The end of summer

I can'believe the summer is over! Kyle has been a lot of the attention of this summer. Andrea has turned into his "mini-mom." She carries him around a lot, gives him his binki, feeds him occasionally, picks out his clothes, changes his diaper, rocks him to sleep, and plays with him. There is no doubt that she loves her two little brothers, and they love their big sister.

I can't belive I got all three of them looking at the camera at once...thank heavens for digital cameras!

I also got the camera out to take some pictures of Kyle. I just love his dark eyes, they just have so much to say and they are already starting to turn brown! I think they will be dark brown like his dad's.

Just because we love large crowds of tired, hot, and sweaty people we went to Lagoon with my family on one of the last Saturdays of the year. We were worried because of previous experiences that Nick would not go on any rides, but having his sister with him helped him be "brave" and he went on most of the kids rides.

Andrea on the other hand was fearless, I think I had more fear for her then she did. She went on every ride she could. This included rattlesnake rapids, Tidal wave, the big swings, the Wild Mouse, the Spider rollercoaster, and finally Colossus. She was laughing and giggling out loud almost the entire time on the Wild Mouse and Colossus. It was amazing to see! I am pretty sure there are not may 5 year olds that want to ride colossus let alone enjoy it! I still can't believe it...Six Flags here we come! I on the other hand was terrified nearly the entire time. Not for myself but for her, I was afraid she would slip out. Guess I had to be brave too!

Crutches...How I loath thee.

I would consider myself a busy body. I really don't like to sit around much. I make "to-do" lists and I like to get the things done on my list. While I have been looking forward to maternity leave so I could spend quality time with my new baby, I was also looking forward to it so I could get a giant list of things done. Things like organize my cupboards (still can't find things after moving in), clean out the basement, paint and decorate the house, learn to sew, landscape our yard...are all on the list. One of the worst tortures I could think of for myself would be to be put on bedrest. Bring on the torture...

About two weeks before I had Kyle I hurt my knee and could not walk on it. I kept it up and iced it a lot and after a couple of weeks it felt a little better. The week after having Kyle I was walking ok and just starting to enjoy being home. Mike had to go out of town for the week but I was feeling great so I wasn't worried. Well, right after he got on the plane to Arkansas I stood up and turned sideways and my knee locked in place and it was extremely painful. I could not put any of my own weight on it let alone carry a baby. The next day (Tuesday) I went to see the doctor and he said I would only be able to fix it with surgery, and would I be able to do surgery on Thursday of that week. I said yes because I really needed to be able to walk. (funny how that is when you have two kids and a baby) With Mike still out of town my mom took me to the surgery and Mike got home at the same time that I got home from the surgery.

Turns out I had caught the Miniscus (the cartilage in my knee that keeps the bones from rubbing) and torn it in two places, then part of the cartilage folded over and got caught in the joint which is was made it lock. As a result of the tearing they had to remove the entire miniscus, which meant I was stuck on the couch for a while and could only walk with crutches. I have to say that it is impossible to carry a baby while on crutches. I had the joy of sitting on the couch for a week and doing nothing but watching TV and reading. On a side note...daytime TV is aweful!! Really...how many times does the news need to be recaped? It sure was an adventure being stuck on the couch. Andrea became Kyle's personal carrier, my mom became my shouffer, and Mike became my maid. There were also many other's that helped me get through this that I am very greatful for. This is a picture of me hanging out on the couch.



I did start reading the book series "The Great and Terrible" by Chris Stewart which I am totally loving. The Dr. did say that I will be needing a full knee replacement within the next 10-15 years, and that I shouldn't plan on training for a marathon unless I want to replace my knee sooner. (The perfect excuse not to run anymore!) In the end I was only on crutches for a week and after a month of physical therapy every other day I am almost back to normal activity. Now back to my to-do lists!