcake and Lincoln was putting up a good fight.

Presents

G&G Visit

Grandma and Grandpa Nielsen were taking a trip up the Oregon coast and ended up at our house! We were so happy to see them. They came just in time because I still wasn't driving, the house was a mess and everyone was a little stir crazy. They drove me to the Dr. and did some grocery shopping and cleaned my house and played with the kids and really helped out. We even had an early birthday celebration for Lincoln and Grandma. Grandpa decided Conor needed a new remote control airplane because we kept repairing the one he had. Hours of fun were had with the new one. More Lincoln birthday pictures to come.

Shucking corn with Grandpa

Chill time with Grandma-a rare moment that Grandma wasn't working hard for us

The new and improved remote control airplane

Grandma, me and the dreaded knee brace

Grandparents and the kids before church

The Birthday celebration for all! Everyone wanted a chance to blow out the candle on the cupcake except for Lincoln! The only legitimate blower.